The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Sour
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 060 – Unconscious Feelings [B]
“Eh…?”
His words stunned her.
When he watched her reaction, the corner of his mouth raised. Perhaps he found it interesting as if he successfully pulled off a prank.
“Is it unexpected? But well, it’s true.”
It was unexpected to her. However, she wouldn’t say it.
Instead, she asked a question.
“…And, why is that?”
Leonhart replied casually.
“Well, there are many reasons… but the main reason was that I was too strong.”
“…Because you are strong…?”
“I was overwhelmingly strong compared to other people in the settlement. They treated me like a monster. Practically everyone there either avoided me, feared me, sucked up to me, or tried to use me. Although my needs were fulfilled, never once did I feel satisfaction. That kind of life… I suffered everyday..”
“That’s…”
Why couldn’t he get the reward he deserved? She thought.
He kept fighting for his comrades, but what he got was absurd when they treated him coldly instead.
As for the very person who received such treatment, he began to smile as if retelling a really interesting memory.
“Then one day, there was a majin among the Demon Army I fought against—and I was defeated. I thought I was going to die then, but somehow I managed to live on.”
Because, he said.
“The present Maou, Ssulal, turned me into a majin. It seems she really wanted me.”
“!”
Maou, the tyrant who ruled the Continent and stood at the top of the Demon Army.
Kesselring’s expression hardened as the name of the symbol of fear appeared.
Without minding that, Leonhart continued.
“Back then, she told me this; swear your loyalty to me—something like that.”
That’s why, he said.
“I thought it was a good opportunity, you see. So I chose to betray the people of the settlement. I was disgusted by the life there anyway.”
“…”
That was an obvious choice to take.
Because he was oppressed by humans, he had no reason to continue to fight for them. Therefore, it was natural to choose to betray humans and side with demons.
Moreover, it was after he was turned into a majin. He had no way to resist against the Maou.
…But…
She did think it was regrettable. It might have been an obvious choice to take, considering the circumstances, but at the same time, she wished it wasn’t the path he chose.
As Kesselring felt a little glum, Leonhart continued speaking,
“Then, well… I asked her for a condition in exchange for my loyalty.”
She wondered what his condition was.
Perhaps he asked the settlement to be thoroughly destroyed?
As various imaginations came and went, the answer was,
“—Please withdraw from the settlement, was what I asked.”
“…Hah.”
It was something completely opposite of her imagination.
“Ssulal agreed with that condition. As my life continued as a majin, that very settlement still stood tall… well, its size now is already beyond the scale of just a settlement—“
“N—no, wait a moment.”
She stopped Leonhart who tried to continue his story.
He tilted his head,
“What is it? …Perhaps do you find my story confusing?”
“That’s not it. Why—“
Kesselring continued to talk despite the knot in her throat. It was something she noticed after talking this far.
With a single breath,
“Why did you ask to save the people you hated?”
And she said it.
Kesselring was convinced.
The root of his character was in this answer. It was the core of the personality he had now as a majin. Something important was there.
And, she knew that she—
“Please tell me.”
Wanted to know about it. Kesselring wished for it.
Although she couldn’t recognize the reason why.
Then, Leonhart who heard such a question was,
“…It’s not like this is a good story or anything though…”
He scratched his head and said.
“…In the end, I think everything that happened was my fault.”
“…Your fault… huh. You think you were the cause?”
Leonhart nodded.
“I was the person who was known as the king. But I was only capable of showing my worth through combat. I made excuses that my actions would help my people and didn’t look properly at them.”
“Didn’t look properly…?”
“That’s right. All I saw was myself and never cared about the feelings of those who feared me. I fought with my all for you people’s sake, so of course I ought to be rewarded. So treat me better! Such were things that ran on my mind back then. Even though I was supposed to be a king…!”
Leonhart remembered his past self and spouted such strong words, perhaps he was getting heated up by the memory.
