by Hyougetsu
“What did he say after that?”
The Demon Lord Friedensrichter asked the Great Sage Gomoviroa with a smile.
“He said that what he did could hardly be called a great achievement.”
“What a fascinating young man.”
The Demon Lord picked up the report Veight had sent him.
“Their fangs aren’t poisoned, but they cause disease instead. On top of that, they mix mana into the odor they emit, which is what allows them to communicate information, much like ants or bees...”
Gomoviroa peeked at the report and muttered, “My disciple writes some strange things, does he not?”
“Certainly, it’s odd that he brought up ants and bees as an example here.”
“Indeed. Though now that I think about it, it is true that such insects often seem to be working under a single will. I haven’t taught him anything about insects yet, so it’s quite impressive that he made such an observation on his own.”
“Hmm...” Friedensrichter scanned the report’s contents one more time, then put it back down on his desk. “What is this werewolf doing now?”
“Helping his village dry fang lizard meat. He said it would help them last while meat was still sparse.”
The Demon Lord tapped his chin thoughtfully, then asked his longtime friend, “Is he not going to ask for a reward? Were it not for his efforts, we would have been hard-pressed to earn the werewolves’ support.”
“He won’t. To him, this isn’t even deserving of a reward. Though he did mention that he would like to have some more building materials.”
“Building materials, you say?”
“To repair the village and make its fence sturdier. He truly has no wants of his own.”
Gomoviroa smiled proudly, but Friedensrichter looked pensive.
“He rallied the werewolves, defended his village, and even discovered the unique traits of one of the most troublesome breed of monsters while he was at it; and yet he claims it’s not an achievement worth mentioning.”
“That’s right.”
Gomoviroa looked up at her friend with a smile. Though it was difficult to read the expressions on a dragonkin’s face, she knew her friend well enough to know what he was thinking.
“What do you think? He might be the Champion you have spent so long searching for.”
“Perhaps.”
He tried to sound disinterested, but Gomoviroa could hear the curiosity in his voice.
“That man... you said his name was Wight, correct? Does he have any interest in formally joining the demon army?”
“I’m unsure of that myself. Like I said, he has no ambition.” Gomoviroa smiled wryly. “Among my disciples, he is one of my brightest. If he were to join the army, he would no doubt distinguish himself.”
“I see you’ve grown even more skilled at flattering your disciples, Gomoviroa.”
Gomoviroa puffed her chest out proudly and retorted, “Only because all of my disciples are such excellent students. That being said, Veight is special. This isn’t simply my bias toward my disciples talking, I truly do believe he has the qualifications to be a regiment commander.”
“I see...”
The Demon Lord folded his arms and lapsed into thought. After a few minutes he said, “I would like to meet this Wight. Could you persuade him to officially join my army?”
Gomoviroa smiled and bowed reverently.
“Gladly, my lord.”
I trembled nervously in front of the audience chamber of Grenschtat Castle—the Demon Lord’s home. After we’d defeated the fang lizards, we’d started smoking their meat. In the middle of that, messengers from the demon army had come bearing lumber and stone, along with a vast quantity of dried and pickled meat. They’d also brought a letter which had turned out to be a summoning from Master.
One thing had led to another, and I’d ended up formally joining the Demon Lord’s army. And not as a foot soldier either. No, I’d been given the title of Weremage, and made one of Master’s vice-commanders. On top of that, I was to be in command of the werewolf platoon the Demon Lord was planning on organizing. At first, I’d tried to insist that Vodd or one of the elders lead the werewolves since they were the heads of our village, but even they’d wanted me to take command, so I’d been forced to accept the position. And now I was here.
I turned to Master, who was floating beside me, and asked, “Why me?”
“Who knows.” Smiling, Master poked me in the back. “Now then, hurry it up. You don’t want to keep His Highness the Demon Lord waiting.”
“O-Okay...”
I nodded and walked up to the large double doors. The two dragonkin guards exchanged a glance, then tapped the butts of their spears against the stone floor. At the same time, the doors swung inward. Beyond them lay the Demon Lord.
I wonder what kind of human... I mean, demon he is. Cold sweat poured down my back as I took my first step into the room.
Afterword
Hello readers, Hyougetsu here. It is both an honor and a relief to be able to meet you all again in this afterword. Though since I usually focus on the story and characters, I never have any idea what to write for these afterwords. But then again, the only people reading this are the ones who go out of their way to read afterwords in the first place, so I guess it doesn’t matter what I write.
Anyway, the reason I felt like writing this story was because of all the villainess stories I saw popping up on Narou. The style of those stories has changed a lot as time passed, and I have no idea what kind of stories people are writing now, but at the very least this shares one thing with them. The protagonist ostensibly starts out as a villain.
Villain. The word has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Villains don’t have to be held down by morals or justice, and they’re usually the final boss in games, so they’re always strong. And if you think about it, there’s nothing more awesome than being strong and doing whatever the hell you like.
So when I first picked up my pen—or keyboard, if you will—and started writing up a fantasy story, I decided I’d make my protagonist a villain. Usually when people think of a villain they think of a Demon Lord or some evil God, but people like that aren’t as free as you might think. They have responsibilities and restrictions. So I figured I’d make my villain a side character. That was how I came up with Veight, a middling general in the purported army of evil. But as the story progressed, I realized he wasn’t all that free to do whatever he wanted either...
But to be honest, I like the “side character” role as much as I like the “villain” one. They say everyone’s the protagonist of their own life, but as far as the world’s concerned, most people are just minor characters. More of us end up being the filler player on our school’s sports club, or the artist who only gets a consolation prize at an art contest, or the person who just ends up friends with their crush. In general, most of us are side characters.
That’s why I can’t ever really find myself empathizing with Heroes and Demon Lords and the like. After all, I can relate so much better to the side characters. The silent warrior who always fights alongside the Hero or the Demon Lord’s mage advisor are way cooler in my opinion. Personally, I want to give the world’s side characters a chance to shine.
Now then, it’s time for the acknowledgments. I’d like to thank my editor, the great Fusanon. You were the shining side character who helped make this book happen. Thank you so much. Despite your sharp, cool demeanor, you’ve always done your best to support me, and I really can’t thank you enough for that. I’d also like to thank Nishi(E)da-sensei for his wonderful, entrancing illustrations. Really, thank you so much. Whenever I see your work I feel like I have to write well enough to live up to it...
Incidentally, around the time I’m writing this afterword, I got a notification that Der Werwolf is getting a manga adaptation. The art for that is going to be handled by the esteemed Terada Isaza-sensei. I took a look at his rough manuscript, and it looks absolutely stunning. I can’t wa
it to see what it looks like when it’s finally out. I hope you all are willing to give the manga version a try too when it comes out.
Now then, I have no idea how far the annals of Veight and his story as a villainous side character are going to get published, but I hope to at least meet you again in the third volume.
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Copyright
Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight Volume 2
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 © 2015 Hyougetsu / Nishi(E)da
Illustrations by Nishi(E)da
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2015 by Earth Star Entertainment
This English edition is published by arrangement with Earth Star Entertainment, Tokyo
English translation © 2018 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: November 2018