Tales of the Old World Demon Lord
Chapter 39 – Gentle fallout
[Eternum Calendar 1971]
A few days had passed since everything was over.
The battle had drawn to a close with no real conclusion. With only a single ominous promise left up in the air, the snow dyed town of Snowdown had regained its ‘normalcy’.
A town-wide memorial service was held for the people who had lost their lives or had gone missing during the ordeal. A solemn and sober mood elapsed upon the town as its residents tried to return to their daily lives. It was likely that in time the small, tranquil town would restore its lost lustre, but for now it was a time of quiet contemplation.
Everything was over. The horrific Blood Ritual was stopped, the Crystalline Goblins had disappeared once the Golden Monolith was destroyed and the ringleader was defeated. What should have been a happy ending for the townspeople only served as a reminder of how truly powerless they were against an overwhelming evil.
…
“I’m sorry.”
Morgant apologized in a soft voice as he turned away. Standing in front of him was a girl who was supposedly his older sister, Este Fallon, yet he was unable to meet her eyes as he told her the truth. Without leaving out any minute detail, he had revealed the situation to her and how Sipher’s body was being used as a puppet by Dian Cecht.
Her eyes grew more distant and colder than the very snow before her; she tried to deny this knowledge but reality was hard to dismiss. As an orphan his entire life, he had understood to some extent the kind of loneliness and sadness that she must have been going through. ‘I’m her family… but also not,’ Morgant thought to himself; they were related by blood but to each other they were as distant as strangers.
“Why…?”
Perhaps she had finally understood and accepted her cruel fate. Tears ran down her face as she fell to the cold concrete floor. It was a pain that Morgant only knew in theory, through Sovereign’s memories, about losing a loved one. He grimaced looking over her trembling figure but he had deemed that it was better to get over this as soon as she could.
All he could do was watch over her and comfort her as her small weeping was drowned by the harsh tundra of the land.
…
As night fell, the orphanage had also recovered a twinge of its everyday normalcy. Yet it was undeniable that an atmosphere of awkwardness hovered in the air from the fallout of the event. Most of the children had returned to their usual vigor, yet four children held themselves back contemplating the traumatic experience that they had just gone through.
Morgant sat down by his window, gazing up at the bright blue sovereign of the night sky. He had temporarily lost his sleeping place as Este was forced to lodge there now that she was a true ‘orphan’. The one piece of information that Morgant had withheld was the truth of his heritage and their blood relation, it simply wasn’t the right time.
Also sleeping on the bed besides his was Alice. She had not yet fully regained consciousness even after a few days had passed since the ordeal had ended. Luckily her coma seemed to be slowly lifted as she would sometimes react to outside stimuli. With this a breath of relief overcame her friends as they hopefully waited for the day she would open her eyes once more.
During his quiet contemplation on what to do next, a peculiar guest had arrived riding the cold night air.
“Hi~ did you miss me, Morgant?”
The appearance of a child-sized Demon Lord was not at all unexpected, or rather Morgant was expecting her to arrive even sooner. All the same, he sighed as he dryly laughed at her entrance.
“Astaroth… isn’t it about time you learnt about choosing the right ‘time and place’?”
“Now, now~ don’t sweat the small stuff.”
She announced playfully accompanied by her cheerful and hearty smile. Her soft features and skin accentuated by the allure of the moon, for a brief moment Morgant had lost his composure and was lost in her pace.
“Ahem, well I can pretty much guess at why you’re here.”
“Ah, really? As expected of my future husband, you know exactly what I’m thinking~ This must be what they call ‘the power of love’, right? Ehehe~”
“If I had to, I’d say it’s much closer to the power of ‘observation and speculation’. Besides, you and I have shared no time together to develop any such feelings that could even remotely be called ‘love’.”
At his heartless answer, Astaroth puffed up her cheeks as she turned away with a vain ‘hmph~!’.
“Well whatever, we’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed but the real reason I’m here is to ask what you were going to do next.”
Astaroth’s tone shifted into a much more serious and authoritative one. He had already understood this from before, but once again his thoughts that Astaroth was actually a fairly mature and competent leader was affirmed. Looking deep into her crimson eyes he saw many different things and among those were her true motives. ‘So it’s finally come to this,’ he thought to himself, Astaroth’s true intentions from the beginning was recruitment, or so he believed.
Morgant had proved himself as a very capable strategist and a powerful combatant. It would be the desire of every leader to have such a strong piece on their side as war inevitably hung on the horizon. He didn’t blame her, because if their situations had been reversed he would have tried to do the exact same thing.
He cleared his through to also move onto a more serious tone.
