I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 356

357. [Side Story] The Sin of Being Born (3)

Present.

Lake Kingdom, Sector 8. [War Zone].

《Krrk… Krrrk…》

The Orc Emperor Daimark was kneeling on the ground, his body pierced with spears, and the Orc army he had brought was annihilated.

Conversely, Kali-Alexandr was unharmed. His personal guard had gathered around him.

Ten Goblin Amirs [high-ranking goblin commanders].

Two thousand five hundred Goblin Janissaries [elite goblin soldiers].

The elite personal guard, who had been with the Goblin God-King in his lifetime, had succeeded in stopping the Orc Emperor’s surprise attack.

Although they suffered great losses, with three Amirs and five hundred Janissaries killed, the Goblin Legion was ultimately victorious.

《I sent out the rest of the troops, but I’m not a fool. Would I send out all my limbs and hands?》

Daimark gasped for breath, and Kali-Alexandr spoke calmly.

《The reason I set up my base in this facility is because the underground space is large and good for hiding troops. You walked right into a place where my subordinates were waiting with their eyes open.》

《Krrk… You’re still showing off until the end…》

No, in fact, Daimark knew.

The Goblin Legion had only sent out its main force, and he had anticipated that the personal guard might remain here.

He knew, yet he still attacked. He believed that now, with the main force of tens of thousands gone, was the greatest opportunity.

But reality was defeat.

《Anyway, I can’t beat the numbers… Damn goblins…》

It wasn’t just the numbers.

The Goblin God-King, the Amirs, and the Janissaries moved in such a meticulously coordinated manner that it was hard to believe there were thousands of them. It was as if they were one body.

Daimark had to admit it. They were stronger than him and his army.

Daimark spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and chuckled.

《Well, it’s better to fight and die cleanly than to live under you moldy things.》

《Surrender now, Daimark. Then I will let your remaining legions live, even as slaves.》

《You are like dogs chasing after a cart.》

Daimark bared his fangs and sneered.

《You just fight according to your instincts, to kill and burn. Until the end of the world, until the last piece to kill and burn disappears.》

《…》

《Without purpose, need, or pride, you who wage war just to kill… you are truly monsters.》

Daimark roared and rose from his spot.

《Rather than continue to live as your slaves, it is better for my entire legion to die today-!》

The Orc Emperor gathered his last strength and swung his steel-like fist, but.

Thwack-! Thwack-!

It didn’t reach.

Scores of spears thrust by the Janissaries pierced Daimark’s entire body.

Kali-Alexandr’s scimitar plunged into Daimark’s neck as he roughly spat out green blood.

Thud!

With a dull sound, Daimark’s thick neck was cleanly severed.

《…》

Kali-Alexandr, who had been silently staring down at the Orc Emperor’s corpse, gave a low command.

《Return some of the troops that were sent out and attack the Orc Legion’s base. Don’t leave a single one alive.》

The Amirs and Janissaries, who had bowed their heads, rushed out of the area.

At that moment, an Amir approached Kali-Alexandr and spoke.

《Kilik, Great Kali-Alexandr. The personal guard has suffered losses, but if the Orc Legion withdraws like this…》

《…You mean we will lack the strength to stop the ‘Nameless One’?》

The Nameless One.

The guardian of this Lake Kingdom, who blocks the nightmare legion invading the human realm.

Originally, the Orc Legion was supposed to be in charge of her, but with the situation as it is, it is unlikely that they will receive help from the Orc Legion.

《It can’t be helped. Our legion’s regular soldiers won’t even be able to slow her down…》

Kali-Alexandr let out a tired sigh.

《…I have no choice but to face her myself.》

Kali-Alexandr did not know.

Daimark’s rebellion, the resulting absence of troops dedicated to the Nameless One, and the dispatch of troops to fill that void.

He didn’t know what kind of butterfly effect all of this would cause later, and what impact it would have on this war.

***

The morning, a week before the next defense battle.

Chirp, chirp.

Lily slowly opened her eyes at the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

“Umm…”

It was morning. Sunlight filtering through the curtains fell in spots on the bed. A faint scent of wood and soft air…

Lily blinked blankly, looking at the ceiling.

‘Huh?’

The shape of the ceiling was unfamiliar.

No, it wasn’t just the ceiling. The feel of the pillow, the texture of the blanket, even the scent in the air. Everything was different from the bedroom in her alchemy workshop.

“Where am I again… Ugh, my head.”

Lily tried to get up, but she touched her throbbing forehead with her hand.

It was a hangover. Come to think of it, she seemed to have drunk quite a bit last night…

‘Who did I drink with? Ah, it was Godhand…’

She had luckily obtained some sunflower honey wine, and the two of them had drunk it at the Shadow Squad’s lodging. She remembered the good atmosphere, passing drinks back and forth.

‘And…?’

Lily, still not fully awake, looked around, and her gaze turned to the side.

“…?!”

There she found him.

Right next to her, sleeping under the same blanket, was the man with the light green hair – Godhand.

His profile, as he breathed in and out peacefully, was lovely, but… no, that wasn’t the problem right now!

At that moment, Godhand, who had been twitching, slowly opened his eyes.

Their eyes met.

Lily, flustered, stammered with a flushed face, but Godhand opened his eyes languidly and smiled softly.

Godhand, who had raised his upper body with a heave, reached out his prosthetic hand and swept Lily’s disheveled bangs to the side. And he whispered.

“Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“…”

“Yesterday… was good.”

Unable to hold back any longer.

Lily screamed with all her might.

“Kyaaaaaaak?!”

…She was not yet ready to accept reality.

***

“I, I did it…!”

The annex attached to the lord’s mansion. The Shadow Squad’s lodging.

