Chapter 255
Chapter 255. Hearing Investigation
――Tafuman had been drinking since the evening.
It was the usual hobgoblin tavern. The usual tasty snacks, the usual cheap and good ale, and the familiar faces coming in and out of the tavern… but only Tafuman’s expression was downcast. He seemed somewhere far away.
Perhaps he looked tired. In any case, it was uncharacteristic of him. The others around him seemed hesitant to approach, sensing his mood.
With a mug in his right hand, Tafuman stared down at his left hand.
A hand without a scratch, as good as new.
“…Oh. You’re here early today.”
As the tavern door opened, a young girl in a robe walked in.
“Ah, miss.”
Startled, Tafuman looked up, forcing an awkward smile toward the girl who sat next to him—Claire.
“I got off early today. Just returned to work, you see.”
“I heard about the demon beast… What a disaster.”
Claire said solemnly.
For several days, the autonomous district had been abuzz with the news. The soldier brigade had engaged in a battle with a demon beast and suffered heavy losses.
It was strictly labeled as ‘engagement.’ It was never called ‘repelling’—
Though Claire had been coming to the tavern often lately, this was the first time she faced Tafuman since the soldier brigade’s return.
“Well, I’m glad we made it back alive,”
he said with a laugh, shaking the mug.
Pretending it was nothing, but it felt utterly forced, and that attitude was decidedly not Tafuman.
…Claire, being from the Demon Lord Kingdom, of course knew everything. She knew that Tafuman, the vice captain, had sustained serious injuries, including bruises and necrosis in his left arm.
All of that had been treated by Zilbagias, whom he had finally re-encountered after four days—
“Is there good alcohol today?”
“Well, we have Warito-Bimi.”
“I’ll have one of that. For this old man.”
Claire ordered from the waiter.
“Eh, miss…”
“I can tell you’re not in the mood. I understand.”
Claire shrugged at Tafuman, who looked bewildered.
“You’ve always said that being vice captain doesn’t suit you, and you must feel responsibility…”
She drifted her gaze, choosing her words carefully.
“…But you did your best, right? Then there’s no need to dwell on it.”
So drink this and cheer up, she meant.
(…How pathetic.)
Tafuman bit his lip. He was making a younger girl worry about him.
As the vice captain, he indeed felt that weight of responsibility. But that wasn’t all. Tafuman was a soldier who fought on the front lines to protect the Defteros Kingdom. Even when the demon race ridiculed him by saying, “Humans are weak,” it never bothered him.
He believed that if he fought in formation with his comrades, they could withstand any strong enemy.
But he had painfully realized while battling Asurabear that his belief was—merely based on the premise of having support from heroes or priests.
Without miracles, magic, or holy power, how weak they could be.
He was utterly crushed…
…Thinking about it made him reminisce about the apprentice priest since returning to Evaroti.
She was one of the few practical holy attribute users in the autonomous district. Yet, even she was still lacking in training and couldn’t save those on the verge of death. She couldn’t heal the severely wounded either. Tafuman’s left arm had also gone to waste.
He couldn’t blame Mycin. She herself lamented and regretted her shortcomings more than anyone.
—There simply hadn’t been enough. Of everything.
Skill levels, weapons, armor, magical power. The autonomous district lacked them all.
‘All battered and beaten up. Well, at least we didn’t get wiped out.’
Even if the arrogant Demon Lord’s Prince laughed at them, this time, there was nothing to do but bow down to the treatment and benevolence shown.
It was frustrating. It was bitter.
He had chosen to resist at that moment, and Dobel recognized that as the right choice. But wasn’t it, unconsciously, like in his days with the national army, assuming magical support would be there? Shouldn’t he have considered better strategies based on their actual abilities?
He couldn’t stop the thought from creeping in.
(I’m just not cut out to be a captain…)
It wasn’t about leadership or strategy discussions. What Tafuman faced was the emotional issue of how to reconcile with the reality that his orders had led to the death of his subordinates.
On top of that, combined with the deep sense of helplessness about the current situation, even Tafuman, known for his resilience, found himself struggling.
Even when enjoying his favorite drink, it was to the degree he couldn’t truly savor it…
But.
(…No time to mope around.)
If he let a young girl, about the age of his niece, worry about him and encourage him, his comrades from the underworld would surely mock him.
At times like this, he needed to hold himself together and encourage the younger folks! That was the role of an older survivor.
(Tafuman! Get it together!)
He scolded himself. Nothing was solved, but moping around wouldn’t change the situation either.
With no one else to step up, he had to push himself.
“Here you go.”
The cup was placed before him with a thud. Changing his mindset, he downed it in one gulp.
“…Delicious!”
Even in times like this, fine alcohol tasted good. Finally, he thought so. Tafuman smiled naturally and looked at Claire.
Their eyes met as Claire was staring intently at him, then quickly averted. She rarely made eye contact—Tafuman thought her eyes were as beautiful as glass marbles.
“Feeling better?”
“Thanks to you. I appreciate it, miss.”
By the way, this man often had reasons to get drinks and snacks treated by Claire, but she would say things like, “It’s money from the Demon Lord Kingdom anyway. I can’t use it all by myself,” allowing him to eat and drink without a shred of guilt.
When it involved alcohol, his usual boldness only sharpened; that was Tafuman.
“So, how’s the soldier brigade doing?”
“…Well, there are quite a few folks down in the dumps like me. Losing seven people at once is shock enough…”
Tafuman replied with a moping tone despite having shifted his mindset.
“During wartime, anyone could die at any moment. So while I wouldn’t say we got used to losing comrades, everyone was prepared. But this time… Who would have thought we’d run into such a big shot…”
Even Tafuman felt like this. The survivors from that scene and those who welcomed them in Evaroti were heavy-hearted about the losses. They had finally reached a time of peace, after all… Thoughts like those could not be denied.
(…Can’t get accustomed to this.)
To this situation. Tafuman thought as he sipped on the Warito-Bimi. They were living peacefully, but it was still wartime. For the citizens of the autonomous district, and their allies. They must not forget that…
“Right… No one wants to die…”
Claire, resting her chin on the table, traced the wood grain with her finger as she said something rather obvious.
“Yeah… well, can’t say that too easily though.”
When push comes to shove, it was Tafuman and his team’s mission to give their lives for people like Claire and for the autonomous district.
“The soldier brigade is still patrolling outside, right? How’s it looking out there?”
“Ah, our replacement squad is out there. I heard the reports, but it’s dreadful. Those demon bastards should’ve done some cleanup after taking control.”
Tafuman’s tone shifted from somber to irate.
“The town and village are wrecked, fields are a mess. On top of that, wolves and wild dogs are wandering everywhere. Even demon beasts, usually found in the forest, are roaming the plains! It’s not even close to being proper livestock…”
With the residents gone, ravaged by war, and the country laid waste—it was expected, but it was still horrendous.
“Especially, they say the demon beasts on the west side are brutal. Someone almost got killed by a two-horned beast in the grasslands. The east side has just wild dogs though.”
…It was a strange tale. There were far too many demon beasts. As Dobel had said during the Asurabear incident, the former royal forest hunters—beastmen—unanimously testified that “it’s strange for these monsters to be here,” and that “they should be deeper in the forest.”
“Really… What sort of demon beasts were there?”
Claire asked eagerly, her marble-like eyes shining with interest.
“Well, here’s the thing—”
As he savored his drink, Tafuman began to recount what he had been asked about.
The reports received from his subordinates, the experienced hunters.
The types of demon beasts, their sighting locations, their original habitats.
He shared all the information he could remember—just as it was.
