The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 41

Thud, thud. The sound echoed from beneath the high, grey castle walls.

A single man walked into view. Many eyes watched him from the walls above, but he walked without fear. He held a banner high, and as it waved in the wind, a symbol appeared: a white stag, standing alone and proud.

The symbol of House Barco.

Lawrence’s soldiers on the walls swallowed hard. Worry tightened their faces.

Thud. The man stopped walking.

The man looked calmly at the walls. Then, he looked directly at Lord Lawrence, as if to say, “I know who you are.”

“I am here for Lord Barco, and I give you three choices. First, open the gates and surrender. Lord Barco is kind to those who ask for forgiveness. Surrender is the only way to save your lives. But I don’t think you will do this. If you wanted to surrender, you would have done it already. That’s why I’m here.”

The man was very rude.

He was just a messenger, but he spoke like he was Lord Barco.

“Second, we can have a full battle. We can fight fairly in front of the central government’s judge. You can choose any way to fight, a big battle, called a melee, or a fight between chosen warriors, a duel. We will agree to what you want.”

Noble families usually solved problems this way.

People in this world thought it was shameful for nobles to attack castles.

Fighting from behind walls was seen as cowardly for nobles. It meant they were afraid to face their enemies directly. So, most fights were settled using these methods.

That’s why there was a judge.

Even if one side won, the judge would watch the fight to make sure there were no arguments about who won.

Lord Lawrence stepped forward.

“We know your war is wrong! That paper about old debts is fake. We will not open our gates and let you hurt our people. Go back to Lord Barco and tell him Lawrence will never…”

“Third!” The messenger cut him off.

The choice had already been made.

From the moment Lawrence locked the gates, both families knew they would choose the third choice.

But there was only one reason to send a messenger: to put pressure on Lawrence. The messenger’s words were like a cruel threat to Lawrence’s worried soldiers.

“You have given up your noble pride by hiding in your castle and choosing to fight like this. From now on, House Barco will fight you. You will pay for every drop of blood in this war.”

That was the end.

The messenger turned and walked away.

Lawrence’s soldiers watched the banner waving in the wind, but they could not shoot an arrow.

And then, the war began.

The first battle finished quickly, faster than anyone thought.

House Barco had looked ready to punish them badly. But after only thirty minutes of fighting, they suddenly told their soldiers to go back.

Lord Barco threw the helmet he was wearing to the ground. “Arrogant bastards!” he shouted.

The battle had not gone as planned.

House Barco had three times more soldiers than Lawrence. They moved their soldiers forward with ladders to climb the walls quickly.

Lawrence’s walls were not high.

Dmitri’s Iron Fortress was famous for being impossible to attack, even with a huge army. Lawrence’s walls were not strong like that; they were quite weak.

To be honest, they thought they could win in just one hour.

But what was happening?

Lawrence fought back much harder than they had thought.

“Lord, it looks like Lawrence was ready. They had dug deep ditches to stop our soldiers from getting close. Then, they poured hot oil and set it on fire. And from the start, Lawrence’s soldiers shot so many arrows, it was clear they had plenty of weapons and supplies,” the adjutant said.

Lord Barco felt a flash of anger.

They had given Lawrence a week. That week was supposed to be for Lawrence to give up, not to get ready to fight.

Barco thought, ‘Lawrence should have given up. We made sure they had no allies. We have so many more soldiers. Why are they fighting? They should be begging for mercy!’

Barco’s plan from the beginning was not to have a war.

The Golden Bank and the judge were just backup plans. Their main plan was to pressure Lawrence so much that they would have to surrender.

And now, the plan was ruined.

Even though the battle was short, Lawrence fought back in a very organized way. And by burning their own fields, it looked like they were ready for a long war.

The mere thought of it made his head ache.

Flora had warned them. House Barco had borrowed a lot of money. To avoid losing everything, they needed to win this war very quickly.

“Lord, what should we do?” the adjutant asked carefully.

They had lost many soldiers in the battle.

They had wanted to see how strong Lawrence was, but the soldiers died without being able to do anything because Lawrence fought back so hard.

Barco thought about Lord Lawrence. ‘He’s not brave. He even gave his own daughter away to Dmitri because we told him to. He’s a coward.’ But now, Lawrence was fighting back. ‘Something has changed,’ Barco realized. ‘He wouldn’t fight like this if he didn’t think he could win. They must have a plan for a long war.’

This war was all Lord Barco’s plan.

He moved his son, Antonio Barco, and made Lawrence angry with a fake paper, which led to war.

Now it was almost over.

This was the most important part of his plan. He was not going to give up Lawrence’s rich land.

“What to do? Bring ‘it’ here right now,” Barco said.

“Understood,” the adjutant replied.

Lord Barco smiled sadly.

Lawrence’s family had missed one important thing.

Lord Barco only wanted to win without spending too much money or losing many soldiers. He never even thought about losing.

The Golden Bank had lent them even more money than they asked for.

That money was enough to change everything in this war.

