Orc Eiyuu Monogatari Sontaku Retsuden

“Mmm…”

“He eliminated one of the main culprits that had been tormenting us for the past few years. And he did it without anyone’s help. If we are true demons, we should speak and act wisely towards those who truly have power.”

The demons grumbled with complex expressions. It was difficult to acknowledge orcs just like this. But there was no doubt that Sequence was right. The crisis was over. The orcs had defeated an opponent that demons had been unable to defeat for the past three years, no matter how hard they tried. Of course, there was a possibility it could return, but for the first time in a long time, they could walk under the sun.

“Well… not all orcs, but at least we must acknowledge the Orc Hero…”

Demons were a noble race. They believed themselves to be supreme beings. But this was only because they were superior in power and wisdom. Because their existence was superior. But what was noble about not recognizing when others were superior?

Sequence was satisfied with the answer and turned to the woman.

“Now, Asmonadia, my daughter.”

“Yes, father?”

“I have already promised to give you to Bash.”

“Well, that’s convenient. But… why?”

“Because I thought you were dead.”

“Though I could have died. If that hero hadn’t saved me in the snowy field.”

The woman, Asmonadia, thought of the events from the other day. It was when she had set out to defeat the dragon with a group of hot-blooded young demons. They believed they could win. Her companions, though young, were skilled. They had all survived the relentless persecution by humans. If they made a backdoor to the dragon’s lair and ambushed it while it slept, they could defeat it, even if it meant a tough battle. That was what they thought.

The result was a cruel defeat. The dragon easily noticed the intrusion of the demons, whose presence had been minimized by its magic, and turned several of them into mincemeat with its enormous body. Every time the dragon swung its claws, every time it sank its fangs, a person died, and then another. All the demons’ magic was repelled by its scales. She realized how foolish she had been to think she could win, even though she was already fighting. Dragons were a special kind of beings.

She decided to retreat when half of them had died. But it was not the right decision. Although she managed to escape the nest, she was trapped in the snowy field, where there was nowhere to hide, and its breath scorched her to a crisp.

As a high demon, she managed to avoid instant death thanks to her high magic resistance, but it was nothing more than a thin layer of life. Filled with pity and apologies among the corpses of the young demons who had believed and followed her. She didn’t want to die like this, but her eyes had melted, her lungs were burning, her muscles were charred, and she couldn’t move, let alone express her will. Then Bash appeared. He sprinkled a bit of his precious fairy dust on Asmonadia and then carried her charred body on his back to Fortress Gije. Taking a risk with the dragon possibly still in the sky, all for her.

“However, sending him a corpse wouldn’t be a token of gratitude. I’m glad you’re alive,” Sequence said.

She wouldn’t forget it. She could never forget that moment of relief when Bash saved her life, nor the warmth of his broad back. She would never forget the debt of gratitude for avenging her friends.

“I will repay my apologies for my foolishness, father. The gratitude of the demons who were saved when he defeated the dragon, and the favor of my life that would have been lost to the dragon and was only awaiting death.”

“Mm,” Sequence nodded deeply at his daughter’s words.

“Then, I’ll leave immediately.”

Asmonadia, the last daughter of the general, Sequence, the Dark General, left the conference room. She set off in the same direction as Bash, the Orc Hero. It would be a tough journey. Because of the dragon, they had almost cut off relations with the rest of the world, but that didn’t change the fact that humans were still too cautious of demons. And if the men from Poplatica, who had left earlier, were causing trouble, they could only shrug it off. But Sequence was confident that his daughter would pass the test and marry Bash. After all, Bash, the Orc Hero had already walked a similar path, and there was no reason why his future demon wife couldn’t do the same.

Their union would improve the status of orcs as a race. Just as the Orc Hero had hoped.

Sequence looked around the meeting room again. The demons were perplexed to know that the dragon had flown away. They didn’t know what to do with their good luck and the fact that they were much more vulnerable than orcs. And then they looked out of the window at the dragon-less blue sky. There were so many things they had planned to do once the dragon was gone. The demons would be busy from now on.

“We missed out on Bash’s heroic tale,” Sequence’s mouth curved up naturally as he thought about the anecdotes that would happen in the future to the hero who had left without a word of gratitude.