—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Arlon, the Elven King, was both authoritarian and pragmatic.
His authoritarian nature was evident in the way he addressed us.
“Sword Saint, your swordsmanship is said to be the best among humans. But can you maintain that reputation against a race that has lived for hundreds of years?”
Or…
“Golden Lion. You’ve made a name for yourself fighting monsters in the barren lands of Auriga. But you’ve never faced the monsters of the Great Forest.”
He had a knack for weaving insults into his praises. Arlon, just like in the game, was a man filled with arrogance and a superiority complex towards other races.
He was exactly as I remembered. I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about that.
“….”
His attitude towards Emily and Ophelia was the final straw. He didn’t even glance at them, as if they were insignificant humans practicing some barbaric art.
He hadn’t even prepared chairs for them. They had to stand awkwardly until Erwin, unable to bear it any longer, brought them seats. It was a clear sign of disrespect.
Emily, having been warned by Elderian, didn’t seem to mind. But Ophelia… she looked like she was about to explode. I had to pinch her arm repeatedly to keep her from cursing at him.
“And finally, the hero.”
As for his pragmatic nature…
“So, the great hero wishes to marry my great warrior of the Binheim Tribe?”
Marriage.
An unexpected, and unwanted, proposal. Even Erwin, the bride-to-be, was blinking in surprise.
“…Your Majesty? What do you mean…?”
“It’s a good thing. All humans are like insects, but the hero is different. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to create a half-elf settlement in Elvendel.”
“….”
“Erwin is one of our youngest and most beautiful chieftains. She’s a virgin, despite having lived for over a hundred years. She’d be a good match for the hero.”
“…Uh.”
I glanced at Erwin. She was trembling with rage. She clearly hadn’t been consulted. But that wasn’t the problem.
Crack.
The sound of something breaking. Ophelia had clenched her fist so tightly that she had crushed the brooch Emily had given her.
“That… old, pointy-eared bastard…”
“Ophelia, calm down.”
“He’s spouting nonsense!”
“This isn’t your fight.”
“…Ugh.”
I desperately tried to restrain Ophelia and stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, I cannot marry. I have a great task before me, to defeat the Demon King. I have no intention of taking a wife or settling down.”
Arlon shrugged. Marrying into the hero’s family would have been a great advantage for him, but even he couldn’t force the hero to do his bidding.
“Well, if that’s your wish, we’ll have to postpone it.”
“Postpone it?”
“Come to Elvendel after you defeat the Demon King. I’ll have a harem of elves ready for you.”
“Um…”
“Is Erwin not to your liking? Do you prefer a darker complexion? I can summon the dark elves. You’ve been to Nua Dhil; you know how… promiscuous they are.”
“….”
He wasn’t going to give up, was he?
“Elliot.”
“Yes?”
“Should I assassinate him?”
“…Please, just stay quiet.”
The rest of the conversation went as planned. I explained that I intended to defeat the commanders of the Demon King’s army before facing the Demon King himself, and that I needed the help of Erwin and Titania, the elven Mark bearers.
“Indeed, the warriors of the Great Forest are the strongest on the continent.”
Arlon nodded. I was starting to feel hopeful, but then he smiled.
“However, that’s your problem, not ours.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve lived for hundreds of years. I’ve faced two Demon Kings. The Great Forest has always done its part to defeat the Demon King, but the other races have always been… ungrateful.”
“….”
“Pathetic humans. Forgetting their debts after a single generation. How can they call themselves the rulers of the continent? It’s laughable, seeing these short-lived creatures scurry around.”
Arlon fiddled with his pearl necklace, annoyed, and tilted his head.
“So, if you want the Great Forest’s help in defeating the Demon King, you’ll have to prove your worth.”
I knew what was coming next. It was the same as in the game.
“Fortunately, there’s a little… problem you can solve to prove yourself.”
“What is it?”
“A fiend is causing trouble near the border between the Great Forest and the northern Empire.”
A fiend. A human who had been corrupted by miasma and transformed into a monster. I had encountered a few during my mercenary days.
They were tough opponents, and I had lost comrades to them. Fiends were notoriously difficult to defeat in the game as well.
“I’ve sent several of my warriors to deal with him, but they haven’t returned. Find them, and kill the fiend. Or capture him. If you succeed, the Great Forest will offer its full support to your cause.”
Arlon was a pragmatist. He was using me to get rid of a troublesome problem. The marriage proposal was just a smokescreen. He was a cunning old fox.
—-
“That bastard! I’ll kill him!”
Ophelia stomped her feet, furious, after our meeting with the Elven King. She had been holding back for a long time, so I let her vent.
Erwin, her face flushed, was staring out the window.
“Hmph. Old hag.”
Ophelia muttered, and the window frame cracked.
“…Ophelia.”
“What.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
Not by me, but by Erwin.
“…Sorry.”
She finally backed down.
“Anyway…”
Alberich said, trying to diffuse the tension, “We just have to defeat that fiend. Even without the Elven King’s request, a fiend near the Empire’s border is a serious threat. As a knight of the Empire, it’s my duty to eliminate it.”
He was right. The fiend was a difficult opponent in the game. I couldn’t remember its name, but I remembered having to use a lot of items to defeat it.
There were a few strategies, I think. But looking at the people around me… this squad could probably take on a commander of the Demon King’s army. Still, we couldn’t be careless.
“It seems we have no other choice.”
Azar said, and everyone nodded. Ophelia tugged on my sleeve.
“What’s a fiend?”
“….”
Ophelia genuinely didn’t know.
“Did you… sleep through your classes at the Holy City?”
“What do you take me for?”
She grinned.
“Of course I did!”
“….”
A fiend was fundamentally closer to a human than a monster. Of course, it couldn’t think like a human. Its intelligence had regressed, and its physical abilities had been greatly enhanced.
But unlike monsters, which were completely irrational, a fiend could think and reason to some extent. Which meant… it could be controlled.
“Now, raise your arm.”
The fiend, T-800, raised its arm. T-800 was a temporary name, of course. A fitting name for a puppet that couldn’t even remember its own name. The name was from a robot movie I had seen in my original world.
“Haha. The adjustments are complete.”
Daniel, a transmigrator, smiled and activated his stigma. An ominous light glowed, and the fiend stood up. It was a grotesque creature, barely recognizable as human.
A patchwork of flesh, sewn together from the corpses of elves. It had extra arms and legs, and a third eye, taken from an elven ranger, was embedded in its forehead.
I had wanted to add an extra… appendage, but it seemed impractical for combat, so I decided to save it for later. The fiend before him was far more powerful than the original.
“Lord Idmien’s teachings are truly wonderful.”
Transmigrators were forcibly summoned to this world and forced to work for the Demon King. Many, disillusioned, had taken their own lives. To most transmigrators, the Demon King and his commanders were figures of terror.
They would escape if they had the chance. But not Daniel. He loved this game world. He could have anything he wanted. He could see corpses, something he had never seen in real life. He could kill, rape… The ultimate playground.
“Heh.”
It was no different from torturing insects as a child.
A common childhood memory.
And Daniel was convinced that he was still a pure, innocent boy with a child’s heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hi Lord Fourth here!
I’m still new to translating as this is my second novel to pick up, so if you find some mistakes or inconsistencies let me know about it on the dedicated channel on discord.
