Birth of a Demon City
Page 19
I see. I hadn’t realized being a leader required planning every move so carefully. Though I understood his reasoning now, I still hadn’t sorted out my thoughts. And I was still a little confused. My confusion must have shown on my face, since the Demon Lord bowed his head and said, “My apologies for being so roundabout. I realize I handled this matter awkwardly... No, the truth is, I was simply afraid. Afraid of knowing for sure what you were.”
“Oh, uh, don’t worry too much about it. I may not be as experienced as you, but I get why you did it.”
It was surreal to see the Demon Lord, who always looked so imposing, giving me such a meek apology. So much so that I felt kind of bad. I much preferred his usual intimidating self.
“Now then, I think it’s time I talk about the real reason I called you here. As I am a demon, I wish to protect my people from the humans. But as a former human, I also cannot bring myself to hate them. My goal is to create a country where humans and demons can live in harmony.” The Demon Lord stood up and walked over to my side. “I have no interest in who or what you were in your past life. I’m not particularly inclined to share my own past life either. But I believe you share these conflicting feelings of mine. So, will you fight together with me and help grant this impossible dream of mine?”
I didn’t even need to think about my answer. I stood up and bowed to one knee.
“Right now, I am a werewolf, a proud member of the demon race. If it’s to prevent the amount of demon and human blood spilt in this world, then I will follow you wherever your path may lead.”
“Thank you for remaining loyal, Veight.” The Demon Lord placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Now that I’ve confirmed you’ve been reincarnated like me, I know I can trust you. I have no issue with welcoming Viceroy Airia and Ryunheit into our alliance. I’ll sort out the details later, after holding a meeting with the other commanders.”
Perfect. I’m sure Airia’ll be happy to hear this too.
“I’ll be expecting great things from you in the future. Work hard for the sake of the demon army.”
“Yes, sir! I’m still not sure if I’ve gotten over your sudden confession, but I’ll do my best!”
“You sure are hung up on that...”
The Demon Lord smiled and shook his head. Heartened by his response, I smiled back.
“Well, no matter. I suppose I deserve a little grudge for that. Shall we eat dinner together? I need to talk to someone who understands my troubles.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
After dinner, we continued talking late into the night. It seemed the Demon Lord had had his fair share of troubles in the beginning too. He had wanted to improve the food shortages within the dragonkin clans by revolutionizing agriculture. However, dragonkin were carnivores that preferred eating insects, so even though he’d introduced staple grains and crop rotation, it didn’t do any good.
“With no other choices left, I was forced to take up beekeeping and beetle cultivation.”
“You started breeding...beetles?”
An image of the Demon Lord wearing a straw hat and digging through the mountains looking for insects flashed through my mind.
“Dragonkin have always been hunter-gatherers, so the idea of domesticating their food source was a novel idea to them.”
“Getting everything up and running must have been tough, huh?”
The Demon Lord nodded and closed his eyes.
“I’d only read the basics of agriculture and animal husbandry in my old world, and I had no practical experience with either... Finding species that were good for breeding was extremely difficult as well. It took me and my engineers many sleepless nights to come up with an efficient system too.”
Even though he could have left everything to his men, he suffered with them. He sure is dedicated.
“Thanks to my efforts though, all the bugs that used to be just delicacies became widely available to all dragonkin. Moreover, all the insects were high in protein, so they made a good staple food. Most dragonkin now are bigger and beefier than they were decades ago.” The Demon Lord sounded a little proud as he said that. “The next species on my list to domesticate is grasshoppers. If it goes well, I’m sure Baltze will be happy.”
Sounds like he’s having a lot of fun doing this. The Demon Lord had brought a bunch of other technology to the dragonkin clans, but as expected, it had been tough. And, like agriculture, not all of them had stuck. After all, dragonkin were biologically different from humans. Even when it came to using swords, they didn’t wield them in quite the same way. The skeletal structure of their shoulders and hands were completely different.
“I realized I couldn’t just transplant human culture and technology to the demons as is. So I refined my approach.”
He started teaching them more fundamental technologies and concepts, and then watched as they adapted those ideas to their needs. So kind of like giving them the start of a skill tree and seeing where they specced all their points. I had no idea if the Demon Lord had been a gamer in his previous life or not, but if he had I had no doubt he’d mained strategy games.
His biggest concern for the army had been how impossible it was to standardize things. For example, giant armor was too big for any other race to wear, and the amount of food a canine needed in a day to survive wasn’t nearly enough for anyone else. Furthermore, every race ate different things.
His ideal had been to create an army that surpassed racial boundaries, but at present, he’d been forced to compartmentalize his units by race. The more I listened, the more I realized the Demon Lord was someone who really liked looking after people. And he had a diligent personality to boot. There wasn’t a selfish bone in his body, and he had no interest in amassing fame or power. His only wish was to create a world where demons could live peacefully.
Thank god he ended up our Demon Lord. I felt like this ridiculously straightforward guy was someone worth devoting myself to. I promise I’ll keep working hard as your vice-commander.
