The Second Hero (12)
So we're finally arriving at the Artes Kingdom?
The road to the Artes Kingdom had been crushingly dull. There were no cities along the way, nothing but an endless stretch of mountains and open fields. The only thing keeping the boredom at bay was chatting with Ria beside me, killing time however we could while I waited for the kingdom to finally come into view.
And at the end of all that waiting, the Artes Kingdom at last began to appear. As if to prove that this was royal land from here on, a massive gate hung with the kingdom's banners came into sight. Cross that threshold, and we would finally be inside the Artes Kingdom.
I turned to Ria beside me and told her we had reached our destination.
"Ria. That's the Artes Kingdom."
"So it is. We've finally arrived."
She didn't look particularly happy about it, though.
Something I'd noticed over the course of the journey: Ria hadn't exactly been enjoying this trip. At first she'd peppered me with questions, sounding almost excited, but even that faded the closer we got to the Artes Kingdom. She grew quieter, more unsettled, as if something were weighing on her.
Hmm... is something going on?
She'd been so eager to get to the Artes Kingdom, and now that we were actually here, was she afraid? I didn't really know, and I wasn't planning to dig into it. It wasn't my business anymore.
Guess this is where Ria and I part ways.
It had been a short acquaintance, but from here on we would go our separate ways. I'd gotten her to the Artes Kingdom safely; now I'd handle my own affairs and head back to the village. Ria would clearly be staying here.
When the moment actually came, I might feel a little wistful. After sticking together these past few days, I couldn't pretend I hadn't grown somewhat fond of her. But that was life. Everyone found their own path. Where there was meeting, there was parting — and I didn't think that bit of wistfulness was such a bad thing.
Still, I should at least buy her a meal before we say goodbye.
I wasn't going to just dump her and leave. We'd come all this way; the least I could do was feed her first. Even if the Artes Kingdom was in the middle of a civil war, there had to be at least one restaurant still open. I'd fill her up properly, then we'd part ways.
And if I was going to treat her, it ought to be something good, right? I was turning over what to order when it happened.
KWA-BOOM!!!
"What the—?"
A massive explosion erupted in the road directly ahead of the carriage. The stinging reek of gunpowder hit my nose a second later. There was no one else around. This was unmistakably an attack aimed at us.
So who was attacking us?
"You there. Stop."
After a brief wait, a group in black clothing stepped into view — a pack of men who looked, at a glance, like ordinary bandits. They leveled their weapons at our carriage.
"No mistake?"
"No, sir. That's them."
They gave the carriage a once-over, then exchanged a few words among themselves.
"Haa..."
At the sight of them, Ria ducked her head as low as she could, trying not to show her face — trying to make herself as small and invisible as possible. It didn't work. The bandits in front of us confirmed it was her and immediately raised their weapons.
"We've confirmed the target. Kill them and report back."
Kill us. That was the plan. They raised their weapons and began closing in, surrounding us with deliberate, unhurried steps.
"Sorry. Just bad luck on your part."
Of course, their plan never stood a chance. I might have been a simple farmer these days, but I used to be a Hero. Of all the people to try robbing, they picked a former Hero — what kind of cosmic crime did these guys commit in a past life?
"Guh—!"
The situation was cleaned up in moments. I didn't even need to draw a weapon or take them seriously. The gap between a former Hero and a pack of common thugs was less sky-and-earth and more sky-and-the-bottom-of-the-ocean. I simply slipped past whatever they swung at me and dropped a chop across each throat.
It barely qualified as a fight. One, two, three, four — I knocked them out one after another, and just like that, it was over.
"Wow... Hero Oppa, you really are incredibly strong. Thank goodness."
Only once it was finished did Ria lift her head again, looking relieved. On the surface, her praise seemed ordinary enough — but something about her looked like she was trembling.
I had a faint sense that something was off about her reaction.
But these guys are weird, too.
More than Ria's behavior, though, what held my attention was the identity of the people who'd just ambushed us. At first I'd written them off as ordinary bandits, but there were too many things that didn't fit.
Bluntly put, nothing about what they'd done was bandit behavior.
They weren't here to rob us. They were here to kill us.
Money hadn't been the goal. They had moved with the clear intent of ending my life and Ria's. Why? That much I didn't know yet — but it was certain these weren't ordinary bandits.
Let's see here...
I started going through the unconscious men's belongings, hoping something useful would turn up. I was digging through their gear with that half-hearted wish when—
"This is...?"
I hadn't expected to find something like this.
A document stamped with the official seal of the Artes Kingdom.
Herald found the present situation thoroughly awkward. Not only was the Demon King preparing some kind of banquet, she kept making remarks toward him — the current Hero — that made no sense whatsoever. Her attitude left him briefly dazed, but he quickly pulled himself together.
Some scheme of the Demon King's...
This had to be another of her tricks. A strategy meant to sap his will before the fight even began. There was nothing to gain by falling for it. Decades as a Knight Commander had given him experience enough that such tactics were useless against him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. The man standing before you is the Hero — Herald."
He drew his sword and leveled it at the Demon King, his posture making it plain that none of her schemes would work on him. The Hero was no one else. It was him.
"..."
At that, the Demon King fell silent for a moment, simply staring at him without a word.
"Art thou truly the Hero?"
"I am."
Then she began asking, one by one, the things she wanted to know.
"Hrm... Then allow Us to ask but one thing. What became of the Hero who came before?"
"That man was stripped of the title. Because he failed to defeat the Demon King."
The previous Hero — she meant Lee Hansu, no doubt. Why was she asking about him? Herald didn't know, but he saw no reason to hide it. He told the Demon King exactly what had become of Lee Hansu.
"..."
When Herald finished, the Demon King lapsed into silence once more.
"This is so absurd We scarcely know what to say."
Then her face twisted into an expression of pure exasperation, as if she could not believe what she was hearing.
"I would prefer you not judge me by appearances alone. I am far stronger than I look."
That attitude was starting to get under Herald's skin. Hadn't the Demon King been dismissing him this entire time? She kept searching only for Lee Hansu, ignoring the man standing right in front of her.
Herald was a Hero too. He might look old, might not seem particularly formidable — but he was not someone to be ignored. To drive that point home, he charged.
"Hrm."
Even against the sudden attack, the Demon King simply raised one arm and blocked it with casual ease. Her expression remained utterly composed. But how long would that composure last?
"Haaah!!!!"
Herald pressed the assault hard. Each individual strike lacked overwhelming force, but his swordsmanship was a continuous chain. The relentless succession of blows, forged through long years of experience, was the attack he trusted most. Even young knights struggled to weather a barrage like this from him.
Good — I've got her on the back foot...
He couldn't give her an opening. Finish this fast, before the Demon King could do anything. Holding to that thought, Herald did not stop. Blow after blow, he was clearly driving her back.
Just a little more...
Just a little further, and he could bring the Demon King down. Burning with that conviction, he poured everything he had into the fight.
"Hah... hah... Why won't she fall?"
But thirty minutes passed, then an hour, and the Demon King still had not gone down. She wasn't even tired. How could she still look completely unfazed?
Herald's expression steadily darkened.
"Thou art a Hero as well, and this is the best thou canst offer? Tch... We held no great expectations, yet this is quite the disappointment."
The Demon King sighed as she spoke.
"What...?"
Only then did it hit him. Up to this moment, the Demon King had merely been playing with him.
"We shall take this seriously now."
From here on, that was no longer the case. Looking thoroughly annoyed, the Demon King started walking toward him. The aura that had already been bone-chilling swelled far stronger still.