The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

[Daemon is a vulgar one even among demons. No matter how good his bloodline is, it doesn’t make sense to marry Keiberess to such a man.]

[Daemon is a child favored by the Demon King. We who pledge loyalty to the Demon King are merely offering our daughter, so how can you question his private life?]

[Our daughter is not an object! How can you express it that way!]

Daemon.

Keiberess called Daemon’s name as she rushed toward the gate.

Daemon.

That cursed name that had dominated her heart since they first met entwined her body and mind like a living vine. But Keiberess was unaware of what she was doing. Right now, her mind was filled only with the thought of judging these filthy people who had defiled both her love and her husband.

Even when she saw hastily prepared ladders coming behind her on horseback and soldiers running with cold sweat, even when soldiers pierced with countless arrows screamed and tumbled, she was still swinging her sword toward the wall with a hot head.

[Daemon. Busy today too? I want to spend the night together today. Sometimes come visit my tent.]

[Sorry, Keiberess. I have some work today. I’m busy, so I can’t be with you.]

“Daemon isn’t that kind of man!”

With Keiberess’s cry, a soldier’s head fell off. The soldier who died as the outlet for the demon’s anger had an expression of not understanding why she was talking about ‘Daemon’.

But there were more demon soldiers dying from boiling oil, arrows, and long spears than Keiberess climbing the wall and slaughtering soldiers.

Soldiers screaming in pain while clutching their limbs. Soldiers clinging to the wall like cockroaches, knowing their fate but reluctantly continuing. Like ascetics who voluntarily choose the path of hardship, they were pushing themselves into the flames.

Keiberess. Still not realizing her mistake, she shed tears and swung her sword. Another soldier collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest.

[I believe Daemon will change after marriage. Because he said he loves me. He promised to look only at me and said he would take care of me.]

“I’ll kill you all!”

The sword thrusting towards a soldier missed to the side. Keiberess faced the blonde hero. The hero began a power struggle with a stern face, his blue eyes flashing. Keiberess gritted her teeth as if it were ridiculous and tried to push the hero away, but.

Bang!

“Kkeuk…!”

It was she who was pushed back instead. Keiberess’s body was slammed into a corner of the wall, and with a boom, the demons’ bodies stiffened. The momentary gap caused countless casualties and spewed a rain of corpses over the fortress.

Falling corpses and screams. Keiberess frowned at the warm stream of blood flowing down her head. There was a ringing in her ears, and conversations from the past passed through her head like a panorama.

[Viezra. You seem in a good mood these days.]

[Ah, Lady Keiberess. Does it show? I’ve had some good news.]

Daemon couldn’t have done that.

[I wonder why Lord Daemon only places women in his units?]

[Haven’t you heard that rumor? The rumor that daughters of demon nobility who want to achieve merit offer their bodies to Lord Daemon and voluntarily go to war.]

Daemon isn’t that kind of man.

[Viezra. Everything about you seems born to excite me. I’ve embraced many women today, but I still see your body shimmering like a mirage. If I weren’t married, I might have proposed to you. You’re a truly beautiful and lovely woman. Even today, I’m dreaming of you.]

Daemon couldn’t betray me.

[I believe Daemon will change after marriage. Because he said he loves me. He promised to look only at me and said he would take care of me.]

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

The scream of a demon soldier brought her back to reality from her delusion. Reflexively turning her head and rolling her body, she narrowly avoided a sword strike aimed at her neck. The hero clicked his tongue and took his stance again, and on the narrow battlement, only the hero and Keiberess faced each other.

A tense situation.

But Keiberess wasn’t looking at the hero. Her eyes took in the soldiers falling like flower petals and the arrows advancing diagonally. She saw corpses rolling on the ground spewing bright red blood and boiling oil.

Keiberess finally realized that she had been swept up in emotions and given nonsensical commands.

