Instead, they shivered violently on Bash’s shoulder, clad in the fur of an animal they’d hunted along the way.

In fact, Zell was practically wrapped around Bash’s neck in an attempt to absorb his body heat.

“Oh, Boss, your neck is so warm and steamy…”

If the renowned fairy warrior Zell happened to see another of their kin shivering and carrying on like this, no doubt a torrent of sharp-tongued abuse would ensue. You aren’t worthy of being called a fairy! You bring shame to the entire race! You’re a disgrace to the local community! …That’s what Zell would usually say.

But even the great Zell had no choice but to shiver and cower inside furs in a land like this one.

Or perhaps Zell would spin it a different way. Observe the adaptability of the fairy race, Zell might say.

But ironically, Zell’s very behavior at present was a clear sign that little adaptability was on display.

For even the great Zell was no match for this cold.

“Right.”

As for Bash… As an orc, he was resilient against both intense heat and bone-chilling cold. He was pretty much A-OK.

Of course, he could feel the cold. That was why he, too, was wrapped in furs. If fairies are like flowers, then perhaps orcs are like those little weeds that grow in the cracks between tiles.

“But, Boss, where the heck is the demon town? I mean, I’ve never been here before myself, but I would’ve expected to run into someone by now…? It’s weird! Don’t you think it’s weird? Not one trace! Maybe the demons were wiped out a long time ago?!”

“Not likely. They’re a stubborn bunch.”

For the past few days, the two had been wandering around, searching for the demon town, but they hadn’t been able to find any sign of life, let alone a town.

In fact, in this vast snowy plain, it was almost impossible to sight any living creatures at all.

At night, you might see some deer and foxes. Maybe a polar bear.

But for some reason, almost nothing roamed during the day.

Probably most of the creatures here were nocturnal…but there was something strange about the creatures they saw at night. It was hard to make out, but they seemed to move…in an odd, slow way…

Like maybe they were creatures that were actually active during the day but were being forced to stay awake at night instead.

“…!”

Maybe that was what gave them both the feeling that something was off.

And thanks to that, Bash was able to move at the slightest hint of something being wrong…

“Pleurgh!”

Bash had just suddenly plunged headfirst into the snow, filling Zell’s open mouth with a load of frost.

Bash burrowed into the snow, shoving it aside, then made a hole with his finger in the crust, just large enough to look out from with one eye.

“…Gack, I just inhaled a lungful of snow! Ack, I’m frozen! Wh-wh-what did you do that for?”

“Quiet. Look.”

Zell clamped their fairy lips shut at Bash’s imperious command, then zipped into the hole Bash had made, peeking out.

“Whoa…”

Zell recoiled instantly.

It was up in the sky.

Floating through the clouds… Just as casual as taking a stroll.

If Zell had been flying around earlier, then the fairy no doubt would have noticed it much sooner.

It stood out against the environment even from afar, its red scales glittering in the sunlight. The flapping of its gigantic wings was almost audible, even from here.

It wasn’t hiding itself at all. In fact, it almost seemed to be flaunting itself… The habit of a creature with no known predators.

“A dragon…”

The most powerful creature on the continent of Vastonia.

“…”

Even noisy Zell fell silent upon beholding the dragon.

An instinctive fear had taken hold.

It was the same for Bash.

Buried in the snow, he looked up at the sky, clenched his molars together, and gripped the hilt of his sword.

“…It’s gone.”

When the dragon was no longer in sight, Bash crawled out of the snow.

He scanned the entire sky several times and then took a deep breath.

“So this area is a dragon’s habitat, huh, Boss…?”

“Seems so.”

“Wow… Just look at me, I can’t stop trembling…”

Zell had been shivering even more ever since seeing the flying beast.

It wasn’t the cold. It was fear.

“Yeah…”

As for Bash, although he was wary of the dragon, he was still his usual composed self.

“You’re a dragon slayer after all! I guess you’re not scared of dragons in the slightest, eh, Boss?”

“I wouldn’t say that. Fear is still a factor.”

“You say that, but you’ve beaten a dragon before! Excessive modesty is poison to the body! Come on, tell me! Say you’re not scared of dragons! In fact, say that if a dragon saw you, it’d tremble with fear and pee its pants! I want you to reassure me, Boss!”

“I’ll say the words if it would make you feel better, but to a dragon, I’m no more than a caterpillar. It wouldn’t tremble at the sight of me.”

Bash had no intention of lying or joking about this.

Even the bravest warriors have fears.

Bash wasn’t immature. He wouldn’t deny it.

If it came to a fight, he’d summon all his strength and charge forward, trembling and unleashing his war cry. But that didn’t mean that he’d ever underestimate a dragon.

It was true that Bash had defeated a dragon once before, but that didn’t change the fact that this creature stood at the pinnacle of all life on this continent.

A single victory over a dragon meant nothing against this immutable truth.

It was still a fact that a dragon could reduce hundreds of orcs to ashes in an instant.

Of course, Bash would fight if necessary, and win.

Prepared or not… A fearsome beast was still just as fearsome.

“If you fought that dragon right now, do you think you could win?”

“No. There’s no way to deal with a beast like that in this barren, snowy plain. Unless we had some means to drag it down to earth.”

“Well, I don’t have anything like that! So that being the case, I guess we’d better make sure it doesn’t spot us.”

It was too risky to walk across the snowy plains unprotected. Dragons have good eyesight.

Luckily, they hadn’t been spotted yet over the last few days. If they had been, they would have been reduced to ashes by now.

“So this is why there are no living creatures during the day.”

“During daylight, it’s the dragon’s domain, huh, Boss…?”

“Then we wait until night.”

“That’s right. If we act carelessly, we’ll get spotted and roasted for sure!”

Zell nodded, still wrapped around Bash.

Neither Bash nor Zell was particularly fond of night sneaking. Still, there was no choice. Right now, daylight was more dangerous. At night, they could move in relative safety.

“Anyway, right now we just want to locate the town as fast as we can… Though since we’re not having any luck even after this much searching, I’d settle for finding some sort of beast’s den. The magical beasts around here seem to make their nests in places where they can easily hide from dragons, so it’d be good to use one of their nests as a scouting base, right, Boss?”

“So we hunker down, then.”

One eye on the direction in which the dragon had gone, Bash rearranged some snow to form a snow cave around them and then sat down cross-legged.

Then he closed his eyes.

If they were to work at night, then they had some free time on their hands.

Bash could work for days without rest, but when the opportunity for a break presented itself, he was wise enough to take a load off.

“Hmm…?”

However, a familiar sound reached Bash’s ears.

The sound of many people fighting.

Battle cries and shouts.

Then, a few seconds later… A sound he’d only heard once before in his life.

A loud roar that rattled the bones. The roar of a dragon. A dragon whose breath could tear the ground asunder.

It was the sound of a battle.

By the time Bash arrived on the scene, the battle was already over.

The ground was littered with corpses.

There were about ten of them sprawled on the ground.

Half of them were charred. The others had severed limbs.

The dragon appeared in the distant sky, and it was clear that it had something in its mouth.

Someone. And they were alive. Even with the dragon’s fangs piercing their body, the person was still flailing their arms around.

But for all the signs of life they were exhibiting, the individual’s fate had already been decided.

They would either be ripped to shreds in the air or taken back to the nest and devoured…

Bash waited until the dragon was out of sight before carefully approaching the bodies.

They had more or less become charcoal.

The ground, now devoid of snow, had been scorched black, with little fires still flickering here and there.

The corpses blended in against the charred ground.

“They actually tried to fight a dragon with less than a dozen people…?”

Bash muttered to himself as he counted the bodies.

Most were dismembered, but judging by the number of total limbs, there were less than ten of them altogether.

Even if they’d started fighting somewhere other than here, and these were all who had made it this far… There couldn’t have been more than twenty to start with.

No matter how hard they tried, they weren’t strong enough to defeat a dragon.

Would any intelligent demon be so foolish as to fight a dragon with this few warriors?

It was possible that they’d been ambushed while traveling, but it was hard to imagine that someone native to this area would so carelessly venture out into dragon territory.

If it was such a safe place, Bash and Zell would have encountered a demon or two long ago.

“Boss, the footprints appear to lead from the mountains.”

Bash lifted his head and looked. Yes, he could certainly see traces in the snow showing where the demons had come from.

Footprints leading up the mountain.

Then it made sense to assume they’d fought the dragon with a larger number of troops to start off, lost that battle, retreated, and were then pursued.

“Ah! Boss! One of them’s still breathing!”

Zell gasped in the act of zooming around the scene.

Bash headed over to find a person whose entire body was charred but who was still gasping for air.

Their eyes were open, eyeballs unburnt… But it was hard to tell if they were conscious or not.

It was impossible to discern the race, let alone whether it was male or female. But they must have had a very high resistance to magic since they hadn’t been instantly killed by the dragon’s breath. So it had to be either a demon or an elf. But an elf seemed unlikely. Must have been a high-ranking demon.

In any case, Bash looked up at Zell and issued a command.

“Help them.”

“Got it!”

Zell scattered fairy dust all over.

Fairy dust, whiter than snow, with an occasional glint of gold, went for a hefty price at trade. But now Zell was scattering it with abandon.

But the injury was… Considerable. Even with fairy dust, a full recovery was impossible. Merely the charred outer layer of skin cracked into pieces and fell off.

Yes, the entire outer skin layer had been turned to carbon.

But underneath, new skin was being generated.

“Can you save them?”

“I don’t know, Boss. Maybe. Demons have a lot of life force, so I’d wager they’ll squeak through.”

If they did survive, no doubt the burns would eventually heal and the skin would return to normal within a week.

But it was also possible that they’d die before the skin could completely regenerate.

Fairy dust couldn’t reanimate corpses.

Bad luck. That’s all.

That kind of thing happens quite often.

“The others are dead for sure, Boss.”

“I see. Then let’s hide before the dragon returns.”

There was presently no sign of the dragon returning.

Once the dragon had bested its enemy and fed, there would be little reason for it to stick around.

But there was also little point in trying to figure out the motivations of such an unusual creature anyway.

The best thing to do would be to get away quickly.

“Ah, Boss! There are rocks over there! It might be easier to find a place to hide there!”

“Got it!”

And so Bash and Zell carried away the half-dead survivor and made for the rocks.

Bash and Zell found a rocky area with a cave where they could hide from the dragon. They killed the magical beast that dwelled there and waited for nightfall.

The entrance, with thick icicles hanging down, was easily visible from the ground but would be difficult to see from the air.

After all, this cave was the nest of a magical beast.

Like orcs and fairies, magical beasts are equally afraid of dragons.

And it would be even truer for the magical beasts that inhabited this area.

In that case, the dragon would not be finding this cave.

After waiting for the sun to go down, Bash and Zell crawled out of the hole and began scouting the surroundings.

The person he’d saved earlier was strapped to Bash’s back.

Outside, things were unexpectedly bright.

A huge full moon asserted its presence in the sky, its light reflecting off the snow and casting a faint glow underfoot.

Orcs aren’t a race with particularly good low-light vision, but Bash’s eyes had adapted to the darkness of the cave.

Additionally, there was a glowing light source (in the form of a fairy) nearby, so he could get a fairly good view of his surroundings.

With it being this bright…you might think there would be no point in waiting until night. But dragons weren’t nocturnal.

So things were fine.

“It’s pretty well-populated out here.”

“That’s true. This is what happens in areas with dangerous predators. I mean, the forests where the elves live are quiet at night, aren’t they? They go out hunting at night.”

“That’s right.”

In the night landscape covered in snow and ice, they could see many creatures on the rocks that hadn’t been about during the day.

There were feathered lizards, quadrupeds covered in bristles, and round, furry creatures that could have been either mammals or insects walking around freely.

When the nameless creatures saw Bash, they scurried away as fast as they could.

“Well then, Boss, I’ll go take a look.”

“Yeah.”

Zell took off as Bash watched.

Scouting at night is a risky operation for a glowing fairy, but neither Bash nor Zell paid it much heed. It was something they’d done countless times since the war.

And anyway, conducting reconnaissance in a place like this during the day would be much riskier.

Also…

They were sure they’d have better luck searching at night.

It was a hunch, yes. But a hunch born of what they’d already figured out from experience.

The dragon flew by day.

Bash hid, Zell hid, the magical beasts hid.

Now the magical beasts that roamed in the night had fled to hide upon spotting Zell and Bash.

This indicated the existence of people who hunted magical beasts at night.

Bipedal creatures similar to orcs…

Which had to mean…

“Boss! Over there!”

“Right.”

On Zell’s signal, Bash set off.

It was visible beyond the rocks and over a hill.

A building, constructed on the edge of the cliff, resembling a giant castle. There were fires burning and signs of people milling about.

A town.

There was indeed a town there, magically crafted so that it couldn’t be spotted during the day.

“Is that the Gije Fortress…?”

The “Unimpregnable” Gije Fortress.

The fortress that was never once attacked during the war… Right there in front of them now.

2

THE GIJE FORTRESS

A fortress shrouded in mystery.

The location has little strategic value. The rumors say that when Geddigs ascended the throne and began construction, some of the demon leaders stood in opposition against it and were swiftly disposed of. This earned Geddigs the title of “King Fool”…for a short time.

It remains a mystery as to why he was so adamant about building his fortress here, of all places.

The nickname this fortress had during the war indicates its pointlessness.

“The Unimpregnable Fortress.”

Since there was no point in attacking it… There was no way it could ever be overthrown. Its weakness was, in fact, its strength.

Even the orcs used to make a mockery of this fortress.

(…It’s of sturdier construction than I’d thought.)

Bash had expected it to be rickety. However, it was actually quite well built. Comparable to other demon fortresses.

The fortress was built along the mountainside, behind three interconnected walls that were high and thick, and the entrances were not conspicuous. The walls were reinforced with black rock and black steel, and they had a faint glow, like they’d been infused with some kind of magic.

Bash didn’t know much about magic, but he’d seen walls enchanted with similar protective magic before.

The walls could nullify the effects of the mass attack spells of the elves and repel the log-like bolts fired from the dwarves’ siege cannons.

The walls Bash had once seen were magically reinforced along only a small portion of their length, but the Gije Fortress walls seemed reinforced all along. It might be safe to say that it was the most solidly built fortress Bash had ever seen.

“Halt.”

Standing at the entrance to the fortress were two demons.

A lesser demon with brown skin.

And a male… Unfortunately.

A checkpoint. Bash always seemed to encounter a checkpoint when entering a new country, and it seemed to be no different here.

“We’ve been expecting you, orc. What is it you want, entering alone?”

Expecting him? Bash’s features rearranged themselves like a question mark.

But demons were always smug like that. Acting like they knew everything about the comings and goings of other races.

But some orcs believed the demons had the power of precognition.

Though they hadn’t been able to predict losing the war, had they? …So other, more sensible orcs would snicker.

“Brother, there is a fairy, too…”

“Fool! We do not count fairies as people. That is not how we are taught.”

“Ha-ha-ha. Then perhaps one person and one insect?”

“Insects do not count, either.”

The two gatekeepers looked at Bash and Zell with grins on their faces.

There wasn’t outright tension in the air… But there was a vague aura of condescension emanating from the demons.

“So what’s the deal, orc? What business do you have in our dying paradise?”

“Come on, Brother. You can’t go asking him that.”

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Think. Few reasons would bring an orc to a place like this. He must have been driven out of his home, persecuted in every country until he wound up here, starving and destitute.”

“Hey! Quit talking like our land is some sort of…garbage dump.”

“It practically is a garbage dump now!”

“Oh, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Bash ignored their jeers and dumped his cargo on the ground.

“Hey! I just said it’s not a garbage dump… What is that?”

“I picked them up on the way here. They’re injured.”

The gatekeepers trailed off, peering down at the thing neither of them had noticed until just now.

It was dark out, and hard to see much of anything, but the cargo looked like a person… In fact, it was a person, wasn’t it?

A person… Carbonized.

“What in the world?! Are they—”

“—Alive? Yes. Burned by a dragon on the snowy plains. There were others… But only this one survived.”

“There’s no way… the extermination force… Insane…! Then that means they’ve all been wiped out…”

The gatekeepers’ faces changed color.

Their calm expressions from before were gone, their voices now high with desperation.

“They’ve been completely turned into charcoal! We can’t even identify them! Get a stretcher! Call for the medical staff! Hurry!”

“Yes, Brother!”

With those words, one of the gatekeepers ran off.

“We sprinkled fairy dust on them. They won’t die. You don’t need to dash around like that.”

Bash shrugged, and the remaining gatekeeper blinked and peered more closely again at him and Zell.

Yes, with fairy dust, someone could be kept alive, even in this terrible of a state.

Fairy dust was powerful healing stuff.

“…Ahem, it seems you’ve helped one of our own. I am grateful. I should also apologize for my rudeness earlier. You have done a great kindness in helping a demon warrior. I would like to give you a reward, but unfortunately, I don’t have anything on me right now.”

His words hadn’t changed much from before, but the tone of his voice no longer contained the tang of obvious contempt. The demons were a race that could be gracious when it suited them.

“And thank you, fairy. It was generous of you to sprinkle your precious powder on our brethren.”

At this, Zell unwound themselves from around Bash’s neck, emerged from the folds of his scarf, and perched on his shoulder at full attention.

“Well, of course! As you can see, we are veteran warriors who have been through countless battles. If we see a wounded soldier, we carry them to safety in the time it takes you demons to finish eating breakfast and take your morning shit! Anyway, we fairies don’t actually shit, so we have plenty of leeway! And incidentally, I think you ought to show a little more gratitude! Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with here? I’ll have you know that… ACHOO!”

Zell sneezed loudly in mid-speech, then retreated inside Bash’s scarf, shivering. Though the fairy hadn’t finished talking, the gatekeeper was now smiling coldly.

The demons have a lot of sayings about fairies, too.

One went as thus: “If you listen to the words of a fairy, first your ears become full of air, then your mouth becomes full of air, and eventually your head itself becomes full of air, and then it’ll float right off your neck.”

In short, if you keep listening to fairy nonsense, you’ll eventually die.

So the gatekeeper turned to Bash.

“Excuse me, orc. In that case, let me ask again. Who are you, and where are you from? For what purpose have you come here? According to the reports, you didn’t come via the bridge, but…?”

“I am the Orc Hero Bash. I come in search of a certain something.”

That was Bash’s line, but to be honest, he didn’t have high hopes.

I mean, these were demons after all.

Judging from his brown skin, the gatekeeper was likely a lesser demon, a lower-ranked member of the species. But even a lesser demon still outranked an orc.

The demons laughed in the very face of orcs.

“The Orc Hero…? You mean…the Dragon Decapitator…?”

However, the gatekeeper’s reaction was unexpected.

“How dare you try to fool me, you wretched orc?! We all know how much the title of Hero means to you orcs! Now I know we’d all like to be heroes, but you can’t go around making false claims! Don’t you at least want to cling to the last scraps of pride you people have left…?”

“I am not lying. I swear it on the Orc King himself.”

The demon’s eyes widened at those words, and he looked at Bash with intense scrutiny.

“You really are the Dragon Decapitator!”

Though the demons did not know Bash’s face, they knew what it meant to swear on the name of the Orc King.

Only a select few orcs would be capable of uttering those words.

It wasn’t something an orc could casually lie about.

Claiming to be the Orc Hero, though… Well, it was frowned upon, yes, but could still be forgiven as mere wishful thinking.

“Then what is it that you are looking for?”

“I cannot say…but I have a letter from the Human Prince Nazar, for Sequence, the Dark General.”

Those words caused the gatekeeper to stiffen.

The name of the Human Prince Nazar had reached even the demon country.

The prince of humans, who defeated the Demon Lord Geddigs. A brave warrior who had dominated the subsequent battles between humans and demons. His continued wins had made him a figure of terror in the hearts of all demons.

Of course, demons aren’t particularly afraid of normal humans.

Still, it was better to be cautious… But then the gatekeeper relaxed.

For, as he recalled, was it not the prince himself who had ended the war and proposed peace?

“…I understand. In that case, and as we are in your debt, I will personally guide you to Sequence, the Dark General.”

“That would be helpful.”

Thus, Bash and Zell followed the demon gatekeeper and entered the town at night.

The demon stronghold was built to endure.

Like any fortress worth its salt, it was built to facilitate long-term survival within its walls.

Yes, the demon fortress was built for holdout defense. Quite different from the fortresses of the ogres, whose motto is “Short-term battles or bust,” and those of the succubi and harpies, who didn’t have to worry much about defense since they had the power of flight.

Humans built similar fortresses, and would probably just take it as a given… But actually, the fortresses built by those belonging to the Coalition of Seven all have their own unique characteristics, depending on the race. And the demons’ fortresses were particularly notable for their strong defense.

“I’ve heard rumors about it, but to me, it just looks like an ordinary fortress. I wonder why Lord Geddigs built one in a place like this? Maybe he was planning to make this the demon capital once the war was over, huh, Boss?”

“I don’t know. But there are houses. Maybe he intended it for habitation.”

Inside the Gije Fortress were row upon row of stone houses.

Of course, this is common in demon strongholds.

The buildings were constructed along wide steps cut into the hillside, with the gaps between them kept very narrow. Then barricades were built, forming a crude sort of maze. This made it easy to slow the enemy’s advance.

Buildings can act as obstacles to hinder enemy advances. Better to build useful homes, then, rather than just plain walls.

Thus, the demon stronghold was a city in itself.

Bash had visited demon fortresses a few times and remembered them as being far more advanced and lively than you might imagine from the outside.

But the Gije Fortress could hardly be described as lively. With the sun already long set, the houses were dark and quiet, though there were a few scattered lights burning here and there.

The houses felt occupied, but there was hardly anyone out on the streets.

The occasional person passing by walked with their hood pulled low over their eyes, as if to hide their face.

A dark town, with a murky atmosphere.

But unlike the succubus country, the people did not seem to be living in desperation.

Still, there was a sludge-like sense of stagnation… A collective sigh of resignation in the air, perhaps.

“Hmm.”

Suddenly, a woman came to pass by Bash and the others.

A woman with blue skin and horns on either side of her head. She had sharp eyes and moved smoothly as she walked.

Even through her winter gear, her voluptuous figure was clearly visible. Bash particularly noted the indescribably fragrant scent that was unique to demon women. To demons, it was nothing special, but to an orc, it was as fragrant as a meadow in spring.

“…Hmm.”

She glanced at Bash, then quickly looked away and passed him by.

Bash stopped and turned to face her.

The woman turned around, as if sensing Bash’s gaze, but then quickly turned her face away and walked on.

“Huh. She didn’t say anything, eh, Boss?”

“No.”

It was unexpected.

If it had been wartime and he’d encountered a demon woman like he had just now, she no doubt would have said something scathing to him. Something like, Stay away from me, you filthy orc! Or What are you doing here, orc trash? And who gave you permission to even look at me, hmm?

Or if the woman had been in a particularly bad mood, she might have blasted him with magic.

Or perhaps torn Zell’s fairy wings and limbs off, shrieking with fury.

Some demons saw fairies as no more than flying bugs.

That was the kind of race demons were.

Noble and arrogant. Entitled and supercilious. When they saw a member of a race they considered inferior, they couldn’t help but admonish them. That’s just how they were.

But the demon woman just now had simply passed by in silence.

Maybe if Bash called out, she would stop again… Though her reaction might be harsher the second time.

“It may be just as Nazar said.”

“There’s hope here after all, eh, Boss?!”

Yes, Nazar had said so…

Even high-ranking demons would stop and listen to the words of the Orc Hero.

Bash had been skeptical at first, but seeing the demon woman actually pass by without even one word of abuse… It was starting to make him a believer.

Although, it wasn’t like she’d smiled or anything.

“Is something wrong, orc?”

“Um… Well. She didn’t say anything to me.”

“…We demons are not so arrogant. We understand our present situation.”

The gatekeeper muttered moodily and then walked on.

Bash took this to mean that even a demon would not be disrespectful to the Orc Hero. He certainly owed Nazar one.

For it seemed to be exactly as he had said. In which case, it might indeed be possible for Bash to take a demon woman as his bride.

His chances might be slim, but they weren’t zero. If the odds weren’t zero, then it was worth fighting. After all, Bash was a proud orc warrior.

“No wonder the war was lost.”

Humans were…frightening. Their astute ability to assess a situation was indeed astounding.

That was what led Bash to make this comment.

“What?”

But the gatekeeper gnashed his teeth and glared at Bash.

“Did you just…mock us demons?”

“No.”

“Right! The boss would never mock a demon! I mean, you people might be sarcastic and self-deprecating, but an orc’s mind doesn’t operate that way! The boss is way too straightforward a fellow to diss someone in a roundabout way! We fairies know that! When an orc wants to diss you, he does so directly! He’d tell you you’re a moron! Come on, you know that, don’t you? And the orc you see before you now is no mere orc! He is the Orc Hero Bash, of all people!”

“…Mm…”

The gatekeeper’s outrage was mollified by Zell’s rapid-fire machine-gun verbal outburst.

The gatekeeper knew very well that it would be foolish to argue with a fairy when they had gotten worked up like this.

Therefore, he turned to Bash and decided to get straight to the point.

“Then what do you mean, saying ‘no wonder the war was lost’?”

“Because the demon woman reacted just as Nazar said demon women would react.”

The gatekeeper turned back, but the woman was already long gone.

He couldn’t really remember how she’d reacted. Or even what expression she’d had on her face.

Demons were always haughty, but she hadn’t reacted at all. Yet still, if Nazar had said that demon women would react a certain way, then who was he to argue?

Among demons, the name Nazar carried more weight than Bash realized.

“…Let’s go.”

In the end, the gatekeeper couldn’t think of a response and just decided to ignore the whole thing and keep going.

Perhaps it was just Bash’s imagination, but the demon gatekeeper’s steps seemed to speed up. It was as if he didn’t want Bash to take in the current state of the Demon Kingdom. As if there was something about the demons here that they were all ashamed of…

3

THE DARK GENERAL

Sequence, the Dark General, was currently in the war room in the innermost part of the Gije Fortress. And he was nodding off.

“…”

He closed his eyes, lay his hands on the armrests, and, as he fell asleep, thought about his life so far, his fallen comrades, and the future of the demon race.

Sequence was an old man.

Even among the demons, who live as long as elves, he was particularly elderly.

To be more specific, he was the second longest-lived person alive, after Thunder Sonia.

His life was marked by war.

Starting off as a young man, wet behind the ears, he became the Wise General Sequence, who witnessed the ascension of the Demon Lord Geddigs to the throne. On the battlefield, he achieved great feats and eventually earned the title of Dark General. He was the one who led the retreat after the defeat at the Remium Plateau, the one who kept the fight going even though from that point on there was nothing but losses.

You’re too old. You’ve lost it. You should give up your seat to someone younger. How many years had he been getting comments like that?

But Sequence stayed on the front lines… He continued to survive.

His friends died, one by one.

He had many wives, but they had all perished.

He had sired many daughters, but only one remained.

There had been three left after the war, but one died in the chaos of the postwar period, one ran away, and only yesterday, he’d gotten the news that the third was most likely dead, too.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the remaining daughter had died. There had been no word from her, after all.

He no longer had any family.

Sequence was out of strength and out of time.

All he could do was use what little brainpower he had left here, in this war room.

They would meet once every few days to discuss the future of the demons, with no solution in sight.

(How ironic.)

Sequence sighed.

When Geddigs proposed building a fortress here, Sequence had been the one in strongest opposition to it.

“Why build a fortress in a place like this? Don’t go wasting our precious resources,” he’d said.

He still stood by his opposition of Geddigs back then. Even now, he felt he’d been in the right at the time. But…without this fortress, the surviving demons would have had nowhere to escape to… It would have meant the annihilation of the demon race.

It was also Sequence’s idea to flee to this fortress after the big defeat.

They would not be pursued here. And even if they were, they would have been able to handle themselves.

That wasn’t why Geddigs built this fortress. He hadn’t foreseen the defeat. Sequence knew that.

That’s why it struck him as so ironic.

Despite deriding this fortress as completely pointless, it had been this fortress he had relied upon more than any of his fellow demons.

Meanwhile, Sequence continued to think deeply about the demons’ future.

It had been three years since the war ended. Or wait… Perhaps it had already been four years.

The demons had been trapped in this land for four years.

There were more animals roaming these snowy plains than might be expected, so the people had no trouble finding food.

