The Champion's Return
Page 26
“When all’s said and done, they’re just a bunch of ignorant slaves. Since they don’t know how to shoot bows, they’re just yelling to distract us. Forget about them, keep advancing!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers readied their spears once more and bore down on Draulight. Draulight turned his back on the advancing soldiers and shouted up to his comrades, “Come on, is that all you’ve got!? Let these assholes know we’re not slaves! Show them our pride!”
The soldiers raised their eyebrows.
“What the heck’s that guy on about?”
“Slaves don’t have any pride. Hell, they’re not even worthy of being called human...”
But the slaves continued shouting and thrusting their sticks into the snow.
“Don’t let Draulight die!”
“Goddammiiiiiit!”
Even as the slaves shouted, the soldiers continued advancing on Draulight. Right before they reached him, he suddenly started running.
“He’s trying to get away!”
“Chase him!”
The soldiers focused their attention on Draulight, and only Draulight. Which was why they didn’t realize there was an avalanche heading toward them until it was right on top of them.
That evening, the few survivors of the ill-fated assault returned home.
“You got caught in an avalanche!?”
The commander who’d ordered the attack was speechless. He hadn’t expected only a fraction of the two hundred men he’d sent out to return. There weren’t enough of them left to form even a single platoon. The soldiers who’d returned were all unhurt, but that just meant they hadn’t been able to rescue their wounded. Moreover, they all told their commander the same story.
“Our captains went missing in the avalanche, and the slaves launched a fierce counterattack. We were too disorganized to rescue our injured. It was hard enough to save our own lives.”
The truth was that these soldiers had all fled the moment they’d seen the avalanche, which was why they’d been spared. But none of them were going to admit they deserted.
“Shit...this isn’t good.” The commander paled underneath his ornately decorated helm. “We’ve lost two hundred-man squads. And to a pack of slaves, no less...”
Just then, Schwerin entered the commander’s tent, flanked by his guards.
“Please explain what happened here, commander,” Schwerin said calmly.
“Y-Your Excellency Lord Schwerin!”
“I’ve brought four hundred cavalry with me as reinforcements, but it appears your advance party has been wiped out.”
“S-Sir! I humbly apologize for this failure! An avalanche happened to occur just as my pursuit squad reached the slaves, and...”
Schwerin thoughtfully interjected, “I wonder, was that avalanche really a coincidence?”
“What do you mean?” the commander asked timidly.
Schwerin shook his head and said, “It’s not important. What is important is that if word gets out, you’ll all be court-martialed. Not only did you lose two entire squads, but you let the slaves escape. At best, you’ll all be demoted to slaves; at worst, you might be exiled or executed.”
“You can’t be serious! P-Please, have mercy!”
Schwerin smiled at the despairing commander.
“Fear not. I’ll intercede on your behalf. I’ll tell the Senate that though you and your soldiers fought valiantly, the Hero Draulight was just too strong. He annihilated an entire hundred-man squad all by himself. No, let’s make it a thousand-man army...or actually, why not ten thousand?”
“Umm, where are you going with this, Your Excellency?”
Schwerin’s smile grew deeper as he watched the commander’s confusion.
“Essentially, we’ll spin the story so that you didn’t fail, but rather Draulight’s strength was abnormal. I’ll stand witness for you.”
“I-I see...”
Schwerin shot the commander a suggestive look.
“Since Draulight’s escaped, I doubt he’ll be coming back. In which case, no one will complain if we say I killed him, right?”
“Umm... I suppose not?”
“Exactly.” Schwerin drew closer to the commander and added, “This way, I will become a legend who killed a Hero, and you and your men will be saved from the executioner’s axe.”
“A-As you say.”
“Now all that’s left is for you all to become my retainers.” Schwerin grinned. “Swear fealty to me, and I promise no harm will come to you.”
“Wait, are you planning on starting a rebellion!? And you want us to join you!?”
“Are you that keen to face a military tribunal?”
“No, Your Excellency, definitely not. Hrm...”
The commander trailed off, his resolve wavering. His officers exchanged worried looks, unsure of what to do. But in the end, the commander and his officers were military men. They knew what the only strategically viable option was.
“Do you swear to protect us if we join you?”
“Of course. I’ll have you promoted to generals—no, to nobles. I’ll even grant you your own territory. Your descendants will live prosperous lives.”
Schwerin patted the commander’s shoulder.
“This republic is on its last legs. I plan to destroy the Senate and become emperor of Rolmund. And if you follow me, I’ll let you share in my glory.”
