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Chapter 49 – Each Person’s Life in the Demonic Land (Jennifer)
I don’t really understand why I’m so worked up.
Yesterday, after Makyo-san left, I had a fight with Chel-san.
Whether I like him or not is irrelevant in this demonic land.
“The ‘me’ in me is peeling away.”
I looked at my reflection in the water. I washed my face to refresh myself, but my expression didn’t look refreshed at all.
“Why do you look like that?”
I know there’s no point in asking myself this question.
I grew up in a small village in the north of the Kingdom of Estinia, and I was the kind of girl who asked everyone, “Why?” I was always looking for a reason.
“Why does a farmer’s daughter have to marry the man her father chooses for her?”
I had a big fight with my parents when I was a teenager and ran away from home. I was 13 years old. I left my hometown as a child. I understand that there was a lot of debt at home and that I had to marry a 70-year-old man because of the misery we were in. But that was the same as being abandoned by my parents.
I ran to the city and became an adventurer in the Adventurer’s Guild, pretending to be 15 years old. No one came after me, so I guess I was really abandoned.
I continued to gather medicinal herbs and help with transportation, but there was no way I could survive, and I couldn’t stay in an inn. I was sitting hungry on the side of the road when a sister from the church picked me up.
After that, I stayed at the church and worked at the Adventurer’s Guild, spending my days training in the nearby forest. It was also around this time that I was taught how to use polite language. I was so happy to have a place to live.
When I had saved some money, I went to the Adventurer’s Guild to be trained as a new recruit. I was praised for my use of the shield, so when I didn’t have any money, I would go to the forest and train from morning to night, blocking attacks from monsters and stones and rocks falling from waterfalls with my shield.
One day, I overheard the sister from the church having a night with the pastor. Apparently, the sister was originally a slave and was made to entertain the pastor every night.
“When you grow up, you will also be made to entertain. You should leave this church as soon as possible.”
When I was told this and kicked out of the church, I decided to buy the sister who had saved me by saving money.
For three years, I did jobs that no one else wanted to do, such as carrying the party’s luggage and acting as a decoy, and somehow managed to save up five gold coins. I really thought that I could buy the sister and save her from that horrible church.
“I can’t let you do that. From now on, you must have nothing to do with this church.”
The sister said this and tried to send me away.
I didn’t agree with her, and I thought that the sister might have been brainwashed by the pastor using mind magic. I had heard that some monsters could seduce people, so I knew that such magic existed.
“Even if you offer him money, that pastor won’t let me go. You don’t have to protect me. You must not have anything to do with this church anymore. Go now! Don’t come back!”
I asked the sister, but she pushed the money back at me. Maybe she thought that if I stayed involved, I might end up killing the pastor.
The next day, the church caught fire, and the bodies of the pastor and the sister were found. I completely lost my place.
From then on, I decided to spend my life looking for something to protect. I even learned healing magic, which I was not good at, and tried to save as many people as I could. I thought this would help me find my place in the world.
But I could only save a few injured people. It is impossible to save slaves alone, and I could not save many people.
Many people are motivated by money, and money gathers around power. It didn’t take long for me to want status and power.
I quickly formed a party of adventurers and began questing with the new adventurers. Soon, I was approached by higher-ranked parties and joined the highest-ranked parties whenever possible.
I didn’t care what I had to use to achieve my goal. I even pretended to be from a noble family, and once, I even said that I had graduated first in my class from a magic academy. After all, these people were just there for the moment. If I made them think I was amazing, they would come to me on their own.
I had no guilt about lying to make myself look good. As long as I could achieve my goal, that was all that mattered.
This kind of nomadic lifestyle continued.
I truly believed that if I was eventually taken in by a noble, I would be able to collect money and save and protect many people.
I was wrong.
At first, I was happy to have a place to stay after I became high-ranking and was taken in by a nobleman, but my party members, who had become a private army, stopped doing anything for me. The nobles were not interested in the people who lived in their territory; they only touched my body and said that I was a “beautiful girl.” The nobleman’s aides, along with his friends, tried to brainwash me by casting a mind magic spell on me. It was during this time that I learned how to defend myself against mind magic.
I had money, but I could only use a little of it, and I couldn’t protect or save anyone. It was of no use for me to be employed.
In the end, I left the noble side after receiving a lot of compensation.
I had money, but I didn’t know what to do with it to save people. I had seen the pastor in the past, so the possibility of giving to a church was out of the question. I had also been cheated by a merchant. I even studied herbalism with a corrupt doctor. In all these cases, I lost only a small amount of money.
Then, there was the time I protected a boy who was being attacked by a monster in the forest. I had practiced my defense for a long time, so I was able to fend off the monster’s attacks as much as I wanted. Eventually, the monster got tired and left.
“Thank you, big sister.”
It had been a long time since I had directly protected anyone.
“You are amazing. You were able to drive the monsters away without using a shield?”
It was Alcuin of the White Lightning who had called out to me from behind. He was a truly kind person, well-liked by everyone, and a leader who was revered by his companions.
But that was just the way it seemed at first. It was only after I became his lover that I realized he was just an ordinary adventurer who only formed parties with those who listened to him, who was good at showing himself to others, and who only accepted requests that he could do.
You could also say that he had a high level of crisis management. His request completion rate was high, and he naturally became a high-ranking member. But that was not enough to protect people.
One day, while escorting a merchant’s carriage, we were attacked by wyverns, but our group didn’t fight back and abandoned the merchant. After the wyverns left, we destroyed the evidence and told the Adventurers’ Guild that the merchant hadn’t shown up for the rendezvous.