It wasn’t like food was plentiful, but they weren’t starving. Or at least, only very few of them ever starved to death. With a will to survive, you could get by quite well here.

…If only it wasn’t for that.

The conqueror of the skies.

The strongest creature on the continent.

The infernal dragon.

This whole area was its territory.

Because of the dragon, the demons couldn’t go out during the day. They couldn’t burn their lamps brightly. They had to hide behind their fortress walls, crawling out only at night, like rats, searching for food to survive.

The noble demons, reduced to scratching around in the dirt like rats.

At first, the people had been optimistic.

“They think they can crush us this easily?”

“They didn’t even enslave us survivors… In fact, they left us alone to have our own land!”

“We’ll make them regret not eradicating us when they had the chance!”

“Those foolish humans. They let their guard down, even though total victory was within their grasp!”

Right. They looked down on those who had defeated them.

Actually, Sequence was right there with them.

He didn’t look down on the humans, exactly, but he also agreed that, under these circumstances, the demons could absolutely regain the upper hand.

Demons had robust bodies and high cold resistance. They could survive for quite a few days without food. And their magical skills were among the best of all the races’.

The demons were a superior race. They could live quite well even here on these snowy plains. If they cultivated the land, raised livestock, worked to increase their military strength, then in about a dozen years, they’d be able to repopulate this entire plain with demons. Or so they thought.

Even if there was a dragon about.

Dragons are certainly the most powerful of all creatures. You couldn’t take down a dragon easily.

All living things on Vastonia understood this implicitly.

But one dragon was slain on the Remium Plateau.

When the Remium Plateau dragon appeared, people were terrified of its huge size and its overwhelming firepower.

They gazed up at the sky in shock, wondering what on Vastonia they were supposed to do against such a foe.

But once the dragon was defeated… The people started saying that as a foe it hadn’t been up to much.

There was even a general feeling of anticlimax, like the dragon had been a lot weaker than they’d been expecting.

After the dragon had been dragged down to the ground, it had been an orc warrior who’d dealt the killing blow.

Orcs were a far inferior race to demons.

If an orc could do it, who was to say they couldn’t?

They didn’t have the fighting force they’d had back on the plateau, to be sure. And there would no doubt be casualties. But make no mistake, they would slay that dragon and have these plains as their own.

So the demons decided.

They only realized their hubris once they’d sent out their first hunting party and challenged the dragon.

That entire extermination force was wiped out in a single battle.

Their commander had been one of Sequence’s daughters, Rimendia.

On top of that, the dragon did something unexpected.

It flew to the Gije Fortress and retaliated.

Hell had been unleashed that day.

The dragon’s fire breath easily broke through the demons’ magical barrier, instantly reducing every demon in the vicinity to ash.

The demons’ magic attacks rarely hit the dragon, and even when they did, they simply bounced off the dragon’s scaly hide.

The silver lining was that the Gije Fortress was indeed extremely sturdy.

Because the fortress was built into a cliff, the dragon was unable to descend to the surface, and the barrier walls that ran all throughout the fortress prevented the dragon’s fire breath from spreading and burning down the entire structure.

However, and perhaps for that very reason, the dragon seemed especially vengeful.

The dragon began to fly to the Gije Fortress once every few days and launch its breath attacks from the air.

The demons cast a barrier of invisibility around the Gije Fortress so that the dragon would have a difficult time locating them.

But still the dragon came.

Even though it couldn’t see them, it seemed to remember the general location and began unleashing plumes of fire indiscriminately.

Being invisible didn’t help.

If the dragon sensed any of them outside the fortress walls, it would swoop in and barbecue them.

As a result, the demons were no longer able to leave the fortress during the day.

Even within the fortress walls, the terrified residents began skulking about in hoods, trying to be as quiet as possible and keeping a low profile.

Dragons weren’t nocturnal, so there were no night attacks. But the demonfolk were petrified all the same.

Their spirits had been broken by the repeated attacks.

They could not defeat the dragon.

(What to do, then…?)

It was a question Sequence struggled with day after day.

How could the demons get out of this situation and bask in the light of day once more?

He racked his brains every day, but… He could not find the answer.

Everyone wanted the dragon gone. But no effective solution had been reached. Most of the demons had already given up. They resigned themselves to a life trapped among the snow and ice. Then an eventual death.

Sequence was stumped.

He was said to be the most intelligent demon general who ever lived. On the battlefield, he had always been able to find the right answer.

Even the renowned Dark General, Sequence, was lost.

What to do? All he could do was churn over it.

Today had been another day of sitting in his chair… Never moving, even as his body crusted over with frost, but…

“Excuse me, General. I’ve brought a guest.”

…This day seemed to be different.

A soldier stood at the entrance to the war room.

Sequence knew him, he thought. The young man had only recently become a soldier.

“A guest? Who? I thought I told you no one was allowed in until the meeting!”

“Yes, General! But it’s someone from outside the country.”

Someone from outside? Sequence deigned to open one eye.

He glanced askance at the soldier standing in the entrance.

Then he saw who was accompanying him… And his eyes almost popped out. All of them.

“You…!”

He had two eyes on the left and right, and four on the front.

All eight eyes widened and stared at the newcomer.

It was an orc.

A plain green orc.

You found those everywhere. He’d certainly seen plenty of them dead and littering the battlefield.

Although there were many excellent warriors among them, they were still merely expendables and represented nothing but numbers.

Sequence generally couldn’t tell one green orc from another.

He’d even scoffed when friends had told him, “There are some gems to be found among the orcs, you know.”

But the moment he saw this orc… He got goose bumps.

Tremors ran through his entire body.

He had seen this orc once before… Only once, but it had been enough. There was no other orc like this one.

Sequence never bothered to remember the names of any orcs, but this one… This one he could never forget.

“Bash?!”

“It’s been too long, General.”

Sequence shot to his feet.

He hadn’t stood up in weeks.

Sequence’s hips and knees cracked, and the frost that had built up all over his body now crumbled to the ground.

Bash!

This green orc was a warrior who had shown remarkable achievement, ever since that decisive battle at the Remium Plateau. He was also the only one to whom Sequence’s friend, General Netherhanks, had deigned to gift his sword.

After Geddigs’s death, news of the orc’s great exploits had come in thick and fast.

He had faced off a fierce attack from the humans and destroyed several of their camps. He had defeated a great elven mage. And saved the succubi from their dire situation…

He was also the one who’d been there at Geddigs’s final moment.

He had also slaughtered the Hero Leto…

Sequence could never forget the moment this orc appeared before him with Geddigs’s corpse… The despair of that moment… Oh, he wished he could forget it!

And Sequence knew one more thing, too.

He knew of Bash’s nickname.

Of course, this orc had plenty of nicknames, but among demons, he was primarily known as…

“Dragon Decapitator.”

The Dragon Slayer…!

Bash had defeated that dragon, back at the Remium Plateau.

Defeated it! That dragon!

Was this not exactly the very man the demons most needed at this moment?

If he used this orc, then the dragon that had so terrorized the demons could perhaps be…!

But Sequence wasn’t one to play his hand so openly.

It was obvious that the orc he saw before him wasn’t here for the sake of the demons. And times had changed. Sequence could no longer use an orc as a pawn…

“…What brings you here?”

So he acted as calm as possible.

Seen rationally, there was no clear reason why the Orc Hero Bash would be here.

Orcs, like demons, are oppressed by the Alliance of Four. They have their own problems.

Why would a national hero leave his home country and journey all the way here?

“I have a letter from the Human Prince Nazar.”

Hearing this, Sequence closed four of his eyes.

He nodded inwardly. Yeah. That made sense. No way would an orc journey this far of his own devices.

But what did the letter say?

“I’ll see it.”

The envelope that Bash took out of his pocket spoke to the harshness of his journey.

The corners were crushed and bent, and the whole thing was stiff, like it had been soaked in water at some point and hardened after drying.

The seal of the human royal family was just about still there, proving that the letter had indeed been penned by Nazar.

(A letter from the young human, huh…?)

He used his sharp fingernails to slice open the envelope and removed the letter inside.

“Hmm…”

The words had smudged and were no longer legible.

It was impossible to read what it said.

That’s what you get when you ask an orc to deliver a letter.

“I see.”

Still, it was easy enough to guess what Nazar wanted to get across via the orc.

It was no doubt to do with Sequence’s daughter, Popratika, and her cohort.

She’d left this war room, boasting of resurrecting Lord Geddigs.

She’d even stolen the national treasure that Sequence had somehow managed to smuggle out of the old demon land.

Many others had followed her out.

There was no way to know what she’d been up to since then.

There wasn’t much information to be found.

“But what about you? Are you a mere courier now? Has the Orc Hero lowered himself to be the lapdog of a human shrimp?”

Sequence spoke in his usual composed tone. Still, he thought Nazar had chosen the right messenger boy.

Without Bash, the letter would never have actually gotten here.

Sequence would dearly love to have a drink with Bash and ask him how he managed to get over the border and make it all the way here without being flambéed by the dragon… In fact, he’d like to know how Bash had even managed to find this hidden fortress at all.

You might not credit it to look at him, but Sequence actually loved to hear the tales of young warriors and their heroism.

So no doubt, Bash had been the best possible option to deliver that letter.

The mere fact that it had gotten here at all was proof of that.

Even so, he couldn’t help the mocking way he spoke. It was a bad demon habit.

They can’t stop themselves from dissing others, even if they themselves have fallen into disgrace.

So even if Bash had been the right man to deliver the letter… The question remained… Why would he?

Why would Bash take on this errand?

Why would a humble but noble warrior hero do something as menial as delivering a letter?

“I am no lapdog.”

“No, I suppose not. A mere errand boy could not make it all the way here. You’re here at night, so then I suppose you’ve seen it?”

“The dragon? Yes, I saw it.”

“You did, did you? So what, then? Did you slay it…?”

“No, I had no means to bring it down to the ground. Instead, I hid and waited for nightfall.”

“I see, it’s almost like…”

Sequence started to say, It’s almost like you’re saying you could defeat it if you were able to get it out of the sky, but stopped himself.

A silly thing to say to a man who had already slain a dragon in the past.

“I want to hear from your own lips the reason for your being here. Not from some piece of paper or some chattering half-frozen fairy. From you.”

Sequence said this with respect.

It is not often that a demon shows respect to an orc.

Orcs weren’t really considered worth listening to. If any other race had been nearby, a demon would usually have much preferred to ask them. Orcs don’t say much of importance. They mostly just talk big and say stupid things. Even a fairy would make more sense.

Still, Sequence waited for Bash to speak.

That’s how highly Sequence thought of Bash.

How could any man fight in the war and fail to revere Bash?

“…”

Bash gazed intensely at Sequence.

That look sent a chill down Sequence’s battle-hardened spine.

“I want an introduction to your daughter.”

“Popratika? I don’t even know where she is.”

“What about the other one?”

“Rimendia is dead.”

“I’m sure there was one more.”

“Of course there was! Asmonadia!”

“Okay, introduce me to her.”

Sequence stopped to think.

“Introduce me to your daughter.” In demon terms, this meant, I want to date your daughter. In usual orc terms, this meant, I’m going to ravish your daughter and impregnate her.

This was an unforgivable thing to say to demon nobility.

There was only one thing to do. Crush the orc and teach him a lesson.

But this was the Orc Hero Bash…

Sequence didn’t know very much about what Bash was like in terms of personality.

Though that friend of his once said that Bash was a man with a backbone.

The friend was a hardheaded man who rarely spoke well of anyone. Yet he had given Bash his favorite sword. Sequence had never heard of such a thing.

And the Human Prince Nazar entrusted this man with a letter bearing his family crest.

A human… Trusting an orc.

Yes, Bash was an excellent choice of courier, to be sure, but no doubt there were others he could have asked.

Surely, more trustworthy fellows than orcs are in plentiful supply.

“Do you…know what Asmonadia is up to?”

So Sequence had to probe to find out what Bash really wanted.

“No. I do not know.”

“She is currently out on a dragon-slaying mission.”

“I see.”

The fairy fluttered.

It was whispering something in the orc’s ear.

Who knew what they were up to together? Orcs and fairies were of little use.

Fairies were marginally more intelligent than orcs. But to the demons, they were equally stupid.

“Do you have some method for defeating it?”

Bash’s words were, in a way, an insult to the demons.

Of course, the answer to that question was no. They had no effective means of fighting the dragon. If there was a way, that dragon would have been reduced to bones long ago. And the demons would have expanded their territory across the entirety of the Ress Snowfield.

“No. But we have located its nest. It’s in the mountains to the east. We can’t fight it when it’s airborne, but on the ground… We may have a chance.”

“Indeed.”

“Simply put.”

If this had been any other orc, Sequence would have started to get annoyed now.

Don’t be so glib. The dragon isn’t an opponent you can take so lightly.

“It wasn’t easy, but I have killed one dragon before.”

“That’s right!”

But the orc before him had proved his worth.

He was the only man in the world who could boast about killing a dragon on the ground.

He had a track record, as ridiculous as it seemed.

“My daughter said that as it has been done, that proves it’s possible. So she left with a group of young warriors a few days ago.”

“So… They should have reached the dragon’s nest by now, then?”

“Possibly.”

Actually, they had planned to be back by now. And yet…there was no sign of them.

And the recon team leader had confirmed the annihilation of the squad before sundown.

The number of confirmed dead was less than the total number of those who had set out. So perhaps not all had died. Of the dead, though, the bodies were so charred that identification was impossible.

Therefore, the possibility that she was still alive was not yet zero. She might yet be hiding near the dragon’s nest. Still, a victory over the dragon seemed impossible at this point.

Foolish child, Sequence thought.

This was a dragon she intended to fight. It wasn’t like the other monsters. It was cunning. It was cruel. It was vindictive. It was…intelligent.

No doubt the dragon would have measures in place to counteract an attack upon its nest.

Even if they did manage to corner it… It may yet have another ace hidden up its scaly sleeve.

Sequence had told his daughter and her young cohorts this. But they wouldn’t listen. “It’s just a big lizard,” they said.

“Why does the beast not descend upon the Gije Fortress?” they asked.

“Why does it only breathe its fire on us from the sky…?”

They could defeat it, they boasted, if they could only get the beast while it was on the ground.

And the result of their hubris… Total annihilation.

“Such foolishness I never would have expected from a daughter of mine… Still, if you’re fine with a foolish girl like that, then I don’t mind introducing you to her. In fact, why don’t you go ahead and marry her?”

“…! May I?”

“I’ll allow it. Assuming she’s still alive, of course.”

The wife of an orc.

That was something no demon could stand for.

The noble, prideful demons… For one of its highest-ranking females to become the wife of a foolish orc… To be collared and dragged around like a dog, naked, her pregnant belly exposed… Unthinkable!

Ordinarily, Sequence would rather lead his entire remaining demon army to wage bloody war on the orcs than let that happen.

However, misjudging the enemy’s strength and dragging not only himself but also his subordinates into a battle they had no chance of winning… To lead them to their deaths…that was something a wise demon nobleman should never do.

(In the past, yes, I would have prioritized our honor…)

Indeed… During wartime, no daughter of a demon would ever be offered to an orc. No matter how foolhardy she was.

But honor was for another place. Another time. The demons of today, who were desperately clawing their way back from the brink of extinction… They could not afford that luxury.

A demon daughter was a human resource. A precious commodity. And yet she had risked her life.

Lowering her to the level of an orc’s wife… That seemed a fitting punishment.

A death sentence would be more lenient.

“I shall go to the mountain at once.”

“…Are you…? Are you serious?”

Sequence gave Bash a look of suspicion.

The girl was no doubt already dead. Even a stupid orc should know that.

Orcs were stupid, but their battle acumen was surprisingly sharp.

Many of them could tell at a glance which battles could be won and which were a lost cause.

“Boss… Pssh… Pssh…”

The fairy whispered to him again.

Odd behavior. No doubt something was up.

Bash nodded, said “Mm,” in agreement with the fairy, and looked straight at Sequence.

“If there are any other survivors… Any at all, not just your daughter…can I make them mine?”

“…!”

There was no smile in Bash’s eyes.

They were terribly solemn and, to put it bluntly, perfectly sincere.

Sequence had seen these eyes on the battlefield several times.

Those were the eyes of someone who had prepared himself for death. The eyes of someone who believed there were scarier things than death.

Couldn’t be…, Sequence thought.

Make any surviving women the orc’s own? The extermination squad wasn’t just women, though. In fact, it was composed of mostly men.

So then the orc was going there for some other purpose besides getting himself a demon bride…

His plan was to gather together the surviving members of the dragon extermination squad and then…do something with them.

But what?

“If you go now, you’ll get caught up in the fight, too, you know! Against a dragon!”

“Yeah. But that’s why I came.”

That’s why? To…fight a dragon?

All this way…?

Why…?

Sequence had many questions. And then he thought of the letter he’d seen.

The letter was soaked and smudged, and nothing of it could be read, but perhaps here was where the true meaning of the letter lay?

In other words…reinforcements.

Nazar had sent reinforcements to help them defeat the dragon.

But why would Nazar do such a thing? How would that benefit him?

…Ah, but recall. Who was it that broached the topic of a ceasefire? That prince.

Sequence had spoken to him only once, at the ceasefire agreement, and he’d seemed like an easygoing sort of man… Benevolent, straightforward.

Unlike with the other humans, Sequence didn’t pick up on any dark machinations regarding torturing the demon race for all eternity.

But there still didn’t seem to be anything in it for the prince.

Humans are a species that prioritizes personal gains over honor, after all.

“Why would Nazar agree to this? What are you planning…?”

“…? No, I was the one who brought up the prospect of me coming here. Nazar simply wanted to help me along the way.”

“What…?”

Nazar… Not directly involved?

So then…the orc had come all this way entirely of his own volition?

Nazar’s letter was little more than a…a…a permission slip to help him cross the border, a petition to Sequence to have Bash accepted as reinforcements.

But why would Bash come to a place like this…just to slay a dragon?

Why did he want to help the demons…?

“You’re…asking us to let you help us? You, an orc, want to help us, the demons…?”

“…If I do, perhaps you demons will revise your opinion of us orcs.”

So he was doing it to impress the demons?

Ridiculous…! He’d laugh it off, but this was the one they called the Orc Hero…

And Hero he was…

He would appear out of nowhere to help on the battlefield and turn the tide of battle whenever they were at a disadvantage.

At the time, Sequence had thought he was just doing orcish things and barely acknowledged it, but now he knew.

Thanks to this orc, they’d been saved at the battle of the Remium Plateau by defeating the dragon and the Hero Leto, and the orc had made it so that the Alliance was able to retreat with all its fighting power still intact.

His subsequent acts had been a net positive for the demons, too.

Like when he helped out the succubi. If the succubi had been wiped out, the elves would have concentrated their firepower against the demons. If that had happened, the demons wouldn’t have been able to survive to see the ceasefire.

It was all thanks to Bash.

Thus, Sequence thought very highly of him.

After all, he was the Orc Hero.

It had been many years since there last was an Orc Hero.

Sequence had heard that there were few warriors ever worthy of that title. After all, orcs were stupid.

They go on about pride and honor, but if an orc spots a woman in the heat of battle, he loses all his senses to his base urges and will drag her off to a nearby bush without a second thought.

A pathetic race who worships the strong while secretly believing themselves the strongest of all.

Bash had been made a Hero by these very stupid people.

The pinnacle of their race.

Bash was a warrior worthy of that title.

Which meant this made even less sense.

This orc was willing to sacrifice himself for the honor of the orcs.

Was it really plausible that the orcs wanted the demons to reconsider their opinion of them?

“I just want to ask you one thing. Why would you take such a risk?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Bash turned his back to Sequence and over his shoulder said:

“I want to make a demon woman my wife.”

This fine joke made Sequence bray with laughter.

He hadn’t had such a laugh since the days when Geddigs had been alive…

4

TOTHE DRAGON’S NEST

The Remium Plateau.

In dwarf territory, located in the very center of the continent of Vastonia, adjacent to the human and elf countries. Surrounded by many flat-top table mountains, it’s noted for its high-quality ore.

The dwarves continued to extract ore from here, providing the front lines with their high-quality military equipment.

If the Coalition of Seven were to take this place, the humans and elves would be cut off from one another, and the supply of ore to the main dwarf forces would dwindle. Resources would be blocked, and many fighting units would be isolated.

In other words, it was a vital location.

That was why the Coalition tried so hard to protect it, and why the Demon Lord Geddigs chose it as the site of his final battle.

The orc army was deployed front and center of the Coalition’s forces.

In other words, on the front line. It was the densest part of the battle, where the fiercest of the fighting happened.

The Demon Lord Geddigs understood orcs well.

When an orc defeats a woman on the battlefield, he drops and defiles her on the spot.

But they are senselessly brave, no matter the conflict.

And the orcs were so stupid, they would charge forward regardless of how many enemies they faced, or how many of their allies had already been killed. And of all the races, they were the greatest in number.

No one would weep over orcs wasted in battle. And when an orc was paired with a fairy, he tended to stick around even longer during the fighting. Most races disliked being paired with the fairies, but the orcs were different.

And so the orcs were optimally positioned on the battlefield.

At the time, though, the other non-orc races had their doubts.

“Why entrust the orcs with the most important position in such a vital battle?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to put the ogres in the forefront like usual?”

“But that way the ogres will become even more bigheaded and will take a larger share of the spoils.”

“I mean, it’s always been that way, though. Look. The ogres are incensed.”

Geddigs’s response was…, “We shall see how it all shakes out within the first hour of battle.”

Though all basically had faith in Geddigs, they still doubted his words.

An hour after the start of the battle, when the various races had gotten all scattered and mixed together, and it was beginning to become a fray, the orc army began to push back against the humans. Humans may have been strong, but at the time, they lacked the fighting strength needed to hold out.

The orcs also spotted the royal crest visible behind the human army, and with their crotches throbbing, they charged forward, determined to be the first to bed the princess.

The orcs’ fighting power was so immense, it seemed merely a matter of time before the humans were overthrown.

But the ogres were not amused.

Anything an orc could do, an ogre could do better, they said.

Actually, if it had been the ogres, no doubt they would have crushed the weak human army in the first wave… Or so they claimed.

And it wasn’t just the ogres. The other races thought the same way, too.

But then…

The dragon appeared.

And all hell broke loose.

In just a few minutes, a full half of the orc forces had been reduced to ashes. The orcs lucky enough to avoid the creature’s breath attack were now surrounded by a wall of fire, with nowhere to run. And the magical attacks of the humans continued to rain down upon them.

It was like a scene straight from the fiery pits of hell.

Faced with this nightmare, the higher-ups all looked to Geddigs.

But his face was as composed as ever.

Just calmly appraising this new development.

As the dragon unleashed a barrage of fire breath attacks from the air, reducing hundreds of orcs to ashes, the demon army mobilized.

A giant magic circle appeared in the sky above the demon army, and multiple magical spears shot out.

They were powerful siege spears, dozens of them, the kind used to destroy human forts and elven magical barriers. They rained down on the dragon like guided missiles, knocking its massive body to the ground.

And so the dragon fell.

Right in the middle of the Coalition’s camp, populated with not only orcs but with ogres and other races as well.

The ogre army ran as one for the giant body.

The higher-ups wasted no time in singing Geddigs’s praises.

“We’d expect no less from Lord Geddigs! He used the orcs as bait!”

But that was when the real hell began.

The dragon went mad after finding itself on the ground. Having lost its ability to fly, it seemed to have realized that escape was impossible and thrashed about in a desperate fight for its life.

And not a single member of the Coalition was a match for this dragon.

The ogres and the orcs that still remained on the battlefield, the succubi, the lizardmen, and the harpies that rushed to the scene to help…were all mercilessly shredded, without being able to inflict so much as a scratch on the dragon’s scaly hide.

It was unclear whether or not Geddigs had also anticipated this development.

Those on the front lines were unaware of this, but at around the same time, a reconnaissance force from the demons’ main camp was also being attacked.

Communications had been cut off, and the chain of command had been temporarily paralyzed.

This was a sabotage operation by the beastkin to increase the success rate of the operation run by Nazar’s forces. Geddigs was then attacked by Nazar’s forces… But never mind that part for just now.

Back on the main battlefield, the dragon began to drag itself toward the human camp. It seemed to have sensed that it still had a chance of escape and was going for it.

When those fighting on the front lines saw this, they all panicked.

Once the dragon reached human command… It would have its wings magically healed and take flight again.

And once airborne, it would make sure not to let itself be grounded again.

Instead, it was likely to come straight at the demon headquarters and crush them all.

They had to stop it.

But no one could stop a dragon. Demons, ogres, succubi, all the famous warriors of every race tried to stop it in its tracks, only to be roasted to a crisp in the process.

What to do? What on Vastonia had Geddigs been thinking?

Right, just as the higher-ups in command of the front line really began to panic…

A warrior appeared in the path of the dragon.

A green orc.

It must have been somewhere on the battlefield obscured by the smoke from the great sea of burning fire, unaware of what was actually going on.

It would no doubt either be eaten by the dragon it stood before or turned to charcoal by its breath.

The moment of death that comes to all the warriors had now come to him.

So everyone thought.

Until they witnessed something beyond belief.

At present, Bash was clinging to an ice wall on the face of a mountain.

Bash did not know the name of said mountain.

However, he’d heard that there was a tall mountain to the far north.

And that the dragon lived on the mountain.

So he figured this must be that mountain.

But whatever.

The info that there was a dragon’s nest on this mountain had come from Sequence.

And Bash and Zell had business at the nest. More specifically, they had business with the surviving members of the group that even now were launching an attack on the dragon’s den.

“Hope at least three of ’em survive, eh, Boss?”

“Indeed!”

A raging blizzard was all about them.

There was next to no visibility, and chunks of ice kept constantly pounding them.

Zell wasn’t zipping and zooming about as usual, but instead was hiding in Bash’s pocket. Hey, maybe the fairy was just cold.

The ground was beyond sight, but one slip and it would be a straight fall right to the bottom.

Since Bash had Zell with him, he probably wouldn’t die. But it would hurt a whole lot, no doubt.

Bash dug his fingers into the slippery ice wall and began to climb upward.

Perhaps because of the extreme low temperature, the ice walls did not crack.

The climb went…quite smoothly, actually.

“But you know, Boss, I never expected we’d get such a positive response!”

“Yeah!”

The first meeting with Sequence had been a smashing success.

At first, Sequence had acted like a demon would act, with suspicion in all of his eyes…but the moment they’d shown him Nazar’s letter, he’d changed his attitude with a quickness, and had even offered Bash his own daughter!

And he’d even said that Bash could have all the demon women under his daughter’s command.

“I thought he’d say somethin’ like, ‘If you want my daughter, go forth and slay the dragon first!’”

“That would be fine with me. As long as we know where the nest is.”

“Ah yes, Boss, so you must! I missed your great feat at the Remium Plateau, so I did. Ah, I wish I could have seen it! When you dragged that dragon down and went Biff! Boff! Bash! Then flung it clear across the battlefield! Ah, or did you? Knowing you, Boss, you no doubt took it out with just the one punch…!”

“Not at all… It was a pitched life-or-death battle. I easily could have died. I mean, when the dragon appeared, I actually lost consciousness for a while.”

Bash didn’t often brag about war exploits.

When an orc brags about their war exploits, see, he has to finish it up with stories of all the woman he defiled.

The battle story is worth 50 points. The story about ravishing a woman is worth 50 points. Together, they make a total of 100 points.

That’s how the points are distributed in an orc boasting bout.

No matter how hard Bash tried, he could only ever win 50 points.

But the fight against the dragon was different.

An orc had faced a dragon and won.

The tale of the dragon slayer.

Even for an orc, the story of slaying a dragon has got to be worth 100 points all on its own, even without the bit about defiling women and so on.

After all, in the entire history of the Vastonian continent, the number of people who had defeated a dragon could be counted on one hand.

Of the heroes, who can also be counted on one hand…well, half their exploits are still just tall tales.

It’s hard to say whether the other half are even true or not, either.

But dragons do exist, and there are warriors on the battlefield who wield weapons made from dragon bones. So while it’s best to take them with a hefty dose of salt, there is a grain of truth to the tales.

There are warriors capable of slaying dragons.

It was done.

And it passed into legend.

Earning the teller entry into a class of their own.

“Y-you lost consciousness? What happened, Boss?!”

“I’d love to go into detail, but it’s a bit cold here.”

