Looking For You
Wait, wasn’t this girl supposed to be a regressor?
From everything I’d heard, her previous life had been one long gauntlet of every kind of battle imaginable—on the ground, in the sky, even underwater. So why was she reacting like this to Ester’s sudden appearance? It made no sense. Or maybe she was putting on an act because Lily and I were standing right beside her?
“Eek! You scared the life out of me! I nearly had a heart attack!”
“S-sorry.”
“Aigoo, that really startled me. Seriously…”
No matter how I looked at it, that didn’t seem like acting. The way her eyes were glistening with real tears while she clutched her chest—yeah, she was genuinely frightened. Even a regressor’s actual abilities were limited to her current level. She still had a lot to learn, so she hadn’t even sensed Ester’s approach. That was why she was flailing around like this.
It was so different from the cool, collected regressor I’d imagined that it left me feeling a little uneasy.
The funny part was that while Iris was the one who got startled, it was Ester who had hidden behind me. From this angle, it honestly looked like Ester was the more terrified of the two. Iris had let out a rather loud scream, and that in turn had frightened Ester. One was an unstoppable overreactor, the other a painfully timid introvert. The two of them were about as compatible as oil and water.
Still, Iris had stolen the youngest disciple spot from her. I wondered if they could actually get along.
“H-hello. Are you… Senior Ester Marigold, by any chance?”
“U-um… Y-yes. I’m Ester.”
“I see. Um, why are you hiding behind Master, though?”
“…Because I’m scared.”
“Huh?”
“I was scared you might be scared of me… That’s why…”
Iris tilted her head at Ester’s answer, clearly confused. What Ester feared wasn’t strangers in general, but the way they looked at her—specifically, at the horns on her head. But Iris was a regressor. She already knew the truth. I had no idea how things had been in her previous life, but here and now, it would be different.
“Why would I ever be scared of you, Senior—no, Master Ester! Horns or no horns, it doesn’t bother me at all! If anything, popping up out of nowhere like that is way scarier, so please just call out to me normally next time!”
“…Really? You… you won’t be scared of me?”
“Of course not! Why would I be scared of a Hero? I’m a Hero too, you know!”
“…Really?”
“Really, really!”
This kid clearly knew exactly how to handle Ester. The best way to approach a child is to become a child yourself. That meant skipping complicated explanations or logic. Simple, clear words and a straightforward reason were enough to win her over immediately. Iris was using that approach to its fullest.
“Mmm…”
And Ester began to behave exactly as Iris wanted. The way she kept glancing around was obviously her checking whether anyone was watching. The nearby soldiers had already moved off to clean up the other battlefields, and the general mood was to let the Heroes rest, so no one was paying attention to us. When it came to detecting presence, Ester was actually more skilled than any of my other disciples. If she decided it was safe, then it truly was.
A moment later, Ester cautiously pulled back the hood she’d been wearing. Silky silver hair cascaded down with a soft swish, and right after that, the black horns rising from her head peeked out shyly.
Exactly. As I had mentioned before, Ester Marigold’s true identity was that of the demon race.
In most fantasy novels or games, demons appeared without fail, yet here they had somehow made the very last remaining demon into a Hero character. I suspected it had been a deliberate plot device, a piece of foreshadowing. Unlike the other Hero characters, she preferred solitude, spoke very little, and had almost no interaction with the rest of the cast. The common negative view of demons made her the perfect candidate for a future betrayal flag—someone added purely to stir up story interest.
Of course, once I actually met her, I learned the truth. She wasn’t a potential traitor or someone who would stab us in the back. The silence and preference for being alone came from a loneliness so profound it couldn’t be put into words—the solitude of being the only one of her kind left in the world. Those ominous black horns meant she could never truly belong anywhere. On top of that, the constant harassment from the Demon God Worshippers who kept trying to drag her into their schemes had wounded her since she was very small. She was a tiny silver-haired demon girl who had carried those scars from a very young age.
…
After lowering her hood, Ester glanced around nervously. Only moments ago she had declared she would be a good senior and older sister to the new youngest disciple, yet now that same senior was visibly tense in front of her.
…
Iris simply stared at her without saying a word. As a result, Ester grew more and more anxious, clearly at a loss. Even when Lily tried to signal her to stop, Iris kept gazing fixedly at the horns. I wondered what on earth she was thinking. She knew perfectly well that Ester hated being stared at like that. A regressor wouldn’t possibly overlook something so basic. Still, I would soon find out why she was acting this way.
“They’re cool.”
“H-huh?”
“They’re so cool! Master Ester! Senior! Can I… can I grow horns like that too?!”