“As you say, my lord.”
The commander and his officers bowed reverently to their new sovereign.
Draulight trudged through the thickly-packed snow, the remnants of the avalanche behind him. Strong evening winds buffeted his jacket, but could not penetrate to the layers beneath. As he brushed snow off his clothes, Draulight looked behind him. The avalanche had been funneled into a dry creek bed, which was where the Rolmund soldiers had ostensibly cornered him. The geography they’d thought was helping them had ended up betraying them, and now all the soldiers had either fled or died.
“Looks like the mountain saved us this time,” Draulight muttered as his gladiator companions struggled to descend the mountain slope toward him.
“You okay, Draulight!?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe I made it, actually. Running perpendicular to the avalanche was the only way out, but I didn’t think I could run that fast...”
His comrades smiled in relief as they crowded around him.
“Anyway, thank God you’re safe. We’re all accounted for too.”
“But man, I can’t believe you came up with a plan like that. Who would have thought you could cause an avalanche?”
Draulight replied casually, “This is the season where new snowfall starts hardening the snow beneath into ice. I knew if you guys disturbed the upper layer of snow, it’d slide easily on the ice underneath. It was a pretty risky gamble, but it was the only way I could think of to keep us all alive.”
“I-I see...”
“You know, Draulight, sometimes I have no idea what you’re talking about...”
Draulight shook his head and replied, “My name’s not actually Draulight. Once we cross these mountains, I’ll tell you guys my real name.”
“Your real name?”
“Yeah. Not the slave name I was given, but the real name I’ve had since before I was born. That’s the name I’m gonna live by from now on.”
The man who’d once been Draulight gripped his walking pole and smiled triumphantly.
“Now come on, let’s go!”
Afterword
Hello everyone, Hyougetsu here.
It’s a relief to finally complete the Rolmund Empire arc. Like I mentioned in a previous afterword, I wrote the conclusion to volume four in a way that the series could end there if it needed to, but there was no good intermediate stopping point in the middle of the empire arc. Anyway, I’m just glad Der Werwolf didn’t get canceled before it was over.
So with this volume, the main antagonists were Shallier Bolshevik and Princess Dillier. Unlike Eleora and Woroy, they d
on’t end up on Veight’s side by the end, but they don’t end up dead like Ivan either. I feel like the two of them ended up as pretty divisive characters. You either love them or you hate them. Of course, as the author, I love every character I introduce, including all the villains, but I know that’s not the same for my readers. At any rate, it’s possible Shallier and Dillier might show up in the story again. (In fact I’ve already written a side story about them.)
Oh yeah, I also got to collaborate on a short story with the Satan’s Secretary manga. I remember mentioning to my editor that the Demon Lord’s Vice-Commander and Satan’s Secretary are kinda the same position, and then somehow the conversation advanced to the point where we were doing a collab. For those of you who don’t know, Satan’s Secretary is about a beautiful but sharp-tongued secretary who gets abducted by Satan but then willingly works for his army. It’s a comedy manga where most of the humor comes from the secretary berating the weak-willed Satan.
Moving on, it’s time for the acknowledgments. As always, I’d like to thank my editor, the great Fusanon. I’d also like to thank Nishi(E)da-sensei for his amazing illustrations, as well as all my proofreaders. It’s all thanks to your support that Der Werwolf is as good as it is.
Last but not least, thank you, dear readers, for sticking with me. If not for you, I wouldn’t have made it all the way to seven volumes. Of course, there’s still a lot more of Veight’s story left to tell, so let’s hope I don’t get canceled before it’s done. Please support me all the way to the end, guys.
Incidentally volume eight is going to go into more detail about what causes reincarnations, and explore Veight’s inner conflicts. The Champion who’s saved Meraldia and Rolmund has a lot of worries on his plate, and it’s about time he took some time for himself. I hope you guys are looking forward to seeing the secrets of reincarnation unveiled. (Unless for some reason I decide to change my plans for volume eight, in which case I’m terribly sorry.)
Regardless, let us meet again in the next volume.
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Copyright
Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight Volume 7
by Hyougetsu
Translated by Ningen
Edited by Meiru
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Hyougetsu / Nishi(E)da
Illustrations by Nishi(E)da
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2017 by Earth Star Entertainment
This English edition is published by arrangement with Earth Star Entertainment, Tokyo
English translation © 2020 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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Ebook edition 1.0: April 2020