6 THE ULTIMATE DEMON WOMAN The woman they found in the dragon’s nest trembled violently and gazed at Bash and Zell with a look of terror. “Poor thing looks half-petrified, Boss.” “Indeed.” A common sight on the battlefield. Especially among new recruits who somehow manage to survive till the end of the battle. In a sea of blood, shouting, utter chaos… The person to your left burning alive. The one to your right dying with an arrow sticking out of their eye. The person in front of you cleaved in half. The person behind you gone before you even turn around. You have no idea what’s happening. You run. You hide. You shake and pray you won’t be found, and you manage to survive. But you’re so terrified, you can’t move, and you fear even the allies who eventually come to your aid. Even the brave and battle-numbed orcs end up like this sometimes. Of course, any orc who ends the battle trembling would be mocked as a coward. But still, it happens. Bash never had an experience like that… But one of his fellow warriors did. Yes—once, he saw a soldier on the ground, sobbing, screaming that he didn’t want to fight anymore. At first, Bash and his companions were disgusted, calling him a coward, saying he wasn’t worthy to be an orc soldier. But Bash had lived a long time on the battlefield. So he knew. They would return to the battle. The orc race was not one to retreat from battle and sob. They would return to the fight, fearing being executed as a coward in a dark corner of the village. They returned to the battlefield and died fighting bravely. Not trembling and begging and dying pathetically. But fighting bravely. So Bash had no intention of laughing at or mocking the female demon in front of him. After a while, this woman would regain her strength and return to fighting bravely. All veteran orcs know this. Orcs mock and deride those who lose their nerve and sob. But they do not kill them on the spot as disgraces to the orc name. It happens all the time. Really. And this time, her opponent was a dragon. You could hardly blame her. What was more important right now was to somehow make this frightened woman his own. That, after all, was what he’d come here for. “Boss! Here’s your chance! She may be a demon, but any woman in a position like this would have no choice but to fall for your charms! It’s time to act manly!” “Right!” Bash approached the woman. Upon closer inspection, she really was very attractive. Not only her face and figure, but her demeanor, too… Ah, more accurately, it was the vibe that emanated from her entire being. Yes, Bash could sense something that made her different from any of the women he’d met so far. Some intangible quality. Not grace. Not quite magic. The woman had an aura about her. There was no other way to put it. Even the mighty Bash felt a chill, as if a sharp icicle had just been rammed into his back. Something inside Bash was screaming that if he could get this woman, something amazing would happen. So this is a demon woman… Bash had actually seen demon women many times before. But now, thinking about actually having one… The thought was exciting and terrifying. But no need to fear. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He’d been chasing the escaped dragon, but the moment he entered the cave and didn’t see it, the pursuit ended. The dragon had gotten away. Rather than continuing to chase the dragon, blundering about the mountain in a blizzard and possibly being ambush-barbecued by it, it would be smarter to focus on the woman right in front of him. The sensible option would be to woo this woman and then safely evacuate her from the cave. All right, he’d failed in dragon slaying. But that was never the main objective anyway. “H-help…! Help me…!” “Worry not. I will slay the dragon.” As the demon woman begged for help, Bash sought to reassure her. When dealing with someone in mortal fear for their life, it’s better to reassure them that their enemy is being handled. Seeing the confidence of a veteran warrior can be reassuring to the younger generation. “I’ve killed a dragon before. A red-scaled dragon.” The woman gulped. “Don’t worry. You won’t suffer anymore.” Bash stared intensely into her eyes. He remembered his lessons. Women love the passionate gaze of a man. Yes, Bash had memorized all he’d learned about woman-wooing so far. The woman gazed into Bash’s eyes… And she seemed to be calming… “Hmm!” But at that moment, Bash sensed movement in his peripheral vision. A spider. A striped spider with fur all over its body. Despite the snowiness of the mountain, the cave was quite toasty. If dragons existed, it made sense that there were lesser creatures feeding on their scraps and their excrement. And there would be even lesser creatures to prey on those creatures. Not that Bash knew anything about biology. The extent of his spider knowledge was that most hairy, striped spiders were venomous. Spider venom was strong. Even orcs who were resistant to poison could be afflicted with crippling stomach pains, lasting for up to two days, upon exposure to spider venom. Demons were supposed to be impervious to poisoning, but in her weakened state, the