K's Rolling Snowball # Holpert
By this time, the Holpert family was also in complete chaos. After all, the Hero Selection Ceremony was a critical event for them too. Both princes were participating without Schwald. In other words, if either prince was chosen as the Hero, the next king would be decided and they could dispose of Schwald entirely. For the Holperts, who had pushed Sophia onto him, the situation was incredibly awkward.
The head of the Holpert family clutched his throbbing head after hearing the news from the capital. “What the hell is going on? Milene, a Hero?”
“It hasn’t been finalized yet, but they say she’s the Sword Saint’s disciple.”
Jeo, the eldest son and heir of Holpert, had already gathered intelligence from the capital. The information about Milene had been rather shocking. How could Milene have become something like that?
“Damn it. The royal family must be behind this. I knew they’d been keeping us in check lately. They were just waiting to use Milene to blow everything up.”
The king had already given up on Schwald. If only Schwald had become crown prince somehow, the Holperts could have controlled Glacia from behind the throne. And now this had to explode at the worst possible time.
“Even if they expose it, will it really change that much?”
“The important thing is that many people in the capital are taking Milene’s side. Everyone’s obsessed with those novels you were reading. They’re indulging in fantasy. An unfairly treated villainess who became the Hero—honestly.”
The Holpert household was quite familiar with the novels as well. That was why the family head could piece it all together. The royal family checking them, using the Hero Selection Ceremony to reset the line of succession, and the currently trending novels. All of it had combined into a weapon aimed at the Holperts.
“Then…”
“In the worst case, we may have to bring Milene back. She herself admitted that the harassment was only possible because we left her alone, so we have no choice but to deny everything else.”
Where exactly had things gone wrong? Should they never have driven Milene out? Or should they have kept her under house arrest? Yes. That might have been better. They had been too hasty in exiling her completely.
“Then should we make contact with Milene?”
“Not yet. The Hero will be one of the two princes anyway.”
The Loen family had also been sending frequent letters of protest lately. If Milene could benefit the family, they would eventually bring her back—but not now.
The Hero Selection Ceremony had thrown everything into turmoil. It seemed the king intended to use this opportunity to suppress Schwald and his faction of nobles while elevating Heintz as crown prince. He had ordered a reinvestigation into the day of judgment.
Surprisingly, my novels had played a massive role in this. Thanks to the hero party novels and romance stories, the people of the capital had developed fantasies about Heroes and unfairly treated villainesses. They were now actively supporting both the king and the pitiful villainess Milene.
Above all, the fact that the villainess Milene had become the Hero. Just the title “Villainess Hero” alone made it obvious that the two novel genres had merged perfectly.
Of course, while the Holperts were actively cooperating with the investigation, they continued to deny that Sophia had orchestrated anything. It was obvious that a reinvestigation would clear Milene’s name. This was something that had spiraled completely out of my control—no matter how much I might want to stop it.
When you thought about it, I could have prevented this back when I first got out of prison. I had delayed it all because of the original story. What was truly driving me crazy was this: I had only tried to maintain the original plot’s broad framework while planning to eventually eliminate Sophia and Schwald through tosagupang—using them up and discarding them. Yet somehow, everything had unfolded as if I had orchestrated my revenge directly.
“Without even realizing it, I ended up doing all of it myself.”
A hollow laugh escaped me. The things I had done thoughtlessly, just to preserve the original story, had somehow become a grand scheme of patient revenge.
Of course, only I knew that. Still, this meant that the fact that K and I were the same person must not be revealed at least until I finished dealing with the Holperts. At this point, should I just take them down now? Since the water had already been spilled, Schwald and Sophia were no longer useful. Quite a few others would get crushed in this reinvestigation too.
“My head’s a mess. Hmm.”
The silver lining was that at least I wouldn’t have to do any stupid things as the Hero—wait, no. Hold on. Shouldn’t I actually go along with this?
Let’s think carefully. What if the original ridiculous plot had required Schwald to defeat the Demon King? Ah, that might be overthinking it. Well, they’ll manage somehow. If necessary, I could extend some influence to other Hero nations too. So many things to worry about.
Still, having options was better than nothing. Otherwise I might have really ended up writing an autobiography and adding a line at the end saying I regretted pulling the Holy Sword.
“My lady? Is something wrong?”
Marie arrived with a tray of snacks. Hmm, today’s snack was cake. Not bad at all. Desserts weren’t particularly developed in this world, but the cakes were surprisingly decent. There weren’t many varieties, but the fluffy pound cake went perfectly with milk.
I accepted the cake and spoke. “No, I just feel strange.”
“I understand. The reinvestigation of the incident will finally happen, and that should be the end of it.”
“Don’t you think Rion might try to stir up trouble?”
I asked while cutting a piece of cake with my fork and putting it in my mouth.
“What could that fool possibly do at this point? Even if he makes a fuss now, it would only be an attempt to get the royal family to forgive him by claiming he had no choice.”
She had a point. If he wanted to expose things, he should have done it much earlier. The fact that he was staying quiet suggested that my suggestion to just go our separate ways had actually worked.
