The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 79

The day he saw the army sign-up paper, Henderson thought, “I want to be one of Roman Dmitry’s men.”

Lawrence Square. He could not forget what had happened there.

Henderson and the others were living their normal lives when Roman Dmitry appeared, disrupting their peace.

People covered their mouths in shock.

The terrible criminal, Ben Miles, was dragged along by Roman, his hair clutched in Roman’s fist, blood dripping onto the ground with each step.

And then, Roman executed Ben Miles.

He willingly stained his hands with blood, declaring that he could not forgive the Blood Fang who had taken the lives of Dmitry’s people.

At that sight, Henderson had fallen completely in love.

Henderson, who was among the crowd in Lawrence Square, had applied to join Roman’s army.

“The regular soldiers probably don’t need great qualifications,” he thought.

He wasn’t from a rich family, and he figured that the standard wouldn’t be too high since it was Roman Dmitry’s personal army.

But the reality that Henderson faced, after barely passing the test, was different. Everyone was far from ordinary.

Chris and Kevin were skilled aura users, as they had shown in the Great Warriors’ Battle, and there were also experienced mercenaries like Lucas and Pooky. Henderson was the only one who was just an ordinary person.

It must have been from then on, while training, that Henderson began to hate himself.

“Will I be of any help here?” he wondered.

For the first few weeks, Henderson felt lost. Watching the other soldiers keep up with the training, he began to feel like this wasn’t his place.

Frankly, unlike the strong men who didn’t even flinch when arrows were fired at them, he had trembled as if he was about to wet himself. His heart still pounded when he thought about it.

It was as if he was a lone plant-eater in a pack of ferocious beasts.

He worried about it seriously for a while. In the end, Henderson went to Chris and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m good enough to serve Roman Dmitry.”

It was a realistic decision. He believed this was the right thing to do for everyone else.

Chris asked, “What makes you think that?”

“You know why. Unlike the other soldiers, I’m a beginner who doesn’t even know how to swing a sword properly. I can’t keep up with the training, and I don’t have anything else that stands out. I think it was arrogant of me, who has lived my whole life farming, to step forward and follow Roman Dmitry.”

“Are you saying you want to give up because you’re not as good as others?”

“Yes.”

If it had been before he met Roman, Chris would have agreed with Henderson’s words. However, it was different now.

“When I first saw Kevin, that guy was just a kid with anger in his eyes. Frankly, I couldn’t understand why someone like the Lord would take in a young boy from the slums. But does Kevin look weak now? No. In that short time, Kevin has become a warrior that no one can ignore.”

“Is that really true?” Henderson asked.

“Yes. The funny thing is, it’s the same for me. When I first met the Lord, I attacked him without thinking and lost all my front teeth. Back then, I was like someone who only knew a small part of the world. And just like the past Kevin and the present Kevin are different, the past me and the present me have also changed after being taught by the Lord. So what are you worried about? The Lord has decided that you are worth accepting as a soldier. You may be pathetic now, but like Kevin and I, you also have the potential to grow. Roman Dmitry, the Lord we serve, is the one who can make that happen.”

His heart was pounding.

Kevin was a tough guy that everyone respected. But even Kevin was just a slum boy before he met Roman.

“Could I become like that too?” he wondered.

He couldn’t be sure, but hearing the previous examples, he felt his heart burning.

“To be honest, I don’t believe in myself. I can’t even imagine becoming as strong as others, being just a farmer, but I’ll trust the Lord’s decision, as Chris said. The fact that he chose me from among so many applicants must mean that there’s a reason. I’ll dedicate myself to training again, and I won’t bother Chris with this kind of thing again.”

That day, Henderson changed his mind, and from then on, Henderson’s life began to change.

Over the past few months, Henderson devoted himself to training as if he were dying, so he wouldn’t be ashamed as one of Roman’s men.

Even if he threw up every day after training, even if he fainted during training, Henderson trained hard to catch up with his comrades, and eventually, he was able to build the body he had now.

Therefore, watching the other soldiers who had been able to prepare for a year, Henderson raised his voice.

“What do you guys even think war is? When you’re in a life-or-death situation, where you can only survive by killing others, are you still going to say that you can’t fight because the preparation time for the war was too short? You pathetic fools! A year is enough time to grow a crop. You’ve been living comfortably all this time, and now you’re making excuses that you didn’t have enough time, that you couldn’t help it because you were forced to join the army.”

