Apotheosis Of A Demon – A Monster Evolution Story Chapter 71 - The Wounded Hero (1/2)

71 – THE WOUNDED HERO – B

The human army was approaching the demihuman's hidden village.

They were marching through the forest, so no horses or carriages. Everyone was on foot. But their number was reported to be about a hundred, and nervousness ran through the villagers as they were informed of the situation.

“Do they have knights? What about their provisions?”

“There were about ten canine beastman slaves at the back of their formation. They were carrying a mountain of supplies, but the soldiers were carrying some too, so I don't know how many days they'd packed for. And about the knights, umm… I think maybe around five or six.”

“What are their goals? Are they heading here?”

“I don't know… They look like they're searching for something, so I think it's only a matter of time before they find us.”

As the elven hunter relayed the report, the adults began their discussion, their faces grim.

There were quite a lot of people in the hidden village, but most of the youngsters and the hot-blooded men had gone to join the resistance. The only people remaining were adults with low combat power, women, children, and the elderlies.

“Everyone, please stay calm. We should focus on thinking of a solution.”

“Princess…”

The elven royal twin appeared from the log mansion. Several frowned upon seeing Gold behind them, a human. The princess noticed them. Her eyes faintly narrowed, and she quietly turned to look up at Gold.

“Sir Hero… you must have heard the report. Which country do you think the army should belong to?”

“…they sound like a company from Seize Kingdom.”

If the group had around a hundred men and five or six knights, then they'd be split into two platoons, each led by a platoon leader and their second-in-command. Overall command was held by the company leader and their aide. Considering the number of men, Gold expected it should be a large country rather than a small one.

The villagers gasped, knowing that a large country was attacking them. Their fear spread to the children, and one of them tried to run toward Gold, seeking safety in the herculean man. But the kid's mother held onto her child in a panic. She pulled the kid away from the human.

Gold stayed quiet. The princess continued the discussion as if nothing had happened.

“…sir Hero, what shall be your intention?”

“Sister…” her younger brother whispered his disapproval at her inaction against the mother, but she ignored him, continuing to stare at Gold.

“…if they come, I'll talk to them.” Gold replied.

If the human soldiers didn't notice the village, all the better. Their marching course was slightly veering off the village, as a matter of fact. But then their scouts found the place, and unsurprisingly, they began heading directly for it.

The next day. As the troops approached the fence surrounding the hidden village, the voice of a man who appeared to be the company leader rang out in the forest.

“Hear me, demihumans! Our company belongs to the Second Division, Outer Western Front, Seize Kingdom! Our country had been a.s.saulted by evil monsters called 'dark pixies', and we have been pursuing the fugitive responsible for summoning them. They were reported to have come here! Surrender peacefully, and allow us to do our investigation!”

Just as with any other country, Seize Kingdom was also suffering from attacks by the dark pixies suspected to have been summoned by prison escapists, criminals incarcerated for holding dangerous ideologies.

Their hideouts had been raided and scoured by investigators. The report had revealed that their goal was not simply sowing chaos in society and overthrowing governments with the dark pixies — they wanted power enough to destroy the system of nations itself. To that end, they were plotting to summon the Fairy King by using the dark pixies as a medium.

As the worldwide attacks all made use of the same summoning of dark pixies, the humans had determined that a single mastermind existed. Yet they could not find a single trace of this mastermind beside the name 'Brian'.

Seize Kingdom had discovered one of the summoners' hideout in the western forest. They had found the fugitive and several accomplices, but the criminals had all killed themselves with poison. The arrest was a failure. Then, the Second Division in charge of this mission had ordered two battalions to split into companies to comb over the forest as a special investigation task force. As eight companies combed through the enormous western woodland, one found traces of a camp left behind by a hunter. They cut their way into the forest depths, and there they found the hidden village.

Once the company leader was aware of the demihuman nature of the village, combined with the fact that the demihuman resistance was making trouble all over the world, he concluded that the village was related to the criminals he was pursuing. He came to the hidden village with an aggressive order of unconditional surrender for the villagers.

But the people appearing to answer him were only an elven girl who looked ten years of age and a well-built human man.

“I am Gold of Torrann! I ask, is there anyone here who know of my name?!”

The company leader widened his eyes upon hearing the name. It was the name of one of the Heroes, the Warrior, the man whose fame had spread throughout all of the human race. The company leader, himself a viscount, had had a single opportunity to see him several years earlier. He knew the Hero's face.

“Oooh, sir Hero! What twist of fate brought you here? You should know this is the territory of Seize Kingdom. This is our land!”

This forest was over a thousand kilometers away from the westernmost village of the kingdom. It held not a single trace of the human race, and yet the company leader had shamelessly proclaimed it theirs. Gold faintly frowned, and he answered the man.

“In my journey to train myself, I had come to rely on the aid of this village. I swear to my own name that there is no such criminal here. I beseech you to seek elsewhere.”

“I apologize, but I cannot comply, even if you are the Hero. Our mission concerns the survival of our very own country, the Kingdom of Seize. As such, we cannot allow any foreign interference to our domestic matter… ah, but pardon me! Sir Gold no longer belonged to a country. Please, I ask forgiveness for my mistake.” The company leader said and bowed, his politeness without a trace of sincerity.

Gold was the oldest among the Heroes, and people had held him in high esteem for many years. Yet ever since his overwhelming failure to prevent the destruction of the Sapling and his country's collapse — even if the country had been a.s.saulted on two fronts at the same time by the Dark Lady Whitehare and the Troll King — military men and women of countries throughout the world now treated him with contempt and ridicule, thinking his power to have declined. The lower-ranked knights, those who had idolized the Heroes, were the most disappointed. The company leader even hated him, believing Gold to have betrayed their trust and expectations.

“…indeed, Torrann no longer existed, and I am no longer royalty. All the same, do you mean to say you cannot trust the words of a recognized Hero?”

“You say you still possess the Hero's power? When you couldn't even protect your country? At any rate, we have no intention to pin any crime on the demihumans, nor will any indiscriminate persecution happen to them.”

“Then…”

“In case we judge the village to be unrelated to the criminals, and as long as you pay tax to our country, then I shall entreat the Second Division commander to allow this settlement to continue existing. One hundred large gold coins. If you can't pay, then turn yourselves into slaves to pay for it! Women, children, anyone who can move!”

“What?!”

Not just Gold, even the villagers staying behind were wide-eyed in disbelief.

At that moment, the hitherto silent elven girl spoke up and stepped forward.