The Third Hero (3)
Hmm... Maybe I really should pick up some lamb on the way.
I finished my meal and stood up from the table. Before leaving, I bought a little meat and liquor from the shop. From here on out, I meant to look up an old connection of mine. You couldn't very well show up empty-handed after so long. A gift was only proper.
Along with the liquor and meat, I packed a few other things to offer, then set off toward my destination.
This is the place.
I left the Artes Kingdom behind and pushed into the neighboring woods. The forests of Artes were alive with every kind of plant and animal—but that wasn't where I was headed. I kept walking deeper, and little by little the land around me began to die. What had once been a forest was so thoroughly steeped in demonic energy that the plants had withered to nothing and the animals had long since fled. This was the place I had come to find.
I set out the food I had brought, piece by piece. The surroundings looked empty. In truth, they were. And yet the ones I had come for were here all the same.
"May you rest in peace."
This was why I had come to the Artes Kingdom at all—to honor the dead. How exactly one was supposed to do that, I wasn't sure, so I improvised from experience: I clasped my hands and bowed my head. Back in Korea there had been a custom called charye, ancestral rites. I more or less followed that. Of course those were meant for one's own ancestors, but I doubted it mattered much. When you were mourning the dead, the method wasn't the point. The heart was.
Hah... Half a year already?
This was where I had once fought the Four Heavenly Kings. Looking back on it now, the Demon King had been no fool. Who else would have thought to send all four of them at once? They had come for me together, right here, and ganged up on me. Even now the memory made my stomach drop. My party members had been useless. It might well have been the closest I ever came to dying.
Still, I hadn't been entirely alone. Imperial soldiers who followed me had thrown themselves into the fight. There had been countless sacrifices, but somehow we held the line.
Well... good thing I was strong enough to pull it off.
That, by the way, was why I considered myself strong. No Hero could take down all four Heavenly Kings at once. People ranked them below the Demon King, and that wasn't wrong—but when the four of them joined forces, the story changed. A group like that was stronger than most Demon Kings. I had dropped all four of them in a single battle, so I figured I was a cut above any other Hero or Demon King by default. That was why I had kept dragging those useless party members around. I could handle the Demon King alone anyway.
Who could have guessed the Demon King would turn out to be as strong as I was...
Well. Doesn't matter that I'm not a Hero anymore.
Back then I had been so buried in Hero business that I never managed to build them graves or even offer a proper prayer. But I never forgot. I told myself that once I killed the Demon King, I would come back and pay my respects. Of course I never did kill the Demon King, and I wasn't a Hero anymore, so there was no reason left to fight her. I had hesitated about coming here at all. In the end I figured I might as well stop by, since Ria had already brought me to the Artes Kingdom.
I probably won't be able to keep that other promise, though...
I had once sworn to these people that I would protect the Empire. That one, unfortunately, looked like a bust. Who could have predicted the Empire would throw me away? No matter what I had promised, once they decided they didn't need me and kicked me to the curb, I had no obligation to keep shielding them. I hoped the dead would understand. I was only human.
"Time to wrap this up."
I poured liquor onto the ground and prepared to finish. I had said my prayers. There was nothing left to do here. Time to head back to the village. My real work was farming now; my profession was farmer. Do a little work in the village and live easy. That was my job.
I was thinking that as I turned to leave—
"You there. How long were you planning to hide?"
Somewhere in the distance, a pair of eyes was watching me. I had noticed them the moment I arrived. A former Hero wasn't about to miss something as crude as a tail. I told whoever was lurking to come out. They would. And if they didn't, I would make them.
"..."
Footsteps. A moment later, the hidden figure stepped into view.
"Sir Alex—what did you just say...?"
Alex's remark had been nothing short of shocking. Interested in bringing down the Empire? That was open talk of treason. The party members could not hide their dismay. From the very first meeting, he was already floating a coup? Was this Hero out of his mind?
"Y-you can't say things like that."
Of course no one could agree to it. This was deadly serious. They were a Hero's party, and as such they belonged to the Empire. Nafira the beastman and Karne the elf were not Imperial subjects, strictly speaking—but they were still members of the Hero's party, and they followed Imperial orders. Treason was not something they could endorse. Each of them went pale and tried to talk Alex down, ready to tell him that sort of thing was out of the question.
"Hahaha. Can't a man make a joke? It was a joke."
Alex laughed at their reactions as if he couldn't believe they were taking it so seriously. He wore the air of a man who had said nothing of consequence—just tossed something out for fun.
"The mood was getting a little heavy, so I thought I'd lighten things up. Looking at me like that makes me the villain here, doesn't it?"
He insisted he had only meant a bit of humor, and asked them not to take it so earnestly.
Huh...? It was a joke?
The party members went blank for a second. Ah. A joke. The words had been so alarming that none of them had been thinking straight—but hearing him say it now cleared their heads a little. Right. What Hero would suddenly start plotting a coup? Common sense said it was impossible. Alex had just been talking, and they had overreacted. They scolded themselves for being so jumpy over a simple joke.
"Right? It was a joke, wasn't it? Haha..."
Only then could they relax. They answered him with forced laughter. Another joke like that and their nerves would be shot for good—but at least it really had been a joke. They hoped he would never do it again.
"But... if something like that ever did happen, would you all follow me?"
Wait—he was doing it again?
Alex put the question to them once more, still smiling, but his tone had grown a shade more serious than before.
"Uh... um..."
The same question threw them into the same panic—only worse this time. They had written it off as a joke once. By now, though, even they could tell. This was no joke. Their faces grew graver by the second. What were they supposed to say? One wrong word and they could be ruined. Admit they would follow Alex, and they might be branded traitors alongside him. In the Empire, a charge of treason meant the extermination of three generations. You did not speak of such things lightly.
If anyone else had said this to them, they would have told that person never to dream of it. But the speaker was the Hero—the man who held their careers in his hands. Refuse him and side with the Empire, and he might cast them aside. Fall out of favor with the Hero, and expulsion from the party was inevitable. And if they were thrown out of the Hero's party? None of them would get what they had come for. Every one of them had joined with a purpose they could not afford to abandon.
So they said nothing. Follow Alex? Or swear they would never betray the Empire? It was not a question anyone could answer carelessly. Silence held. No one stepped forward. They watched one another, stalling, hoping someone else would speak first.
"I'm only asking out of curiosity. Don't overthink it. Haha."
But Alex kept at it, still smiling, still telling them to answer without pressure.
"..."
The party members held their silence again. There simply was nothing safe to say.
"You won't answer me? I told you not to overthink it. Just speak freely."
"..."
In the end, it seemed there would be no escaping an answer. Alex pressed them once more.