“Oh, right! Yeah, I’d like to hear it somewhere a little warmer, perhaps over a drink! Oh, I’ve got a great idea! You should tell the demon ladies you’re about to meet that story! Right now, demon women are really struggling, living under the threat of the dragon, right? If you tell them the story of how you defeated a dragon once, they’ll be putty in your hands!”

“Well, I think it would be quicker if I just slay this dragon, rather than telling stories.”

“Oh yes! And so a new legend is born!”

Bash already had the go-ahead from Sequence.

Demons live in a strict hierarchical society. If a high-ranking demon orders a woman to be an orc’s wife, she must obey. Just as an orc must obey the word of the Orc King.

But, yes… Perhaps Bash had better curb his enthusiasm.

Sequence said Bash could have one of his daughters and any woman from the extermination squad for himself, but…they may have already been wiped out.

Usually, you could expect one or two to survive a bloody battle, but there was never a guarantee.

And this time, the opponent was a dragon.

So Bash’s plan B was to utilize the methodology he’d been using so far.

The tried-and-tested method. Woo the woman. And then make her your wife.

The best part was how simple it was.

Defeat a dragon. Tell a woman about it. Very easy to understand.

If he couldn’t even slay this dragon, then attempting to woo a woman was clearly beyond him.

To Bash, a demon woman was more intimidating than any dragon.

“Hmm.”

Ruminating, Bash encountered a hole in the ice.

Halfway along the ice wall, there was a gaping hole, just big enough for one person to pass through.

It looked to be a very unnatural hole. It must have been dug out by hand.

“Here…?”

This hole was no doubt dug out by the hunting party… A direct passage, in other words, to the dragon’s nest.

Bash had heard that the hunting party’s plan was to enter here and take the dragon’s nest by force.

From this, it was easy to infer that the burnt squad they encountered on the way to the fortress invaded from here, encountered the dragon inside, and engaged it in combat. Then, realizing they were no match for it, they had retreated.

The dragon must have pursued them down the mountain and roasted them from the sky.

“…It’s here.”

Strange warm air was flowing from inside the hole.

What’s more… There was the presence of some powerful life-form coming from deep inside the hole.

Other than that, there was no sign of anything. No animals around. And certainly no other magical beasts.

This was evidence that some powerful creature was making its nest here.

The territory of the apex predator.

Only one apex predator would establish its territory in a place like this.

“Let’s go.”

“Right on, Boss!”

Bash entered the hole.

The hole was big enough for Bash to walk through, but the walls and the ground were awfully slippery, making it difficult to keep his feet. Bash didn’t slip, but a human or demon easily could have.

“I heard that the hole was just big enough for one person to pass through… But you got through without getting stuck, Boss. Which must mean it was a pretty big old hole.”

“Right… Yes…”

Bash muttered in response, already getting a bad feeling about this.

Every surface all around them was incredibly smooth, sparkling as the light reflected off it.

Bash had seen floors like this before…

Just once. Yes, just once.

“…”

As the moment of recognition came to him, Bash tensed.

He reached for the sword on his back as he made his slow way along.

He gripped the cold hilt and girded his loins.

Zell seemed to sense the tension in Bash and fell silent.

Ah, but the fairy had noticed it, too, now. This sound that had been audible like the howling of the wind for a while now… No, it was not mere jitters…

They were getting closer to their target.

So Zell stuck close to Bash, dutifully casting a glow for them to see by.

It was good that they were on high alert.

Because when the giant yellow eyes appeared suddenly in front of them, they were ready.

“…!”

They made eye contact with the creature.

And the creature saw them.

In this moment of realization, Bash unsheathed his sword and swung it.

He cut through the wall to the left, shoved his body into the crack, and dug his sword into the ground to hide the part of his body that was still showing.

Just before ducking into his hidey hole, Bash realized that the yellow eye at the end of the hallway had disappeared.

Bash inhaled deeply and curled in on himself, hiding Zell against his chest.

Everything was whiteness.

Bash held his breath and counted slowly, his whole body as hot as if he’d just fallen into molten magma.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…

After counting to thirteen, Bash pulled his sword out of the ground and took off running.

The next cave was larger than the last one, but the walls and ground had melted here and become muddy, making it difficult to run.

His sword was red-hot, and where his hand gripped it, the skin made a hissing noise.

There was a similar sense of pain coming from the soles of his feet… And then there was a stabbing sort of pain all over.

His clothing burst into flames and then disintegrated into ash.

Though he was in excruciating pain from the burns all over his body, he didn’t stop… He continued to run, without even taking a breath.

Bash knew he could not breathe here.

Though he didn’t know anything about oxygen and its properties, he knew there was no good in breathing right now.

Once, he’d been knocked out for about ten minutes as a result of this very thing.

He also knew that if he stayed here, he would die.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…

As he ran, he counted again.

When he reached nine, he saw them again… Those yellow eyes again, farther ahead.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Bash thrust forth his sword.

“Rooooar!!!”

There was a terrible, terrifying roar.

Bash flung himself over to where the eyes had been.

There was a cave here.

One with a roof so high, Bash could jump without hitting his head.

It was large enough for a very large creature to live there quite comfortably…

A large creature like the giant lizard in front of him now.

A dragon with red scales.

One of its eyes had been put out by Bash’s sword, and it was bleeding.

But its fighting spirit had not been dampened in the slightest. It glared at Bash with its remaining eye and roared at the cave roof.

“Roooarrr!!!”

Bash inhaled in that moment.

It was like he was steadying himself, in the face of his natural enemy, to show that orcs were brave warriors who feared nothing.

And then he yelled.

“Graaaagh!!!”

His war cry. It shook the cavern walls all around.

And the battle began.

5

HEROVS. DRAGON

Zell often found themselves a witness to historic moments.

In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that everything Zell has seen so far has been history-worthy. But this… This was the biggie.

This one would truly go down in history.

It would become legend.

Zell thought that each time they saw Bash fight, but today that conviction was stronger than ever.

The Orc Hero.

And a dragon.

Zell watched from a distance as the two strongest beasts on the continent faced off against each other.

“Roooarrr!”

“Graaagh!!!”

In terms of sheer roar volume, the dragon had the edge, slightly.

Still, the dragon did seem somewhat surprised by the loud noise coming from the small creature in front of it.

Yes… Up until now, one roar from the dragon was enough to have any enemy turn tail and run.

It probably never imagined that someone would roar back at him.

Still, this didn’t change anything for the dragon.

So what if he did encounter someone with a bigger roar than his?

One breath from him, and the puny creature would become charcoal! One swing of the claw, and it would be torn limb from limb!

One bite, and its flesh would fall apart on the bone in his mouth! And his hunger would be satisfied!

The puny creature was no different from any other!

So the dragon must have thought.

Thus, it charged straight ahead, keeping low and slashing sideways at Bash with its thick right paw. Defenses down. Quite careless. Just another day.

Still, the dragon’s moves were fast.

Its massive body low to the ground, rushing with catlike speed.

Who could imagine that such a big body could move that fast?

Not even a fairy’s vivid imagination could dream that up.

The moment the dragon moved, Zell squeaked in alarm, unable to flee… All the fairy could do was freeze.

If a relatively puny being was hit by something as gigantic and fast-moving as that rushing dragon… Well, its fate was obvious.

They would be crushed to pieces. Demon or ogre… It didn’t matter.

That’s how fast, heavy, and deadly the dragon was.

But Zell knew…

The dragon was not facing an ordinary being.

Ting!

A metallic sound resounded.

It was a satisfying noise, like a hard cannonball rebounding against something.

The sound made when two hard metals collided and one of them shattered.

The dragon’s mighty feet stomped against the ground.

The right paw dragged through the ground, having failed to shred its target. The upper body slid, dust flying up, until it landed sharply on its elbow and rolled.

“…?!”

The dragon struggled to regain balance.

It spun around, resting low on its elbows, and looked down at its paw in astonishment.

The claws, said to be far harder than dwarven steel, were cracked.

“…?!”

Then it looked at Bash.

Shock writ large on its scaly face.

Though it was as impossible to understand a dragon’s facial expressions as it was a lizardman’s, still, Zell understood.

There was no one in the dragon’s line of sight. Bash had already circled around to the side.

Out from the blind spot of the eye that had been crushed earlier, toward the neck.

Bash drove his powerful blade right into the dragon’s neck.

It caused a dull sound… Not the splorshing or the glorping sound Bash was so used to hearing in a fight… This was the sound of his sword hitting something solid…and the blade not going through properly.

“Gah…!”

Bash had landed the blow… No doubt about that.

But his fatal blow, destined to slice everything in half…

…had failed to slice the dragon’s head from its neck.

Instead, it only knocked a few scales flying and caused merely a shallow cut on the neck.

“What?!”

Zell did a double take.

Bash’s strike… Failed?

Impossible. His blow could even split a rock in two. How on Vastonia could a living being survive that?

“Groooar!”

The dragon roared ferociously.

Perhaps for this dragon, coated in hard scales from birth, it was the first pain it had ever felt.

His eyes widened at the sight of his own fresh blood splattering everywhere, and he roared with rage.

Then the dragon moved faster.

It breathed its fiery breath, swung its broken claws, gnashed its teeth, and slammed its massive body toward the puny thing.

The movement of its giant body created a wind slipstream, and a violent storm buffeted through the cave.

Zell watched the battle, desperately clinging to a rock to avoid being blown away.

The dragon’s rampage was the act of a crazed beast. It looked like it was moving wildly, uncontrollably, but Zell knew better. The dragon’s movements were not random but aimed toward Bash. Was this pure animal instinct? Or was it actually calmer than its crazed appearance would seem?

In contrast, Bash was composed.

When the claws came at him, he struck back, dodging the breath and shattering the fangs with his sword. When the giant creature charged straight at him, he stabbed his sword into its joints. Each blow sent scales flying, damaging the dragon and making it roar with pain.

What a contrast.

The dragon and the orc.

As creatures, they were as different in scale as an elephant and a mouse.

Bash, a warrior considered to have a monstrous strength, was only able to inflict shallow wounds on the dragon.

But no doubt one good blow from the dragon would be enough to insta-kill Bash.

Instinct tells us that no mere bipedal race can slay a mighty dragon.

But the difference in skill was the vital thing here.

Bash dodged all the dragon’s attacks.

Despite the extensive, full-body burns he’d suffered, Bash managed to avoid every one of the dragon’s insta-kill blows.

Indeed… Bash overpowered the dragon, slashing at it over and over again in a way that seemed completely unreal.

And Bash’s aim was clear.

He was aiming for the neck.

The neck had been cut by the first blow, and blood was still flowing.

Bash had been looking for an opportunity to land another blow there.

The scales on its neck had already crumbled away.

If Bash hit him with all his might again, the next blow would likely slice through the flesh, tear the blood vessels, or even shatter the bone.

The Dragon Decapitator.

A reenactment of the moment when Bash had previously defeated a dragon…was about to take place.

But the game had not been won yet.

The dragon must have realized it, too.

That another blow to the neck would be fatal.

Therefore, it protected its neck with everything it had.

There was no way the dragon could have known Bash’s fighting style.

Yet he sensed what Bash planned to do… And took defensive action.

It must be instinct. Dragons are strong, resilient, and powerful creatures. Creatures that are experts in battle from the moment they’re born.

If it had been any other creature, the battle would have been decided long ago.

But this stalemate could not last much longer.

The dragon’s fighting strength was weakened with every hit. Its lustrous shining scales were peeling off, and its whole body was tacky with the blood that was flowing from multiple wounds. It was no longer able to breathe its fire breath and was instead panting heavily with its tongue hanging out.

On the other hand, Bash, while also breathing heavily, still had plenty of vigor left.

“…”

The dragon and Bash stopped for a few seconds, just staring each other down.

Zell knew.

Now was the decisive moment.

But at the same time, Zell felt… Unease.

Dragons were superior creatures. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this one had a secret ace up its scaly sleeve.

No matter how exceptional Bash was as a warrior, there was no guarantee he’d be able to dodge a dragon’s secret attack if he’d never even seen it before.

So Zell prayed.

Please… Please let Bash have already seen the dragon’s trump card!

Zell hadn’t heard anything about the Remium Plateau dragon pulling off a secret finishing move… But oh! If only there was some special dragon knowledge that only Bash had!

The two opponents moved suddenly.

The dragon’s upper body drifted to the left.

Bash began to move to the right… The dragon’s blind spot.

While maintaining a safe distance from the dragon’s breath range, Bash girded his loins and braced himself for the dragon’s attack.

It glowered at Bash, fangs bared, steam hissing all over its body… Still so imbued with fighting spirit.

Even a seasoned orc warrior would soil himself and cower if confronted with this sight.

But seeing it, Zell knew… Bash was going to win.

With the next blow, the dragon’s head would be chopped clean off.

And perhaps the dragon knew this, too.

Thus, it reared up to its full height, drew back to strike, and…

“…?”

…turned and dashed off deeper into the cave, its mighty footfalls shaking the walls as it went.

“…Huh?”

Did the dragon just…escape?

Um, wasn’t that supposed to be the strongest creature on the continent?

Ah, but it made sense.

“…Well, dragons are living things, too, I guess.”

So Zell shrugged, but Bash roared:

“Don’t let it get away! After it!”

“Ah! Right you are, Boss!”

Bash sounded unusually lacking in chill… And Zell suddenly remembered something.

Something the Boss had said.

“If the dragon’s airborne, we can’t beat it.”

If there was a way for the dragon to beat Bash…this was it.

Retreat, get itself airborne, and attack again from a safe distance.

Right… If the dragon got away now… Then it would come back to hunt them down.

Like that demon army that fled the dragon’s nest and got wiped out before they could reach the Gije Fortress.

Even a mighty Orc Hero couldn’t win while being chased across a bare snowy plain, with nowhere to hide, while a dragon blasted him from above with fire breath.

Bash had been ferocious, and his opponent had turned tail and fled.

It looked like a victory, but that wasn’t what was actually happening at all.

This was the decisive moment. If Bash didn’t kill the dragon now, then he could never win.

“Yeeee!”

Zell shot through the air with the speed of a falcon.

“…”

But all that was visible was…a gaping hole.

There was nothing but blizzard-swept mountainside, dragon-sized footprints, and bloodstains leading through the hole.

Zell blanched.

Ah, rats. The dragon escaped.

But…the footprints and bloodstains continued faintly down the snowy mountain, through the blizzard.

It looked like the dragon had tripped and fallen, tumbling down the slope.

Only Zell could have spotted those subtle signs… Yes! The enemy’s trace!

“Boss! It didn’t go airborne! It went down! It tumbled down, still escaping!”

“Right!”

Bash had caught up to Zell by this point.

Zell latched on to Bash’s shoulder, and they both emerged into the snowstorm outside.

The blizzard slammed into Bash. The piercing cold air gave him instant and painful brain freeze.

But Bash did not falter. He doggedly pursued the footprints, not missing a single one.

And Zell knew.

At times like this, Bash never lets his prey escape… All right, for the sake of accuracy, he has let prey escape before. But it’s a rare thing, okay? Maybe just that one time with Houston. If he did it all the time, he probably wouldn’t be called the Orc Hero, would he?

Bash was not the kind of man who drops the ball.

And so he continued to slalom down the slope.

It was as fast as falling. If he lost his footing for even a second, he’d go tumbling down like a cartwheel.

But he could not hesitate. The blood spatter and dragon footprints would soon be erased by the snowstorm.

Fall down or throw yourself down… Well, it’s better to self-actualize.

“…Hmm.”

There was an area where the dragon’s footprints had suddenly disappeared.

And there, they spotted something.

“…Another cave?”

Not the same one as before.

No, rather than a naturally occurring cave, this one looked more like it had been dug out by intelligent hands.

There were remains of ice-crusted stone pillars, and upon closer inspection, the interior was also paved with cracked stone blocks.

Ruins, in other words.

Not that Bash and Zell cared. All that mattered was that the entrance, though far from vast, was big enough to accommodate a fleeing dragon.

“Perhaps it ran in there?”

Or it could have simply rolled down the cliff.

Or it might have launched itself into the air from here.

In…? Or out…?

“Zell, what do you think?”

“Hmm… If the dragon got in, it seems odd that the icicles at the entrance aren’t broken off. But dragons are sly, Boss. If it crawled on the ground low, it might have been able to get in while leaving them intact…”

Would a creature fleeing for its life be smart enough to think of that?

Wasn’t it more likely that it simply tumbled down the cliff?

Zell wasn’t sure, but… You couldn’t rule it out.

“Actually, Boss, I’d wager it’s more likely it went a-tumbling down below!”

“No…! Wait!”

Bash glowered, straining his eyes to see inside the ruined cave.

No traces on the stone floor or the walls or the roof.

If a dragon had slid itself through here, surely there would be gouges… Scrape marks on the stone.

So then it seemed unlikely that it had come in here, only…

“I smell blood.”

“…!”

An orc’s sense of smell is unsophisticated but strong.

There was a faint whiff of blood wafting from deep inside the ruin.

Something was in there… Bleeding.

“Inside! Let’s go!”

“Yes, Boss!”

Bash and Zell entered the ruin.

Bash walked with greater caution now. If the dragon fled in here, it no doubt wasn’t just trying to escape. It was planning something.

An ambush? Some sort of trap?

There was no way of knowing what the dragon had planned. Still, Bash pressed on, moving as quickly as possible while remaining on high alert.

The scent of blood was growing stronger.

Bash followed the smell, certain the dragon was there.

He tightened his grip on his sword. If a surprise attack was waiting, then every millisecond was vital. Bash could either inflict the fatal blow… Or fall to it.

Making his way through the ruins, he encountered an ascending flight of steps.

The steps, somewhat steep, were half-crumbled, making climbing difficult… And it was hard to see what lay ahead.

Bash was down here, and the dragon was up there.

There might be a blind bend or dark tunnel ahead, facilitating a surprise attack. Bash was at the disadvantage, to be sure.

Bash grew more and more on edge.

Eventually the stairs ended, and they emerged into a large open space.

Warm air around his entire body… With the smell of blood stronger than ever.

There was a glowing blue object visible in the back, forming a light source that cast shadows all around the ruins. And there were huge rocks and what appeared to be the remains of pillars here and there. Plenty of places for even a huge dragon to hide.

“…!”

Bash sensed something and dived into the darkness behind a rock.

He lifted his sword to swing it into the darkness where the dragon no doubt lurked…

“…?”

But then he stopped.

“A woman…?”

There was a woman at the end of Bash’s sword.

Pale skin, white hair.

Two large horns growing from her head.

Her clothing was rather old-fashioned, but it seemed well-made, showing that she was of aristocratic birth.

What’s more, it was tight-fitting, facilitating a delightful view of her body.

She was slim, and after he’d so recently viewed the voluptuous bodies of the succubi, Bash thought she looked a little scrawny. But she still had a very feminine form.

Her face was good, too. The features were a bit too youthful-looking, but there was a strong will in her eyes.

Speaking of the eyes, they were gold in color, large and wide and beautiful, and her plump lips, with jagged teeth poking out, were very cute indeed.

But she was wounded all over.

One of her big, beautiful eyes was horribly matted shut, and the wound on her neck seemed to be deep. She clutched at it with one hand, her chest heaving for breath.

She was gazing at Bash with fear.

The eyes of a cornered animal.

Her teeth chattered, and she raised both arms, as if to protect herself, glancing back and forth between Bash’s sword and Bash’s face.

But then she realized that Bash was not striking… And so she spoke.

“Help…”

Her words were halting, like those of a child just learning to speak.

But she’d spoken clearly enough.

She gazed at Bash with terror.

“Help. Please, don’t kill me.”

What was such a beauty doing in a place like this?

Even Bash was confused, veteran though he was.

“Ah.”

But Zell knew.

When Zell saw the scars on her body, Zell figured it out fast.

“Is she a survivor of the hunting party, Boss?”

“…!”

Jerking, Bash suddenly realized it, too.

Bash had been so focused on slaying the dragon, he’d gotten tunnel vision. Still, that intense focus had always served him well during the war.

“So you retreated from the dragon and hid here?”

“Nope, Boss! Look close! There!”

Bash looked where Zell was pointing.

The surroundings looked… Familiar.

Shattered rocks, scorch marks on the walls and roof… Blood splashed everywhere.

And in the back, molten rock… With a hole large enough for two people to pass by side by side.

The hole through which Bash and Zell had come in.

“This place is connected…!”

“Apparently so, Boss…”

This was the same place where Bash and Zell had fought the dragon earlier.

The ruins had led right to the dragon’s nest.

“Then that smell of blood earlier…”

“Traces of the prior battle, Boss!”

The dragon knew it… That was why it had rubbed its body through the snow to dampen the smell of blood and led Bash and Zell here, where the strong smell of fresh blood spatter still remained.

To think a dragon could pull off such a trick… Still, some magical beasts were known to be cunning.

This woman from the hunting party… Apparently, the dragon was keeping her here as an emergency snack or something.

Or maybe the dragon knew that people tend to try to rescue others of their kin. And it kept the woman alive as a sort of bait. Something to use to distract raiders of its nest, giving itself a chance to escape.

A tactic the humans often used during the war.

Dragons were said to be very intelligent. It wasn’t impossible to imagine that it had been scheming like that.

Anyway…

“So the dragon escaped, then?”

“…Looks so, Boss.”

The dragon… escaped.

As he realized this, the tension drained from Bash’s shoulders, and he dropped his sword tip to the ground.

6

THE ULTIMATE DEMON WOMAN

The woman they found in the dragon’s nest trembled violently and gazed at Bash and Zell with a look of terror.

“Poor thing looks half-petrified, Boss.”

“Indeed.”

A common sight on the battlefield.

Especially among new recruits who somehow manage to survive till the end of the battle.

In a sea of blood, shouting, utter chaos… The person to your left burning alive. The one to your right dying with an arrow sticking out of their eye. The person in front of you cleaved in half. The person behind you gone before you even turn around.

You have no idea what’s happening.

You run. You hide. You shake and pray you won’t be found, and you manage to survive. But you’re so terrified, you can’t move, and you fear even the allies who eventually come to your aid.

Even the brave and battle-numbed orcs end up like this sometimes. Of course, any orc who ends the battle trembling would be mocked as a coward. But still, it happens.

Bash never had an experience like that… But one of his fellow warriors did.

Yes—once, he saw a soldier on the ground, sobbing, screaming that he didn’t want to fight anymore.

At first, Bash and his companions were disgusted, calling him a coward, saying he wasn’t worthy to be an orc soldier.

But Bash had lived a long time on the battlefield.

So he knew.

They would return to the battle.

The orc race was not one to retreat from battle and sob. They would return to the fight, fearing being executed as a coward in a dark corner of the village.

They returned to the battlefield and died fighting bravely.

Not trembling and begging and dying pathetically. But fighting bravely.

So Bash had no intention of laughing at or mocking the female demon in front of him.

After a while, this woman would regain her strength and return to fighting bravely.

All veteran orcs know this.

Orcs mock and deride those who lose their nerve and sob. But they do not kill them on the spot as disgraces to the orc name.

It happens all the time. Really.

And this time, her opponent was a dragon. You could hardly blame her.

What was more important right now was to somehow make this frightened woman his own.

That, after all, was what he’d come here for.

“Boss! Here’s your chance! She may be a demon, but any woman in a position like this would have no choice but to fall for your charms! It’s time to act manly!”

“Right!”

Bash approached the woman.

Upon closer inspection, she really was very attractive. Not only her face and figure, but her demeanor, too… Ah, more accurately, it was the vibe that emanated from her entire being. Yes, Bash could sense something that made her different from any of the women he’d met so far.

Some intangible quality. Not grace. Not quite magic.

The woman had an aura about her. There was no other way to put it.

Even the mighty Bash felt a chill, as if a sharp icicle had just been rammed into his back.

Something inside Bash was screaming that if he could get this woman, something amazing would happen.

So this is a demon woman…

Bash had actually seen demon women many times before. But now, thinking about actually having one… The thought was exciting and terrifying.

But no need to fear. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He’d been chasing the escaped dragon, but the moment he entered the cave and didn’t see it, the pursuit ended. The dragon had gotten away.

Rather than continuing to chase the dragon, blundering about the mountain in a blizzard and possibly being ambush-barbecued by it, it would be smarter to focus on the woman right in front of him.

The sensible option would be to woo this woman and then safely evacuate her from the cave.

All right, he’d failed in dragon slaying. But that was never the main objective anyway.

“H-help…! Help me…!”

“Worry not. I will slay the dragon.”

As the demon woman begged for help, Bash sought to reassure her.

When dealing with someone in mortal fear for their life, it’s better to reassure them that their enemy is being handled.

Seeing the confidence of a veteran warrior can be reassuring to the younger generation.

“I’ve killed a dragon before. A red-scaled dragon.”

The woman gulped.

“Don’t worry. You won’t suffer anymore.”

Bash stared intensely into her eyes.

He remembered his lessons. Women love the passionate gaze of a man.

Yes, Bash had memorized all he’d learned about woman-wooing so far.

The woman gazed into Bash’s eyes… And she seemed to be calming…

“Hmm!”

But at that moment, Bash sensed movement in his peripheral vision.

A spider. A striped spider with fur all over its body.

Despite the snowiness of the mountain, the cave was quite toasty.

If dragons existed, it made sense that there were lesser creatures feeding on their scraps and their excrement. And there would be even lesser creatures to prey on those creatures.

Not that Bash knew anything about biology. The extent of his spider knowledge was that most hairy, striped spiders were venomous.

Spider venom was strong. Even orcs who were resistant to poison could be afflicted with crippling stomach pains, lasting for up to two days, upon exposure to spider venom.

Demons were supposed to be impervious to poisoning, but in her weakened state, the spider could potentially inflict a fatal bite on her.

“Hmm!”

So Bash slammed his sword down onto the spider without hesitation.

The spider died instantly, splashing purple fluid everywhere.

“Yeep!”

Good, now the situation was stable. Odd noise aside.

Bash returned his attention to the woman, to find her… Shaking on the ground.

“…Hey! Hey!”

The woman collapsed, eyes rolling back, foaming at the mouth.

“You were already bitten?! Zell!!!”

“On it, Boss!”

Zell zoomed over and began to dance in the air above the slumped body.

This was a shameful thing for fairies to do to each other, but it’s considered a laudable medical procedure when performed on an injured person.

Fairy dust sprinkled down onto the woman, and her wounds instantly healed. Her shredded fingertips, the scratches all over her, the gash on her neck, the torn wing, and her damaged eye… All were as good as new in an instant.

Zell descended and began to walk circles around the woman.

But not spotting anything that looked like a spider bite, Zell shrugged at Bash.

“Hmm. Doesn’t seem like she was bitten, Boss. None of the visible external injuries seemed that deep, either. I think she probably just fainted from relief or something!”

“Is that so?!”

Bash had finally gotten a beautiful demon woman within his grasp.

And he had permission from Sequence to make her his own.

He certainly didn’t want her to go dying on him.

“So this is to be my wife…”

The more Bash looked at her, the more beautiful he found her.

She wasn’t built like a succubus… She was much slimmer. Her feet and hands were a bit large in proportion to her body. And she had long, rough-looking claws. Some were cracked. No doubt because of the fighting she’d done…

Her hair was also messy and dirty, in contrast to the women Bash had seen lately.

Demons try to be graceful at all times, even on the battlefield, so they’re generally known for their lush, flowing locks. But then again, a warrior having disheveled hair from battle was nothing unusual. This was not the type of woman to care about her hair in a life-or-death situation. Still, it fell down to her waist and gave her an elegant look.

She had a tail, too. A slender, cute tail from her waist to her knees. Like a lizardman’s, but with some fluffy hair on the tip.

She had wings also. They were similar to those of the succubi, but a bit more robust-looking. Demons clearly were better flyers.

Then a seed of doubt began to take root in Bash’s mind.

“Was there a demon clan with wings like this…?”

“Hmm, you know, Boss, I don’t recall ever seeing any, either.”

Bash nodded, musing, but on second thought, maybe it wasn’t so strange.

“I suppose we’ve never actually gotten a good look at too many demons, huh, Boss?”

“…True. Demons generally never tolerate our presence long enough for a good look.”

Whenever Bash looked at a demon, they’d say something like this:

Stop staring at me, you lowly orc.

Demons look down their noses at orcs and fairies. But they also don’t like to be stared at.

