Chapter 52 — The Four Heroes Return
Chapter 52 — The Four Heroes Return
Translation: Godtl
At the time when the heroes who returned to Auraria were participating in the victory ceremony.
The four young men who had come to this place to avenge Leo watched the victory ceremony from afar.
The people on the streets all wore bright expressions, but the faces of the four were dark.
Perhaps because they were all tall with good builds, some women watching the victory ceremony even turned their heads to steal glances at them.
Feeling the gazes upon them, they pulled their hoods down deeper.
Though they did not participate in the victory ceremony, they were guests who had been officially invited to the banquet at the Auraria Imperial Palace.
Since the war had ended, it would have been right to return to their respective homelands, but they were people who had no lingering attachments to their home countries anyway.
Until they safely finished the war and returned, many things had happened.
With their whole bodies battered and having crossed the brink of death, the only thing that had brought them this far was 'vengeance' alone.
"Let's head to the imperial palace for now."
At Griffith's words, the three stopped watching the victory ceremony and turned away.
Without even imagining that Leo, whom they had longed for so dearly, was passing by alive and well just ten steps away.
In Auraria Imperial City, the heroes who had defeated the Mad Dragon and returned by a long road were treated with grand hospitality.
And even greater attention was paid to the four heroes who had come to Auraria instead of returning to their home countries.
"But why have they come to Auraria?"
"The reason is unknown, but doesn't it mean that among the Five Empires, our Auraria is the finest? Perhaps they might even settle here."
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor will be pleased."
"Coincidentally, I was looking into marriage arrangements for my daughter... this works out well."
The ministers of Auraria whispered among themselves as they watched them attending the banquet.
And for good reason—those four had each achieved tremendous merit in this war.
One elderly nobleman, a minister of Auraria, observed them closely.
He was the minister who had just mentioned looking into marriage arrangements for his daughter.
He seemed to be pondering which of those four would best suit his daughter.
Moreover, he heard that one of them had been recognized by the Holy Emperor himself for possessing immense divine power and had received the Emperor's personal seal.
'So it's him.'
The elderly noble's gaze was directed at Griffith.
His cold expression was a flaw, but judging by the way the women at the banquet glanced at him, that very trait seemed to make him more attractive.
However, he was ultimately someone who would join the Temple. He didn't want to send his daughter to the Temple.
The elderly noble's gaze shifted to the side.
'The Crown Prince of Hraesvelg Empire, was it?'
It was Oscar.
The elderly noble was impressed. He was truly a handsome man, as if painted in a portrait.
A crown prince— that would be even better. His daughter could become the Empress of an empire.
Just then, the elderly noble's eyes met Oscar's.
"……!"
The elderly noble was startled and quickly averted his gaze. His eyes were so cold that it felt like making eye contact with a ghost.
'...He won't do.'
He was someone whose energy was cold enough to make one suspect he was of the demon race. One could instinctively sense that he was dangerous.
The elderly noble kept his head lowered for a while before turning his gaze again.
The next person he looked at was Kalix, renowned as a mercenary.
The elderly noble shook his head and turned away. Kalix had lost the sight in both eyes during the battle with the Mad Dragon.
Though they said he hadn't completely lost his vision yet....
'I cannot take a man with physical defects as a son-in-law.'
The elderly noble evaluated coldly and shifted his gaze.
'He would be the best choice after all.'
Romeo Roseberry.
Though he had renounced his claim to the throne, he was still undeniably of imperial blood. Moreover, his appearance was beautiful, and seeing how readily he smiled, his personality seemed good as well.
And so, after the banquet ended.
People began freely walking around with champagne, eating desserts, and engaging in conversation.
Seizing the opportunity, the elderly noble approached Romeo with a champagne glass in hand.
As he approached, Romeo greeted him first as if he had been waiting.
'Good manners too.'
The elderly noble smiled to himself and continued the conversation with him.
As they exchanged various topics, before he knew it, the subject had drifted to an odd direction.
"Lelia? Lelia... hmm...."
The elderly noble quietly pondered the name Romeo had asked about, then seemed to recall something and said, "Ah!"
"You mean that princess! The daughter of the late Princess Iris!"
At his reaction, Romeo smiled gently and drew out more information.
"Is there anything you know about her?"
"If it's that princess... she went missing a few years ago. At first, His Majesty sent soldiers to search for her but soon gave up, if I recall correctly.... Since she left the imperial palace on her own feet, he must have decided to let her live freely."
"Missing...."
"It seemed she left of her own will to avoid a political marriage. His Majesty graciously ordered the search to stop. I heard she had been living in a tower at the edge of the forest until then."
He found himself divulging everything he knew without realizing it.
Perhaps he was drunk, for strangely the words just kept flowing.
Belatedly, the elderly noble tried to steer the conversation by asking Romeo, 'By the way, do you have a fiancée....'
But when he came to his senses, the golden-haired man was nowhere to be found even after rubbing his eyes and searching.
