The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
Sorry to keep you waiting. This is the beginning of the NC Era.
It’s a violent, or rather, sickening development right off the bat, is what I wanted to warn the reader, but if you want to continue to read while avoiding that, give it up since it will happen over and over until the end of GL Era. By then, I’m sure it already turned into a common sense for the reader()
Well then, please enjoy.
NC Era
Chapter 104 – Maou Nighcisa [A]
――This was a story of a certain man
The man was born into an aristocratic family of a certain kingdom.
Although the family’s pedigree was low, it was still a venerable family with connections to the royal family, and they had a certain degree of influence.
The family was loved by its people and they ruled wisely. They took the lead and fulfilled their responsibilities as aristocrats — they were truly the noble of the nobles.
The head of the family was the man’s father. His mother, who married his father, was an aristocrat with ties to the father’s family. He was born from these two people.
Born as the eldest son, the man received all his parents’ expectations.
His parents educated him strictly with the intention of letting him succeed the family. But despite that, they also showered him in love.
The couple had a good relationship, and soon a younger brother and a little sister were born. The relationships between family members were good. There was no conflict between siblings for the position of the head of the family. Unusual for the aristocrats of this era, they had nothing to do with power struggles and they were a happy family that lacked nothing.
But in this man’s family―― there were unusual teachings.
That said, it was just something simple. They believed in a certain religion.
AL Church. It was a new religion that was created about 50 years prior.
Due to the influence of the family’s grandfather, who was the head of the family two generations ago, the family became believers in the AL Church from the moment they were born.
Apparently, the same could be said for his mother, who married into the family, as she was also a believer of the AL Church from the beginning.
Therefore, the man had been told many times over since his childhood. — That the god was watching over us.
――Honestly said, it was something he found unbelievable.
But despite the man being skeptical about the god’s existence, he properly followed its teachings. There wasn’t a day that he missed his daily prayer, and he memorized the scripture enough that he could recite the whole thing.
But the essential faith didn’t sprout, and he just followed its teachings because that was what his parents and family believed. The man had been an excellent person since his childhood, and he knew well that he would only needlessly stand out if he admitted to having such feelings.
But that changed on his tenth birthday.
The man was celebrated grandly by his family. The man, who was usually a quiet and intelligent child, showed his childish side and was wild for the day.
But perhaps because he was being too wild, or perhaps due to exhaustion that had been building up all day, anyway, he ended up falling asleep earlier than usual.
Before he knew it, the man woke up.
The area was pitch-black. It was midnight. Apparently, he’d woken up at this hour since he slept early. He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t seem to fall asleep.
Therefore, out of impulse, the man explored the mansion at night.
That was where he saw it — the existence of god.
There was an old book. It was something he found by chance, among the books collected by his grandfather.
When he opened the book and was about to recite a line — the man heard the beautiful voice of a goddess.
[“—Oh my?”]
It was a meaningless word.
[“…I made a mistake.”]
What do you mean by mistake? Before the man could ask, the voice of the goddess could no longer be heard.
Let’s open the book once again. The man had such a thought, but the book in his hand disappeared before he knew it.
However, that was enough to light the man’s heart ablaze.
There was a god. They certainly existed. The teachings weren’t a mistake.
――From the next day, the man began to do good deeds enthusiastically.
He carried the scripture at all times and offered help to the people around him.
The people around him tilted their heads in wonder, but considering the man just celebrated his tenth birthday yesterday, they thought the man finally learned what it meant to be a head of the household, so they didn’t stop him.
The reason for the man’s actions was simple. That was — he wanted to meet the god.
He wanted to meet the god once again. And he wanted the god to praise his actions.
He’d learned that god existed. He’d also learned the teachings of god might be genuine.
In that case, the teachings should hold absolute value. Following the teachings was the right way. The god was absolute. The god was superior to his parents and the king. What would he do if he didn’t follow the teachings?
The man once followed his parents’ teachings and tried hard to be a good head of household, but from that day onward, he showed incredible growth that surprised the people around him.
He made sure to learn knowledge and culture properly, and he had perfect etiquette. He was perfectly capable when performing his noble duties. He also took initiative to help people if he saw them in trouble.
It was as his parents expected — nay, he achieved growth that exceeded that. He was ready to succeed as the head of the family at any time. That was how much they thought of him.
However, contrary to the joy of people around him, the man’s heart was running amok crazily.
