Chapter 5: Taking Over the Human Village
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The villagers were skeptical about Ash, the man who had suddenly appeared leading a large number of monsters and beasts to besiege the village. They found it hard to believe what he said, especially since he was mingling with demons and claimed to be a "human" of the demon clan.
In terms of appearance, Ash looked completely human, without any of the characteristic horns of a demon, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. Unless you were a magician with a deep understanding of demons and could judge by their aura, it was practically impossible for ordinary humans to tell the difference.
Ash noticed this as well and briefly thought it might have been more convenient to just say he was human. However, with Aura standing next to him, it seemed better to be honest from the start than risk exposing himself later and destroying any trust. So, he spread his hands and said with a sigh, "Don't judge a person by their appearance. I am actually a demon. However, we have no intention of killing anyone, so I hope you'll cooperate with us."
"You mean... cooperation?" came a voice from the crowd. An old man, presumably the village chief, stepped forward.
"Yes," Ash replied. "As long as you take care of us, we'll protect you from monsters and wild beasts. How does that sound? For a village on the edge of the forest, it's a pretty good deal, right?"
"...Really? Is that all?" The old man remained skeptical.
"You'll find out soon enough. But of course, you're not allowed to leave here or go to other villages."
Actions speak louder than words, Ash thought, so instead of explaining further, he forced the villagers into cooperating.
The villagers, still trembling, led them to the best house in the village. Soon after, under the supervision of the monsters, food was served.
On the table were cheese, bread, soup made with milk, roasted meat dripping with fat, and the sweet aroma of roasted chestnuts. The smell alone was enough to stir the appetites of Ash and Aura, who had lived like savages in the mountains. They exchanged a glance before silently agreeing to dive in, fighting for the food without hesitation, ignoring any prior sense of friendship or decorum.
They didn't worry about being poisoned. From their knowledge, ordinary poisons didn't work on demons. Even if there were poisons that could, it was highly unlikely a village like this one possessed such a thing.
After the meal, the delicious food swayed Aura's judgment entirely. She decided to trust Ash's plan and agreed to settle here with him.
...
At first, the villagers lived in a state of constant panic. But with the assistance of monsters and wild beasts, the success rate of hunting expeditions soared, while the risk of injuries dropped dramatically. Just as Ash had said, they no longer had to fear external threats.
The controlled monsters and beasts even helped with farming, significantly improving the villagers' productivity and allowing them to cultivate new fields.
In the winter of the first year, for the first time, no one starved to death in this poor border village.
This quickly shifted the villagers' mentality, and by the third year, they had built stone statues of Ash and Aura, honoring them as patron saints. However, to avoid being labeled as heretics, they silently removed Aura's horns from the statues.
With the support of the villagers, Ash and Aura were able to focus on studying magic while enjoying delicious meals every day. By the end of the first year, they relaxed the strict rules they had initially imposed. The village chief and several villagers, who had voluntarily accepted control, were allowed to move freely and purchase goods outside the village. Aura had cast obedience magic on them, ensuring they couldn't betray her.
In practice, however, the only command they had to follow was to commit suicide if they betrayed Ash and Aura. Unless they received additional orders, their daily activities remained exactly the same as before, with the exception that they couldn't disobey Aura's commands or act against them.
For the average villager, the difference between a life of adequate food and shelter with some spiritual constraints, versus the freedom to starve to death alongside their families, wasn't much of a dilemma. They chose the former without hesitation.
Despite the semblance of shackles, this life was an improvement over their previous one. In the Middle Ages, hunger and even starvation were common in poor border villages like theirs. The kingdom they were in was still at war with neighboring countries, and heavy taxes were a constant burden.
Through this human village, Ash began to understand the structure of the world they lived in. They were in the southern countries, far from the northern continent where the demons' stronghold was located.
Because of this distance, demons here were few and far between, and the threat they posed was minimal. This, however, led to constant wars between the southern nations. Each country sought to conquer the other, but no one could succeed, resulting in frequent, bitter conflicts. It was due to this war that two orphans, fleeing the violence, had ended up in this remote village.
It was these two war orphans who provided Ash with valuable information about the outside world.
"No matter which world humans live in, they always seem to like killing each other, don't they?"
Ash, musing during his spare time while practicing magic, lamented the state of the world. But he quickly pushed these dreary philosophical thoughts aside.
The setting sun cast a golden glow over the wheat fields surrounding the village. As the wind swept across the land, the wheat moved like waves in a golden ocean, rolling gently in the breeze.
Everything around him was peaceful—remarkably so, considering they were in a border village in a war-torn land. The tranquility made him feel almost lazy. Lying down on the grass at the edge of the village, Ash leaned against a tree trunk, closed his eyes, and tried to take a nap.
But before he could fully drift off, a hesitant, elderly voice interrupted his daze.
"Master Ash... it's almost time for dinner, and Master Aura is still in her room. Today marks the third day. Shouldn't you check on her?"
"It's fine," Ash replied. "A demon won't starve to death in just three days. She's probably focused on studying magic."
He turned to see the elderly village chief standing nearby, his face filled with hesitation, as if there was something he wanted to say but couldn't quite express.
Ash found the concern humans had for demons oddly amusing. But it wasn't entirely surprising. After all, they had reached a mutual understanding with the village. For now, neither side could afford to part from the other. The villagers had come to rely on them—especially on Aura.