Chapter 331 – Intermission (Blue Orge)
Aka. Really, I’ve always found ya frustrating, besa.
Ya, really, were a mess. If ya put yer mind ta it, ya could have earned the same title of Great Hundred, just like us, besa.
But ya suffered more from the war itself than from the title, than from yer military exploits, or from yer achievements, besa.
――Hey, stop iiiiiit! Why, why are ya doing this……
I couldn’t just say, “It’s war”, and leave it at that, besa.
It was frustrating, besa.
――Wh, why? How could everyone do such a terrible thing!?
Why? Because if we don’t do that, we will be attacked, besa.
It’s not just about killing. If ya just killed them, their family and friends will come ta take revenge.
They might even come after ya, me, our friends, and our family, besa.
That’s war, besa.
――If they surrender, that’s enough! Aonii, father, mother, and Miss Lal…… what’s wrong with everyone?
If we can strike terror into the hearts of the humans with our overwhelming power and intense cruelty so that they will never be able ta resist us again, we will be able ta win the war in the future, besa.
Ya are naive. Too naive. That’s not kindness, besa.
――Even we and humans may be able ta understand each other if we talk ta each other! Ya’ll never know until you try!
Talking ta humans? Getting along? That’s not possible, besa.
We’re at war. Don’t have such naive dreams or delusions, besa.
“Aonii. Do you realize what you are doing to me?”
“Ha, ha…… young ladyyyyyyyyyy!!”
Aka. Yer just too weak of heart, besa.
“Huh?”
“The rope, there ya go, besa!”
「…… A, Aonii?”
“Hurry up, get them all out of here, besa! I’ll hold them off!”
「…… Wh…… at?”
The future of my fellow ogres, the many demons living in the Demon Realm, and the children who will live in the next era rests on their shoulders, besa.
I can’t run away just because I’m having a hard time, besa.
If I don’t do it, we’ll all be done for, besa.
Someone has ta do it…… so…… I had no choice but ta do it, besa.
“Espie of the Seven Heroes!”
“Huh!?”
“Take yer brother…… gather all the Elves, stick ta the young lady right now, and escape somewhere via warp, besa!”
“Eh……?”
So, no matter how cruel it may be, we can’t show mercy ta humans, besa.
I didn’t want ta have anything ta do with the scum of the Bockmati Family, but I still wanted ta use the organization ta weaken the humans from within, besa.
It’s all for the sake of the Demon Realm, besa. There’s no need for mercy, besa.
“Hey…… what are you planning to do? Aonii. Even Larou’iph…… are you going to betray the Demon King Army?”
“At the very least…… ta the man who proved ta me that he wasn’t lying…… ta the friend of my spoiled younger brother… at least some sincerity… that’s all, besa.”
“What?”
And yet, when ya ran away, I was already fed up, besa.
No matter how scared ya were, I believed that ya were the kind of guy who could act when the time came, besa.
But ya betrayed us and ran away, besa.
“I’m sorry, General Hakuki, but…… but…… I’ll never let ya through here, besaaa!!”
「………………」
Even if ya, who ran away, live in the Demon Realm and avoid the public eye, even if ya live on the Surface World, there is no place for ya in this world.
“Uooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhh!!!”
At the very least, I reported that ya had been killed in action, so that ya would not be pursued as a deserter, for old time’s sake.
I decided not ta tell the young lady the truth and let her memories of ya remain as they were, besa.
“A, Aonii!?”
“Young lady, go, besa! And when he wakes up, listen ta all he has ta say, besa!”
“Hey, what are you talking about……
“GO, NOW, BESAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
And Aka, I thought ya’d take care of yerself after that, besa.
We are not together anymore… I don’t care what happens ta ya …… I really thought so, besa.
“I never thought a man of your stature would rebel against me…… I don’t know what’s going on…… but well……”
“Oooooh! Ga, AAAAAAAAH, hi, gah……!
“Hey, what are you doing, Captain Aonii? W, why, Great General!? Please stop!”
Hey, Aka…… ya know…… the whole time I was with ya…… what I’ve been hoping for……
“Espie of the Seven Heroes! Bring them all to me now! Hurry!”
“B, but …….”
“For once… just for now, trust me! You want to save your brother!”
“F-Fu-, Fluffy Collection!”
What I hoped was for the war ta quickly end in my time…… I couldn’t be honest, but I pushed the young lady ta make Aka and the young lady a couple, ogre and dark elf, transcending their races…… I’ll be a champion and get a pretty wife, so that my kids and yer kids would play together and be best friends……
“Everyone, let’s go forth as well! The village… must be abandoned!”
“Dear, b, but!”
“Make haste!”
Kidding…… the dream I first held on ta… I realized I’d forgotten until now, besa.
Aka, it’s just like ya said, besa. I have changed, too, besa.
The war has changed me, besa.
“A, Aonii……”
“Young lady, listen carefully…… think about how you want ta live in the future…… and live again, the way ya wish…… ta live, besa! So goooooooo!”
“Eh! …… Ḧaṫṧuṇoṝiḱaḷa Ṋoḡoṧeṇ Ẏenḉḣoḱa, Medium-Distance Transfer Magic, 【Tachzi】!!”
Aka, ya ran away, but ya hadn’t changed, besa.
And ya found it, right, besa?
――I… I get it. You were all massive, frighteningly strong, and yet he was kinder than anyone else… an ogre whose heart was so much purer than ours!!
How did ya meet him, besa? The real thing.
So, at the very least…
“I thought he would soon regret his mistake and get in line, but…… twisting off his arms and legs…… gently hitting him just enough that he could feel pain without losing consciousness, he still clung desperately to me, and did he really put his life on the line…… Aonii. Even if he is wrong, his fighting spirit is magnificent. As expected, he is one of the hundred strong I recognized.”
“Hah…… ka…… hah…… hah……”
“I didn’t let them escape because of your stalling. I don’t know what happened, but…… a man like you…… You, who have contributed so much to the Demon King Army in the past, have only been spared because of the determination to persevere to the end, even if you are in this state…… let me at least ask you…… what’s going on?”
How am I compared ta ya, besa?
I’ve changed, and I was wrong, wasn’t I?
“I was…… wrong…… wasn’t I……. besa?”
“Hmm? Yes that’s right. It can’t be right to rebel against me, can it?”
Was I …… was the Great General …… was the Great Demon King …… was the Demon King’s army, wrong, besa?
Nhyah, even the humans are wrong.
Was the Bockmati Family wrong, besa?
Was the Hero…… the Allied Forces …… was everybody wrong, besa?
Nhyah……
“No… what’s wrong… is…”
“Hmm?”
――Ogres… demons, humans… everyone is always at war!!
“Those guys…… keeping the war going, besa !!.”
Ah…… I wasn’t scared of dying…… Aka…… if only I had heard that ya had found the real thing and that ya had become friends with humans…… but I can’t wish for that anymore, besa…… I… I couldn’t do anything when ya were suffering, I didn’t do anything.
I’m not disappointed in ya for running away, but I couldn’t even go after ya and talk to ya right away, I didn’t have the right…… but……
“This last will makes no sense, but the spirit was conveyed. I’m not interested enough to dig out the truth of the words…… at the very least, live on as my flesh and blood…… farewell…… Aonii.”
Aka…… ya, together with the young lady…… I would like ta meet just one more time――――
