Chapter 51: Days in the Empire

It has been a month since I arrived in the empire. I thought my life in the imperial mansion would be elegant and peaceful, but sadly, that was not the case. This was because I was taken outside the mansion every day by Mika and Orvo.

Orvo’s primary duty was to scour the empire in search of powerful creatures and then demand that I capture them alive. So, every day I found myself seated at the back of a carriage, always ready to embark on our next expedition. This routine made it impossible for me to even step inside the mansion.

And if you ask whether Orvo is living an elegant life, the answer is no.  His once joyful demeanor has transformed into one of dissatisfaction over the course of this month.

The root of his discontent was simple: he had been given the task of forming a squad of synthetic beasts that he has aptly named….. “demons” made entirely from human materials. Until the unit was fully assembled, his freedom was severely restricted, causing him to operate in a highly stressful environment. This was a novel experience for Orvo, who had always been free to conduct his research as he pleased. Perhaps this situation will serve as a valuable lesson for him to experience the hardship of having his freedom taken away.

At the same time, he was fervently encouraged to join the empire as a court official, but, as mentioned before, Orvo was a free-spirited researcher who preferred to conduct his studies at his own pace. He declined the offer as he disliked being employed by anyone and being commanded to conduct research. However, it seemed that the recruiters were not willing to give up, and their invitations continued despite the repeated rejections.

Going out to capture creatures was just an excuse for Orvo to escape from the recruiters. However, even during these expeditions, he was not entirely free since capable guards monitored his every move. Amongst these guards, there was always at least one of those powerful individual who were waiting in the wings by the emperor’s side.

Although this particular guard may appear weaker since they were on the same level as Remus, whom I defeated with my bare hands, the situation changes when you take into account their weaponry.  Their weapons were apparently crafted by the empire’s top craftsmen, and the fact that Remus was defeated so easily was due to his own carelessness. Now that the powerful guards were always wary of me, there was a significant chance that they would emerge victorious if a fight were to break out.

In any case, Orvo was never truly free, even when he went outside. However, it was still a better environment for him than being cooped up inside the mansion. Since he was genuinely searching for strong creatures, he became more proactive in going out to capture them.

It seemed that Orvo was dissatisfied with the current situation, but Mika was even more on edge. It appeared that the empire was not only trying to recruit Orvo but also steal his knowledge of demon-making techniques. Mika was doing his best to prevent this from happening. They had been discussing this matter in the carriage, so I was aware of it too.

Thanks to Orvo’s spiritual arts, he had hidden his research materials in a space that could not be accessed or viewed without his permission. However, the empire was still trying to steal them by any means possible. They even disguised themselves as servants and attempted to sneak in, making it impossible for them to let their guard down even inside the mansion.

While they claimed that Mika was secretly handling the intruders in the mansion, outside of it, the situation was far from perfect. Orvo was so focused on protecting his research that he failed to notice that I, the primary product of his research, was always left in the cargo bed of the carriage. Therefore, sometimes the infiltrators would enter the carriage and observe me or cast a shadow over me with a tool inscribed with a spiritual circuit.

I always pretended to be asleep, but I was aware of the infiltrator’s presence and could easily tell Orvo about the other party’s identity. Nonetheless, Orvo seemed to believe that I couldn’t understand language yet, so he never questioned me. Although even if he did, I had no intention of answering him truthfully.

“Garurururururu!!!”

Even now, I was fighting a ferocious creature under the orders of Orvo. This creature was called the Heavenly Thunder Tiger, a fierce beast that lived atop a tall mountain in the empire. It had striped white and black fur and discharged white lightning from its claws and fangs as it leaped at me.

I covered my whole body with my exoskeleton and enhanced my fighting spirit before thrusting my right arm into Heavenly Thunder Tiger’s mouth. The beast clamped down with its strong jaws, grinding its teeth against my exoskeleton. The electric shocks that flowed into my body from its fangs ran through my whole figure, but I endured it by controlling my sense of pain.

Immediately afterward, I caught the Heavenly Thunder Tiger’s raised foreleg with my left arm. Its sharp claws tore through my exoskeleton and pressed against me, sending a strong electric shock through my body. I felt my movements slowing down, but the most important thing was that… the Heavenly Thunder Tiger had stopped moving.

“Guo…Oooh!?”

Subsequently, I stabbed the poisonous stinger on the tip of my tail into the neck of the immobilized Heavenly Thunder Tiger before injecting the strongest paralyzing poison I could produce. The Heavenly Thunder Tiger began to convulse, and its limbs stiffened before it fell heavily to the ground.

The power of the Heavenly Thunder Tiger was formidable, with swift movements and the ability to manipulate both fighting spirit and spiritual power. If it had employed a hit-and-run strategy of firing lightning spiritual arts from a distance while darting around at high speeds, it would have been a tough opponent to beat. But its arrogance as the strongest creature in the mountain range had led it to choose to attack me directly, and that was a mistake it would come to regret.

