The Hero's Advance
Soothing the sulky Margaret fell to Rose, as always. There was no helping it. Walter was genuinely swamped with work, barely having a moment to breathe, and for some reason Bernard was faithfully assisting him even with the paperwork. Park Jeong-jae had headed off to Harriet territory with that cute girl Jenis in tow as his assistant, which had set Margaret's heart aflame—so the imperial princess, who could treat the elf lord with the least formality, had no choice but to calm her down.
"They looked at me like I was a joke. That little brat, strutting around like she'd won it all, like she'd got him all locked down!"
"If you had that much to say, why didn't you just get it all out there?"
Rose responded indifferently.
"Even so, putting on a show in front of a human girl would've ruined my dignity."
"Wow, so you knew that much. I thought you'd forgotten."
Margaret realized she'd made a fool of herself, to the point where she had nothing to say even to that. Lately, she hadn't been in her right mind. Bursting into tears and charging down the road, trying to intimidate a girl she'd just met and failing spectacularly...
"I think I'm not doing so well. The war must be getting to my fairy spirit."
"First loves are always like that."
Rose said flatly. Margaret slumped into her seat with a dejected expression.
"At my age, can't even control a little crush—it's embarrassing, even in front of friends. What about you, Rose? Never had any wobbles with Walter?"
Margaret tried to bury her own mess by dragging up her friend's dark history, in a way unbecoming of her noble blood.
Rose stuck out her tongue and shrugged.
"Who knows? I'm with him for the specs. Hero by profession, handsome, decent guy. Personality's a bit of a pain, but otherwise fine, right?"
"Ouch, that really hurt."
Walter, who had been shoving legion reorganization papers at Bernard from the corner desk, looked up from his documents and said.
Rose's eyes went wide as she stared at Walter.
"You heard that? I thought you were too buried in work. Sorry, you know I mean it."
"Makes me wanna cry, for real."
Walter muttered grumpily, adjusted his monocle, and dove back into work. Margaret, glancing back and forth between them, leaned toward Rose and whispered.
"So, which is it for real?"
Rose bent down to match her, bringing her mouth to the elf princess's long ear. Margaret tensed slightly, waiting for what Rose would say.
"That's... a secret! 'Cause it's embarrassing."
Rose whispered into her ear. Margaret perked up her ears and nodded, as if she'd grasped the situation just from hearing "embarrassing."
"You two really are made for each other. Even an outsider like me can see it plain as day."
It was then, as Margaret offered Rose some heartfelt encouragement, that Walter leaped from his chair onto the desk after handing over the last paper to Bernard.
"Done!"
The hero tossed his monocle aside with a triumphant shout. Bernard pointed at him accusingly and grumbled.
"You only finish when I tidy up. What kind of hero jumps on the desk like that?"
"Hey, get down from there. No lunatic hero celebrates finishing work by hopping on the desk."
As Rose joined in scolding him, Walter deflated and clambered sheepishly back down. Margaret, who had been quiet, asked him.
"So now it's just a matter of redeploying the imperial forces per your orders. No need for us to stick around the capital anymore, right?"
"That's right. The war doesn't take breaks, and skirmishes are still dragging on at the borders. With Nomember Castle destroyed, both sides are just watching each other warily..."
Nomember Castle was a vital choke point on the path from north to south. The Demon King's army had launched a massive offensive across the entire border to seize it and charge straight for the capital, but Walter's party had scattered to lead defenses everywhere, blunting the momentum of that last big push. If there was a problem, it was that the party was too small. Walter's strategy of using powerful heroes for key strongpoint defense had barely succeeded against the Demon King's deep penetration tactics, but by the time the party regrouped at the critical Nomember Castle after repelling attacks on various fortresses, it was too late. If each member had been two people, they might have held all the castles, including Nomember. But to salvage something from the desperate fight, Walter had chosen to destroy Nomember, denying it to the enemy as well. That had decisively broken the Demon King's last offensive, buying the empire breathing room—but it had also left deep scars on everyone involved. Walter was no exception.
"We have to keep doing what we're tasked with. We've strayed too far from our original mission. To hunt demon heads, we need to seize this peace as our chance."
