Chapter 465

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

A sweet fragrance stimulates my revival.

When I inhale deeply, I recognize the smell as a citrus-based scent.

A wordless grunt leaves my throat as my mind clears.

I guess I completely pa.s.sed out after that.

That d.a.m.n Christoph, he dug into my already injured side.

TOP ARTICLES1/5Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1Chapter 29

「Muu.」

I stretch my arms and legs while turning in bed to check on the state of my body.

I only feel a trace of pain. I fainted from such an insignificant injury?

「I guess I’ll get up. How much time has pa.s.sed?」

With my eyes open, I lift my upper body.

「You’re finally awake. It’s been two whole days.」

The source of the scent was an orange sitting beside the bed which Sekrit peeled.

When our eyes meet, she scoffs at me.

「I heard you and some small fry knocked each other out simultaneously. That’s quite a result.」

「I don’t have anything to say when you put it like that.」

No matter how injured I was, it’s quite pathetic for Christoph and I to stab each other.

「The injury isn’t anything serious either. I don’t feel any more pain.」

「No, that might not necessarily be the case.」

Sekrit tosses an orange slice into her own mouth.

Wait, she wasn’t going to give that to me?

「Your injury reached your internal organs and was fairly deep. The reason you can move is……」

She jerks her chin toward my feet.

Laying there asleep on the bed was Natia.

「Natia used a salve on me?」

I pour my feelings of thanks into brus.h.i.+ng Natia’s hair.

「Yeah, although rather than her feelings towards you, she was urged by the leader of the elves. It’s nice to have such a wide circle of friends.」

Natia’s brow furrows and she groans almost like she was suffering.

「Uurgh, chieftess, I’ve already completed it…… that’s why…… I’m still pure so it hurts…… nnngh.」

Now that I look closer, there are bags under her eyes and she has crawled into my futon like she was hiding from something.

「Well, if you’re awake, then it’s fine.」

Sekrit ends the conversation there, stabbing a knife into the now-halved orange before leaving the room.

In the end, she didn’t peel it for me.

I different hand picks up the knife and orange.

「Is it alright if I make a report?」

「Sure.」

It’s Leopolt. He was apparently standing by my bed from the beginning.

Don’t stand there quietly. It’s a blind spot so I’ll be surprised.

Leopolt doesn’t smile or show concern and simply continues on like normal.

「The enemy’s main force has retreated to the south. A thorough pursuit was carried out under the command of the Military Commissioner and saw roughly half of their numbers defeated. However, the cavalry’s hindrance still remains a possibility and their complete annihilation could not be completed.」

So they couldn’t finish the job.

By the way, why are you peeling the orange?

「After Tortoent falls, I believe the towns and villages within the territory of former Libatis will yield in unison, and the enemy will proceed to withdraw to Alteria.」

To the citizens of Libatis, South Yuguria is the occupier, so that will happen when they get routed.

He peels it so cleanly, much better than Sekrit.

「From this point, we’ll be entering what can be considered the birthplace of South Yuguria, the Alteria region. The enemy will have a large advantage in replenis.h.i.+ng their supplies and soldiers.」

Right, this will be the hard part.

It would be easy for us if they suffered consecutive losses and their nation fell apart, but I’m sure things won’t go that smoothly.

He has stacked the slices neatly on a plate…… ah, he peeled them for me?

I’m not complaining, it’s just that I feel strange picturing this guy’s face when I eat them.

「That reminds me, what’s the big idea, stuffing the elves into the ancient weapon replica?」

They were pretty angry.

「One reason is to protect them from arrows.」

I understand that.

Although they are skilled with magic and archery, their clothes provide almost no defense.

They could die from a single arrow.

「The second is to imitate siege weapons in order to entice the cavalry.」

It’s true that cavalry would want to attack when powerful siege weapons are positioned in front of the walls.

So he foresaw that.

「The third is…… I thought it would not be beneficial to Lord Hardlett if their existence was revealed to the public.」

I direct a question back at him.

「Why did you think that?」

Leopolt doesn’t reply.

