The Ties of the Previous Generation Are Over

The audience with the king was, of course, inevitable. The Holy Sword Festival had effectively fizzled out into nothing. With everything that had happened, there was no time to celebrate the birth of a new hero, and because of what Leon had said in front of the citizens, the whole thing had become the latest gossip in the capital. Announcing a hero at a time like this felt strangely awkward.

In any case, I was summoned alone. Heintz and Leon had been called in first to deal with the nobles entangled in the Holy Sword affair. And now, standing before me, were the king and queen of Glacia.

“Just what is going on here? Why are you swinging a sword instead of writing?”

There was no reason to hide anything from the king. After all, I still needed him as an ally going forward.

“The truth is, I wanted to portray a hero’s swordsmanship more realistically, so I invited a swordsmanship instructor through Fortmus Publishing. That instructor turned out to be the Sword Saint. He told me to go there myself and prove my strength.”

“I see. So that’s how it happened. But for you to have drawn the Holy Sword… And then Leon went and said all that in front of the people. It must have been difficult for you.”

While the king frowned deeply, the queen looked far more composed.

“Why would it be difficult?”

“Well, you did say you intended to live as K from now on, didn’t you? Even if we formally reinstate Milene, it wouldn’t have anything to do with you as K.”

“That may be true, but the Holpert family will become a problem.”

Since I had already been exiled, reinstatement would create the option of sending me back there. And naturally, that would never be accepted. The Holpert family had always been looking for any excuse to drive Milene out. It was only to be expected.

“You were already expelled anyway. You participated under the name Roen, correct?”

“Ah.”

“Since your mother’s family is Roen, that makes sense. Then let’s connect you with them.”

“Roen?”

“Actually, I learned recently that they have been searching for you. I didn’t tell you before because I was mindful of the Holpert family’s reaction, but since you’ve even drawn the Holy Sword, it should be fine now.”

The Roen family was looking for Milene? That meant they had searched for her in the original story too. Had I simply overlooked it? Ah, right. Since Sophia was the protagonist, from her perspective the Roen family was irrelevant. She would have left everything to her father. That ignorant girl had only ever stayed in the capital following the princes around anyway.

Nothing at all was known about the Roen family in the original work. They existed entirely in the realm of imagination. By the time the story reached the part where judgment had already been passed and the royal couple had lost their power, their relevance had vanished.

Now that I thought about it, one particular line came to mind.

I had thought it was just an added explanation to show the power of the family. But if that family was Roen, everything clicked into place. It was about avenging Milene. Of course, this was still in the realm of speculation. Honestly, would Roen really be capable of opposing the Holpert family—the strongest noble house of the era—just because they had lost a niece?

At any rate, my return to the nobility was now decided. In that case, going to the Roen side would be better. Meeting them wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“If you dislike the idea, I can simply grant you a separate noble title. You could live in the capital as an honorary noble without any territory.”

“Then what about the hero position?”

“You already have your own work, so you would decline, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes. Besides, even though I am the Sword Saint’s disciple, that was only for a single session. It was nothing more than simple luck. I am nothing compared to Prince Heintz, who distinguished himself in war, or Prince Leon.”

Choosing me would not be a wise decision. Even if I was the Sword Saint’s disciple, I had no notable achievements compared to Heintz, who had fought on the borders. I had merely handled requests for the adventurers’ guild. If I faced the Demon King’s army with this level of power, I would be slaughtered in an instant. Reality and fiction had to be kept separate. Absolutely. It would be fortunate if I wasn’t captured and subjected to all kinds of humiliation.

“Understood. We will take that into consideration and exclude you from the hero candidates. It would also be troublesome for us if you stopped writing.”

“What do you mean?”

“As you must have seen, the novel about the hero party’s defeat has gained even more attention with the Demon King’s resurrection. You must continue serializing that story.”

Ah, I see. That was a relief. I let out a sigh of ease. I had been worried they might force me into it with something like, “You’re a hero too, so we’ll push you with the power of public opinion!” and hand me some suitable famous sword before sending me off to subjugate the Demon King. That would have been an absolute nightmare.

Still, they had considered my position.

“As you heard from Leon earlier, with Schwald in that state, one of the princes who drew the Holy Sword must become king. In that process, the fact that the king is a former hero will be important. And to amplify that image, we need something specific.”

“My novel.”

“There is only one Holy Sword, and if you cannot take it, it is better to divide the roles. Leon has no interest in the throne and prefers magic over swords, so everything will naturally go to Heintz. Heintz will be the external hero. And you will be the internal hero who unites the people of the kingdom through your writing. It is perfect.”

It looked like I would have to write an episode absolutely dripping with propaganda. Well, it was still better than going out to fight myself. If the novel itself had that kind of effect, this might actually serve as a breakthrough.

Since things had come to this, I needed to dispel as much suspicion as possible. In the end, I was still a hero—just not the kind who rampaged across battlefields, but the kind who wrote books. In other words, a propagandist. Still, if all I had to do was keep writing novels as usual, wasn’t this actually a good thing for me?

After aligning our stories with the king and queen and stepping outside, the two princes were waiting for me.

“What did Father say?”

“Ah, he simply told me to write novels that will help the kingdom.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“Yes.”

“Then let me ask this. Just where have you been all this time?”

Ah, so that was the question. Well, hiding it would be difficult. I had no choice but to yield to the authority of these two princes.