In some species, staring at another person for too long is said to be an invitation to fight.

Like with beastkin.

Demons had distinctive eyes. A wayward glance could easily be taken as a challenge.

Also, as far as Bash knew, there were many different types of demons.

The most common were the brown-skinned lesser demons, but there were also higher-ranking demons with blue skin and multiple eyes. Even among the demon nobility, those with the same family name could still look completely different from each other.

There were as many different-looking demons as there were demon names. So if there was a demon subtype Bash had never heard of before, well, that didn’t mean much.

For starters, Bash didn’t know all that much about demon appearances anyway.

The only thing that mattered was that the woman in front of him was a true beauty.

And it was more than just her outward appearance. She emanated a mysterious charm and power from her entire body.

It gave Bash a thrill.

…

He’d received Sequence’s permission.

The female demon who went out to slay the dragon…had been promised to Bash. In other words…this woman…was his. His long, painful journey… It had finally come to an end.

Bash reached for the woman.

Now was the time for all that pent-up bestial lust to be unleashed.

But just as he was about to touch her, he froze.

“…I have permission from Sequence, but not from the woman herself.”

The Orc King had forbidden sexual intercourse with other races without consent.

He had Sequence’s permission. Did that equal consent?

Perhaps one could view it that way… But was that truly the case?

Let’s say the Orc King said to someone, I give you permission to kill Bash.

Did that mean Bash had to sit there and let himself be killed by his assailant?

The answer is no.

Bash hadn’t received any personal death orders from the Orc King in this scenario.

On the other hand, if one of them were to attack him in his sleep, Bash would likely become suspicious of the Orc King.

He’d think that the Orc King did not respect Bash’s honor.

This meant that Sequence’s honor might be similarly besmirched.

And certainly, having sexual intercourse with an unconscious person is never consent.

“I’ll wait until she wakes up…”

Bash had made his decision.

Surely she wouldn’t mind if he explained the situation once she was awake.

Demons, like orcs, are bound by absolute obedience to the orders of their superiors.

Bash would need to be careful. If he ruined this golden opportunity, he would never get another one this good.

“Maybe we should bring her back to her home, Boss. You know demons are a suspicious sort. If you tell her you received permission from Sequence, there’s a chance she won’t believe you.”

Demons are skeptical by nature. They might dismiss the idea that Bash had Sequence’s permission as ridiculous.

Who could forget what happened after he defeated the Hero Leto? It had fallen to Bash to explain the circumstances of Geddigs’s death, but the demons refused to believe him.

“How could a lowly pig like you defeat the great Hero Leto?” they said.

They said he was delusional. “You crushed the one who defeated Lord Geddigs? Pure fantasy,” they said.

“Hmm, you’ve got a point.”

Bash nodded, in full agreement with Zell, then picked up the woman and slung her over his shoulders.

With her butt right there next to his cheek, Bash was treated to the most delectable scent he’d ever smelled.

Her skin was so soft, so smooth!

Just the thought of being intimate with her… It made Bash’s heart soar. His mind was awash with pure bliss.

Come to think of it, all the orcs carried the women they defeated back home this way.

This was the sensation of accomplishment and expectation all orcs enjoyed.

How lucky I am to be able to experience it, even though the war is over.

Thinking these indulgent thoughts, Bash made his way to the cave entrance, where he paused.

“Dawn is breaking.”

“…The snowstorm has stopped, too. That’s bad.”

The weather in the mountains was fickle.

Where there had been a white blizzard before, there was now clear shining sunlight.

The sky above was still cloudy, but the snowy plains of the mountain’s foothills were now visible.

Bash’s battle-honed eyes would be able to see if anything moved there.

“…”

Even more so if it was a dragon, come to reclaim its nest.

He could not let the enemy get the jump on him now.

“Retreating like this would be unwise…”

Bash immediately abandoned his plan to return.

He had no chance of winning against an airborne dragon.

It would be a complete waste to be killed by a dragon on the way back, just when he’d managed to obtain such a delectable woman for his own.

“Looks like we’ll just have to wait here for a while.”

“Seems so, Boss.”

Zell gazed skyward.

“We have to wait for the next blizzard.”

There was no need for haste. Mountain weather was changeable. They would wait for another blizzard, then head back.

They’d brought plenty of food, just in case, and they could easily feed the woman, too.

Orcs had big appetites, but they could go a long time without food. Bash could simply give his portion to the woman, if necessary.

And if the dragon came back, he could simply slay it for good.

Bash wouldn’t lose as long as the fight took place inside this cave.

“This is amazing… I finally have a wife…”

“Yeah, about that, Boss…”

“Hm?”

Even for a fairy, Zell had pretty great powers of precognition.

Zell could plan out a week’s menu in advance, knowing exactly when they’d be hungry.

“Demon women have a lot of pride.”

“Right.”

“My prediction is that even if she becomes your wife… She still might not do what you want. She might instantly forget that you saved her and leave to go back to her own country. Even after marrying and becoming your wife. And there’s no guarantee she’d agree to have your child! She might even be like, I want a divorce, you idiot…! Something like that!”

“No, that couldn’t be… Although, that is likely…”

Come to think of it… Weren’t all demons like that?

They cheered when the orcs rushed to their rescue in battle.

In battle, they’d shout things like, You saved us! and Go, orcs! but once the battle was over, they acted like none of it ever happened.

They could just say Thanks! and be gracious about it, but no. Instead, they’d make negative comments, like, You sure took your sweet time showing up! and so on. Considering all that… It was highly possible a demon bride would shirk her wifely responsibilities and flee at the first opportunity.

“If you want the demon lady to be your real wife, you have to get on an equal footing with her!”

“Become a demon’s equal…?”

The woman seemed scared now, but soon she might start swanning about and lording it over Bash.

If that happened, communication would be impossible.

In which case… He should take advantage of her weakness to forge a bond now.

Demons only listen when they’re at a disadvantage.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“You gotta try, Boss! This is your big chance! Catch her in a moment of vulnerability, show her your manly side, and make her fall for you! You saved her life, Boss! You’re strong! She’s weak! Demons may be stuck-up, but she’ll have to see the truth! At the very least, you’re her equal!”

“Hmm… I see.”

“Now, let’s think up a strategy before she wakes up!”

“Right!”

And so, in front of the sleeping woman, the two hatched a plan.

7

EYES

On the continent of Vastonia, the generally accepted knowledge about dragons was as follows:

• Dragons are creatures that are overwhelmingly stronger than any other race.
• Dragons are creatures that live longer than the elves do.
• Dragons are creatures that can live anywhere. Some prefer warm places like volcanoes, some like cold places such as snowy mountains, and some live at the bottom of the ocean or in poisonous swamps.
• Dragons are creatures protected by hard scales that can deflect all kinds of attacks.
• Dragons are creatures with strong fangs and claws that can cut through all kinds of things.
• Dragons are creatures that have strong stomachs that can digest all kinds of things.
• Dragons are creatures that fly freely in the sky and that pursue their enemies from the air.
• Dragons are creatures that breathe fire hot enough to melt all sorts of things.
• Dragons are creatures that don’t always attack other creatures if they’re not hungry.
• Finally, dragons are the most intelligent of all magical beasts.

The human Sage, who spent many years in close contact with a dragon, might know more.

But that Sage only knew one dragon, so they only had a single point of reference.

All living things on the continent of Vastonia, from the fiercest beasts to the most cowardly of vermin, feared dragons and kept far away from them.

People being no exception.

But there was currently only one dragon living on the continent of Vastonia.

It lived on a far-off continent once but came here to the main continent after the war.

The dragon had no name, but the others used to call it Eyes.

Even the dragon itself couldn’t remember why.

Maybe it had exceptional eyesight and could spot prey from farther off than any other dragon, or some such reason.

Dragon-naming conventions tended to be pretty literal.

Eyes was just an ordinary dragon.

It had lived long. It liked cold places. It had tough scales, fangs, claws, and wings, and it saw other creatures only as food. It was born an ordinary dragon and had lived the life of an ordinary dragon.

It was the strongest of all creatures, feared by all living things.

The reason why Eyes became interested in people was because of its friend, Bones.

Bones had been an odd dragon.

It had a keen interest in people and loved to talk.

Eyes had often heard stories from Bones. They were interesting, and Eyes enjoyed listening to them.

No doubt Eyes cared for Bones very much.

Eyes never paid much attention to people, but somehow, listening to Bones talk about them, Eyes always felt a little bit excited and sort of happy.

One day, the eccentric Bones was taken off somewhere by a small person, and when Bones returned, they were literally just bones.

Dead, in other words.

When Bones died, Eyes was very sad.

Eyes couldn’t cope with his grief, so it went around murdering and eating those who had caused it such sorrow.

But when the sadness and the murderous feelings began to subside, Eyes began to wonder.

Why had Bones been so interested in people?

What was interesting about people?

Yes, Eyes had taken an interest in them, too.

But when Eyes went to observe people, people attacked it.

Eyes had killed many people already. And even if that hadn’t been Eyes’s intention this time, things still ended up that way.

So, in the end, Eyes decided to barbecue and consume them.

It tried to catch a few to play with, but it wasn’t particularly exciting. It had no idea what Bones’s fascination with people had been.

Eyes was disappointed… And a bit annoyed, to be honest.

People were no match for Eyes, and yet they bothered Eyes on a daily basis.

When Eyes went hunting for food, people attacked. Sometimes they brought Eyes what it thought was food, but the food tasted bad and bitter, and while it was distracted by the terrible taste, they’d fling a big net over it.

Each time, Eyes killed them or went and burned their homes to frighten them, but the harassment continued.

Recently, they’d even started sneaking into Eyes’s nest.

Eyes was tired of people now and thought of moving away.

But if it just disappeared, the people would think it ran away. That wouldn’t do.

Still, it was too much trouble to destroy the people’s nest, since they all hid deep inside.

So what could Eyes do…?

Just as he was pondering that, something happened.

A green person invaded his nest.

Dragons were the most powerful creatures of all.

So from birth until now, Eyes had never known the sensation of crisis.

And it wasn’t just Eyes.

Most dragons never felt threatened once in their lives, not even at their moment of death.

Their scales protected them from all attacks. And with their strong stomachs, they could even consume poison safely.

There was no threat to them.

The only threat was probably when two dragons fought each other over territory or something.

Two dragons could hurt each other.

However, dragons rarely ventured into each other’s territory, and even if they did, they rarely fought to the death.

Most of them died of old age after a life spent being an apex predator.

So when the green person crawled into its nest, Eyes didn’t really worry at all.

Ah, another one.

Still, just one person. It hardly mattered.

It could easily flame-grill the green person in a narrow cave passage.

As hard as it was to believe, other people had somehow created a small entrance into Eyes’s nest.

They’d entered the nest from a rear passage and attacked Eyes while Eyes was sleeping.

But when Eyes woke up and began to thrash about, the people panicked and ran like rats down the narrow, unfamiliar passageways.

Eyes burned half of them to death quite quickly.

But the others survived and got away down the passages. Eyes had to chase them all down and barbecue them. What a hassle.

Eyes wasn’t surprised that the green person was still half alive after its breath attack. Half the previous people had lived long enough to flee, after all.

No doubt this one would flee down a narrow passage, too.

In that case, all Eyes needed to do was roast it and finish it off.

Confident, Eyes leaned in to get a closer look and…

Suddenly, one of its eyes was blinded.

Eyes was confused. What was happening?

One of Eyes’s eyes was burning. Its body was singing with sharp, biting pain.

Through Eyes’s half-ruined vision, he saw the green person…inside its nest.

It knew that the green person must have been the one to wound it.

“Graaagh!”

When was the last time Eyes had roared with genuine rage?

Eyes’s roar always made living things flee in terror.

“Graaagh!”

But the green person roared back without hesitation.

Eyes trembled.

Looking down, it saw the green person with a sword.

What fighting spirit. Hubris. Such a small person dared to attack him.

…And for what?

Eyes’s confusion gave way quickly to more rage.

“Graaagh!”

Bracing its legs against the ground with more force than it’d usually use, Eyes jumped up, raised its right arm, and brought it down on the green person.

Then there was a sound… A sound Eyes had never heard before.

Crack!

A second after the sound, Eyes realized it was on the ground.

Eyes got to its feet, feeling pain in its claws. Its claws… Claws that had never had a single crack in hundreds of years…were splintered and bleeding.

Huh?

Something was wrong.

But no, years of experience made that impossible. There was no way a dragon like Eyes could be defeated by one little person. Such a thing had never happened before. Eyes had never once imagined it.

So the fact that it was in danger right now was slow to sink in.

About ten minutes later, though, Eyes was starting to realize…

I… I can’t win…

Within just a few minutes, Eyes’s body had become a battered mess.

Its claws and fangs were splintered. Its throat burned from constant fire-breathing. Its scales were peeling off all over. There was a large gash in its neck. It was losing blood all over, and its strength was fading fast.

The little green person was strong.

He countered every attack. He shattered Eyes’s claws and fangs and chipped away at its scales.

Now he was glaring at Eyes with the most ferocious look Eyes had ever seen.

Am I…going to die?

But the dragon still had its instincts.

All living things had innate survival instincts. Eyes had just never felt its own before.

And when that instinct flooded the dragon’s body…

“…Huh?”

Eyes turned and fled.

“Don’t let it get away! After it!”

The green person chased after it, along with the tiny glowing flying person.

Incredible speed. Incredible technique. Incredible murderous intent.

Of course. These people came to kill it. Of course they would give chase.

Eyes fled.

Its chest hurt, perhaps from too much fire-breathing. It couldn’t run very well. Perhaps because of its injuries.

Even if it left the nest and spread its wings, it doubted it could fly. Its wing was tattered and had a giant hole in it now. It had no choice but to roll down the mountain. It was better than staying still.

It had to run. It had to escape. Escape, escape…

At a certain spot, Eyes stopped.

It was standing by the back entrance to its nest.

It couldn’t fly. But if it went any lower, it would have nowhere to hide.

So Eyes made a risky choice.

Dragons had a final resort unknown to other creatures.

Few dragons had seen or personally used this last-resort technique. Few would ever have a reason to.

Some dragons even considered the ability shameful.

Eyes, for one, had never imagined it would need it.

But it knew how.

No one had taught it how to do this. It just knew…instinctively.

No one on the continent knew of this magic.

A form of magic, secret even to most dragons. And even among dragons, there was no name for it. They referred to it as “That Magic” or simply “That.”

It was a human who gave this magic a name.

This human had a deep friendship with a dragon. The humans later called them a Sage.

The Sage learned the secret from their dragon friend. And they called it Newt.

But the Sage never described Newt.

Therefore, no one on the continent knew what Newt was.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

Using Newt, Eyes entered the cave through the back door and made its way to the nest.

Shivering in a corner of the cave, Eyes prayed that the green person would just wander off into the snowy mountains.

According to legend, dragons were bad at fleeing. Indeed, there was no such thing as a dragon adept at running away.

This was the first time in Eyes’s life that it had ever fled from a fight.

“Agh!”

Then, a short time later, when the green person reappeared, Eyes gasped in despair.

The green man spotted Eyes and swung his sword.

I’m dead, Eyes thought.

“A woman…?”

But the green person paused.

Newt was working!

Eyes did her best to speak people words, a language she barely knew.

“Help. Please, don’t kill me.”

It was the phrase Eyes had heard the most from people over the years.

She knew what those words meant. It wasn’t like she’d rehearsed, but she found she could say them fluently. Newt was working well indeed.

“Is she a survivor of the hunting party, Boss?”

Yes… With the power of Newt, Eyes could transform into another race.

A perfect body transformation. This body could do it all… Even reproduce.

A secret technique said to have been devised by dragons in ancient times, when they were on the verge of extinction, in order to ensure the survival of their species.

It’s considered a technique used by cowardly losers now. For a dragon on the verge of destruction to transform itself and beg for sympathy from its enemies… Almost unthinkable.

It was an arcane, almost entirely unknown magic.

But everyone had heard the myth.

The myth of the race known as dragonewts…

“Poor thing looks half petrified, Boss.”

“Indeed.”

The people, seeing Eyes in her Newt form, simply assumed that she was of a similar race to them.

The Newt magic was working well.

It would take a fool not to make the connection and guess that it was really the dragon.

Relieved, the dragon got ready to spin a good story and ensure her survival.

She wasn’t confident in her people-speech skills, but she knew what to say in begging situations.

Eyes had heard much begging over the years.

“H-help…! Help me…!”

Not bad, Eyes thought.

Her words made the green person sit down beside Eyes and speak in a confident tone. He said:

“Worry not. I will slay the dragon.”

Those words had a murderous intent behind them. A shiver of fear went through Eyes.

She stiffened, swallowing what she was about to say next.

Had she…been found out?

“I’ve killed a dragon before. A red-scaled dragon.”

Oh no! She’d been sniffed out for sure. Eyes’s heart was beating so hard, it hurt her chest.

It really hurt! People bodies were so fragile…

How could the green person not have realized?

Eyes knew that people were still there, hiding behind rocks, even if they’d disappeared. She knew from the blood smell.

Eyes had been foolish to try this… How could she have thought she could get away with it…? That the green person wouldn’t notice?

But then… Why didn’t the green person finish her off?

“Don’t worry. You won’t suffer anymore.”

Then Eyes realized something.

Newt wasn’t the kind of magic spell that made you hide in plain sight.

It was the kind of spell that played on others’ sympathy by making the caster appear to be something familiar or dear to them. Maybe the Newt power had bewitched the green person, even though the truth was obvious? Would Eyes be able to survive…?

But then…

“Hmph!”

…the green person swung their sword.

The same sword that had peeled away Eyes’s scales shattered her claws and fangs, punctured her wing, and beat her down mentally, too.

An object of fear. A symbol of death.

Without mercy.

“Yeep!”

There was a squishing sound, and Eyes felt her heart thump massively.

Then she lost consciousness… Hearing only the sound of her own pathetic, keening death throes…

8

EYESAND BONES

Her eyes snapped open.

Huh? I’m…not dead…?

But Eyes was supposed to be dead. The green person’s sword should have decapitated her.

A body casting Newt magic is more fragile and weaker than that of a dragon.

No way Eyes could have survived.

Huh? My wounds are…healed?

When Eyes looked down, her body, which had been covered in wounds, was now clean and beautiful.

Eyes’s claws were still mangled, but the cuts on her fingertips and the hole in her wing was gone, and even her busted eye and the wound in her neck had healed.

…Was it a dream?

More like a nightmare.

A green person suddenly appeared in the nest, beat Eyes to a pulp, and tried to kill her. In the end, Eyes was cornered, with a sword swinging down on her…

The green one was a fearsome person. Ah, just recalling it now made Eyes’s heart pound.

To Eyes’s embarrassment, she’d actually dreamed of casting Newt. The first time she’d ever dreamed such a ludicrous thing.

But upon waking, Eyes realized a dream was all it had been.

No way that green person was real.

“Hmm. She seems to have woken up.”

“Yeep!”

Hearing the voice, Eyes yelped and stiffened.

He was there… Right in front of Eyes!

The green person! That was no dream!

“Are you cold? Are you hungry? Would you like some water?”

The green person crouched right in front of the fear-frozen Eyes and gently wrapped Eyes in the fur he’d been wearing before. Then he offered Eyes lukewarm water and what appeared to be food.

Eyes looked confused, eyes darting between the food and the green person.

Eyes was at a loss.

“You’re not going to eat?”

With those words, Eyes dug into the food.

Perhaps Eyes thought she would be killed if she didn’t do as she was told.

“…”

Eating while being glared at by the green person, it took Eyes a second to realize how good the food tasted.

Eyes gobbled everything up. She must have been hungry.

It wouldn’t be enough for a dragon, but it was enough for Eyes’s smaller Newt-induced body.

…But why?

Eyes had questions.

Why was this green person giving food to someone he’d been trying to kill?

Is it possible that they haven’t figured me out…?

Maybe the Newt magic really was working after all.

Perhaps that sword swing earlier hadn’t been meant for Eyes at all.

Maybe Eyes had fainted in fear. But the person wasn’t actually trying to kill her.

Just as Eyes was thinking that, the green person sat down in front of Eyes and spoke with a confident look on his face.

“Worry not. I will slay the dragon.”

Repeating himself, as if to show he wanted to start over again from that point.

The same words Eyes heard before she had fainted… Eyes shivered all over.

“When the dragon bares its claws, I’ll snap them off. When the dragon bares its fangs, I’ll smash its nose in. When the dragon breathes fire, I’ll get behind it and slice its wings off.”

The green person described, in gruesome detail, how he planned to slay the dragon.

If this happens, then I’ll do this. Or if the dragon does this, then I’ll do this.

Finally… I’ll chop off its head.

Indulging in deluded war fantasies is a common pastime among young people who don’t know their place in the world.

Anyone who’s ever seen a dragon would likely scoff at such big talk.

Even Eyes would have scoffed if a tiny person said something like that. Bring it on, Eyes would say, and then Eyes would tear them apart with her claws, crunch them between her jaws, and burn them to ashes with her fire breath.

But those words had come from the mouth of the green person.

Eyes had to admit that the green person could not be taken lightly.

In the battle just before…all of that had actually happened.

When Eyes bared her claws, the green person snapped them off. When Eyes lashed out with her fangs, the green person punched her nose in. When Eyes breathed fire, the green person got behind her and punctured her wing.

This was no laughing matter.

What the green person was threatening to do, he had already done.

Even if Eyes mixed up her fighting style, no doubt the green person would be able to keep up.

“I’ll behead it this time, for sure.”

The green person glowered at Eyes.

The threat before the initial blow.

If Eyes could not escape, then the same thing would play out again.

Eyes could still vividly remember the terror of the moment her throat was slashed.

But why all this…? Is it possible, after all? He hasn’t noticed I’m me?

The moment Eyes had this thought, the green person bared his fangs and spoke.

“I won’t let the dragon get away this time. I’ll hunt it down and kill it, I swear.”

No! He knows!

Eyes began to tremble in spite of herself.

The green person’s words were filled with strong will. Eyes was already dead, and it had been easy for the green person. Yes, Eyes was cornered!

The green person could do it. He could do it easily enough.

Even if Eyes fled to her old home on the other continent, this green person would surely chase after her.

Eyes had no idea why the green person was so fixated…

Ah, but Eyes did have some idea, actually.

When her friend Bones died, Eyes was overcome with grief and rage and went on a bit of a killing spree. Even though Eyes was never really all that chummy with any other dragons. But to people, who are pack animals, Eyes’s revenge seemed only natural.

Eyes saw people as expendable, puny beings that died at the drop of a hat. And yet they formed strong bonds between themselves.

But why not kill me right away…?

Eyes was confused, her mind jumbled.

The green person probably knew that Eyes was the dragon he’d fought earlier.

No doubt he knew that Eyes had used Newt to take on the form of a small person.

Otherwise, there would be no need to declare that he was going to kill the dragon with such sincere, murderous intent.

Why…? Why…?

Eyes did not know why she hadn’t been killed already. But one thing was certain… Eyes would be killed sooner or later.

Eyes’s survival instinct was still working to find some way out of this.

I have to do something… I don’t want to die…

In order to survive, Eyes had to get the green person to go away somehow. But the green person seemed hell-bent on killing Eyes.

Eyes had to sweet-talk the person somehow and get him to spare Eyes’s life.

But how…?

Eyes could barely handle a people conversation. How was Eyes supposed to beg for her life?

Eyes didn’t even know why she’d been spared!

Dragons were highly intelligent. And fortunately for her, Eyes had that friend named Bones, who’d helped her learn people speech.

Eyes could talk a little, but couldn’t handle a complex conversation.

Persuading anyone in people speech seemed impossible.

Eyes had to try.

But if Eyes failed… The green person’s menacing words would become reality.

If Eyes so much as slightly offended him…

Can’t do it…

Eyes couldn’t fight, couldn’t flee, couldn’t effectively beg for mercy.

At this point, all Eyes could do was hang her head and tremble.

Please, please spare my life, and if you are unaware of my true identity, then please let me leave this place quickly before you figure it out…!

As Eyes was praying in silence, the green person spoke.

“Just so you know, I’ve killed a dragon before. I will do the same to this one.”

“…!”

Maybe the green person knew everything after all, and his plan was to torment Eyes before killing her!

Perhaps he knew the arcane method by which Eyes could look like this.

Perhaps he wanted to enjoy the dragon’s cowering fear for as long as possible.

Bones had told Eyes once that there were people who acted like that.

Hearing this, Eyes had decided to try playing with her food. Eyes tormented some deer they were having for lunch before killing them, and it was a lot of fun.

Recalling this now, Eyes trembled with fear. Eyes had no option of prolonging her life. Death was inevitable. After all, Eyes had never let any prey she was toying with escape.

But then, suddenly, in the back of Eyes’s mind, the green person’s words lit a spark.

Come to think of it, he’d said the same thing before Eyes fainted.

“…Before?”

Fear made her throat tremble, but perhaps because Eyes was now a person, Eyes found it easier to speak people words.

Eyes felt an intense, chilling gaze fall on her.

Eyes glanced at the green person.

Perhaps it was because Eyes had become smaller, or perhaps because Eyes had become a person by the power of Newt… but the green person’s face looked terrifying to Eyes, like that of a legendary evil dragon.

But Eyes didn’t think she’d said anything that would upset the green person…?

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve killed a dragon before.”

The green person’s fangs glittered.

For a moment, Eyes wondered if he’d killed it and eaten it with those very fangs, but no, that couldn’t be the case.

It must have been with the sword on his back.

“H-how?”

Hearing this, the green person exchanged glances with the small person beside him.

The little person responded by nodding vigorously.

…Does this one know?

Perhaps Eyes’s true identity had been sniffed out a while ago and the green person really was trying to kill her.

Death is scary. All dragons are afraid of it.

In all their long life, they never think of death.

The knowledge that sudden death was upon its doorstep would make any dragon cower in fear.

Was this the person who killed Bones…?

Eyes’s desire to know won out. Or perhaps it was imminent death that gave her this desire to know. If she was going to die, she wanted to at least die after finding out.

“It was at the Remium Plateau.”

And then the green person began to speak.

He cleared his throat and changed his tone and voice just a little.

“At that time, I participated in the battle as the vanguard of the orc army. I was the number one spearman. Although any orc present would no doubt claim they were number one. That’s how fierce that battle was. Just surviving it was a point of pride in itself.”

Actually, Eyes didn’t know this, but at the battle of the Remium Plateau, no orc present would boast of being the number one spearman.

Anyone who was actually there would know who charged into the enemy camp first, who was the real spearman of the battle, and who was the first to take the head of a major enemy.

The only orcs who might claim to have been the first to spear an enemy are those who weren’t even there. Or, perhaps, this orc here, who was.

“We had the upper hand. In the blink of an eye, we crushed the human forces and marched toward the royal flag we could see in the distance. The first man to appear was the Knight of Mercy, Geilid Beckle.”

“The Knight of Mercy was famous for taking no prisoners, you know?! He’s a cold-blooded murderer who’ll slaughter any enemy that appears before his eyes, no matter who they are! I’m sure as a demon you already know this, but he’s killed countless warriors, you know?!” said Zell.

“Right. He was as fearsome as they come. But his horse wasn’t. When I unleashed my war cry, his horse got spooked and reared. That rogue, he actually used that as a chance to attack me from above! But I raised my sword and blocked it!”

“Wh-what happened then, Boss?!”

“I cut him in two.”

“Of course you did! Your armor’s top-notch, Boss, but it’s your sword that really does the business! Cut him in two right at the belt, did ya?!”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

“Huh?”

“I cut him vertically.”

“Wow!”

Eyes, hearing this tale, was confused.

Huh… I thought this would be a story about Bones, but it doesn’t seem to be.

In fact, there was no mention of dragons at all.

It was all about petty people conflict.

“What about…dragons?”

“Hold on, hold on! Cool your jets! We’re talking the battle of the Remium Plateau, here! It started with a clash between orcs and humans! Lots of famous humans appear in this story, so listen closely, will ya? You have to tell a story in order! In ORDER! Honestly, don’t you know anything?!”

“???”

Eyes did not understand the story at all.

But either way, it was not for Eyes to stop the conversation.

Maybe there was meaning to the story. Bones had often told complicated stories. Some of them wouldn’t have made sense without the intro part. No doubt this was much the same.

“…Okay.”

“All right, then listen up! Boss… Please, continue!”

