Bloody Veles
“So! Back then, with one powerful roundhouse kick! I caught the ogre’s fist like this—smack! And then? Taking that opening, the Hero swung his sword and subdued the ogre. That’s what I’m saying.”
Bad memories are best forgotten as quickly as possible. You can cover them over with happy ones, so it pays to make as many happy memories as you can. I held up a big mug of ale and cackled as I started spreading word of my exploits to everyone around me.
People who had clustered close to hear about the Hero’s party’s deeds clicked their tongues and jeered the moment I began boasting about my own.
“Aigoo, this porter ahjussi sure spins some tall tales.”
“Come on, we all saw you’re just a porter. What could you have possibly done?”
“Hey now! I may be a porter, but I’m no ordinary porter. In our Hero’s party I’m the brains! The one in charge of the finances—an absolutely indispensable, precious existence. Isn’t that right, Hero?”
I tossed the topic over to the Hero, who was holding a beer mug a short distance away. He had been talking with Mille, then looked my way, laughed heartily, and nodded.
“That’s right, ahjussi. Your performance back then was incredible. If it hadn’t been for you, who knows what would have happened…”
With even the Hero stepping up to vouch for me like that, people’s faces took on expressions of half-belief, half-doubt. I saw Ashuria whispering something to him with a distinctly displeased look, but whatever she was saying was none of my business. What mattered to me right now was the tavern waitress who had casually slipped in among the people listening to the story.
She already had her eyes half-lidded, casting a hazy smile my way as she undid one of her buttons. A single mole dotted her ample cleavage and snared my gaze completely. I took a big swig of beer, then raised my hand again and shouted.
“So! Then the Hero swung his sword at a speed I couldn’t even see—whoosh whoosh slash! And the ogre just disintegrated in midair! I was lying on the ground with a sack open, and what do you know? Ogre meat just fell right into the sack…”
“Emergency! Emergency!”
I stopped mid-story and shut my mouth. Lena, who had been leaning her chair back and chewing on jerky, moved only her eyes to check outside the door. Mille, who had been gulping beer with both hands, startled so hard she poured the whole mug over her face.
As she sniffled with her face soaked, about to cry, the Hero wiped her off with a handkerchief as if he had no choice. The soldier shouted while looking at him.
“Hero! My apologies! You’ll need to depart first thing tomorrow!”
Lena righted her chair. Ashuria raised an eyebrow, and Mille wiped her face with a bewildered expression. I bit my lip, barely suppressing the urge to scream.
I could feel the beautiful, voluptuous tavern employee glancing at me with a regretful look.
Ah.
“So, you’ve spotted a portion of the Demon King’s army moving along the mountain path in front of this village.”
“Yes, that’s correct. Due to the geographical features of this mountain, a large force can’t push through, and if these demons block the narrow path, our supply lines could be cut off. Headquarters requests that the Hero eliminate this unit as quickly as possible, then move on to Lebra Village here.”
The soldier’s serious demeanor and the map spread across the desk.
“Understood. Then we’ll prepare quickly today and depart first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Hero. Here are the materials on the demons approaching the area this time.”
The Hero nodded with a solemn face. Though dissatisfaction clouded the party members’ faces at the move coming a beat earlier than expected, not one of them whined.
As the eldest, I couldn’t be the one to start complaining, so I could only feel sorrowful about the situation. Asking to delay by a day or not to leave at all was out of the question. As a member of the Hero’s party, I had a duty to actively assist in the sacred great cause.
There’s a saying: even if you can’t help, at least don’t get in the way.
As soon as we left the tent, Lena said with a smiling face.
“We can just rest up properly in the next village. Cheer up, everyone. You too, ahjussi. In the next village there’ll be a woman with breasts three times bigger and a butt three times bigger than the ajumma we just met at the tavern.”
“That sounds terrifying.”
At the word “terrifying,” the Hero snorted a laugh. He said to me.
“Porter ahjussi needs some rest too, but this journey seems a bit too grueling. Sorry. Every time.”
The Hero apologized to me with a warm smile. I bowed my head repeatedly as I replied.
“Aigoo, not at all, Hero. This isn’t something you need to apologize for, is it? It’s because the wicked Demon King’s army keeps eyeing this territory. The Demon King’s army needs to disappear from this world as soon as possible.”
None of this was the Hero’s fault, nor the soldiers’ for urging us to move quickly. All the fault lay with the Demon King. The war had begun when the Demon King descended upon the Empire and swallowed the entire imperial territory.
When the Demon King was mentioned, a shadow fell over the Hero’s face, then he smiled again and said.