spider could potentially inflict a fatal bite on her. “Hmm!” So Bash slammed his sword down onto the spider without hesitation. The spider died instantly, splashing purple fluid everywhere. “Yeep!” Good, now the situation was stable. Odd noise aside. Bash returned his attention to the woman, to find her… Shaking on the ground. “…Hey! Hey!” The woman collapsed, eyes rolling back, foaming at the mouth. “You were already bitten?! Zell!!!” “On it, Boss!” Zell zoomed over and began to dance in the air above the slumped body. This was a shameful thing for fairies to do to each other, but it’s considered a laudable medical procedure when performed on an injured person. Fairy dust sprinkled down onto the woman, and her wounds instantly healed. Her shredded fingertips, the scratches all over her, the gash on her neck, the torn wing, and her damaged eye… All were as good as new in an instant. Zell descended and began to walk circles around the woman. But not spotting anything that looked like a spider bite, Zell shrugged at Bash. “Hmm. Doesn’t seem like she was bitten, Boss. None of the visible external injuries seemed that deep, either. I think she probably just fainted from relief or something!” “Is that so?!” Bash had finally gotten a beautiful demon woman within his grasp. And he had permission from Sequence to make her his own. He certainly didn’t want her to go dying on him. “So this is to be my wife…” The more Bash looked at her, the more beautiful he found her. She wasn’t built like a succubus… She was much slimmer. Her feet and hands were a bit large in proportion to her body. And she had long, rough-looking claws. Some were cracked. No doubt because of the fighting she’d done… Her hair was also messy and dirty, in contrast to the women Bash had seen lately. Demons try to be graceful at all times, even on the battlefield, so they’re generally known for their lush, flowing locks. But then again, a warrior having disheveled hair from battle was nothing unusual. This was not the type of woman to care about her hair in a life-or-death situation. Still, it fell down to her waist and gave her an elegant look. She had a tail, too. A slender, cute tail from her waist to her knees. Like a lizardman’s, but with some fluffy hair on the tip. She had wings also. They were similar to those of the succubi, but a bit more robust-looking. Demons clearly were better flyers. Then a seed of doubt began to take root in Bash’s mind. “Was there a demon clan with wings like this…?” “Hmm, you know, Boss, I don’t recall ever seeing any, either.” Bash nodded, musing, but on second thought, maybe it wasn’t so strange. “I suppose we’ve never actually gotten a good look at too many demons, huh, Boss?” “…True. Demons generally never tolerate our presence long enough for a good look.” Whenever Bash looked at a demon, they’d say something like this: Stop staring at me, you lowly orc. Demons look down their noses at orcs and fairies. But they also don’t like to be stared at. In some species, staring at another person for too long is said to be an invitation to fight. Like with beastkin. Demons had distinctive eyes. A wayward glance could easily be taken as a challenge. Also, as far as Bash knew, there were many different types of demons. The most common were the brown-skinned lesser demons, but there were also higher-ranking demons with blue skin and multiple eyes. Even among the demon nobility, those with the same family name could still look completely different from each other. There were as many different-looking demons as there were demon names. So if there was a demon subtype Bash had never heard of before, well, that didn’t mean much. For starters, Bash didn’t know all that much about demon appearances anyway. The only thing that mattered was that the woman in front of him was a true beauty. And it was more than just her outward appearance. She emanated a mysterious charm and power from her entire body. It gave Bash a thrill. … He’d received Sequence’s permission. The female demon who went out to slay the dragon…had been promised to Bash. In other words…this woman…was his. His long, painful journey… It had finally come to an end. Bash reached for the woman. Now was the time for all that pent-up bestial lust to be unleashed. But just as he was about to touch her, he froze. “…I have permission from Sequence, but not from the woman herself.” The Orc King had forbidden sexual intercourse with other races without consent. He had Sequence’s permission. Did that equal consent? Perhaps one could view it that way… But was that truly the case? Let’s say the Orc King said to someone, I give you permission to kill Bash. Did that mean Bash had to sit there and let himself be killed by his assailant? The answer is no. Bash hadn’t received any personal death orders from the Orc King in this scenario. On the other hand, if one of them were to attack him in his sleep, Bash would likely become suspicious of the Orc King. He’d think that the Orc King did not respect Bash’s honor. This meant that Sequence’s honor might be similarly besmirched. And certainly, having sexual intercourse with an unconscious person