The War Heroes (2)
The stinging gaze burned against my back. Under normal circumstances I would never have noticed it, but with my senses stretched to their absolute limit, the feeling was unmistakable. When I turned my head to follow it, my eyes widened at the faint but unmistakable silhouette in the distance.
Atop the massive clock tower, two figures stood like tiny specks. I poured mana into my vision and their faces snapped into sharp focus. Their slightly younger appearances threw me for a second, but the faces matched memories locked inside my head, so I recognized them almost immediately.
In the old notebook where I had scribbled every useful detail from the game, I had definitely written entries about these two.
Those bastards are definitely… Sherda and Benjamin.
Core executives of Worst and villains who would one day cause staggering loss of life. Seeing them here added hard proof to the strong suspicion I already carried that this entire incident was their organization’s doing.
-……?!
Benjamin stared back at me, his face twisted in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected me to sense his gaze. In answer, I mouthed a single silent message.
Don’t even think about dying nicely.
After delivering the warning I kicked off the roof, dropped to the ground, and spoke to Luina who stood beside me.
“Luina, can I leave the cleanup here to you? I’ve spotted who looks like the ringleader and I need to go after him.”
“Sure. Leave it to me, Kael. I’ll have this wrapped up in three minutes.”
She must have been curious, yet she answered without a single question, simply telling me to trust her. As always, her absolute reliability made my chest feel warm. I planted my feet.
“Thanks, Luina.”
“Given the situation, I’ll collect on that gratitude later.”
She gave me a quick wink, then vanished to handle the chaos. I turned away from her and shot toward the clock tower, kicking off the ground with everything I had. I moved at maximum speed so the two fleeing figures would have no chance to escape.
BANG───!!
In a single heartbeat my body tore through the air, leaving even sound behind.
BOOM. The sound of Kael launching himself across the ground rolled outward. Hearing it, Luina—already airborne—used that single suspended moment to sweep her gaze across the streets surrounding the mercenary guild. The rioting syndicate members were everywhere.
Seven separate locations.
Which street was most urgent, how many underworld thugs were active, what weapons they carried, any additional threats—she absorbed it all in the five seconds she hung in the air and burned the information into her mind.
The instant she touched ground again, Luina moved without the slightest hesitation.
“First, where the citizens are being hurt.”
She would prioritize the areas where civilians who hadn’t evacuated were still in danger. With that decision made, the elf archer from the Great Forest raced forward on legs honed by decades of training.
Tap. Tap. Tap───!
Three strides, a kick off the building wall, and she soared even higher than before. From directly above the syndicate members’ heads she drew her bow.
Creak───
The bow, carved from a branch of the World Tree, required at least a hundred kilograms of draw weight. Luina pulled the string back as easily as breathing. Five arrows of pure mana formed along it. The moment she released, the arrows streaked downward as though guided by homing magic and punched straight through the skulls of the thugs who had been pretending to fight while slaughtering civilians.
CRAAAAAASH───!!!
The sound of heads exploding mixed with a crushing impact like a ballista bolt slamming home.
“An arrow?!”
“It’s an ambush! Where is it coming from?!”
“They took out our guys!!”
The remaining syndicate members shouted in panic at the five corpses whose heads had burst like overripe fruit. Their screams did not last long.
“Three left in this sector.”
Luina had already nocked the next set of arrows faster than they could process what was happening. Before they could even finish their questions, more heads were pierced. Without pausing she leaped toward the next back alley.
She would complete the task Kael had entrusted to her—perfectly.
“We have to run right now!”
“What? Why the sudden panic? Did something go wrong?”
When Benjamin released the mana he had poured into his eyes and shouted, Sherda—who had been writing a report beside him—tilted her head.
What could possibly have happened to make him blurt out such nonsense? Or was his usual asshole syndrome acting up again? She looked at him with that exact thought written across her face. Benjamin pounded his chest in frustration.
“It’s Kael! Kael!! That war hero Kael is standing right there!”
“Huh? Why would someone like him be here? You must be mistaken.”
