The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 078 – The New Bond [B]
The dragon looked at her with pity in its gaze,
“Somehow… I understand how you feel. And what you are suffering from.”
“…”
“…For one of the dragon species, such a feeling is somewhat of a taboo. However, I know the preciousness of that feeling.” 1
“That was not to say, though,” continued Raizen,
“It might be weird to hear me, whose life is so full of mistakes, say this… but don’t endure everything alone.”
“…What do you mean?”
The things she knew weren’t something she could tell to anyone else. Therefore, what he suggested was out of the question. As Ssulal stared at the dragon with that in mind,
“If you have a problem, it’s a good idea to talk to someone. Don’t you have people who can do that for you?”
“…That’s.”
Ssulal couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that. After all, the dragon in front of her didn’t have such a person anymore, as he had lived for too long.
In comparison, perhaps Ssulal was more fortunate. However,
That was why it was so painful for Ssulal.
Exactly because he was precious to her, she didn’t want to burden him. She couldn’t help but to have such thoughts. The potential consequences of telling him filled her with concern about the possible regret she might have from the decision later on.
…However.
Ssulal suddenly wondered about something. Why did the dragon in front of her,
“…Why can you say so much?
Ssulal was curious why the dragon would answer so kindly.
And,
“How can you do so much?”
At that question, the dragon responded with a smile.
“I no longer want to feel regret because I hesitated in doing something.”
The dragon said that as he spread the wings on his back.
And while slowly hovering in the air, he said a final few sentences,
“I will keep living as a dragon from now on, regardless of what might happen in the future.”
“You—”
Ssual asked her final question.
“…Don’t you find it scary?”
“Of course I’m scared.”
“However,” Raizen continued,
“It wouldn’t be as scary if I knew there was something beyond my survival.”
He said,
“That was the resolution behind my decision.”
The dragon flapped his wings.
He should have returned long ago. To the place he belonged.
For the loneliness in his actions and the feelings she had as he answered her questions, Ssulal expressed her deep gratitude.
“—Thank you for everything.”
The dragon laughed. His expression was lively and,
“Try to survive first. There are a lot of things you’ll get to see for the first time if you do — the results will speak for themselves.”
And the ancient dragon rose up into the sky.
Around the time Ssulal was talking with Raizen.
Leonhart was listening to Pale’s words.
She was trying to express her feelings toward him,
“Leonhart-san… W-well… thank you, for everything.”
“Aah, don’t mind it.”
He gave her a brief reply. But it seemed that wasn’t going to be enough for Pale. She shook her head and her voice become rougher,
“Of course I will mind it! You saved my settlement, saved my life, made me into a woman, and then you saved us again, Anyway, I owe you my debt of gratitude many times over!”
“O-ouh…”
Leonhart was feeling pressured by her momentum. It seemed Pale was a little too excited.
She really doesn’t have to mind it though, thought Leonhart. But as the person felt indebted to, it seemed it was a hard thing to convince her of.
Therefore he tried to come up with the right words to accept her gratitude. With a wry smile,
“Okay. Then—”
“Yes. So—”
At that moment, Pale directed her smile at him.
She kept her smile as she approached him. And with that momentum,
“Please make me your apos—”
“Pale.”
“Ah, wai!”
A hand extended from the side and lifted Pale a couple inches into the air.
The hand belonged to Kesselring and it was done to remind Pale of something.
As Pale fluttered about, Kesselring shook her head at the sight then,
“You still have your responsibility as the chief, right?”
“Well, I know that-… But isn’t it normal to want to say that?”
Pale puffed her cheek as she sulked. Her personality has sure changed a lot… thought the other two as they looked at her in frustration.
An exasperated Kesselring released the hand that was holding Pale. Pale landed on the ground and, after sorting out her thoughts,
“But well, I guess it can’t be helped. I am the chief of kalar, after all. I will obediently go home.”
“However,” continue Pale as she approached Leonhart,
“Ei.”
“!”
She embraced him with all her might.
Pale wanted to feel the warmth of Leonhart’s body against hers one last time.
She also wanted to pass her warmth onto him. After all,
…I probably won’t get to see you again.
That’s likely the case, thought Pale.
Leonhart was a majin and his duty was to the Demon Army, and Pale also had her duty as the chief of kalar.
They were separated by such a large distance that they wouldn’t be able to meet, even if they wanted to.
Perhaps this was going be their last moment together,
…I don’t want that.
As she thought that, she tightened the arms she’d wrapped around him, holding him in a stiff embrace.