“Right. So, I slayed Geilid…”

And so Bash had his time for war boasting at last.

If there were young orcs present, no doubt they would be listening with rapturous pleasure.

But for the dragon, this was a very odd thing to experience.

A dragon lays one egg once every few decades.

The baby dragon hatches from the egg and is raised by its mother until it’s able to fly.

Eyes met Bones shortly after Eyes learned to fly.

It was after Eyes had left the nest and was separated from her mother. Eyes barely had any idea what to do.

Eyes had no destination in mind but was soaring through the air in the dragon way.

Dragons fly for miles and miles, and whenever they get tired or spot a comfortable-looking place, they land and make their nest.

They do it instinctively. No one teaches them.

Eyes was no exception. She found a comfortable-looking place and decided to make a nest there.

But what’s comfortable for one dragon is also comfortable for another.

The place that Eyes had chosen was actually already Bones’s territory.

Dragons are highly territorial creatures.

Normally, a dragon would spot the signs of other dragons before entering their territory and thus avoid it.

But Eyes, still young, missed the signs.

Which is why the incident occurred.

A fairly common incident between dragons, especially young dragons.

When a dragon enters another dragon’s territory, there are two possible scenarios that play out.

One is a territorial dispute. A fight breaks out, and the winner takes control of the area.

The other scenario is that the dragons will pair up.

If the paired dragons are of the opposite sex, they will live together for a while and produce offspring.

Once breeding is complete, the male leaves the territory.

There are only these two possible scenarios.

But when Eyes entered Bones’s territory, something else happened.

Bones actually came out to greet the foolish young invader.

Bones did not seek a fight or try to argue. Instead, Bones was welcoming.

“I’ve lived around here for a long time. Let’s be friends.”

Eyes, knowing nothing, simply said, “Okay, thanks.” And that was that. Maybe Bones was disarmed a little by the fact that Eyes hadn’t immediately attacked.

Anyway, the two of them lived together for a while after that.

Bones came to spend time with Eyes regularly.

Sometimes with food, sometimes empty-handed.

Bones often flew in, but sometimes came on foot. But whenever Bones came to see Eyes, Bones would tell stories.

Stories about the people Bones so loved. Or just passing on wisdom about life as a dragon.

What people would call small talk became essential for Eyes to learn about the ways of survival.

Eyes learned from Bones what would normally take hundreds of years for a dragon to learn on their own.

Bones also taught Eyes many things, beyond the obvious basics.

Stories about other creatures, about people, and about mysterious objects scattered all over the world…

Bones probably knew a lot of things that other dragons didn’t know.

Because Bones was such a curious dragon.

But Eyes only ever really half listened.

Eyes wasn’t really all that interested, to be honest.

But Eyes did like Bones. Often, when the mood struck, Eyes would go over to Bones’s place to see them. And when Bones came to visit, Eyes would make space in her nest.

Bones was not a mother nor a mate, but what Eyes felt for Bones might be similar to what people call familial love.

Bones was something like a sister or a cousin or an aunt.

Then one day, Bones died.

Just like that. Murdered.

By a tiny little person.

Eyes was consumed with sadness and anger.

Eyes wanted to kill every person in existence.

Specifically, if Eyes found the person who killed Bones, Eyes planned to torture them to death.

Eyes had never felt such a strong murderous intent.

That’s how sad Eyes was when Bones died.

After that, Eyes started attacking every person she found.

It seemed like revenge… But it was really just Eyes venting frustration.

Eyes eventually grew tired of venting her frustration.

It wasn’t like killing people would bring Bones back. And most people seemed to never have heard of Bones. Also, it was annoying when the people would fight back.

But the fixation never waned.

Yes, Eyes was fixated.

Not on all people.

Just on the one who’d killed Bones.

Eyes wasn’t out there searching for them. Nor did Eyes expect to find them.

But today… Eyes had found them.

And the person had begun to boast of how they had killed Bones.

But Eyes couldn’t have imagined how she’d feel after she’d heard the full story…

9

THE PROPOSAL

“I’d just come face-to-face with the Black Head, Birmingham, when it showed up.

“Someone said, ‘Look up to the sky.’

“I looked up and saw a majestic figure. It was a dragon, its red scales shining, and it was flying about, spreading fire, fear, and death as it went.

“No orc could see that sight and not feel fear. I was no exception. My knees had not trembled before an enemy since back when I was a new recruit.

“I might have tried to run. I knew there was no way I could win against something like that. But the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. The dragon’s breath attack had some kind of venom in it, I think.

“I thought I was dead. I thought…, So this is what it means to die. I can’t die yet. I have to fight. But I couldn’t stay conscious.

“When I woke up, not much time had passed, but the situation had changed. The dragon had descended to the ground and was on a rampage.

“What a majestic creature, I thought. How mighty. How powerful.

“I didn’t think I could win. I thought the dragon was far above my level.

“But I picked up my sword and walked toward the dragon.

“Why? It’s obvious. I am an honorable warrior. I am a proud orc.

“I thought I ought to at least die fighting, not running away. I knew that was the way any honorable orc would act.

“As I moved in front of the dragon, I saw its eyes lock on to me.

“I raised my sword and let out my war cry. I don’t think I’d ever yelled so loud in my life.

“From then on, I was in a blood frenzy. I had to disable the claws, lest they tear through armor and flesh. I had to disable the fangs… They would slice me in half with one snap. And I had to stop its fire breath, lest I be barbecued. It was the battle of battles.

“I saw my chance when I landed a blow on its neck. My blow sliced through its scales, and when the blood spurted, I knew I could cut off its head.

“I wasn’t even thinking of winning. I was just thinking, Cut it off, cut it off.

“The dragon must have noticed. It became increasingly protective of its neck, blocking me from getting close.

“If the orcs, the ogres, and the demons hadn’t swarmed the dragon just then, I no doubt would have died. Or the dragon would have gotten away.

“I broke its claws, crushed its nose, dodged its breath by circling around it…and thrust my sword into its neck.

“I remember the feeling of the sword plunging into that thick throat. I remember the light in the dragon’s eyes as it turned to me. I held its gaze until the light in its eyes died.

“I don’t know what that dragon was thinking… But I believe I saw admiration in those eyes.

You should be proud that you managed to defeat me, they seemed to say.

“That’s when cheering broke out all around.

“It wasn’t just the orcs. The demons and ogres, everyone I fought alongside showered me with praise. Yes! Even demons and ogres.

“I had never felt such accomplishment, such pride. I was exalted. I was honored.

“If I’d never defeated that dragon, I would not have the title of Orc Hero.

“Fighting that dragon and surviving…is the greatest honor I have ever known.”

Eyes listened quietly to Bash’s story.

The story of the death of Bones, who was like family to Eyes.

The story, as Bash told it, was that of a mortal struggle against a mighty dragon.

Seeing Bash proudly puffing out his chest at the memory of slaying the dragon and winning honor for himself… Eyes opened her mouth to speak.

“And then?”

Hearing those words, Bash looked at Eyes in surprise.

“…And then?”

“What happened then?”

Bash looked at Zell, somewhat flustered by Eyes’s question.

Zell whispered something in Bash’s ear, and Bash muttered “Ah” before continuing.

“…Then the human army came running in, and there was an all-out battle… In the midst of this, I heard someone say that the demon HQ was under attack. When I heard that, I…”

Eyes listened to Bash speak.

Eyes kept listening, even when the conversation had nothing to do with Bones.

Eyes just listened. Eyes understood the words, their meaning, the overall context.

Eyes simply sat and listened to Bash’s story.

“I prepared myself to die in the cave. I had fought the great Elf Mage, but I was alone, and the enemy had allies. From outside the cave, I could hear the angry shouts of the elves, I could see the light of their magic flickering. I thought, They will find me soon, and the great Elf Mage will be healed and restored to magical power, and will seek to attack me again. But then a miracle happened. A fairy came to save me in the midst of the battle.”

“That’s right! And that fairy was none other than yours truly!”

Bash wasn’t done storytelling.

He went on and on. And Eyes encouraged it.

Every time Bash tried to finish his story, Eyes would say “So?” or “Then what?” and urge him to continue.

“Then, after Zell’s fairy dust had healed my wounds, I managed to break out of the elf circle and escape in the nick of time.”

For an orc, Bash’s boasting wasn’t really what you’d call sophisticated.

Orcs were generally expected to embellish when they told boastful stories.

A common narrative technique was to exaggerate one’s own achievements and deride the other person in the story, painting them as small and insignificant.

Orcs described medium-sized lizards as massive dragons, described a bloody fistfight during which they got pummeled as a knock-out victory on their part, and painted the average-looking female warriors they dragged off as exquisite beauties.

But Bash didn’t need to do that.

Bash really did fight massive dragons, and he really was lauded as a Hero in multiple lands. Even if Bash did get pummeled in a fight, he was being pummeled by formidable foes that were nearly his equal.

Simply stating the facts made Bash sound impressive.

Still, his bragging skills were unlikely to improve like this.

And incidentally, none of Bash’s stories included any parts about female warriors being taken as spoils of war. He had no such stories to boast about.

So naturally, he focused on other stuff.

In other words, the combat.

“Fighting Thunder Sonia and surviving is one of my greatest honors.”

Bash always ended each tale by describing the honor he felt at the achievement.

His voice was tinged with pride. It was quite moving to listen to.

Pride and honor. From Bash’s speech, it was clear how important those two things were to orcs.

No doubt it would reduce a listening orc to manly tears, but… It meant nothing to Eyes.

“And then?”

As Eyes listened to Bash’s tales, Eyes recalled Bones.

The way Bones used to speak. Calm, like they were carefully explaining every detail.

Odd stories, where you couldn’t quite figure out what was supposed to be so interesting about them. Like Bones was a professor, lecturing students on an important but boring topic.

“…Ah, yes. Of course, the battle didn’t end there.

“When I returned, having just barely survived the battle against the great Elf Mage Thunder Sonia, what I saw was not the sturdy wall of the impregnable fortress…

“What I saw was fire. When I returned to base camp, I found that it had already been attacked by elves and was basically completely destroyed.”

“…”

Compared to Bones’s dry storytelling, Bash’s was much more vivid.

He spoke from the heart about things he’d personally seen, heard, and experienced.

And Zell’s frequent excited interjections made the scenes even easier to imagine.

You might say that this was Eyes’s first time experiencing something that could be described as entertainment.

Which, ultimately, meant…

Interesting! I wonder what will happen next?!

…It meant that Eyes was having an absolute blast.

“And what happened then?”

“…Well, that’s it. The war ended. We lost.”

“Boss is right… We lost…”

Bash’s story went on up until the end of the war.

Toward the end, he seemed to falter a little in places, and Zell got sort of despondent, but Eyes enjoyed the whole thing immensely.

The heroic tale of Bash… Eyes enjoyed it immensely.

“That’s the end…”

Eyes was sad that it was over, but oh well.

Bones did say that all stories came to an end.

But enough about the story. Eyes had drawn a conclusion.

“You are an honorable warrior, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Well, I try to be.”

“You and the warriors you killed are all honorable warriors.”

“Yes. They were all honorable warriors.”

Eyes hadn’t known what honor was before but had come to understand it from Bash’s story.

People were creatures that valued honor.

Honor was something difficult to explain in words, but people fought for honor and often boasted about it.

And the stronger the opponent, the greater the honor.

When you defeated an enemy with high honor, your own honor became even higher.

The greater the honor, the more valuable you were as a person.

And that law applied to other living things as well.

For example, one could say that dragons have a great deal of honor.

Dragons could easily kill many people, so killing one dragon is a great honor.

“Honor…”

Bash had gained great honor by killing Bones.

Bash said that by killing Bones, he had become known as the Orc Hero.

Honor.

It was a concept that changed Eyes’s entire belief system.

Eyes had always considered death to be void of meaning.

Because to Eyes, the deaths of other living creatures were meaningless.

Whether it was insects, animals, or people, Eyes only saw them as food.

They weren’t worth anything more than that, and their deaths didn’t make any difference to Eyes.

That’s why Eyes was afraid of dying.

Eyes didn’t realize it consciously and couldn’t put it into words, but Eyes hated the idea of the dragon life she’d lived up to that point being deemed worthless, just like those of other creatures.

But listening to Bash’s story, Eyes had discovered something.

Death had meaning.

When a strong person defeats an even stronger person, they gain a lot of honor.

After defeating Bones, Bash became an honorable warrior.

He inherited all the honor of Bones. As long as Bash lived, Bones’s death would not be meaningless. Even if Bash was killed by another, Bones’s honor would live on still, through that person.

The highest honor imaginable.

A strong man could speak proudly of his honor.

That is pride, Eyes thought.

If Bash had told the story of killing Bones another way… If he’d belittled Bones, or said something like, To me, a dragon is a mere fish in the ocean. And that was barely even a dragon, more like a lizard… Ha-ha-ha! then Eyes would not have come to this realization.

In that case, Eyes could not have held herself back.

Dragons have no concept of pride or honor. But Eyes would have been overcome with unspeakable rage if a small person had mocked Bones.

If Eyes knew that Bones had been attacked by tiny people in a war Bones hadn’t wanted to be part of… If Eyes knew that Bones had been dragged to the ground, decapitated, and stripped of their flesh… A tool in a meaningless war… If Eyes knew that… Eyes would have hated Bash with a fiery passion.

A complex explanation for what was a pretty simple outcome.

Simply put, hearing this tale of heroism for the first time in her life, Eyes was captivated and thrilled.

“You killed the dragon and gained honor.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Eyes felt some secondhand pride, seeing Bash smile and nod.

“I…”

At the same time, Eyes was thinking hard.

What about me? What about me?

Eyes had run from a battle, transformed herself with Newt, and tried to hide from the fight. What of Eyes’s honor?

Across her many years, honor as a concept had not existed.

But now that Eyes knew… Eyes couldn’t ignore it.

Eyes’s honor.

“Bash.”

“Yes?”

When Eyes spoke his name… Bash turned to Eyes.

A piercing gaze. Different from how he’d looked while telling his stories. It was closer to the look he had when he’d been attacking Eyes. It wasn’t quite filled with murderous intent, but Eyes considered it a sign of danger either way.

Eyes was smart. Eyes knew.

Bash was a first-class warrior who’d survived many battles.

He broke the glamour spells cast by human mages and saw through the disguises of beastkin warriors.

He even managed to break through the great magic of the elves.

So no doubt Bash knew from the beginning.

He had seen through Eyes’s cheap magic.

In other words, he knew that Eyes was a dragon.

Therein lay the answer to the question of why he didn’t kill Eyes already.

Basically, Bash was disappointed when Eyes fled and reappeared in person form.

What a cowardly dragon, he no doubt thought.

That was why he told Eyes all those tales of the proud warriors he’d fought, including Bones.

What about you? he seemed to be saying.

Will you fight to protect your honor, too?

“You want to protect your honor at all costs, right?”

“Huh? Yeah. I’ll protect the honor of the orcs, no matter what.”

“You…would kill a dragon…to defend your honor?”

“Huh? Yeah… I’ll kill the dragon for you.”

“I don’t want to die…”

“Hmm? Well, of course you don’t.”

But Eyes’s feelings hadn’t changed.

Eyes did not want to die.

Even if her death would bring honor to Bash, Eyes was still afraid.

Eyes did not think she could be a brave warrior like Bash, or like the warriors Bash spoke of.

“Earlier, the dragon fled.”

First off, in Eyes’s mind, the battle had already been decided.

Eyes had lost, and even resorted to Newt magic to save her hide.

Wasn’t that answer enough?

“You won already, didn’t you?”

“Dragons are not such easy opponents.”

Eyes was flattered by this but felt like Bash was giving her too much credit.

Eyes was terrified of Bash and wanted to flee.

Yes, Eyes felt that honor was aspirational… Eyes would like to die honorably if possible…

But still…

“How will you protect honor…without killing it?”

But still, Eyes didn’t want to die. Eyes was so scared she wanted to cry.

“Protect my honor…without killing the dragon?”

“…Yes.”

Bash closed his eyes, his expression solemn.

Eyes felt panicky as she watched Bash thinking.

Zell came close to Bash’s ear and whispered something. Eyes’s anxiety intensified.

Let’s just hurry up and kill this pathetic lizard, Zell was saying, no doubt.

There was a scene like that in the stories Bash had told earlier.

“…”

Eventually, the two finished whispering, and Bash looked right at Eyes.

Was Eyes going to die after all? Killing a dishonorable opponent would not convey much honor. But Bash had also killed dishonorable opponents before.

After all, he’d said so himself earlier.

“My honor…”

“…”

“If I make a beautiful woman like you my wife, my honor will be upheld.”

“…?”

All of a sudden, here was a new concept Eyes couldn’t comprehend.

A wife.

What was a wife?

“Wife?”

“Yes. I want you to become my wife and give birth to my children.”

Birth young. Eyes was smart. Eyes understood.

Wife meant mate.

“You want to make me your wife? Your mate? That would uphold honor? How?”

“An ordinary sort of orc would never be able to take someone like you as his wife, no matter what kind of dangerous gambit he pursued. If I were to take you as my wife and have children with you, I’d be remembered in history as an exceptional orc until the day that orcs are gone from this world.”

“…”

“Though becoming an orc’s wife might be humiliating to you…”

Eyes thought, Oh, right.

In dragon legends, dragons who used Newt often went on to have younglings with the person they used it against. Even Bones was the same.

Bones didn’t use Newt to save their hide when cornered or anything. Nor did Bones particularly want to have younglings with a person.

But Bones did indeed have a child with a person.

How come using a Newt results in having a child with the one you use it against? Eyes had long wondered about this…

Here was the answer.

These words from Bash were the answer.

It was requested by the other party.

For a person, mating with a dragon was likely an act of great honor, even more so than slaying a dragon.

The reason Bash didn’t immediately suggest it was probably because he was worried about Eyes’s honor.

Certainly it is dishonorable for a dragon to mate with a puny person.

At the very least, up until a few days ago, Eyes would have hated the idea.

Even if dragons had no concept of honor, they would still not want to have children with people.

“…”

However, Eyes realized that they were far beyond this disgrace now.

Eyes had used Newt to beg for her life and was given a chance to protect her honor, but threw it all away in order to cling to life.

Eyes did not care about disgrace or humiliation. The only important thing was survival.

And now Eyes had learned about honor.

Bash was an honorable warrior. Much stronger than Eyes. To be his mate did not seem like such a big disgrace to Eyes.

As Bones used to say, the strong seek one another out and form bonds. To do so is very becoming of a dragon.

Eyes hadn’t experienced that yet. But to have Bash as her first partner… It did not fill her with discomfort or resentment. Partly because Eyes had recognized Bash as stronger than herself. Partly because of all that talk about honor and pride.

Now Bash was a Hero that Eyes respected.

So the answer was obvious.

“Okay. I will be your wife.”

And on that day, Bash pulled off his first-ever successful proposal.

10

FIRST KISS

The outcome of a battle becomes clear halfway through.

When the tide begins to turn toward either winning or losing, the atmosphere begins to change.

People tend to be sensitive to subtle things, like the momentum of their allies, or the degree of fear of their enemies.

And depending on the atmosphere one senses, a person’s level of strength also changes.

If it looks like losing is imminent, they back off for fear of death, but if it starts to look like they might win, then they gain momentum in their desire to claim victory.

It’s the momentum, usually, that leads to either ultimate defeat or ultimate victory.

Bash, too, had sensed the trend of battle on many occasions.

Of course, it’s not always the case. But Bash could generally sense when he was about to win.

Ah, this battle seems winnable, he would think.

Of course, there were also times when Bash realized he was going to lose…

“…And then?”

When Bash told his story of dragon slaying at the Remium Plateau… The demon woman said this.

She’d lost the frightened look she’d had before Bash had started his story.

In its place was a coolness.

Her eyes half closed, her lips slightly open as she cast a sidelong glance at Bash.

Her face was beautiful, but her expression hurt his heart in a different way.

Bash had seen a look like that before.

In the land of the orcs, when a warrior brags about something really stupid, the orcs make this face.

And they say this:

“…And then?”

So what’s the point of your boring tall tale?

“…And then?”

The words that came out of the woman’s mouth were exactly the same.

Bash had never imagined he’d get such a bland, disinterested reaction to his tale of dragon slaying.

He hadn’t been sure how the demon woman would react, to be sure, but he was expecting some sort of emotional reaction.

Amazement or contempt, he wasn’t sure. But something.

“And then what happened?”

Bash panicked.

He’d wanted to reassure the demon woman by telling her the story of how he killed a dragon. To reassure her that she’d be all right if the dragon returned. But perhaps she simply thought him a liar.

In orc society, liars are considered uncool.

Orc boasting invariably involved embellishment, yes.

But most orcs were stupid enough to swallow a bit of exaggeration.

And the person doing the boasting usually half believed their own words. So you couldn’t really call it an outright lie.

But excessive exaggeration can make even an orc suspicious.

Huh? Hold on. That couldn’t have happened like that, could it?

When the audience started to think like that, they lost enthusiasm quickly.

If the story rings false, then it’s just a tall tale. Orcs who tell lies that are incongruous with their actual abilities… They’re the height of uncool.

On the other hand, if an orc is telling the truth and people still think they’re lying, this is a sign that they don’t believe in the orc’s abilities.

For an orc, whose fighting prowess is everything, there is no greater humiliation.

“…Then the human army came running in, and there was an all-out battle… In the midst of this, I heard someone say that the demon HQ was under attack. When I heard that, I…”

And thus, after the dragon-slaying story, Bash told the story of his combat history.

He began with the battle with the Hero Leto and went through many ferocious battles that he had been in right up to the end of the war.

Boasting, the likes of which Bash rarely ever did.

Halfway through the conversation, Zell started to get more excited than the demon woman. Zell gasped with amazement at the bits of the stories they didn’t know, and chipped in with comments and extra details about things they’d personally experienced.

The bragging stories were really very vivid and detailed.

“That’s the end…”

But still, the woman’s attitude was cold.

“You and the warriors you killed are all honorable warriors.”

Her face registered zero emotion. Even an inarticulate ogre could have given a livelier response.

Tall tales.

It was clear the demon woman thought Bash’s stories were irrelevant nonsense.

So all the warriors you defeated were honorable, huh? Great, wow. So what? …It was like that.

All right, there was no punchy ending to Bash’s stories. He was missing the climax, the part where the orc ravishes the women.

He had no climax to give her following her repeated question of “And then…?”

His bragging might have been dripping with realism, but he was still only ever going to get to a maximum of 50 points.

Defeating a dragon was around 100 points, of course, but the other tales were only 40 points at best.

Thunder Sonia would be around 48 points.

Halfway through, it became painful for Bash to listen to his own words.

He started to feel self-conscious with his bragging eliciting such a cold nonresponse.

Bragging was supposed to be about Bash reaffirming his own sense of confidence, but that confidence was slipping away fast. And the fact that he was still a virgin was weighing on him more heavily than ever.

This was why Bash rarely boasted in the orc country.

He was afraid that this exact scenario would happen.

“You want to protect your honor at all costs, right?”

“Huh?”

The demon woman’s cold gaze shot through Bash, making him flinch.

The demon woman was probably only indulging Bash’s stories out of a sense of obligation. After all, Bash did come to rescue her.

Otherwise, she would not have been this cold, this unemotive with her words.

“Yeah. I’ll protect the honor of the orcs, no matter what.”

“You…would kill a dragon…to defend your honor?”

Otherwise, the gaze directed at him would not have been so empty.

The demon woman had no interest in Bash. She clearly didn’t even think he was worth scorning.

“Huh? Yeah… I’ll kill the dragon for you.”

“I don’t want to die…”

“Hmm? Well, of course you don’t.”

The conversation wasn’t going back and forth, no doubt because she wasn’t truly listening to what Bash was saying at all.

Bash wasn’t a sophisticated conversationalist, but he’d picked up on this somehow.

The demon woman seemed absentminded even as she listened to Bash’s stories, and she didn’t even look at him.

She didn’t even respond when Zell tried to act as Bash’s hype fairy.

Plus, there was a tense atmosphere emanating from the woman… It was something almost intimidating.

It was something he often felt when facing high-ranking female demons or succubi.

She seemed to look at Bash as an inferior creature she’d been unlucky enough to be burdened with.

Deep down, she must have been thinking all sorts of terrible things about him.

“Earlier, the dragon fled. You won already, didn’t you?”

“Dragons are not such easy opponents.”

The woman seemed to be steering Bash away from fighting the dragon a second time.

Probably because she didn’t have any faith in Bash’s fighting ability.

She probably thought that she’d get caught up in the conflict if Bash fought the dragon again, and that they’d both be killed together.

Nothing Bash had said up until then had resonated with the woman at all.

His fierce days of battling… She either thought he was lying or she thought all of it was insignificant. Bash was utterly humiliated.

“How…will you protect honor…without killing it?”

“Protect my honor…? Without killing the dragon?”

“…Yes.”

Bash felt like he was being told to flee from the dragon and defend his honor in another way.

If a fellow orc back in the orc country had said this to him, Bash would have been furious. Me? Run from a fight?

Bash was an orc who valued battling, who valued honor.

He took great pride in his own strength and in being called the Orc Hero.

He would not let anyone insult him.

First, he would slay the dragon as he had declared he would, and then he would pummel anyone who underestimated him until they were bloody and unconscious.

“My honor…”

“…”

But the person before him was a beautiful demon woman.

Of course, Bash believed in protecting one’s honor and pride.

But there was something else he wanted to protect… By which I mean, something he wanted very badly to get rid of.

Getting angry now wasn’t going to get him laid.

If the Hero Bash could not manage to lose his virginity, then his orcish pride would be wounded forever.

So he could not attack the demon woman.

But what could he say in response to such an insult?

And what could he say to woo this woman into becoming his wife and having consensual sex with him?

Bash was an orc. He wanted to say the right words. But at a time like this, the words just weren’t coming.

“Boss.”

Then Zell whispered in his ear.

But of course. Bash had Zell. At times like these, the fairy always gave him guidance. It was always this fairy who saved Bash from difficult situations.

“This isn’t looking good, Boss…”

But the fairy merely shook their head… Rare for Zell.

“How can she be this cold after hearing your stories, Boss? I don’t like her… I mean, she is a demon, you know? Yes, she’s a demon, and a woman, but after hearing your tales of bravery, she can’t show one tiny emotion? She’s seriously looking down her nose at you, Boss! A woman who treats you with contempt isn’t worthy of being your wife…!”

Bash was left speechless by this.

He never thought Zell would say something like that. He always expected Zell to say things like, You can do it, Boss! Sure, Zell would tell it to Bash straight when something wasn’t working, but the fairy would always put an encouraging spin on it.

Zell, the eternal optimist, saying all that with tears in their eyes…

I see… Another failure, then. So this woman isn’t the one, either…

Bash was convinced by Zell immediately.

He gave up, knowing that the woman would never become his wife, no matter what clever words he used.

At the same time, a terrible feeling of disappointment washed over him.

“Another failure…”

Sometimes, in battle, the outcome is clear halfway through. Whether it’s victory or defeat.

This time, it was a losing battle. Bash had lost again.

He’d climbed a snowy mountain, thwarted a dragon, and boasted his ass off about having killed another dragon before, all to impress a woman, but she hadn’t even taken him seriously.

The demons were having a huge dragon issue currently.

Maybe if he hadn’t let the dragon escape. Maybe if he’d slain it. Things might have been different. But he did let it escape. And for that, there was no excuse.

Since Bash hadn’t defeated the dragon, boasting about his dragon-slaying prowess just made him sound delusional and immature.

…I guess having a demon woman as a wife is just a distant dream.

Basically, it was an impossible idea.

From the start, it was never all that likely that a demon would agree to become an orc’s wife.

“If I make a beautiful woman like you my wife, my honor will be upheld.”

“…?”

Still, Bash gave voice to this desire.

Those were the words he’d prepared, after wooing her with his boasting.

A warrior must, on occasion, bravely take the final blow, even knowing he will lose.

All of the warriors that Bash had defeated had been like that.

Though they knew they’d lost, they still held their swords high and proclaimed, “I accept defeat!”

Then, as a proud orc warrior, Bash, too, would follow suit.

“Wife?”

“Yes. I want you to become my wife and give birth to my children.”

Bash’s proposal.

“You want to make me your wife? Your mate? That would uphold honor? How?”

The demon woman asked.