Then with a bitter expression,
“If I really wanted to be treated better, I should’ve acted in a way where people wouldn’t be scared of me. Or I should tell them directly about it, even a command would do. It was naive to expect others to understand you without being told. Forget being a king, I wasn’t even redeemable as a human being.”
“…”
She couldn’t say anything to his ashamed figure.
However, even without her response, he continued.
“In the end, I was a half-assed king who couldn’t become a wise king or even a tyrant… it really makes me laugh when I look back. If I really wanted to do it, I could have easily killed those politicking elders and became the king in a true sense. Regardless of my method, as long as I truly led people, there would have been those who truly followed me no matter how few they were. I avoided doing so because it was troublesome. I ran away from the responsibilities of a king.”
Leonhart’s expression turned into scorn.
However, the person he scorned was probably himself. He turned toward her,
“…Sorry for that. It seems I got heated up earlier.”
“…Please don’t apologize. I’m the one who asked to begin with.”
Kesselring denied his words.
Also, there was nothing to deny. After all,
“…In other words, the reason you saved the settlement was—“
“…it’s that if I look back now, though. Since I am the Demon Army’s officer, I often looked at the map. So, I was forced to face my past even if I didn’t like it. The reason I asked them to be spared is more of an apology as someone who abandoned his homeland, though.”
“So that settlement still stood for hundreds of years… huh.”
“It’s a kingdom right now though. Because they weren’t attacked by the Demon Army ever since my time, they grew into a ridiculously big nation. They are the biggest nation among humans. That’s quite something.”
His expression didn’t look good despite saying “it’s quite something.” Maybe he felt complicated about it.
As Kesselring saw Leonhart’s expression,
“…You, no, you are—“1
She spoke. As Leonhart slightly confused why she suddenly changed the way she refer to him,
“—a kind person.”
“…Hah?”
Leonhart blinked as if he didn’t understand what she was talking about.
His expression finally changed due to my words, thought Kesselring.
As he recovered from his confusion, he exhaled with half-lid eyes,
“…Where do you feel I was kind at all in that story just now?”
“…Well, let me ask you.”
Kesselring continued. Perhaps, it was something related to his core he tried to hide.
“Did you truly feel nothing else when you requested your settlement to be saved?”
“…”
Leonhart went silent. She continued her questions.
“It wasn’t because you truly wanted to save them from the depths of your heart?”
“…”
Leonhart looked away. She asked for his true feelings.
“Since you don’t want to be seen as a good person, everything you’ve talked about up are the bad parts… perhaps that’s what—“
“…………You’re wrong.”
Leonhart turned away as he denied it.
She looked at him and smiled, his behavior resembling a stubborn child’s
And she was convinced. He was,
How to say this… he is bad at being considerate.
Although she herself was not skilled at being considerate, she thought so.
If she were to make a conclusion from what she heard earlier, he surely wanted to make others see that he wasn’t that big a deal as a person.
He was also a serious person. He answered her question sincerely while trying to cover up his good points.
Perhaps that was his temperament. As he looked at his own experiences objectively, it made him hesitate to speak about the good things he did. Perhaps it was something like that?
…But truly, he is a person unlike a common majin.
Although she didn’t know how much her evaluation was correct, he was considerate toward her and casually told her something that would normally make a person hesitate and to avoid being concerned about, he minimized the good parts about himself in the story.
He was a person with good senses, forgiveness, and kindness, yet he also had a sense of responsibility and self-discipline. On top of that, just like that time, he also showed how reliable he was—
Now that she thought about it, not only was he unlike a common majin, he was also unlike humans.
…No, perhaps I should say he was manly in this sense…?
Although she only had bad impressions toward the existences known as man, the impression she had of him was greatly detached from such an image.
She talked to him again. For some reason, she wanted to talk and hear more of his voice.
“…Even so, to give such mercy toward humans despite being affiliated to the Demonic faction… uhm, is that really alright?”