“E-ehh? U-uh? Uwa?”
“Do sparks of electricity shoot out between them? Or maybe flames? Whoa, look at that color—such a heavy, deep black. It’s honestly amazing… Senior Ester, you’re the best…”
“The best…? Th-these are cool? Really?”
“Of course! Your hair color is already beautiful, but it felt like something was missing—a certain weighty majesty! These horns perfectly balance it out!”
After that, Iris continued her somewhat ridiculous barrage of compliments. Most of them focused on the horns, and she never gave Ester a chance to respond. She kept poking at exactly the right spots to keep her in a good mood until Ester had no choice but to nod along. She was especially good at leveraging the fact that Ester was far more timid than the other Heroes, praising not just the horns themselves but treating Ester as an inherently magnificent being.
As expected of a regressor—she had already figured out the perfect way to handle Ester. I had used the same method: lavish praise and open admiration. On the outside she looked like a grown young woman, but at heart our Poison Hero was still very much a little girl. With an endless supply of sincere compliments and genuine awe, there was no way she wouldn’t be won over.
“Th-this… is really that impressive…?”
The other disciples all knew Ester possessed large black horns. But as far as I was aware, very few had actually seen them. Ester preferred to act alone, and even when she met people she kept her hood up. The only one who had seen them while staying by my side was Lily. In other words, this was only the second time Ester had ever shown her complex to anyone.
The first time had been to me.
She must have carried enormous stress about those horns. Yet here was Iris, eyes shining with sincere admiration and a touch of over-the-top enthusiasm. To Ester, who had always been quiet to the point of painful shyness, it must have been an incredible shock—in the best possible way.
Ha. So this girl really was a regressor after all. All that silly acting, and she still knew how to deliver when it counted! It felt like watching a coin I’d bought on a whim suddenly shoot up in value.
“Of course! I bet you cover them because you’re worried other people might be startled. The fact that you care so much about others… I’m so happy someone like you is my immediate senior!”
In reality she had simply pulled the hood over her head out of fear that people would whisper behind her back, but Iris took that detail and sent it soaring dramatically. At this rate I was starting to wonder if Iris’s true title wasn’t Last Hero but Hero of Flattery.
“…Thank you, my youngest.”
“It’s Iris. My name is Iris Futurewalker.”
“Ah, right… But I really want to call you my youngest.”
“Feel free! I don’t mind at all!”
Thanks to that exchange, even though the person who had taken her position as the youngest was standing right in front of her, Ester showed no hint of wariness, envy, or jealousy. She might be clumsy at expressing herself, but in moments like this she was as honest as a child. I had been a little worried about what would happen when these two met, but it seemed I didn’t need to be too concerned.
Once Ester accepted someone, she never pushed them away. Her extreme timidity, once overcome, actually made her cling tightly to that person.
“All right, that’s enough for now, both of you. People are approaching from over there.”
At Lily’s words, Ester hurriedly pulled her hood back up. She might have enjoyed the praise, but having other people see her horns was apparently an entirely different matter.
“Heroes.”
A group of royal knights approached and greeted the disciples with polite respect. Despite being exhausted from battle, their posture remained impeccable. They truly lived up to their role as protectors of the leadership.
Surprisingly, the knights headed straight for me. I had assumed they would speak to Lily or Iris, but it seemed someone who knew about me had given them orders.
“Ester.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Don’t draw that.”
“Ah… Y-yes…”
As the knights drew near, Ester had reflexively reached for her dagger. For the record, Ester’s abilities weren’t limited to poison—she was also an absolute monster at infiltration and assassination. In the game she had appeared as a character who wiped out enemy backlines with ruthless stealth, so her excessive wariness and cold demeanor made perfect sense.
“O Great One.”
“That title feels a bit much.”
“We were told you are the master of the Heroes. Would that not place you even higher?”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“We are mere swordsmen and do not know many fancy words. We simply wish to address the master of the Heroes as the Great One.”
“…Enough with the formalities. Just tell me why you’ve suddenly come looking for me.”
The knights exchanged quick glances at my question before speaking.
“His Majesty has regained consciousness a short while ago.”
“Regained consciousness. That’s good news, yet your faces don’t look particularly happy.”
“…The truth is, his condition is still very poor.”
“Isn’t the king’s personal health a topic that should never be discussed openly? The fact that you’re telling me means I would have found out soon anyway, doesn’t it?”
Now I understood why they had come to me. The reason they were revealing the king’s condition in such detail without being asked was—
His Majesty is looking for you. Most urgently, and with great desperation.