On the castle walls, Lawrence’s soldiers moved busily.

They were happy about winning the first battle, but they knew they could not relax yet.

“Move it! Faster!”

“Barco’s soldiers could attack again any minute! Stay alert and move those weapons!”

One victory. Just one. It was enough to change everything. Fear had gripped them before, but now, a new feeling bloomed: confidence. Barco wasn’t unbeatable after all.

Lord Lawrence said, “Flora, you were right. Defending the castle in the usual way worked! We stopped Barco’s attack. But how did you think of it? I thought you only learned about being a noble lady at the academy, not fighting!”

Flora had changed. It was a surprise to everyone, especially her father. Setting fire to their own fields to stop the enemy, organizing the castle defenses – all of it was Flora’s idea. She had become someone new.

Flora looked at the soldiers, her face serious. She wasn’t wearing a fancy dress today. Instead, she wore armor on her chest and shoulders, like a soldier ready for a fight. She had even been practicing with a bow and arrows for days, wanting to help. She knew she wasn’t a skilled archer yet, but just seeing her try made the soldiers feel braver.

Lawrence thought of Flora as his precious flower, something beautiful and delicate. But now, she was more than that. She was a symbol of hope for his people. Because Flora had been strong and never given up, his soldiers had found the courage to defend their home, even when things looked bad.

Flora said, “Like you said, Father, the academy didn’t teach me about war. They said noble ladies don’t need to know such things. But when I saw how Barco acts, I knew I had to change. I don’t want to be weak, like a flower that needs to be protected. I want to be strong enough to see problems and fix them myself. So, I started learning on my own. This is the life I want now.”

“Flora…” Lawrence whispered, his voice full of emotion.

“Don’t worry,” Flora said gently, seeing his face. “I’m doing this because I want to.”

Flora’s words hurt him in a way. If he had been a stronger lord, she wouldn’t have to be so brave, so tough. He saw how much she had changed, almost overnight. But even with the pain, pride swelled in his chest. She was his daughter. His precious Flora had become amazing, right before his eyes.

“When we deal with Barco,” Lawrence said, his voice thick with emotion, “I won’t try to control your life anymore, Flora. I am so sorry for trying to make you marry Dimitri. I thought it was the only way to save you, when our family was falling apart. But now… now I see you. I trust you to make your own decisions, whatever they may be.”

Just then, the air changed. The conversation stopped. No, it was forced to stop.

“Gasp!”

“What is that?!”

Soldiers gasped and pointed, fear spreading through their ranks. Beyond the castle walls, something was moving in Barco’s camp. Slowly, it rose into view. It looked a little like a catapult, but bigger, and much more menacing. Those who knew weapons knew instantly – this was no ordinary catapult.

“No way!” someone shouted.

“It’s a Flare!” another cried, his voice shaking.

Flare. The word itself was heavy with dread. It was a siege weapon, designed to launch magical explosives at castle walls. Each shot cost a fortune, like throwing gold into the fire. But it was guaranteed to destroy. No one expected Barco to have something like this. Where did he get it?

“Everyone, to your positions!”

“Everyone, prepare for the attack!”

Chaos erupted around her. Soldiers ran, shouting orders. But Flora stood frozen, her face draining of color. Her few days of studying military books had taught her enough to know the terrible power of a Flare. *If it starts firing,* she thought, panic rising, *the walls will crumble. The explosions will tear through everything, burning everyone alive.* She knew there were only two ways to stop it: fight fire with fire, with another magical weapon just as strong, or… charge out and destroy it directly. The first was impossible. They didn’t have such weapons, and even if they had money, you couldn’t just buy something like a Flare. So… was their only choice to rush out and face certain death?

Then, with a roar, the Flare spat fire. A massive ball of flame shot through the air.

*WHAM!* The ground shook. *Rumble!*

Screams ripped through the air. Horrified cries echoed from the top of the wall. One shot. Just one. And the top of the wall was now a scene of horror. The stone hadn’t broken, thankfully, but the soldiers… They screamed as fire clung to them, burning their skin. It was a near miss. If the fireball had hit directly, it wouldn’t have just burned them. It would have vaporized them, leaving nothing but ash.

Flora’s mind went blank with terror. This was beyond anything she had read about. Her books said that against such power, retreat was the only option. But there was nowhere to run. *I can’t give up,* she thought fiercely, clenching her jaw. She grabbed her bow, her fingers tightening on the wood. She had to do something, anything. Just as she was about to move, a maid rushed towards her, breathless.

“Lady Flora! Lady Flora! A message! From Roman Dimitri!”

“Roman Dimitri?” Flora stopped, confused. Roman? Why now? It was a name she hadn’t expected, out of nowhere. She didn’t understand why he would contact them, but it didn’t matter now. She had to get back to the walls. She turned to run.

“He said,” the maid gasped, “Roman Dimitri said to tell you: ‘Lawrence is in danger. I know how to help. Contact me.'”

Flora froze. She couldn’t move. Roman Dimitri? Help?