A few days after that meeting, Airia walked into Ryunheit’s square wearing a formal gown. She turned to the people gathered there and proclaimed in a loud voice, “From this moment onward, Ryunheit shall leave the Meraldian Commonwealth, and form an alliance with the demon army!”
Her declaration was met with resounding applause. Everyone was smiling, from the residents of the city, to its soldiers, to the werewolves, canines, and dragonkin that occupied it, and even to the vampires and kentauros who’d come to witness this historic event.
“In celebration of Ryunheit’s newfound independence, I have prepared a feast for you all! Everyone, eat and drink and sing to your heart’s content!”
The tail end of Airia’s speech was drowned out by a chorus of cheers. The Demon Lord, who I’d come to respect a lot more after our conversation the other day, had granted her the title of Demon Ambassador. As the name suggested, she was meant to serve as a bridge between humans and demons. While Airia was technically a civilian and not a soldier, the Demon Lord had bestowed upon her a rank equivalent to that of a regiment commander.
Wait, doesn’t that technically mean she’s higher-ranked than me? I idly sipped my drink and watched as Commander Airia walked over to me.
“Congratulations, Lady Airia.”
“Thank you, Sir Veight.”
She smiled and raised her glass in a toast. I rose mine in return and the two of us gulped down our wine. Until now, she and all the citizens of Ryunheit had been the demons’ hostages. But from this point on, they were humanity’s enemy. On the off-chance that the demon army was defeated, they would be executed to the last man. The sight of Thuvan’s execution grounds passed through my mind. If I failed, she’d be the one strung up there. Of course, Airia understood that full well, too.
“From now on, our fates are interlinked, I suppose.”
“That they are. Do you regret your choice?”
She shook her head.
“Not at all. In fact, I’m happy.”
“Hmph, I guess so...”
She was an honorary commander now. Meanwhile, I was still stuck at vice-commander. Though I had sort of been promoted myself. I was no longer a vice-commander in the third regiment, but in the first. My direct boss was the Demon Lord.
Of course, that didn’t change the fact that I was just a vice-commander still. I was fine with that, though.
“You’re the best person to lead the humans under our rule, so it made sense that you got promoted. But the position of vice-commander suits an ordinary guy like me. Seeking out too much fame will just lead to ruin.”
“Sir Veight...was that meant to be a joke?”
“Not at all. I sincerely believe you’re a far more capable leader than me.”
For some reason, Airia responded to that with a sigh.
“You should think more highly of yourself. You’re one of the Demon Lord’s most trusted generals, Sir Veight.”
Is that really true, though? I mean I know I’ve been made the Demon Lord’s personal aide, but I don’t think that necessarily makes me someone that special in the army. Since the command structure in the army was still vague, even I wasn’t sure just how much authority I had.
Regardless, from now on my job was to cooperate with Airia and transform this border trading city of Ryunheit into a frontline base that welcomed both humans and demons through its gates. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure where to start, but I did know the demon army’s battles were only going to get harsher from here on out. After all, we’d just spit in Meraldia’s face by capturing one of their cities and then converting it to our side. Looking up, I saw the demon army’s flag flying proudly from the roof of Airia’s manor.
“I’ll be counting on your support, Sir Veight.”
“You got it. Looking forward to working with you, Lady Airia.”
“You better work hard, for Ryunheit’s sake.”
“Just leave it all to me.”
Wait a second, since when did I become Airia’s gofer? I looked up dubiously, but she was just giving me the same innocent smile she always did.
Veight’s Younger Days
I mentioned before that I don’t remember much about my past life, but the truth is, I don’t remember much about what happened right after I was reincarnated either. My guess is that my infant brain didn’t have the capacity to properly process thoughts. The earliest memory I have is a fuzzy recollection of my father’s funeral.
During my childhood, I lived in a secluded village comprised entirely of werewolves. It was a small village, situated deep within the woods. What I’m about to tell you is a story of what happened there when I was 10 years old.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Ooooi, Veight! Come on, let’s go on a wildeboar hunt!”
The Garney brothers had come to invite me with them today too. Garbert, the older brother, was two years my elder, while Nibert, the younger, was the same age as me. Both of them had fiery red hair, a rarity among werewolves. While most werewolves were hunters that used stealth and surprise to their advantage, red-haired werewolves had monstrous strength and preferred to take their prey head-on. They had the pride to match their strength, and that made them reckless.
Wildeboars were a breed of particularly aggressive and dangerous boar that lived near the village. They picked a fight with any creature they thought they could beat. No human could survive the force of a wildeboar’s charge. Hence why the last thing I wanted to do was go hunting for one.
“It’ll be fine, we’ll be coming with you. Don’t tell me you’re scared.”
