Chapter 211

Tactician Seitry had done some research about the evolution of Ogres.

And when I thought about it, it wasn’t just me. Saifo and Beka had also been fighting powerful enemies.

Would those idiot siblings also undergo a special evolution?

“…No, surely not.”

It was too rare an occurrence.

Regardless, I would have to work hard in order to be able to use the special ability.

I didn’t know if I would be able to absorb mana, but I would have to do some testing.

“In any case, I suppose that I should talk to you about Lesser Demon King Melvis. Of course, it’s not something I really want to recall.”

Yes, General Miralda had told me about it. He had made Tralzard cry.

I found it difficult to imagine this old hag crying.

Melvis must have been quite the monster back then.

“Well, it’s about my own country. So I would like to know more.”

“I’m sure you would. How old are you, Golan?”

“My age? I’m seventeen.”

“You’re very young. Maybe too young. I’m surprised that you were able to grow so much at that age. Normally, you would die if you gained that much experience so quickly.”

I thought so too.

Before the war, I was living peacefully…well, not really. But my life wasn’t constantly in danger.

But now it was. Every time I went out into the battlefield.

Was that the reason? Was it because I antagonized a High Ogre?

It was something that I had to do in order to protect my friends…

“I was somehow able to survive this long. And I think that I’ve had enough.”

“I see. Ogres do not live so long, and they trade places quickly. I suppose there are none of you who remember when Melvis was still awake?”

“Yes. An Ogre’s lifespan is around forty years.”

Ogres could actually live close to sixty years. But since so many of us died early, the average was brought down by quite a bit.

On the other hand, High Ogres were said to live around two hundred years.

In fact, there were some who lived for three hundred years, but most of them ended up dying before that in battle.

Even when they evolved into High Ogres, they did not live very long.

“We didn’t find out about King Melvis’s slumber until many years after the attacks on other countries ceased. It was probably thirty to forty years after.”

“That’s rather extreme.”

They didn’t realize until they noticed that there hadn’t been any attacks recently.

How much damage had he been doing before that?

“While he may be sleeping, who knows when he will wake up again? And so the surrounding countries were very afraid. They must have been holding their breath.”

“Is that right?”

It seemed to me that it would have been the perfect time to invade.

“That was how scared they were. If he had fallen asleep on his own free will, then perhaps he could also awake when he wished.”

“…Hmm? They think he fell asleep on purpose?”

“So I’ve heard. People think that after he was hit by a holy attack, he decided to recreate his own body from the beginning.”

I had heard that Melvis fell into this long sleep because of a curse. But Miralda said that it was due to a holy attack.

I had a feeling that she was right.

And here was some new information.

That Melvis was sleeping by his own will.

“In that case, he wouldn’t be able to wake up until his body was remade.”

“Well, I do not know the details. And since his bedroom is tightly sealed, I cannot go and ask him.”

So even that was known far and wide.

“Indeed. By the way, I heard that he was capable of some vicious attacks. How bad were they?”

“Golan. Have you heard of the Snow of the End?”

“Yes…that it came down all around you.”

“It eats away at your flesh. You start melting in it. It is like there are small creatures living inside of the snow. And they slowly eat you alive… Do you understand?”

“It sounds terrible.”

I wouldn’t want to be eaten alive.

“My men died like that. I heard them scream in pain as their limbs disappeared. Their stomachs and chest faded, their faces were half gone. Pain. Pain. Thousands of my men died as if they were melting.”

Tralzard must have been remembering the moment, as her eyes welled up with tears.

I could have sworn that her body was also shaking. I would not have expected such emotion from the crone.

“I’d be traumatized.”

“Indeed. There was nothing that I could do at that point. The surrounding countries had lost towns and villages just because of his anger. King Melvis’s temper was like a natural disaster to us.”

That’s why we weren’t invaded by any other country for so long.

However, that was over three hundred years ago. Before he had fallen asleep.

“I think I know what is happening now. The new Lesser Demon Kings in the area don’t know how he was back then. They don’t fear him, and so they attack.”

“That is likely the case. But I prefer being quiet. Why wake up someone who is asleep? I do not want to make an enemy of him.”

The age where Lesser High King Yamato fought the residents of the Celestial World was in the far past.

Melvis was the only survivor, and he was practically a legend. But now that he had been asleep for hundreds of years, he was no longer seen as a threat.

“What will happen when he wakes up?”

“I don’t want to think about that. …Now that I think of it, Bargman once said something. About the battle with the Celestial World… Do you want to hear it, Golan?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You may regret it?”

“I will regret it more if I don’t hear it.”

“…Hmm. Well, what happened then… I will tell you what King Bargman told me.”

It was something that happened long ago…