Chapter 325
Chapter 325
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Gathering of the Heroes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
html, body { margin:0; padding:0; }
If only...
"..."
The woman lifted her gaze upward, adjusting her glasses at the same time.
Her expression, taking in the sight of the city gate at a glance, was a complex mix of emotions.
At that moment.
The woman who had gone ahead gently clasped her hand.
Her signature half-lidded eyes held a tenderness like the texture of that hand.
Shuon the Forerunner.
She said,
"Huh? Oh."
Sealed Hero Shelloa.
She nodded to her comrades watching her.
"It's nothing. Just... a lot on my mind."
Shelloa once more took in the panoramic view of the city before her eyes.
Bondales.
The city that had become the most bustling on the continent for all sorts of reasons lately.
The gate was teeming with countless visitors.
They had probably all come to the city for their own reasons.
She was no different.
Shelloa fiddled with the holy sword at her waist.
And recalled why she had come here.
The oracle.
It had said.
A true hero would be born in this city—Bondales.
"Rohra."
Shelloa softly murmured the name of her holy sword.
-...
No answer came.
Shelloa had already expected as much.
Since the oracle, the holy sword had fallen into an inexplicable slumber for some reason.
"..."
Soon enough.
Shelloa nodded resolutely.
The Sealed Hero had entered Bondales.
With that, all the heroes were gathered in one place.
Gus's mansion.
The place had now become a proper hub of gatherings in Bondales, with people coming and going day and night without end.
Thanks to that, perhaps.
Gus, the mansion's owner, had become a man who could calmly receive even the most exceptional guests.
Some merchants even whispered that he had become something more than a mere merchant.
"My god..."
Such a Gus let out an involuntary sigh.
The group of visitors he was receiving this time was exceptionally special, even among all his previous guests.
Gus's gaze first turned to a familiar face.
A picture-perfect ideal pretty boy.
Ideal Hero Jane.
The man whose very ordinariness was striking.
Insight Hero Felix.
Having stayed long enough to be considered full-fledged citizens of Bondales, these two heroes shared the same master and were bound by ties to Rishir, so it wasn't odd for them to be together.
However—
Gus's gaze shifted to the others one by one.
The bespectacled, prim-looking woman.
Sealed Hero Shelloa.
The man with clear eyes that somehow felt unsettling.
Indomitable Hero Kuzan.
And finally—
The woman with a cynical air.
Blessed Hero Roera.
"All the heroes in one place..."
At Gus's dazed mutter, Jane replied with a bright smile.
"Pardon?"
Felix spoke with a somewhat awkward expression.
Gus immediately offered the heroes one of the largest rooms in the main building.
Thus, a grand scene unfolded.
A large rectangular table at the center of the room.
The heroes sat around it, eyeing each other warily.
As fellow heroes, they knew each other's purposes without words and understood their standings.
Drawn inexorably by the aura of the holy swords, they had converged here at Gus's mansion as if by fate.
In other words.
They were essentially strangers who had bumped into each other on the street.
An awkward atmosphere befitting that lasted briefly.
Ideal Hero Jane broached the subject gently.
His refined voice and smile worked like magic, dissolving the awkward tension in the room.
The Insight Hero nodded calmly.
The Blessed Hero tilted her chin.
The Sealed Hero primly adjusted her glasses.
And—
Indomitable Hero Kuzan.
He jumped straight into the main topic, seizing control of the conversation.
Gazes not entirely amiable focused on Kuzan.
He continued with clear eyes, as if that were a cue to listen.
Sealed Hero Shelloa scanned the other heroes before speaking.
When the Indomitable Hero stared with clear eyes, the Sealed Hero met them without flinching.
"Hahaha, you've been emphasizing 'productive talk' this whole time—what exactly is 'productive talk' anyway?"
The Indomitable Hero rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin.
It wasn't a question awaiting an answer. The Indomitable Hero pressed on.
The true hero is me. His declarative words rippled across the other heroes' faces, big and small.
Ideal Hero Jane tried to ease the tense atmosphere.
The Indomitable Hero extended a hand toward him across the table.
