Hakai no Miko

"Are you the commander of these Zoans...?

A few days after the fort was dropped, the imprisoned Assistant Commander Marcronis was taken to his former room with a rope tied behind his back.

I was wondering if there was a black-haired Zoan who had beaten himself down, but it was the human child and Zoan woman who welcomed him there.

From the circumstances, either of these two must have called themselves in.

I thought so, and Marcronis was surprised to observe the two of them.

Zoan's woman rounds out her alertness and finds herself nervous about every single step of Marcronis' throw. This is not an attitude that calls people and tries to listen, no matter how you look at it.

Then it becomes the human child who summoned himself.

I had already heard in a report from Setius that it was a human child who commanded Zoan, but I couldn't help but wonder if that could happen, even if I actually saw it this way.

"I'm sorry to call you in. I say," Ethereal Horse. "Next door is Shemr, the Fang Family."

The commander of the occupying forces who summoned the prisoners is a very unlikely and gentle attitude. After staring at the face of such a pale horse for a while, Marcronis said.

"I'm Marcronis. The rank is Assistant Squadron Leader."

I can't see the mysterious engraving of the example because I have a bowl roll wrapped around my forehead, but the face looked familiar.

"After all, was it you..."

Without a doubt, he is the mysterious son that Setius brought to the fort.

"Do you know me?

"You won't remember, but I was there when you were brought to this fort."

"I was brought... from where?

Marcronis thought it would be something much stranger to hear.

Do you think I didn't know where I was?

"For more information, tell your men who brought you here to ask. I wish I wasn't dead."

Ironically, the Ethereal Horse showed a slightly lost bare gesture.

"... no. It's good now."

Bringing Marcronis to his room, the Ethereal Horse said to Zoan, who still holds the tip of the rope that bound him.

"I want to talk to you, so could you untie the rope and do it?

"Are you sure?

In response to Zoan's questioning gaze holding the rope, Shemr asked the pale horse on his behalf.

"Yeah. 'Cause I don't look like the kind of person who would badly ramble on here and make my people's positions worse, and I have a sheml to it"

"I'm not impressed."

With that said in his mouth, his mouth is moving munchkingly because he endures that he is about to be annoyed by the words of the Ethereal Horse who trusts him.

"Thanks, it's easier"

When Shemr untied the rope from his hand, Marcronis turned his arm to relax his stiff shoulder because he was tied up and could not move his arm freely.

I notice a pale horse staring wonderfully at me like that.

"What's wrong with you?

"I never thought I'd thank her."

Marcronis turned his gaze on Shemru and then convinced him to "oh".

"Did you wonder that I dealt normally with Zoan"

"Yes, because the only person I've ever seen was someone who treated Zoan like a beast."

"I can't do that either. In the army, you educate the soldiers that Zoan is an inferior beast. Regardless of each soldier, somehow when they become a group, the soldiers start competing for atrocities against Zoan. You probably saw soldiers like that."

"Then why are you?

"I was originally the mercenary of the stream. Born and raised mercenaries include subraces such as Dwarves and Dinosaurians - all the time, excuse me"

Marcronis reworded it because calling non-human species "sub-races" is a discriminatory term.

"There were mercenaries of other races. When I was little, it was stealing bread and getting fistbones from Dwarf bakers, and getting shoulder cars for silent but carefree Dinosaurian warriors. I haven't even heard of ecclesiastics in those days, and they were all treated normally."

"Then why do you teach Zoan to be an inferior beast?

Marcronis thought it was something he'd hear a lot strange.

Most humans do not question these national measures or military coaching.

Because the king who lays down the measures of the country governs the people as the representative of God, and the army is meant to keep the soldiers from that king. It is a very ordinary popular perception that it is like a natural dish ordained by God.

But Marcronis, who has crossed various countries as a mercenary and changed his master many times to serve, knows that it is only a push of logic on the part of the ruler.

"It's more convenient."

Teaching young people with a promising future for the elderly is one of the pleasures. That made Marcronis no exception, and he wanted to try and teach this unusual boy what he thought.

"Humans, more. It will continue to grow. More mouths eat that much. To keep everyone from starving, we have to increase the number of fields that make wheat and imo. And we need land for that."

"I know that. You drove Zoan to get the plains."

"Exactly."

I said it in a teacher-like tone that complimented outstanding students.

