The Demon King Seems to Conquer the World

I was convinced as if I found a checkmate in the Togi game.

He didn’t have soles, so it felt like a quarter barefoot, so he wasn’t going to fight hard anymore.

‘If I come, he can run away. He can run in the woods with bare feet.’

When the fourth arrow was repelled this time, Canker finally had a grim look.

‘He may have begun to judge the situation calmly.’

When the fifth arrow pierced his subordinate, Canker finally seemed to decide.

“Run away!” (Canker)

He shouted out as he turned his back at me.

“Run away, run away!” (Canker)

He ran into the depths of the forest while shouting at his companions.

‘Running away, huh? Honestly, I was surprised. I’m alone there. I thought it was my part to be chased and run away.’

‘However, it would be a good idea. It’s a checkmate. If Canker collapses there, they will become a disorderly crowd. By turning his back on me, he has a great disadvantage, but it’s still better than maintaining the status quo.’

I shot an arrow as I saw it since Canker was gone. It stuck on someone’s back.

Out of eleven arrows, there was only one whistling arrow. There were only five left.

Because of impatience, one of the arrows was slipping away. Even though it wasn’t ten meters away.

After that, I hit four times in a row, but by that time, the enemy had moved from being energetic to a quick escape. I had no choice but to chase them. It was necessary to collect the arrow along the way.

I quickly entered the chase, reached for the quiver carried by the man who just got shot on his neck and died instantly, and robbed the arrows he had. When I took a step from there, there was pain in the soles of my feet.

The sharp pain wasn’t the pain of stepping on a sharp rock.It was a pain that roughly pierced the skin and was like stepping on a piece of glass.

I forgot. The bomb fragments I used were scattered around here.

“…Tsk.” (Yuri)

I involuntarily clicked my tongue and held the arrow while standing on the spot. An arrow protruded against one’s back as if it sucked in, and he collapsed.

The people who received the bombs and arrows also entered the forest one after another. I literally shot arrows in rapid succession.

Most of them were injured by the bomb, so I shot arrows at most of them, but the last one disappeared into the woods before aiming. At least two people, including Canker, escaped without having the chance to shoot an arrow and suffered no fatal injury.

“Damn it.” (Yuri)

I immediately checked the sole of my feet. A piece of iron about three centimeters was stuck.

‘It’s probably from the sword crushed. It’s quite deep. I can’t chase them unless I treat it. Damn. Everything backfired.’

—

While putting the left foot on the ground with the heel, I hopped on one feet to a nearby rocky area and tore the hood on my head.

‘I must first pull out that piece of iron.It will be a different matter if I was stabbed by an arrow on the arm, but if I don’t pull this out, I can’t crawl and I might push it in even further.’

“Ugh…!” (Yuri)

I pinched the piece of iron with my fingers and pulled it out. As soon as I threw away the piece of iron, I tied the shoes tightly.

‘Shall I go?’

When I stood up, my toes were aching and I felt blood rushing.

‘After all, the wound is deep. I can’t overdo it.’

‘However, there are a lot of arrows. Incidentally, there are also two guns.’

I went for the extra arrows at those people who were groaning nearby. Some of them had no injuries on their feet, and some of them tried to defeat me, but when I fired arrows, it stabbed them without problem and they fell on the spot. When an arrow was attached to everyone’s torso, the chase started.

After walking about 100 meters, I found a man dead with a severely injured torso.

‘A total of five people were killed at the previous location, so this means that seven out of twelve people were killed.Are there five people left?’

About 400 meters ahead, I found two more men and shot an arrow to inflict a fatal injury.

‘With the current state of my feet, it’s dangerous to approach and certainly kill them with a dagger. It’s only necessary to inflict a wound that makes it impossible to escape from this forest.’

From there, I went further and saw armor on the ground.

It seemed that Canker had taken off his armor here. There was no lower body armor that seemed to have been taken off. There were only body armor, helmet and arm armor.

‘He didn’t know that I had injured my leg, so he thought I would catch up if he wears armor.’

‘I can’t rely on my current feet to pursue someone who runs away with all his might. There’s no choice but to let him escape.’

‘Damn. I missed them. Three people too.’

—

I tried stamping the copper armor with my foot in an attempt to destroy the plate armor, but due to the injury, I couldn’t get enough strength and the shape didn’t change. In order to break it as much as possible, I broke it by stepping on the attachment of the face cheek with my foot, and I tried to hit the armor against the tree by using my fingers. Even if I did it five to six times, it only bent a little bit and couldn’t be destroyed significantly.

I had no choice, so I decided to turn back. The bleeding was severe.

