A Trashy Secret
The Hero's crime spread far faster than anyone could have imagined.
The moment he left the Imperial Palace, the Emperor ordered that word of his sins be carried not merely across the Empire, but across the entire continent.
When a superpower like the Empire made an official announcement, people had little choice but to believe it. And so the continent reeled under the shock of the news.
"Hey, you hear about that? They're saying the Hero was in league with the Demon King's army."
"But is that really true? Of all people—Sir Kyle…?"
"The Empire put out an official proclamation. Has to be the truth."
"Haa… I genuinely respected him. What a disappointment."
Until only recently, there had not been a soul in these lands who did not know the name of Hero Kyle. Now there was not a soul who did not know it—for all the wrong reasons. His name echoed from every street corner.
"I'm back."
Through days like these, Kyle came home. But the place he returned to was a ramshackle hovel somewhere in the slums—lodgings the Hero of old could never have imagined for himself.
A full week had already passed since his crime became public knowledge, and in that single week his life had turned one hundred and eighty degrees. Not long ago he had been staying at a fine inn; once the news broke, he had no choice but to leave. Nowhere would take him in. Dodging every gaze he could, he had ended up here.
Damp, clinging humidity. Mold flowering thickly over every surface. Even the blanket reeked so badly of rot that facing the cold wind bare was preferable. Every window was shattered, and the hole-riddled roof looked ready to collapse at any moment. For a Hero, the treatment was grotesquely unfair.
And yet there was nothing to be done. Given his circumstances, simply having a place to stay at all was something to be grateful for.
"Ah—welcome back, Hero."
Waiting for him was the Saintess, Alice. While he lived here, his companions had been looking after him—though the room was so small they had agreed to come one at a time, rotating by the day. Today was Alice's turn.
She had been cleaning until he arrived, and was in the middle of scouring away the mold with her holy power.
"You don't have to bother with that."
"I most certainly do! This is where you sleep. I can't just leave it. If you rest in a place like this, you'll catch illnesses you never even had!"
Thanks to the Saintess, the mold had indeed been cut roughly in half since yesterday. Kyle managed a faint smile at her devotion.
"Thanks, Alice."
"Hehe. Don't mention it. For you, Hero, I would do anything."
How many people in the world ever got to hear words like that from a Saintess? Even in the depths of despair, it was a line that offered real comfort.
Once she had cleared away a fair portion of the mold, she set about cooking with the ingredients he had brought back. He could no longer walk the streets freely, so all he had managed were herbs gathered outside the walls—but that hardly mattered. They were the same things they had eaten hundreds of times while camping on the road.
"Be careful not to burn your tongue."
So saying, she set the blanched herbs into a bowl whose weave was already coming undone. It was her care, more than the taste, that made the meal go down well.
Afterward they rested a while and talked—about how things stood outside, about old memories from their travels. Or else they simply traded meaningless, idle chatter and smiled at each other across the room.
By the time they had spent themselves that way, the moon had risen over the roof, and another day was drawing to a close.
"Tomorrow… it's Jaine's turn, isn't it. Haa."
On her way out she sighed, looking distinctly displeased. Wasn't it usually the other way around? Coming to a place like this ought to have been the tiresome, unwelcome chore. Kyle saw her off with that thought in mind.
He would have liked to walk her all the way back to her inn, but under the circumstances it was impossible. If anyone saw the two of them together, the damage would reach her as well.
"Huu…"
He sat in the middle of the house and looked up at the sky. With the roof open to the air, the stars and the moon felt close enough to touch.
"Haha. I guess I should be glad it isn't raining, at least."
Kyle smiled a self-mocking smile. He had been living in this house for nearly a week now. Nothing had improved. If anything, the longer time dragged on, the worse things became.
Step into the street and you drowned in people cursing his name. A few of the more extreme ones were already arguing he ought to be hanged in the middle of the square. His companions came every day to look after him, but he could not keep accepting that kindness forever.
So he could not simply sit still any longer. A full week had passed, after all. By now the other side would be certain of their victory—more than ready to let their guard down.
"All right. Time to start moving."
With that, Kyle left the house.