“I’m not sure; to be honest there are so many things that need to be done that I’m at a loss on where to even begin.”
Unsatisfied by his vague answer, Astaroth tried to push him into making a more decisive choice.
“Hmm~ is that so? Then why not come with me to the capital? Eventually your destiny is to go there, so it shouldn’t hurt to be a little ahead of schedule, right? I’ll also do everything in my power to help you accomplish whatever ‘goals’ you had in mind.”
At her proposal, Morgant chuckled. It was too according to the script that Morgant had in mind for the progression of his conversation that it was funny.
“Hahaha… You’ll help me with my goals? Certainly it’s the other way around isn’t it? That from the very beginning you’ve planned to involve me in your little war against those red bastards, or am I wrong?”
“Eh? Was it that obvious?”
“Aha~ of course it is. Well, I don’t blame you and I do feel like giving those bastards a taste of their own medicine. I also think that a forward defense strategy isn’t particularly that bad of an idea to protect this town.”
As she heard his answer her expression lightened up. She leaned in closer to his face with her bright red eyes and an almost stupidly happy smile. Her face was so close that they could feel the other’s breath softly blowing on their lips.
“Ah! So then-”
Astaroth’s brief moment of happiness was interrupted.
“I will not allow this.”
A third party had abruptly joined the conversation, Morgant and Astaroth moved their faces away from each other. Slowly as the door crept open, the intruder’s identity was revealed to be Miko. She had been there the entire time listening in on Astaroth’s little night raid and proposal.
Miko’s boots tapped upon the wooden floor as she strode with a menacing stare towards Astaroth. Dwarfing over her child-sized opponent with her arms crossed she showed a hostile grimace.
“Miko?”
Morgant called out to her, but was swiftly ignored after a small glance.
“Going to war? Do you think that there’s any chance that I’ll accept this kind of absurd proposal? Just what kind of horrible person would send a seven year old to the front lines? You really call yourself the leader of this nation with such shallow and dangerous thinking?”
Carefully to not wake the other children, Miko talked down the Demon Lord. Her eyes seething with nothing but enmity towards the red headed queen; before being a citizen of this country, she was a guardian of the children in this orphanage, she was prepared to go against an entire country to protect them.
“Miko… was it? It’s not that I don’t understand your point of view, but don’t you think it’s a little too after the fact to suggest that he is a normal seven year old? You’ve seen it with your own eyes just what kind of person he is, yet you still intend to coddle him like a child?”
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It was a strange feeling that Morgant was going through as he witnessed the scene of Astaroth and Miko bickering. On one hand there was a figure that was akin to a ‘girlfriend’ and on the other was a person that was very much his ‘mother’. It was almost comical, if not for the fact that he knew exactly how serious Miko could get when it came to the protection of the children.
“Of course I will, I am his guardian. I don’t care if you’re a Demon Lord or a God, I will not allow anyone to take him away from this place.”
“I think you’re mistaking something but I never said that I’d take him away from here forcefully. I was merely giving him the opportunity to reach even greater heights by coming with me.”
“Coming with you to the front lines of war you mean. He’s only a seven year old that knows very little about the world, even if he is so truly talented it won’t do for you to bring him to such a horrible place.”
Even as she bore her fangs towards the leader of an entire nation, Astaroth seemed to have little intentions of reprimanding her for it. Both she and Morgant understood that Miko’s feeling of enmity arose only due to the fact that she was prioritizing Morgant’s well being. This was not something they could find it in their heart to fault.
Still, what was needed to be said, was said by Astaroth.
“Only a seven year old? That I truly wonder… still, I won’t deny that my motives for wanting to take him with me are purely selfish. He has an excellent sense for understanding the flow of battle, superb strategic skills and other such unique qualities that make him perfect as a battlefield general. For such a person it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call him this country’s ‘national treasure’. However, you’re right. Coming with me means that he will inevitably be dragged into a massive conflict spanning multiple continents and with it he will almost definitely be exposed to the harshness of true war; he will lose the ability to live a normal and peaceful youth.”
“Then you should stop-”
As Miko was about to interject she was stopped as Astaroth continued with an embittered town. She herself realized the most that what she was doing was an atrocity, recruiting a child to war but she couldn’t help it. She had already seen his future and this was his eventual destiny, so if that was the case then she had thought it was better to have him acclimate sooner and accept the cruelness of reality.
“Even I feel guilty about trying to drag him into all of this, but I can’t help it… this is for the best.”
Astaroth answers with her voice becoming more and more hesitant and distant.
“You…”
Miko could not understand, it was impossible for her to understand. Both Morgant and Astaroth were thinking on completely different planes than she was; they both had some sort of knowledge and experience that she didn’t.
