Chapter 241
Chapter Title: Stepped into Darkness
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241
After his audience with the emperor, Leo immediately left the throne room.
Fritz and Jane, who had been waiting outside the emperor's chambers, approached Leo as he opened the door and stepped out.
“What happened?”
“He said he can’t let me meet her.”
“See? I told you.”
Jane shook her head as if she had expected as much.
Fritz wore a puzzled expression.
“That’s odd. To not even allow a meeting.”
“You think meeting one of Shan’s shadows is that easy?”
“Hey, kid.”
“K-kid?”
Jane was taken aback by Leo’s word.
“Did you just call me a kid?”
“Should I have called him a kid instead?”
Leo gestured toward Fritz, who was taller than him, and tilted his head.
Seeing this, Jane flared up.
“I’m older than you, you know?!”
At seventeen, Jane might be Leo’s junior at the academy, but she was undeniably his elder in age.
However, Leo, with memories of his past life, paid no mind to such things.
“I have something to ask. Where can I rest?”
“Are you even listening to me?!”
“Lead the way.”
“…”
Seeing Leo completely ignore her, Jane’s shoulders slumped.
‘Somehow, arguing with this person just makes me feel like an idiot.’
“I’ll guide you.”
Jane led the way for Leo.
From the moment they arrived in Shan, Jane had been assigned as Leo’s guide.
Following behind her, Fritz muttered.
“A kid…”
Fritz muttered softly, then let out a “Hmph!” and chuckled.
“Huh? What’s with that laugh? Are you trying to pick a fight?”
Incensed, Jane didn’t hold back with Fritz.
***
After the brief commotion, Jane guided Leo to a detached palace next to the main imperial palace.
Despite the late hour, a hundred people were lined up on either side of the annex.
“Welcome to the Shan Empire. We will do our utmost to ensure your stay is comfortable, Sir Leo.”
A middle-aged man who appeared to be the head chamberlain bowed respectfully to Leo.
‘A shadow.’
It wasn’t just the head chamberlain.
Among the hundred male and female servants lined up, several also seemed like shadows.
Fritz, seeming to notice as well, narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
Amidst this, Leo was guided to the largest room inside the detached palace.
“Please do not hesitate to call if you need anything.”
Leaving behind those polite words, the head chamberlain left the room.
Leo sat down in a large, luxurious chair in the room.
“What is it that you’re curious about?”
Jane asked, standing before Leo.
Looking at her, Leo spoke.
“Tell me about the Chen Xia you know.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m curious about the life Chen Xia lived that I don’t know about. And how she came to Lumerne. And why she decided to quit being a hero candidate.”
Shau had said that Chen Xia had admired heroes since she was young.
And that if she met Leo now, her heart would waver, and she would abandon the path of a shadow to walk the path of a hero.
Conversely, Jane had said that the reason Chen Xia quit being a hero candidate was because of Leo.
“I have been serving Lady Xia for ten years now.”
Shadow candidates train from a young age to become shadows.
Jane, an orphan, had been taken in by the shadows of Shan, recognized for her aptitude, and became a shadow candidate.
“Exceptional shadow candidates can be placed under the service of the royal family. I was one of them.”
The shadow candidates who would lead the future of Shan had gathered under Chen Xia.
“Lady Xia cherished the shadow candidates who followed her.”
The training for a shadow candidate is not just harsh; it is brutal.
They are beings who live in darkness and must eliminate people, even if they are traitors.
Sometimes, that cruelty could even obliterate one’s humanity.
In the process, some were reduced to mere killing machines that only followed orders.
‘No, they probably raise some of them that way on purpose.’
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
“Everyone followed Lady Xia. That’s why we hoped she would become a hero.”
Jane squeezed her eyes shut.
“Because she was a person who suited being a hero more than a shadow. And so, last year, Lady Xia went to Lumerne.”
“Given the emperor’s personality, I doubt he would have permitted it easily.”
“Yes. His Majesty the Emperor gave Lady Xia one condition.”
“A condition?”
“If she could not become the grade representative, she was to cleanly give up the path of a hero.”
It meant that if she couldn’t become the best among the hero candidates, she had to abandon the path of a hero.
“So that’s why you said Senior Chen Xia quit being a hero candidate because of Senior Leo?”
Fritz, who had been listening to the story, furrowed his brow.
“That’s nothing but blaming someone else.”
“I know! I know that!”
Jane, flaring up, glared fiercely at Fritz.
But soon, her shoulders slumped.
“Is that the only reason she gave up on becoming a hero?”
“The day Lady Xia returned, she said it. She said she saw people who were truly suited to be heroes… that people like them were the ones who should become heroes.”
Jane hung her head low.
“She said that she, having stepped into the darkness, could no longer be a hero… those were her words.”
Hearing that, Leo let out a deep sigh.
“Do you happen to know the name Bihar?”
“No, who is that?”
“If you don’t know, then never mind.”
Shaking his head, Leo leaned back deeply into the chair.
“How can they say the same damn nonsense?”
“Pardon?”
“Just talking to myself.”
Leo closed his eyes.
***
*Whoooosh—*
A woman stood on the high walls of Gardsrone, looking down at the city.
A massive battle had recently taken place.
The people were celebrating the heroes who had returned, having seized victory in the Battle of Tarmetia.
The great heroes, led by Lisinas, and the countless brave heroes who followed them.
After their victory in the Battle of Tarmetia, they had been able to reclaim much of the territory they had lost.
