Demon 6 Slave

Forge the weapon.

Continue forging without pause.

With hatred and malice embedded.

The goblin village was annihilated.

Only I remained, and Lazalaza, the male goblin who, like me, had been subjugated by a monster-user.

Others may have escaped, but the probability is low.

A proud goblin would not flee from an enemy's presence.

Perhaps children might have been spared.

But a goblin child, displaced from its home, could not survive in those harsh mountain passes.

Humans remained in the goblin village for approximately seven days, collecting usable items, then withdrew.

They took me and Lazalaza with them.

They brought us to a small village at the base of the mountain range.

The village appeared to have existed for only a short time.

Several years, at least not more than a decade.

Humans of all ages resided there. At the center stood a unit led by a man who commanded monsters.

The monster user was likely a soldier from some nation.

His subordinates carried a rough demeanor, yet the man himself exuded an air of refinement.

Possibly once of noble birth.

His name remained unknown.

This was because the man was addressed in two ways.

The words were incomprehensible. Neither could be identified as a name.

Likely one was a title—commander or captain—and the other a proper name.

My body continued to obey only the monster user’s commands.

Lazalaza appeared to be the same.

Even when together, he could not speak.

Lazalaza兄も、きっと同じように、胸の内で殺意を沸かせているに違いない.

人間の村に移動してから、私たちにはわずかな自由が与えられた.

人間を襲わないこと、人間の利益を損なわないこと、逃亡しないこと、自死しないこと、人間のために率先して行動すること——といった条件が課された.

しかし、結局、私はラザラザ兄と会話することはできなかった.

ラザラザ兄は別の場所に隔離されていたからだ.

私には、ラザラザ兄とは別に、与えられた指令があった.

「武器を錬成せよ」という指令だった.

そして私は、武器を錬成し続けた.

命令によって、手を抜くことは不可能だった.

私が作る武器は、次第に最高の完成度に近づいていった.

その武器が、私の村を滅ぼした連中によって使われる.

屈辱だった.

もし呪いで男たちを殺せるのなら、今頃この村は廃墟になっていたはずだ.

I poured that much hatred into the weapon, refining it continuously.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Curse LV1' acquired.]

Ha ha.

I really did acquire it.

But I cannot use it.

It would harm humans.

Even if I wished to use it, my body rejects the action.

What an inconvenient enforcement mechanism.

Still, I continued weapon forging to the utmost extent possible.

Unexpected was how the monster-user treated me with relative care.

After that initial treatment, I had prepared myself to be discarded.

Yet he did not push me beyond limits, provided proper meals and bedding, and left the鉴定 stone in my possession.

I still cannot understand his words.

But I sensed, vaguely, that he was showing concern for me.

That does not mean the hostility and hatred will vanish.

Each time the monster user takes the weapon from me and examines it, a surge of murderous intent arises.

This power was not honed for your sake.

The monster user appeared to possess an鉴定 stone identical to mine.

One of a higher tier than the one I hold.

The chill I felt upon our first meeting likely stems from the act of鉴定.

He must have鉴定ed me, discovered the skill of weapon forging, and thus secured my obedience.

I will continue weapon forging until my MP is depleted.

Once MP is exhausted, forging cannot resume until restored.

In that interval, I will secretly train myself.

The location assigned to me is a hastily renovated shed, originally a village warehouse.

It was narrow to begin with, being a small storage space.

No guard watches me, even though I am bound by the will of the monster-user man.

That alone indicates the extent of his ability’s reliability.

I perform calisthenics within the narrow confines of the room.

Push-ups, sit-ups, back extensions, squats—various exercises.

I do not believe this will change anything fundamentally.

But even a small improvement is preferable.

I do not intend to remain subservient to the monster-user man indefinitely.

One day, I will kill him.

For now, I lack a method to escape his curse.

But I will wait for an opportunity.

To make use of that opportunity, I must grow stronger—just a little.

Otherwise, the chance may be wasted entirely.

Honestly, I cannot even be certain whether such a chance will ever come.

But I will not abandon even the slimmest hope.

Surrender is not an option.

Until that chance arrives, I will keep the fire of hatred and vengeance burning within me.

Dreaming of the day that inferno will consume that man entirely.