「I would like to leave you with one final piece of advice. Lord Hardlett did not have to personally partic.i.p.ate in the worthless battle of hunting enemy survivors that was the cause of your injury. Even worse, I cannot say how foolish it was that you suffered a major wound as a result of single combat with a low-ranking soldier.」

I thought you would definitely say that.

「I also gave a strict warning to the one who was attracted there……」

It seems he also scolded Celia.

I got injured because of my own blunder so Celia is not to blame.

「Well, what’s done is done. My wound has healed too, so everything is fine.」

Again, with the feelings of grat.i.tude, I pat the head of Natia, who seems to be having a nightmare.

No, I trouble her on a regular basis, so this isn’t enough.

「I’ll give her a ma.s.sage since she seems tired.」

I reach my arm out to gently rub her neck, back and a.s.s.

「Nnh…… forgive me……」

The front might be stiff too, so I reach around to rub her chest over her clothes.

They aren’t big, but they seem stiff. No, they are stiff.

「Don’t……I am still 76……」

I suddenly realize that Celia isn’t around.

She let me sleep alone and went off somewhere. I have a good idea where she could be.

I arrived at the prisoner interrogation room I asked Leopolt about.

Inside the room is a bed where Christoph is tied to and Zillia whose arms and legs are shackled.

As I consider how I should start a conversation with this guy who betrayed me and genuinely tried to kill me, I hear a strange sound from inside the room.

It’s a high-pitched grating noise.

「This is for gouging……」

I recognize Celia’s adorable yet menacing tone.

「This is for excavating……」

「Listen to me, little miss! I have a woman I must protect at all costs!!」

The weird noise came from an unknown tool in Celia’s hand.

「This is for twisting……fufufu.」

「Hiieeeh!」

Celia snickers as she exposes the clearly maliciously-shaped tool to the flame of a candle.

Then she looks at Christoph with soulless eyes.

「I absolutely cannot forgive you for not only betraying Aegir-sama, but injuring him. I’ll make you regret being born before claiming your life. ……this is a special wooden saw that is really really blunt.」

「Stop! If you’re going to do it, do it to meー!」

Christoph thrashes, but he doesn’t have any hope of breaking free from his restraints.

Celia doesn’t listen to Zillia’s pleas either.

「I will remove one of your b.a.l.l.s first! Then I will listen to a single comment.」

「Uwaaaaaah! I haven’t properly used them yet!!」

「I’ve been waiting for you to use it……uuu.」

At this rate, Celia will do more than remove his b.a.l.l.s, so I stop eavesdropping and enter the room.

「Ah, Aegir-sama! You are healthy enough to get up already!?」

When she sees me, Celia tosses away the mysterious tool and runs over.

「Uwaaaaah!!」

The tool which was heated until it glowed red fell on Christoph’s stomach.

He writhes in pain like an earthworm.

「Fuuー, fuuー!」

The bound Zillia desperately blows air to try and cool him off.

As I pat Celia, who rolls up my clothes to check on my wounds, I brush away the nutcracker-like tool and s.h.i.+ft my chair until I’m sitting beside Christoph.

「Hey.」

「……」

Christoph has difficulty finding the words to reply and returns a troubled look at me.

Even though he usually just speaks without thinking.

「It seems you won’t die in the meantime.」

None of his injuries are life-threatening.

「Yeah……I’ll be fine.」

「What changed? You used to squeal at the slightest p.r.i.c.k of a needle.」

I chuckle as my eyes gaze sharply at him.

「You did it, huh Christoph.」

「Yeah, I did it.」

「What did you do!? You traitor! Idiot! You b.u.mbling virgin!」

Celia pounces on him and clasps her hands around his neck.

Seeing such a cute girl try to strangle a muscular man is quite the hilarious scene…… but he’s actually turning blue.

If this continues, he’ll really be choked to death, so I grab Celia by the collar and pull her back.

「Grrー!」

Celia growls intimidatingly, but I align my hands in front of her chest and carry her away.

That’s a bit premature.

「I couldn’t just abandon Zillia and go back. That’s the only reason……I swear it’s not because I bear any grudges against Aegir……」

「A woman, huh?」

I peer into his eyes.