The night wind in the streets was sharp and cold. Alice, however, wore a warm smile and a look of pure happiness.
"I got to talk with the Hero alone again today—for ages and ages. Hehe."
Having parted from him, Alice was on her way home. Only it was not the inn where they had all been staying until recently. She came out into a busier quarter, onto a street where nobles came and went, and entered the finest inn in the Empire, standing at its very heart.
Guests who could set foot in this place were limited. Members of the imperial family typically stayed here; at the very least you needed to be nobility or higher to make a reservation. It was that selective—no one simply wandered in—and the Hero's party had been no exception. No matter that he was the Hero, his original station had been that of a commoner. He had not qualified.
Everyone in the Hero's party except him, however, was staying at that inn now. In the most expensive, most spacious suite it offered, no less.
"I'm back."
The Saintess entered the room as she spoke. Waiting inside were Jaine, Emilia, and Muni. Ever since the Hero's crime had spread, they had been living here continuously—under imperial order to remain on standby until the next Hero was chosen.
"Mm, welcome back. Is the Hero doing all right?"
"Of course. He finished every last bit of the herbs again today, you know."
"Did he? That's a relief, then."
Every day they took turns like this, sharing everything they knew about Kyle—how he had looked that day, how he was getting by, what they had talked about while they were with him, what little things had happened. All four of them were passing their days that way.
"Hehe. And the room is so small I was pressed right up against him the whole time. I thought my heart was going to burst."
"Ah, right! Being alone together in a house that tiny almost felt like a honeymoon. I liked it."
The house was so cramped that even two people could barely move, and yet the women considered it a stroke of luck. Even by slum standards it was the narrowest, filthiest place available. They could easily have found him somewhere better if they had wanted to. They deliberately had not. The worse his circumstances, the more he would have to depend on them. Everything they had done sprang from that calculation.
"Come to think of it—what about Yuli?"
"Hah. Who cares about that bastard. He's probably off in some pleasure quarter again, gambling with a woman on his arm."
They had only joined hands with Yuli because their goals happened to align. Where he was now no longer interested them in the slightest. He had signed on out of nothing but jealousy toward Kyle; the texture of his feelings had nothing in common with theirs. They would have preferred not to treat him as a companion at all, if they could help it.
"Anyway—where's the Princess these days, and what's she up to?"
Jaine propped her chin on her hand as she asked. She was a knight-captain, and yet she no longer even bothered with an honorific. That was how long the Princess had been their enemy.
"She's away on a diplomatic mission to the Holy Kingdom, apparently. His Majesty must have seized the chance while she was gone to set all this in motion."
"Hmm. Well, I hope she gets back soon. I'm dying to see how she reacts."
"Same here. No one left but us still cares about the Hero. I hear most of the people who sent him those letters have already cancelled their meetings."
"Hmph. Just as I thought—they only ever approached him for his reputation. I knew it."
They spoke with open contempt, and inwardly they were already certain. The Princess would be no different.
"Exactly. Just thinking that the Hero might have tied himself to someone like that makes me feel so sorry for him."
"At least, thanks to us, we managed to weed them out in time."
Vulgar creatures who had swarmed him for his achievements and his rank alone—moths to a flame one day, and the next, all of them busy pretending they had never known him. The four of them were different. Whether Kyle was the Hero or not, the feelings they held now would never change.
"Hehe. Anyway, everyone just keep living as usual. This is a secret that must never get out. Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Of course."
And so the four of them swore to carry that secret with them to the grave.
What they did not know was that Kyle had already begun to suspect them.
On the roof outside the window, someone was crouched in perfect silence, listening to every word. A master skilled enough to slip past Muni's mana detection and the sensing skills of both Emilia and Jaine—and on this entire continent, there was only one person capable of that.
Perched on the inn's roof, Kyle's eyes had gone as black and still as the night sky.
"A secret that must never get out, huh…"
Too bad. He had heard every last bit of it. For something they insisted must never be discovered, there turned out to be nothing absolute about it at all.
"Haha. Honestly—what a truly trashy secret."
A cold smile cut across Kyle's lips as he spoke.