The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 077 – Legend [B]
After Raizen said that, the next thing Leonhart heard was another voice from behind him saying,
“I won’t be going there.”
“…Galtia.”
The one who spoke was Galtia, however it seem that everyone shared his feelings,
“As expected, I shouldn’t come along, considering how you earned your way.”
“…Is that so? …No, I guess I see what you mean.”
Leonhart considered Galtia’s words for a moment before understanding what he was trying to say.
Everyone felt that this was the reward Leonhart had earned for himself.
Even so,
“…But well, you shouldn’t go up there alone, so bring at least one of us with you. It would be troublesome if you ended up collapsing along the way.”
“…Aah, you’re right.”
“In that case,” said Leonhart as he looked toward a certain person.
He then reached out his hand,
“Let’s go, Ssulal.”
“Eh… Me?”
Leonhart exhaled as he looked at Ssulal, who seemed confused for some reason.
It would be a problem if I invited someone else, you know? thought Leonhart,
“Whatever, just come along. It has to be you.”
“Eh, ah… Un. Okay. But wait a minute.”
Ssulal, who accepted Leonhart’s invitation while stumbling over her words, reached out her hand.
She extended her hand in the direction of Raizen, who lay prone on the ground,
“—”
A sound echoed through the air, and magical light wrapped itself around Raizen’s body.
It was the divine magic used by Ssulal. The light of healing magic,
“Hm, this should be okay…”
After using her healing magic several times, Ssulal awkwardly called out to Raizen.
“…After I return, well… I will cast the magic again. Please endure until then.”
“…I appreciate it, Maou.”
After Raizen thanked Ssulal for the healing, Ssulal words got stuck in her throat again,
“And … well, after that—”
“I agree.”
“Eh?”
Raizen agreed to Ssulal’s request before she could even ask him, which made Ssulal leak out a stupified noise as she stared at him.
But Raizen nodded again and explained,
“I understand quite well… You have something you want to ask me, right? I could feel it in your gaze before the battle began. I’m not a dragon who lived two thousand years for nothing.”
Raizen told her he understood. “I see,” said Ssulal, surprised that Raizen had managed to guess her intentions so easily.
“…Yes, it’s something like that.”
“Then go on ahead. I will answer your question after you return.”
“…Okay.”
Ssulal was convinced by Raizen’s words and walked closer to Leonhart. Then,
“Let’s go.”
“Aah.”
Ssulal said that while looking up to Leonhart. As he replied, he began walking toward the path that would lead them up the mountain. Ssulal walked beside him.
After telling the people being left behind that they would meet up later, Leonhart and Ssulal continued on the mountain road side by side.
Kesselring looked at the pair as they departed.
She watched them walking away. One was the person she had sworn her loyalty to, and the other was the first man she had ever come to love.
She saw how the two walked side by side on the mountain road, as if it was the most natural thing for them,
…I guess I can’t beat her.
But surprisingly, I don’t feel sad, thought Kesselring.
Perhaps it was because she already understood this from the beginning?
Even so, her feelings hadn’t changed. They didn’t fade, even after what she had just witnessed.
Besides, even if she felt a little bit of self-pity,
…I also feel that it’s alright this way…?
Originally, it was supposed to be a relationship that would come to an end when Leonhart had recovered enough to leave.
But unlike what she expected, her end hadn’t come for her, and she now walked a new path.
She had decided to become a majin and would continue to be involved with him from now on. Such was the path she chose.
And, at the beginning of that path, she witnessed how he fought against a dragon. It was a clash of power that went beyond her imagination. However, there was another feeling there as well. It was the desire to achieve something.
Kesselring reflected as she saw that. Could she,
“Is it okay for me to stay as I was…?”
Her thoughts formed into words and leaked out into the morning air.
And there was someone who reacted to it.
“Are you indulging yourself in your thoughts?”
It was the man with brown skin, Majin Galtia.
He sported the same small smile that he had before.
Did he have something he wanted to talk to her about? Wasn’t he standing further away just a moment ago?
“…Aah, that’s right. I’m worried about various things.”
“…Well, it can’t be helped. We just witnessed that battle after all. Even I have things to think about.”
“…That’s.”
Kesselring was about to say something but stopped herself. She wondered whether it was alright for her to get deeply involved in this.
Although he sported a light smile, his expression was a serious one. Even the hands that were always grabbing for food had, for the moment, stopped moving. Although Kesselring hadn’t known Galtia for very long, she knew this was something that rarely happened. That was why,
…As expected, he also has something to say about the battle.
After watching the earlier battle and the exchange that followed, perhaps he just felt like talking somehow.
In that case, thought Kesselring, as she decided to say her thoughts first.
The thing she had in mind, beside what she had thought before was,
“When I look at that dragon… it makes me think about what I can leave behind for the future, and what I should do from now on. Such are the worries that came to me.”
“Is that so?”
“Aah… How about you? What do you feel after watching that battle?”
