64. That's Why You Should Stay Beside the Hero
64. That's Why You Should Stay Beside the Hero
Chapter 64: This Is Why You Need to Stay by a Hero's Side
"Place your hand on my beak."
I promised Pilmyeoljo that I would help him.
Pilmyeoljo thrust his beak toward me.
I lightly placed my hand upon it.
And then.
A strange energy began to flow along my hand.
Syaaaa......
That energy, which felt a little chilling,
seemed to circle my entire body from the top of my head to the tips of my toes,
Shuuuuuk!
and in an instant gathered toward the center of my chest.
A small but heavy energy coiled itself up inside me.
"This is......"
To me, slightly surprised, Pilmyeoljo gave the answer.
"The undead. Those who, by their own will or by another's, could not keep nature's providence. My work is to send such beings back into the original flow. Of course, to bear such responsibility, power of equal measure must follow. The blessing I bestow upon you is a blessing God bestowed upon me, and it is also the reason for my existence."
He entrusts the very reason for his existence......
Suddenly the weight of that energy settled in my chest felt heavy.
"With that power, may you pass judgment on those who would ignore the order of the heavens......"
Astonishingly, I came to know naturally how to wield this unknown power.
Just as one does not need to learn to breathe.
Just as blinking is natural.
"You will feel it. To all undead who stand before you, the death they thought they had escaped will be visible through you, and because of that they will tremble in terror. You shall be the symbol of fear and the terminal point for all undead."
The way to guide the undead into death.
The way to sever the soul from that rotting, putrefying walking corpse.
And, for the moment of severing that soul, the way to draw out the heavy divine power dwelling within me......
"Just as the Phoenix kindles the Immortal Flame, you will kindle the Mortal Flame."
Pilmyeoljo's words were not merely a metaphor.
I could understand.
If the Golden Spear burned souls, then this blessing of Pilmyeoljo was a power that burned all undead who maintained a physical body.
With this power now, even Horikedon......
'It feels like I could turn him to ashes in an instant.'
This hot energy within me was nothing more than a sensation to the living, but to the dead it was no different from a fierce flame that would set their entire bodies ablaze.
It felt chilling precisely because I am alive.
'Is this...... also a kind of divine power?'
It was a power of a completely different concept from mana.
I had already witnessed it once before in reality.
Back when we first fought demons in the Straun Diocese.
The power that Bishop Heint emitted from his mystical sword was exactly this divine power.
That power which had made even the Undead Legion falter and retreat.
'I thought it only existed in holy relics......'
It was astounding.
The fact that a human could harbor this.
And the fact that the power of this divine power was far greater than I had thought.
I had known because a numerical stat called divine power appeared in the original work.
However, this was not an energy one could simply wield.
You needed a special armament just to borrow and use its power at all.
And even then, only by acquiring a so-called legendary-grade item.
I sent that power into the sword I held in my right hand.
Sususut......!
The blade of my sword, Rasgalon, began little by little to radiate light.
Just like that holy sword Bishop Heint had wielded.
* * *
Pilmyeoljo looked down at my sword and then opened his beak.
"The first."
"The first? About what?"
"The power of Pilmyeoljo and the power of the Phoenix. The Immortal Flame and the Mortal Flame. One who holds both flames at once. You are the only one."
"Is that so?"
Not long after I realized I had claimed a world-first title.
"Rohan-nim!"
"Where is he?"
"Sir Rohan! Are you injured anywhere?"
Our allies carrying torches began to slowly descend.
And at last they too came face to face with Pilmyeoljo.
"Huk......!"
"A, a crow?"
Pilmyeoljo seemed slightly annoyed at the word crow.
As he let out a dignified voice.
"A crow. Insolence."
However, that dignity was of no use against Andrew.
"Whoa! A talking crow!"
"......Haah."
Perhaps because he was a creature who had lived a long time, Pilmyeoljo immediately realized that Andrew was not the type to listen to others, and he simply withdrew his attention from Andrew.
"Dretnoer appears to have crossed over the Sosan Mountains."
"The Sosan Mountains, you mean the massive mountain range to the east?"
"Correct."
I recalled the world map from Paogat's setting.
"If it's the east......"
Count Garghent quickly lent an answer.
"That is where the Kingdom of Hessete is located."
"The land of magicians."
"Indeed. Though it is a small nation, it is a mysterious place. Even our Baltoras Kingdom, renowned abroad for our alchemy, tends to view it with wonder, but compared to the Kingdom of Hessete, we are a place of common sense."
Pilmyeoljo added a remark.
"Humans still do not know magic. They merely glance at the shallow surface and arrogantly believe they can wield it."
Magic, huh......
Come to think of it, a playable character related to magic came to mind once more.
The Mage.
There was a reason I had called that Mage character mysterious.
'They were the only one who appeared no matter which class you chose......'
Usually, if you chose one class, the other playable characters did not coexist in the setting.
But just one single individual.
The Mage class was different.
When you played as them, they naturally appeared from the protagonist's point of view.
And even if you chose another class, they were at least briefly mentioned once.
It meant that from any point of view, the Mage existed.
'Probably even now...... they exist somewhere out there.'
And the Kingdom of Hessete was also the place where the likelihood of meeting them was highest.
While I was thinking about this and that,
Pilmyeoljo spread his wings and prepared to fly off.
