The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Millinia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 34 – Hunty Kalar [A]
At the end of the battle, Hunty Kalar felt death approaching her in her diluted consciousness.
She couldn’t speak anymore. Her trembling, heat, pain, and fatigue couldn’t be felt; she lost all physical sensations.
She didn’t feel any suffering. Even so, there was something she realized. And that was,
…Aah, so this is death…
The thing she felt right now was the omen of death.
It was the same death that claimed her former comrades, best friend, and all creatures that she had met without exception. She thought such a moment would never arrive for her, but it was soon to come.
…Ha-haha… it came sooner than I expected, huh?
Hunty laughed inside her mind as if to ridicule herself, and she apologized while having such an impression.
Hunty ridiculed herself regarding how she failed to live on for her past comrades’ sake and regarding how she failed to avenge her best friend.
She apologized to both of them.
However, Hunty also thought that perhaps somewhere in her heart she wished for the end to come.
Her comrades were long gone, leaving her alone to live on, just as any other humans or other creatures eventually meet their end. Every time she managed to survive, she questioned why the end never arrived for her. She was always worried about that.
And now, it finally came for her.
…Aah, I see.
Hunty understood it now that she was in the face of death.
Regarding the feelings of those who meet their death, Hunty fully understood their emotions now.
Even as she was aware of the trembling in her heart, she bluntly called out the name of that emotion inside her mind.
…Fear, huh?
This feeling was unmistakably fear. Where would she go now? And where was she right now to begin with? Hunty felt the abyss, which only seemed to make it more difficult to understand.
This feeling likely drove those with normal mental fortitude to insanity. She was convinced her former comrade also felt this way.
And it was exactly because she understood this fear, she was convinced the feelings that soon washed over her were also the same.
…I still don’t want to die…
It was nothing special. It was a simple and clear desire that came even for her, who was different from others.
She was regretting and reflecting in her thoughts, “What did I do wrong?”
As expected, doing something reckless like challenging a majin in combat was a major factor in her downfall. Was it a mistake for her to involve herself in human matters despite not being human herself? Should she have simply minded her own business without care?
Or was it like when her comrade died where she—
…Aah, I’m just thinking in circles.
She suddenly interrupted her thought. After all, it made it seem like there was no other way.
…I wonder if my life had any meaning…?
Hunty eventually despaired; she resigned to her fate. It was already too much trouble to just keep thinking.
Therefore, Hunty let go of her consciousness and her life as she fell into darkness.
—At that moment, she felt heat inside her body.
“!!”
Suddenly, she felt something enter into her body.
…This… is… what, hap—?!
The physical sensations of her body returned.
She felt heat and pain; once again she suffered from those unbearable sensations.
At the same time, she felt a foreign object rampage inside her body which made it seem as if her blood vessels were being torn apart. It felt as if her body were being tampered with, which immediately made Hunty struggle.
And then,
“…“
Hunty felt a strong light.
It was a light that centered on her own body, which made her body shine amongst her surroundings.
However, as the light gradually subsided and she opened her eyelids again,
“Eh…?”
Hunty was standing there.
Hunty couldn’t hide her confusion about the changes that happened to her.
Her body became surprisingly light, her wounds had healed, and her fatigue had disappeared.
“What is…?”
She was dying up until a while ago, but now she has completely recovered. She couldn’t feel anything wrong with her.
Not only that, she felt even stronger than her perfect condition earlier. It felt as if she had been reborn.
Was I really reborn? She couldn’t help but have such thoughts. That was how abnormal her current situation was.
“I’m supposed to be dead,” she thought.
She fought the majin who was responsible for her best friend’s death, and was defeated miserably. It wasn’t that long since she collapsed. As expected, not even she could survive being pierced by a sword in the abdomen. She wasn’t that much of an immortal.
And as she tried to check her surroundings,
“It seems you’re alright now.”
“!”
She heard the voice in front of her; It was calm. Hunty recognized the owner of the voice.
It was a blonde man with red eyes, Majin Leonhart. He was the very person she fought against earlier and the reason she was dying. In front of such majin, Hunty was,
“Aah, don’t escape now. I have something important to talk about.”
“! Wha—?!”
The moment she was about to leave using Instant Movement, she stopped. No, that wasn’t accurate; she stopped on her own.
…My body can’t move…!
The moment she heard Leonhart’s words, her body couldn’t move as if being stuck to the ground. Forget using Instant Movement, not even her legs could move.
Also, there was something else. Hunty felt some strange sensation. While she couldn’t put it into words,
…It feels as if I have to obey this man…
She was trapped in such a feeling. Her will was still not surrendered to the majin. That didn’t change even now.