I don’t want to be separated from him. She rubbed her body against his with that feeling. She also had the obscene thought of I wonder if I can convince him using my boobs? somewhere in the corner of her mind, but she couldn’t get rid of the sadness in her heart.
…Leonhart-san.
The more she thought about it, the more she was filled with sorrow. She felt something wet start spilling from her eyes.
She buried her face in his chest to conceal it.
She tried to rub her face against his chest. She couldn’t say anything.
But then he said,
“…Really, it can’t be helped.”
…Eh?
Suddenly, Leonhart brought his hand up to her face, chin to be more precise, and lifted it.
It was the so called chin quill, the action known as such,
“This is just an extension.”
“Hmn?!”
And with a wry smile, he blocked her lips with his own.
She could feel the soft sensation of his breath on her skin. The sudden action from her beloved made her head spin and her cheeks burn.
But before she could convince herself to enjoy the moment, the sensation went away,
“—This is the end of it.”
“Ah…”
Her eyebrow lowered at his words.
That kiss just now really was their last one. That was what his words meant.
She felt regretful. Although she was happy to have received his affection one last time,
…That was meant to be his farewell to me, right…?
In that case, I should depart with a smile and leave without regret. That’s what people would normally do. That’s what I have to do.
However, in her heart, the feelings she had weren’t ready to disappear quite yet,
…What should I do with these feelings—
She thought about that. But then Leonhart said,
“We will meet again next time, when you have become a fine chief of kalar.”
“…………Eh?”
At his gentle words, Pale leaked a stupid voice. She was embarrassed by it.
But it couldn’t be helped. Because just now,
“…Meet next time, you mean…”
He had said he would meet her again.
“Is it really okay for me to meet you again…?”
She asked. She wanted to know. And she needed to confirm that.
She wished for him to tell her that she could come see him again.
When she looked up, he moved his body away. But he then put his hand on top her head,
“Aaah, come again. Come see me when you’ve become an outstanding chief of kalar, alright?”
“And don’t go off and abandon the settlement, okay?” said Leonhart as he stroked her head.
…That’s.
She thought about how hard it would be.
There would be many difficulties in the kalar settlement. There were a lot of problems that needed to be solved.
He was telling her to solve all that before trying to meet him again.
It’s going to take a lot of effort to achieve that. Perhaps it will be even harder than what Kesselring-sama had to go through.
But even so, it meant the bond between them wouldn’t disappear. It meant as long as she could achieve that, they would meet again and their bond would remain.
“In that case,” Pale said to Leonhart.
“…I will do my best.”
She spoke while wiping her tears away with the hem of her clothes.
She expressed her determination.
“I will do my best… and give my all… to make the settlement an even better place.”
Most people would work hard for the sake of the settlement and their comrades. Perhaps it was impure of Pale to work hard for such a selfish reason.
But perhaps they would forgive her if she could make up for her selfishness by achieving more than the chiefs before her?
“I will do my best for everyone’s sake…!”
She would need far greater knowledge than she currently possessed. She also needed to learn how to talk properly to strangers. She would need to change her personality to achieve that.
Perhaps there will come a time when I need to fight. Just like Kesselring-sama, I need to fight on the front lines to inspire and protect my comrades.
Today, she would bid farewell to her weak self that stayed holed up in her room.
Tomorrow, she will become a stronger version of herself. And the day after tomorrow she would become even stronger than that.
And one day, when she could be proud of her accomplishments as chief,
“Once I became a fine kalar—”
Someday, once again,
“Let’s meet again…!”
“Aah,” nodded Leonhart as he gave a short reply.
“See you again.”
“—Yes!”
They could still meet again. There was nothing to be sad about.
After all — her life has just begun. There will be a lot of opportunities from now on.
The dragon flew through the sky.
He could see all the various creatures scattered about the vast land below.
And among them, he found a certain figure.
It was the appearance of his former compatriot with the long black hair.
Her appearance was unlike what it was before, with her outer appearance looking similar to a fellow dragon, and she looked up at him and waved.
As if to reply, Raizen roared.
…Yes, let’s meet again.
They would meet again someday. That was their vow.
Therefore, they would see each other once more, regardless of what might happen in the future.
Yes, I won’t forget.
I will continue to show you how I live from now on.
Life as a dragon. My appearance will reflect the compatriots who were once here with us.
It wasn’t like everything was gone.
His compatriots still existed in this world. They could still raise their voices. They could still show that they had survived to now.
The world we lived in is still here.
