Previous Chapter: Short Story Series 2, Part 2: Ine Travels to Japan
Minaisa district, Fortress city of Tormis, Topa Kingdom
“Noo!! Someone, help me!!!”
“O-oi! Stop struggling!”
A hideous demon is pulling Elei by her hand. She was going to end up as an ingredient in food prepared for the Demon Lord just like the other victims before her.
The demon was strong and she was dragged away despite desperate resistance from her. The others knew that if they tried to help her, they would incur their wrath onto themselves, so no one bothered. They looked at Elei with terrified and apologetic eyes. Knowing that help wasn’t coming, she subconsciously screamed in despair.
Suddenly, the demon was struck down by a sword. A cloaked knight riding a white horse gallantly appeared, gently catching the now free Elei. Due to the bright backlight, she couldn’t see the face of her smiling savior.
“Please… show me your face…”
The knight slowly lifted his cloak to show his face and Erei’s eyes widened.
“Eh?! Gai?!”
Sweat had drenched Elei’s entire body. Waking up from her nightmare, the ceiling she was so familiar with came into her view.
“Ah… A dream… Why did I dream of…”
Elei was bewildered by the dream that she just had.
“Moah was supposed to be the one I’m going to marry…!”
The Gai in her dream was smiling from ear to ear. She did honestly think he looked cool when he saved her from the demon that time but…
But, the… the one I like is supposed to be Moah! So why am I getting such…
The dream continued to linger in her head, and no matter how much she tried to shake it off it won’t disappear.
This is bad! Marriage is supposed to be the deciding factor for one’s future! Just basing it off romantic feelings is… Wait, why am I thinking that I have to like Gai first!!!
Erei’s emotions were in disarray.
Gai’s residence, Minaisa district
“Oi! We’ll be late! We gotta go!!!”
Standing at the entrance, Moah tells Gai to hurry up.
“…Is this okay?”
Gai, unconventionally wearing the formal attire of a knight of the Topa Kingdom, embarrassingly shows himself to Moah.
“Hoh!”
Tidying up his hair and beard that he grew out unchecked in his time as mercenary, Gai, in his formal attire, looked like a proper and fully-fledged knight.
“Wearing this downright feels out of place for me…”
“What are you talking about? From now on you’re gonna be an actual knight! It’ll be a formal ceremony in the presence of the king, right? You’re supposed to be in formal wear for that!”
“Okay okay!”
Moah and Gai headed for Castle Tormis to attend the special ceremony wherein the king was in attendance.
Castle Tormis
In the banquet hall, many various ceremonies delayed by the Demon Lord’s appearance were being held. Soldiers were lined up and bands were playing music.
After a while, the knightly investiture ceremony finally began.
“Come forth!”
The knight Moah and mercenary Gai moved forward towards the front of the king. The king got closer to the mercenary Gai and dubbed his sword on his shoulders.
“Gai the Mercenary. With exceptional merit and unparalleled courage, you, together with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel, saved the people captured by the strong and hideous forces of the Demon Lord, fearing not even death and putting your life on the line.
For that, under my name as king of the Topa Kingdom, I grant upon you the title of knight and the rank of noble! I henceforth ask you to take charge of the Tormis Defense Knights!”
“Thank you! I will humbly accept!!!”
Moah and Gai, on one knee, prostrated themselves before His Majesty, King Rados. Moah was conferred the rank of viscount which is higher than that of his baron father and Gai was conferred the junior knight honors. From that day forth, Moah and Gai would begin their duties in the Tormis Defense Knights in the Minaisa district.
The outer edges of the Minaisa district
Inside a food storehouse was an entity that craved for food. It had a repulsively hideous face and had wounds all over.
When the Demon Lord was defeated, it received a blow from a knight and failed to escape in time. This demon… a goblin lord, fled to a food storehouse in the outskirts of the city, gradually recovering its strength.
Once it had exhausted all of the food in the storehouse, an insatiable hunger and hatred for humans had surfaced in its insides and it began to move out.
The next day, the knights’ station, Minaisa district
“Gai, have you read the precautionary report that came in past noon?”
“Not yet.”
“It seems that recently, there’s a lot of stolen food incidents going about. It may be a demon that didn’t get out in time when the Demon Lord’s army fell apart. We should issue an alert in places that handle food and organize a manhunt for the demon. You’re the commander that assigns everyone their posts so go and verify the information.”
At Moah’s prompt, Gai moves towards the display board on the entrance to the staff room.
“Where to… I’m on point for the 2nd central street and the east street… Hm?”
Among the assignments on the display board was a restaurant being managed by Elei. While he is now a noble with a rank of junior knight, this was his first assignment. Gai then decided he will first pay a visit to Elei’s restaurant. Using his job as an excuse to see the woman he likes, Gai’s heart throbs in excitement.
2nd central street, Minaisa district
With the Demon Lord subjugated, peace has returned to the fortress city of Tormis. The unprecedented deaths of 3000 people was tragic but the people busied themselves in order to rebuild the town as soon as possible. The Minaisa district in particular was occupied by the Demon Lord and suffered greatly, and so the will of the residents there to rebuild was also particularly strong.
