Do You Believe Me Now?
The place Gerard led us to was a military barracks. True to the title of Crusader, he lived a slightly different life from the other Heroes. How should I put it? Somewhere between a knight and a soldier. He chose a master and pledged loyalty, but otherwise his lifestyle was identical. He moved and acted like the military, yet valued honor like a knight. But a military barracks? Of all things, a military one. This guy was really pushing the line here. At least it was Gerard’s own barracks, meant for commanders. What if he had called us to the enlisted barracks? I would’ve immediately told Garam and Jenia.
“Please have a seat here.”
At Gerard’s invitation, I plopped down right away. Thankfully, the chair wasn’t one of those simple folding ones the military used. It had a cushion attached so you could sit comfortably. Master and Iris took their seats behind me.
“It seems this child has become the youngest.”
“Yeah. But you’ve seen Iris before too, haven’t you, Gerard? By the time you were under me, even if Iris hadn’t become an official disciple yet, I had already taken her in.”
“I thought back then that Master would only use her as a servant or something.”
As he said that, Gerard lightly tapped Iris on the head. A knight with a sturdy build, wrapped head to toe in armor without a single gap. He really was the one who fit the title Guardian Hero the best. Originally, this guy was supposed to be female too. He probably wouldn’t have worn that suffocating armor just from being looked at. Anyway, this country’s real problem was shouting about human rights in the weirdest places instead of where it actually mattered.
“It’s good to see you again, Iris. You probably don’t remember me.”
“Of course I do. How could I not know the Crusader who stood alone against hordes of monsters?”
“Hearing you bring that up makes me feel embarrassed.”
Gerard scratched the back of his head with a sigh. Then he lowered his hand from Iris’s head and offered a handshake.
“I heard you’ve officially become Master’s disciple. Welcome to the family, youngest.”
“Ah… Thank you, senior.”
After that brief exchange of greetings, Gerard approached Master, who was sitting in the back fanning herself with her hand.
“Grandmaster. I never expected you to leave your residence.”
“…Is that so.”
“I hope your journey was comfortable.”
“It was. Up until now, at least. From here on, it probably won’t be.”
Master fluttered her clothes, her entire body declaring that she was hot. The moment we entered the barracks, she had already taken off not only her outer clothes but even her shoes and socks, revealing her bare legs. Seeing her still panting like that, it was clear heat was definitely her weakness.
“Enough with the greetings, Gerard. When did you arrive?”
“We arrived three days ago. Since then, we’ve been scouting the surrounding area.”
“So how was it? Did you find anything?”
At my question, Gerard lightly bit his lip and slowly shook his head. He wasn’t like my seventh disciple Ester, who was skilled at detection. Still, since Gerard had received similar training, I had held some expectations. But from his reaction, it seemed he hadn’t found anything meaningful at all. I had hoped coming here would bring some progress in the situation, but Gerard’s answer was that there had been nothing for three days.
Normally, that would be worrying. But now, there was no need to be.
“Um, sorry to interrupt.”
Of course, it was Iris who slid in beside me. As a regressor, she probably knew some way to break through this situation. So I quietly watched as Iris continued speaking.
“Lord Gerard. You said this area is forbidden, right?”
“Yes. That’s why getting cooperation from the locals has been extremely difficult.”
“I heard about the forbidden part too. That’s why I was thinking—maybe the people here deliberately left out some places when guiding you.”
“What do you mean, youngest?”
“If anyone goes there, everyone will be cursed. Maybe they skipped guiding us to certain places because they thought something like that?”
It was a plausible suggestion. Both the noble’s words and Gerard’s confirmed that the western people had an extreme aversion to anything labeled forbidden. No matter how much a Hero asked for help, breaking a taboo that had lasted for decades wasn’t easy. Especially if breaking it meant everyone would suffer the same curse.
Gerard seemed to have come to a similar conclusion. He rubbed his chin as if he hadn’t considered that part. Had he assumed the locals would be extremely cooperative? After muttering to himself, he eventually nodded.
“You might be right, youngest. Considering how forbidden this place is to the western people, it is strange that they cooperated so easily.”
“From now on, we should expand the search range a bit more broadly.”
“Right. But if we do that, we’ll have to give up on the locals’ guidance and cooperation.”
Locals were just ordinary people, after all. But sometimes those ordinary people could become an army of thousands, and at other times, they could become more terrifying than the worst enemy. Especially in a place like this, right next to a desert, where conditions were already the worst. If you lost your way even for a moment, it could be disastrous. Without the locals’ cooperation and guidance, things would get quite troublesome.
“Master.”
Gerard glanced at me.
“What is your opinion, Master?”
“…For now, the locals’ cooperation isn’t optional—it’s essential. Without them, people who don’t know the geography here would have trouble even finding water.”