"It's a strange thing to be human. I love words like justice and orthodoxy for some reason, even though what I do is barbaric. Even though we just want to take the land from which we make what we eat, Zoan is an inferior race to be destroyed, and it's better to teach Zoan it's justice to drive him from the plains, but the soldiers work in a good mood. That's military policy."

"Even if it's something you don't believe so, is it?

"Oh. What happens if one of me defies military policy? I am dismissed and only someone else will do the same on my behalf"

I laughed bitterly as though that was reality.

"Of other races, but many recruits learn to resist taking that life. But in a war, for a moment or so, you're going to kill him. So I teach you that other races can kill, on the contrary, they are the ones to kill. Don't hesitate when you have to."

Marcronis turned his attention to Shemr.

"I know this is unpleasant for you, but I'm more important to my men than a stranger, Zoan."

"Not at all. That's an unpleasant story."

Shemru also told Dewy of his disgust.

When Marcronis sneers slightly at Shemr's frank remarks, he becomes a superior.

"You don't have a word to give back. Compared to us, Zoan said that instead of putting prisoners in his hands, he even treated them for injuries."

"Naturally! We Zoan are proud warriors!

The Ethereal Horse smiled bitterly as Shemru prided himself with his chest stretched.

By humiliating himself and lifting Zoan, Marcronis took the tenets to ensure the safety of the captured soldiers.

I feel alarmed by this lack of leakage, but at the same time I feel somewhere unhateable affection, perhaps because that lack of leakage is used to ensure the safety of my men.

"Don't worry. Originally, we didn't want to do anything about the prisoner. You can continue to treat the wounded as you have always done."

When the Ethereal Horse, who perceived the intention, assured him of his men's safety, he opened his eyes slightly before Marcronis corrected his posture and lowered his head deeply.

"Thank you for your consideration"

"However, we intend to limit the scope of action and the number of people we act with so that we are not rebelled against, and put on surveillance"

"Natural consideration. - So, I just have to tell everyone about it, right?

He's still an indestructible person, the Ethereal Horse thought.

We have already told them that the Zoans will not harm the prisoners, but it is better to tell them from the mouth of their own superiors that the prisoners will also believe. Just in case the prisoners rebel in the status quo, it will be a big deal.

"Yes, that would help"

"I'm not thankful. It's for each other."

So the Ethereal Horse laughed and showed Nicole.

"Then, for each other's sake, could you tell us a lot?

"... What's a lot?

"For example, about the city south of the plain,"

Marcronis grinned strongly.

Will the crusaders come to the plains, if so, when, and on what scale?

If they were to ask me, I just thought these were the questions.

But what I have heard is about the city. That's to say you're after the city, not the Torito.

"I'll tell you in advance, I plan to hear from my people later,"

That is a warning that there is no use in lying or hiding.

I'm not keeping my mouth shut beforehand, so even if I lie or hide things here, I'll strain Marcronis and his men as soon as I straighten them out.

Marcronis dropped his shoulder and sighed.

"... Shit. I totally forgot."

"What is it?

"This is what I thought when they dropped the fort in your ruse. Whoever thought of this ruse attacked the soldiers, not the fort. Soldiers are human too. If you're tired of taking care of wounded and sick soldiers every day, your attention is off limits. If you think a wounded companion has come, you can't afford to doubt it and open the gate. And if they tell me I won't kill you if I don't resist, I want to lower my weapon, too. We all have stunning weak parts of humans.

"... you mean cowardly?

To the question of the Ethereal Horse, Marcronis shook his neck wide beside him.

"That's not what I meant. For example, in an ordinary person like me, if you drop a fort, make a siege weapon available first. I wondered what it would take to get over that wall, and how long it would take to break that wall.

But you attacked the human heart in the fort, not the fort. I see, the fort is an enemy fort because it has enemy soldiers. Breaking a fort or dropping an enemy soldier has the same result.

And it's the same now. If you're just trying to protect the Zoans, think about how you can defeat the humans attacking the plains. But that's not all you're trying to do. "

Marcronis looked into the eyes of a pale horse.

"You seem to see something different from us ordinary people. And you know what we people call people like that?

When the Ethereal Horse shook his neck to the side, Marcronis said with a bad grin.

"Call me a hero, or destroyer. Well, who the hell are you?

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

"Hey, Shemr. What are our enemies?

After Marcronis, who finished the conversation, was taken out of the room, the Ethereal Horse asked Shemr, who had refrained by his side.