The she-elf Elei, Gai’s childhood friend and sweetheart, took to cleaning and preparing for the opening of her restaurant to have it resume business as soon as possible.
“Okay! I’ll resume business by evening!”
Eager to work, Elei finished cleaning up the restaurant and went to the food storage at the back. She opens the door.
“Eh?”
Entering the storage to get ingredients, Elei found traces of food evidently eaten to shreds lie around.
Crash!
Something fell and made a loud noise.
“Eek!”
Reflexively looking towards the sound of the noise, Elei finds a goblin lord in the process of healing itself in front of her eyes. The goblin lord, seeing the elf, instinctively lunged towards her. Hatred flared in the demon’s eyes. Elei immediately realized that it was out to kill her.
“N-noooooooo!!!! Why!!! Why are you here of all places!!!!”
Erei threw the big basket she was carrying towards the demon. The basket had hit the goblin lord in the face but it lunged forward unfazed. She threw everything within reach like magically strengthened ice and buckets.
“Why me!!! Why me!!!”
When the Demon Lord from the tales of legend invaded, I survived at the brink of death due to the historical efforts of the soldiers of the Topa Kingdom and Japan. Everyone involved in that fight will have their names forever engraved in the history books.
Even though I had lived through that turmoil, am I really going to die here, right now…?
With the demon pinning her down and restraining both of her arms, she was unable to move.
I don’t wanna die!!!
Feelings of hopelessness welled up in her heart and tears began to fall.
“Nooooooooo!!!”
The goblin lord opened its mouth to reveal its fangs and then went for Erei’s throat.
It was an obscure sight and felt like it was somebody else’s problem. Suddenly, the tip of a knight’s sword pierced and emerged from the goblin lord’s throat.
“How dare you… do that to my woman!”
“A-argh…”
It was a voice that she knows so well. Kicking off the corpse of the dead goblin lord from her, the man reached his hand out to Elei.
“You okay?”
“Gai!”
Grasping onto his hand, she instinctively clung to Gai.
“O-oi! Elei? Are you hurt?”
He saved her from her dilemma. He put his life on the line and saved her twice. That fact alone split Elei’s heart.
“I love you…”
“Huh?!”
“Thank you for saving me, Gai… I love you!”
Intense emotions welled up and Elei cried out loud. Saying nothing, Gai gently consoled her.
The story of a former mercenary and a woman taken captive from around the emergence of the Demon Lord’s army spread across the kingdom in the blink of an eye. Then at a later date, Gai and Elei got married. With the blessing of the entire kingdom, the two lived happily ever after.
Previous Chapter: Short Story Series 2, Part 2: Ine Travels to Japan
Minaisa district, Fortress city of Tormis, Topa Kingdom
“Noo!! Someone, help me!!!”
“O-oi! Stop struggling!”
A hideous demon is pulling Elei by her hand. She was going to end up as an ingredient in food prepared for the Demon Lord just like the other victims before her.
The demon was strong and she was dragged away despite desperate resistance from her. The others knew that if they tried to help her, they would incur their wrath onto themselves, so no one bothered. They looked at Elei with terrified and apologetic eyes. Knowing that help wasn’t coming, she subconsciously screamed in despair.
Suddenly, the demon was struck down by a sword. A cloaked knight riding a white horse gallantly appeared, gently catching the now free Elei. Due to the bright backlight, she couldn’t see the face of her smiling savior.
“Please… show me your face…”
The knight slowly lifted his cloak to show his face and Erei’s eyes widened.
“Eh?! Gai?!”
Sweat had drenched Elei’s entire body. Waking up from her nightmare, the ceiling she was so familiar with came into her view.
“Ah… A dream… Why did I dream of…”
Elei was bewildered by the dream that she just had.
“Moah was supposed to be the one I’m going to marry…!”
The Gai in her dream was smiling from ear to ear. She did honestly think he looked cool when he saved her from the demon that time but…
But, the… the one I like is supposed to be Moah! So why am I getting such…
The dream continued to linger in her head, and no matter how much she tried to shake it off it won’t disappear.
This is bad! Marriage is supposed to be the deciding factor for one’s future! Just basing it off romantic feelings is… Wait, why am I thinking that I have to like Gai first!!!
Erei’s emotions were in disarray.
Gai’s residence, Minaisa district
“Oi! We’ll be late! We gotta go!!!”
Standing at the entrance, Moah tells Gai to hurry up.
“…Is this okay?”
Gai, unconventionally wearing the formal attire of a knight of the Topa Kingdom, embarrassingly shows himself to Moah.
“Hoh!”
Tidying up his hair and beard that he grew out unchecked in his time as mercenary, Gai, in his formal attire, looked like a proper and fully-fledged knight.
“Wearing this downright feels out of place for me…”
“What are you talking about? From now on you’re gonna be an actual knight! It’ll be a formal ceremony in the presence of the king, right? You’re supposed to be in formal wear for that!”
“Okay okay!”
Moah and Gai headed for Castle Tormis to attend the special ceremony wherein the king was in attendance.
Castle Tormis
In the banquet hall, many various ceremonies delayed by the Demon Lord’s appearance were being held. Soldiers were lined up and bands were playing music.
