Chapter 200 – Episode 200. Each Person’s Path, Each Person’s Relationship (1)
‘I gave too much strength than I thought.’
After leaving her gymnasium, Celica, who was left alone, looked down at her hand that held her wooden sword and gave her a wry smile.
A state where the leather on her hands had been ripped off with just a few swings of her wooden sword.
She realizes it just by looking at it. She realizes that she is very weak now, and that this body will not hold up if she wields her sword like she did in her future.
‘Was I this weak?’
It must have been a natural result since she was still in her growth stage as a hero, but she naturally thought that she might not have wielded her sword much more forcefully than when she dealt with monsters.
I soon realized why. It was because Verdia didn’t collapse as well as I thought.
‘Yes, because Verdia-nee is stronger than I thought.’
Each time she wielded it with a little more force, she could feel that she had put in that much effort.
To protect humanity. And to realize her own insufficiency, to protect the only person who can protect humanity.
Her will can certainly be said to be noble, but even so, Celica broke her will with her own hands and drove her to the bottom.
Because it has to be.
If not, she won’t mind sacrificing herself in her place, just like in her previous life…
‘Yes, this is correct.’
The only one who has to face the cruel future ahead of him is himself. Other people don’t have to do it together.
Taking it as right and moving forward without hesitation, she soon encountered an orc standing with her back turned in the gymnasium.
Warchief Barmash.
Despite the perception that it is a stupid race, it is a being that has accomplished the great feat of incorporating the species of Okra into the Demon King’s army.
“I even rented the place, but you didn’t watch it?”
Celica, who had experienced her future, also vaguely remembered about it.
In the process of the world collapsing, the one who was like a beast who was caught in slaughter and madness, abandoning the reason he had maintained all along.
“… Isn’t the result obvious?”
Did even such a being have such a quiet atmosphere in the past? As I was thinking about it, Varmash quietly looked back at Celica and continued his words.
“Now that you have done my favor, it is your turn to listen to my proposal.”
In the first place, he expected Verdia’s defeat, and now it’s as if it’s okay.
Yes, no matter how strong humanity is, in the end it’s just a frog in the well.
This person who survived to the end and took his place in the fierce army that is hostile to each other can be said to be the strongest warrior in the Demon King’s army in name and reality.
“Just say anything. I’ll do anything I can.”
If there is a person worthy of such a person’s eyes, there is only one in the human forces, isn’t it?
He had already guessed the proposal he would make to himself.
Celica shrugged her shoulders in a non-trivial manner, and Varmash continued her words with his eyes closed.
“Hero.”
The moment when he, who had taken an attitude of lowering the opponent to protect his own dignity, was formalized as if he regarded the opponent as an equal for the first time.
“Do you think honor can exist even for an orc?”
The first thing he put into his mouth before making a proposal was a question.
Excluding right after his birth, he has been thinking about his own identity for a very long time.
“Do you think our names are worthy of being recorded by someone?”
“… Is it your wish to find the answer?”
“I wanna know. No, I want to prove it. That honor exists even for those of low birth, and they are qualified to pursue it.”
The closed eyes gradually opened, and what appeared were sharp, polished eyes.
It was not uncommon to see even the greatest warriors of mankind. No one will be able to fire the incarnation of madness from the person facing him at this moment.
“Of course, I’m not a pure Orc, so whatever I accomplish will only be achieved by an individual called Barmash, not an Orc.”
Denying my birth is also the reason. He believed himself to be an okra and was proud of his race. Furthermore, he was a being who believed in that possibility.
The belief that orcs could be reborn as a greater race than demons, humans, and elves, given the slightest opportunity.
“But the struggle for honor and the fight for honor… Orcs who saw the end they met at the end will surely feel a lot.”
Warchief Barmash.
A being who denied the extraordinariness that happened to be enlightened through mixed blood, and took pride in the blood that flows most thickly in his body after contemplating his identity.
“Hero, will you please grant me an honorable death?”
I hope that such pride will change the entire race and further prove it to the world.
For that reason, he wouldn’t hesitate to erect his own tombstone. He joined the Demon King’s Army for that purpose.
“… 1 month.”
Although she had already guessed what the words of such an attitude would mean, Celica did not deny it.
Even he, who had abandoned his mission as a hero, wanted to change the cruel future, but there would be nothing that could not change if an orc collapsed with his will broken by the hopeless future.
“Give me a month. Then I will fight as the ‘completed hero’ you desire.”
The moment when he gripped his wooden sword and tightly gripped his slit palm. Seeing this, Barmash smiled contentedly and said,
“Don’t make them look forward to it.”
The conversation ended with that. Soon, Barmash, who finished the pact, turned his back and left the seat, and Celica’s gaze began to quietly turn to the sky.
At the end of a long day, the sky at sunset.
‘… I’m back in the past.’
Looking up at the sky, she quietly made up her mind to be alone.
‘Not everything is true, but not everything is a lie. You can’t anticipate anything, so you have to be prepared for more.’
If despair is a predestined future, it is enough to just give up, but if there is even a tiny bit of hope, people will be prepared for any kind of harshness.