“You’re right. Even now, we’re at a point where we’d be in trouble without drinking water. Then, Master…”
“In other words, as long as we have locals whose cooperation is solid, there’s no problem.”
As I said that, I pointed at the noble who had somehow followed us all the way into the barracks.
“…Eh, eh?”
The noble, who had been completely out of it wondering what was going on, froze under everyone’s gaze and started whimpering.
“He says he’s a noble from around here. He’s only a baron, but he’s still a local figure, so he should know the basics. Plus, he promised me solid cooperation.”
“That’s fortunate. We can handle any backlash from the locals with my name, and if we can get help from that noble for the rest, that works. Did you plan that far ahead?”
Planned my ass. This was the guy Master suddenly slapped twice and dragged here like a kidnapping. We just happened to find him useful and kept him around. Gerard, completely unaware of that fact, smiled and approached the noble.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation. I also heard you provided a carriage for Master.”
“Eh, eh? Provided? Me?”
“Yes. Doesn’t that carriage have the same crest as yours?”
“That’s…”
“As Master’s disciple, I offer my thanks. I look forward to working with you from now on.”
“Uh, uhhhh…”
Thanks to that, the noble was even more out of it. When we mentioned knowing the Holy Hero, Saintess Lily Hyacinth, he hadn’t cared, but now that a real Hero was saying “That person is my Master,” it finally seemed to sink in. What kind of existence he had been traveling with all this time.
“Then, Master. Please wait here for a moment. I and my knights will search the area thoroughly once more.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to search together? You said it’s been almost two months since Iris disappeared.”
“That’s true, but… still, please give me one more chance. Thinking that Master is suffering under this scorching sun because of my negligence… I feel too pathetic.”
“It’s fine. And this isn’t even scorching sun level.”
Even after saying that, Gerard kept begging for just one more chance. I was wondering why he was acting like this when it wasn’t his character, but the next words made me nod immediately.
“My junior sisters won’t let me off.”
“The other disciples?”
“If they hear that I did nothing and made Master suffer under the scorching sun… especially if the eldest and second sister hear about it, I’m telling you, I really won’t even have bones left to collect.”
“…Ah.”
Garam and Jenia were definitely the type to do that. The other disciples wouldn’t react pleasantly either, but they would at least try to understand. But those two would definitely grill Gerard to a terrifying degree, saying something like “We need to re-educate our fourth disciple.”
“…Fine. Then only until today. If you don’t find anything by the end of today, I’ll step in tomorrow too.”
“Thank you. Thanks to Master, I feel like I can catch my breath.”
Today was already late afternoon. Even if we started now, there wouldn’t even be half a day left. Yet Gerard was still grateful for that much. Gerard stood up abruptly. Then he went over to Iris and patted her shoulder.
“You must have worked hard under Master, youngest. I didn’t even foresee that much.”
“Huh? Ah… Yes. I really did work hard. You have no idea how much.”
“Good attitude. Really good attitude. Keep giving it your all from now on.”
I was always giving it my all. The problem was that the results didn’t match the effort. Gerard, unaware of that, said “Rest comfortably” and left the barracks. Shortly after, I heard a loud “Assemble! Assemble!!” And along with it, I could feel the presence of people gathering in an orderly fashion.
“…I was curious, Master. Was Senior Gerard like that when you taught him?”
At Iris’s question, I shook my head. As if I would have taught him in a military style. Rather, Gerard’s characteristics were probably set by the developers. Maybe because the female character was hastily changed to male. From the parts where you couldn’t tell if he was a knight or a soldier, to the settings that were obviously patched together in a rush, he was full of signs of being hastily fixed.
“So how about it, Iris? Think you can work under the scorching sun tomorrow?”
I slightly rephrased the question about whether Gerard would find something or not. Iris smiled faintly.
“I have to. It’s not anyone else—we’re looking for Senior Iris.”
In the end, it meant Iris herself would have to step in. It seemed there was something that couldn’t be found through ordinary means.
“Wh-what on earth is going on…”
Maybe he still hadn’t grasped the situation. The noble muttering to himself caught my eye. I approached him and patted his shoulder.
“I told you. The Holy Hero cast a blessing. Why? Because she’s my disciple.”
“Uh, uh…”
“The Guardian Hero even gave up his barracks and is doing all the work. Why? Because he’s my disciple too.”
He would have no choice but to believe. The Guardian Hero was right in front of him calling someone “Master” and treating them with utmost respect. It would be stranger not to believe at this point.
“Do you believe me now?”
“R-really… was it? The Holy Hero. Th-the Saintess cast a blessing…”
“Yeah. So stop being scared of forbidden areas and curses and cooperate.”
The noble gave an unprecedentedly enthusiastic nod. Even when Master had hit him and left him dazed, he hadn’t nodded that hard. Mentioning the Heroes really did have a big effect.