Side chapter: The Flame General

My name is Benimaru. And I am the General of Tempest's army.

Not so long ago I was sent on a mission to the tengu tribe. And I was there where my master Hakuro sold me off, I mean, introduced me to his daughter. And not so long after that, I ended up married.

It all happened fairly quickly. It was not long after Hakuro and I arrived at the Tengu village that we discovered that the Tengu leader was in fact Hakuro's old romance. And well, seeing the two of them together, it made sense.

It showed a side of my master I had never seen before. I remember after the two of them spoke together in private they both had faces as if they were planning something. All Hakuro told me is to remember my status as a representative of Tempest and that if I didn't want to ruin its honor I should make sure to win by a landslide if I was ever challenged.

And it made sense, the tengu is a proud race. It didn't matter if Hakuro was the partner of the tribe leader. If they saw us as weak they would look down on us. So I prepared myself for any challenges.

And soon enough the challenge arrived. By none-other than Hakuro's daughter, Momiji.

Even though she was a tengu she had a human appearance. With a petite frame and short white hair that turned red when it reached her ears. Ears that carried a similarity to a wolf beast-person.

"I cannot accept you! I challenge you to a duel, and once I win I will make sure to change my mother's mind."

Having already been prepared for this I accepted her duel. I had to make sure they wouldn't look down on Tempest. Otherwise, I would be a failure of a general.

We quickly moved to a bigger room and stood at opposing ends. And began our fight.

My fighting style had changed after I had heard a story by Rimuru.

A story about a sword saint that only discovered how to become stronger once he began to work as a farmer. He implemented the skills he learned as a swordsman into farming and it was then that he broke through and became legendary in status.

(Anybody get the reference?)

It was a story that he might not have thought much about judging by the way he told it, but it truly opened my eyes.

From that day I had begun trying out different things in hopes of discovering something that would allow me to become stronger. And in fact, I did. It was by chance that I discovered a dancing instructor from Jistav. And by taking her lessons I was able to learn how to dance. Implementing what I had learned I was able to take my swordsmanship to a different level.

My movements were now more fluid, I was able to go from one enemy to the next with no wasted movements. And in a battle that could last for hours, making sure I wasted no energy was key. It was thanks to Yugen that he was now a better fighter.

'Maybe I will become a Legendary Dancer.' I remember thinking.

But I decided not to follow that path. One day, when assisting one of the dryads after training with the army, I also became more familiar with gardening. It was by studying the way plants grew and worked that I began to create my own fighting style.

Fire and vegetation. Two combinations that would usually not go together. Yet they seemed to flow seamlessly with each other. Putting together all that I had learned I had without a doubt become stronger. And I was going to make sure to prove the strength of Tempest today.

Momiji took out a fan and prepared to attack. Her movements were refined and practiced, yet they were too slow. I could simply move to her location and knock her unconscious but Hakuro's words resonated in my mind.

If I was going to do this I had to make sure they knew they stood no chance. After all, I could feel the countless eyes hiding, wanting to spectate the fight.

Momiji began to move in my direction, she too moved in a dance-like pattern that bore similarities to Hakuro's sword style.

Once she was close enough to strike I simply dodged her strike. Yet that was not enough to stop her. She continuously struck without rest, and I kept on dodging.

"Let's dance," I said as I stopped her fan by grabbing her wrist.

She seemed to take this as a bit of a challenge as she tried to swing her other fist. Acting on reflex I caught her fist and spun her around, just like in my lessons with Yugen.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked as she regained her balance and jumped back to create some distance.

"Force of habit." I said as I pulled out my regular sword.

"Now it is time to get serious."

I created a fireball on the hand I had free and launched it at her.

She was able to dodge it easily but that was not the purpose of the fire. Once it hit the ground the fireball exploded into thousands of little flame strands that landed all over the ground.

"Grow."

Suddenly the entire room was covered in black flowers. From the floor to the ceiling.

"Are you willing to surrender now?"

"Because of flowers?" Momiji asked as she took a defensive stance.

"I'll take that as a no. Bloom"

And suddenly the flowers caught on fire and exploded, launching flaming petals all over the room. And just like in his fight with Jupiter the moment the petals touched anything they would explode again with black fire.

Momiji closed her eyes in preparation for the burning pain but it never arrived. When she opened her eyes she saw flames all around her but they didn't appear to be burning anything.

"Is this… an illusion?"

But just as those words left her mouth she felt the temperature of the room increase until it was almost unbearable before returning to normal.

"No, I just have no wish to kill you. And I am not planning to destroy this location."

From the distance, I heard Hakuro's voice telling me to stop. And so all the flames in the room vanished.

Walking into the room was not only Hakuro but the leader of the Tengu and Momiji's mother, Kaede.

"So, what do you think of your future husband? Did he pass your test?" Kaede asked with a happy expression as she approached happily.

"He… passes…" Momiji said as a small blush began to appear on her face.

Hakuro, on his part, approached me and patted me on my back with a happy expression.

"There is no one else I would rather call my son!"

I, on the other hand, could only let out a stupefied expression.

"I am sorry, what?"

Turns out I had been set up.

….

Truth be told, I had held off on finding a wife. I didn't think I was ready for it. I wanted to continue serving as a general and having a kid would mean risking losing my strength. And I had not yet paid back the debt I owed, so I didn't think it was right to stop serving him yet.

It was thanks to Rimuru that we Ogres had gained so much strength. Not only had he saved our village but he had also given us a better place to stay and a better life. Plus, at this rate, Rimuru is going to end up becoming my brother-in-law so I should act like a proper big brother and make myself helpful.

I say big brother because Rimuru-sama is technically really young. Not that age really matters when you are a monster. Some monsters like goblins reach maturity in a few months while some others can take a couple of hundred years.

Maybe I am getting a bit off track.

I held off on finding a wife because I didn't want to disappoint Rimuru by leaving my job as a general. But apparently, I had been given permission. I couldn't help but remember some of the things we talked about during one of our game sessions…. Actually, I would rather forget those, I promise to never lose a bet ever again.

But well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to find someone… And if Hakuro thinks she would be a good match for me there is no reason not to give it a try.

….

And so during our stay with the Tengu I became more familiar with Momiji. Since we both practiced dancing in order to become better fighters we spent some time everyday dancing. And I will not deny it, it was fun.

Suddenly having been set up wasn't so bad. And by the time we were heading back to Tempest, it was decided that we would marry each other. The only reason I kept joking that I was sold off was that I like the expression she made every time I did.

"Well if you hate it so much we can call it off!" She would say with an annoyed expression.

"Oh, but how can I break my honor as a swordsman by breaking my promise?"

These conversations somehow ended in both of us laughing.

And I didn't know this until a long time had passed. But after we had announced our plans to marry Momiji fought off a bunch of other people to keep me for herself. Breaking the hearts of a lot of the ladies in Tempest.

I was already expecting a child with her. And currently, I was resting on her lap as the demon lord's awakening process took all of my energy away and made me fall asleep. The last thing I saw was her face looking down on me as she stroked my hair.

...

I made a new novel to help cure my writer's block and it kinda worked. Go check it out, it is called "The Journal of a Random Omnipotent Being." For some reason, it doesn't show up in my profile but it should show up if you look for it on the search bar. There is only one chapter out so go check it out, it should only take a few minutes.

I won't be uploading too frequently on it since this story is my main focus but every once in a while. I am already working on the second chap as I write this since it is pretty entertaining. Anyways, see ya.