It’s now past sunset, and night has fallen upon both sides’ camps on the Tave River. Tonight, the moon was conveniently hiding behind the clouds, causing darkness to come earlier than usual.
I was sitting on Vedwoka’s back, gently opening and closing my right hand as I watched my lightly equipped Kaldia army head downstream for Fort Droitros from Fort Droidas. I seem to have overexerted myself using my halberd earlier in the day using the aid of Rashiok’s momentum. I returned to Fort Droidas after that battle, and noticed that my wrist was throbbing. I must have strained it slightly.
Although that may be the case, it’s not at the extent where I can’t move my hand, so I’m going to have to go back on the battlefield just like this. Well, unlike during the daytime, this time there’s no substitutes that can take my place. After all, I’m supposed to be the commander of the Kaldia army.
…For the past several years, my soldiers have been involved in the construction of the village for Kaldia’s new citizens, as well as my new mansion that’s become the new center of Kaldia domain. Considering that I’ve been on guard against the possibility of war with Rindarl, my army’s swelled up to a size that’s disproportionate for the small domain that Kaldia is. Kaldia domain remains a poor one though, and I can’t afford to keep an army that doesn’t work for its pay. Until we have sufficient food resources to abolish the longstanding tradition of going out to forage for your own food at night, all our resources must be put into development and agriculture so as to prevent my budget going into the red.
And to be honest, the members of the Kaldia army are more skilled with hoes and axes than swords and spears, but at least almost all of them have experience working with rivers. They often go to the lakes and streams, searching for food through fishing and other means.
Wiegraf already seems to have taken their experience in the water into account. My Kaldia army’s numbers are probably just right for carrying out this secret operation we’re about to do next.
…By the way, the secret operation to ambush the enemy’s ships was why my Kaldia army has switched to saws and axes from their swords and spears.
My Kaldia army stopped a little ways from their navy’s position, and six excellent swimmers from my army began slowly approaching their six large ships by swimming through the Tave River.
The enemy’s huge ships belong to the country of Parmigran. They were towing along some smaller ships with infantry soldiers on them. The big ships appeared to be acting as a logistical supply station for food, arrows, and ammunition.
For Rindarl, or perhaps I should say for the Densel Dukedom, they don’t seem to have any more forces other than what we already knew about. As evidence, these ships of theirs didn’t head downstream even though the battle turned disadvantageous for them.
They’re probably in the situation of having to wait for their soldiers in Eris to recover and head out. The Densel nobles leading their troops from the ships are probably desperately trying to get prepared for tomorrow morning.
I saw that my soldiers had reached the bows of the enemy’s large ships. Each of them swung their axes around several times, waiting for my signal. I also signaled for them to wait with my sword, and waited for a signal from Fort Droidas.
“…It’s almost time. Mefuri, how are you feeling?”
When I asked Mefuri who was sitting in front of me, she only responded by nodding with a frightened expression on her face.
“Don’t make such a scared face. Tonight will be your glorious first battle on the Arxian side.”
Mefuri nodded again. However, her expression remained tense. She’s probably afraid of her betrayal being discovered by Rindarl. In any case, she’s currently at a turning point in her life she won’t be able to go back from.
“Take your mind off it by thinking of something else. That’s right, how was today’s food? We’re on the battlefield, so provisions are a bit rough, but I think it didn’t taste all that bad. The amount wasn’t much though, but that can’t be helped.”
“It, it was amazing, yeah. Also, eating so much, it, it was the first time for me.”
“Is that so? -Ahh, I see. …I don’t know what type of person was looking after you before, but now I know that he was a bastard that didn’t give you children proper meals. Listen up, Mefuri. What you just ate was nothing more than coarse grains. Without a doubt, the food situation in my domain is the worst in all of Arxia, but it’s vastly improved over the past few years thanks to my constant efforts in improving the situation.”
I made sure to add plenty of compassion to my voice, as if I was saying ‘I would never allow any country to do that to you ever again.’ Mefuri’s eyes began to well up with emotions.
“You’ve seen my soldiers already, right? What do you think about their equipment? You can tell that it’s much poorer in comparison with the other knights. My domain is a poor one. However, it definitely should be a much better standard of living than whatever your old life was like. As proof, do you see a single soldier of mine that’s skinny to the point of being malnourished?”
As I used a calculated emotional appeal to firmly bring her over to my side, Mefuri’s face began distorting as if she was about to cry. I wondered if she was remembering back to some painful memory, since her shoulders were trembling.
While stroking Mefuri’s back, I confirmed that the lighthouse at Fort Droidas was lit up. This was the first signal.
“…Alright, Mefuri. It’s time to use your power. Vent your anger on those that used you like an animal. Be reborn as an Arxian and a believer of the Xia sect, and bring Misorua’s judgement down upon those that would take from others.”
I feel almost as if I’m playing the part of a demon who’s trying to deceive a child, but well, in my opinion, Rindarl was definitely the side that was in the wrong.