――This is weird. Why hasn’t the god appeared?
The man wanted to meet the god. He wanted to meet the god once again so he followed the teachings.
While receiving his education, the man enthusiastically attended the church. However, there was no sign of the god appearing at all.
So do I have to wait until after I die after all? Or should I pile up more good deeds for that?
The man was about to give up. If he couldn’t meet the god, then there was no meaning in following the teachings. He might as well do the opposite and receive divine punishment――
―― The man realized.
There was that method.
According to the god’s ethic, if one troubled people and committed evil deeds, they would receive divine punishment.
In that case, he would still be able to meet the god, just in a different way.
Thinking so, the man committed evil deeds from that day onward.
It began with trivial things. Be it hiding others belongings or lying. At first, it was more of a cute prank. All of his misdeeds were committed without him getting caught.
After all, if he was caught, he would be punished. He would be denounced. But it would be done by his fellow humans. That wasn’t the divine punishment the man sought.
He did it all without anyone else knowing. If he couldn’t continue his evil deeds without interference, then the divine punishment would never come. If he continued, then the punishment would fall upon him.
After all―――the god was watching over him. No matter how he concealed his deeds, they would always know.
Therefore, that was the best course of action. Based on that thought, the man’s evil deeds gradually became more intense.
He hurt the animals and mushis around him―― and killed them, but it seemed that wasn’t enough.
When he took over the post as the head of the family and went to the royal capital, he murdered an old vagrant that lived there. It was night with nobody else around, and he stabbed him with his blade while the vagrant was sleeping. It was his first murder.
When he committed that act, there was something he noticed. As the man committed evil deeds――he was smiling.
It was something he couldn’t comprehend. He couldn’t understand his own heart.
Therefore, he murdered once again. And he was laughing after all.
That was why he murdered. He tried killing people who had a closer relation to him. He thought that would be considered greater evil, so he murdered someone he knew. His only thought when he killed his acquaintance was that it was interesting.
He wanted to kill people closer to him, so he murdered his friend. He was laughing, as he expected.
Next he wanted to kill people who were even closer to him. But that would only leave his blood relatives.
So the man invited his parents on a trip, set it up like an accident―― and murdered them. Their corpses were thrown to the demon’s nest. It made him feel emotional.
He murdered his little brother and sister. He tortured his little brother then killed him. He raped his little sister then killed her. What an evil deed. He felt his spine tremble.
The man got married. It was the fiancée that was already decided from before. It was a marriage between childhood friends.
Therefore, he killed his wife’s parents. As expected, killing other aristocrats was very risky and he regretted it. He was suspected for the first time. Fortunately, his vassals and the people around him believed in his personality. And above all, with his wife defending him, he managed to get out of trouble. He decided to be more careful from then on.
That was why he decided to make an underground room away from the mansion and committed the evil deeds there instead. He continued to commit good deeds outwardly. He managed his territory, helped his people, was considerate to his vassals, and loved his wife and child.
He committed evil deeds behind the scenes. He took random people from somewhere and killed them. The days felt dull compared to the past, but since he already killed his parents and siblings, he couldn’t think of a greater evil deed, and committing a big one might cause him to get caught. There was no meaning if it was revealed to be him.
――No, there’s still one thing I still could do.
The man came up with a devilish idea. However, it could be the most brutal among the brutal ideas.
It was his wife and daughter. His wife was a soft person with a good temper and strong at her core, and his daughter was naughty but also had a girlish side, a girl who acted older than her actual age.
He certainly loved both of them. Even if he committed vile deeds behind their back, the feelings he had toward both of them was certainly love.
――That was why he killed them. As expected, it caused his hands to tremble. The same could be said when he killed his wife, but more than anything, he couldn’t forget the eyes of his daughter when he strangled her to death. Those cloudless eyes, filled with questions as to why he would do such a thing, that continued to believe in him as he killed her were quite taxing for him. It was his first time to feel sad about it. He couldn’t speak and he also cried.
Then suddenly, when he looked in the mirror to see what kind expression he had――
――He saw a “devil” there.
The figure that was reflected with a devilish smile――Was his own appearance.
Then he understood.
His sheathe was already released from a long time ago. Even as he understood his evil deeds as evil deeds, he had already become the kind of human that took pleasure in them.
No, perhaps he no longer―― could be considered human.