The war hero Kael. Even Sherda had heard the name so often her ears felt calloused. During the worst years of the war, a huge share of the stories that gave exhausted people hope had been tales of Kael’s exploits.
Some assumed the orally transmitted legends were exaggerated, but every last doubt was erased by the refugees who had witnessed his power with their own eyes. How strong he was, how terrifying, how extraordinary—the plain truth had spread through every survivor.
After the war he had retired from his high post in the royal palace and moved to the countryside, or so she had heard. So why in the world was he here now? Unable to make sense of Benjamin’s claim, Sherda pressed him, but he only roared back with an equally confused expression.
“How the hell should I know why Kael is here?! The important part is that he’s right there! And if that woman standing next to him is who I think she is, then she has to be the war hero Luina!!”
The fact that Kael and Luina had married was common knowledge across the entire continent. The light-purple-haired woman beside him could only be the famous Luina—an elven war hero and an archer of legendary skill whose accomplishments, while not quite matching Kael’s, were still beyond belief.
The only scenario Benjamin could imagine was that, by some cruel twist of fate, Kael and Luina had come to the capital today and their operation just happened to coincide with it. It was the worst possible misfortune—enough to make one believe the gods had cursed them.
“Anyway, we run first. Kael noticed me a second ago. He’ll be here any moment! Before he arrives—!”
“…So we’re running. Understood.”
Whether it was misfortune or divine punishment, the critical fact was that Kael had clearly seen Benjamin and would soon arrive. Only after hearing the name spoken aloud did Sherda finally grasp the gravity of the situation. She spun on her heel and followed Benjamin.
They had to get away before Kael reached them.
“This operation… is a failure.”
With both Kael and Luina on site, the plan was as good as ruined. The original goal had been to half-destroy the mercenary guild and ensure the underworld organizations were arrested, but those forces would not last three minutes now. Half-destroy the guild? They would be annihilated long before that.
There was no point lamenting a failed mission. Escape was the only priority.
Tap───!
Benjamin leaped from the clock tower first. Sherda followed right behind him.
“We’ll escape the kingdom through the underground waterways, then return to the leader in Lahman.”
“Ugh… we’re really using the sewers?”
“Would you rather stroll through the streets until Kael spots us? If not, suck it up. Rolling in filth is still better than dying.”
“Fuck, that part’s…”
Sherda shuddered as they fell. Benjamin snapped at her and they traded irritable banter. Such casual talk was only possible because they still believed they had time.
The clock-tower perch had been prepared precisely so they could flee the instant they were discovered. Benjamin was utterly convinced that dropping straight into the waterway directly below them would be faster than Kael covering hundreds of meters from the guild street.
The ground rushed up to meet them. Sherda drew her wand.
“Haa… having to crawl through the sewers like this.”
A flash of light from the wand slowed their descent visibly. The manhole cover below swung open. The coppery stench already rising made Sherda chew her lip and curse under her breath. Benjamin sneered.
“Hmph. You chose to follow the leader, so endure it.”
Just before their bodies dropped into the open manhole, a calm voice shattered Benjamin’s confidence.
“You look awfully relaxed even after I saw you.”
“…?!”
The next instant, a lightning-fast slash accompanied the voice. Though they had perceived it, neither could react. The blade sliced across both their shoulders.
Slice───
The clean cut severed every tendon in their shoulders. Sherda’s wand clattered to the ground as blood sprayed into the air.
“Urk…! H-how are you already—?!”
It had been hundreds of meters away. How could he possibly have arrived so quickly? Until the moment they jumped, Kael had still been standing in the guild square. Benjamin groaned and twisted his head.
There stood Kael, calmly closing the manhole cover that Sherda’s magic had opened.
“You didn’t seriously think you could lay a hand on my daughter and then stroll away unharmed, did you?”
At the same time, the hero’s voice carried the same warning he had mouthed earlier.
“I already told you. Don’t even think about dying nicely.”
Kael stood before them, eyes blazing with a fury so intense it needed no words.