The wind brought sounds of a commotion’s beginning to me. The Arxian infantry suddenly began their assault on the enemy’s small fleet.
The countless torches they held illuminated the night and revealed the blood that was still on the ground from the earlier battle.
Rindarl obviously noticed Arxia’s assault beginning, and their ships that had remained quiet up until now suddenly became bustling with noise.
Their commanders’ panicked voices overlapped with the sounds of their soldiers getting off the ships. I had been waiting for this opportunity, so I signaled my soldiers waiting near their ships’ bows to begin.
They were equipped with hand axes. Of course, such a weapon would be unable to break through the ships’ hulls. It would surely take a long time for them to make a large hole in any ship’s hull in an unstable environment like the water.
But, a hand axe was more than sufficient to make a tiny dent or hole in which to place something in.
After my soldiers returned to me and confirmed that they all successfully placed their objects, I incited Mefuri to truly commit her first act of betrayal.
“Do it, Mefuri. Bid farewell to Rindarl!”
“……Ah, ahh, ahhh, ahhhhhhhhh!!!”
A loud voice filled with despair and anger rang out from her throat.
It sounded as if she was trying to shake off the fear and hesitation at betraying her home country.
It sounded as if she was venting the anger and frustration from her heart that she couldn’t form into words.
Pop, I heard that eerie sound once more from the water, as the six ships’ bows were grandly blown away in simultaneous explosions.
“Go, my army!! We have direct orders from the General Commander of Arxia! Annihilate the enemy on the Tave River! Destroy all their ships! Make the Tave River run red with their blood!!!”
*reads this chapter*
gachigasm
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“Do it, Mefuri. Bid farewell to Rindarl!”
“Go, my army!! We have direct orders from the General Commander of Arxia! Annihilate the enemy on the Tave River! Destroy all their ships! Make the Tave River run red with their blood!!!”
I still shivering from those.. or it is the A/C??
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this make me wonder, what did Mefuri blow? I doubt Eliza will pop those six swimmers…. right?
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Of course not, it even says “after my soldiers returned to me”
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I’m an idiot. How can I missed it.
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Come join us on Discord, Len!
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Hm? What’s your discord?
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Do you still have Skype? I’ll link you to the super secret server for our international piracy ring (read: discord server for web novel translators).
Also my personal one! Roxorium too!
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Small enough for a hand axe to make a hole for, but living to maximize explosion size.
My guess? Rats or Fish were used. The hole only has to be large enough to sink the ship.
Or Heads. Could be heads. Probably heads.
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That one does seem likely. It all depends on what makes the biggest boom.
Could be hearts, could be bags filled with blood (although that one would probably make Mefuri’s activation condition a lot harder), could be stomachs… but yeah, it’s probably heads, I’d assume they have the added benefit of launching bone fragments when they pop. ._.
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floating logs and sticks?, i mean as long as she explosion infuse them before they cut them down she can blow up plant matter since she can blow up severed body parts and said she could do it to plants.
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Could be plants, easier to carry and handel
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It was said that Mefuri could turn any living thing into a bomb. So for all we know, Eliza could have had the swimmers carrying potted plants with them.
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And now I’m picturing potted plants with long
breathing reeds at the top moving across the water lmfao.
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OMG… ELIZA is a CULT LEADER!!!! I need to shout that!! How scary.. how old is she currently to others?? 15?? No wonder the enemies scared of her.. before long everyone will call her demon child itself (Not that no one called her that previously in her domain)
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I think she is 13.
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Thanks 4 the chapter!
Mefuri has become the vampire bride of Count
DraculaEliza the impaler.LikeLiked by 12 people
I believe Eliza want to make her name like the one she has in her past life, I believe its Mary? so if she uses that name now she would be called Bloody Mary in the bloody Tave River.
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Thanks for the chapter!
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Beautiful
Thank you for the chapter!
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For some reason, I found Eliza’s speech to sound pretty suspicious this chapter, a bit like: “Hi little girl, don’t be afraid, this uncle will take gooood care of you. Just do as I say. Even though we look like this, we have pumpkins!”
That said, the fact that Kaldia domain is (still) that poor is sad, isn’t it. Well, I guess at least it means that when they’re out on enemy territories, they’re still able to forage around for extra food. I wonder how the Royal Knights think about that…
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It’s not just speech, she’s also proved it with actions like giving her a decent meal, not call her a monster (even back when she escaped), etc.
Basically she has an easy route into the girl’s heart by the fact that the enemy already cracked it before.
Though I wonder if Eliza will get any more magical lolis to add to her retinue.
After all, if she abandons another one without proper reason, it’ll just re-awaken Mefuri’s trauma of being abandoned before.
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Magical loli = Certain major loli mage from empire…
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-Enemy Hero brainwash:….. 100%!
-Bomber loli corruption:……. 100%!