"..." His ideal smile stiffened for a moment.
Satisfied with Ideal's response, the Indomitable Hero smiled and placed his holy swords on the table. One. And another.
The Indomitable Hero looked at his hand and clenched it with all his might.
Not just Ideal and Insight—even Sealed and Blessed couldn't refute the Indomitable Hero's words. Their lives had changed completely upon being chosen by the holy swords. Clearer, more special. They felt unparalleled pride in being heroes.
All eyes turned to the Sealed Hero. Her quiet mutter pierced the anxiety everyone felt. As she said. The heroes hadn't gathered in Bondales just to claim the title of "true hero." If a true hero appeared. What would happen to the other heroes? That was it—the anxiety, not ambition, driving the heroes now.
Then, the Indomitable Hero spoke up.
Lindal. The name from the Insight Hero's lips.
By now, everyone knew. What the conversation was driving at. One by one, the heroes placed their holy swords on the table.
Meaningful glances passed between them.
"The opposite?" Snap. The Indomitable Hero, watching their exchange, perked up and snapped his fingers.
The Indomitable Hero scooped up his holy swords from the table in one hand.
The heroes' gazes turned to each other's holy swords. Soon, those gazes converged on one spot. The Indomitable Hero's place—the only one with two holy swords.
The Sealed Hero quoted the Indomitable Hero's earlier words.
The Indomitable Hero held up his two holy swords demonstratively.
The Blessed Hero spoke for the first time. Arms crossed, leaning back fully in her chair in a cocky posture. She looked down at the Indomitable Hero like he was pathetic. "..." A ripple appeared for the first time in the Indomitable Hero's ever-clear eyes. But he quickly regained his composure. Indomitable and Blessed glared at each other without yielding an inch.
As the atmosphere sharpened without limit, Ideal quickly intervened.
The pessimistic tone came from the Sealed Hero. Ideal replied without losing his smile.
Insight sighed, looking at his friend. His proposal was undoubtedly ideal. However—
"..." Ideal couldn't answer. Even he, who suggested it, couldn't fathom voting for anyone else.
The Sealed Hero, looking not at the two but at the Indomitable Hero, spoke.
The Indomitable Hero said with a confident smile.
"..." But the Blessed Hero's loaded words deflated his momentum again. Amid that. Ideal spoke up once more.
Before anyone could object, Ideal raised a finger and continued.
At first, they were lukewarm.
But soon, they engaged in the discussion earnestly.
What would you do first if you got another holy sword?
The question probed their beliefs and ideals as heroes.
In that sense—
They were truly heroes.
Each hero's answer held different ideals, but all aimed toward the greater good.
The heroes answering so earnestly—
Soon reverted to their bored postures.
At some point, they realized. All this talk was pointless. And for good reason. No matter how upright and admirable one hero's ideals, it wasn't enough to sway the others. Especially if the criterion was "holy sword transfer." I have no intention, so hand over your swords. No. I have no intention, so hand over yours. One-sided exchanges like that dragged on.
The last hero arrived then. Rapid Advance Hero, Rishir. The moment he entered, the frozen atmosphere stirred. The heroes could clearly sense it. The way the other heroes looked at him was markedly different from how they had looked at each other before. The one feeling the greatest impatience from that was the Indomitable Hero. 'No matter... I'm the one chosen by the most holy swords—' He feigned calm.
The Indomitable Hero posed the same question to Rishir. To firmly imprint on him and the others. No matter how special, as a hero he only had one sword—an ordinary hero.
Unlike the other heroes' dreamy responses. Rapid Advance imagined himself with multiple holy swords like a nightmare. "Ah!" At that moment. As if struck by a sudden thought, his expression changed. From his lips came an utterly unfamiliar action. Something some called the "holy-demon sword show."
A bizarre scene was forcibly injected into the heroes' minds. Three holy swords. Three demon swords. All wielded simultaneously by one man. An utterly grotesque sight. Which made it all the more stimulating. "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." Thump! For the first time, the heroes' ears perked up. Unlike the other heroes' boring, highbrow ideals— Rapid Advance's "promise" instantly etched itself into their brains.