"Anyway, I will briefly recover and then join you. O one who has received my blessing. Go to the Kingdom of Hessete, you must find and stop that wretch Dretnoer. Should Dretnoer release the Monster of Morzadon, the world will surely be filled with death. So greatly that not even I could guide all the souls."
"That doesn't sound like a very good ending."
"I think the same."
Pilmyeoljo left one final word.
"Ah, and. That little chick. I entrust him to your care."
"You needn't worry."
"Good. Let us meet again."
And with a flap of those enormous wings, he shot upward through the hole I had opened in the ceiling.
* * *
"That person is that Sir Rohan?"
"Yeah. I heard he stomped a centuries-old witch to death?"
"Stomped? What does that mean?"
"I don't know either. But all the knights who saw it with their own eyes said so."
"......I don't know the details, but he's absolutely incredible."
"For real. We're living in the age of heroes. And on top of that, we even got to fight alongside him."
"Keuh! This is what being a knight is all about! At this rate, won't we be recorded in legends for eternity?"
"Puhahaha! That'd be awesome. Bards would casually sing a verse about our story too!"
"This is why you need to be by a hero's side, I'm telling you!"
As I walked through the refuge, such talk flooded into my ears in abundance.
But whenever I passed by, they would stop talking.
"We behold Sir Rohan!"
"We behold Sir Rohan!"
And pay their respects courteously like this.
"Mm."
I largely pretended not to hear and let it slide.
Well, it wasn't unpleasant to be held in such high esteem.
If anything, whenever I appeared, I could feel envious gazes wrapping around me.
I found myself reflexively correcting my posture as I walked.
When I arrived at the commanders' tent like that.
Everyone rose to their feet.
I hadn't heard the prior discussion, but I could roughly guess.
It seemed to be about pursuit of the vampire remnants.
"Don't mind me, carry on with the meeting."
Count Garghent nodded.
"Yes. Please, continue your report, Sir Casson."
"Ah, yes. Your Excellency. First of all, the majority of the vampires have been nearly hunted to the finish. Going forward, we are in need of funds for urban reconstruction and the recovery of the citizens' damages."
Eliminating the vampire remnants had not been difficult.
Although vampires in this setting are not undead but a distinct race, so I could not use Pilmyeoljo's power,
thanks to Redeia's Dimensional Veil disappearing and the sun revealing itself, the tide of battle had turned in an instant.
Furthermore, the morale of the Holy Knight Order who had been with me was at its peak until the very end.
We had already faced high vampires and a witch who rends dimensions; how could mere lowly vampires frighten us?
Their momentum in hunting the vampires was like raging waves.
Thanks to that, only what could literally be called remnants now remained of the vampires,
and Casson was now beginning to think of rebuilding the city.
Count Garghent lightly agreed.
"Urban reconstruction and damage recovery. Funds are indeed necessary for that. Understood. I shall actively submit a petition on that matter to His Majesty."
"Thank you!"
Before I knew it, Count Garghent and Casson had built up quite a rapport.
Unexpectedly, they seemed to really hit it off,
and it was thanks to Count Garghent, as Chancellor, sparing no support in various ways so that Casson could firmly secure autonomy over this land.
Because of that, Casson, who had originally been an independence faction member, had now become Count Garghent's greatest ally.
Honestly, from my position, I admired Count Garghent for having won over that stubborn hulk.
Thus, the Former Molen County was transforming into a new shape quicker than I'd thought.
"Alright. Then let us conclude it like this."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
When the discussion with Casson was roughly wrapped up, Count Garghent turned to face me.
"Leaving now?"
"I must. There isn't much time to spare."
"Huu...... Though my heart wishes to simply tell you to stay, the matter at hand is too grave a concern...... I have prepared horses, provisions, and water outside. When you step out, they will be ready and waiting."
"I'm grateful."
"And this as well."
Count Garghent handed me one more thing.
I took and held it.
"It is no exaggeration to say that the Kingdom of Baltoras survived thanks to you. In the end, this place would have fallen, and afterward even the capital would not have been safe."
It wasn't exactly wrong.
"It is a certificate bearing my seal. In the Kingdom of Hessete, it will prove useful at least once."
I nodded.
"I'll put it to good use."
"Thank you."
Count Garghent extended his hand seeking a handshake.
I clasped his hand.
"See you again."
"Welcome anytime. Haha."
We exchanged smiles, looking at each other.
And when I stepped outside the tent,
the knights were lined up in formation waiting for me.
"To Sir Rohan! Pre-sent, swords!"
Cha-cha-chajang!
Along the path down the center of the knights who had raised their swords to their chests,
I walked, looking at each and every one of their faces.
"What are all the wounded doing out here too? Honestly......"
Out of apology and gratitude, such words slipped out.
At that, as if by a promise, the wounded soldiers shouted back in unison.
"At the very least, we wanted to see you off properly!"
An awkward smile welled up at the corner of my mouth.
I greeted them with my eyes as I passed along the path,
and mounted my horse.
I also spotted Diaz already atop her horse making preparations.
I spoke quietly to her.
"Are all the preparations complete?"
"Yes. I've checked everything."
"Let's depart."
"Yes!"
And so, Diaz, Pico, and I
set out toward the Kingdom of Hessete.
How to Live as a Broken Character in a Game
Chapter 64: This Is Why You Need to Stay by a Hero's Side