He doesn’t avert…… no, his eyes dart all over the place, which is what he usually does.

「Celia.」

「Right, are you killing him!?」

I accept the knife Celia takes out.

Christoph does not…… resolve himself, rather he squirms around and screams pathetically.

This is also normal.

「W-wait! Please stop! Don’t kill CHristoph!!」

Zillia drags her shackles and clings to me.

「Fufufu, don’t worry, it’ll be over quickly……wah, wah, my hair.」

As Celia’s expression darkens, I ruffle her hair.

「The one who seduced Christoph was me……that’s why I’ll take responsibility. You enjoy f.u.c.king women, don’t you? Then you’re free to do as you please with my body! You can treat me as your toy, break me…… as long as you spare him……」

Zillia begs with tears in her eyes.

「Fumu, a toy, you say?」

I slowly reach my hand towards Zillia’s chest and peek at Christoph.

「What are you saying, Zillia!? The one who decided to fight the general was me! Uooooh!!」

Christoph cries out and attempts to break free……but he can’t.

It can’t be helped, so I cut his ropes with the knife.

「Uoooh!! I’d rather die gallantly than have you be my subst.i.tute! Go on, do your worst!」

He sits cross-legged in front of me.

「If you say so.」

「W-wait, are you serious!?」

I grab the sword Celia swings without hesitation before she could follow through.

Zillia sticks her body forward to try and protect Christoph, while Christoph pushes her away to keep her from getting involved.

「If I kill him here, I’ll be the villain.」

I chuckle.

「It doesn’t seem like he lied about betraying me for a woman either.」

In the first place, Christoph is not someone who can lie and he shouldn’t be able to risk his life to protect a woman unless he truly felt strongly toward her.

「Falling to pleasure is not out of the question, but I think it’s unlikely for Christoph.」

I also release ZIllia from her restraints.

「I’ll overlook it this time.」

「Really!? You don’t think I’ll leak an important secret or become the cause for Goldonia to struggle in battle?」

I burst out with laughter.

「What do you know? The secrets you’ll leak are p.i.s.s-poor at best.」

「You’re right! Hahaha, nothing comes to mind! Hahahaha!」

Christoph laughs lightheartedly and hugs Zillia.

The woman’s face immediately relaxes……she’s head over heels. Her face tells me that she’s willing to open her legs if she’s stripped here.

「Soft……way too soft……」

Yeah, just like the sweets Celia buys.

“He changed sides for a woman” and “Christoph knows nothing” are simply surface reasons I used to justify what I did.

In reality, the reason is――

「I feel it’s the right thing to do. This is fine.」

It’ll be kind of lonely to see this noisy guy leave though.

「It’s not fine! Let me at least pluck off one of his b.a.l.l.s as compensation!」

I only feel anger coming from the fuss Celia is making, her murderous intent has already disappeared.

She can just kick his a.s.s hard later.

「Christoph, thank goodness……I thought we’d never be together again.」

「Zillia…… I’m also happy.」

This is a totally happy ending for the two of them.

Although, everything hasn’t been wrapped up.

I face the hugging duo with a rather strict expression.

「Don’t let Leopolt or Myla know you are on the enemy side. They aren’t as kind as I am. If Myla find outs, she’ll hang you according to military law and if Leopolt finds you, something more frightening will happen.」

「Ah.」

Christoph and Zillia s.h.i.+ver as Celia cuts her words short.

「Since you earnestly went crazy for a woman and changed sides, in addition to dealing a great blow to me, Leopolt will――」

「Lord Hardlett.」

I turn around and see Leopolt.

Oh yeah, I asked him about this place so it’s not unusual for him to follow me.

「We’re done. Later, Christoph.」

「Good bye.」

Celia and I bid our farewells together.

「Hey, don’t just trail off like that! In any case, I’m going to protect Zillia!」

Leopolt looks down at him with a seemingly colder gaze than usual.

「I should protect her……I want to protect……it would be nice if I could protect……」

Leopolt gives the shaking Christoph a sidelong glance and doesn’t do anything.