is never consent. “I’ll wait until she wakes up…” Bash had made his decision. Surely she wouldn’t mind if he explained the situation once she was awake. Demons, like orcs, are bound by absolute obedience to the orders of their superiors. Bash would need to be careful. If he ruined this golden opportunity, he would never get another one this good. “Maybe we should bring her back to her home, Boss. You know demons are a suspicious sort. If you tell her you received permission from Sequence, there’s a chance she won’t believe you.” Demons are skeptical by nature. They might dismiss the idea that Bash had Sequence’s permission as ridiculous. Who could forget what happened after he defeated the Hero Leto? It had fallen to Bash to explain the circumstances of Geddigs’s death, but the demons refused to believe him. “How could a lowly pig like you defeat the great Hero Leto?” they said. They said he was delusional. “You crushed the one who defeated Lord Geddigs? Pure fantasy,” they said. “Hmm, you’ve got a point.” Bash nodded, in full agreement with Zell, then picked up the woman and slung her over his shoulders. With her butt right there next to his cheek, Bash was treated to the most delectable scent he’d ever smelled. Her skin was so soft, so smooth! Just the thought of being intimate with her… It made Bash’s heart soar. His mind was awash with pure bliss. Come to think of it, all the orcs carried the women they defeated back home this way. This was the sensation of accomplishment and expectation all orcs enjoyed. How lucky I am to be able to experience it, even though the war is over. Thinking these indulgent thoughts, Bash made his way to the cave entrance, where he paused. “Dawn is breaking.” “…The snowstorm has stopped, too. That’s bad.” The weather in the mountains was fickle. Where there had been a white blizzard before, there was now clear shining sunlight. The sky above was still cloudy, but the snowy plains of the mountain’s foothills were now visible. Bash’s battle-honed eyes would be able to see if anything moved there. “…” Even more so if it was a dragon, come to reclaim its nest. He could not let the enemy get the jump on him now. “Retreating like this would be unwise…” Bash immediately abandoned his plan to return. He had no chance of winning against an airborne dragon. It would be a complete waste to be killed by a dragon on the way back, just when he’d managed to obtain such a delectable woman for his own. “Looks like we’ll just have to wait here for a while.” “Seems so, Boss.” Zell gazed skyward. “We have to wait for the next blizzard.” There was no need for haste. Mountain weather was changeable. They would wait for another blizzard, then head back. They’d brought plenty of food, just in case, and they could easily feed the woman, too. Orcs had big appetites, but they could go a long time without food. Bash could simply give his portion to the woman, if necessary. And if the dragon came back, he could simply slay it for good. Bash wouldn’t lose as long as the fight took place inside this cave. “This is amazing… I finally have a wife…” “Yeah, about that, Boss…” “Hm?” Even for a fairy, Zell had pretty great powers of precognition. Zell could plan out a week’s menu in advance, knowing exactly when they’d be hungry. “Demon women have a lot of pride.” “Right.” “My prediction is that even if she becomes your wife… She still might not do what you want. She might instantly forget that you saved her and leave to go back to her own country. Even after marrying and becoming your wife. And there’s no guarantee she’d agree to have your child! She might even be like, I want a divorce, you idiot…! Something like that!” “No, that couldn’t be… Although, that is likely…” Come to think of it… Weren’t all demons like that? They cheered when the orcs rushed to their rescue in battle. In battle, they’d shout things like, You saved us! and Go, orcs! but once the battle was over, they acted like none of it ever happened. They could just say Thanks! and be gracious about it, but no. Instead, they’d make negative comments, like, You sure took your sweet time showing up! and so on. Considering all that… It was highly possible a demon bride would shirk her wifely responsibilities and flee at the first opportunity. “If you want the demon lady to be your real wife, you have to get on an equal footing with her!” “Become a demon’s equal…?” The woman seemed scared now, but soon she might start swanning about and lording it over Bash. If that happened, communication would be impossible. In which case… He should take advantage of her weakness to forge a bond now. Demons only listen when they’re at a disadvantage. “Do you think that’s possible?” “You gotta try, Boss! This is your big chance! Catch her in a moment of vulnerability, show her your manly side, and make her fall for you! You saved her life, Boss! You’re strong! She’s weak! Demons may be stuck-up, but she’ll have to see the truth! At the very least, you’re her equal!” “Hmm… I see.” “Now, let’s think up a strategy before she wakes up!” “Right!” And so, in front of the sleeping woman, the two hatched a plan.
Chapter 49
14 min read