One thing was certain: no matter what, I would either return as a noble or receive a title. From what I’d learned, even if the Holperts somehow framed me as a criminal by accusing the duke, the fact that I had drawn the Holy Sword meant I would be treated as a provisional Hero and granted a noble title.
Still, isn’t it usually given after defeating the Demon King?
Since she was originally from a noble family, there are no issues with her bloodline, so they can grant it right away.
Anyway, receiving a new title seemed better. Returning to the Loen family would be awkward since I would just be the lord’s niece. It was better to receive a title directly. After that, I could just stay holed up in the capital playing the “it’s dangerous outside the capital” route.
“But it’s surprising. I thought Sir Decaron would come rushing in to hug you tightly.”
“No, I actually hate that now. The feeling of his beard rubbing all over my skin is too weird.”
It was unusual that he hadn’t come at all. He used to hug me and rub his face against me all the time. At least the content was about the country, but if he did that to any other woman it would definitely count as sexual harassment. Maybe he was holding back because I was now a provisional Hero.
But not long after, Decaron came to visit.
“Master. This is unexpected.”
“Ah, I was summoned by the king. Ahem. I heard about your situation.”
“I see.”
Yes, it made sense for the king to explain it himself. He was probably curious about how he had trained me, and not just that—there was also the matter of Milene and K. It would be exhausting for me to explain everything alone. Having the king personally explain to an imperial citizen and renowned Sword Saint would be far more effective.
But while it was effective, did the king really need to handle it personally? That part was suspicious. Had the king asked him for something else?
“Just the situation?”
“Well, I suppose it’s because I’m the Empire’s Sword Saint, so they’re treating me with proper respect.”
“That makes sense. Honestly, for someone of your level, it’s only natural.”
From Glacia’s perspective, having to fight the Demon King, it was only right for a powerhouse like the Sword Saint to help. The proof was how intensely he had trained someone like me. The king had no choice but to keep an eye on him. It was quite the successful acquisition of military strength. Honestly, it almost didn’t make sense, but anything better than the original story was good.
However, Decaron seemed somewhat gloomy. Perhaps he was disappointed that I had become a Hero yet still insisted on writing.
Truly, human greed knows no bounds.
“But still, becoming a Hero after all this time… It’s a shame.”
“I’m a writer by nature.”
“Well, regardless, I’ve been put in charge of the kingdom’s military training manuals.”
Things had flipped completely. Certainly, having the Sword Saint personally train the army couldn’t be a bad thing. It was like passing on his own writings to future generations according to his will.
“Is that possible?”
“What do you take me for, you brat? Ahem. Of course I won’t be teaching everyone the way I taught you. It’ll be simple military training. Anyway, I need to treat K and Milene as separate people. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Yes. At least until I can stand proudly under my own name.”
Until then, I had to stay hidden. I wanted to remain purely as the novelist K. That was why I had ignored even Leon’s passionate gaze. Seriously, that guy’s eyes were dangerous. A magician acting like a gay man. Ah, was it because this body was Milene?
“Understood. However, this creates a problem for me as well.”
“The Four Swords?”
“With this, the kingdom may become entangled with the Empire again.”
That was true. The kingdom frequently had border disputes with the Empire. The reason direct war hadn’t broken out wasn’t just because Glacia was the Hero’s nation. It was also because Glacia had good relations with surrounding countries excluding the Empire, giving it many allies. If war broke out, the Empire could be torn apart from all sides.
Due to these complex interests, there was a lack of justification, and the Empire had no particular reason to clash with Glacia. Still, the Sword Saint training the kingdom’s army would be quite unpleasant for the Empire.
Originally, the Empire would send an envoy regarding the dispute, and Schwald would handle it.
Schwald had displayed the power of the Hero directly before the Empire’s envoy and ended the dispute. The original story’s diplomacy had been pure Holy Sword diplomacy. It was no different from gunboat diplomacy of the imperialist era. The Empire had accepted it. Setting aside national pride, there were also rebellion issues within the Empire, and the surrounding nations had united under the Holy Sword. It had literally been Holy Sword diplomacy.
That was why the Empire ultimately couldn’t touch the kingdom. During the Demon King subjugation they had to cooperate, and after it, attacking the kingdom would mean getting cursed by everyone for striking Glacia when it was exhausted from defeating the Demon King. Parkuri had done just enough behind-the-scenes work to prevent war.
Since things had become serious, I needed to do some behind-the-scenes work with the Empire as well. History had changed, and the Sword Saint being here was a national secret leak for the Empire—a perfect excuse to cause trouble. The situation might become even worse than when Schwald held power.
“Then you’ll be quite busy from now on.”
“Don’t worry. There’s no talent like you, so I’ll focus the military training on the manuals. For you, I’ll help you incorporate even more realistic combat senses into your novels.”
Decaron smiled with satisfaction. I smiled with satisfaction too. The meaning behind our smiles was probably completely opposite. That king was definitely trying to screw me over. There’s a saying that an incompetent ally is more frightening than an enemy, and the king fit that perfectly.
For now, I would need Fortmus’s help with the Empire matter.