Of course I’m scared. While wildeboars were vicious, they were no match for a werewolf. They were smart enough to know that, too. If a werewolf was already in their transformed state, no wildeboar would dare approach. Normally, the people from our village hunted them by remaining in human form to lure them out, then transforming at the very last second. The thrill of the wait and the rush that came from overpowering your foe after trapping it was the main source of entertainment for the village’s more immature kids. As I was already an adult—mentally anyway—I saw no appeal to hunting.
“If you want to catch a wildeboar, just use a trap. Didn’t you two get blown away because you waited too long to transform last time?”
The Garney brothers sneered at my response.
“Hah, you really are a weakling, Veight!”
“There’s no way a wildeboar’s charge could ever kill us!”
Big words, considering the two of you were stuck in bed for two days after that incident.
“Either way, I’m not going. I need to help out with the fieldwork anyway.”
It was just me and my mother at home. While everyone in the village pitched in to help each other and no one went hungry, my mother still had it tough raising me on her own. She was my one and only mother, so it was natural that I wanted to help ease her burden. Unlike these two brats, I didn’t have time to be goofing off.
“Tch. Let’s just go by ourselves, bro.”
“Yeah, if we keep hanging out with this loser we’ll turn chicken too.”
By all means, do whatever you want. My mom in this world was called Vanessa. Naturally, she was a werewolf too. From my perspective at least, she was an extremely reliable single mom. And according to her, she was only 27 years old. If that was true, it would mean she’d had me at 17. Whenever I brought that up with her, she’d always pinch my cheeks and change the subject.
I picked up the basket at my feet and walked through the village. It was a tiny, dilapidated village made up of little more than a smattering of wooden huts. Barely 100 people lived within it. Thanks to the werewolves’ natural strength we weren’t doing too terribly, but it was still a declining village. Eventually I found my mother digging up potatoes at the communal farm on the outskirts of the village.
“Why hello there, Veight. You’re not going out to play with the other kids?”
“Nope. I thought I’d help you with the harvest.”
“That’s my boy. If your dad was still alive, he’d be so proud of you.”
My father had died when I was still an infant. Supposedly he’d perished protecting the village from a monster. Werewolves were technically a type of monster too, but we and the other sentient monsters called ourselves ‘demons’ to differentiate us from the more savage races. It was a mark of pride to us that we could develop cultures, societies, and cities.
Most monsters weren’t able to create such a complex society. They were just savage, mindless beasts. As communicating with them was impossible, we had no choice but to fight them off wherever we found them. However, humans saw no difference between us and regular monsters. They attacked us on sight, and so we were forced to live in remote villages far from civilization, much like the one I lived in now. Idle thoughts like these crossed my mind as I helped my mother dig out potatoes.
I walked along a narrow furrow and carefully dug up another potato with my hoe. This world’s potatoes weren’t too different from the sweet potatoes back on earth. Never thought that field trip in elementary school where we went out to a farm and dug up potatoes would come in handy here.
“Mom, what are we gonna do with these potatoes?”
“The elder said this winter will be a long one, so all of these are going to be stored in the granary. It’s a shame, but we won’t be able to eat them yet.”
Looks like we’re not eating any baked potatoes this year. Sweets were hard to come by in the village, so I’d been looking forward to enjoying the sweet potatoes fresh. Ah well, come winter I’ll be eating so many I’ll get sick of them.
“You know, if you let them sit for a few months, they get even sweeter.” Mom flashed me a grin. My mind was clearly an open book to her. I scratched my head, embarrassed that she’d seen right through my gluttonous thoughts. Then, as if she’d just th
ought of something, my mother asked, “By the way, did any of the kids head into the forest today?”
“The Garney brothers did. They said they were going wildeboar hunting.”
My mother’s expression grew grim.
“That’s not good. Could you find them and tell them to come back?”
“I don’t mind...but you know they won’t listen to me, right?”
The Garney brothers were technically my cousins, but they both thought I was a coward. However, my mother just smiled gently and said, “Tell them the elder ordered them back. They’ll listen then. There have been reports of humans sneaking around the woods recently.”
That wasn’t good. There was nothing more terrifying for a demon than a human. We would be in a whole heap of trouble if any of them discovered this village. Since we were much stronger than humans, we’d easily be able to kill a few strays who wandered close. But then the comrades of the people we killed would come looking for their missing friends. And if we killed them, they’d just send even more people. There’d be no end to it.
I dumped the potato I’d just dug out into my basket and brushed off my pants.
“I’ll go bring them back.”
“Be careful out there.”
Now that I think about it though, I used to be a human in my past life. Which made it rather strange that I was scared of humans now that I’d been reborn into a werewolf. Though I was just 10 years old, in my wolf form, I was pretty strong. There was no way a human, who couldn’t even beat a wildeboar, would stand a chance against me. Werewolves were overwhelmingly powerful when it came to one-on-one combat, but no demon race had fought against a human army and won. Even the legendary Demon Lords of the past hadn’t been able to defeat the humans. To make matters worse, the humans had been steadily expanding their sphere of influence. Even this village wouldn’t be safe forever. It was up to us to keep it hidden for as long as possible.