A Warrior No Longer
The soft weight that didn’t suit a warrior…… “Roen, you’re shameless beyond belief. You know exactly how many demons died by your hand, yet you stand before your lord without a shred of shame!”
“And what about you? The legion you command is literally called the Blood Legion. Your hands are just as soaked in blood as mine. The war’s over.”
“The war ended. But my fight hasn’t.” Gebura raised his massive scythe. “I still haven’t settled things with you!”
“What’s with the weapon? You want a round?”
“Do I really need to spell it out? Have you lost all sense of a warrior’s instinct?”
His intentions were painfully obvious. The whole “you’ve killed so many demons” excuse was just that—an excuse. What he really wanted was another proper fight with me.
“But I don’t have any weapons right now.”
“Don’t try to weasel out of this. I know your strength doesn’t depend on weapons.”
“Come on, fighting your Death Scythe bare-handed is ridiculous.”
“Still making excuses about weapons? Fine.” Gebura hurled his scythe away. It scattered into the air and vanished. “I’ll fight you bare-handed too.”
“You never could read the room, Gebura. I don’t want to fight right now.”
“What? I even put away my Death Scythe to match you, and you still won’t stop making excuses!”
He was clearly thrilled at the chance for a rematch. Gebura thrashed about, then suddenly raised his fist and threatened me.
“You can’t run anymore! Prepare yourself!”
“Sigh…… Even after the war, you haven’t changed at all. Just a fool who only knows how to fight.”
“That’s right, I only know how to fight! I exist and live solely for battle!”
Gebura was dead serious about fighting me. As the Blood Legion Commander, no one in the Demon King’s army could match his pure martial prowess. I’d only been able to suppress him during the war thanks to my companions’ support. Without them, our fight might have dragged on for days.
But fighting here would be troublesome. If we went all out, the village could get caught in the crossfire—Mother, Ilena…… Huh? Wait. Ilena too?
Haha. I just had a great idea. It’s a bit rude to call her out right after she went to bed, but……
“Alright. I accept your challenge.”
“Good choice. If you hadn’t, I would’ve chased you until you did!”
“Come at me then. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Brace yourself!”
The moment Gebura lunged at me, I charged forward too. From his movements, I could tell he wasn’t going all out from the start. That was exactly what I’d been counting on!
Just as our fists were about to meet, the air around us warped. And then……
“Guh!”
My body tumbled across the dirt several times. I’d deliberately taken Gebura’s punch head-on without dodging.
“Ugh……”
“Wh-what?” Gebura blinked in confusion.
“What are you doing, Roen?! I know you’re not this weak!”
“No, I’ve gotten weaker. Meanwhile, you’ve gotten stronger. I can feel it in your punch.”
In truth, I’d subtly redirected the blow so it didn’t hurt at all, but I slowly got up while pretending to struggle.
“Still, I can’t fall here.”
“Good, good! That’s the spirit! Get up and keep fighting!”
“Because!” I took a deep breath, then shouted as loudly as I could. “If I lose to you here, I won’t get to eat the breakfast Ilena promised me tomorrow!!!”
Thanks to the quiet midnight air, my voice echoed loudly through the village. Gebura’s expression went blank.
“Our lord…… is making breakfast for you……?”
“Yeah. We made a promise. Though I might not be able to keep it. I don’t think I can beat you.”
“Stop with the weak talk. Even I can tell my punch didn’t land properly just now!”
Ah, he noticed? As expected, you can’t fool a real expert.
Just then, the door slowly opened, and a cold voice drifted out from inside.
“Gebura?”
“Hic.”
This was the second time today I’d heard Ilena’s icy tone. Gebura, who had been standing tall, immediately dropped to his knees.
“M-My lord……!”
“I was finally about to have a pleasant sleep. What’s all this commotion?”
“My apologies. But I couldn’t just leave the Demon King’s greatest enemy alone!”
What the hell was he saying? The “greatest enemy” nonsense was just an excuse—he’d literally admitted he just wanted to fight me.
“Is that your reason?”
Ilena finally stepped outside. The problem was…… she’d changed into an incredibly fluffy bunny-shaped pajama set. Her voice was cold, but her appearance was anything but. Fluffy pajamas really were the best for sleeping, huh. Where on earth did she even get those? They didn’t sell anything like that in the city.
“Is that reason enough to wake me up?”
“Th-that is……”
Ilena glanced at me with half-lidded eyes, then suddenly widened them. She turned back to Gebura and asked in a low voice, “Did you hit him?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked if you hit Roen.”
“Y-yes, I did strike him. But it didn’t land properly……”
“So you did hit him?”
Ilena’s body began to tremble. The ground around us started shaking too.
“M-My lord?”
“Gebura, have you no pride as a warrior? Can’t you see what state Roen is in right now?”
I had a few scratches from rolling on the ground and was covered in dirt. But what did that have to do with a warrior’s pride?
