The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer

Translator: Tsukii

Editor: Derpy

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 106 – Ambition [A]

Under the sky of the demon realm, Leonhart, who was riding Raizen to Maou Castle, muttered in exasperation.

“…Why are you coming along?” 

“Ahaha, well, Leonhart-sama is the supreme majin, so if no apostle comes along it would be… Well, there’s things like dignity, so I thought other majin would underestimate Leonhart-sama otherwise…” 

There was another figure there who was smiling as if trying to change the topic. It was Leonhart’s apostle, Pale. 

Leonhart noticed and sighed once,

“……So what’s your real intention?”

“Leonhart-sama went to the Maou Castle to work, so I was thinking of helping you with your work and taking care of you while at it out of the goodness of my heart, you know?” 

“It sounds like it has a completely different connotation when you say that…” 

“Eh, that meaning is the correct one, though?”

“……I don’t think I have the leisure to do so.”

“Eeh- we can just settle it quickly. If anything, why don’t we just do it here and now――”

 

“Both of you! Don’t talk about doing strange things on top of my body!!”

Raizen raised a voice of protest from below. As Pale grew gloomy at that, Raizen continued, 

“Rather than that, we’ll be arriving soon. Get ready――not that much needs to be prepared, but be ready for it anyway.”

“Aah, sorry about that.” 

“Raizen-san, thank you very much.” 

“……Fuhn, I’ll be heading back first! I won’t carry you back on your way home!”

Such was what Raizen said indignantly, but sometimes they would spot Raizen on their way back, so he would bring them back if they called out to him. Therefore, they only smiled wrily at his statement. 

“…Well anyway. I have to visit Nighcisa’s room. I have no idea what he’ll ask of me later, so you are to wait quietly in my room.” 

“Oka~y. I understand!” 

As Leonhart nodded at Pale’s cheerful reply, Leonhart overlooked Maou Castle below and muttered. 

“Well then, what will he ask of me next…” 

 

 

Maou Castle was the dwelling of the maou. 

The castle, which was constructed during the SS era, still remained sturdy and towered over the area.

On the contrary, it seemed to become increasingly terrifying over the years and needless to say, the ruler of the continent lived there.

Majin Leonhart was visiting the room where the ruler lived.

“――Did you summon me, Nighcisa-sama?”

“Umu, thou came well, Leonhart.” 

“Hah.” 

As Leonhart bent at his hips and greeted him, Nighcisa urged him to sit down with his gaze. 

Please excuse me, said Leonhart as he sat down, then Nighcisa poured wine into a glass,

“Want a drink?” 

“No, I’m still on duty…… Rather than that, should I pour it for you?”

“It’s okay. Rather… thou sure art a stiff person. Those under thou would feel suffocated if thou didn’t show any leisure, nay? That said, thou seems to choose to do that in order to maintain discipline. There’s no need to be so formal when no subordinate is watching.” 

“…Amazing. I never thought maou-sama would see through me. In that case, I’ll have a glass.” 

“Thou sure are good at flattery. There, we shall pour it for thou personally.” 

“Hah, thank you very much.” 

As Nighcisa said that, he passed a glass which Leonhart received with both hands. After taking the glass that was filled to a quarter with red wine, Leonhart said “I’ll be drinking it” and drank. Leonhart tasted the mellow aroma and taste with the tip of his tongue and let it pass slowly through his throat. 

“Is it good?” 

“……Yes. But this is ―― a little… No, it doesn’t seem mature enough. It didn’t taste too deep. This made it easier to drink though.” 

When Leonhart honestly gave his impression of the taste, Nighcisa inhaled as if he was impressed. 

“Fumu, as expected, thou could tell.” 

“Haah…” 

That short remark was also meant as a question, but seeing as there was no response, Leonhart thought on the meaning of Nighcisa’s words. After thinking a while, the answer that he came up with was, 

“…Did the other――majins also drink it?”

“They are our vassals. It was no wonder we wanted to hath a talk with them at least once. We are also interested in majins who hath lived over a long period of time… however――”

 

Nighcisa then shrugged and sighed lightly. Leonhart, who already understood what he meant, spoke the words.

“…Is the result not satisfactory?” 

“Exactly. All of them were afraid of us, and they only tried to flatter us while those who realized our intentions could be counted with a single hand. We don’t know if others refrained from speaking their mind despite understanding it or their sense of taste was just that lacking… but regardless of the case, it was a disappointment.” 

“……I see, so such a thing happened… By the way, the others who noticed it other than me are――”

 

“Other than thou, there were Camilla and Kesselring of the Four Elite Majins, and also Galtia. Perhaps it’s because the former two consumed quality things on a daily basis that they noticed it immediately――However, we are especially surprised about the latter. That Galtia even managed to correctly guess the maturity age of the wine after all. We heard he was a glutton so we didn’t expect much, but it seemed his sense of taste was much better than ours.”

“Since it’s Galtia, then it can’t be helped. He is the best gourmet among majins after all. ――Then, the correct answer is……”

 

Nighcisa nodded at the evaluation regarding Galtia, then seeing Leonhart sought the answer, Nighcisa smirked a little,

“――It’s three months.”

“! That’s――”

 

Leonhart was familiar with that period. Nighcisa amusedly spoke the answer.

“So thou noticed. Indeed, that wine is the same age as us. Both of us are crude newborns at three months old.” 

Doth thou understand? Nighcisa asked again, but he answered his question himself. 

“――This is our current self. It has a light taste that makes it easy to drink. It was liked by most but due to lack of the depth in taste, those who dabbled in it would declare it as a flawed good and abandon it. That is our current worth.”