How cruel she was! She wanted Bash to explain how low his status was. She was forcing him to say it.

“An ordinary sort of orc would never be able to take someone like you as his wife, no matter what kind of dangerous gambit he pursued. If I were to take you as my wife and have children with you, I’d be remembered in history as an exceptional orc until the day when orcs are gone from this world.”

“…”

“Though becoming an orc’s wife might be humiliating to you…”

It was a rhetorical question.

Yep, it sure would. Now, since we’re on the same page, kindly escort me back to the fort. If you do that, I’ll forgive you for having looked at me with that lustful gaze.

That was what Bash was expecting to hear.

However, there was one thing Bash had forgotten.

Yes, you could tell when the battle was a losing one. It was in the air, it was in the morale level of those around you… But sometimes, sometimes…you were wrong.

“Okay. I will be your wife.”

At such times, the moment of victory comes to the brave soldier with the force of a cannonball to the head.

Bash felt like he was floating on a cloud.

He didn’t quite understand the situation.

He’d proposed, she’d accepted… He couldn’t quite grasp that.

“I’ve never been wifed before. This is quite exciting.”

But the woman’s words themselves confirmed it.

She didn’t sound that excited.

On the contrary, her expression was cooler than ever.

The woman stood up calmly, as if the frightened look on her face had never even been there, and began walking briskly through the cave.

“But I know what a wife has to do.”

Bash trailed after her.

Eyes on her slender back.

She had long, lustrous hair, delicate shoulders, long, supple legs, and perky buttocks.

Her body looked somewhat weak compared to that of the women he’d encountered so far, but he could sense an incredible power emanating from her whole body. It was a strength unique to the powerful demon species.

Her presence was more imposing than that of any demon Bash had ever met.

No demon general he had encountered before had been as powerful as this woman.

Any child born to this woman would surely be full of vigor and bring great prosperity to the orc race.

“I learned this from Bones.”

The woman looked over her shoulder, her face radiant.

If he could make her his wife, then he would be losing his virginity to her. Bash might just die on the spot from happiness. And hadn’t she just mentioned that this would be her first time? She was everything Bash had been looking for.

“Making babies.”

The woman was certainly direct. The only reason Bash didn’t throw himself on top of her was because he was still confused about the general situation.

He didn’t understand why such a great woman had accepted his proposal.

He wasn’t on guard, but rather confused…something that was unusual for Bash.

“Making babies, huh?”

Bash’s most chivalrous aspect was his honesty.

He responded directly and earnestly.

That’s right, no matter how confused Bash was, he had been waiting for this moment.

“May I…have sex with you?”

“Okay.”

Permission readily given.

This was…consent.

The Orc King had decreed that only sexual intercourse with consent was permissible. That prerequisite was now fulfilled.

Bash’s confusion quickly subsided.

Because Bash was an orc. A proud orc.

Even if he had doubts, just knowing that he had the go-ahead to bed a woman had his instincts taking over.

“Raaargh!”

Finally, Bash’s base instinct overtook him.

He threw himself at the woman and wrapped her in his arms.

The woman also wrapped her arms and tail around Bash’s back.

The delicious smell of the female filled Bash’s nostrils.

But odd. Under the sweet scent was another, something dangerous, something that sent a chill down the spine.

“Hmm?”

As Bash tried to push her down, he noticed something.

The woman appeared to be bigger than before.

Just a moment ago, she was only about the height of Bash’s chin, but for some reason, it now felt like she was the same height as Bash.

“Relax.”

“Hmm?”

He tried to push her down, but she wouldn’t move.

Instead, she continued to grow bigger… And bigger…

Her beautiful face gradually became sharper from the nose down, and her soft body grew scales all over.

The jagged teeth in her mouth elongated, like blades.

“Not the season for eggs. They won’t hatch. A warm environment is needed for laying eggs and raising young. It is the female’s job to find a good environment.”

The woman’s voice changed, became the rasping growl of a wild animal.

A growl from the most ferocious creature of all. A growl that makes all other species flee in terror.

“Wh-whoa…!”

In his peripheral vision, Bash saw Zell retreat, until they were pressed against the wall of the cave.

Bash also looked up in horror.

He was embracing…a gigantic reptile.

A dragon.

“What?!”

His sword was gone. He’d left it lying where the woman had just been.

“Damn! It was a trap all along!”

At the same time, all of Bash’s questions became clear.

Although he’d smelled dragon blood, what he’d found in the cave was a woman.

Of course. It was the dragon in disguise. Thinking back, he would have noticed if a woman had been about when he’d been fighting against the dragon. After all, a woman was what he’d come here to find.

The woman’s face showed no expression when Bash bragged about his heroism and history of dragon slaying. Of course. No dragon would cheer to hear of the slaying of one of their own.

The dragon must have been seething with anger all along.

Moreover, the woman accepted his proposal without pause, even though there was no reason for her to do so.

Why? All for this moment.

Bash had heard that dragons were smart… But to pull off a ruse like this, all to kill Bash…?

The dragon disguised itself as a woman and waited to get Bash in a moment of vulnerability…

“Dammit!”

The dragon had a firm hold of Bash.

The tip of its tail was wrapped around his legs, preventing him from moving an inch.

No matter how powerful Bash might have been, the most powerful of the orcs, he couldn’t defeat a dragon with physical strength alone.

The dragon’s huge fangs came closer and closer to Bash’s face.

“This is it…!”

Bash prepared himself for death.

He was cornered. He’d been caught with his pants down.

But the dragon really had been two steps ahead.

The dragon had deceived Bash by taking the form of a woman.

“…Is this the end?”

But the ambush had happened inside the cave. It was risky for the dragon, too. If Bash had caught on to its true identity and slashed the dragon with its sword, Bash would have won.

The dragon, too, was walking on thin ice.

In order to prevent their true identity from being revealed, the dragon had done their best to hide their anger.

Bash could easily have noticed.

It had been a close call.

So Bash had no choice but to admit defeat.

“…?”

The dragon’s tongue licked Bash’s face.

The barbs on its tongue scratched Bash’s cheek roughly.

But the fangs never penetrated Bash, and the flames never scorched him.

The beast-like yet somewhat sweet scent stimulated Bash’s nostrils.

“Grrrr…”

Instead, the dragon rubbed its nose against Bash’s face while making a slightly higher-pitched crooning noise that wasn’t quite a growl.

Bash’s lips opened, and blood flowed.

If Bash had been weaker, the dragon would have stripped the flesh off his face, probably killing him instantly.

But this attack was not as strong as the sharp claws, the piercing fangs, or the searing breath.

Perhaps the dragon wanted revenge before Bash died. To watch him tremble in fear.

“I will return come mating season. Until then, I will prepare a suitable environment.”

Amid the growling, so menacing that a bugbear would have molted in fear to hear it, the voice was saying something. But Bash was too terrified to make any sense of it.

Then the dragon released him.

The tail uncurled from around him, and Bash was free.

Bash immediately tried to put some distance between them, looking for a chance to dash over to his sword.

But by that time, the dragon was rotating its large body.

“Protect your honor.”

The dragon took off.

Despite its large size, its steps were light and agile, and it moved with all the regality of the continent’s strongest creature.

A huge tremor shook the cavern.

The dragon took flight.

Bash and Zell were left looking utterly confused.

Outside the cave was a vast blue sky.

Apart from the occasional soft breeze, all was still.

The dragon was visible for a moment, then disappeared over the horizon.

There was no sign of them coming back.

“…What just happened?”

It was Bash who spoke.

He wasn’t really expecting Zell to explain.

But he had to voice his shock at the bizarre events that had just transpired.

“Ah, well… Hmm. Let’s see, Boss. I think I’ve heard a legend about dragons being able to transform into other races. When the dragon realized it couldn’t defeat you, Boss, it quickly transformed into another species to fool you, and thus managed to escape.”

Zell’s opinion was almost the same as Bash’s.

“But why did it let me go?”

“I think the dragon…resonated with what you were saying, Boss? Like it seemed to get quite fixed on the concept of honor that you were mentioning. Before it ran off, I think it said something about protecting honor. Maybe you managed to win the dragon’s respect, as an honorable warrior. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but…that’s what I think?”

“I see. So dragons are also creatures that value honor.”

The dragon had seemed unimpressed by Bash’s bragging.

But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t listening.

“…”

Still, no one could say for sure.

The beautiful woman was gone. The dragon was gone.

All that was left were bleak mountains and blue skies.

Bash did not get a wife. He did not get the honor that comes from slaying a dragon.

Those were the facts.

“Gah…”

Bash sighed heavily.

The relief of having survived the dragon’s attack was now all but gone. He was overcome with a sense of futility.

He’d traveled to the far north, deep in the mountains surrounded by snow and ice, climbed up the mountain, fought a dragon, and, not realizing she’d pulled a fast one on him, tried to woo a demon woman, only for her to turn out to be the dragon, who then fled.

Bash got nothing. He had achieved nothing.

Even Bash knew when it was a lost cause. His whole body felt heavy.

“Boss…what are we going to do now…?”

“Now…?”

Actually, Bash wanted to know, himself.

He’d come this far with good intentions, on good intel.

He’d gone through the human town, the elf territory… He’d met dwarves, beastkin, succubi, demons. To the edge to the world.

There was nowhere else to look.

“I have no choice but to return home.”

“I… I see, Boss. Right. The dragon won’t be coming back anytime soon. We’d better go back and report this to the demons.

Hearing that, Bash thought.

If he returned to the Gije Fort… What chance did he have of wooing a demon woman?

Sequence had said that Bash could do what he wanted with any survivors from the dragon extermination squad. But there weren’t any survivors. Bash hadn’t explored every corner of the cave, but… That dragon was smart. It wouldn’t have missed anyone.

A cunning lizard. It could disguise itself as another race and fool people.

If there were other survivors, the dragon would never have let them go, or if it had kept them alive intentionally, there wouldn’t be much left of them.

Sequence had only given permission for Bash to have his daughter or her demon subordinates.

This meant that Bash would have to go back to the Gije Fort and try picking up demon girls from scratch.

How would that work? Considering Bash’s past experiences and the famous haughty temperament of the demon women?

“No. I don’t think a demon woman would want to marry an orc like me.”

“So what should we do, Boss? Should we go to the ogre country or somewhere? Or maybe go back to where the beastkin are? You’re not going to go for the lizardmen or the harpies, are you?”

“Hmm…”

Bash thought.

Where…? Where should he go?

Since leaving the orc country, he’d traveled to various countries, met many women, and been rejected over and over again.

Where could he go to make his wish come true?

Bash had no idea.

Orcs were not a race of thinkers.

What did people do in situations like this on the battlefields of the past?

Bash tried to recall… But he couldn’t think of any similar situations.

In the past, when one battle was over, Bash just moved on to the next battle. When Bash didn’t know what to do, someone else would think about it and give him orders. There was never a time when Bash was alone and didn’t know what to do next.

Ah, but no, Bash thought.

There were times when he’d thought and acted on his own.

It wasn’t a battlefield, but… Yes, at the time, Bash had a guideline.

After deep thought, Bash came to a conclusion.

“Let’s go back to the human country.”

When Bash left the orc country, he’d headed first for Krassel, with the intention of marrying a human.

Why? Because a human had seemed like the very best option.

If so, he should go back there.

Bash had learned many things during his travels. In the human country, he’d learned about the differing views on love held by other races. In the elf country, he’d learned how to propose. In the dwarf country, he’d learned how to pick up girls, and in the beastkin country, he’d learned the importance of clothing and proper dating.

A battle is an accumulation of previous experiences.

Just as some of the tactics useful against elves were also applicable to beastkin, the things Bash had learned so far would surely prove effective in battles against other races.

In that case, maybe it would be a good idea to try going for a human woman one more time.

At the very least, his chances seemed better there than with a demon.

“We’ve come this far…but you’re right, Boss. That might be better. I’m sure there’s a human outpost to the southeast. It might be a good idea to head there first.”

And so they’d decided on a direction.

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

“Okay, Boss!”

Once the thinking was over, they wasted no further time. Bash and Zell exchanged a nod, and then they started down the mountain.

11

THE DEMON RACE, REVIVED

That day, Kyros the Clairvoyant, commander of the demon army’s reconnaissance unit, was up at the Gije Fort’s watchtower.

His job was to monitor the dragon that appeared every day to attack the town, to warn everyone, and to call for evacuation and interception forces.

Many demons have special eyes.

Kyros had eyes that could see for vast distances.

Like everyone in his clan, he possessed the Demon Eye, which allowed him to spot enemies hundreds of miles away, day or night.

Demon scouts never let their enemies approach unnoticed.

The difference was clear even when compared to the flying races such as harpies and succubi.

Even before Geddigs’s death, Kyros’s keen eyesight allowed him to quickly spot enemy forces, bringing victory to the demon army.

It was Kyros who’d discovered the dragon’s lair.

This led Sequence’s daughter and her subordinates to charge into the dragon’s lair and be wiped out.

It was Kyros who witnessed the moment of annihilation.

He watched until the last one was chewed to pieces in midair, spilling blood on the ground. Then Kyros then went to report to Sequence, then went to bed for the day.

Of course, he would still continue to conduct reconnaissance.

Partly because it was his job, but also because if he didn’t keep tabs on the dragon, even worse things were likely to happen.

So that day, he was the first to spot the dragon. As usual, he saw it flying out of its lair. So as usual, Kyros rang the bell and prepared for an attack.

But before that, he noticed something odd.

“Where do you think you’re going…?”

The dragon flew in a straight line, into the southeastern sky.

Its route was different from usual. Normally, it would circle the mountain twice, as if checking the perimeter of its nest, then head a little south, and then come toward the fort.

A straight line, to the southeast…

“Just a whim, or…?”

Kyros continued his observations.

The dragon was acting a little differently from usual.

And at an incredible speed.

There was something odd about the way it was flying, too.

Kyros, who observed the dragon every day, thought that it seemed somewhat excited, like a young girl in love…or perhaps like it was running away from something.

And with that, the dragon vanished from Kyros’s sight.

Among the demons who possessed exceptional eyesight, Kyros in particular was said to have Clairvoyance.

With his eyes, he could count ants from a distance of several dozen miles.

Could it be gone? Gone…? From its own nest?

“But why…?”

Kyros dragged his eyes away from the dragonless sky.

For now, he needed to report what he’d seen. He was the eyes, not the brain.

“Hmm…”

But at that moment, he spotted something.

People… although demons certainly never treated them as such.

They looked down on them and their ilk as pitiful, inferior races, neither person nor magical beast.

An orc and a fairy.

“Could it be…?!”

Kyros felt a sense of foreboding as he recalled something.

Just the other day, those two came to this fortress.

It was indeed Kyros who’d spotted the two of them entering the country. He’d stopped watching after confirming the hunting party was wiped out, so he didn’t see what they did after that. He’d thought for sure they’d be found and killed by the dragon, but it seemed that instead they had rescued one of the burnt members of the annihilated extermination force and brought them to the fortress.

After that, they set back out, claiming they were going to slay the dragon.

Hearing this, Kyros had snorted with laughter.

What demon wouldn’t have scoffed?

There’s no way someone like them could defeat a dragon.

But the orc… He was the Dragon Decapitator. He had, in fact, defeated a dragon before.

Some say it was only because the demons had already knocked the dragon to the ground and weakened it with their large-scale attacks, of course. Still, if there was even the faintest of hopes…

But they weren’t approaching the fortress. And the dragon had flown far away.

Kyros leaped down from the watchtower.

There used to be messengers, but no longer.

Kyros had to report the news in person.

“A message, my lord!”

As soon as Kyros entered the meeting room, everyone got to their feet.

Nowadays, when Kyros came to report, it meant a dragon attack.

They would have to go out to intercept it.

Even though they knew they were no match for it, any sign of weakness or giving up would only spur the dragon on to destroy the entire fortress.

“The dragon took off and disappeared into the southeastern sky.”

However, upon hearing this report, those present ended up looking at one another in shock.

“What do you mean? Southeast? Toward the border?”

But one of those present opened his eyes wide at this report.

The Dark General, Sequence.

“Have you seen the orc?!”

Sequence had every eye open at once.

Kyros, taken aback by the general’s shout (usually, he barely ever spoke), nodded.

“Yes, General. The orc and fairy were moving toward the border, not long after the dragon left. Is it connected somehow?”

“He did it! Bash did it!”

Sequence stood up, beaming.

All demons present stared at each other in amazement.

For the past few months, Sequence hadn’t gotten up from his chair. In fact, most days he barely even moved. Some had started to wonder if perhaps the old man hadn’t died.

“General Sequence… What on Vastonia…?”

“You know that the Orc Hero Bash went on a dragon hunt the other day, right?”

“Yes, but there’s no way…”

The demons were all in an uproar when Sequence said this.

Surely they knew, too.

The Dragon Decapitator.

It was well-known that Bash cut off a dragon’s head during the battle of the Remium Plateau.

However, that was only because the demons had used their magic to drag the dragon to the ground and worn down its defenses with their vast army.

One orc couldn’t defeat a dragon by himself. It was only because of the demons’ help that Bash was able to defeat that other dragon before.

Most demons thought this.

“You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to. But Bash fought the dragon, as he declared, and while he didn’t manage to kill it, it sounds like he managed to drive it away.”

“Then why didn’t the orc return here in triumph?”

“He’s probably gone after it to finish it off first.”

That’s the honorable thing to do, Sequence thought.

The habits of dragons are not well understood, to be sure, but it’s said that once a dragon leaves its territory, it never returns. While it may be no more than conjecture… Sequence felt sure the dragon was gone for good.

There’s no guarantee it wouldn’t return, of course, but at the very least, for the next few days, the demons could move about their own land freely.

“In any case, we demons have been saved. By an orc.”

Sequence was convinced that Bash had fought the dragon and essentially beaten it.

Conversely, the other demons were skeptical.

They had long lived in fear of the dragon and had failed in many attempts to fight it.

But a dragon would not leave so easily.

And no one had ever stepped onto the dragon’s mountain and come back down safely before.

So then Bash must have won. A victory that made the dragon turn its tail and run away.

“There’s nothing more humiliating than this.”

The demons gritted their teeth at Sequence’s words.

The demons had been powerless against the dragon.

Because they had won once, they were confident that they could win again, but they were defeated, and even after fighting with all they had, they still could not win.

In the end, they had to admit to themselves that without the Demon Lord Geddigs, the defeat of the dragon at the Remium Plateau would have been impossible.

And for a single orc to have felled the beast…

The Dragon Decapitator, Bash, was a man worthy of that title.

And what did that say about the demons? Acting so high-and-mighty and arrogantly mocking the orcs?

How long could they keep up the pretense of superiority?

“…”

With a clatter, one of the demons rose to their feet.

It was a woman. A high demon with blue skin, white hair, and red eyes.

Her body was toned, but she still had feminine curves.

If Bash had been there, there’s no doubt he would have gotten down on one knee and proposed to her on the spot. That’s how gorgeous she was.

“The might of the demons is now lower than the mud.”

As soon as the woman stated this clearly, the atmosphere in the room became somber.

No one wanted to admit it… But she was right.

The demons had lost. They were not as strong or powerful as they once believed. They were no match for the orcs that they had mocked.

“General… The Orc Hero Bash has become the savior of the demons. If we let him go without any thanks, it will be a stain on our demon pride. Even if we lose all our prestige, even if we lose all our pride, we will still all have to answer to Lord Geddigs in the afterlife.”

“Thank him, hmm…?”

“I heard that Bash wanted a demon woman?”

“That’s right. We were sort of joking back and forth, but he did say something like that.”

Bash certainly hadn’t been joking, though.

“In that case, I will marry that Hero and show my gratitude to him for the rest of my life.”

“Are you insane?!”

“A demon woman becoming an orc’s possession?!”

“Do you know what that means?! Are you going to throw away all your pride?!”

The woman snorted in derision upon those words.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I am a proud demon woman. I shall not be the orc’s possession. He shall be mine.”

“So you say, but…”

“This is an orc we’re talking about! An ugly, stupid orc! How could a demon…?”

While the demons complained, Sequence was quiet.

But after hearing those words, he opened his mouth.

“I’ll say it again. We looked down on the orcs as an inferior race, but the orc defeated the dragon, and the threat is now gone. Including the Remium Plateau… The Orc Hero Bash has saved us demons from doom twice now.”

“Guh…”

“He has driven off the very creature that has tormented us for years. And he did it alone. As demons, we should know when to respect someone who wields true power.”

The demons groaned and grumbled. It was hard to respect an orc. It didn’t sit well with them.

But Sequence was right.

The dragon crisis was over.

The orc had defeated an enemy that the demons had been unable to defeat, no matter how hard they tried, for the past several years.

Of course, there was always a chance that the dragon would come back, but to think… They could go out in the daylight, the sunshine, for the first time in years…

“Right… I won’t give respect to the orc race. But I do agree that we at least have to acknowledge the might of the Orc Hero…”

Demons were a noble race.

Flaunting their superiority over others was their highest priority.

But it was only because their power and wisdom were so vast. Because their existence was superior.

But how can you be noble if you can’t acknowledge when others have surpassed you?

Satisfied with the response, Sequence turned back to the woman.

“Now, my daughter, Asmonadia.”

“Yes, Father?”

“I’ve already promised you to Bash.”

“Oh, I see. That works out, then. But…why?”

“Because I thought you were dead.”

“I would have died. If not for that Hero who had saved me on the snowy plain.”

The woman, Asmonadia, recalled the incident that had happened just the other day.

She was leading a group of hot-blooded young warriors on an adventure to slay the dragon.

She was sure they could win.

The warriors were young, yes, but skilled. They were all survivors of the relentless pursuit of the humans. If they could create a back door into the dragon’s den and launch a surprise attack while it slept, then yes, it’d be a tough fight, but they could defeat it.

That’s what she thought.

The result was a disastrous defeat.

The dragon quickly noticed the coming of the demons, though they’d used magic to cloak themselves, and it used its massive body to turn several people into minced meat in an instant. With each swing of the dragon’s claws, with each thrust of its fangs, one by one, they died.

Every demon’s magic attack was repelled by the dragon’s scales, and no matter how many times they thrust their swords and spears at it, they could barely inflict a scratch.

Asmonadia realized how foolish she’d been to think that there was ever any chance of winning. The dragon was in a completely different class.

After several people were killed, they decided to retreat.

But that had been a mistake, too. Although they’d managed to escape the nest, the dragon caught up with them on the snowy plains, and they had no place to hide. They were all charred to a crisp by its breath, completely helpless to the attack.

As a high demon, Asmonadia had high magical resistance and thus somehow managed to avoid instant death.

So she had lain, filled with regret, surrounded by the corpses of the young people who had believed in her and followed her. She didn’t want to die like this, eyes melting, lungs burning, muscles carbonized, unable to move.

That’s when Bash appeared.

He’d sprinkled fairy dust on Asmonadia and carried her carbonized body on his back to the Gije Fort.

This was risky, as the dragon might still have been circling nearby.

“Still, a dead body wouldn’t have been much of a reward. It’s fortunate that I lived.”

She wouldn’t forget. She could not forget. That moment when her life was saved, and she’d been flooded with relief.

The warmth of that broad back. The kindness he’d showed in avenging her friends’ deaths.

“I will recompense him for my father’s flippantness. I will reward him for saving us demons from the dragon, for saving me as I lay dying from the dragon’s fire…”

“Hmm.”

Sequence nodded deeply in agreement with his daughter’s words.

“Well then, I will leave immediately.”

Asmonadia, the last living daughter of the Dark General Sequence, left the conference room.

She set out to find him… Bash, the Orc Hero.

It was sure to be a tough journey.

Most communication with the outside world had been cut off because of the dragon, and the humans remained wary of demons, and there was little sign of repairing their relationship… Not to mention how Popratika’s gang had been causing all that trouble earlier…

Still, Sequence was confident that his daughter would overcome the challenge and marry Bash.

After all, Bash, the Orc Hero, had made his way here. There was no reason why a demon who was to become his wife couldn’t make her way back.

A marriage between the two would improve the status of the orc race.

Just as the Orc Hero wanted.

Satisfied, Sequence looked around the conference room again.

The demons seemed confused over the dragon’s departure. It was like they didn’t know what to do with this sudden good fortune. Or the realization that an orc had been better than them again.

Out the window, they could see a bright-blue sky… Without a dragon in it.

There were so many things they wanted to do now that the dragon was gone!

The demons were going to be busy going forward.

“Shame I missed hearing Bash’s heroic tale.”

Sequence’s lips curled in a grin. He imagined all of the stories there would be in the future, about the Hero who had departed without even sticking around to be thanked…

12

COVERT OPERATORS

The ruins were located beyond the Ress Snowfield, beyond the mountain where the dragon lived.

Made of smooth stone, they’d begun to wear down over the years but still retained their shape.

These ruins had no name.

Perhaps the ruins had once carried the name of some shoer back in the days before they fell into disrepair. Now the place was just a heap of stones that no one visited. Only a few people even knew of its existence.

A woman was about to enter such ruins.

She climbed the ice wall of the cliff with ease, pushed open the frozen stone door of the ruins, and slid herself inside.

She kicked the stone door closed with her back legs, then silence enveloped her all around.

Contrary to its dilapidated appearance, the inside of the ruins was in perfect order.

A large magic circle hung in the air in the large open room, and countless rays of light spilled into the smaller rooms.

Perhaps it was the effect of the magic circle, but although the place was old and dusty, there was no sign of wear and tear inside.

Each small room was filled with things that at first glance had no clear purpose.

However, in one room there were some items that were easy to identify.

Books.

Not only were large numbers of books crammed onto the bookshelves, but they were also piled high on the floor.

The woman stepped into the room.

Among the piles of books was another woman.

The woman had an emaciated body, sunken eyes, and frizzy hair. Her name was Popratika.

The Shadow Vortex.

The genius mage of the demon race and the daughter of the famous Dark General Sequence. She was perched casually atop a tower of books, leafing through one of them.

The bags under her eyes were darker than usual. She looked tired out. She likely hadn’t been sleeping much.

Despite the presence of an intruder, she did not look up from her book.

She might not have noticed them. She was engrossed in what she was reading. With a demonic expression on her face, she spoke aloud the words from the page.

“I’m back. I got it.”

When the woman called out to her, Popratika looked up in surprise.

Then, looking at the woman at the bottom of the tower of books, she smiled faintly.

“Welcome back, Princess. You’re quite late.”

“The griffin has been vanquished. And will you please stop calling me Princess?”

“Would you prefer Prince?”

“There’s already a prince, so no.”

“How annoying. Before you discard your name, at least come up with something else to call you by.”

The nameless woman shrugged and took out a rainbow-colored stone from the bag she was carrying on her back.

Then she casually tossed it to Popratika.

“Be careful—it’s valuable.”

“An object with that much power isn’t going to break just from being thrown.”

Popratika caught the stone with ease and examined it.

“I thought as much when I saw the Sacred Tree seeds, but…this really is beautiful.”

“The shell it came in was also beautiful. What you’d expect from such a great creature, right?”

“Long ago, creatures with such great powers roamed the land… Yes, we’ve all heard the tales, but it’s hard to really visualize it.”

Popratika rapped her fingernails on the spine of her book.

Most of the books in this library were history books.

The book she was reading was a record of the long, long history of this continent. From the time when people first appeared there, to when they started fighting one another…the whole history was recorded in its pages.

“How long have you been reading that?”

“For quite a while now.”

Popratika replied, slamming the book shut.

Yes, the book contained the entire history of Vastonia. But the further back in time she read, the more archaic the language became, and it took longer and longer to decipher what it was saying. Though she’d been able to go back to before the beginning of the war more easily.

Back in primitive times, written letters were basically symbols that didn’t even seem to resemble anything.

By herself, Popratika wouldn’t have been able to read even a tenth of what this library contained.

She only knew what these books contained because of one who’d come before her.

Yes, someone in the past had entered this archive, deciphered some of its complex texts, and translated them into modern language.

There were many books that this person had translated and summarized, even partially.

Thanks to that, Popratika was able to learn much about this continent.

Once upon a time, this continent was roamed by ancients beyond people’s comprehension.

The rulers of this continent were not the same as modern people. It’s not clear, though, why these beings went extinct. Thanks to the translations left by the unknown person, Popratika now knew that the people of the bygone era speculated that the ancients must have fought one another to the death. Still, this was mere conjecture.