However, her instincts tried to reject such thoughts. It gave her the understanding that it was foolish to defy the majin in front of her.
What the hell is this? No, rather than that…
Hunty was half giving up on escaping as she opened her mouth.
“The thing you want to talk about is…”
“Aah, I’ll tell you the conclusion beforehand—“
Then Leonhart lightly answered.
“—I made you my apostle.”
Hunty couldn’t react immediately to such words.
The only word she was finally able to squeeze out after a while was,
“Hah?”
A short bleat that questioned what he meant.
Apostle. She wondered, “What is he talking about?” She searched out the meaning of those words inside her head, thought about it, and finally came to the realization.
Why did her wounds heal and why had she become stronger? Also, why did her instincts tell her not to defy the man in front of her? That was because…
“You’re telling me you turned me into an apostle?!”
“…That’s what I just said.” Before continuing his explanation to Hunty, who was half-angered, Leonhart muttered, “It can’t be helped if you become confused though.” It was about something she also had knowledge of.
Leonhart continued, “You would’ve been dead if I just left you there, after all. I thought about how to cure it somehow, so I initiated a blood contract—“
“! I don’t care about that!!”
Hunty raised her eyebrows as she raised her voice.
Hunty also knew that due to how long she had lived.
Just like how maou turned other beings into majin, majin could also turn other beings into apostles. It would allow said beings to strengthen the power they already had and become an ageless existence.
This majin could make use of that to heal her. That part was fine. No, it wasn’t, but the more important thing was…
“Why did you turn me into an apostle?!”
She shouted. The important question she had was just that. However, the majin in front of her, Leonhart, responded simply,
“…Let’s see.”
He lightly exhaled and nodded. It was as if he knew such a question would be asked.
No, perhaps he really did know. That was how significant the effect of his actions were. Therefore, he moved his mouth smoothly and lightly.
“Fighting against you is so much fun, after all. It feels wasteful to just kill you here… I guess that’s my reason for doing so.”
She could understand the meaning of his words. However,
“Just because of that… you turned me into an apostle…?”
“If you want more of a reason… then by making you my apostle, I can fight you semi-permanently and I can expect even more growth out of you. It also strengthens the power you have, so it’s pretty much a great deal for me.”
“…”
Hunty couldn’t help but be astonished at the reasons he lined up.
In other words, this majin gave his blood and turned her to an apostle, who was supposed to be a loyal servant of his, for the sole reason of fighting against her.
…This battle maniac is beyond help…
She couldn’t help but have such thoughts. To be honest, his reasons for doing it were unacceptable. Although he looked calmer right now, his fighting spirit was still leaking because of his lingering mood. Perhaps he unconsciously did so as he explained why he turned her into his apostle.
However, Hunty cursed her own destiny. Once again, she recognized the fact that it was true that she turned into his apostle.
…I guess I can only obey him, huh…
To be clear, she already had no way out. Once she turned into an apostle, the relationship could no longer be overturned. Even on the off chance she managed to kill her master, the majin, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t be an apostle anymore.
Besides, majins have absolute command over their apostles. Regardless of how unpleasant the order was, they couldn’t refuse. Hunty was already stuck on that point.
If she were ordered to kill humans or those who were close to her, she had no choice but to obey, even if the command came from the very person who killed her friend.
…I’m sorry.
She apologized to her dead friend inside her heart. Then with some determination, Hunty looked toward Leonhart, the majin in front of her.
“…Then, what should I—“
Do, she meant to complete her sentence.
However,
“Aah, just live as you like.”
“As I like—“
…So I have to live as I like.…Hm?
Hunty doubted her own ears. Did she hear him wrong? She just heard words that came out of Leonhart’s mouth that were unlike that of other majins.
However, it was neither a misunderstanding nor had she heard him wrong. As she was still confused and stopped moving, Leonhart continued his words.
“I think you’ll grow better if I leave you to your own devices. So I won’t force you to do too much… Ah, but it would be bad if we never meet at all, so come visit me at least once a month.”
“Eh… Hah?”
“I don’t particularly mind if you side with humans, but make sure your identity isn’t revealed while doing so. It would be bad for both of us. Ah, also…”
He paused for a moment before continuing his words.
“I just remembered now that we’re talking about humans. The two people you came to help, they’re not dead. My apostle should’ve sent them unharmed to the nearby town by now.”
“…Hah?”
Hunty couldn’t understand his words this time.
However, she somehow digested them. As she was still perplexed and holding on her head,
“…Eh, hm? That’s…”
Once again, she mumbled the question.
“What? Those two… are still alive?”
“…If you don’t believe me, just use your Instant Movement and confirm it yourself. They should be around the nearest town.”
“…Wa-wait a moment.”
As she said that, Hunty vanished.
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