After a while, the knightly investiture ceremony finally began.
“Come forth!”
The knight Moah and mercenary Gai moved forward towards the front of the king. The king got closer to the mercenary Gai and dubbed his sword on his shoulders.
“Gai the Mercenary. With exceptional merit and unparalleled courage, you, together with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel, saved the people captured by the strong and hideous forces of the Demon Lord, fearing not even death and putting your life on the line.
For that, under my name as king of the Topa Kingdom, I grant upon you the title of knight and the rank of noble! I henceforth ask you to take charge of the Tormis Defense Knights!”
“Thank you! I will humbly accept!!!”
Moah and Gai, on one knee, prostrated themselves before His Majesty, King Rados. Moah was conferred the rank of viscount which is higher than that of his baron father and Gai was conferred the junior knight honors. From that day forth, Moah and Gai would begin their duties in the Tormis Defense Knights in the Minaisa district.
The outer edges of the Minaisa district
Inside a food storehouse was an entity that craved for food. It had a repulsively hideous face and had wounds all over.
When the Demon Lord was defeated, it received a blow from a knight and failed to escape in time. This demon… a goblin lord, fled to a food storehouse in the outskirts of the city, gradually recovering its strength.
Once it had exhausted all of the food in the storehouse, an insatiable hunger and hatred for humans had surfaced in its insides and it began to move out.
The next day, the knights’ station, Minaisa district
“Gai, have you read the precautionary report that came in past noon?”
“Not yet.”
“It seems that recently, there’s a lot of stolen food incidents going about. It may be a demon that didn’t get out in time when the Demon Lord’s army fell apart. We should issue an alert in places that handle food and organize a manhunt for the demon. You’re the commander that assigns everyone their posts so go and verify the information.”
At Moah’s prompt, Gai moves towards the display board on the entrance to the staff room.
“Where to… I’m on point for the 2nd central street and the east street… Hm?”
Among the assignments on the display board was a restaurant being managed by Elei. While he is now a noble with a rank of junior knight, this was his first assignment. Gai then decided he will first pay a visit to Elei’s restaurant. Using his job as an excuse to see the woman he likes, Gai’s heart throbs in excitement.
2nd central street, Minaisa district
With the Demon Lord subjugated, peace has returned to the fortress city of Tormis. The unprecedented deaths of 3000 people was tragic but the people busied themselves in order to rebuild the town as soon as possible. The Minaisa district in particular was occupied by the Demon Lord and suffered greatly, and so the will of the residents there to rebuild was also particularly strong.
The she-elf Elei, Gai’s childhood friend and sweetheart, took to cleaning and preparing for the opening of her restaurant to have it resume business as soon as possible.
“Okay! I’ll resume business by evening!”
Eager to work, Elei finished cleaning up the restaurant and went to the food storage at the back. She opens the door.
“Eh?”
Entering the storage to get ingredients, Elei found traces of food evidently eaten to shreds lie around.
Crash!
Something fell and made a loud noise.
“Eek!”
Reflexively looking towards the sound of the noise, Elei finds a goblin lord in the process of healing itself in front of her eyes. The goblin lord, seeing the elf, instinctively lunged towards her. Hatred flared in the demon’s eyes. Elei immediately realized that it was out to kill her.
“N-noooooooo!!!! Why!!! Why are you here of all places!!!!”
Erei threw the big basket she was carrying towards the demon. The basket had hit the goblin lord in the face but it lunged forward unfazed. She threw everything within reach like magically strengthened ice and buckets.
“Why me!!! Why me!!!”
When the Demon Lord from the tales of legend invaded, I survived at the brink of death due to the historical efforts of the soldiers of the Topa Kingdom and Japan. Everyone involved in that fight will have their names forever engraved in the history books.
Even though I had lived through that turmoil, am I really going to die here, right now…?
With the demon pinning her down and restraining both of her arms, she was unable to move.
I don’t wanna die!!!
Feelings of hopelessness welled up in her heart and tears began to fall.
“Nooooooooo!!!”
The goblin lord opened its mouth to reveal its fangs and then went for Erei’s throat.
It was an obscure sight and felt like it was somebody else’s problem. Suddenly, the tip of a knight’s sword pierced and emerged from the goblin lord’s throat.
“How dare you… do that to my woman!”
“A-argh…”
It was a voice that she knows so well. Kicking off the corpse of the dead goblin lord from her, the man reached his hand out to Elei.
“You okay?”
“Gai!”
Grasping onto his hand, she instinctively clung to Gai.
“O-oi! Elei? Are you hurt?”
He saved her from her dilemma. He put his life on the line and saved her twice. That fact alone split Elei’s heart.
“I love you…”
“Huh?!”
“Thank you for saving me, Gai… I love you!”
Intense emotions welled up and Elei cried out loud. Saying nothing, Gai gently consoled her.
The story of a former mercenary and a woman taken captive from around the emergence of the Demon Lord’s army spread across the kingdom in the blink of an eye. Then at a later date, Gai and Elei got married. With the blessing of the entire kingdom, the two lived happily ever after.