The only thing that could be confidently stated was that the ancients were dead, but traces of their power remained across the continent.

The beastkin’s Sacred Tree. The Sacred Place of the succubi. The tombs of the elves. The great mandible of the ogres, the gold of the dwarves, and the holy book of the humans.

It was not stated anywhere that these were indeed left behind by the ancients. Still, you could make that mental leap.

“All that’s left is the humans’ holy book.

“Oh? So Aldria failed?”

“Yeah. Sadly, it seems so.”

The artifacts left behind by the ancients were sometimes to be found just lying about.

The elven tombs had been reduced to piles of rubble after a long war, and the dwarven gold lay abandoned on a pile of scrap iron.

There were many other nameless ruins such as these.

But it’s obvious upon first sight that these objects held great power.

These objects sometimes became sacred relics. For example, the Sacred Tree of the beastkin, or the Sacred Place of the succubi. If Popratika’s team was too hasty in trying to procure them, their plan would certainly be exposed. Even if not, it would be obvious that something was brewing behind the scenes.

So they split up and went to the beastkin’s Sacred Tree, the Sacred Place of the Succubi, and to get the holy book of the humans at almost the same time…

The only failure, it seemed, had been in procuring the humans’ holy book.

“Two more to go…”

“No. Only one.”

“Hmm? One? Weren’t there plans to go all out to get the last one after everyone returned?”

“Unless we could come up with an alternative.”

“So you’ve got an idea?”

Popratika shook her head.

“No. But it’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but I heard rumors that my sister put together a hunting party… Maybe they were able to kill it.”

“I highly doubt the demons would be able to defeat a dragon in their current state, though…”

“Well, whatever. Carrot’s gone to retrieve it now.”

As the woman frowned, the door creaked open.

The woman looked around as someone slipped into the room.

“Oh? You’re quite late, aren’t you, Princess?”

There was a succubus walking over, her beautiful body swaying as she walked.

This was Carrot, the general who was once said to be the most powerful warrior in the succubus army.

“Oh, I was worried about you. I thought something had happened.”

Carrot grabbed the nameless woman by the chin and shook her face slightly.

This action could be taken as hostile, but no, she really was simply concerned.

It was a normal succubus gesture that would have greatly offended a human or an elf.

Of course, the woman understood, so she didn’t show any annoyance.

“Ah, and I heard the griffin was taken out, wasn’t it?”

“Huh? You make it sound so simple. It didn’t just expire on its own, you know. So who did it? Why don’t you tell your big sister?”

“An orc. And not just any orc. The Orc Hero you’ve all been talking about.”

“What?! You met Bash?! You’re lucky to still be alive!”

“Yes, if I wasn’t a woman, I might have been killed.”

“Oh no…! Did Bash defeat you? And then did he have his way with you? Oh, you lucky thing!”

“Oh, please. All I did was flash my boobs to distract him. Oh, he did propose to me, though.”

In an instant, the temperature dropped several degrees.

“…You lucky thing, indeed.”

Jealousy.

The nameless woman had to have noticed, but she pretended like she didn’t.

She wasn’t worried about having evoked the wrath of a succubus. After all, this story was going to have a very happy ending for this particular succubus.

“Right? So even an orc can propose marriage with such passion. This is actually the first time someone’s called me beautiful since I changed my face.”

“So what happened then? Are you going to take the offer and become Bash’s wife?”

“Sadly, no. When I asked him which he would choose, me or the ogre children I was about to kill, he chose the ogre children without a flinch. That’s quite admirable, considering he’s an orc and everything. I’d say he’s worthy of respect.”

At hearing this, Carrot unfurled her scowl.

“Right? Bash is on a whole different level compared to most orcs.”

Carrot’s attitude had softened.

Although Carrot was jealous of the fact that Bash had proposed to the woman, she beamed at this tale of Bash’s heroism.

Right. Any other orc would be way different. My Bash truly is the best.

“Can we wrap up all this pointless gum-flapping, already?”

Popratika, who’d been listening to their conversation in silence, grumbled and then jumped down from the tower of books.

She tossed aside the book she’d been holding and held her hand out to Carrot.

Carrot responded by taking out a pale, glowing coral-like object from her pocket and handing it to her.

“And now there’s only one more to go. Sorry you just got back and all, but I’m going to have you two work a little longer.”

“No problem.”

“All right. That’s what I planned, too. I’d be fine going by myself, actually.”

Reassured by those replies, Popratika headed to the door.

“Hmm. But if Aldria didn’t succeed, they’ll be on their guard. I doubt three people will be enough. Let’s bring a few more.”

The remaining two followed Popratika.

They exited the small room, walked through the large room, and emerged in the hall.

At the end of a long corridor, there was a staircase leading down to a large altar.

Its architecture was odd, resembling nothing else seen on the continent.

It wasn’t elvish design, nor demon.

The tall pillars were of such height and thickness, it seemed impossible to believe they had been crafted by mortal hands. The ceiling was so high, it was hard to believe it was located inside a mountain. And the altar, which must have been dedicated to some kind of god, glowed a dark purple.

It was seriously huge and impressive.

It seemed strange to everyone that something like this could exist in the mountains.

The three of them walked down the long corridor and reached the altar.

Carrot and the nameless woman looked up at the altar.

The relics that had been collected over the course of the past three years…they were all lined up on the altar’s base.

Soon, all their hard work would pay off.

The three of them felt their chests swell with warmth to think this.

But they didn’t swell all that far. Because it hadn’t actually started yet.

They still had one more to get.

“Oh, you made it back safely, then!”

A voice echoed from the altar.

When the two turned around, they saw various different peoples standing there.

There were demons, there were ogres, there were succubi, there were lizardmen, and harpies, too.

No fairies, but there were orcs.

And there were beastkin, dwarves, and elves, too.

There were twenty of them in total, and they all looked at Popratika and the others with strangely narrowed eyes.

Naturally, they were led by a demon.

A gigantic demon carrying four gigantic magic swords.

His name was Netherhanks.

General Mightysword Netherhanks.

He was one of the most powerful demons who ever lived…a born warrior.

“Aldria did not return, then?”

“No.”

“Is she dead?”

“Who knows? Maybe she’s been captured and she’s getting tortured right now.”

“She’s not the type to break under torture. We must believe she died an honorable death!”

Netherhanks laughed heartily, looking down at Popratika.

“I guess I’ll go clean up the mess.”

“Very well. Should I accompany you? I mean, should we all go together?”

“No. You’d draw too much attention, old man. And we need to reserve some fighting power—otherwise there’ll be too much to do when Lord Geddigs is resurrected… But yes, I’ll borrow a few of you.”

“Right! Well, take anyone you want!”

“I don’t need your permission for that.”

Following this exchange, twenty brave warriors came forward.

They were all veterans of the battlefield.

Proud warriors. They could live only on the battlefield. They could breathe only on the battlefield.

And all of them were dissatisfied with this interminable peace. They were the chosen ones who had wandered from place to place, sharpening their fangs in the darkness, finally arriving here.

Popratika had been the one to form the group, but they all shared the same desire.

“Let’s see. You, and you…”

Popratika chose two more from the group and turned around.

The four followed her in silence as they left the ruins.

“I’ll be waiting here for some good news!”

With Netherhanks’s words ringing in their ears, they set off.

They needed to obtain the holy book of the humans. Their destination was the very place where humans had made a lonely stand, holding their ground even after losing their commander during Geddigs’s invasion.

The Zalico Peninsula, located beyond the Pyles River, on the Arkansel Plains.

A human outpost. Black Head Territory…

Side Story

ASMONADIA’S CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS

Asmonadia, aka Dusk Lightning.

A high demon, one of the highest ranking of all demons.

One of Sequence’s three daughters.

As the daughter of a distinguished family of high demons, she was raised to bloom on the battlefield and honed to perfection. From combat arts like the sword, the spear, archery, and magic, to strategy, tactics, blacksmithing, domestic affairs, diplomacy, and trade. She was raised believing there was nothing she couldn’t master, regardless of her innate strengths and weaknesses.

And Asmonadia showed remarkable talent, especially in fighting.

The sight of her running across the battlefield swinging her giant ax made the warriors of the Alliance tremble in fear.

She was also highly proficient with magic, though not as skilled as Popratika. Her nickname of Dusk Lightning came from her ability to pierce even the armor made by the master dwarf craftsman Gabarabanga. Indeed, she had laid waste to many dwarven warriors.

As a demon, though, she was a little lacking in foresight and tended to be impulsive and somewhat reckless. She wasn’t a particularly good commander because of that, but as a warrior, she had no weaknesses in either attacking or defending ability. She was considered one of the strongest warriors alive, even among the demons.

The humans were definitely keeping an eye out for her.

“Hmm.”

Asmonadia had come to the border.

The sole border separating the lands of the demons and the beastkin.

“Lie if you must, but don’t insult my intelligence.”

“I’m not lying. I’m heading to the orc country to marry an Orc Hero.”

She’d been stopped by the border guards, of course.

“There’s no way a demon would marry an orc…”

Asmonadia was facing off against the captain of the same unit that had been sent just the other day to man the border. Though he remained outwardly composed, he was clearly nervous about talking to this famous demon general.

“True… For a noble demon to marry an orc… Well, it’s unheard-of. Of course you’re skeptical. But it’s the truth. As a proud demon, I must repay the kindness of one who has aided my people. Thus, I will marry the Orc Hero.”

“Right…”

What is she even talking about? thought the border patrol captain.

However, the Orc Hero had indeed just been escorted to Black Head Territory by some traveling knights just the other day. It was obvious she was following him.

Still, he couldn’t figure out what her true intentions were.

“You know that Popratika’s gang has been causing mischief all over the world, right?”

“I didn’t know that, actually. You humans are the ones who control and obstruct information channels. Even if I did know, my sister’s business is none of my concern.”

No, that wouldn’t fly. She couldn’t just shrug off responsibility.

Though Asmonadia shrugged and acted disinterested, the captain wasn’t having it.

“I don’t know, you demons are good at playing tricks on others.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll take that as a compliment. But you humans are no match for me. You not only deceive your enemies but your allies as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re a grunt. You don’t understand, of course. You don’t even notice when you’re being deceived… But never mind. Let me repeat myself. I have zero affiliation with my sister. If she is up to some sort of secret scheme, then yeah, I guess she might become a nuisance to various countries. I don’t know what she wants. But I think I can guess. My guess is she wants to find some way to reignite the fight against you humans and shake up this new world order.”

“…”

“My sister, she’s a shrewd strategist. If she’s cooking something up, it won’t be some simple, harebrained scheme, like: Attack and get revenge! …No, she won’t act unless she’s got a high probability of success. You should be prepared. Most of the demons, myself included, have no idea where my sister is or what she’s doing. But if fighting breaks out, the demons at the Gije Fort will be quick to act.”

The commander gulped.

Waves of pure power were radiating off this demoness. Instinctively, he reached for the sword he wore at his waist. But he did not draw it.

If he drew it, he’d probably be killed before he could even lift it high enough to swing.

That’s how powerful an opponent a high demon is.

“But as I’ve said many times before, it has nothing to do with me. I’m simply off to marry the Orc Hero. If it turns out the Orc Hero is in cahoots with my sister and plans to beef with you humans, then I’ll join in the fray on their side as well, of course. Still, I think that’s highly unlikely.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Whatever the Shadow Vortex, Popratika, is planning, I doubt she’d use an Orc Hero as a pawn in a dragon-slaying scheme.”

“Dragon slaying…? The other day, we did get a report that the dragon had flown away… Could it really be true…?”

“Yeah, the Orc Hero bested the dragon and saved us all.”

It wasn’t that hard to believe.

Even humans knew of the rumors about the Orc Hero and his dragon-slaying exploits.

But humans, who have never fought a dragon head-on, could not understand the majesty of this act.

“Just for that, a demon’s willing to shack up with an orc?”

“‘Just for that?’ How rude! Still, I can understand why you’d say that. We, too, thought we could take down the dragon by ourselves for a time. A Sage brought it there… It appeared on the battlefield with little fanfare… But it died relatively quickly. Naturally, the inclination is to dismiss that dragon as weak. But dragons are more powerful than you or I could ever imagine! One of them was certainly powerful enough to suppress us demons…”

Few could ever triumph against a dragon, Asmonadia insisted.

The captain raised a brow, not quite getting what she was saying.

Asmonadia spotted that. “You really don’t get it.” She chuckled lightly. “Anyway, allow me passage through the border at once.”

“Hold on. No. I won’t let you through. Demons can’t pass. Not as long as the treaty stands.”

“No, that’s not a rule.”

“What?!”

The captain grew visibly flustered.

But Asmonadia remained calm. With a faint smile, she continued speaking.

“The treaty does not prohibit demons from passing through, and I fulfill the conditions necessary to cross the border.”

“Conditions?”

“The conditions you humans agreed upon. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

Yes, the humans did indeed present the demons with conditions for leaving the country.

“First, carrying weapons is prohibited.

“Second, contact with succubi and ogres is prohibited.

“Third, you must have an invitation. You must clearly state the intended destination and the reason for your visit. And you must promise that you will not do anything that violates the sanctity of the Alliance of Four.

“In other words, nothing forbids me from passing through. We’re forbidden from starting armed uprisings, conspiring with succubi or ogres to start rebellions, and so on. But we are permitted to carry out acts of diplomacy with other countries. It’s only because of the dragon that we haven’t been able to do that all this time.”

Asmonadia grinned, causing the captain to break out in a cold sweat.

The sweat began to drip into his eyes. He felt he’d already made some sort of terrible mistake.

“…But you haven’t been invited.”

“I have, actually. The Orc Hero desired me for his wife. I consent and am on my way to his country. If you don’t consider that an invite, then what is?”

Asmonadia’s expression as she spoke was that of a young maiden.

However, that look quickly disappeared.

And then that demonic look returned.

The typical sneer of the demon, mocking the mistakes of their opponent, crowing over their own victory.

“You humans have grown arrogant. There’s no way us demons would cast aside our arms and go join hands with the likes of lizardmen and harpies! Much less fairies and orcs!”

Both the captain and Asmonadia knew that this wasn’t a case of the humans being arrogant.

It was just that the Dark General had made sure that the treaty contained several gray areas.

In a world that knew anything of peacetime, no doubt those gray areas would have been identified before the ink had even dried, and swiftly removed. But those who had planned out the treaty had never even experienced a cease-fire.

“So? Why not turn a blind eye? I mean, it’s not like you five could stop me, Dusk Lightning Asmonadia.”

Five people.

Yes, this fort was once manned by more than thirty men, but now there were only five.

And these newly deployed soldiers were by no means experienced.

Though, if word of a skirmish reached the Black Head Territory, hundreds or perhaps thousands of soldiers could be sent here to protect this fort. But as of right now… Five people was all they’d gotten.

The captain… And the other four… Didn’t seem to have any skills to speak of.

Well, since they survived the war, they couldn’t have been complete pushovers. But in a fight against Asmonadia, they’d be annihilated.

Actually, it was odd that Asmonadia didn’t just instantly leap to deadly force.

All she wanted was to get by. At any cost.

As he thought this, a chill ran through the captain’s entire body.

“Ah… You know what, sorry about all this.”

Asmonadia’s expression suddenly seemed to have softened.

Now her expression was gentle, like that of a kindly teacher or a priest granting forgiveness.

“In your position, of course you would have to try and stop me. Silly question, really.”

“…”

“By way of an apology, I’ll give you some information. You won’t get in trouble if we cut a deal that benefits the humans, right?”

The captain gulped again.

Frankly, if Asmonadia wanted to pass, then he had no choice but to stand down.

But if he turned a blind eye, he’d be in for a reprimand, for sure.

He might even lose his job as a soldier… Something he’d clung on to all this time.

Fear and panic made him naive.

“Information…?”

Though he knew it was a trap, the thought of getting out of trouble was enough to hook him.

“About the current situation with the demons. You people can barely send scouts into our land, right? This is information your people are desperate to have, right?”

“…Let’s hear it, then.”

The commander nodded and listened to the information Asmonadia had.

The demons…

The once glorious and most powerful race had been facing extinction.

But now their biggest threat had been eliminated.

It was highly possible that they would now return to power. After all this time, they’d been cornered animals. And, if Popratika started an uprising… Most of the demons would no doubt join her.

He had some trouble believing the info at first, though.

Demons often told lies. Lies that would make a fairy’s tall tales seem insignificant by comparison.

Still, it wasn’t the captain’s call to decide if Asmonadia’s information was genuine or not.

That was for the higher-ups.

All the captain had to do was relay the information from Asmonadia.

“…I will make the report.”

“You do that. And I…will be on my way.”

With that, Asmonadia got to her feet and marched briskly through the fort.

No one stopped her. And she never looked back.

Dusk Lightning Asmonadia had passed through the border.

This information spread throughout the Alliance with lightning speed.

Heads of the various countries scratched their heads over this.

They’d heard about a demon woman called Asmonadia traveling. But they couldn’t fathom why. Or what it was she planned to do.

Become an orc’s wife? No country was crazy enough to believe that.

The most natural assumption was that she was plotting something with Popratika.

Even so, it was odd. If she wanted to pass through the border for nefarious means, she could just as easily have quietly assassinated all the border guards. It had happened before.

This puzzling behavior left the leaders of the various countries completely bemused.

If she was working with Popratika, then she had to be stopped.

Asmonadia had to be captured and tortured for information.

If their assumptions were wrong… Well, no matter. Who cared if a demon died?

That’s what the beastkin thought as Asmonadia passed through their territory.

After the recent incident, the beastkin had softened a little when it came to their resentment of the Orc Hero.

But their resentment toward members of the Coalition of Seven remained unchanged.

The war had ended, so they no longer sought to eliminate the demons. But the war wounds were still fresh. They’d take the chance if it came to them.

The memories of being driven from their homes and pushed to the brink of extinction were still embedded deep in the soul of every beastkin.

And then, just a year ago, the Sacred Tree had been withered. So they were angry about that, too.

“She’s in cahoots with the ogres, after all. Don’t mock us. We can smell it.”

Asmonadia was captured by the beastkin hound unit, near the border with the country of the ogres.

But why was she here in the first place?

“Your dog Koro has a good nose but absolutely no brains. I mean, confusing an orc for an ogre?”

“What?”

“I’m going to orc country, geniuses. What have the ogres got to do with that?”

“You foolish demon wench, you’re approaching ogre country, don’t you realize that?”

“What? Oh my. Have I taken a wrong turn?”

Yes, Asmonadia had indeed taken a wrong turn!

“Don’t mess with us, wench!”

“Whoops, ha-ha-ha.”

No way she had simply gotten lost.

There was no way that Dusk Lightning herself, Asmonadia, would have taken a wrong turn.

She was a cunning demon woman.

She knew where she was going. Her plan was definitely to swing by the ogre country and get some intel.

For four years, the dragon had almost completely blocked off the flow of information from outside of the demon territory.

As a result, Asmonadia knew almost nothing about the post-war world.

So she figured she’d better educate herself first.

But she didn’t want to linger in the human or beastkin countries to get that info.

Demons only trusted information that came from the ogres and the succubi.

“This is the dog Koro we’re talking about here. Being messed around with a little… That’s par for the course.”

Okay, she admitted to lying.

But Asmonadia needed that info.

An uneducated demon was powerless.

That wouldn’t change even if she became an orc’s wife.

And a demon had ideas about what a perfect wife should be, whether that pleased the orc or not.

The ultimate demon wife is one who is both intelligent and beautiful, and who supports her husband’s path to the top, no matter what.

Orcs sucked at lying.

So after they were married, Asmonadia would have to handle all the lying and deceiving.

No demon had ever become an orc’s wife before. So she wasn’t quite sure if lies and deceit were what orcs desired in a wife. But as a demon, she would do her research. She would be prepared. To be caught oblivious, pants down, when it came to the crunch…that would be the ultimate demon shame.

That’s what Asmonadia was thinking.

So Asmonadia would not back off. She claimed to have made a wrong turn. And yet she showed no signs of retreat.

“I’ll finish you off right here!”

“You’re going to attack us, Dusk Lightning? With what weapon?”

Asmonadia was in a bind.

She was unarmed.

Up against twenty members of the beastkin country’s Hound Corps.

There were more of them than there had been opponents at the checkpoint. All were elite fighters who’d carried out countless missions as the beastkin’s premier strike force. More than that would usually be required to take down a sole opponent. Still, she was a demon.

Defeating a demon general was no laughing matter.

Twenty men against an unarmed Asmonadia… It would just be enough.

“You talk big for an unarmed woman! Graaargh!”

“You stupid, mangy curs! Siccing a pack of men on a lone woman who’s simply gotten lost on her way? But whatever! The Orc Hero’s wife will show you what she’s made of!”

And thus, the tension in the air reached a fever pitch.

Black lightning crackled all around Asmonadia’s arms, and the hounds drew their swords.

They tensed as Asmonadia grinned.

“Wait a minute!”

Just before they all charged, someone yelled out.

Good beastkin knew when to freeze.

The Hound Corps all turned their gazes to the unknown intruder.

Of course, they kept their ears turned toward Asmonadia, and they kept on sniffing the air for the scent of her magical power. She could still strike at any moment.

Standing there was a young ogre boy.

He stood there, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, holding a large wooden sword that was very much disproportionate to his height.

“She may be a demon, but she’s also a woman, and she’s lost her way! Don’t you beastkin have any shame?!”

“Who the hell are you?”

The boy drew himself up to his full height.

“I’m Ludo, the son of Rularula, the great ogre warrior!”

“Rularula?! What are you doing here, ogre?!”

“I’m allowed to be here! This is ogre country!”

The hounds snorted at this.

Territorial violations are a problem even for the beastkin, a victorious nation.

Especially when it comes to military action.

It would be one thing if this was just a nameless ogre pup, but this boy claimed to be the son of the great warrior Rularula.

One of the great ogre leaders, no less.

They hesitated to cut him down.

They could hide the body, yes… But the sin might still be found out.

“Whatever your problem with us, this demon is none of your business! Let her through!”

But the great hound warriors hesitated to back down.

If they didn’t take care of the Demon General now, no doubt she would go on to cause trouble.

“You must stand down! This demon is going to become the wife of the Orc Hero! I am his apprentice, actually! And my sister Luca is engaged to him! If this woman becomes his wife for real, that will make us practically family! I can’t just let you do this!”

Toward the end of the war, the beastkin fought bitterly against the ogres.

The great warrior, Rularula.

The premier fighter of the ogres. She had taken down many of the beastkin’s finest. Everyone knew her name.

And this boy was her son? And apprentice to the Orc Hero Bash?

Those accolades were enough to make the hounds tremble in fear.

The beastkin hadn’t tangled much with orcs, toward the end of the war.

But they’d heard all the rumors.

Despite being on the back foot, on the brink of annihilation… The Orc Hero killed all the human generals, save for Houston the Pig Slayer… And he had fought a death match against the great Elf Mage Thunder Sonia and survived… Terrifying all the humans and elves to their very core.

Then, about a year ago, he’d shown up at Innuella’s wedding, dressed impeccably, venerating the name of the Hero Leto. And then there was that incident when he fought for the beastkin when the Sacred Tree shriveled up.

Not only was the misunderstanding resolved, but they’d also come to think of him with feelings of gratitude.

That Orc Hero. His apprentice.

What an accolade!

The leader of the Hound Corps clenched his jaw.

“…”

He could kill little Ludo and take the fall for his men.

But could only twenty of them defeat such exalted ones?

If they tried but were unable to defeat Asmonadia, they would have to live with the shame of letting an intruder trespass on their land, and the shame of defeat, too.

“I guess we’ve done what we can… We’ll back off.”

“We’ll pretend we never noticed this intrusion.”

“…Thank you kindly.”

Right, they had no choice but to stand down.

And so Asmonadia met the boy in the land of the ogres.

It was the bonds that Bash created that brought the two of them together.

A few hours later, Asmonadia was in the land of the ogres.

In a town called Margaron, one of the three major towns of the ogre country.

Among the three most powerful races of the former Coalition of Seven, the demons, ogres, and succubi, the ogres were the least repressed and were currently the most prosperous race of them all.

However, the country was still a defeated nation.

Of the three towns, Margaron, the closest to the border, could hardly be described as prosperous.

Worn-down houses and ogres with careworn frowns.

A race that was once so mighty and impressive, now walking the streets of their homeland with sour faces.

It’s the same everywhere, Asmonadia thought.

Asmonadia found herself invited to a house on the outskirts of the town.

Ludo’s and Luca’s house.

“Well, first let me express my gratitude to you, Ludo, son of the great warrior Rularula.”

In ogre culture, chairs were not used.

There were planks laid on the ground, with cloth woven from fur placed atop them, and then cushions on top of that.

In the past, the ogres used to sit on the ground on animal hides, like how modern orcs still sit. But the ogres, after many years of fighting the beastkin, had picked up on certain aspects of their culture.

Asmonadia followed suit, sitting cross-legged on a cushion.

“It would have been easy to just kill them all, but I’m on a journey. Being pursued by the beastkin would be most inconvenient for me.”

“Listen here, more importantly… I mean, the thing is…”

Ludo scowled at Asmonadia.

“You said you’re the master’s wife?”

“And you…? You call yourself the Orc Hero’s apprentice?”

Each of them picked up on the hint of suspicion in the other’s words.

Those suspicions could turn to fighting spirit at any moment.

They were both feisty ones.

“Ludo… Listen, the Orc Hero is no ordinary warrior. He is the mightiest of all. Exalted above all orcs. You can’t go calling yourself his apprentice that lightly. The orcs will tear you limb from limb, you know?”

“Well, what about you? A demon claiming to be an orc’s wife? Demons are a proud race. If word gets about that you’ve been laying with an orc, won’t that disgrace your entire race for all eternity?”

Carefully measured words.

“It’s true, I applied to become my master’s apprentice without even knowing just how amazing a person he was. I was…ignoring my own limitations. But he still took me on. I repeat the lessons he taught me every day. It’s all I can do to maintain my honor.”

“Well, he saved me from being scorched to death by a dragon. Then he asked my father, Sequence, for my hand in marriage as a reward for slaying the dragon, and he agreed. Even we demons can swoon for an orc, if he’s really strong and brave and good-looking.”

There was a breathless pause.

The two of them, satisfied with each other’s explanation, exchanged a nod.

The Orc Hero, Bash.

Both of them owed so much to the man. And once they realized they were being straight with each other, both relaxed.

Yes, Asmonadia was a little nervous as well.

If Asmonadia was lying, Ludo wouldn’t have the power to hold her accountable. Still, you never knew what would happen when someone was willing to stake everything on a fight.

“Hee-hee.”

Asmonadia smiled and looked to Ludo’s side.

There she sat, the girl with the same stern expression as always… Ludo’s younger sister, Luca.

“I figured, as a dragon-slaying Orc Hero, that he’d have one or two other wives. But to think he’d go and lay his hands on a child like you…”

Luca frowned at this.

“He hasn’t laid his hands on me yet. We have an arrangement for when I’m grown up.”

“Oh, my apologies. So he merely spat on you to claim you for later, then.”

And Asmonadia smiled smugly, knowing she had the advantage.

Well, in truth, Asmonadia herself hadn’t even been spat upon by Bash yet. But in her mind, she had already won him.

After all, he had fought a dragon just to claim her.

“Oh my, at this rate I wonder how many wives he has…”

“I don’t know, but I guess he did propose to his former enemy, so… I guess it tracks.”

“Well, orcs will be orcs. But why did you decide to become the Orc Hero’s bride anyway? If you’re really the daughter of Rularula, you should have your pick of men.”

“I am going to become his wife as a symbol of my gratitude for his helping to try to avenge my mother’s death.”

Hearing this, Asmonadia snorted in disgust.

“Oh, I see. Well, you can step aside. I’ll tell the Orc Hero for you. I’ll tell him the ogre girl has backed off.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. You see, I…”

Seeing Luca hesitate, Asmonadia raised a brow.

Yikes. It looked like this girl actually did have feelings for the Orc Hero.

“Hmm, I see. Even though he’s an orc, he’s also a man worthy of being loved by us superior races. That’s certainly true. But this man has traveled to many countries. When he returns to his own land, there’ll surely be a number of women worthy of his name and title there, too. You’d better step up your game quick, you know.”

Her demon pride balked at the idea of being just one of multiple wives. Still, Asmonadia was confident that she would be the best of them all.