Lily, who had quickly dressed, sat at the dining table, her face buried in her hands, trembling.

“I did it, I…!”

Now, the memories of last night were vaguely coming back.

The atmosphere had been good after drinking. Lily had secretly been expecting to move on to the next stage after holding hands today.

They had almost kissed before, but Ash had caught them and scolded them, and since then, Godhand hadn’t progressed beyond holding hands, perhaps because he was intimidated.

But Godhand still smiled happily even just holding hands, and eventually, Lily, who was angry, had kissed Godhand first…

‘I did, but… I never thought that the progress would jump so far all at once…’

She was trembling with shock, but if she was being honest, she had been the one to initiate the seduction… though she had relied on the power of alcohol…

At that moment, Godhand approached from the other side, carrying two cups.

“Lily, are you okay? Here, have some honey water.”

“Ah… thank you.”

The warm honey water eased her headache a little. Lily, who was sipping the honey water, glanced at Godhand.

Godhand was looking at Lily with a gaze that seemed to be dripping with real honey. Lily’s face flushed for no reason, and she quickly turned her head to the side.

Embarrassing! This whole situation!

“You know, right, Lily?”

At that moment, Godhand opened his mouth. Lily, flustered, blurted out anything.

“Uh, um, yes? What, what? Ah, that you have a mole on your side? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Not a mole… and if you’re going to say that, Lily also has a mole on her back…”

Godhand, his face flushed, cleared his throat and spoke shyly.

“Elves… are said to stay with the first person they give their purity to for life.”

Godhand reached out his prosthetic hand and gently took Lily’s hand.

“Now, I… only have you for life.”

“…?!”

“Please take care of me in the future?”

Plop.

The honey water that had fallen from Lily’s mouth flowed back into the cup.

“…Huh?”

No, no, for life? What was he talking about?

Godhand kindly explained to Lily, who didn’t understand well.

Elves have only one partner in their entire lives, and that is why they love carefully. Instead, once they love, they dedicate everything to that partner.

So, in short…

“…We have to get married?”

“Well, that’s the story.”

“…”

Godhand continued to speak in front of Lily, who was in a daze.

“I’d like to have two or three children. It would be even better if it was a daughter who looked like you… What should we name them? I should probably decide in advance…”

Godhand twisted his body, muttering. Lily, who had been quietly watching Godhand, slowly opened her mouth.

“Godhand.”

“Yes?”

“I’m really sorry, but.”

Lily said firmly.

“Marriage is impossible.”

Crash-

As if that sound had been heard, Godhand’s face froze in shock.

“Wha, what? Wh, why? If you love each other, it’s natural to get married!”

“No… it’s not necessarily so. Dating and marriage are separate…”

“Be, besides, Lily took my first time! Are you saying you’re just going to have fun and abandon me?!”

“Th, that’s a bit harsh! I like you! But that’s romantic feelings, marriage is a bit far off!”

“By the World Tree! Humans are so promiscuous!”

No. This was also the first time she had properly dated a man. She was hearing that she was promiscuous for the first time in her life.

Lily barely gathered her confused thoughts and spoke calmly to Godhand.

“Godhand. You are an elf, and I am a human.”

“So?”

“You will still be young and handsome even after 50 years, but I won’t. I’ll become an old, shriveled grandmother.”

“You will still be beautiful. I will still love you.”

…She almost fell for that line.

Godhand, who had landed a direct hit, followed up with a chase.

“Even if you die and only your grave remains, I will protect that grave for the rest of my life and remember you. That’s how elves love their partners. And I want to make you my partner for life.”

Godhand’s prosthetic hand gently caressed Lily’s hand.

‘Ugh! Hold on, Lily! You’re the senior mage of the monster front! No matter how strong the enemy is in front of you, get a grip!’

Lily, who had barely managed to hold onto her consciousness, spoke in a stern voice.

“Okay, fine. Let’s say we got married. Then we’d have a child, right?”

“Yes. They’ll be cute, just like you.”

Godhand was beaming, as if just imagining it made him happy. Lily shook her head slightly.

“Since you’re an elf and I’m a human, that child would be a half-elf. You know very well how half-elves are treated in this world, right?”

“…”

“They experience even worse discrimination than elves do. I don’t want my child to be discriminated against from birth because of the blood they inherited from their parents.”

In this world where different races are persecuted. Hybrids received even more discrimination.

They were not only discriminated against by humans, but they were not even treated as the same race by other races.

Outsiders who wandered without being either human or a different race. In this world, hybrids were such beings.

“I like you, Godhand.”

Lily tried to use as warm a voice as possible to speak to Godhand, who had lost his words and closed his mouth tightly.

“But dating and marriage are different issues. Marriage is… reality. Something that can’t be solved with just feelings of liking…”

“…You don’t know until you try.”

“There are pains that you can know even before you try.”

Lily pressed her hand firmly on her unmoving leg.

“Godhand. This world does not accept ‘difference’ with generosity.”

Just by riding around in a wheelchair, she was already receiving harsh glares that she hadn’t received before.

If this was the case for her, a human who had acquired a disability later in life, then what about the children of the two of them, who would be born as hybrids?

“If I live with you, I will be happy. But our children will be unhappy.”

“…”

“I like you. Really. This is sincere. But… marrying you is a different issue.”

Godhand slowly lowered his head. Lily looked at her lover with pity.

At that moment.

“…So, sorry for interrupting the serious atmosphere.”

Knock-knock-

A knock was heard from the entrance of the annex.

Both of them, startled, looked over, and there was Ash, leaning against the door with a crooked stance.

Ash scratched the back of his head awkwardly and muttered as if making an excuse.

“I’ve been here for a while, but you didn’t notice, so I just thought I’d make my presence known.”