Chapter 117
Chapter Title: I've Come for You, Ar-on
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[Conquest Target (Hidden): Rescue Agon, Guardian of the Azure Sky.]
Leo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the conquest target that hadn't disappeared.
‘The conquest target hasn't been met yet.’
History must have already diverged significantly from the original.
And yet, the hidden conquest target remained. This meant the orphanage was still not safe.
Leo used fire magic to turn the corpses into ashes.
Fwoosh-!
‘Does this mean the outcome will be the same if things continue as they are?’
The original conquest target was easily solved with Kyle's memories, but achieving the hidden one was not so simple.
‘Do I need to bring Agon here?’
This whole situation arose because Agon had left the orphanage.
‘But Agon is at the lord's castle right now.’
He might not even return tonight.
Frowning, Leo looked at Elsie.
‘No, perhaps it would be difficult to stop this even if Agon were here.’
The hidden conquest target appeared after Leo met Elsie.
In other words, even though Elsie didn't leave for Gardsrone, the children of the orphanage couldn't escape death.
A death that even a Great Spirit couldn't prevent.
I don't know what Levaiten is hiding, but as it stands, bringing Agon here wouldn't guarantee the children's survival.
‘Is he the only one who can definitively resolve this incident?’
Thinking of his friend, Leo headed toward Ar Tune.
There, Ar was comforting the terrified orphans.
“You’re back?”
Ar, who had just been thinking about Leo, hesitated.
Ar had an idea of what Leo had done to them.
Of course, she had no intention of blaming him.
They deserved no sympathy.
They had tried to kill innocent children, and if he had let them go, they would have attacked again.
Besides, this was the World of Heroes.
No matter how real they seemed, they were fake.
But for Ar, a fifteen-year-old girl, the act of staining her hands with blood was bound to feel like an immense burden.
The thought that Leo had killed people worried her.
“Black Rabbit. Are you okay?”
Seeing Ar ask so cautiously, Leo let out a small laugh and ruffled her hair.
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
His rough touch, uncharacteristic of a boy his age, pressed lightly on the back of Ar's neck.
‘He seems so mature.’
Sensing a strange maturity, Ar slipped out from under his hand like a cat.
“Anyway, this isn't the end of it, is it?”
“Probably not.”
“It's fine! As long as you and I hold out until Mr. Agon gets back!”
“It won't be easy.”
Ar flinched at Leo's words.
“People more skilled than the ones we just defeated will come.”
“Mmm! But if Black Rabbit and I work together…!”
“Simply defeating them might be possible, but holding out while protecting the children won't be easy.”
“Th-that’s…”
Ar's ears and tail drooped.
Seeing this, Leo said.
“But it’s not like there’s no way.”
“What is it?”
Her drooping tail perked up.
“We find Ar-on.”
“Lord Ar-on? But Lord Agon said Lord Ar-on had left Reysar…”
“Ar-on is still in Reysar.”
Leo looked toward the city wall.
“I checked last night. I couldn't get outside the walls.”
“You couldn't get outside the walls? Does that mean our range of activity is limited to inside Reysar?”
“That's right.”
“Then, just as you said, Lord Ar-on must be in Reysar!”
Ar's face brightened.
But it was only for a moment.
“But how are we supposed to find Lord Ar-on in this huge city? Those guys could attack at any moment.”
Indeed, finding one Beastkin in this sprawling refugee city was next to impossible.
Leo glanced at the children in the orphanage.
‘We’ve already conquered the World of Heroes.’
The hidden conquest target is, quite literally, just an option.
We don't have to complete it.
Of course, completing it would yield a greater reward.
But risking danger for it might be a foolish move.
Especially since the people in the World of Heroes were already dead and gone in the original history.
Saving them won't bring back the dead.
But…
The image of his friend, shedding tears while talking about his younger siblings at the orphanage, came to mind.
If the man named Agon was the one who made Ar-on the Brave Hero he was today.
These children were the driving force that gave Ar-on the courage to fight through those arduous battles.
Ar-on's wish to create a world where people could smile in peace was born from his hope that unfortunate children like his own siblings would disappear.
That's why Leo couldn't turn his back on these children.
‘It’s not just these children.’
No matter what anyone said, Leo had lived in this era.
He could never say it had nothing to do with him.
“Ar.”
“Hm?”
“We've already completed the conquest. So there's no need to take any more risks.”
Ar's eyes widened at Leo's words.
She stared at Leo for a moment, then scoffed.
“Hmph! You say that, but you're not going to back out of this, are you? Trying to do all the cool stuff by yourself? I know what you're up to!”
“It could be really dangerous.”
“You think I'd be scared of something like that? I started dreaming of becoming a hero because I admire Lord Ar-on's story.”
Ar puffed out her chest.
“There's no way someone like me would back down like a coward! Besides!”
“Besides?”
“If you do all the work, then Lord Ar-on will only praise you later!”
Ar wore an expression of utter disapproval.
“I'm going to work hard too! I'll work hard so Lord Ar-on will praise me for a job well done! And I want him to pat my head!”
As if imagining Ar-on praising her, Ar squirmed with delight.
Then, noticing Leo staring at her as if she were absurd, she cleared her throat.
“Anyway! You've thought of a way to find Lord Ar-on, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then go find him! I'll protect this place until you get back!”
Leo, who had originally planned to have Ar evacuate and ask Elsie to guard the place, let out a hollow laugh.
“If that bastard was like you, no, even half as much as you, I wouldn't have gone through such hell.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Just talking to myself.”
Shaking his head, Leo said seriously.
“I'll be back as fast as I can. If you think it's dangerous, don't push yourself. Retreat.”
“Don't you worry!”