It was as if he had been bewitched by a fox.
Late at night, at the edge of the forest in Auraria Imperial City.
The small, old tower had transformed so completely that its former appearance was unrecognizable.
In the past, it was where Lelia had stayed, but not anymore.
Currently, this place was Princess Julianna's secret hideout and a treasured space.
When she felt depressed, she would come here to enjoy some leisure or gaze at the stars in the night sky.
Before Cedric and Damian left for the subjugation force, they had completely repaired the entire building as a gift for Julianna.
Since then, it had been called the"Crystal Star Observatory."
True to its name, it was a magnificent place.
"So she lived here and then escaped, is that it?"
In front of the observatory, which appeared visibly luxurious even at a glance, four young men looked at the building with dumbfounded expressions.
Perhaps because it was late at night, all the lights in the observatory were off.
Since it was a space exclusively for Julianna, no one would visit when she wasn't there.
"Seriously, what taste."
Romeo muttered with a fed-up expression.
It was a building with such a flamboyant style that someone immediately came to mind.
"That's true enough."
What they all commonly thought of was the faces of Princes Cedric and Damian.
Cedric and Damian had joined the subjugation force late.
To put it simply, their relationship with these four people wasn't very good.
Cedric and Damian were always at the center of attention, while these four preferred to avoid attention and gather among themselves.
However, looking at the results, these four had achieved greater merits in the Mad Dragon subjugation force.
They evaluated the Cedric and Damian brothers as"guys who just run their mouths."
Moreover, those twin brothers were the sons of Emperor Perseus.
Currently, Emperor Perseus was one of the people most likely to be the mastermind behind the culprit.
It was natural that Princes Cedric and Damian didn't sit well with them.
Of course, they couldn't yet confirm that Emperor Perseus was the mastermind behind the culprit.
To find clear evidence, they first needed to find " Lelia," the most likely culprit.
"She killed Leo and lived comfortably in a place like this, then ran away... But why did she run?"
Kalix muttered as he lowered the eyepatch that had been covering his eye.
"Probably thought she could become Emperor if she killed Leo, but then Emperor Perseus suddenly appeared and panicked her. Maybe she ran away because she was afraid Emperor Perseus would discover the truth."
Griffith answered.
Romeo, who had been listening quietly, added another hypothesis.
"Maybe she tried to assassinate Cedric and Damian too, and then ran away."
Oscar also offered his opinion.
"Or conversely, Emperor Perseus might be hiding her."
The more new information they gathered, the more strangely things didn't add up.
When one question arose, another question would emerge, and then they'd return to the starting point.
But the four of them instinctively believed one fact was certain.
That a woman named " Lelia" was deeply involved in Leo's death. That she was most likely the culprit.
The biggest basis for this suspicion was Leo's last dying message.
"How do we find someone the Emperor gave up tracking?"
Kalix said in a tone suggesting Romeo should do something, looking directly at him.
"......"
At that gaze, Romeo blinked his eyes as if dumbfounded.
Romeo originally possessed magic power, but after the battle with the Mad Dragon, he had gained enormous magical power.
The fact that he had absorbed the magic power contained in the Mad Dragon's heart was a secret known only to these four.
However, since his ability wasn't yet stable, seizures accompanied by pain occurred periodically.
"Hey, even with magic power, I need something to track. There's nothing here, so what am I supposed to do?"
When Romeo retorted, Kalix turned his head to look at Griffith and said.
"...Griffith. This is a chance to prove that divine power is superior to magic power."
"It's the same. How can I track when there's nothing?"
When Griffith answered irritably, Kalix muttered, "This is why there's no need to believe in gods."
Oscar asked Romeo.
"Then what about that fountain pen? We'll have to try something with that."
"Ah, right."
A few years ago.
Romeo had learned one fact through a mage from his home country.
It was that the magic stones embedded in the fountain pens he shared with his friends could be tracked.
However, when he tried to track Leo's fountain pen using the method received from the mage of his home country, tracking was impossible.
The mage from his home country explained the reason like this:
It seems someone separated the fountain pen from the magic stone. The magical wavelength has been severed, making tracking impossible.
Hearing this reason, Romeo and his friends guessed the culprit had done that. Or perhaps someone had stolen it during the chaotic situation at the time.
Anyway, Romeo had requested the mage from his home country to continue researching other tracking methods, and good news came recently.
However, at that time, Romeo's magic power wasn't perfectly stable, so it was difficult to attempt.
"First, we'll have to try that method..."
Of course, no one knew what had happened to the fountain pen.
Leo might have disposed of it, or someone might have stolen it, or the culprit might have taken it.
But with nothing at hand right now, they had to try tracking that.
"We need to keep a close eye on the Emperor's side for the time being."
At Romeo's words, their eyes flashed sharply.
Even if the culprit was the Emperor of this empire, they were determined to complete their revenge.
A few days later.