Chapter 292 – How Was That?
Our destination, the port town of Ghenkan.
I visited it even in the modern era, and was taken care of by some good-natured old fishermen.
But was it like this more than ten years ago?
“O, oh no!”
“Genkahn is… no way, no way!”
The sailors were panicked, and the passengers looked frightened.
At first, I thought it was just smoke coming from Genkhan.
But that wasn’t all.
As we got closer, we could see that the port town of Genkhan was engulfed in flames.
Many buildings were damaged, and the ships moored there were in terrible condition, some with their masts broken and some cut in half.
“The smell of blood… not a fire…not a battle…flames of devastation…”
“Espie…”
Clinging tightly to my legs, Espie stared at the port town with grave eyes.
These were not the eyes of Espie, who had been baring her childish emotions for the past few days, but the serious gaze of someone involved in war.
“Genkhan is one of the ports responsible for trade with different continents… so I think there must have been an Allied garrison there, but…”
Slayer also leaned out from the deck, muttering as he stared at the burning port town.
And even though I knew, I dared to ask Tre’ainar for confirmation.
「Tre’ainar…」
『The Demon King Army attacked the port town… the battle seems to be over already.』
It was war, after all. But that’s not all there is to it.
「Over… the flames are…」
『Indeed. Even though you cannot hear the sounds of battle, even buildings that do not seem to have much to do with the battle are ablaze… the victors partake in pillaging and rape.』
「tsu…」
I knew. No, I don’t get it, but I am at least aware of the knowledge that there is “such a thing”.
This is war.
It’s not just about fighting each other and being nice to each other.
『Such excessive barbarism against the defeated… I was aware… but I could not admonish it——』
「Stop it, I don’t want to see your face like that…」
『Child…』
「We both feel the same way… don’t we?」
Tre’ainar must have mixed feelings, but no matter what was happening in front of him, no matter what Tre’ainar did in this era, whatever the Demon Army was doing, I am not in a position to say anything about it, nor am I qualified to do so.
From my point of view, I can only say that it’s a mutual feeling for both of us…
「So, historically, who are these guys attacking that place? Tsueh?」
『…… I do not know.』
「…… Huh?」
『I led large-scale military maneuvers and battles… but left the raids on small cities in various places to the judgment of each of the Six Supremacy on the Surface. I did not even know about the raids on this land.』
「Are you serious?」
『The war is not taking place in the Demon King’s Castle. Tis happening on the battlefield. So, if I had known about this, I would not have allowed you to take this route in the first place.』
With a tense expression, Tre’ainar mentioned something like a former policy.
『And as for the me of this era…』
「Ah, I see. You were playing at horse racing, weren’t you?」
『I, I am not playing! Well, tis about gathering information and such, so tis definitely not a vacation or anything like that!』
Well, considering that there were countless battles of all scales all over the world for years, it’s no wonder that Tre’ainar doesn’t know about each and every one of them…
“H, hey hey, it’s not true… are you saying that Genkhan has fallen!?”
“How can that be? Because over there…”
“That’s right, currently in that town… the veteran general… General Malhagen is there, isn’t he?”
“S, still… rather, this ship is in trouble, too! Change course, we must run away quickly before they find us!”
The panicked sailors began to clamor that they should flee from the place anyway.
I guess that’s true.
No matter how dire the situation may be in that town, if the Demon King Army is the opponent, they will avoid fighting――――
“Eh, a presence…”
『Child, look up! From the sea!』
At that moment, I sensed a presence. Tre’ainar also raised his voice.
Several approached from the sky…
“Ufufufu, run away? Where to!”
“You humans …… won’t get away, will you?”
“Fufufu, there are quite a few men too… I’ll train you.”
―――Eeeh!??-
“Watch out! From above——”
“Muh…”
“Ah…”
Fresh blood splattered. Before I knew it, a sailor on the lookout tower above the mast was carved up and fell to the deck.
“Kyaah, kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!”
“U, uwaaaaah, d, demons!”
“Hi, hiiiii, hiiiiiii!”
While the guys on the deck were screaming and falling on their behinds, a demon woman looked down at us.
Her face was almost human, but her hands were like sharp bird claws, and her arms were integrated with wings.
Her upper body was covered in sexy metal armor, and for a moment I was almost infatuated with her, but I was immediately pulled back to reality by her brutal expression as she licked the blood on her face with her tongue.
“Is that… a Harpy…”
Just as I thought. I’ve seen them in picture books.
The female-faced, bird-bodied demons. Harpies.
“Hehe, I thought the sentries missed a mark, but…”
“A find.”
