Chapter 159: Chapter 157: After the battle

“This is a seed, huh? Smaller than I expected.”

As I walked the path toward Ardius Fortress, I finished consuming the disappointing fruit that had no taste and then examined the remaining seed. It had the same spherical shape as the fruit, about the size of a circle made with my thumb and index finger. Its color was a caramel hue, and its smooth surface sparkled in the sunlight.

Was this the seed that the cursed tree produced, or perhaps the seed the god who cast the curse intended to leave behind? Its appearance was surprisingly ordinary, and I didn’t sense any special power within it. However, I believe it must hold the potential to eventually reach the level of a god given enough time.

I contemplated how to handle this seed. Entrusting it to someone else would be easy. Even if they didn’t believe my story, Master had surely heard the telepathic communication between me and the cursed tree. If it came from Master, there was a high likelihood of it being trusted. Through Master, it would undoubtedly find its way to a suitable guardian.

But can I even resist the temptation to study the seed left behind by the tree that killed a god? If someone like Orvo, who acted on curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, were to get their hands on it, they would undoubtedly take risks to use it for research. That was absolutely unacceptable. I didn’t want to repay the debt of saving my life by allowing such recklessness.

Master and I witnessed the power of the tree with our own eyes, so we had no intention of doing anything foolish. Lady Altissia, who had been watching over us, probably wouldn’t entertain any strange ideas either. Entrusting it to her might be a good option.

“Ugh… this place…?”

“Oh! The little rascal’s awake!”

“Ugh… Stop it, old man. It hurts.”

While contemplating what to do with the seed, it seemed that Jude, who I was carrying on my back, had regained consciousness. Perhaps his mind still wasn’t functioning well, as he looked around with blurred eyes.

Master, however, slapped Jude’s back vigorously. He was probably happy that Jude had woken up, but Master had a poor sense of restraint. Jude winced in pain, and I could feel the shock too, making it difficult to walk. Please, master, stop.

“What happened to the enemy… that damn bastard…”

“Don’t worry! We had unexpected help, and my disciple and I took care of him perfectly!”

“Damn it… My achievement…! Lemme’ go”

However, it seemed he quickly assessed his situation. Once he realized he was being carried on my back, he kicked off and jumped down. Hey. It didn’t hurt, but after I went through the trouble of carrying him this far, his attitude was uncalled for, wasn’t it?

“Youngster, I’m aware that you had your contract terminated due to killing a demon of the Empire. But taking it out on my disciple is childish behavior.”

Perhaps displeased with this attitude, Master scolded Jude in an unusual display of anger; his voice was low and it carried a hint of frustration. In response, Jude merely clicked his tongue and turned away.

I had been curious about why Jude, a member of the mercenary group known as the “Dawn of Fangs”, was freelancing at a time when intense battles were raging on every front. The reason seemed to be Jude’s act of killing an imperial demon, much like me.

Imperial demons were the Empire’s assets, essentially its property. Causing unnecessary harm or loss to them without proper justification was tantamount to picking a fight with the Empire.

For the Empire, which had established a mass production system for demons, losing a few demons wasn’t a significant loss. However, ignoring it would tarnish the Empire’s reputation. In essence, the Empire would be seen as weak.

The Empire, which reveres the Emperor as an absolute authority, tends to be highly concerned about honor and dignity. “Dawn of Fangs” is one of the top mercenary groups on the continent, but they would readily terminate contracts with such an organization without hesitation if they caused trouble. By displaying this resolute attitude, they uphold the Empire’s prestige. The official story is likely that they were expelled as a demonstration.

“…Is this Marcellus’s doing?”

“Huh~! Don’t you dare speak that name again, you mutant bastard!”

Jude, who had turned away, turned to glare at me with even more intensity when he heard my murmured words. As I suspected, there seemed to have been some conflict involving Marcellus.

Marcellus, who had risen through the ranks due to his military achievements, was now the commander of the “Demon Regiment” which included the Empire’s demons. However, despite his promotion, Marcellus’s personality hadn’t changed. He was one of the few individuals who didn’t discriminate against demons, including us, and recognized each of us as individuals.

Having climbed the ranks and gained a bit of power, Marcellus made sincere efforts to improve the overall environment for all of us demons. Thanks to Marcellus’s initiatives, the supply of food within the Empire increased, and when selecting commanders for the regiment, the Empire’s soldiers tried to choose individuals who harbored no discriminatory views against demons.

Well, it wasn’t perfect, especially when it came to commanders for a unit like ours, “Special Operations”, who had come to the “Demon Regiment” through connections with Karelvo. There was a prevailing attitude that looking down on demons was only natural. But we knew of his efforts, and above all, Marcellus was a comrade to us. The members of the Special Operations unit generally held favorable feelings towards him…. Although one of them seemed to have more than just favorable feelings for him.

Drawing on the Empire’s penchant for maintaining its dignity, the strategy of preventing harm to demons without reason was something I had heard from him before. Jude, who had killed a demon, was the perfect candidate to use this strategy.

I didn’t know whether Jude understood Marcellus’s true intentions, but the fact remained that he had been driven away from the Empire thanks to Marcellus’s efforts. It was essentially a case of misplaced resentment, as Jude was the one who had killed a demon in the first place.

However, from Jude’s perspective, who didn’t consider demons as an equal race, it must have felt unjust. I wished he wouldn’t take out his frustration on me as Master suggested, but the fact remained that there were no other demons in front of him, and I had indeed said something unnecessary. I decided to avoid provoking him further.