Once the war started, you had to protect your own life. Even if you were forced to join, you could at least make a difference depending on how hard you tried.

But what about the soldiers of the other nobles? They didn’t even have the most basic skills.

Seeing the soldiers complaining to him even after all that, Henderson sneered and said, “Today’s training might have been hard for you guys who have been living without any thought for the past year. But you know what? If you knew that you were behind, you should try to catch up, not complain to us, right? Why are you asking us to be as bad as you are?”

Roman had said to be prepared for war on this trip to the Southern Front. Roman’s soldiers, including Henderson, had been doing real combat training, and although they weren’t perfect, they were ready for war at any time.

That’s why he couldn’t understand the reactions of the other soldiers. They were in the same place, but they were foolishly relaxed about the situation.

Henderson’s words were harsh, and the soldiers of the other nobles shut their mouths. Since Henderson’s preparation time was less than half a year, they had nothing to say.

“Idiots,” Henderson said and turned away.

Even after today, they wouldn’t change, but Henderson would continue to train hard tomorrow and the day after, because it was Roman Dmitry’s will. Roman’s soldiers had already started the war in their minds.

The training continued. It was extreme physical training. Even as the training got harder every day, Roman’s soldiers kept going until the end.

The difference between them and the other soldiers was huge.

The nobles who were watching the training complained, probably because their pride was hurt by the difference.

“I don’t know why those guys are working so hard,” one said.

“I know, right? It would make sense if this was the Western Front, where battles happen all the time, but the Southern Front is far from war, isn’t it? Anyway, our kids are the only ones suffering because of those guys.”

“If you’re born low-class, you’re going to waste your energy on useless things. If they don’t do that, how else would the Dmitry family get noticed?”

“That’s right, haha!”

They openly made fun of Roman. It was ridiculous. The Southern Training Camp was known as a place where nobles spent two years on vacation, so why were they training so hard here?

It would make sense if it was the Western Training Camp instead. At least there, you would get rewards equal to your achievements, but the Southern Training Camp doesn’t make nobles train in the first place.

Under the hot sun, Roman’s face was red. Seeing him training with the soldiers, they couldn’t help but think he was foolish.

Among the nobles in the shade was Henry Albert. Unlike the nobles who were making fun of Roman, he was worried as he looked at Roman.

“How am I supposed to win over a guy like that?” he wondered.

He was a strange person. If he was interested in pleasure like other nobles, he would have tried to talk about that, but he was sweating and training on the Southern Front for no reason. His way of thinking was different from his.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for his uncle, Count Bale’s orders, he would have been happily gossiping with the other nobles.

But he couldn’t do that. Thinking that he would be in the same unit as that guy in the future, he already felt a headache coming on.

“Does he have some kind of safety problem? If he came to the Southern Training Camp, wouldn’t it be nice to talk and hang out with the other nobles? Commoners don’t know how to relax. Oh well, I don’t know. It’ll work out somehow,” he thought.

He flopped down in the shade. The sun was hot. He could hear the soldiers shouting in the distance, but he closed his eyes in the cool shade. After a nap, maybe this boring training would be over.

Meanwhile, at the Southern Front, on the First Defense Line, Cairo’s soldiers watched the border from the high walls.

“Ugh, I’m tired,” one said.

“What happened yesterday?” another asked.

“Don’t even ask. I was up all night playing cards with the 2nd squad, so I only got two hours of sleep,” the soldier said, looking tired.

He didn’t properly check the border. He glanced to see if there was anyone near the wall, then took out the water bottle hanging from his waist and opened it.

Pop!

The smell of alcohol filled the air. The soldier next to him asked in surprise, “You brought alcohol with you?”

“What do you mean, ‘brought’? It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve filled my water bottle with alcohol. You need to relax. What’s going to happen if I drink a little alcohol in this place where no one’s going to come anyway? And it actually helps me work better. It’s better to drink a little alcohol to clear my head than to not be able to check the border because I’m sleepy.”

“But…”

“Don’t drink if you don’t want to. I’ll just drink it myself.”

The soldier gulped down the alcohol, enjoying the feeling. Seeing the soldier admiring him, the soldier working with him couldn’t resist.

“Just one sip for me,” he said.

“That’s what I thought.”

This was a common sight at the Southern Front. The long peace had made them relaxed, and no major problems had happened even after working like this for many years.

But they didn’t see the bushes at the border shaking.