“…I”
After Kesselring asked that, Galtia’s words suddenly stopped. The smile disappeared from his mouth and he kept his silence, as if he was thinking about something.
But after a while, without putting his smile back on, Galtia said,
“…It makes me think that the dragon is the one who received a legacy. Such is my thought.”
“The one who received a legacy?”
“Aah,” nodded Galtia as he continued,
“I am the one who has to entrust my legacy to others. It’s not just me either. Be it Leonhant or even you, that should be the case, right?”
“……It certainly could be considered that way.”
Kesselring somehow understood what Galtia was saying.
Kesselring herself was once the chief of kalar. She had done what she could for her people, and managed to live beyond her duty.
The things she had cultivated were entrusted, as her legacy, to the next person — Pale, who had succeeded her.
Kesselring was the person who entrusted her legacy, while Pale was the one who received that legacy, if Kesselring followed Galtia’s interpretation.
…In that case.
It made Kesselring think. She had heard about Leonhart’s situation before.
And by that topic earlier, she could somehow guess Galtia’s situation as well.
In other words, Galtia had also left his legacy to be inherited by people he left behind, just as Kesselring had done.
And, as a person who had left his legacy, Galtia gained a new resolve to continue living.
…Then that dragon is,
As Kesselring considered this, Galtia spoke again, voicing something similar to what she was thinking about.
“Well, as that dragon is the one who inherited the legacy, it is good that he managed to live on… but if a person had no one to pass their legacy on to, perhaps they would end up like that dragon… Well, it makes me think of difficult stuff, even though that is so unlike me.”
With that, Galtia looked up to the sky.
Perhaps Galtia was imagining the many dragons which once flew through there? Although it was just a guess, Kesselring felt that Galtia was trying to catch a glimpse of the past,
“…That dragon is no different from us. It just so happens that he was not as fortunate as we were.”
“…Do you mean to say a dragon is no different from a human?”
“I don’t know about that,” said Galtia as he smiled and pulled out a piece of meat from somewhere. Then he continued his words,
“I don’t regret the things I have done in the past. Many things have happened, but I already accepted that it couldn’t be helped… But there are times that I think I could have done better. Even though I know thinking about this kind of thing is useless, since the past can’t be changed. I should just let it go and consider it a passing thought.”
As he continued his story, spider legs emerged from his stomach and stroked his skin. Then, as he gently stroked the legs back,
“But it’s true that I somewhat already gave up on it. It isn’t like I have any complaints about my current life, rather, I am really thankful for Leonhart and Ssulal. But, well, just sometimes… I can’t help but think about such things.”
“Even though I was supposed to have already abandoned it,” said Galtia. Kesselring could certainly glimpse some of the feelings he had about his past and how he treated them preciously. Also, she could guess what might have happened back then.
But all of that was now over.
“Earlier, as I watched the battle, I thought that I have to make sure that I will continue to live on. Well… I’ve lived as I liked up until now, and I will continue to live as I like from now on, as well — it just made me reconfirm such a fact.”
“It made you learn the importance of living on?”
Galtia laughed when he heard that. Then, as if to tease Kesselring,
“It’s not something that serious. It just, whatever regret and attachment I had back then is resolved and only makes me more determined… that’s why, well.”
He stopped his words there, took a bite of the meat in his hand, and turned his gaze back toward Kesselring,
“Why don’t you also live as you like? You somehow give off the feeling of having a troublesome personality that thinks too much, just like Leonhart did.”
“…I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Is that so?” asked Galtia. His attitude showed that he didn’t mind, even if he had guessed wrong.
..Really, this man…
It seemed that Galtia was quite a casual man or, at least, he didn’t care much about details. Apparently, the thoughts he had earlier were something incredibly rare for him.
However, it was true that Galtia had managed to see through Kesselring’s worry.
It seems he’s quite an attentive man, thought Kesselring.
…But, I see.
She got to learn a bit about her comrade from their exchange, and also understood her own worries a little better.
Therefore, Kesselring carefully chose her words. There was something she had to say. And that was,
“I’ll say it first.”
“Oh?”
Kesselring put a preface and said.
Her own feelings,
“Perhaps I really am troublesome — But I’m still a devoted woman.”
Indeed. Perhaps I really am troublesome.
That’s why,
…I will not abandon these feelings of mine forever.
Kesselring didn’t know if her love could bear fruit. Perhaps this really was something she wasn’t allowed to have.
But she didn’t mind that. After all,
…I have resolved to live as I like just now.
She wouldn’t regret it, no matter what happened.
Author Note:
Carol : “The next chapter will be the last of Kesselring-sama’s arc…”
Ssulal : “That’s the longest arc we’ve had until now.”
Galtia : “We’ve already had 30 chapters worth of the arc if we count this chapter, after all.”
Kesselring : “How to say this… I’m sorry.”
Raizen : “There’s also the part of the story where I became the focus…”
Pale : “Hey, both of you shouldn’t be like that. You need to be more docile. You might end up getting cut off from screen time in the future, you know?”
Everyone : “…”
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