“…If I may be impolite, may I say something about it?” 

We don’t mind, said Nighcisa which made Leonhart open his mouth with his head still lowered. 

“It might be rude for this lowly one to say this…… but I think maou-sama is doing well. If we compare it to wine, it’s a product that has only aged for three months. Having a light taste is obvious.”

“……That’s certainly true. This environment that is created with thou’s advice and guidance is certainly more than enough for us, who are still immature as a maou. Even this room is something that thou went through the trouble to renew, ‘tis not?”

Leonhart nodded. It is an obvious thing, said Leonhart then he conveyed his feeling.

“……Yes. I thought the room of the previous maou is not worthy of the current maou Nighcisa-sama, so I had them all renewed. Originally, I ought to rebuild the whole castle, but…”

“Thou need not go that far. Even without that, thou’s loyalty is certainly conveyed…… Well then, returning to the topic.”

Nighcisa then took out another bottle hidden behind him. Leonhart squinted his eyes, 

“That wine is――”

 

“It’s something we grant to those who answered correctly. Thou may accept it.”

With that said, Nighcisa took out another glass and presented it to Leonhart. Leonhart received it and thanked Nighcisa again. Then as Leonhart brought the glass closer to his mouth, he noticed something. 

It had a different aroma. It was most likely a vintage one. When Leonhart realized it, he tilted his glass and slowly drank it. Leonhart enjoyed the deeper than expected taste in his mouth and the liquid poured down into his throat. Leonhart then opened his mouth,

“……I am surprised. Isn’t this wine at least a century old?”

“For thou who hath lived over centuries, it might not be that uncommon. However… thou could clearly feel the difference compared to the earlier wine, couldn’t thee?” 

“Yes, since I drank it just earlier, the difference is clear.” 

Even Leonhart, who didn’t drink wine that much, could clearly feel the difference between the two. It tasted deeper compared to the decades old wine he sometimes drank. 

That said, Nighcisa was comparing maou with wine earlier. Since he made Leonhart compare the cheap wine to this vintage one, there should be some meaning in that. That was,

“We want to become like this.” 

Nighcisa said. With the glass in hand, he stared at the liquid inside, 

“It is a taste that most couldn’t understand. But regardless of who drank it, everyone could feel the difference――we want to become such a maou.”

That was Nighcisa’s thought. It was the ideal that he envisioned of a maou. 

Perhaps Nighcisa saw his own appearance beyond the red liquid. He also saw what was beyond that.

“We would only serve as a replacement as it is. There is no meaning in a maou being us yet. Humans would feel a terror that is no different to the previous era.” 

Still, Nighcisa spoke. That would be meaningless, he said. 

“We shall carve our own mark. We shall commit evil and slaughter humans. That is our mission for being the maou.” 

However, Nighcisa stopped his words for a moment. 

“We still couldn’t do so. We hath no idea what to do. We are still not used to the post. We are still in a state of testing waters, even though we hath committed many evil deeds when we were still human.” 

“……Is Nighcisa-sama――”

 

Leonhart said. It was something he needed to confirm.

Leonhart threw out the question that would affect the future policies.

“Is Nighcisa-sama going to destroy humanity?” 

“……We hath no such intention. Therefore, we will leave basic operations to thee. We need to make humans suffer moderately…… That said, we would need to commit a major thing sometime.”

Nighcisa looked away from the glass and moved his gaze to Leonhart. Nighcisa then continued to give orders. That was, 

“A maou must be the incarnation of fear and despair. Therefore, we command Majin Leonhart――Within a year, obliterate a single nation of humans. And it hath to be a major nation.”

“……Hah, certainly.”

Leonhart accepted the order. That wasn’t to say Leonhart felt no ill feeling to that order, but that wasn’t enough to shake his will. 

He has already destroyed many nations many times. What he had to do was just greater in scale. He already resolved himself long ago. 

Not that I could resist to begin with, thought Leonhart inwardly then he heard Nighcisa’s following words. That was,

“We shall participate in this war ourselves. We shall play an active part and engrave the fear of the maou in humanity… Also, we wanted to bring a companion to this war.”  

“Companion, is it?” 

Leonhart asked back. He was asking what Nighcisa meant by companion. However, he soon understood what he meant. 

“There’s a power as maou we haven’t tested yet. We are thinking of testing that today, doth thou mind?” 

“……Majin, is it?”

Hearing that, Nighcisa smiled. 

“Exactly. We would share our own blood and create a faithful subordinate――a majin. Thou art the vassal we trust the most. Other majins are our vassals without a doubt… but everyone is an old member. We feel a little desolate for lacking direct vassals.”

“…I see.” 

Creation of a new majin. Leonhart nodded at Nighcisa’s words that showed such an intention. Seeing Leonhart understand his resolve, Nighcisa continued.

“We would share our own blood. We shall search for candidates personally and select them ourselves. Accompany us.” 

“If that’s the case, I shall prepare immediately. I shall inform my subordinate demon captain and bring a unit right away. Bringing a large amount of troops would slow us down, so it won’t be suitable for exploration.” 

“That’s fine. Fufufu… it’s going to be a good day to commemorate…” 

Nighcisa played with his glass in a good mood and swirled the liquid inside. He then turned his gaze to Leonhart, 

“Well then, let’s hath a pre-celebration――We shall show you how we carve our mark in this world as the maou. That is our ambition.”

“……Then I will do my best to help fulfill that ambition.”

Clink, the sound of glass hitting each other echoed in the room. 

At the same time, the maou and the supreme majin drank the red liquid, and made a vow for the new era.

Only they knew what was in their respective minds.


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