It's Fun

Having entered the royal capital, Haring prowled the area around the palace.

To meet Bahamart Legion — the intended recipient of the Fire Dragon's letter — she would have to push through those thick golden gates. But for a mere Rank 7 Hero, the places she could go were extremely limited.

Even getting into the capital had been hard enough. Crossing the palace gates, facing the former emperor, and delivering a letter?

"No matter how I look at it, it's impossible."

Haring fretted with the palace gates a mere hundred meters away. She had somehow managed to reach the front of the palace, but going any further was out of the question.

Those gates were a place even Rank 3 Heroes — the top rankers, never mind Rank 4 — could not enter freely. Access was only granted with special permission for matters as critical as a main quest. Approach carelessly, and she'd be thrown out without getting a single word in.

"Ah, screw it. Should I just boldly drop the Fire Dragon's name?"

She'd deliberately kept it quiet to avoid rumors, but she'd come this far — did it even matter anymore? If there were no other users around, saying the Fire Dragon's name might get her in somehow…

Crash!

"Urgh! Knight Commander, just once! Just one time!"

"A so-called Hero, and yet so vulgar. Begone."

"?"

"Just one cup of tea! How about coffee? Coffee!"

"I said begone."

What was this?

Haring hid behind a tree in front of the palace and watched the commotion at the gates. About seven users stood before the palace, and at the center of the noise was a man sprawled on the ground and a knight in platinum armor.

The other users snickered at the man's pathetic display — probably members of the same guild.

Their gear is good. Rankers, maybe?

Haring herself wore decent equipment for a newbie, but theirs was on another level entirely. Of course, anyone active in the capital at this stage would have to be a ranker.

Most of the platinum knight's body was covered in armor, yet Haring could tell at a glance that she was a woman of elegant lines. She stared hard at the knight, confirmed her face, and something clicked.

A face she'd seen somewhere before. This was definitely the first time seeing her in person, but she had absolutely seen her before.

Haring immediately opened the gallery and replied to a comment on one of her earlier posts.

"Hurry… hurry…"

The users were clinging stubbornly, but there was no telling when the commotion would die down. If the knight went into the palace, that would be a problem!

Got him!

Haring uploaded a photo to a remote gallery with almost no users, then dropped the link for Evan. After a brief moment, a reply came through.

"Hey?"

No answer. Haring kept spamming replies, but Evan didn't respond. Whether he was actually running or what, the typos had been piling up. Frustrated, she closed the gallery for now.

Meanwhile, the commotion continued. The man kept trying to approach the Knight Commander and offer her coffee, but the moment her sword left its sheath, the atmosphere dropped cold.

Shing.

A golden blade pointed at the man's throat.

"I will not say it twice. Hero. Begone."

"Come on… unnie! Don't be like th—"

Slash!

"Hhk."

His head came off. In the blink of an eye, a single stroke from the Knight Commander severed his neck. The man dissolved into blue particles and vanished, and the snickering users froze, eyeing one another warily.

The Knight Commander's blade — still wet from the man's neck — turned toward them.

"Do the rest of you intend to continue?"

"N-no, ma'am!"

"Loyalty! Loyalty! We only came to stop him!"

"Ugh, I told him to cool it!"

As the users retreated one by one like they were fleeing, the Knight Commander sheathed her sword and let out a sigh.

"These new Heroes are truly arrogant. Why the Goddess chose such people…"

"……"

"I shall have to file a separate report on this. Immortal or not, I have slain a Hero."

Muttering to herself, the Knight Commander turned her head toward the palace. Haring watched the entire exchange, then began edging backward little by little.

Yeah, this was a bad idea.

Better pull back for now…

She seemed like a fairly important figure, but if Haring died even once, her quest was as good as over. Once you started racking up notoriety, you couldn't enter the palace — or even the capital. And then that broken letter-delivery quest would be dead in the water.

I'll look for another chance later. That woman is a bit dangero—

Thud.

"Come out."

"……"

"You, hiding there. I said come out."

"……"

"If you will not come out…"

Shiiing.

The golden blade slid free of its scabbard once more. Golden sword-aura rippled along its entire length, a heartbeat from cutting her clean in two—

"Eek! I'm so sorryyyy!!!"

Thud.

Haring dropped to the ground as if collapsing into a full prostration — no, she actually did prostrate herself. The Knight Commander, who had been about to fell even the tree Haring was hiding behind in a single stroke, halted her blade at the Hero's wretched display.

"…What is this?"

"I-I, uh… so, unnie."

"This Knight Commander is not your sister."

"Right, then, Knight Commander. I wasn't hiding and watching on purpose or anything. There's a reason for all this…"

"And what is that?"

"I came to deliver a letter inside…"

"What letter?"

Haring bit her lip and held up the letter as if presenting tribute. The letter wasn't supposed to fall into outsiders' hands, but there was no other way out of this situation.

Otherwise I die!

"This is…"

Adela Measis.

The youngest Knight Commander in history, and one of only three Sword Masters in the entire kingdom — that was her.

Back in her own chambers, Adela removed her armor and looked down at the letter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠resting on the table. That morning she had been putting some arrogant Heroes in their place when she received it.

The stationery itself was quite fine, yet the letter had been folded with the clumsy carelessness of a child. For a missive addressed to the great former emperor who had laid the foundations of the kingdom, the attitude was truly insolent and disrespectful.

Adela had wanted to burn the letter on the spot — but the seal stamped upon it stopped her.

…A dragon wreathed in flame.

There was only one being in the world who used such a mark.

"Fire Dragon Lea."

A supreme race; a being who yielded to no dragon in existence. And she had sent a Hero to deliver a letter to the former emperor.

"Why would she suddenly…?"

Had something happened? For someone who never intervened in worldly affairs unless a truly great crisis demanded it — what whim had possessed her to send a letter now? And through a mere Rank 7 Hero of no consequence, no less.

Though Adela had only ever encountered tales of the Fire Dragon through history books and fairy tales, she had long heard of her greatness.

"…This is not for me to judge."

She was merely a single sword that protected the kingdom. Delivering this letter was all she needed to do. Until that day came, Adela carefully stored the letter somewhere no one but herself could touch.

Surely it contains a great and noble purpose.

"Golem, deploy!"

Woooom!

"You damn drag— I mean, Dragon! This isn't fair!!!"

"What the hell is an ogre arm supposed to—?!"

"Oh come on, this is over the to— gah!"

Hehe.

This is fun.