That’s why I will live on and continue to show it.
The dignity I regained, and a new way of life.
And if any of you manage to find me.
Call me out.
Then we shall form a new bond. The bond that was cut can be tied once again.
And just like old days, let’s enjoy meaningless stories.
We could talk about anything.
Be it about who is strongest, about the humans, or even idle talk. We can even quarrel if we have disagreements.
We can even talk about the old days. It might make us sad, but I’ll do my best to encourage you.
…What about me, you ask? Well, I do have something to talk about.
It is about the new — Strong opponent (friend) I met recently.
“…You guys love those kinds of topics, right—”
The dragon seemed satisfied and ascended to the sky.
After all, they had promised.
It was because he had learned the answer after thousands of years.
He had a tomorrow that he could look forward to.
—It was because, we tied a new bond
Author Note:
Hello everyone, Kuroiwa here. Thank you for following The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
This is the end of the Kesselring Arc. What do you think?
It went completely different to my initial plan for the plot, but I personally think it is better this way.
Rather, it is because of my personal thoughts of wanting to tell stories about the dragons somewhere. Since the circumstances at the start of the SS Era, it is quite hard to touch on subjects about dragons.
But the end result was about retelling the past like what it ended up becoming now. I personally feel glad writing about it.
But if you didn’t find it interesting, there’s nothing I can do about it. I created quite a lot of original characters and broke the stories in various ways, so I think there are pros and cons. It really made me think about a lot of stuff.
And so, we’re getting closer to the end of the SS Era in the next chapters (I think I said something similar before I start the Kesselring Arc).
I would make several short arcs before closing the era. Things would turn melancholic from then on, so please bear with me.
Well then, thank you for reading so far.
Thanks for comments and up votes, it really motivates me to continue writing.
And to the people who had reported typos, I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for letting me know.
The next chapter will be a welcoming party for Kesselring. I will try to write interesting stories from now on and post chapters faster. Thank you for your support.
PS. I have written the profiles of the original characters on the activity report
Tsukii Note:
Hello and welcome. It’s me again. I hope you are not bored of me yet.
Well anyway, there goes the Kesselring Arc. It’s the longest arc so far, consisting of about 30 chapters. I hope you enjoyed the story.
There is still a pure dragon which has not yet become feral by the Rance Era, let’s hope Raizen gets to meet him so he does not become so lonely! It’s still more than 3000 years until then, but let’s pray for him!
All things aside, I will translate the activity report about the original profile as it is. Enjoy.
Hello everyone, Kuroiwa here. Thank you for the support for The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer. We’ll proceed to the profile immediately. I have no idea whether you are interested though.
Name : Raizen
Age : Around 2000 years old.
Height : 50 meters.
Weight : Heavy
Homeland : Rising Dragon Mountain
Occupation : The western front general of the unified continent nation, Tron. One of the Four Great Saint Dragons.
LV : 150
Talent Limit : ???
Skill LV : Dragon LV2
Special Talent : Excessive conductivity
Hobby : Battle
Goal : To live a life worthy of the dragon species.
Name : Pale Kalar
Age : 17 years old
Height : 165 cm
Weight : Secret
Homeland : Kalar’s settlement
Occupation : The chief of kalar’s settlement
LV : 32
Talent Limit : 69
Skill LV : Magic LV2, Bow Combat LV0, Cooking LV1, Writing LV0, Sex Skill LV0
Special Talent : Housework
Hobby : Reading, Hikikomori
Goal : To become a fine chief of kalars
Name : Arnold Hogan
Age : 35 years old
Height : 227 cm
Weight : 163 kg
Homeland : Southern Kingdom
Occupation : Chief Warrior of Kingdom’s Warrior Corps
LV : 70
Talent Limit : 75
Skill LV : Axe Combat LV2, Magic LV1, Command LV1
Special Talent : Loud Voice
Hobby : Battle, drinking, sex, being merry
Goal : To be the strongest Hero.
Well, that’s about it
~Addition~
I only noticed after being told… so I wrote the profile of Gillium-kun I forgot about.
Name : Gillium
Age : Around 1500 years old.
Height : 189 cm
Weight : 80 kg
Homeland : Forest on western part of continent
Occupation : Majin (Green Dragon)
LV : 85
Talent Limit : 142
Skill LV : Dragon LV1, Samurai LV1
Special Talent : Lip Service
Hobby : Flirt with Camilla
Goal : To obtain Camilla
Well, that’s about it. Now we see it again, that’s totally a profile of a cannon fodder… 2
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