Not just confident. Certain.

Because she was a demon.

“Hmm?”

Asmonadia suddenly realized that there had been some strange words mixed in with what she’d just heard.

“…Wait, avenge your mother? You mean Rularula is dead?”

“Yes. By the hand of the nameless swordsman who attacked the succubus country.”

“Nameless swordsman? Who?”

“A human female swordsman…with a burnt face.”

“…Ah.”

A nameless human female swordsman with a burnt face who could defeat Rularula.

Asmonadia knew one such person who fit that description.

Asmonadia quickly decided that it had to be her.

“Well, if they fought, no doubt it was an admirable end.”

“You…know her?”

“The demons protected and hid her for a time. I hadn’t seen her since the war ended, but I see, so she killed Rularula… With the Orc Hero…”

Asmonadia nodded, satisfied.

She grinned, thinking how fortunate it was that she could learn so much just from chatting to a young ogre brother and sister.

“By the way, did the Orc Hero succeed in avenging your mother?”

“No, it ended in a draw. Anyway, it seems the female swordsman had some other business in the succubus country…”

“Well, tell me more about that.”

“Well, I don’t know everything, either…”

As Luca began to talk, Asmonadia listened intently about all the events that had occurred in the land of the succubi.

Hmm, I haven’t seen that woman in ages, but she must have become one of Popratika’s subordinates.

And thus, she came to a conclusion.

Hmm.

It seemed that the two siblings had traveled to various countries in order to seek revenge, and so they might be quite knowledgeable about the situations in each country, despite their young ages.

In that case, Asmonadia said, perking up, making the siblings warm to her…

“Now, Luca. Like me, you are the wife of an Orc Hero, but your status is low due to your age. If you would grant me one request, I’ll make whatever arrangements I can for you as a fellow wife.”

“Does that mean that if I don’t do what you want, you’ll treat me with disdain and neglect after the weddings?”

“Of course not. Here we are, two women in the same situation. We have to be friends, don’t we? Anyway, I don’t want much from you. You know, we demons have been trapped by bitter snow and dragon flame for years. We’re out of touch with the outside world. All I want you to do is tell me what’s happened over the past few years.”

“Well, if that’s all you want…”

Thus, Asmonadia achieved her goal.

Just as she had guessed, even among the ogres, Ludo and Luca were fairly knowledgeable about current world affairs.

They were ogres, yes, but also half-human, and children. The leaders of the various countries weren’t on their guard around them. So they had a little bit of info that normally would never have reached their ears.

It’s not like they knew all the plans of each country’s leader specifically, but Asmonadia was a demon.

Being the most intelligent of her race, she was able to get a rough idea of the current state of the world just by listening to their conversation.

“Hmm, it seems each country still hasn’t fully resolved their own problems.”

If so, there was a chance that each race in the Coalition of Seven could recover.

Humans were always going to be humans.

The weakest of all races, yet the one most eager to fight.

They would eventually start fighting among themselves.

Perhaps the next target would be the elves or dwarves…but humans are also cunning. They would likely crush the Coalition at the same time.

But there was still time.

“The Orc Hero will one day become the Orc King. He has what it takes. If I assist him once he becomes king, the orcs will be able to avoid extinction.”

“Huh…?”

“On the other hand, if I don’t help, the orcs will perish. Orcs are stupid. They can’t keep up with the current situation.”

“Lord Bash is not stupid.”

“No, but even an Orc Hero is still an orc. He may be thoughtful, kind, reliable, and strong, but he lacks wisdom. That’s just his nature. That’s why I must assist him. As his wife, I can’t stand by and watch my husband’s country fall to ruin. Bolstering the orcs will decide the future relationship between them and the various races.”

“…You’ve thought that far ahead?”

“Of course. That’s what being the wife of the king entails.”

Bash didn’t have any aspiration to be Orc King, so this wasn’t a given.

But Luca didn’t know that.

Her eyes lit up.

She knew she was engaged to Bash and would eventually marry him, but she found it hard to picture what that life would be like. However, what Asmonadia was saying had opened a whole world of possibilities.

She imagined a future the likes of which Bash had never once envisioned.

“Perhaps I’ve been a bit naive about all this.”

“At your age, it can’t be helped. But now you know. So there’s no problem. How about it? Shall we go to the orc country together?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, sure. We’re both wives of the Orc Hero, after all!”

What a tempting idea.

Demons and ogres are forbidden from interacting with one another, and if they were to intervene together in orc politics, it would infuriate the humans and the elves.

“Ludo, you come along, too. You might not be on the level of the Orc Hero, but I do consider you a worthy warrior. And I’ll give you some training myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“If your sister is engaged to the Orc Hero, then that makes you family. I’ll make you stronger. Besides, if his apprentice is weak, it would tarnish the name of the Orc Hero.”

Ludo had been working on his physical strength, just like Bash told him to.

Although he’d been swinging the sword on his own, it was about time to learn from someone knowledgeable.

He’d been planning to face the master ogre swordsman when the time was right, but if he could study under Asmonadia, that would be perfect.

“Thank you very much.”

Thus began the journey of Asmonadia and the ogre siblings.

“Tuck your chin in and hold your sword straight. It’s not how the Orc Hero does it, but you don’t need to copy him just because you’re his apprentice.”

Asmonadia’s training of Ludo began as soon as they set out on their journey.

“You just need to learn the basics. Don’t worry. You have good muscles. Your sword swing is rough, but your legs are well trained. That must be due to the Orc Hero’s teachings.”

“…Right!”

“Ogres have their own style. But first, you need to master the basics. Then you can add your own specialties. Swordplay, magic, or even pugilism. You must envision your own strength and make it a reality. Always be thinking about what you can do to bring yourself one level higher. Then try it out in actual combat. Once you gain strength, everyone will respect you as the Orc Hero’s apprentice. Even if your fighting style is different from that of the orcs.”

Asmonadia’s instructions were hardcore in a whole different way from Bash’s.

Think hard and consider all angles.

Consider the roots of training. Consider everything you’re doing.

Don’t do a thing without it having meaning.

Use your brain fully when moving your body.

Although there was one aspect in which she was the same as Bash.

She had Ludo training until he was ready to drop.

“Okay, we’re in good shape. Let’s try slaying the magical beast today, shall we?”

It was usually Asmonadia who handled the enemies they encountered, but occasionally Ludo was made to step in, for training.

Up until now, Ludo would have avoided all magical beasts. He wouldn’t have even strayed near their habitats.

The beast Asmonadia had chosen for that day’s training was a cockatrice, with the body of a rooster and the tail of a snake, and the ability to use strong poison and heat-ray magic. It wasn’t a particularly large beast, but it was still twice as large and more agile than Ludo, making it a dangerous opponent.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

There were many differences between Asmonadia’s training and Bash’s.

But it was clear that Ludo’s technical skills had improved dramatically during his training with Asmonadia.

That doesn’t mean that Bash’s teaching methods were poor.

Thanks to the training Ludo had gotten from Bash, he’d built a solid base that would enable him to withstand Asmonadia’s training.

“Hmm. Not bad. It’s about what I’d expect from the son of Rularula.”

After a while, all that remained was Ludo and the beast’s corpse.

The cockatrice was dead, its tail and neck severed.

Meanwhile, Ludo’s whole body was covered in burns. He was badly hurt, but he had not been affected by the beast’s poison.

He’d avoided fatal strikes, but it had been a long battle. In the end, though, Ludo had dominated with his physical strength and pulled off a brilliant victory.

“If you can fell a cockatrice, you can fell most magical beasts.”

Asmonadia was pleased with the outcome.

The cockatrice was a powerful magical beast.

It had strong legs and moved quickly. And it had poison and heat rays at its disposal. It could attack from long range as well as close range. There were few opportunities to land a hit on it. Even the other magical beasts tried to avoid it.

Asmonadia put her hand to her chin in thought, then clapped her hands together, as if to say, All right, then!

“Enough beasts. We need you to fight against people! Hmm, though, I was planning to avoid villages and towns until we’d reached the orc country, but let’s find a likely warrior on our way and challenge him to a fight!”

Fighting people… Not monsters.

Ludo had to speak up when Asmonadia proposed this dangerous plan.

“Um, I think that might lead to some problems?”

However, Asmonadia just laughed at Ludo.

“You fool. What’s the problem with a little lively fight to the death? You’re still young, so you probably don’t understand, but there are warriors in every country. Warriors who wouldn’t say no to a request for training from a young’un.”

In fact, there are plenty of them in the orc country.

However, Asmonadia wanted to get Ludo polished up to some extent before they reached the orc country.

Asmonadia, a demon, knew quite a bit about orcs.

She knew that Bash was something special. But most of the other orcs in orc country were morons.

Orcs were evaluated purely based on physical strength.

What would happen if a boy claiming to be Bash’s apprentice showed up there?

He’d be challenged. He’d have to fight.

The orcs no doubt would be all excited at the prospect of the Orc Hero’s apprentice.

They’d want to test his skills and see what he was made of.

Which would be fine, as long as Ludo was tough enough to take on anyone.

Or, if he lost after defeating one or two decent warriors and putting up a good fight, that would be fine, too.

But if he lost to a weakling orc, someone other orcs looked down upon… Then Ludo would no doubt be executed on the spot.

We won’t let a puny shrimp like this call himself the Orc Hero’s apprentice, they would say.

If that happened, it would make Asmonadia and Ludo’s sister Luca look small by association.

If that happened, then Asmonadia could bust a few heads… But there was a risk that this would reflect badly on Bash.

There was a chance the orcs might think he wasn’t fit to be king.

Asmonadia was confident that Bash could be Orc King someday. But if the people doubted him, there could be a coup d’état.

Of course, she was overcomplicating things.

But Asmonadia would not permit Bash to be ridiculed by his own race.

She planned to control all variables so that would never happen.

“Umm, Lady Asmonadia…”

“You can call me Sister. You two are family, after all.”

Asmonadia gently admonished Luca, who’d just spoken.

“Ah, yes. Sister… I thought that the demons would revive Lord Geddigs. Don’t you want to be a part of that?”

Revive Geddigs.

Yes, this was info they’d picked up along the way.

The conflict in Mistland, Popratika’s clandestine activities… The rumors indeed seemed to be true.

After considering all the evidence, Asmonadia had determined that Popratika’s goal was to revive Geddigs and then start a war to overturn the status quo.

“I don’t know what my sister or father are up to. I’m just going to go be with the Orc Hero. However…”

“However…?”

“If you want my advice on who to side with, I’d say go against what most of the demons go along with. The demons still worship Geddigs, so I suppose I’d side with the humans.”

“Why?”

“If the humans win, then in my position as wife of the Orc Hero, I can plead for clemency for the demons. But if my sister is victorious, then I can still get in with them after the fact ’cause I’m a demon. Since I don’t know how this will all play out, it’s better for me to stay neutral for now. So that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Luca’s eyes sparkled as Asmonadia explained this.

Ludo listened, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Should I…? Should I be thinking about all this, too?”

“Yes, think about it. Ogres are a wise race. You can’t be a superior race if you don’t use the brains in your head. But now is not the time to worry too much about all that.”

Asmonadia shrugged dismissively. Getting stronger was the priority, she said.

“Now then, training. But where to go…? Beastkin are no good. Lizardmen might be okay, but it’s a bit far to go. Harpies and fairies are no good for training against… Elves and humans are too cunning. You might get killed. Which leaves… The dwarves. Dobanga Pit’s on our route.”

Ludo yelped with excitement.

“Oh yes, Master said he stopped by Dobanga Pit! Apparently, he defeated a number of strong opponents during the festival there and ended up the overall winner. Well, of course he did!”

Actually, Bash didn’t win, but the info had come from Zell, so it was a bit exaggerated.

Still, Bash was the winner in Zell’s eyes.

Fairies were known to twist the facts.

“Well duh, of course he won. Who could beat the Orc Hero in a one-on-one fight? This is the man who single-handedly defeated a dragon, you know? Actually, a festival tournament like that sounds a bit beneath him. Like a grown adult getting involved in a squabble between children…”

Asmonadia raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm? Yes, it is odd that a warrior of the level of the Orc Hero would take part in such a tournament. He must have had some sort of reason for it.”

Asmonadia pondered what it could possibly be.

But she couldn’t come up with anything. She didn’t know that Bash had fought to free the slave orcs.

Whenever a fairy gave out information, there was always some important element missing.

Still, it wasn’t technically true that he did it only to help the slave orcs…

“Still, speaking of the festival tournament, I hear that the winner gets to claim anything they want. It’s obvious what an orc would want.”

What every orc wants at the end of a battle.

A woman, of course.

Even though Bash fought for honor, he wouldn’t turn down a woman if the time was right. Just like how he’d claimed Asmonadia.

“There may be other wives of the Orc Hero in Dobanga Pit. We’ll try to find them while we’re there. We’ll also try to get some weapons, though I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.”

“Right!”

Asmonadia had made up her mind. And so they set off on the road to Dobanga Pit.

Asmonadia’s visit caused a commotion at Dobanga Pit.

A demon, one of the race who had vanished from the public eye like smoke for the past few years, had suddenly come to visit.

And moreover, it was Dusk Lightning herself, Asmonadia, one of the daughters of the powerful Demon General, Sequence.

This was a big deal.

Every dwarf knew the name.

After all, who else had shattered the reputation of the former master craftsman, Gabarabanga?

With magic attacks that penetrated his prized shields, that punched holes in his best armor.

Laying waste to dwarven weapons and the warriors who wielded them.

It was different from how it was when Bash came. Everyone was on high alert.

“So what business does this famous demon warrior have here at Dobanga Pit?”

Asmonadia and the other two were taken to the dwarven council chamber, where they were called upon to explain themselves.

Asmonadia didn’t argue. Instead, she declared boldly:

“This here apprentice to the Orc Hero wants to train as a warrior. There’s an arena here, and you dwarves are strong. I thought it would be a perfect fit, so I brought him here.”

An apprentice to the Orc Hero?

All eyes turned to the ogre boy, Ludo.

Any dwarf seeing him would think, Who’d want to fight against such a pip-squeak? But if he was the Orc Hero’s apprentice, then that changed everything. Anyone would be happy to volunteer.

As long as Bash was present, that is.

“All right, so Lord Bash’s apprentice wishes to train here. But why are you here, demon?”

“Do I need to explain that? Hm, I guess I do. So I’m the wife of the Orc Hero. And I’m off to join him in the land of the orcs. Is it so strange for a wife to want to live in her husband’s country?”

“…?”

A demon, the wife of an orc?

The dwarves became increasingly suspicious as Asmonadia spouted this nonsense.

Demons sometimes confused their opponents with difficult words.

“Hmm…”

While Barabaradobanga was away, one of their sons, AraAradobanga, was in charge of Dobanga Pit. But he was unable to grasp what this meant.

A demon, become the wife of the Orc Hero?

It was a bit too abstract a concept for AraAradobanga.

“What do you mean, become his wife?”

“I think it’s pretty clear-cut?”

“A demon? I find that hard to believe…”

If not abstract, then perhaps a complete fabrication.

There was not a single dwarf who would believe such a lie.

…Or perhaps not. The memory of Bash’s visit to Dobanga Pit was still fresh for the dwarves. He had fought spectacularly at the festival tournament. He’d defeated Barabaradobanga and given everyone a great show in the finals. He’d made it clear to everyone that orcs were more than battle fodder.

The memory was so fresh, it was regularly discussed in the bars.

Not only that, but when rogue orcs happened to drop by and hear this story, they had a change of heart and returned to their own country.

These rogue orcs, who’d been licking their lips and drooling over the dwarf women, catcalling them and being obscene… They’d straightened up at the mention of Bash and listened raptly to the tales of his heroic deeds. Then they’d quietly left.

The dwarves might be an insensitive lot, but it was clear that Bash had had a big impact on them.

“So Bash traveled to the Demon Kingdom and took a demon’s daughter as his wife…”

Such was the power of Bash that such a tall tale actually seemed plausible.

“I would never marry an orc who wasn’t the Orc Hero. Please give me some credit. But when a man is truly magnificent, race is irrelevant.”

“Yes… A truly great warrior… The rumors are that even the great Elf Mage Thunder Sonia was smitten with him. And he attended the wedding of the beastkin princess, even though the beastkin were their sworn enemy! Perhaps a demon wife isn’t so unthinkable for him after all?”

“Ha-ha, yes, I heard Thunder Sonia turned down his proposal! What an idiot! Silly proud woman! Silly proud elf! But still, she was smitten, eh? Of course she was. He defeated the dragon that had tormented us demons for years! Even a prideful elf had to realize his greatness!”

“A dragon…!”

At the mention of the dragon, looks of interest appeared on the dwarves’ faces.

However, Asmonadia wasn’t about to elaborate.

Not for free, anyway.

And anyway, Asmonadia didn’t really know the details.

How did Bash defeat that dragon?

Asmonadia was rather curious. How she would love to hear the story from the man himself! She’d listen with a blissful expression on her face, held in Bash’s arms.

“Anyway, that’s my story. I’m a demon, but I’m also a member of the orcs from now on! And what I want is to get some training done, so that the orcs won’t look down on my brother here. And while we’re at it, we’d like some weapons and so on as well.”

“Aren’t demons forbidden to carry weapons outside of their country?”

“Read the treaty more carefully! It only prohibits us from taking our own weapons when traveling abroad, but it doesn’t prohibit us from acquiring weapons out in the world. It sucks to not be able to have my own familiar gear, yes, but… I have to say, I’m rather interested in dwarf weaponry! You guys make good stuff.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Dwarves loved it when people praised their crafts.

Especially when it was a demon, since they weren’t known for complimenting other races.

Asmonadia might have been just buttering them up to get her hands on some free weapons. But still. If you compared dwarf stuff to that of all the other eleven races, it was a toss-up as to which was better: that of the dwarves or that of the demons.

When it came to magical weapons, demons had the advantage, but dwarf stuff was higher quality when it came to traditional arms.

“How about it? Give me just one weapon.”

A demon… Their biggest rival… Asking for one of their weapons?

The dwarves sucked their teeth, but inside they were thinking, Well then, well then!

However, no matter how insensitive dwarves may be, they’re not stupid.

It was dangerous to furnish a wandering demon with weapons.

If something went wrong, responsibility could fall on the dwarves.

Maybe the humans and elves would condemn their decision.

“We will give you permission to carry dwarven weapons. Although I’m not sure there is anyone who would be willing to furnish you with weaponry…”

The dwarf leader looked solemn.

Dwarves appeared honest and strong-willed, but in reality, they were very conservative.

Yes, very conservative indeed.

At the same time, they liked the idea of a strong opponent carrying one of their weapons.

After all, Asmonadia was the one who would be wielding it.

This woman, who’d casually ripped apart dwarven armor…now wanted to wield dwarven weapons. What would happen next? Such anticipation. Perhaps she would become the world’s ultimate warrior?

The dwarves looked at one another.

Not, not me. What? You’re not going to do it? I suppose I’ll volunteer…?

She seems stubborn. She probably won’t leave until she gets what she wants, right?

As they looked at each other, trying to gauge each other’s feelings on the matter, one of them got to their feet.

“If you fools aren’t going to give her a weapon, then I will!”

It was a young woman who’d stood and spoken.

Her facial features didn’t look fully dwarf.

She was clearly half-human.

“And you are?”

“I’m Primera. I will furnish Bash with weaponry one day! Bash has been so kind to me. If you’re really his family now, then I’ll make you some arms!”

“Hmm? You think you’re going to furnish Bash with weapons? That’s a bit presumptuous of you, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But I made a promise. If his current sword breaks, I shall forge a new one for him!”

Primera blushed but held her head high, and Asmonadia grinned.

“Hee-hee-hee, I see how it is. The Orc Hero is quite the dish, isn’t he?”

Primera blushed violently.

“What? You got a problem?”

“Nope. All right, then. I’ll have you make me some weapons.”

Primera looked around, clearing her throat.

“My brother and grandfather seem to be against it… But it’s fine if I make weapons for her, right? After all, I’m still just a novice.”

After hearing Primera say that, there was no way the other dwarves could say, “Actually, I wanted to make the weapons for her myself.”

Still, maybe it was better to outfit a demon with sub-quality arms, after all.

“All right, then, you do it. You may have the sole honor of furnishing Asmonadia with dwarven arms.”

“Thanks, that’s very demon of you.”

And so Asmonadia and Primera met.

A few hours later, Asmonadia and the other two stepped into Primera’s workshop.

“Hmm, it may be small, but it’s a pretty good smithy.”

“What do you demons know about blacksmithing anyway?”

“I know enough. I may not look it, but I’ve pounded a sword or two in my day.”

“A highborn demon lady like you?”

“Yes, a high demon lady needs to be well-rounded. Blacksmithing is just one of the skills she needs to know. If she can’t repair her own weapons, she won’t be able to continue fighting.”

Then why don’t you make your own damn weapons?

…is what Primera was about to say, but she stopped herself.

Primera was only a newbie blacksmith. But she knew that nothing could be made without a furnace, tools, and materials. And she wasn’t about to let Asmonadia loose in her workshop.

Anyway, Primera was still in training herself.

Demon smithing.

Their style was different from that of the dwarves. They used magic to hammer the material and extract elements.

By engraving magic symbols into the weapons and imbuing them with magic, they forge much more magically powerful weapons than the dwarves make.

Dwarves make use of the magical power inherent in materials, but the demons imbued magical energy into the weapons themselves.

The dwarves considered it unorthodox. But the Alliance of Four had been menaced by it for many years.

Primera had also been working hard to hone her skills over the past year.

She was now able to forge much better weapons than she’d been able to forge during the festival.

But she still wasn’t good enough to make a sword for Bash.

She was continuing to train in dwarf techniques, but she felt like she needed to innovate.

“Hee-hee-hee.”

The demon picked up on this.

“Don’t look so jealous. Forge me a weapon, and in exchange, I’ll teach you the art of demon smithing.”

“I’m… I’m not jealous. But I mean, is it really okay? I mean, you’d really teach me just like that? Demon blacksmithing is a sacred secret of the demons, isn’t it?”

“Right. It’s a secret. We use techniques you dwarves would never dream of! But it’s okay. I’ll teach you.”

“…Why, though?”

“The Orc Hero won the festival tournament. The prize was anything the victor wanted, right? And the orc was the victor. It’s obvious what he asked for. And it…or rather, she was all too happy to oblige. In dwarf custom, she sought to prepare a weapon for her new partner… You seem to be hiding it from your people, but it’s clear that the Orc Hero has already laid his hands on you. In other words, you’re essentially his bride.”

Sister wives.

Asmonadia grinned wickedly. She didn’t only come to Dobanga Pit to train Ludo and grab a weapon for herself. She came seeking Bash’s other wives.

The woman he’d claimed as his prize for winning the tournament.

Namely, a dwarf woman.

“…No, Bash didn’t win.”

“What?”

Asmonadia’s smile faded.

“He lost in the final. Although yes, if he did win… We had an arrangement…”

“That’s ridiculous… The Orc Hero was defeated? What the hell?”

Seriously? This man single-handedly felled a dragon, you know!

Asmonadia scoffed, but Primera just stared flatly at her.

“Have you not heard the rumors? Tch. Even demons have their weak spots.”

Primera sighed as she recounted the events that had taken place at the festival tournament.

Bash chose the inexperienced Primera as his partner, and although Primera’s equipment was defective, Bash was so strong that he’d made his way through the rounds with ease. But in the finals, his equipment was destroyed, and he was defeated.

But even in defeat, he’d achieved what he sought.

Bash had freed the slave orcs, and now no one in Dobanga Pit was allowed to look down on them…

Asmonadia, Ludo, and Luca listened in rapt attention.

The story from Zell had been a bit vague on details in the end, so they’d just assumed that Bash had won the tournament.

“Hmm, if it were any other orc I would shrug it off as a fluke… But considering this is the Orc Hero, I doubt it was a coincidence that he lost at all…”

Asmonadia, having listened to the full story, made this smug conclusion.

Of course, it was a coincidence, though.

“Naturally, I fell for him. But… I ended up losing, myself… I got shot down.”

“Shot down?”

“Yeah, I proposed marriage, but I got turned down.”

“Hmm, a typical roundabout dwarf proposal, was it?”

“Not at all. I told him I want him to use my weapons for the rest of my life. Straight up.”

“You idiot. That’s completely roundabout. You were proposing to an orc. You have to really spell it out. Spread your legs and tell him you’ll be his woman.”

“Wh-whaaat? Spread my what? Is…? Is that what you did, then?!”

Primera yelped in dismay, and that was when Luca, who’d been silent all this time, piped up.

“Um, I didn’t go that far, but I did say that I wanted to marry him. Straight up.”

Primera gawped at the young girl. Then her shoulders slumped. How could a young girl like this have had the confidence to say what she could not?

Asmonadia had one brow raised, as if to say, Aha, so you’re the only one of us who wasn’t quite woman enough.

This annoyed Primera. But then she realized that even this arrogant demon woman had been able to propose successfully to Bash. Ah, of course Bash would inspire the best.

In reality, this never happened, though.

Bash didn’t even know what Asmonadia looked like.

“Don’t be so glum. You’ve still got a chance. Why don’t you come along and become the Orc Hero’s wife for real?”

Asmonadia held out her hand to Primera, who stood there slouching and despondent.

Usually, this wasn’t something that she could suggest without Bash’s input.

But if Bash had been present, no doubt he’d have been pleased by this gumption.

“Me…?”

“You’re half-human, but you’re still a Dobanga. You can become the wife of the Orc King and represent all of dwarf-kind.”

Primera looked confused.

Then she put her head to one side.

“Well, I did promise… I said I’d do my best to make him a sword he’d be glad to wield…”

Primera made a fist and glared at Asmonadia.

“So until I reach that point, I won’t be swayed by your honeyed talk!”

Under Primera’s death glare, Asmonadia threw up her hands.

But she was grudgingly impressed.

This kind of woman is exactly the type worthy of being Bash’s wife, she thought.

“I see. I think you’ve misunderstood me… But no matter. I’ll teach you my demon blacksmithing secrets.”

“Are…? Are you sure?”

“The Orc Hero is smart. He did not lay his hands on you. But no doubt, he wanted to. I mean, for a dwarf, you’re very pretty. And a good wife wants to grant her husband’s every wish. It might be tough forging a sword good enough for the Orc Hero, but I’ll certainly help you all I can.”

Asmonadia chuckled.

All the other stuff aside, no doubt Bash would approach any pretty woman and ask her to be his wife.

But he’d certainly be well pleased with this one.

The problem was… Bash didn’t even know what Asmonadia looked like. The problem was that Bash didn’t even know Asmonadia was still alive.

“Now, listen carefully. I’ll tell you everything! Every demon tip, trick, and technique!”

Thus, Primera learned demon smithing from Asmonadia.

An inexperienced dwarf blacksmith. Could she really become elite, just by learning demon smithing?

No one knows.

But those who knew Primera would attest…

It would not be a wasted endeavor.

“Once you’re confident you can craft a weapon worthy of the Orc King, then you can travel to the orc country at any time. By that time, he’ll be king, so you can enter freely with no concerns.”

“…Well, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hee-hee-hee… Ah-ha-ha!”

The demon’s cackling laughter bounced off the walls.

It was the laughter of someone who has achieved total victory.

Primera didn’t know what the sudden laughter was about and felt a shiver. But demons were prone to random cackling laughter. It was probably normal.

“…”

Surely within a month, Primera would be able to create one perfect halberd weapon.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a masterpiece, but it would be something completely new… A forging of demon and dwarf weapon technology!

And no one would be able to stop Asmonadia once she was armed with it.

She would go to the orc country and claim dominance as the orc’s number one wife.

Then she would build her own empire within the land of the orcs.

Asmonadia’s ascent was assured.

Thinking this, Primera muttered.

“I hear the orcs are having a tough time right now. But if you join them, they’ll probably be fine.”

“They’re having a tough time? Well, I bet they are. Orcs are inherently stupid. They’ve been oppressed by the humans, and it’s taken the wind out of their sails. But if I go, I can negotiate on their behalf, and…”

“No, I mean, a dragon flew in from the north and made a nest near the Shiwanashi Forest. And every day, it flies into the orc country and eats a couple of orcs.”

“…What?”

Later, Primera, Ludo, and Luca would tell the tale…

In that moment, Asmonadia’s blue skin turned pure white…as white as the driven snow.