“To the deeds of the great heroes! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“To the feats of the heroes who saved the world! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Waaaaaah!”
The residents of Gardsrone roared with joy.
The eyes of the people, who had lived for decades in despair and lament, were now filled with hope.
The dreary, gray sky remained unchanged.
But watching the brilliant exploits of the great heroes, the people thought:
One day, that gray sky would disappear, and they would find the blue sky they had lost.
The long, long time of despair would end, and they would surely be able to reclaim peace.
The people were able to see hope.
The sounds of excited chatter and bursts of laughter could be heard.
Humans, elves, beastkin, and dwarves alike all created a festival.
The beastkin played instruments, and the humans sang along.
The elves danced to the music, and the dwarves built a stage.
Dragons told the children stories of the heroes’ great deeds.
Everyone came together with one heart to celebrate the great victory.
Everyone smiled brightly in the radiant light.
Only the woman stood alone on the shadowed wall, separated from the light.
Watching the festival from afar, the woman smiled.
“Brooding again, I see.”
At the voice from behind, Bihar flinched with a *hic* and staggered.
She lost her balance, flailed her arms, and fell from the wall.
“S-Sir Kyle.”
Bihar, who had barely managed to grab the wall’s railing, pulled herself up.
“I almost fell!”
“You think a fall from this height would kill you?”
Kyle, with an expression that said she was pathetic, plopped down on the wall.
Bihar knelt before him on both knees.
With his arms crossed, Kyle looked at the festive scene far below and spoke.
“How long are you going to avoid showing yourself to the people?”
“I doubt I’ll ever have a reason to, for the rest of my life.”
“You’re a hero too, one who saved many people.”
“While the others fought Tartaros, I stained my hands with the blood of people. Even if they were traitors, I don’t want to stand before the people for the merit of having cut down a person.”
Bihar looked down at her hands.
“Besides, among those I executed with my own hands are some whom people still think of as heroes. There will be very many who cannot accept my existence.”
Traitors must certainly be eliminated.
But if people were to learn that there were traitors among the heroes who gave them hope…
Those who had just begun to embrace hope would surely fall into despair.
Now was a time when the people needed someone to believe in and rely on.
That was why, among the traitors executed by Kyle and Bihar, not a few were still remembered as noble heroes.
“Having stepped into the darkness, I cannot become a hero.”
“Then what am I?”
“You’re different, Sir Kyle. You are someone who can shine even in the darkness.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
As Kyle made a face of disbelief, Bihar simply smiled.
“Don’t worry too much. In a world where Erebos has been subjugated and Tartaros has disappeared… one day, I will let them know. That a person like me existed.”
“Ah, found you! So this is where you were!”
A drunken voice was heard.
Luna ran up and put Kyle in a headlock.
“You! You ran away in the middle of drinking, didn’t you? That means you admit defeat in our drinking contest, right?”
“Don’t cling to me when you talk. Your breath stinks.”
“What do you mean my breath stinks?!”
“You threw up, of course your breath stinks.”
Luna tightened her arm around Kyle’s neck and shook him violently.
In response, Kyle pinched Luna’s cheek and shook it just as hard.
Luna bit Kyle’s hand, and Leo pulled on her other cheek.
“Dweno. Kyle and Luna are fighting again!”
“Let them be. Is it the first or second time those fools have fought?”
“Bihar. Were you here all by yourself again?”
Ar-on and Dweno appeared, and Lisinas gave a wry smile, worrying about Bihar.
The elf girl who had followed them, Verchia, had her shoulders slumped.
“Why is Verchia so down again?”
“She said she lost the sword Luna gifted her in battle.”
“Ah… Erquint.”
After a brief exclamation, Bihar approached Verchia and stroked her head.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find it for you.”
“…Really?”
At the girl’s wide-eyed look, Bihar smiled faintly.
“Of course.”
“Hey. Don’t indulge her. You’ll spoil her.”
“Bleh!”
Verchia stuck her tongue out at Kyle.
“This insolent little brat…”
The once quiet top of the wall was now filled with commotion.
This place was another of the great heroes’ hideouts.
Dweno opened a cask of liquor he had brought and drank merrily with Kyle and Luna.
Ar-on played a flute, and Lisinas hummed a song.
Bihar, Verchia, and the other great heroes’ disciples beamed with wide smiles.
“…”
Leo opened his eyes.
‘In the end, Bihar never revealed her name to the world.’
She had no intention of becoming a hero.
So, he had no intention of blaming her for choosing to remain in the shadows for her entire life.
It was the path she had chosen according to her own beliefs.
But Chen Xia?
She wanted to become a hero.
“And yet she says she can’t be a hero because she stepped into the darkness? How arrogant.”
At Leo’s words, Fritz and Jane flinched.
Leo was now glaring with fearsome eyes at the Shan Imperial Palace, shrouded in darkness outside the window.
Leo stood up and walked to the window.
“Where are you going?”
Jane asked urgently.
Looking at her, Leo spoke.
“I’m going to Chen Xia.”
“What? Do you even know where she is?”
“I’ll find her if I look.”
Chen Xia, coiled in the darkness of the Shan Imperial Palace, was someone that even Jane, a shadow candidate, could not find.
No, even the most skilled shadows would have a hard time finding her.
And yet he was going to find her?
“What are you going to do when you find her?”
As Jane stood there, flustered, Leo grinned.
“What do you think? I’m going to drag her out of the darkness by force.”