I pulled my arm out of its jaws and confirmed that the Heavenly Thunder Tiger was still alive before hoisting its body over my shoulder and sprinting down the mountain. Orvo had accompanied me to the base of the mountain, but he wouldn’t follow me any further into the wilderness. There were no roads for carriages to enter this place, and the guards accompanying us wouldn’t allow it, taking into account the potential danger.

By now, Orvo was probably tinkering with his spiritual circuitry on the carriage, making something I had no idea about, but undoubtedly it would be used to create synthetic beasts. He was a truly troublesome genius, always making unnecessary things.

(I’m sorry, I’m not looking forward to this either, but I don’t have the right to refuse.)

As I ran down the mountain, I silently apologized to the Heavenly Thunder Tiger in my heart. I was never happy about being turned into a demon. It was only natural that I would want to apologize, considering what others like me would go through.

Using the branches of unnamed trees that grew on the mountain as footholds, I made my way down to the foot of the mountain, where the carriage was waiting. The Imperial soldiers who were guarding it looked at me in amazement as I brought the almost unconscious Heavenly Thunder Tiger with me. They had been shocked when I first captured one of the renowned strong creatures, but now they seemed to have gotten used to it.

I gently placed the Heavenly Thunder Tiger in the cage that was meant for transportation. After verifying its condition by touching it himself, Orvo fitted it with the “Binding Collar”, his mood brightening slightly as he commented on the good quality of the creature.

This was the fiftieth time I had seen the “Binding Collar” being fitted, yet it never ceased to make me sick to my stomach. It was only natural, considering that it was the moment when the freedom, which I had longed for since birth, was taken away. If only my hands were free to move, I would rip off this collar!

“We’ve gathered all the valuable creatures in the empire. With this, our preparations for the experiments are complete, and we can begin tomorrow. When is the materials supposed to arrive?”

“I’ve heard that the criminals can be received at any time. Carriages packed with criminals from the countries on the central front will arrive soon. But for the warriors, we will have to wait until they return from the front lines.”

“Hmm, that’s perfect. We’ll use them to simplify the process and repeat new experiments.”

Orvo and Mika were talking about this as they returned to the carriage. To conduct experiments on making demons, not only various creatures but also an equal number of human subjects were needed.

For Orvo and the emperor, human beings were merely a species of entities that could be used as “materials” without any hesitation. The same view was shared by the countries on the central front. However, to me, it seemed both terribly frightening and utterly disgusting.

Orvo, who had returned to the mansion, seemed to have immediately started the experiments. As soon as I got back, I was taken out of the carriage and put into a room in the basement of the mansion. To my surprise, the basement of the mansion was a prison, and I was put in one of the cells along with my cage. What kind of place was this mansion with a prison as its basement? I didn’t want to think about it.

“Hum hum hum. Mika, put this in here,” Orvo said .

“Understood,” Mika replied.

With nothing else to do, I trained my control in the prison cell in the basement. A few days later, Orvo arrived with Mika. The latter held two reins, with an ox and a horse on each end.

Orvo instructed Mika to bring the beasts into the same cell as me. The ox and horse walked in, curiously sniffing the air with their snouts. After a while, they settled down beside my cage, seemingly content.

“Oh? They seem to have already taken a liking to you. I wonder if they instinctively know which one of you is superior? Well, nevermind. Be friends,” Orvo said.

Orvo and Mika left together, prompted by Orvo’s interested look. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was fond of them. Though the beast-like odor emanating from the duo bothered me slightly, it didn’t seem harmful. So I decided to observe them for the time being.

As the ox and horse slept, snoring peacefully, I marveled at their carefree nature. Suddenly, something peculiar occurred—their bodies began to change. Their skeletons made loud cracking noises as they transformed into humanoid shapes, resembling humans. Even their hands and feet changed into those of humans.

After the transformation that lasted a few seconds, there stood two giants with the heads of an ox and a horse.

Despite their new humanoid shape, their size and hue remained the same as before. Their limbs were now human-like, complete with fingers of the same shape as the human species and claws the same color as their hooves. Their entire bodies were covered in fur, and their tails, which sprouted from the base of their waists, wagged and buzzed.

I realized that these two were like me—demons in human form. Given their physiques, I guessed they were both males. As they slept, lying on their muscular backs with their buttocks in the air, they looked a bit goofy but also endearing. One of them even scratched his own buttocks with his hand. Perhaps he had an itch?

It was a heartwarming sight, but the thought of other demons being created besides me filled me with a sense of melancholy. Their existence was distorted as they were made into weapons for battle.

As the demons increased in number, they would undoubtedly be sent to fight against the invading army. How many demons would be sacrificed before the war’s end? I may even be among the casualties. Listening to the snores coming from my left and right, I let out a heavy sigh.

*************

TN: The term demon is translated from the word ‘majin’.I This term can be translated as ‘devil’ but I left it as demon because in one chapter they used the term demon race.