Kuro no Maou

That’s right, this is a battlefield. This place, where they were brought forcefully as war slaves, was literally an execution ground.

Daidaros was subjugated by those white clothed people calling themselves the Crusaders. Their assets were taken, their houses burned. They performed such inhumane acts as if it didn’t even affect them. As if they had experience doing it quite a few times before.

And then, the young goblin who was trembling in the cold and in fear of death, was here before he realized.

He couldn’t quite understand properly—no, before he could even know what was happening, he was being called by ’No. 1733’ and not his name. After seeing the number sewed on to his shirt and robe, he had finally realized that he had become a slave.

The Daidaros village was peaceful. The Dragon King would cause wars every now and then but he didn’t really forcibly collect tax. In the first place, the Daidaros district was rich in harvest and had rarely experienced starvation. Even the goblin, who was now an adult, experienced it about once when he was a child.

Such peaceful and tranquil farming life feels so distant now.

Now, he was surrounded by the scent of blood and steel and fire—in a battlefield of snow and ice. And the fact that he was in the middle of this upheaval didn’t sunk in yet.

“—Eh, waah?! Close–! That’s too close! That was too dangerous!”

An arrow had just grazed the top of his head. Judging from the fact that it was rotating at a high speed, it probably got repelled of off something.

And even a ricochet like that would be fatal if hit. Goblins’ skin is just a bit tougher than humans. Arrows or blades would pierce through them easily.

Even then, he could tell that if that arrow hadn’t snapped like it did, it would have gone straight through his forehead.

“Whew—I am saved! Thanks, lizard guy!”

A large lizard man advanced forward before him with strong steps. That arrow just before had been flicked off its path by his right hand. The goblin expressed his gratitude by patting the green scales on his legs.

The hooded dragon-like head glanced towards the goblin. But then, as if he didn’t see anything, he turned forward again.

“Hmm, mister, are you perhaps a Daidaros knight?”

The giant lizardman was still silent.

However, when the goblin peeked into the hood and saw his side profile, he did remember it.

“Ah, as I thought, there’s no doubt about it. I have seen your face before, mister.”

It was when he had went to the capital city of Daidaros for the first time. It was the Daidaros knight who politely showed him the way without expressing any disgust towards him, as he was a bumpkin.

Majority of the people would say that you can’t really tell apart lizardmen by their face. But for this goblin, it was unnatural to not be able to tell apart. To him, it was weird how people can’t tell them apart even when their faces are so different.

And especially, there’s no way he would forget the face of the person who helped him. He didn’t have much confidence in his memorizing ability but he could say that he can remember people’s faces well.

“Thank you very much for that time! Although, I am sure you don’t remember me.”

The lizardman turned back once again as the goblin finished saying with a laugh. The lizardman’s sharp fanged mouth opened and seemed like he was about to say something but then—it closed tightly and he turned to face forward again. He didn’t react at all after that.

Farmer or knight, both are the same war slaves now. Even then, the knight probably had some etiquette or creed he followed in the battlefield. For example, ‘do not speak of unnecessary stuff’.

The goblin made sense of the knight’s silence like that.

“Even still, to think I would meet a real knight at a place like this. My luck hasn’t completely abandoned me yet, huh?”

The goblin hid behind the lizardman’s back and kept walking forward, being protected by that robust body.

Whether the knight had noticed that or not, he just silently kept moving forward. Without complaining or showing the slightest gesture of finding it irritating.

“Hyeeeh! Ah, hot–!”

Him screaming was proof of him living.

While his brethren kept falling down one after another, the young goblin was still surviving. All thanks to the lizardman knight.

The intermittent rain of arrows kept snapping as they hit the dragon-like hard scales and none reached the goblin.

Even after being struck by lightning which was mixed in the rain of arrows, the lizardman quivered a bit and then immediately started walking again.

And now he’s crossing scorching hot fire balls and shock waves head on.

As expected, the heat reached the goblin behind and was burning his sleeves. He hurriedly jumped into the snow to extinguish it and then ran back behind the knight.

And like this, the lizardman knight and the farmer goblin kept going forward together.

And from time to time, balls of fire looking like stars come falling from the 4 pillars on top of the wall. Boulders came falling as if the mountain range was crumbling. Magics beyond imagination came flying with enormous destructive power and accurately eradicated a befitting amount of people with it.

Even the knight wouldn’t be able to go unscathed if he got caught up in one of those but—as if the Dark Gods heard the goblin’s prayers, none of those fatal attacks hit them.

“Ooohh, we are here... finally, we have made it this far...”

The attacks in the snow which felt like they would last forever was coming to an end. They had finally reached the Galahad castle walls.