Even if it’s torture in the name of hope.
‘I need strength. And…’
Yes, he also shouldn’t have stopped to turn it into an ordeal.
Furthermore, even if the most untrue is the truth.
‘I need to be sure. The certainty that the demon king of this time period is not Dave.’
If such a future was predestined, I would definitely block it from now on.
The duel that took place this time would be the first step towards all those plans.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely protect it.”
A noble will that remained in the place where madness was withdrawn.
It was silently pounded alone under the sunset light, and the warrior’s heart began to heat up.
***
And, around the time the pact between the chief and the hero was made.
“Whoa.”
The head of the Witch Council arrived at the lodging provided by the Orcs. Margaret let out a heavy breath and stared at the glass bottle between her fingers.
What’s inside is the blood of the person who became the head of the Anti-Human Alliance, who prepared the opportunity for them to come here.
It was a ‘valuable data’ that he personally extracted from his body and gave it to him.
‘Can you examine my blood?’
‘You mean blood?’
‘Yes, I want to know who is related to my mother. If you’re witches, you’ll be able to investigate, right?’
‘… I’ll be happy if that also leads to my destiny.’
A person who married a witch and gave birth to a child.
As the head of the Witch Council, it was an existence that could not be overlooked.
The blood flowing from the body of a witch who made a contract with an ancient tribe makes her faithful only to her own desires, just like normal demons.
And that desire is not renewed, but something close to endlessly repeating the wish you wished for at the time you signed the contract.
For a witch who doesn’t feel her love for anyone to have children of hers, that’s pretty much impossible.
‘There are cases where children are forced to give birth, but that’s probably not the case.’
A hand on my head.
Just by concentrating in that state, I felt the echo in my head grow thicker.
The power that gave me the opportunity to become a witch, the resentment of the witches that permeated my body echoed endlessly.
‘Please protect my child, Dave…’
The voice of a woman crying out in pain.
Just by the throbbing of her feelings from him, Margaret could feel the sincerity of her maternal love.
A witch who can’t love anyone blossoms in her love for her offspring. As the head of the Witch Council, wouldn’t it be something that could not be overlooked?
‘I don’t know what choice that person will make later, but I think it’s better to listen.’
Yes, his destiny is to resolve the lingering feelings of the witches who have signed a contract with him, and furthermore, to protect all witches.
In order to achieve that, it means that the Witch Society, which should keep its distance from other forces, must also form exchanges with the Anti-Human Alliance, but at least you won’t have to make a decision about it right away.
You can stay with this tribe for at least a month.
During that time, it would be possible to coordinate who to interact with and how to plan in the future for the sake of one’s destiny and the survival of the witches.
‘… There’s a lot to think about.’
Since we have to think about such a complicated problem, let’s think about it for a while.
With such a conclusion, it took a while to get ready to make a bathtub in the seat.
Margaret, who suddenly realized that she could feel a presence in the darkness of the space, stiffened her body and looked back there.
Someone is sneaking into her own abode. Someone with quite a lot of magical powers.
“… Who are you?”
“This is Ymir from the warrior party.”
Ymir.
The woman who introduced herself that way began to reveal her sneaky side with her arms crossed.
She was a very familiar face to Margaret. More than that, she even felt the longing.
“… Ah yes. Mr. Ymir, yes.”
However, her feelings did not lead to joy.
Her witch is a being who has worn out all her emotions except for her own purpose, and that is also true of herself who has become a witch by making a contract with the witches’ spirits.
Even though she feels nostalgia for her past relationship, her feelings for him do not affect her now.
That’s what she’d been feeling ever since she recognized her after joining this tribe.
“… Why were you waiting at my inn?”
However, the opponent is not a witch, but a great wizard who has risen to the pinnacle of mankind with a human body.
Even though her ability, which was created by polishing her talents, is comparable to that of a witch who inherited the blood of an ancient family, her sentiments will have no choice but to follow those of humans.
“Well, I am interested in many things. I once did research on witches and demons…”
Such a woman gradually began to close the distance with herself.
On the surface, she shows her respect for herself, but her gaze is sharply raised.
“… From the standpoint of mankind, aren’t witches something to be hostile to?”
“That’s what it’s like when you notice the attention of high-ranking people like the King or the Pope. She’s doing something illegal for her own research in the first place. It’s a normal thing in the Magic Tower…”
Shortly after, Yumir faced his own face wearing her mask while closing her distance. His old friend.
“Because, above all, I have business with you personally.”
The atmosphere changes in an instant.
Soon, her eyes staring at herself begin to open.
“Why don’t you take off your mask?”
“…Whoa.”
With a deep sigh, a hand quietly stretched out to the mask.
Then the head of the Witch Council, who revealed her face, began to face her own old friend in front of her.
“…The atmosphere has changed a lot from the old days.”
“And you too.”
A bittersweet smile that was terrifying to see on my face.
That must mean that she still had feelings of friendship, but on the contrary, her Margaret’s lips were cold.
“You’ve changed a lot from the past, Yumil.”
Feeling that way, her old friend has turned into a complete stranger.
Just look at her with her endless, emotionless eyes.
