On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Kneeling before Ilschevar with my head bowed, I wait for his answer to my request. Although I could have just asked him without doing this, I don\'t want to do that because I don\'t want to suddenly disappear, which will make others feel suspicious.

The reason why I pulled this stunt is that I want to let the Warriors know that I am just going on a journey on my own, which is unrelated to any mission whatsoever. Ilschevar will agree to this immediately—I am sure of it—so it\'s basically a public stunt.

"That will be hard, unfortunately, Layland," comes the answer that makes me look up in surprise. "I would have easily let you go if you were a Third Wing Warrior and below, but with how much power you have currently…"

I am stumped. I thought he was joking at first, but Ilschevar is serious; that hesitant and apologetic look on his face is too genuine to be fake.

Valeria also seems surprised by the answer too. Like me, she is looking at Ilschevar strangely as if wondering if he ate something in the morning.

"There will be another war in less than two months. As one of the powerhouses of our military, I can\'t just let you go easily, Layland. You know how it goes: one that kills a thousand is better than a thousand that kills one."

"Then, I just have to find myself within that time, don\'t I?" I ask seriously. "I will return before D-Day. In case I am late, I will immediately head to the battlefield. It should be okay, shouldn\'t it, my Liege? As a Warrior with no responsibility, my presence is only needed to kill, isn\'t it?"

Ilschevar looks at me silently and that makes me frown.

\'What is this guy planning? Is he afraid that I am going to lose my way? Doesn\'t he know that I will just go around the same way if I don\'t kill those bastards as soon as possible?\'

The silence is preserved. The Warriors are probably anticipating the outcome of this exchange between us as Ilschevar and I are looking at each other.

He smiles after some time; at this moment, I know I have been played. That is the smile of someone who finds things going the way he wanted—I know it well.

"That promise is heavy, Layland. You said you wanted to have some fun with the Hero, didn\'t you? In other words, you are hinting that you will finish all of them in less than two months. A very heavy promise indeed," Ilschevar remarks, provoking me at the same time.

"This is a gamble, my Liege. There are two outcomes of this journey of mine: first, I managed to take down all of the Heroes; second, one of the Heroes managed to kill me. I am confident in the first one, so I know I will return."

"Commendable—your confidence in yourself is commendable." Ilschevar claps his hands appreciatively and mockingly at the same time. "Now, tell me why you are so obsessed with killing the Hero."

"I hate soap operas," I answer, making Ilschevar blink his eyes in confusion. "The history is an endless loop of a trashy soap opera. Our predecessors always let the Hero grow to their full potential and suffered defeat for it."

"What you are saying is?"

"There were always many chances for our predecessors to end the Hero, but they didn\'t. I am tired of seeing the bad side losing due to their stupidity, so I am going to change history. The Hero hasn\'t grown to their full potential yet—it is the perfect time to end them."

Ilschevar loses his small smile as his face turns solemn. I face his gaze unwaveringly, giving him my burning eyes even though he, maybe, can\'t see it.

"Do you know how many sides are protecting the Hero? Our progenitors didn\'t kill them early because they were arrogant; they knew killing the Hero early was simply not worth the trouble it would bring them later. Despite so, are you—"

"I have made my choice."

"Very well, I have seen your determination. It will be stupid of me to keep discouraging you," Ilschevar sighs. "45 days. In 45 days, you have to kill all of the Heroes and return to the Kingdom to aid us in the upcoming war. How about it?"

"I will do my best." I bow my head slightly.

"Stand, my Warrior." Doing what he asks me to, I stand face to face with Ilschevar. "I believe in your competence too, but I still feel the need to say this, Layland. If you return safely, I will award you with something that is up to your satisfaction."

Although his words imply that he is not really confident in me, I still nod my head in appreciation as he pats my shoulder.

"I am expecting the best of you, Layland Kleinhaus! You may return to the rank and wait for the others to get their rewards before you pack your things up." Ilschevar winks. "You won\'t mind, will you?"