“Ah, well… it’s a bit of a long story. Haha. I nearly died trapped in prison, but His Majesty helped me escape. After that, I was in hiding while doing various things.”

“You hid yourself, became the Sword Saint’s disciple, and wrote novels. That’s rather strange. With that level of ability, wouldn’t working as an adventurer earn you more money?”

“That is a matter of personal preference, but… Lady Milene.”

“She is no longer a lady.”

Leon smiled kindly, as if to say it was all for the best. But that and this were completely different matters. Because of this incident, I had nearly been dragged into a massive hassle. And now I was entangled with these two princes. In my opinion, this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even worse than the original Milene being condemned.

“Seeing that you used the name Roen, it seems you plan to go to them. The Roen family is a count’s household, after all. In any case, you are still a noble daughter.”

Being treated as a noble young lady was incredibly irritating. If Milene returned to her mother’s family, the Roen household, she would indeed be a noble. There was no helping the “young lady” label, but as a man from my previous life, I much preferred the “young master” treatment.

“Leon. That isn’t important right now.”

“Brother?”

“With this, we have the perfect material to undermine the Holpert family.”

“Ah.”

These two princes were truly wicked to the core. It seemed they wanted to use me to prepare a thorough takedown. Honestly, I didn’t think they had any particular grudge against Holpert. It wasn’t as if Milene had any flags with them, nor was this some reverse harem situation where they would crush Holpert for her sake.

“Don’t you two have any particular ill will toward Holpert?”

“If I become the hero without any choice, I will have to become king. The Holpert family would only get in my way.”

“Ah.”

That made sense. If Holpert were allies, it would be different. But if Heintz became king, both Schwald and Sophia would be finished, and Holpert—as a powerful noble house—would only be an obstacle to the royal family. So they wanted to use this opportunity to suppress them a little. Hmm. But did that have anything to do with me? It had absolutely nothing to do with the author K.

Fine. Then I would just focus on writing. Yeah.

“By the way, you seem to have changed quite a lot. It must be because of all the hardship you endured.”

“I-is that so?”

“Well, the current you is more charming. You seem to shine brighter somehow.”

The eyes that had been quietly observing me suddenly turned seductive, as if savoring me. Damn it. This bastard didn’t actually like me, did he?

Roen. The Roen family was originally Milene’s mother’s household—her maternal family. Located to the east of Holpert territory, they were a family that had prospered through maritime trade. Although they were not as powerful as before, they had recovered somewhat with Holpert’s support.

In the original story, this Roen family had never been given much importance. But at this moment, the atmosphere inside their estate was like a house in mourning.

Roen had originally received support from Holpert in exchange for a marriage alliance arranged by the previous generation. However, the current head of Holpert had added a clause to the support conditions: do not interfere in Holpert’s affairs. At the time, Roen had been desperate to restore their declining fortunes and had accepted.

But they had never expected things to turn out like this.

It had been a forced marriage from the start, but Milene’s mother, Elysee, had been a strong-willed woman when she first went to Holpert. That was why Ainhart—the current head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Roen and Elysee’s younger brother—had felt relieved. Even after his sister’s death, he had grieved but never suspected foul play. He had been worried about his niece Milene, but since Holpert was the greater house, he had thought there was no need to bring her back. Besides, with her engagement to a prince, how secure could she be?

But then Holpert had exiled Milene.

They had tried to hide it, but Roen had already investigated everything. It seemed Milene had done something at the academy. Although he hadn’t met his niece often, Ainhart knew that Milene would never do such a thing. And even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if she had, exile? What kind of nonsense was that?

This had clearly been Holpert deliberately trying to cast her out. They had simply needed a justification. Roen blood had been discarded. This was not merely a matter of family honor. There was also the guilt of having left the daughter of his beloved sister in Holpert’s care. How much suffering must she have endured before being exiled?

Ainhart had immediately mobilized Roen’s retainers to search for her by any means necessary.

“Still no news?”

“No, my lord.”

“That damned prince! If only he weren’t in the capital!”

No. All of this was the fault of those Holpert bastards. No matter what schemes the prince had been involved in, if Holpert hadn’t deliberately exiled her, they could have protected her at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any time. If she had been part of the Roen family, they would have demanded a reinvestigation the moment the king returned. Saving Milene would not have been difficult.

Those people had hidden the truth from Roen all this time. That was why it had come to this. That cursed head of Holpert had abandoned his own daughter.

‘The ties of the previous generation are over. We will never trade with their territory again.’

Right now, they had to find Milene.

“We must find her no matter what. We cannot abandon Roen blood like this.”

“But… how should we proceed?”

“We’ll have to do whatever it takes.”

At this point, they would even attack Holpert if necessary to get her back. If it came to it, they would tell the king everything and demand fair treatment. Yes. They had to do at least that much. If he refused, then it would be all-out war on this side as well.

But then—

“My lord! News regarding Lady Milene has arrived from the royal palace!”

“What is it?”

A retainer who had recently visited the capital while searching desperately for information about Milene every single day had discovered something. Ainhart swallowed hard and waited for the words to come. Had they found her body? Or had she been dragged off by some lowlife thugs and sold to a brothel? Those were the fears swirling in his mind.

But what actually came out of the retainer’s mouth was something completely unexpected.

“They say Lady Milene has become a hero.”

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?”

The missing Milene had suddenly become a hero? What on earth was he talking about? Before Ainhart could even feel joy at the fact that his niece was alive, a pounding headache made him clutch his head.