“You’re right, ahjussi. Then since we have to leave early tomorrow morning, let’s head straight back to the lodgings today. And don’t drink too much.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
The sounds of banter faded into the distance. Keeping my head bowed, I confirmed the Hero had disappeared, then headed back toward the tavern. Word that the Hero’s party was pulling out had already become the talk of the place from the tavern entrance. Pretending to be a stranger unrelated to the topic, I squeezed into an empty table, then rang the call bell to summon the waitress.
The waitress with large breasts and a mature appearance. She looked flustered upon seeing me ring the bell. She asked me in a small voice.
“I heard you’re leaving first thing tomorrow?”
I put on a sly expression and ordered a beer. I flicked a coin, which rolled and toppled right in front of the woman.
“I came to see your face before I go.”
The woman’s face flushed red. With just that one line from me, her heart was pounding, and she was imagining a hot night. After her husband went to fight the Demon King’s army and she received notice of his death in battle, she was a woman raising her seven-year-old son alone.
Working as a waitress at the tavern, enduring all sorts of harassment and hard labor, it was only natural she needed a night’s comfort. The waitress had already forgotten her serving duties and approached my side, extending a finger. I lightly stroked the back of her hand and said.
“War makes people lonely. You and I both are people with many wounds.”
“Ah…”
Wiggling her hips, she exhaled a hot breath. Looking down at me with a regretful expression, she soon averted her gaze and bit her lip hard. Then she shook her head and swatted my hand away, saying this.
“Ah, I can’t. Tonight…!”
This conversation was held in a very small voice, and the sound of swatting the back of the hand was quiet as well, but her earnest and regretful voice was clearly etched into my ears. There were men a short distance away looking at me and laughing; they planned to drink using what I went through today as a side dish.
The waitress blushed with tears welling up.
“Tonight… i-it’s my husband’s death anniversary. I can’t tonight.”
“I-I see…”
I had nothing more to say. We both knew that talk of standing in for her husband or starting a family was just empty flattery. A traveler who leaves like the wind should only be cherished as a momentary memory. Anyone would feel aversion toward a stranger who rushes in with excessive weight.
“Y-you’re leaving tomorrow, right? Don’t drink too much, and g-go back before the sun sets.”
Regret was laced in her tone. She too must have been conflicted over the chance to forget the pain for a day, then steeled her heart. Should I also respect her decision and withdraw here?
Should I accept that there’s no more opportunity tonight and drift like duckweed to the next village in search of a woman with triple breasts and a triple butt?
“…Is tomorrow okay?”
“…What?”
I couldn’t leave such a lovely woman behind. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t just leave this place. I would definitely take this woman into my arms. Coming to my senses, I found myself filled with such desire, promising her tomorrow in a desperate tone.
“Tomorrow? Is tomorrow okay?”
“But you said you’re leaving tomorrow…”
She trailed off, her face flushing. The moment I saw expectation gleaming in her eyes, I couldn’t hold back any longer.
I left the tavern and took a deep breath. From my luggage at the lodgings I took out a sword and stroked the scabbard. In the distance, a faint light was visible in the darkness. It was clearly the light from the campfires those demons were lighting while camping.
The profiles of the demons I’d seen at the operations command flitted through my mind.
“Bloody Veles, was it?”
I grabbed the sword, opened the window, and jumped down.
Then, avoiding people’s gazes, I began running toward the demons’ campsite.
Bloody Veles. The reason he was nicknamed Bloody was because he had a hobby of torturing by gradually shaving off his opponent’s flesh. As one of the officers of the Demon King’s army, he was currently tasked with blocking this rocky mountain path to cut off the enemy’s supply lines.
As a member of the Demon King’s army, he was confident he could win against anyone, and he even secretly hoped that some courageous warrior would invade his camp in the middle of this night.
“Uwaaak!”
“Ueok!”
He had only been hoping for a warrior he could fight to come find him.
“Ve-Veles-nim! Run away! Ueok!”
“Kuaaaaak!”
“Kiaaaaak!”
He had never hoped for an overwhelmingly powerful warrior he couldn’t possibly handle to appear. Pressing his body tightly against the chair backrest, Veles took a deep breath. He tried to act calm, but the blood of his subordinates splattered on his face paralyzed his reason.
“Y-y-y-y-you, who are you!”
In the darkness, a man with beast-like gleaming eyes pointed his scabbard at Veles.
“Are you Bloody Veles?”
“Th-th-th-th-that’s right, but…!”
“You’re going to have to move according to my words.”
“Wh-what are you talking about…!”
Just as Veles was about to shout indignantly, the man’s scabbard crushed into Veles’s abdomen. Veles screamed, spewing white foam.
“Gueoooooo!”
The night was long.
People shuddered at the screams coming from beyond the valley.