「I have nothing to say about the treatment of a single soldier. Do as you wish.」

Instead, his eyes s.h.i.+ft to Zillia.

「However, I have an interest in this woman. If she is indeed the commander of an enemy squad, she might hold useful information on the state of the enemy’s internal affairs.」

Zillia holds out her chest with dignity.

「Since I have surrendered, I will not resist. But I have no intention of leaking anything that would put my nation at a disadvantage!」

Oh, how praiseworthy.

「That’s fine. I didn’t plan on starting with chatter anyways.」

Leopolt places his hand on the tools prepared by Celia.

Zillia’s face warps with terror and sweat drips down the side of her head.

「Hey, you better not be thinking of torturing a woman.」

「That is exactly what I’m thinking.」

This guy said it.

「This girl is only the commander of a small squadron. She won’t know anything besides the orders to ‘attack’ or ‘defend’, right?」

I glance at Zillia, seeking for her to confirm my claim.

「Y-yes. I actually didn’t start off as a commander……I was from a lineage of soldiers so that’s why I was a.s.signed as such during mobilization.」

See? We won’t get anything from this amateur commander.

「Haha, by the way, what were you doing before becoming a commander?」

I ask her, trying to ease the situation.

If I start some pointless conversation, Leopolt should give up.

「……intelligence agency, an interrogator.」

「Ah.」

Leopolt grabs Zillia’s arm to take her away.

But I just thought of a good idea.

「Let’s have Christoph investigate Zillia.」

Celia looks at me in disbelief after what I said.

「Not to be rude, but it’s highly possible that they agreed beforehand to have the same stories, therefore I cannot guarantee the reliability of the information.」

「They’re flirting even now! How do you expect him to do something like investigate!?」

I can tell that much.

Earlier, I came up with a superficial reason to save him.

Now, I’m going to be a little harsher.

「Leopolt, compile the pieces of information you want to extract. Christoph will at the very least draw out each point one by one within a day.」

「B-but he could lie……」

I hold my hand out, indicating for Celia to wait.

「If he is unable to obtain anything or if it becomes known that he lied…… I will punish both of them.」

I fix my eyes on Zillia, who gulps in antic.i.p.ation of what I’ll say.

「You’re going to be f.u.c.ked by me in front of Christoph. Obviously, I’m not going to show any mercy. You can probably tell through my clothes, but I’m pretty big. When I penetrate you, you won’t be able to feel anything from other guys anymore.」

Zillia turns pale.

Next, I direct my attention to Christoph, who wants to protest.

「As for you…… I know. You’ll f.u.c.k Felteris in front of Zillia. You’ll do so until she’s satisfied, of course.」

「Felteris is that girl from the rumors, right? The same genuine pervert who had s.e.x with hundreds of guys and got infected with a disease? The one who also caused one of escort unit to be hospitalized……?」

「Noooooooo! I definitely don’t want a woman like that to precede meeee!」

Zillia screamed louder than when she heard her own punishment.

「This will happen simultaneously, meaning that Zillia will be treated as my plaything while she watches Christoph f.u.c.king another woman.」

The two of them s.h.i.+ver at the thought and clasp their hands together.

「Alright, I’m expecting great results.」

I state with conviction as I turn my back on them.

「Christoph……I’ll teach you how to interrogate so do it properly. If you want, you can torture me too.」

「Stupid…… I’m not going to torture you. This is how I…… interrogate……」

He presses his lips against hers.

「Aah……you’re so cruel. I’m going to spill everything.」

「I’m going to interrogate you more and more――uwaaaah!!」

Celia, who reached her limit at that point, unleashed a kick to the side of Christoph’s head.

It’s pretty much guaranteed that information will get extracted now.

If they deceive me, then I’ll have no choice but to steal away Zillia for real.

It will probably be hard for the two of them at first, but Zillia will eventually fall for me after we connect with each other and Christoph will also give up once her stomach inflates.

There is nothing bad about this.

「Ah, fiend.」

When I walked outside to look for something to eat, an insult suddenly got hurled at me.