For Astaroth she held the future and understood the bleakness of it.
For Morgant he held the past along with all of the triumphs and failures
In her mind she could sort of understand what Astaroth was trying to say, but her heart would not allow it. She tried to interject once more but was cut off, this time by Morgant.
“It’s fine Miko.”
Morgant raised his hand to physically stop the argument. He looked back at her with a small smile.
“What do you mean it’s fine? She just said it herself that you’d be dragged into a war. This isn’t something as trivial as a fist fight and is on a completely different level than the ordeal our town faced. This is actual war where people can die.”
Yet upon hearing those words Morgant’s expression turned exceedingly dark. Though this morbid aura had dissipated almost instantly, they could still feel the uncomfortable, lingering aftertaste as the unconsciously shrieked back. Standing before them was no longer just a secretive yet innocent child, but an incomprehensible and dark existence.
“… Thanks Miko, but I already know. More than anyone else, just what kind of place war is… I’ve already known for quite some time.”
‘Are you really okay with this? Becoming Sovereign means that you’ll be at the center of all strife and hatred; an entity that perpetuate war.’
A sudden memory lapsed onto Morgant’s mind. It was an imperfect memory, their faces had become obscured and their voices hard to determine. At the very least he was sure that it wasn’t Sovereign’s old friend, but someone also close to him.
“Morgant…?”
Seeing the dazed state that Morgant had suddenly fallen into, Miko called out to him as she waved his hand in front of his face to get his attention. With a small chuckle he revived himself and asked with solemn expression.
“Are you not disappointed? That this is really the kind of person I am; always scheming something behind your backs, deceptive and suspicious of others. I know that, because Miko is such a kind hearted person, you wouldn’t hesitate to accept even someone like me. But I myself cannot come to see it as fine to burden you like this.”
At his reply Miko silently shook her head, not in anger or disappointment but simply out of ‘sadness’. It juxtaposed forcibly in his mind, both the silhouette of the figure in his mind and Miko’s. As if silently questioning his trust in his ‘family’, to that Morgant had no real answer and only shamefully turned away, unable to meet her eye to eye.
“Do you honestly think that, Morgant? That you’d be a burden to us? Stop being so selfish, just what exactly does a seven year old brat think he knows? Kids should act like kids. Also I’m not so kind as to let you just walk away from here and do what you want with your life. Not just me, but everyone else here; your friends, Diana and even the people in town, they will all accept you no matter what. So don’t leave, your true place is here with us.”
"Don't... go..."
Amidst his hesitation, it was a weak and soft voice that had helped Morgant push his final decision. Alice, on the surface she still seemed unconscious so it was unknown if she was replying to the current conversation or if she was simply sleep talking, but it was enough. ‘There’s still a lot to do…’ his mind was made.
He turned to Astaroth.
“I wanted to ask about that precognition ability of yours.”
“What about it?”
Astaroth asked as she tilted her head slightly to the side. ‘Hmm?’ she hummed cutely, looking back with her large red eyes.
“How accurate are your visions?”
“My visions? Well, this ability isn’t omnipotent and it can’t be used for battling purposes, so pretty much the only thing I can see are small glimpses into the future. Even then since I don’t know much about the full context surrounding it I’m often confused, but that being said, whatever I do see, it will come true without fail.”
“Is that so…? Then one more question. In that vision of yours, am I besides you?”
Astaroth smiled.
“Of course! It’s been destined since a long time ago after all!”
Morgant closed his eyes and took in the chilly night air. He nodded, ‘I see,’ whispering to himself he opened his eyes once more.
“Then in that case there’s no reason for me to go with your now, because our inevitable future has already been set in motion, right?”
Both Miko and Astaroth froze for a brief second. It was Astaroth who broke the ice, unable to hold back laughter.
“Ahaha~ certainly for sure. Alrighty then, I’ll give up for today; knowing that you’ll eventually come to my side is enough. Then… I’ll be waiting for you at the capital~”
Astaroth’s wings expanded as she positioned herself to take off from the windowsill. She turned back once more to blow a kiss and flew off into the night sky as the large blue moon gazed down at her with gentle serenity. Just as quickly as she arrived, she had disappeared.
“Are you sure you’re okay with that decision?”
Miko asked, a little uneasy.
“Well… there are still a lot of things here that need to be done. I’ll be in your care until then, Miko.”
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This finally concludes the first arc. It actually took a lot longer than what I had originally anticipated but, well, it's fine I guess.
Now, unfortunately Morgant will have to take a little bit of a back seat for the second arc but I promise you that he will be back even better than ever! I do hope you all enjoy the second arc since there will be a bit more action involved with Nemesis.