Nodding my head lightly, I return to the rank afterwards. Eliseus greets me with a nod of appreciation as soon as I join the rank, meanwhile, Vibiane looks at me in worry as if asking if I know what I am doing.

Telling her that I will talk about it later, I pay attention to Ilschevar, who is calling the other Warriors that also achieved something unusual in Lysimork.

…

As soon as we are dismissed, Vibiane and Eliseus immediately talk to me. The former doesn\'t think it is really a good idea for me to attempt what I am about to do, whereas the latter expects me to excel.

After the two of them listen to my explanation about my decision, they immediately leave me to my own devices. They promised to see me off, so they want me to tell them if it is already time for me to depart.

I am honestly ready to leave anytime now, but I still want to spend some time in the castle. I have spent most of my time in this world in the castle, so it feels somehow wrong for me to immediately leave a moment after arriving.

"Want to do some lewd stuff?"

I hear someone\'s voice as I walk through the hall of the castle. Turning my head to the owner of the voice, I find Millonia with Winerva standing behind her.

"Hello, slaves. What a coincidence meeting both of you here."

"This prick… he talks just as irritating as usual, doesn\'t he?"

Millonia and I smirk at each other; she can\'t see my smirk though. I walk toward her and fist bump her as I ask what she and Winerva are doing.

"We have just finished cleaning, so we want to spend some girl\'s time."

"You both take your work as maids seriously, don\'t you?" I remark.

"Those bloodstains you savages leave behind in the Arena don\'t clean themselves after all," Millonia replies as she rolls her eyes. "Anyway, are you interested in my offer?"

I know where the two are going: the lake in the garden. With the overwhelming stench of blood sticking to them, they must be wanting to clean themselves so they can get rid of it.

"How about it, Valeria? Are you in?" I ask, surprising both Millonia and Winerva.

Appearing out of thin air, Valeria answers, "I am in."

"W-Well, let\'s go together then."

Just like that, we go to the lake together. We immediately undress as soon as we get there … Well, except for Winerva. Her mind doesn\'t seem to be able to comprehend what her eyes witness.

Valeria and I do nothing about it. We are aware that what we are doing is not something that everyone does.

Millonia, on the other hand, does everything she has in mind to make Winerva join us. When coercing Winerva with words doesn\'t work, she immediately resorts to force, which is done by stripping Winerva naked.

"Kyaa! I hate you; you perverted woman!"

Winerva, however, turns out to be an unexpectedly pure woman. Instead of immediately jumping into the river to hide the body parts that she doesn\'t want to show to just anybody, she runs toward the Path of Glory, which is nearby.

Reflexively, I take out my Lasso of Judgment and pull her in with it. She screams in fear and confusion in the process but immediately shuts up the moment she lands beside me.

"This idiot—do you want to mock our previous Demon Kings by running there naked," I say with a frown. "Ah, that is my penis, so you can stop grabbing it. It won\'t get hard as long as I don\'t desire it."

"Kyaa! All of you are perverts!" Winerva shouts as she takes a distance away from all of us.

We give her a weird look before shrugging. Soon after, Valeria sits before me, meanwhile, Millonia stands on her knees behind me; her hands are on my hair.

"Do you want to grow your hair as long as Lord Ilschevar\'s?" she asks.

"No, let\'s cut it."

Knowing the reason why I didn\'t cut my hair, Millonia and Valeria look at me in surprise. \'Are you sure?\' is what their eyes are saying.

"I kept it because it reminded me of my late mother—no, it reminded me of the fact that I had a family." I shake my head faintly. "It no longer reminds me of her and I already found a new family. I have… moved on."

Silence fills the air for a few seconds. In the next moment, Much to my surprise, Millonia and Valeria hug me.

It feels uncanny to be hugged by the two most insensitive creatures I know, but it is still heart-warming. At least, I am now sure that I already have people that I can call family.