She had thrown herself into an unwinnable battle, sacrificing soldiers, and now she stood on the battlement covered in wounds. Overwhelmed by the feeling that her world was completely collapsing, Keiberess held her head. This pain piercing from her temple to the crown of her head wasn’t just from the wound.

Only the hero’s figure was clear in her blurry vision.

The hero pointed his sword and said:

“Drop your weapon. There’s no chance of winning, and I don’t want to lose soldiers in a meaningless battle.”

“……How many women did Daemon meet?”

The hero looked at Keiberess with pitiful eyes, then shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. Soldiers still fighting. The number of demon soldiers was endlessly decreasing, but the fortress wasn’t without damage either.

The wounded were carried to the rear following Ashuria’s guidance, and soldiers were blown away by the enemy’s siege weapons. The hero was a bit annoyed with Keiberess who was still talking about women even at this moment. The pity he had felt for her disappeared like dust the moment he realized they were invaders.

“…..You’re emotional too.”

Keiberess felt a surge of irritation at the hero’s nonchalant statement. Everything she had was collapsing here. Her reputation as a commander, her military achievements, her love. She didn’t expect sympathy from the enemy, but she hadn’t revealed her emotions to be mocked like this either.

“What’s wrong with me being emotional? Everything is already over. What can you gain by further mocking the loser?”

“If you had shown such empathy when invading the kingdom, we could have talked on equal terms. An invader seeking empathy, what a joke not even worth telling.”

The hero adjusted his grip on the sword. Keiberess closed her mouth at those words. She was clearly an invader before being a warrior. The demand to respect the loser wasn’t applicable in this land.

“I see.”

Keiberess lowered her sword and smiled. Now that everything had collapsed, she could finally smile lightly.

She could forget the love that had bound her and the family name on her back, here and now.

“But, you don’t know. Why we came to this land. You don’t know at all.”

The hero frowned as he was taking his stance. Keiberess’s statement was talking about things unknown.

A stone flew between the two, and a soldier aiming at the hero’s side was hit by the porter’s knife and flew into the air.

Keiberess grabbed the neck of a soldier aiming at her back and threw him towards the hero.

The soldier who rolled on the ground fled in another direction, avoiding Keiberess.

The hero said:

“What do you mean? What purpose did you have for coming down to this land?”

Keiberess smiled.

“As you said, we are invaders. We can’t talk on equal terms. If you want to hear information from me, kneel down and surrender. Then I’ll bestow my words upon you.”

“I’m going to cut you down and end this battle.”

“I won’t be captured easily.”

The hero didn’t nod. He didn’t even answer. Instead, the hero stepped forward first and extended his sword towards Keiberess. Keiberess tried to raise her weapon to block the hero’s sword.

“Kkeuk…!”

But before she could raise her weapon, with a metallic impact sound, Keiberess’s wrist twisted in a bizarre direction.

Ashuria.

Ashuria had thrown a stone while staring directly at Keiberess.

The stone that twisted her wrist bounced off diagonally and rolled on the ground.

The light tuk, tuk sound was exceptionally clear in Keiberess’s ears.

Keiberess looked at her hand with a bewildered expression and realized she had lost sight of the hero.

“Oh no…!”

With her one word, the hero’s sword slashed upward across her chest. Deep wounds and blood drops scattered in the air. The hero was looking up at Keiberess with an expressionless face, and her sword rolled feebly on the ground.

Her head cooled, and strength drained from her entire body.

“Da-Daemon…!”

Writhing in pain, Keiberess stretched her hand into the air. Her eyelids trembled, and the sky turned into various colors before turning white again. Until the last moment, she couldn’t let go of her obsession, calling Daemon’s name.

She tried to close her eyes, burying the name of her loved one in her heart with one last cry.

She thought it was fortunate at least to die as a warrior without being captured by enemies.
Bang!
“Urgh…!”

“Heal.”

Until Ashuria, who had leaped to the battlement in one breath, thrust her knuckles emanating suspicious energy into Keiberess’s side and whispered a healing spell.

That’s what she believed she could do.