"You ask weird things. Of course, aren't you a human soldier?

Shemr's answer was simple and clear.

But the answer was, it didn't stick to the Ethereal Horse.

Until now, among the Ethereal Horses, the humans of this world had slaughtered Zoan, and the image of the soldiers who entertained his body was strong.

But Marcronis, who should be responsible for one end of that Zoan massacre, was a man who could be said to be intelligent, not out of religious zeal, not out of the joy of abusive (shuddering), but merely because he was doing it as a duty.

Of course, that's not why the Zoan massacre is allowed.

Indeed, Marcronis and the human soldiers are enemies who are trying to destroy Zoan.

Definitely for that.

I know that with my head, but for some reason, my mind doesn't convince me.

It's like when I was doing my favorite RPG, it's a mocking feeling when I defeated the Demon King but the Volatile Line wasn't recovered at all until then. At that time, all the mysteries were revealed with the appearance of the Great Demon King, who was manipulating the defeated Demon King, but I'll think about it again this time.

If the human soldiers are not the real enemies, I wondered if the army to which the soldiers belong is the enemy.

But I feel kind of different.

If it's not an army, I wondered if the country to which it belongs is the enemy, but I feel different about that too.

If it's not a country, I thought it was ecclesiastical itself, but I feel it's different too.

Then I wondered if it was humans themselves, but I still feel different about that too.

So, what the hell is it?

It's an obscure thing that I still don't know the color or shape of, but it was sprouting in a pale horse.

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

Inside a small cave on the edge of Hognalea Hill, an anomaly was occurring.

The cave is a nest of evil men who once knew their children and daughters from the nearby pioneering village and dedicated them to evil things.

But the evildoers who were there were slaughtered and killed without one by the soldiers of Holmea, and their wreckage was abandoned. Nowadays, the wreckage was also devoured as a precious feed for the animals that crossed the winter, leaving only about a tiny bit of rot, bones and hair.

And where it was the altar, the statue of the evil goddess, who had gathered the faith of the wicked all together, was shattered and left as a pile of rubble.

From that pile of rubble, a rat gave his face a chirping little squeal.

Rats sniff around, no matter what. When the rat, relieved even though he had no enemies, jumped out of the pile of rubble, rushing over to the wreckage of the cult in a deceptive move, he began to sharpen the meat stuck to his bones with his front teeth.

It was a rat that was making a rubbish and making a noise and cutting off the rot, but the movement stops perfectly by accident. And when I wondered if my mustache started shaking small with a pull, Pi made a small squeal and ran out of the cave.

The cave, where the little landlord had left, was filled with breathless silence.

I hear a little laugh coming from somewhere so as to dispel that silence.

It sounds like an old beast's grunt to a young girl's outrageous laughter.

Unexpectedly, he began to move so that the wreckage of the cult, scattered throughout the cave, was dragged over the ground as if it had been grabbed by an invisible hand.

Looking down directly from the top, it gathers around a certain point, as if it were sand iron drawn to a magnet.

The crushed statue of the goddess is at its heart.

The wreckage of the gathered cults covers up the pile of debris that was the statue of the goddess and creates a mountain of wreckage.

And a single white arm protruded with a damp sound from among the hills of its wreckage. A bright white thin arm with no blemishes of that point drags his body up from the midst of a mountain of wreckage as he grabs the void.

And what showed up was a girl dressed in a pure white piercing coat with no dirt.

"Oh, my dear Ethereal Horse! My clever Ethereal Horse! You finally noticed!

The girl laughed as she stared at the side that had become the wall of the cave.

"My stupid Ethereal Horse! Without knowing, you're trying to get there!

If we could have overlooked (fumbled) this world, we would have realized that far before the girl stared, there was a fort to be built on the Sorbiant plains.

"It's the seed fire of death (the rat) you bring! Not just Zoan, but Dinosaurians, Marmans, Dwarves, Elves, Harpurans, and even humans! Growing into a flame where everyone can't help but burn down their bodies and minds, a small seed fire! I'm sorry the flames don't just burn people all over the continent. It will burn to a distant future!

It is the seed of destruction that you sow! Villages, cities and nations, turn everything into rubble, nourish it and sprout, little seeds! That bud will eventually become a great tree and cover the entire continent!

The girl's laughter clings shady to the cave.

"Oh, Ethereal Horse! My only son! My dear, dear Ethereal Horse!