CH 3

The night at the forest made it even darker than during the day.

While all creatures hid or slept, owls would soar through the trees, hunting for their prey.

This has been the cycle of the forest, continuing for thousands of years and remained unchanged even after mankind’s long history of warfare.

In the midst of the forest’s unchanging routine, there were two foreign entities.

Within a hut that leaked light from the gaps that it had there were two beings far removed from the forest’s inhabitants.

“Whoaaaa!”

“Uhh!”

Satis jumped up, startled as she spilled water unintentionally.

Set again hid behind the table and called her out.

“What’s wrong ……?”

“….. No, nothing.”

Her breathing was ragged.

“Satis, what’s wrong? You used to look down on us, humans, so much. ……”

Now there did not exist even a shadow of your former self.

The old Satis was a completely different person.

With my former enemy changing so much, I was worried.

Then Satis began to speak slowly.

“It’s your fault.”

“Eh?”

“……That is what I would like to say. But ultimately it was my fault.”

She has stood in the way of the Heroes many times, challenging them with her ingenuity and magic.

However, she was defeated each time, and the count of her failed missions continued.

The Demon King was not only disappointed and displeased with her, but also sentenced her to be executed.

The execution was to take place the next day, that was, today morning.

She was supposed to die today.

The Demon King stripped her of her position as a General and had her lynched by almost everyone in the Demon King’s army, so that she would die a gruesome death.

Not only was she beaten and kicked, but she was also subjected to humiliating tortures such as whippings, high-voltage electric currents, and triangular wooden horses.

What was most severe was that she was repeatedly trampled on by the demons, who were of a lower rank than her.

She was destroyed mentally and all that was left in her heart was fear.

In the morning, fearing that she would be executed and killed, Satis escaped.

She fled for her life from the Demon King’s territory and met Set in this forest.

“Such a thing…..”

“I have betrayed the trust of the …… Demon King. I was so afraid of dying that I ran away and …….”

She laughed.

But this was not the Satis that Set and the Heroes knew.

Her smile was sad. Far from the one she used to have.

“Then let’s talk about me.”

“It doesn’t matter. Boy, your story doesn’t seem interesting.”

Satis laughed lightly as she cried her shoulders out.

Set sat there leaning against the table, which was propped up on its side.

“I’ve been removed from the Hero party.”

“You heard about it during the day.”

“…… says I’m a slaughterer.”

“What ……?”

What I am about to tell her was my background.

I told her about my background, how I was a young soldier on the battlefield.

How different my values were from those of others.

How I had no other way than to fight.

I didn’t know if I’d explained it well, but that was me.

Satis was silent on the other side of the table.

I didn’t know what kind of expression she had while listening to my story, but I went on.

“Ever since I could remember, I’d been told by adults to fight. If I didn’t do what they said, they would beat me up, and I didn’t like it, so I always obeyed. I didn’t really know what the adults wanted me to do, but after I obeyed them they were a little kinder to me. I didn’t really understand what really went on in their mind, but if they were kind to me, that was all that mattered …….”

After that, I told her that I killed people on the battlefield as I was ordered by the adults.

Sometimes I was captured and tortured by the enemies, but I never spoke out, because that was what I was ordered to do.

Satis, who had been listening to the story for a long time, finally opened her mouth.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“You said you were a young soldier, right?”

“Yes I did.”

“I believe your country and the surrounding countries have religious regulations that forbid young soldiers, right? And yet you were……?”

“Oh…… but the adults usually use us as juvenile soldiers, so….. it doesn’t matter, does it? I didn’t understand the difficult things, and I was told to shut up and obey without thinking about anything else. Besides, I see it all the time when I’m fighting an enemy country. I wonder if they are……new soldiers. They were so scared…… but if you didn’t kill them, they would kill you and even the adults would get angry…….”

Again she went silent.

I was a little worried that I had said something hurtful, but she spoke to me again, “Are you …… allowed to talk to me about this?”

“It doesn’t matter…. I don’t know how to return to the Kingdom, and I am not even sufficiently prepared for that. Even if I do return, I’m sure I’ll be killed. I’m just a soldier.There are a lot of talented adults in that country who would take over my position after I die. So I can’t help it if I’m not alone…. Besides, I don’t even have a home to return to. No one cares about me in this world.”

I wonder why?

Set suddenly wondered.

He had never talked so much about his past.

Yet, tonight, he was so eager to talk about his past.

Perhaps it was because he felt sympathy for Satis, who was in a similar situation.

“So ……”

She answered shortly, illuminated by the moonlight that shined in through the window.

Moonlight was the only source of guidance in the darkness for the nocturnal creatures in the forest.

However, there was no such guide for these two now.

They were like poor migratory birds with nowhere to return to.

“Aren’t you lonely? So many people have abandoned you?”

“I don’t know. What do adults do in a situation like this?”

“……I don’t know, either.”

After her reply in a gentle tone, the conversation died down and both of them fell asleep.

Satis was wrapped in the covers as she stared at the still young figure on the other side of the table that was blocking her view.

On the other side of the table, Set was sleeping.

He was wrapped in a large cloth and sleeping in a triangular position.

“I don’t……know, I really don’t know what to do in a situation like this.”

Satis muttered and closed her eyes.

Strangely, she did not dream and had a calm sleep.