“My apologies. I don’t understand what you mean, my lord.”
“Look at his face!” Ilena pointed at me with a trembling finger. “Does that look like a warrior’s face to you?”
“Uh, uhh……”
A warrior’s face? If mine wasn’t one, did that make me a loser who’d rolled in the dirt?
“Look at that soft flesh on his face!”
What? Soft flesh……? It was true I’d put on some weight from drinking too much, but……
“Ah.” Even Gebura nodded. “He may have been one before, but Roen isn’t a warrior anymore. You challenged someone who’s no longer a warrior!”
“Ghk……! You’re right, my lord!”
Wait a second. This was supposed to be a plan to mess with Gebura, but somehow I was the one looking pathetic now……
Gebura gritted his teeth and bowed deeply to me without hesitation.
“I’m sorry, Roen! Looking at your body, it’s clear you haven’t been a warrior for a long time. I challenged you thinking you were still one. Please forgive me.”
“Uh, umm…… Yeah. I forgive you.”
“Thank you for accepting my apology. Then I’ll request a rematch when you decide to become a warrior again. And thank you, my lord.”
Gebura bowed deeply to Ilena as well.
“Thanks to you, I’ve realized my mistake. If you hadn’t enlightened me, I might have trampled on the weak in a way unworthy of a legion commander.”
“Besides, it seems Hesed hasn’t told you or the other commanders about my intentions to use Roen yet.”
“Use…… Roen……?”
Ah, so that’s what she was going to say? About making me swear an oath on my soul.
“Leave. Ask Hesed for the details. I’m too sleepy to explain it myself.”
“Yes, I understand. Once again, I apologize and thank you!”
After answering with vigor, Gebura turned back to me.
“Roen, you’ve become quite pitiful. I’ll be waiting for the day you become a warrior again.”
“Wait, just listen to me……”
“I’ll keep bringing you medicinal herbs for a while!”
Gebura ran off toward the mountains without hearing me out. The moment he disappeared……
Tap.
A finger snap rang out, and Ilena appeared right in front of me in an instant. She cupped my face with teary eyes.
“What do I do?! Are you okay?”
She used teleportation magic just for that short distance……?
“Of course I’m fine. I deliberately let it slide. Rolling on the ground was just for show.”
“Thank goodness. Still……”
Ilena placed her hand on me and poured her mana in. The scratches on my body healed instantly, and the dirt on my clothes fell away cleanly.
“It was Gebura, after all. He’s the only legion commander who could fight you evenly in the Demon King’s army.”
“Yeah. Good thing I redirected it. If it had landed properly, I’d have been in real trouble.”
The part of my clothes where Gebura’s fist had grazed wasn’t just torn—it was completely gone. I’d taken quite a gamble because I really didn’t want to fight.
“I’m glad I came out when I heard your voice. Before Gebura’s blood boiled over.”
“Actually, I just wanted to see you.”
“Wh-what?”
“That’s why I shouted so loudly. If you helped, we could end things quickly…… Hm?”
Ilena had turned away, covering her face with both hands.
“Ilena?”
“Waaah!”
She even jumped when I called her name.
“You didn’t just wake up and get confused, did you?”
“N-no, of course not! I was just about to go to bed. What did you say just now?”
“I said I shouted on purpose. Because if you helped, we could end things quickly.”
“End things quickly…… I see. So that’s why you wanted to see me……”
Ilena looked somewhat deflated. Then she pinched my cheek with her finger.
“You really like pulling on my cheek, huh.”
“I don’t know why I want to do it either. My hands just keep moving on their own.”
“This won’t do. I need to get rid of this soft flesh quickly.”
“What? Why?”
“You said it yourself. That it doesn’t suit a warrior.”
“Ah, aah……”
Ilena avoided my gaze. “Th-that was just an excuse to send Gebura away.”
“But it’s not wrong. I should train properly again so I can help Mother with the farm work without any issues.”
“But you’re cute as you are……”
Being called cute as a man felt strange. It hurt my pride a little—okay, just a tiny bit.
“No matter how cute I am, the bunny in front of me is cuter.”
“Bunny? Where, where?”
“You. You’re wearing bunny pajamas.”
“Aaaah……!”
Ilena finally realized what she was wearing. She froze on the spot, and I gently patted her head.
“Go back to sleep. Thanks for saving me from that awkward situation.”
“Y-yeah. You too……”
Ilena went back inside her house, then spoke in a barely audible voice.
“I was happy.”
“About what?”
“When you said you wanted to eat the breakfast I make. So…… look forward to it!!”
Ilena slammed the door shut before I could reply and disappeared inside.
“Whew……”
When I left Crownland, all I wanted was a quiet life. But now there’s a Demon King living next door, and demon legion commanders holding positions in the village youth association. A peaceful daily life probably isn’t in the cards for a while.
Still, at least I won’t be so bored that I feel like leaving home again. Maybe I can look forward to it?
Tomorrow’s breakfast.