“I thought we were the only ones left bored, while all the others running amok in town were having fun robbing, raping, and torturing people…”
“Ufufu, it’s been so long, I don’t think I can take it anymore.”
“We can just enjoy ourselves without reporting this to the general, right?”
“Ravish the men, kill the women. We’ll take their loot too.”
“Ah, I like to eat women too, though.”
It is a one-sided declaration of violation, with no words of surrender or anything like that.
One after another, they landed on the boat and smiled cruelly at us, seeing us not as enemies but as “prey”.
Even though they were all women, Goodness me…
『These ones… Norja’s subordinates… the Amazoness Corps…』
「Eh!?」
What came out of Tre’ainar’s mouth was a really bad name.
『I have heard that the violation of humans was excessive, especially by these ones, as the woman just said… not just slaughter…merciless rape and humiliation of enemy soldiers and civilians…』
「Ooh, rape… s, seriously… by… a woman?」
『According to Norja… the women of the Amazoness Corps are said to be gluttonous wenches who have nothing to do with modesty…』
「For real… they’re… going to…… hmm?」
Such scary women. These guys will do whatever they want… they’re pretty sexy and beautiful… Gulp…
『Child, do you perhaps think that might be a little appealing?!』
「N, no I don’t!」
『Dullard … well, certainly in the past, there have been some fools who have thought of such things and gotten themselves captured by Amazonesses, but … in the end, no matter how much they cried, they were never freed, and they became cripples, useless, and even then…』
「Uh, uwaah…」
『Anyway, now is not the time for such foolish thoughts!』
「O, Osu!」
I got it. Be serious.
So, what should I do… no… I can’t do anything…
「Tre’ainar… I….. honestly don’t want to fight your Demon King Army… but…」
『…… I understand.』
It was the same in the forest when I first came to this era.
The Demon King Army was not my enemy. That’s why I don’t want to fight.
But in this situation, I couldn’t abandon the others and run away on my own, and most importantly, my little sister was by my side right now.
“Take theeeeeeeeem!!!”
“””Oooooooooooooooooooohh!!!”””
I have no choice but to do it.
I——
“Noisy, Demon King Army. Get flying.”
“”””Eeehh!!???””””
“Teriya!”
“”””Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!???””””
A powerful shockwave came from beside me.
With the impact, the harpies that were attacking all at once were knocked off and fell into the sea, or were slammed onto the deck.
Somehow, their armor was shattered or blown away… but I was so surprised that I didn’t even care.
“””””Hi, instant defeat!??”””””
It wasn’t just me, the crew and sailors were all shocked at the same time.
“Whoever touches Big brother, I’ll beat them all up. Mufu!”
“Uh, Espie… you…”
『W, well, I suppose tis to be expected… in terms of strength…』
Espie puffed out her chest, “How was that?” with a smug look.
I see, no matter what I do, this girl alone will be able to handle the soldiers under the Demon King Army.
With the power of the Seven Heroes, Espie annihilated the Harpies in seconds.
“What… thi, this power… that kid? That kid… what the heck…”
And as expected, even Slayer was surprised and dumbfounded. I know how you feel.
“Gah, wh, what…”
“Damn, what was that…”
“The shock … was it an attack…”
But, the opponents were also soldiers who were fighting in a war.
They can’t afford to faint from the shockwave just now.
Some managed to get back on their feet somehow… but……
“Noisy…”
“Hey, hey! Wait!? Why am I….. floating? What!?”
Espie muttered grumpily, and one of the harpies floated up without so much as a flap of her wings.
Was she levitated with Espie’s abilities? Just what…
“Head Smash… 【Fluffy Diving】!”
“Huguwaah!??”
Hold on, she turned the floating harpy upside down and slammed it headfirst into the deck!
H, hey hey, Espie…
“Wh, what!?”
“Stupid, brat. What did you do!?”
“No, wait… that brat… Hmm? Oh!? That brat, no way…”
Suddenly, the harpies’ smirks twitch with astonishment and fear from the cruel smirks they had just shown.
In response to these harpies, Espie …
“They’re all so noisy, so I’m going to beat them up. You should watch too! I’m stronger than you. I’m going to have a lot of adventures and eat curry with Big brother.”
“…… Huh?”
That was not just for the Harpies, but also for Slayer, and…
“I’ll finish it soon. Wait for me, Big brother. With my…’Fluffy Time’, I’ll blow them all away, I’m going to protect Big brother this time.”
In front of everyone present, including me, Espie demonstrated the fighting style of the Seven Heroes to the fullest.
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