Watching Ar confidently flex her arm, Leo quickly took off.
As she watched him go, Ar raised both hands in the air.
“Alright! I'm gonna work hard and get tons of praise from Lord Ar-on! Let's do this!”
***
“Is there still no word from Jerin?”
The lord's castle in Reysar.
An hour had already passed since Agon came face to face with Lord Rodean.
Yet, there was still no contact from Jerin, who She had sent to the orphanage.
“Not yet.”
“Useless thing! Don't tell me She was defeated!”
“Weren't there only kids in that orphanage who couldn't even put up a fight?”
“When I saw them earlier, there were two individuals who looked like outsiders. It seems they were taken down by them.”
“Outsiders, you say.”
The woman, who had shown a flicker of interest, soon wore an indifferent expression.
“So? Today is the perfect chance to get Schatten. Are you just going to let it slip away?”
“Of course not. Now that he knows we've touched the orphanage, Agon won't stand by idly.”
Having said that, Levaiten's expression momentarily turned anxious.
“But are you certain that Agon is the one hiding Schatten?”
“I'm certain. Have I ever been wrong about anything I've told you? Or are you getting cold feet now?”
“N-no, that’s not it, but… given who we’re up against.”
“I don't see what's so scary about a hero with broken wings living in seclusion that you're trembling like this.”
The woman, who had been sneering, spoke indifferently.
“It doesn't matter if you're scared. As long as the Guardian of the Azure Sky is a hero, he can't do anything. That's the kind of creatures heroes are.”
The woman's ominous golden eyes flashed.
“A foolish race that protects the greater good, even at the cost of their own lives. He will never push this city of Reysar into a crisis. So rest assured, Levaiten.”
“Y-yes, I understand. Then I will go to the orphanage myself and retrieve Schatten.”
Watching Levaiten hastily exit the room, the woman muttered.
“It seems Schatten really is broken. That will make it easier to devour.”
The woman had accurately seen through the fact that Schatten was a spirit.
The woman licked her lips.
“I wonder if a Great Spirit is as delicious as the Fairy King?”
***
Out on the streets of Reysar, Leo immediately thought about places Ar-on might have gone.
‘That guy would surely be holed up somewhere, not moving a muscle.’
Leo recalled a conversation he once had with Ar-on.
Reysar was where Ar-on had lived for ten years.
As such, there were plenty of memorable places where he could go to collect his thoughts.
Leo searched through the memories of his past life.
5,000 years ago, after first arriving in Reysar, he had wandered all over the place for a month, so he was familiar with the geography.
He cross-referenced those memories with the places Ar-on had talked about.
‘The place he said he went to most often was the bell tower, right?’
Leo ran toward the tower with the giant bell.
It was the place with the massive bell that would ring to signal a crisis during an invasion by Tartaros.
Leo reached the top of the tower and looked for Ar-on, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Confirming Ar-on wasn't there, Leo immediately headed to the next location.
The park he often visited.
The empty lot in the back alley where he trained alone.
He searched the places Ar-on had mentioned, but he couldn't find him anywhere.
“*Pant. Pant.*”
Leo gasped for breath.
Even Leo, with his nearly inexhaustible stamina, had run around so frantically that he was out of breath.
‘I can't think of any other places.’
Leo gritted his teeth.
And he recalled past conversations.
‘Ar-on, you're so strong, but did you never once think about fighting Tartaros when you were in Reysar?’
‘Because I was scared of the demons.’
‘Shouldn't the demons be scared of you instead?’
To Luna's wondering words, Dweno replied.
‘Don't be so hard on him. Unlike you, Ar-on is a delicate soul, is he not?’
‘What are you talking about! I'm delicate too!’
‘The only delicate thing about you is your pretty face. Of course, even that seems to lose its luster due to your less-than-pretty personality.’
‘Dieeeee!’
An enraged Luna swung her staff wildly.
But Dweno vexingly defended against all of her attacks.
The party left the two to their familiar squabble.
‘Still, have you never felt like you wanted to fight?’
At Lisinas's question, Ar-on gave an awkward laugh.
‘I have. So one day, I resolved to try and muster my courage at a place overlooking all of Reysar.’
‘Didn't you hate high places? Why did you go somewhere like that?’
‘I really wanted to protect the city where my master and my younger siblings lived. I thought that maybe if I saw the place I wanted to protect with my own eyes, I'd find some courage.’
Ar-on wore a bitter expression.
‘But I was such a coward that by the time I finally found my courage, all my siblings had already passed away.’
Leo's gaze naturally shifted to the tallest spire in Reysar.
From there, he would surely be able to see all of Reysar at a glance.
***
Entering the spire, Leo ran up the stairs, reaching the top floor in an instant.
*Creeak-!*
The door, which should have been locked, was open as if expecting a visitor.
*Step-*
Gasping for breath, Leo walked forward.
The spacious top of the spire was circular.
*Step- step-*
Following the circular railing to the opposite side of the entrance, Leo stopped.
*Thump-*
Leaning against the railing and looking down at the city, Ar-on's white wolf ears twitched.
Then, as if startled, he turned his gaze toward Leo.
“Who’s there?”
Leo could see the surprised expression on the still-youthful face of Ar-on.
‘Was Ar-on about eighteen at this time?’
The only Great Hero born during the Age of Calamity.
A friend who was absurdly timid, yet possessed an unbelievably immense courage.
Looking at the comrade he had fought alongside for so many years, Leo felt a lump in his throat.
He never thought the day would come when they could speak again.
Even if it was only in the World of Heroes.
Even if his friend didn't know him.
Grateful for this moment, he opened his mouth.
“I’ve come for you, Ar-on.”