“Seriously, after being carried all this time, your attitude… Don’t you have a humble heart to repay favors, youngster?”

“Shut up. You smell like a preacher, old man.”

“Hmph. I’d still be better than an idiotic youngster who knows nothing of courtesy.”

Jude glared at me and Master as if we were arch-enemies, and Master snorted in disdain at Jude’s attitude. It was an attitude that made it hard to believe we had fought shoulder-to-shoulder not too long ago. We entered the fortress with a tense atmosphere still hanging in the air.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

“We had quite the battle, boss.”

“Me too.”

I entered the fortress with Master and Jude, but since the fortress had already been secured and was being used by soldiers from the central front and mercenaries, I was ordered to wait outside. When they told me this in front of the fortress gate, Master looked disappointed, while Jude had a smug expression on his face. There was a stark contrast between the two.

However, I didn’t feel the significance of entering an empty fortress without my comrades. I was far more delighted to reunite with my friends after a long time. After bowing to Master alone, I joined my comrades at the location where they had set up their tents.

My comrades welcomed me back with smiles, but immediately afterward, they were surprised to see that my tail was missing. It had been cut off while I was helping Jude… Should I have just left him to die? Whether I abandoned him at that moment or not, the outcome probably wouldn’t have changed.

I was worried about my comrades, who were also battered and bruised. Skilled individuals like Tigar had only minor injuries, but many had blood-stained bandages wrapped around them. And there were a few who were nowhere to be seen.

Sadly, it seemed they had fallen in battle. Their remains had already been cremated as a precaution against disease, so I offered my prayers for their souls over the collected ashes my comrades had saved.

“It never gets any easier when we lose someone.”

“It’s not meant to get easier. Well, it might be easier if you get used to it, but…we’ve been told not to forget for generations.”

“As long as we remember them, they’ll live on within us. To honor their memory, we must continue to live to the fullest.”

Tigar and Zald offered comforting words to ease my troubled thoughts. Not forgetting, huh? I had to live for a century, and during that time, perhaps they would continue to exist within me. That thought brought me some comfort.

As I was thinking about this, I felt a playful nudge on my tail. My compound eyes were also in the back of my head, so I could naturally tell who the culprit was without even looking.

“Lappy, what’s wrong?”

“Mhmm… your tail’s gone. I wanted to play…”

“Be patient for a while, Lappy. Didn’t you hear Sharl’s words? It’ll take some time to heal.”

As for my tail, Sharl believed it could be restored to its original state. It was only possible due to the regenerative abilities of a demon and Sharl’s spiritual arts, so I was relieved to know that it could be healed.

However, repairing the damaged part would take some time. It seemed it would be restored before our next battle, but until then, my combat capabilities would remain diminished. Still, Lappy seemed quite dissatisfied that she couldn’t play with my tail. I apologized and asked her to bear with it for a little while.

“Didn’t I send you some dried fruits with sand spiritual arts? Can you endure a bit longer for that?”

“…Those were delicious. Alright, I’ll endure.”

Saying so, Lappy settled herself on my lap. She, too, bore her share of wounds. Thin scars crisscrossed her arms and legs.

The wounds were nothing more than minor scratches that would fade if left alone, leaving no lasting scars. Nonetheless, I urged everyone to be cautious. Lappy was becoming a formidable member of the special operations squad, but her small figure meant that serious injuries could still be life-threatening.

“We’ve survived…! We actually survived!”

“Ugh…I thought I was going to die so many times…”

“I don’t want to… not anymore…”

The three little newcomers, who had faced intense battles in their first combat, were all still alive. Julius and Ariel hugged each other, celebrating the fact that they were still among the living. However, Bolts remained face down, muttering to himself as he seemed to be trying to escape from reality.

Bolts, in particular, needed emotional support; otherwise, his mental state might crumble. I knew I would need to discuss this with Tigar, Zald, and Asumi later.

Right now, though, we couldn’t do that because Asumi was sleeping. She had overused her spiritual power and had fallen into a deep sleep to recover. It would be cruel to wake her up at this point.

“Master, there’s someone here claiming to be a friend of yours…” Mika said.

“A friend?”

While I was playing with Lappy and listening to my comrades’ tales of valor, Mika, sporting an unusually troubled expression, leaned in to whisper something to me. The reason he looked like that was understandable since I didn’t have any friends or acquaintances to speak of.

“Yo! Long time no see!”

“You… Oh, I remember now. You’re the soldier who brought me food before.”

“Exactly! You remember!”

Casually calling out from behind Mika was the soldier who had delivered rations to me during my first battle as a demon. Several years had passed since that time, but his appearance hadn’t changed at all, so I recognized him immediately.

The soldier lightly patted my shoulder while laughing. He was carrying a large backpack, and with a grunt, he placed it on the ground. The sound it made upon impact indicated that it was quite heavy. I wonder what could be inside.

“It’s a treat from Mr. Alexander for all of you!”

“…It’s not alcohol, is it?” I asked.

“Haha! No, no! I heard there are kids here, so it’s just regular food.”

From the backpack, he pulled out an abundance of fresh ingredients. While it wouldn’t be enough to fill everyone to the brim, it was definitely a significant upgrade from our usual meals. My comrades’ eyes gleamed with excitement, and Mika, who was skilled in cooking, eagerly rolled up his sleeves.

With the battle temporarily over, it seemed like indulging in a good meal today wouldn’t bring any punishment. I joined my smiling comrades in preparing for the feast.