I returned to the place where their luggage was put up. While giving a sidelong glance to five dead people there, I searched their luggage.

‘The needle and thread for suturing the wound aren’t essential items, but it’s not weird if one person in their unit has them. In fact, it’s not bulky, so I can put it in my luggage. However, there is no suture needle. There’s a straight needle, but this will not allow you to sew deep under the skin. It must be a sickle-shaped needle.’

Suture Needle

‘I thought that they didn’t have it because they stitched up the man who got injured by the trap. But I guess they really don’t have it. If possible, I want to suture the wound here, but it seems I can’t. My needle is at Carol, so I have to put up with it until I get back.’

‘However, there is distilled liquor. Thank you for this.It can be used to disinfect wounds. The rest… is it the gun?’

When I picked up the enemy’s gun, it was much heavier than what I bought. The heaviness discouraged me from taking it. It would be a considerable burden. I wanted it, but I should give up here.

I refilled my arrows and gathered all the food to the maximum. Then, I gathered the surplus bows, arrows and swords in their luggage, picked up dad branches and piled them lightly. After that, I lit it with a lighter.

‘Resource is a precious to the hostile party, so I put on the fire. With this, it will be difficult for them to escape the forest even if they survive. It would be lucky if they happen to go out on the main road and be discovered by a friendly army, but the possibility isn’t so high.’

‘I’m doing something that the enemy dislikes. I don’t feel good about it though. That’s because I can imagine how the enemy will feel and what kind of emotions they will direct to me. If I was in Canker’s position, if all the luggage including food were burned, I would really want to kill the person. No, even if it isn’t the case, considering the number of subordinates who were killed, wouldn’t he hate me so much that he wants to kill me?’

After confirming all the luggage was burned, I went back to Carol.

—

While protecting my left foot with unsteady steps, I managed to return without problems, and Carol seemed to be safe in the original location.

The brown oil paper cloth was raised among the trees, and when I appeared through the trees, she was staring through the gaps in the hood.

When she recognized me, she lifted her tension.

“Yuri…!” (Carol)

“Yeah, I’m back.” (Yuri)

Carol greeted me with a very happy face.

“What happened to your leg? Did you get hurt?” (Carol)

‘Well, tried not to use my toes. Did she get that?’

“Yes. It’s a pity.” (Yuri)

‘It’s really a pity. I thought about it along the way, but if I was a bit more careful and bypassed the place where the bomb was scattered, this situation will be solved by this time without issues.’

“Show it to me.” (Carol)

I sat down and put out my left foot. Carol took off her poncho, twisted her body a little, and put my feet on her thighs.

‘I intended to treat myself, but Carol would be able to sew better than I am since I’m exhausted.’

“Can I untie this?” (Carol)

“It’s better to have a needle ready. Also, I stole a liquor. Use it to disinfect the wound.” (Yuri)

I handed over the liquor bottle.

“Got it.” (Carol)

I laid my body on the ground, so that my leg on her thigh was above my heart. Carol untied the cloth tightly tied up. Perhaps, she had already prepared the tools.

“Isn’t it deep? It’s too excessive…” (Carol)

“Wash the wound quickly.” (Yuri)

When I said that, Carol washed the wound with the liquor.

“…Kugh.” (Yuri)

‘As expected of a penetrated wound…’

“Are you alright…?” (Carol)

“It’s fine, wash it well to the inner part of the wound.” (Yuri)

With that said, Carol washed her fingers, rubbed the wound. She opened it lightly and even washed it inside.

“Ouch…” (Yuri)

A stinging pain hit my leg.

“Hey.” (Carol)

“What? Don’t bother with my leaked voice. Just do it.” (Yuri)

“No, that’s not it.” (Carol)

‘So, what now?’

“It seems that… there’s something like an iron thorn buried inside the wound.” (Carol)

‘Aah…I suddenly remember. There’s a piece of iron inside.’

‘Then, there should be a stinging pain. I was actually stabbed.’

“Take it out.” (Yuri)

“But… I don’t know if I can get it well.” (Carol)

‘Well, whether you sew or remove a foreign matter, I would like something like tweezers if possible. However, there is no help for it now.’

“Is it impossible with your fingers?” (Yuri)

“I don’t know until I try it.” (Carol)

“Then, do it. You can’t sew the wound with that thing inside.” (Yuri)

“Got it.” (Carol)

Carol thoroughly disinfected her fingers again, and she dared to thrust her fingers into the wound.

“Hnnghh! Guhh…!” (Yuri)

I endured the severe pain by clenching my teeth. Carol’s finger moved away from the wound, and I could feel the source of severe pain coming out from the wound.