It came from a group of elves.

That’s right, the leaders of the elves, Ijaris and Yularen, said that I was made into a bad guy.

「Violating our chieftess into submission…… I knew humans were disgusting. They eat meat too.」

If that’s all, I can take it.

「Apparently, he held down a child who wasn’t even 30 years old and threatened to violate her unless the chieftess had s.e.x with him.」

It’s probably a brutish act, but their concept of age is so different that it hasn’t sunk in yet.

「He also used a drug that increases pleasure by 3000 times before violating her.」

That’s pretty cruel.

If such a drug exists, I’d like to check it out.

They abused me further afterward.

It was definitely not a good feeling, but they made me realize certain things again.

First, the elves truly hate fighting more than anything.

The main reason for their anger is being forced to partic.i.p.ate in a war between humans.

Second, they have more than a little bit of interest in the outside world.

While they were cursing at me, all of them stared at a pa.s.sing wagon and whenever citizens pa.s.sed by them, they would inspect the person’s clothes and shoes with great curiosity.

And lastly.

「All of you are getting along now, huh?」

「「Eh?」」

There are the elves with white skin like Natia and Felteris who live in the forest.

And then, there are the black elves who live in the marsh with dark skin.

They have opposed each other and treated each other with disdain over many generations and never once considered doing anything together.

However, they’re now teaming up with each other to badmouth me.

The two tribes of elves exchange looks and then awkwardly avert their eyes.

「Uu……whatever. Anyways, the chieftess called for you. She said she has something important to discuss.」

「It’s the same with our chieftess. She spoke with a serious tone so you better not think about doing anything indecent!」

After delivering their message while trying to hide their embarra.s.sment, the elves leave.

Their attention gets drawn by some soldiers making soup outside and they stop to check it out.

But when they notice meat in the soup, their faces curl with disgust and they walk off, this time to a stack of bricks for repair purposes.

One of them picks up a brick, but it slips out of her hand and it shatters on the ground.

The elves stare at each other briefly and then dash off at lightning speed. What interesting girls.

I chuckle and then enter the building a.s.signed to the elves.

「So you finally came.」

「We have something important to discuss.」

Waiting for me are the two chieftesses Yularen and Ijaris.

They seem serious.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 25 years old. Summer.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend.

Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator. s.e.x King of White City.

Subordinates:

Myla (rest), Celia (distressed), Irijina (commander), Luna (commander)

Gido (light of hope), Pochi (concealment), Leopolt (distrust), Tristan (staff officer B), Agor (commander)

Yakov (commander of the 105), Mack (military engineer), Jim (negotiating)

Others:

Sekrit (relieved), T-99 (eliminate all targets), Brynhildr (ー)

Natia (total exhaustion), Felteris (antic.i.p.ating), Ijaris (aroused), Yularen (aroused)

Annette (princess of the 105), Piris (joyful), Baroness Escaote (astonished), Seika (astonished), Naesys (sisterly love), Nasis (sisterly love), Busco (prostrating), Ivanna (drinking), Christoph (interrogator of love), Zillia (prisoner of love)

Army – Southern Goldonia

Under Protagonist:

Escort Unit: 50

Infantry: 4100

Cavalry: 480

Archers: 550

Cannoneers: 360

Bow Cavalry: 6700

Independent Celia Squad: 390

Conscripts + Security Unit: 8800

Cannons: 40, Large Cannons: 21, Dwarven Cannons: 15, Field Artillery: 15, Chariots: 35

————————————————————————————————

Reinforcements / Allied Forces

105 Army Corps: 3100

Fleet

Battles.h.i.+p Suvorov, Battles.h.i.+p Aless of Aless, and others: All grounded.

Transport s.h.i.+ps: 20

————————————————————————————————

Ally Forces: Royal Army: 38 000

Conscripts: 45 000

Enemy Force: Regular Soldiers: 20 000?

Conscripts: 40 000?

Cavalry Army: 10 000??

a.s.sets: -10 000 gold

s.e.xual Partners: 794, children who have been born: 69 + 567

Current Location: within the city of Tortoent