“If we go on like this, it will affect the credibility of this party. Don’t you think we need to train again?”
When I said this to Alcuin, he sensed the mood of the party and said,
“I was thinking the same thing. There is a military training facility far to the east. I hear that the most powerful soldiers in the Estinian army gather there. What do you think? Why don’t we all go there?”
He cheered up his dejected companions.
We all felt guilty for abandoning the merchant, so there was no reason to refuse. With the intention of fortifying ourselves at the military training facility and then returning, we set off to the east.
Contrary to the request of the Adventurers’ Guild, we were almost killed by the hordes of monsters that blocked our path, and we gradually made progress. We felt that our teamwork was gradually improving.
But the reality is not so sweet. We were not able to become stronger just by going to the military training facility, and we were easily beaten up and sent away by the soldiers there. Our teamwork was nothing but a game to them. I was rendered incapable of fighting by a net, and my companions, who had lost their defenses, became easy targets for the archers.
“How can we get stronger?”
I asked desperately. I couldn’t accept that we, high-ranking adventurers, were no match for them.
“There is a demonic land beyond the eastern forest. It is a land where terrible monsters dwell. If you can make it there and back, I’ll give you another chance.”
We were told this by a soldier who was still a newcomer even in the training facility, and we gathered our last remaining strength.
Even going through the forest was a matter of life and death. Nevertheless, we somehow managed to reach the demonic land.
“This is private property, so please do not enter without permission.”
It was in this demonic land that we met Makyo-san.
We were suddenly attacked by a swarm of slime as we tried to cross the stream, and we ran out of magic power without being able to coordinate.
Before I knew it, I was lying on the floor of the training facility, feeling a wave of frustration. I was completely useless. It felt like everything I had done up to that point had been rejected.
After talking with my friends who had returned, I suggested that we go to the training facility, but I was kicked out of the party.
I had lost everything: the strength I had trained for, my dreams, my friends, everything. All I had left was a little money and a priest’s robe. As I looked at the priest’s robe, I remembered the sister who had picked me up.
I had decided how I wanted to end it.
“If I’m going to die anyway, I’ll decide where I’m going to die.”
I decided to die in the demonic land where I had lost everything.
The monsters in the forest before the demonic land are opponents that can be avoided if you don’t have to worry about coordination. If I continued to defend myself against them, they would eventually get tired, and an opening would appear. I wanted to defeat them there.
“I can do that too, unexpectedly.”
I felt that I could do anything if I was determined to die.
When I reached the stream that marked the border between the demonic land and the human world, I met Makyo-san, who was wearing nothing at all.
“Bathing in a stream full of slime…?”
I waited for him to put his clothes back on and then stepped in front of him.
“Please let me live here!”
My heart was racing, and I was nervous as I begged.
Makyo-san looked right at me and said no. Thinking about it now, it’s obvious. I think he was very kind to let me into the demonic land when he didn’t know who I was.
“Please!”
As I begged, Makyo-san’s eyes seemed to see through me. Lying doesn’t work in front of this person. It’s different from the way I lied all the time, even when I joined the Adventurers’ Guild and formed a group of adventurers. That’s what I thought.
I stepped into the stream with the sole intention of entering the demonic land, and once again, my magic ran out. When I came to, I found myself lying in front of a cave, looking up at the sky.
Life in the demonic land is, in a word, survival. I did everything I could to stay alive. I didn’t pretend to be someone I wasn’t in order to be accepted by others. The demonic land took away everything I pretended to be. My experiences were of no use to me in the demonic land.
Living in the demonic land forces you to face your own weaknesses. Weakness is directly related to death. In fact, I almost died many times, but each time Makyo-san saved me.
The woman who tried to protect others was protected in return. I thought that if I continued like this, I would end up causing him trouble. With that in mind, I once wandered around the demon land with the intention of dying.
However, the monsters in the demonic land were different from those in other regions, and they seemed to feel almost no fatigue, so I had no choice but to focus on defense. And then my muscles would scream, and I would collapse. The monsters didn’t seem to be interested in those who collapsed, so I stayed collapsed until Makyo-san came to help me.
I couldn’t die. Even when giant monsters appeared, for some reason, I couldn’t die.
As I continued to live like this, I gradually got used to dealing with monsters, and I felt that I was getting stronger. I couldn’t feel it in White Lightning, but under Makyo-san’s protection, I could.
Also, Makyo-san became a nobleman, and there was talk of him ruling over the demonic land. I was able to realize my dream of having power and protecting many people, which I had not been able to do before.
If I don’t do anything here, I might end up like the nobleman who surrounded that adventurer. I don’t want that to happen. Chel-san doesn’t understand. The pastor, the nobleman, and Alcuin… men go crazy when they have even a little power.
After much thought, I decided to become Makyo-san’s wife. I would become his wife, develop the demonic land, and protect the weak people who had been expelled from other regions. At that moment, my dream was revived.
I had also acquired the ability to live in the demonic land to a certain extent. I could at least pretend to be someone else. Pretending to like Makyo-san was no problem at all.
He’s not especially good-looking, and he doesn’t have any money. But he’s strong, he can use magic, and even though he seems to be pushing me away, he always helps me.
It’s easy to make someone think you’ve fallen in love with someone like that. Chel-san may have already figured out that I was lying, but for now, my plan is working perfectly.
I’m going to become the wife of the lord of the demonic land.
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