“…So, did you get it?” (Yuri)

It hurts so much that I felt like the blood was pulled from my head.

“I got it. It shouldn’t be there anymore.” (Carol)

“I see. That’s great. Wash it with the liquor again and sew it up quickly.” (Yuri)

‘Assuming that losing two liters of blood is lethal, I shouldn’t have bleeding a liter yet, so I should be able to afford it, but I don’t want to lose as much blood as possible.’

“…The thread is very thick.” (Carol)

“Aah, yeah.” (Yuri)

I was thinking of sewing the wound all the way, so I brought such a thing.

“It can’t be helped. That’s fine.” (Yuri)

“If you like, I can do it with my hair.” (Carol)

“That’s fine. No, do it.” (Yuri)

‘It’s fairly common to use human hair for suturing. I haven’t tried it, but Carol’s hair should be long enough. It’s not curly and it’s not as short as my hair.’

“For the hair, double it and sew it finely. I’ll be in trouble if it tears up. Also, wash the needle and hair properly with liquor.” (Yuri)

“I know.” (Carol)

After a while, when she finished the thread was threaded through the needle…

“I’m going.” (Carol)

She said.

“Do it.” (Yuri)

The needle passed under the skin, but it wasn’t painful compared to the pain when I was cut.

“Kuhh…” (Yuri)

The voice leaked because of the pain, but it wasn’t so painful that the legs twitched. The suture progressed smoothly, and the process soon ended.

“Alright. I’m done.” (Carol)

“I see.” (Yuri)

When I raised my upper body and looked at the wound surface, it was brilliantly sutured. Since the needle was wide and deep in the middle, it seemed that it was sewn all the way to the deeper part.

It seemed that the blood wouldn’t accumulate in the wound and it might become like a sack. Since we learned this in the school of Knights, she might have been practicing it in spare time.

“Thanks. I was saved.” (Yuri)

“I should be the one who says that.” (Carol)

“That’s not what I meant to say.” (Yuri)

‘I want a clean cloth, but we don’t have one. It’s sad. I think it’s inevitable that it will become a puss.’

“Anyhow, I also can’t use this foot. Unlike before.” (Yuri)

“Yeah…” (Carol)

Carol made a sinking voice.

‘With this wound, even if I lift Carol, I can’t do things as before.’

“But the village is just around the corner. When we get there, I’ll take a break and recuperate.” (Yuri)

‘The risk is high, but we have no choice but to do so. In the meantime, Carol’s injury may get better.’

“Should you walk immediately? I mean your wound is…” (Carol)

“If the village is safe, we can use clean cloth and home equipment. It will heal faster even if we overdo it.” (Yuri)

“I understand. Then, I’ll walk too.” (Carol)

‘Eh?’

“I feel like I’m getting healed soon. If you walk with a cane, you can walk.” (Carol)

“No, I can’t. If yours get worse, it will be harder.” (Yuri)

“With a cane, it’s not very difficult to walk without an injured leg. Besides, if you don’t use it, the speed will drop a lot, right?” (Carol)

‘Uh…It may be so. It will be walking while protecting her.’

“Let’s throw away the luggage that can be replenished in the village.” (Yuri)

“Aah, yes.” (Carol)

‘Honestly, I didn’t expect it to take so long. It has been eleven days since the crash. It takes eleven days to walk a half-day journey with an Eagle King.’

‘Walking in the forest with one person on the back takes longer than expected. However, in order to reach reform, I have to walk the same distance as before. I’ve also got a leg injury, so it is necessary to monitor for fifteen days before moving. There will be 26 days in total.’

‘If I take five days of rest, it will be 31 days. That is a whole month. Will the Kuran stay at the Verdun Fortress for a month?’

‘The possibility isn’t low. It’s normal for it to take more than a month to capture a fortress.’

‘However, I can’t be optimistic. Even if we arrive at the reform, the siege may have already ended by that time. That possibility is real. If the front line overtakes us on a leisurely walk, the enemy’s supply line will also catch up, and the battle will be intense.’

‘But even if I say that we are in a hurry, the wound doesn’t heal quickly. That’s because I couldn’t completely annihilate the pursuers.’

‘If you think in common sense, when you lose your supply, the unit will be destroyed or distressed, so it’s no longer a matter of pursuing. Aah, I almost did it. If only I didn’t get injured…’

I opened my watch and looked at it. It was only that, but the time was still 2 PM.

“Alright, how about we eat first, organize the luggage and gain distance until sunset?” (Yuri)

“Yeah.” (Carol)

Carol nodded.

—

TLN:

• Special thanks to the picture owner.