Walter said. The other three all agreed. The situation was delicate now, but originally, the five unparalleled heroes including Jeong-jae weren't some staff headquarters for leading armies in the field. Tradition held that the Demon King appeared leading powerful demon executives, but this one had an unusually strong lineup. The Gargoyle Queen, whose diamond-hard body earned her the title "Impregnable's Rival"; the Dragon Lord that set the Magic Tower's surveillance on high alert just by appearing; the vampire lord who could turn healthy people into kin; and the necromancer shadowed by ghosts everywhere. This hero party had been formed to take down such foes that even well-armed humans struggled against. The empire's basic tactic was "the imperial army holds against demon attacks while the hero and friends eliminate all demon executives," but it had hit fundamental limits against unexpectedly fierce resistance. Walter had boldly reformed the military, equipping even rank-and-file soldiers with anti-demon weapons, squeezing the Magic Tower to infuse every suit of armor with counter-magic against dark powers—so every soldier could at least fight any demon lord minimally. The hero party wasn't too weak to kill executives, but focusing solely on that would let the empire crumble behind them. With the enemy's offensive broken at Nomember by Walter's decision, now was the time for them to refocus on their true mission.
"Music to my ears! Fighting thousands, tens of thousands is too damn hard. Even if we're strong, I miss missions where you just nab one and it's over!"
Bernard cheered happily at the news that the hero party would finally go demon-executive hunting. Rose nodded with a resolute expression. Only Margaret showed a restrained reaction, her face full of worry.
"Even for one enemy, we need a solid plan. Do we have a demon lord whose location we've pinned down?"
Margaret asked. Walter nodded.
"To cut to the bone, we must tear the flesh first, Princess. Our target for now is the Lich Lord."
"That's a big fish."
Rose shuddered. Walter nodded.
"But we can't skimp on showmanship. This mission has to succeed."
"Why? You've never said that before any other mission."
Margaret asked sharply. Walter grimaced, adjusted his monocle, and answered.
"Because we can't let the Demon King see our forces weakened. If he realizes the weight a grand archmage carried in our party, things won't go as planned."
"The Grand Archmage was our party's core firepower."
Margaret shot to her feet and said. Walter admitted it readily.
"How could I deny it? We can't expect the same output without him. The issue is, we can't let it show. At least, not to the Demon King. He can't see us limping along with one arm hacked off."
"Why not?"
Rose asked. Walter removed his monocle with a tired expression.
"If we don't deliver solid results now, the Demon King will peg Park Jeong-jae as our core. What would you do if the enemy's key player suddenly vanished?"
"Gather intel. Find out where he is and what he's doing."
Rose answered straightforwardly. Walter nodded as if she'd hit the mark.
"Say we gather intel. Your worrying foe's holed up in one spot scheming something, and he's a mage who could whip up who-knows-what from a standstill. What then?"
"Gather more detailed intel, or..."
Rose pondered. Margaret figured it out first.
"Whatever he's scheming, it's likely extremely dangerous, so I'd send an army quick to strike."
Walter clapped at Margaret's words. The hero fumbled his monocle back on as he explained.
"If we look too feeble without Jeong-jae now, the Demon King thinks: 'Why keep a mage sidelined even at the cost of weakening themselves?' Then Harriet territory becomes enemy target number one. That could be catastrophic."
"Then prepare defenses there against invasion?"
"Deploy troops? Half-measures won't cut it. It'll just draw attention and raise invasion odds. Isn't Jenis Hacker there? Excellent mage—she'll be the minimal safeguard."
The words carried double meaning: Jenis was a top mage who'd help in battle, and as the Hacker count's only daughter, she'd secure his full military backing. Margaret bristled at Jenis's name but had to concede.
"Honestly, the root cause is you pulling him from the party in the first place."
"Sorry. Can't explain yet. But one thing's sure: he needs to step back from the war's flow for a while. If things go my way, that is."
Walter's resolve was ironclad. In this room at least, he was the emperor, and no one could overturn such firm conviction.
"I'll accept the Lich Lord subjugation plan. He's gotta go anyway. Not impossible without that guy."
With Margaret yielding to Walter's proposal, the brief debate ended. Walter turned away, secretly wiping his chest in relief with a sigh. Thank goodness Margaret was a hero broad-minded enough not to turn it into an emotional brawl. Walter was certain no ordinary person in her shoes—unrequited crush sidelined for unknown reasons, powerful rival appearing—could act so rationally. Margaret wasn't a fairy who fully mastered her emotions, but she was a lord who could judge fairly. Walter felt deep gratitude that she'd respected the hero's authority and bent.
"Then it's settled."
Rose sprang up and said. The empire's princess, the iron-wall knight. But in this party, her key talent wasn't prowess—it was affinity and包容. She knew her role. Her presence mattered, symbolically and practically, to unite this eccentric bunch. Rose grabbed Margaret's hand with a bright smile.
"It's okay, Margaret. The answer's surely not far away."
"I'll trust you."
Margaret said, her face regaining calm.
"No, I'll just trust you all. Like when I first left the forest and took up the bow for humans."
As Jeong-jae found his path in Hacker County, it seemed Walter's party was doing the same.