-Congratulation. New Hero unit acquired: Mefuri The Explosive.-
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Onee-sama is exerting her influence on Mefuri! And it looks like Mefuri has fallen!
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She coaxed her.. she coaxed her…
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Or should I say brainwashed her? yup that sounds more appropriate :v
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She said brainwash but… isn’t that just giving abused child a therapy?!
I gotta say Rindarl got that coming, who is in the right mind *even if they didn’t see her as human but slave* abusing a kid who can turn you to bomb and send her to their enemies in silver plate?
I mean Arxia seems to have a reputation as religious kingdom upholding high morale, they even forbid slavery so… even if it’s also Eliza finding the chance to convince Mefuri, I’d say the math says what happening now have a very large chance happening.
They’re leaving a vulnerable child soldier ripe for the taking.
Seriously, it’s not even high level manipulation Eliza did. She didn’t even have to lie, Eliza basically says Rindarl could be careless about Mefuri *as evident with how bad they treat her* so there’s no point staying loyal and told the kid how well Eliza will treat her in comparison *Heck, even giving the kid enough food and decent clothing already counts!*
Also to this command from Eliza-sama…
“Go, my army!! We have direct orders from the General Commander of Arxia! Annihilate the enemy on the Tave River! Destroy all their ships! Make the Tave River run red with their blood!!!”
ME: “Yes, milord! Glory to Eliza-sama and Kaldia!”
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… therapy? Like, therapy Eliza-style?
Eliza: Are you angry? Are you upset at how they treated you?
Mefuri: … yes.
Eliza: Then come with me. I’ll show you how I let out stress.
Mefuri: … how?
Eliza: By killing my enemies horribly.
Mefuri: …
*much later, back to school*
Mefuri: Eliza-sama, why are you so stressed?
Eliza: You are not allowed to kill or maim people here.
Mefuri: … oh.
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LOVE IT!
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well the correct way to deal with a child solider is to give them a normal life where they don’t have to kill anymore
but of course this isn’t that kind of story
if anything Eliza is abused and need therapy too
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She abuse herself in a sense though…
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Mefuri is the girl I said will start calling Eliza oneesama with love, isn’t she?
She’s definitely the girl that is gonna call Eliza oneesama.
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“Go, my children!! Feast on their flesh and blood!”
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Thanks for the chapter~ :3
Eliza uses brainwashes against mefuri, it’s super effective.
Speech 100
Explossion 100
I thought Eliza is going to dam the river little by little, but I guess I was wrong.
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Damm. Pyscho level so strong. Somehow i could feel eliza like a king when she was talking to mefuri. Reading this chapter with OSTs would be good. Lol
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I read this with kajiura yuki music(maybe should’ve used Hiroyuki sawano) it was amazing
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Uhu~ Yess Eliza! She’s going to add bloody mary to her arsenal of names xD
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Thanks for the chapter!
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I love this chapter so much! Thanks for your hard work imperfectluck! ❤
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I know I already mentioned the Witcher games just before, but I could hear the trailer music in my head towards the end.
For how dense the more light-hearted chapters made her out to be (although even that’s questionable, since she was purposely holding back), she sure as heck knows how to manipulate people. Taking hold of someone’s weaknesses and fears, while instilling the feeling that you’re the one protecting them… that’s some real shit. Not to mention amplifying and encouraging Mefuri’s anger in a direction that benefits Eliza most, she’s got things sorted out pretty well.
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“I feel almost as if I’m playing the part of a demon who’s trying to deceive a child….”
That’s what I like about you, Eliza. When you do something that’s both necessary and evil, you’re so aware of the evil part.
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powerful chapter ty
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this chapter (along with the last) are so metal that they’re best read with evil tanya’s ost, especially the full versions of the OP and ED \m/
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Thanks for the chapter
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Yaay, go get em Eliza-chan~
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Can someone please tell me when Otome game will be begin?
I’ve been following this series from beginning so i really wanna know .-.
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Otome game? What otome game? Lol
Jokes aside, Eliza has shown to be absolutely clueless and dense when it comes to romance. And for good reason: since she is so hated and hates herself so much, it’s very difficult for her to believe anyone’d be romantically interested in her, much less trust them. So she just cuts off that possibility from her mind.
So… if you’re hoping for Eliza romance, don’t hold your breath. Though I do *think* someone’ll break into her heart eventually, even if it does happen, it’s not gonna be any soon.
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Ty very much for the chapter and translation of the story so far, imperfectluck. I started from ch1 yesterday and couldn’t stop reading… the story is just that good.
All hail our demon queen Eliza-sama!
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Thanks for the chapter!
Oh my, so it begins and the legends of Eliza will grow further.
“She is the ruler of demons! She’ll turn the demons against us!”
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Pitiful mefuri. Soo pitiful i hope she gets better treatment and you cant blame her as a kid she was probably brainwashed to do those things
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