Makai Hongi - Chapter 305

○ The Coast of Everlasting Summer – Juga

Amazing, amazing, amazing!

Sir Golan was strong after all.

These rebel forces weren’t anything to talk about.

Sir Golan said, ‘this one is the Commander’ as he slapped the cheek of a man who was lying on the floor.

“Uuuuhh…”

The man regained consciousness. He was going to be questioned now.

“Juga. You keep watch outside. They might return with more men. If that happens, shout so that I will know.”

“Understood!”

Sir Golan had entrusted me with a mission.

And so I would have to watch the area. I would not miss a single person.

I climbed up to the top of the pillbox and squinted.

Inside, Sir Golan was tor…questioning the man. I think.

I could occasionally hear loud voices.

However, since the hardened earth was so thick, I couldn’t hear most of it.

After some time, the questioning ended, and Sir Golan came out.

“Congratulations, Sir Golan.”

But when I ran up to him, he had a very troubled expression.

He was just staring at the road up ahead. And would not answer.

“Uh, Sir Golan?”

I called him again once I was closer.

Then he finally seemed to notice me.

But his expression was the same.

“…Damn it!”

He spat. Why?

Sir Golan had destroyed the fortress as soon as the battle started.

And then he had gone inside, and the enemy had fled.

Did his face look like this because of what he had heard?

He had been talking to someone before the fight, and then talked again with the Commander.

But up until a moment ago, he had been acting normally.

It was only after the questioning that he changed.

“We’re going.”

“Huh? What?”

Without waiting for my reply, Sir Golan got down from the fortress and started walking.

The hollow cave would be up ahead.

It was the main base of the rebel forces.

And while there was only one entrance to the cave, it was said to be very big and complex once you were inside.

In spite of being a cave, there was a giant hall and very deep, vertical tunnels. The stories of the place alone were astonishing.

“Sir Golan. What happened?”

You’re going to go and defeat Vargan and Noshe, aren’t you…? That was what I wanted to ask.

They were the reason that I was separated from the others.

How many different races had been driven out of these lands after they took over?

If Sir Golan was going to defeat them, then that was something to be celebrated.

However, Sir Golan was acting very strangely.

He was clearly very angry.

But I had no idea why he had become angry.

And so I could no longer talk to him.

“…”

“…”

We continued to walk silently.

Along the coast we walked, and walked…and then I realized.

They were in front of us.

But they weren’t moving any closer.

When they saw us…well, Sir Golan, they would frantically run back.

And then there was no one. This repeated several times.

And so the roads were empty as we walked.

“Um…Sir Golan.”

“Hmm?”

What a relief. He finally answered.

Everything had felt so tense a moment ago. I was scared.

“Why were you…so angry…earlier?”

That was one thing that I had to know.

The reason that Sir Golan was so furious.

“Do you respect King Yamato?”

He didn’t answer my question.

Instead, he asked me something very strange. The answer was so obvious.

“I do respect him. Of course, I do.”

“I see.”

He seemed indifferent.

But why? What did Sir Golan getting mad have to do with respecting King Yamato?

“Sir Golan…something is wrong. What happened?”

This was a gamble.

If I pried in too much, his anger might be redirected towards me.

However, that did not happen.

Sir Golan stopped and turned his face to look at me.

“They rebelled against King Yamato.”

“Yes. I know that.”

“They don’t know how to do anything but fight. So it would be troublesome if it became forbidden.”

Sir Golan said that it was the destruction of their identity.

I didn’t know what he meant exactly. But I had an idea.

“Is that why you are angry, Sir Golan?”

“I realized it. I understood it. Don’t do this, don’t do that. Binding people…it’s no wonder that they exploded.”

“You mean the rebel forces?”

“Yes. Before fighting, I asked them something.”

When they were arguing. As they were too far away, I had not been able to hear them.

Sir Golan was grinding his teeth.

“They said that they wanted to fight. Wanted to die fighting. They shouted about how they hated this life. The Commander was the same. They all felt like that.”

What was it that was taken away from them…

Sir Golan said.

They wanted to die. They could only think about fighting and death.

But not just any death. They did not want to kill themselves.

A battle with meaning. They wanted the satisfaction of dying in battle, in this land that they were born in.

They had all said this same thing.

I couldn’t help but think. This was not unusual.

King Yamato made this Other World. And in order to protect everyone who lived here, a rule was put in place.

–We were forbidden from fighting each other.

That was the only rule in this world.

And they had broken it.

“You said that there had been other rebel uprisings before.”

“Yes. It seems to happen every few hundred years.”

“Those who are dissatisfied start to run wild. I don’t know if he let’s them destroy each other or he hunts them down himself. But I suppose that’s how things are settled. …But why?”

Why? He was likely asking this about King Yamato.

So, Sir Golan was against King Yamato’s way of thinking? For what reason?

“It’s no surprise that they want to die. If you can’t fight freely. No rivalries between lords, no Gekokujyo… It’s like rejecting the life of the Demon World.”

Sir Golan was laughing now. But it was strange.

He did not seem to be happy.

“Then I won’t kill them. I’ll suppress them instead. You want to die? As if I would let you. Hey, can you believe it?’

Sir Golan bared his teeth and laughed.

As he was in a Personification, no mana leaked to the outside.

And yet… And yet. I felt cold when I looked at his smile.

My body started to shake.

Right now, Sir Golan was very…terrifying.

“Now, it’s time to make an appearance.”

“Huh?”

Sir Golan pointed with his jaw.

There were a great number of rebel soldiers ahead of us.

Some wielded swords, while others had spears.

There were even some who were preparing to use magic.

Two hundred, maybe even three hundred…

“Now, let’s start this feast. There is no night that does not end. So let’s dream while we can.”

In spite of this great army standing in front of him, Golan did not balk, and continued to move towards the enemy.

My legs grew weak at the mere sight of them.

I was too scared to go any further.

But while I stood frozen, Sir Golan continued to advance.

After a while, his back seemed like it was far away.

“Sir…G…”

I was about to call after him, but changed my mind.

As someone who could not move, I had no words to say to him.

And so…all I could do was watch.