While having such feelings, the man mourned for his wife and child.
His vassals and people around him were suspicious of the man as the people around him died one after another, but their feeling of pity was greater. There was nobody who doubted him.
He had now done everything he could think of. It was at that time that he heard of a rumor.
It was about the army of demons who granted suffering to humanity, the Demon Army. Their leader, the maou, had died. Such was the rumor.
The man didn’t know whether the rumor was true. However, the man thought the divine punishment had fallen on the maou.
Then he despaired. After I committed all those evil deeds, why has the divine punishment still not fallen on me? Was everything I did so far a mistake? Thought the man.
Do the sacrifices I made to pile up evil deeds hold no meaning? When the man despaired――
――God appeared.
The god said―― “You’re interesting. You should be the next maou.”
The man couldn’t process those words right away.
Interesting?
Be the next maou?
Does that mean――
“――Fu, fufufu…”
Before he knew it, he was laughing.
“Fuha, fuhahaha, fuhahahahahah!!”
When the god saw him, it didn’t give him divine punishment, but instead it concluded he was interesting. Such was their sense of value.
The maou who made the world suffer was actually appointed by the god. Such absurdity.
“――I’m not evil.”
Indeed. Not evil.
He was evil, yet not evil. After all,
“The god――the world is the evil one.”
――What that God sought was evil deeds!
Therefore, the evils I have committed are justice by this world’s standard.
What I have done so far wasn’t a mistake.
The world was filled with malicious intent. It was the world where one who ought to be denounced didn’t get denounced, but received a blessing instead.
――It’s a world without salvation! So this world was a hell after all!
“In that case――we shall be the maou.” 1
We shall be the light that illuminates the world.
“We shall commit evil deeds in accordance with this world’s sense of value.”
We shall grant love and blessings to humans.
“Oh god, bear witness.”
We shall follow the will of god. We shall make the people feel the love of god.
“We shall obey your justice and show you how we make humans suffer—”
―― First year of NC Era
The birth of Maou Nighcisa was instantly announced to the whole world.
There was a village located in the center of the continent.
What occurred there――was a slaughter.
“Gyahahahaha!! DIEEE!!!”
“Hey hey! Let us have some fun!!”
The village, which was quiet and peaceful until a few hours ago, was knocked down to hell by the invading Demon Army.
Buildings were burned along with the people inside them, and the fire spread to the fields and huts, further spreading the damage.
As people tried to escape, the demon soldiers were chasing after them and killing them.
The men would be killed, while the women would be violated then killed. Powerless humans had no way to resist.
However, among them,
“――gh, Ooohhh!”
“Gah, ahh……”
There was a man wearing armor who cut down a demon soldier.
On his side were two sisters, who seemed to be residents of this village, huddling together with frightened expressions.
The man spoke with a hurried tone,
“Come on, it’s over here!”
“Y-yes…!”
The man led the two then started running.
He was an adventurer who happened to be present in this village.
The man struggled to help the residents of this village in the face of the Demon Army’s sudden attack, but while the man was strong enough to travel alone, he was hopelessly outnumbered.
Even if he could cut down some demon soldiers, he couldn’t save all the villagers.
Therefore, he just reached out to whoever happened to be nearest to him ―― bringing the pair of the sisters and trying to leave the village.
“Oi, he’s over there! It’s that man!”
“There are women! Let me enjoy them!”
“Kugh…!”
There were many demon soldiers chasing after them from behind.
It wasn’t impossible for him to escape alone, but it might be difficult to do so while taking two people with him.
However, they had almost made it to the entrance of the village. He thought the stamina of the sisters should be enough to run that far―― or so he wanted to believe.
He was planning to rampage about for a bit to protect the two and escape the village after that.
“We’re almost at the entrance! Do your best!”
“Hah, hah… y-yes…!”
He spoke to encourage them and hurried to the entrance of the village. Even as they struggled for breath, the sisters still managed to respond somehow and nodded, and then the man twisted his hand behind them.
“――Fire Blast!”
“Gah?!”
“Hot?!
“D-damn it! Chase, chase after them!”
The magical flame exploded on a group of demon soldiers. While some of the demon soldiers were burned by the flames, the three ran onwards without looking back.
If they could get out of there, they might be able to get to the highway. A little hope sprouted in the hearts of the three.
But when they turned the corner and reached the entrance of the village,
――The three of them saw despair in front of them.
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