“…Yeah. Ssulal is… a generous person to begin with. She isn’t a person who feels happy to drive humans to suffering. Rather, she didn’t even like the image of a Maou in the first place. She’s more like a shut-in young lady.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah. She always left all the work for me to do in her stead while she spent her days shut inside her own room, either doing some sort of research or reading books she wrote, or just relaxing while eating snacks— Hey, this is totally a depiction of a no-good person… I’ll tell you again, don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Alright, I promise you.”
“…I guess it’ll be alright since you don’t seem gossipy. Well, Ssulal is really unlike the Maou that people imagine. She calls me to visit her room every night to play, asks me for the impression of her books, or just talks appropriately. Not just me, she sometimes calls for my apostles or a fellow majin Galtia as well.”
“So the Maou did such… it’s hard to believe, but it should be true since it is you who said it.”
That person felt like a normal child that existed everywhere. It was indeed as he said that that person was totally different to the image of a maou.
However, considering how she agreed to let go of the settlement in the story earlier, the attitude Leonhart described her with was likely to be true.
And more than anything, he seemed very excited when he was talking about that person. She was sure that he right now was,
“…That seems fun.”
“Hm? Ah, well…”
“I can understand why you went along with the Demon Army because that person is such a maou.”
“…Oh…”
Leonhart’s words became muddled there. However, it seemed like he found it hard to admit that,
“…That person… is no good without me there.”
“…Is she that unreliable?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Leonhart hesitated as his eyes moved back and forth.
Perhaps he found it hard to answer, looking at his expression.
But eventually,
“…I, about her—“
But Leonhart stopped his words there.
Then,
“…Well, yeah. How to say it… I just want to fight for her sake.”
“…I see.”
Kesselring was curious why he had to restate it.
As she chose to not question it and accept it as it was,
“That’s a very meaningful declaration.”
“…I guess I talked too much. I’ll tell you one more time. Don’t tell anyone about what I’ve said.”
“Fufuh… yes, I understand.”
She agreed with a smile.
He inhaled and looked at her as if to regain his mind. Then,
“…It’s somehow annoying to only hear about myself. If there’s no problem, then can I ask about your story as well?”
“! …My story?”
Her heart suddenly throbbed at that moment.
Perhaps because he felt at ease compared to the beginning, he spoke with casual tone,
“I don’t mind even if it’s just a little. It’s a rare opportunity to listen to a story about the kalar’s chief after all.”
“Tha—that’s…”
She was bewildered when asked to speak about her own story. Then Kesselring noticed it.
Even though they were talking smoothly until a moment ago,
…I—I feel nervous yet again…?!
She was once again overly aware of his gaze and her face felt hot.
After being stuck in her own confusion, her response to his question was,
“…I—if it’s just a little.”
She nodded with a soft voice.
“Oh, then I’ll listen to your story.”
As Leonhart’s mouth curved into a smile and he looked at her, Kesselring made total use of her mind.
—To think of interesting stories that wouldn’t make him bored.
In the kitchen…
In the small single-person house, Pale stood just outside of the room where Leonhart and Kesselring sat.
Evening had turned into night and Pale was already done with her cooking a long time ago and brought it along with her… but she didn’t move where she stood due to certain reasons.
One reason being that the atmosphere within the room was too serious, then it turned into something fun. Either way, it always stayed in a state where she found it hard to intrude.
The other reason was—
“Kesselring-sama…”
Her face turned red as she recognized the change of the person she respected.
“Don’t tell me… Even Kesselring-sama also thinks of Leonhart-san as—“
Pale’s words, which she uttered while holding on her head, didn’t reach the pair inside the room.
Author Note:
Shichisei: “—Oh, is Galtia-sama here alone?”
Galtia: “Hm, yea. It’s not the situation that can be shown to the women.”
Shichisei: “That’s………aah, I see. I understand.”
Galtia: “Since that’s the case, there’s nothing interesting here this time.”
Shichisei: “…But I am quite curious about something—“
“Galtia: “…I won’t say anything. Just expect whatever you like.”
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