The Third Hero (6)
"You tracked me all the way here by scent?"
"Mm..."
Seriously—how did it even occur to her to chase me this far by smell alone?
Dog beastkin were known for having a sharper sense of smell than other beastkin, sure. But even that only went so far.
This girl had to be something special. It wasn't just her sixth sense; her physical gifts looked exceptional across the board. Under ordinary circumstances, even a dog beastkin couldn't have followed a trail over a distance like this.
Talented. In more ways than one.
Ugh... What the hell am I supposed to do about this?
Talent or not, right now she was a pain. An absolute, unrelenting pain.
Of all the beastkin in the world, why did this one have to latch onto me?
She kept holding out her hands and begging for food, and even if I ran, she'd just track me down again. She looked ready to follow me to the ends of the earth.
At this point I was starting to wonder if she was less a dog beastkin and more a leech beastkin.
I can't exactly just beat her off me, either...
Not that I didn't know how to shake her. A few solid hits and she'd stop following. I knew that perfectly well.
But I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I wasn't a Hero anymore—not right now—but until very recently, I had been one. For a full year I had lived and fought more like a Hero than anyone. I couldn't just turn around and start thrashing people.
Ah... with the exception of the Empire and the Hero's party, of course. For those people, I was fully prepared to show not a shred of mercy.
But fundamentally, I was a decent person. Even during my time as a Hero, I had avoided hitting humans whenever I could. Sure, some people genuinely needed a beating, and for them I'd used violence without hesitation—but I had my principles.
There are no bad dogs in this world...
Which was exactly why I couldn't hit a beastkin.
People could evaluate beastkin however they liked; personally, I thought of them as animals that happened to talk. Aside from looking vaguely human, they weren't all that different from beasts. Stupid. Driven by instinct. That was the defining trait of their kind.
Just look at this girl. Beyond the ability to form words, it was hard to credit her with anything resembling human intelligence.
The only real exception was that animal—sorry, beastkin—from the Hero's party. Nafira was on the smarter side. The rest of them weren't.
And that was the problem.
Hitting a beastkin like this would be no different from animal abuse. How was I supposed to beat an animal that was only following its instincts?
I wasn't that kind of monster. Back on Earth, I'd been an excellent pet owner. There was no way I could raise a hand against a beastkin who was basically just an animal.
Sebastian... I wonder how you're doing.
Thinking of my cat back on Earth nearly brought tears to my eyes—but first I had to get this dog beastkin off me.
What was I supposed to do? Wasn't there some good option here?
While I stood there turning it over, the perfect solution hit me.
Ignore her.
That was it. Just stop paying attention. Running away was pointless—she'd just sniff me out again. Beating her was off the table on principle. So why not simply wait until she got bored and left on her own?
It didn't violate my principles, and it would naturally peel the beastkin off me. A flawless plan.
"Food. Please."
"..."
"...?"
I ignored the beastkin staring up at me and repeating the same demand. The dog beastkin girl tilted her head at my silence, but it made no difference.
I'd wait her out.
"A parade?"
"Yes."
"Why would we...?"
"Because making ourselves known matters. Think of it as an early celebration."
Maybe they were still numb from the shock of hearing him talk about staging a coup earlier. Either way, the party members found themselves strangely unsurprised. Everything this Hero did was so bizarre that nothing really registered anymore.
That said, holding a parade was hardly normal either. They hadn't even defeated the Demon King yet, and he wanted a parade? What kind of nonsense was that?
Common sense said you held the parade after you took down the Demon King. So, wearing expressions of pure disbelief, they offered a mild protest.
"...Wouldn't it be better to do this after we've slain the Demon King?"
"We'll just do it twice. Once before we leave, and once when we get back."
Their objections were dismissed without a second thought. Alex didn't so much as pretend to listen. He was already deep into parade preparations, dead set on holding one before he set out as the Hero to face the Demon King.
The party members could only sigh. Honestly, they had a pretty good idea what he was after.
He's trying to boost the Hero's popularity...
If Alex truly intended to rebel, this parade was critical. Think about it—even a Hero's odds of pulling off a successful coup were abysmal. The Empire had been ruled by the imperial family without interruption for generations. Even if he somehow seized power, there was no guarantee the common people—let alone the bureaucrats—would follow him.
So of course he was staging a parade. It was a chance to put his face in front of as many people as possible.
Most citizens didn't know who the Hero was, or what he looked like. But the title itself commanded respect. The Hero was strong—a shield that protected them. Popularity for the role ran high across the Empire, and Alex meant to exploit that. When the time came to rebel, public sentiment would matter enormously. A parade would make him known, leave a favorable impression, and nudge his odds of success even a little higher. He was doing everything he could to stack the deck.
And he's planning to use us, too.
While he was at it, showing off the faces of the Hero's party members would be the perfect finishing touch. People tended to dismiss the party as mere hangers-on trailing in the Hero's shadow—but they were popular in their own right. Beautiful faces paired with rare and prestigious positions: a Saintess, a prodigy of the Mage Tower, a hero of the beastkin tribes, the daughter of an elven chieftain. Putting those faces on display would only drive his approval higher. During the parade, he clearly meant to make it obvious that the party stood with him.
He looks clueless, but he's moving with a fair amount of calculation...
At first, the mere mention of rebellion had made him seem like an idiot. That wasn't quite right. You couldn't call him brilliant, but he wasn't operating without a plan. He had one—and the parade was almost certainly only the beginning. There would be other schemes lined up to inflate his support.
At this rate, a rebellion in the Empire might actually happen. This wasn't something you could brush off lightly. Just thinking about it made their heads start to ache. Frankly, they wanted to run right now. If they got tangled up with this man and were caught on charges of treason...
There was no worse end imaginable.
"All right. Everyone change into something splendid and climb aboard the carriage."
"Yes..."
But they had no right of refusal. They had already agreed to follow Alex. For now, they had no choice but to obey.
The party members took the parade outfits he'd given them, filed into the changing rooms, stripped off their usual gear, and put the clothes on. True to their purpose, the garments were far more ornate—and a touch more revealing—than anything they normally wore. Complaining wasn't an option.
"They suit you beautifully. Let's move out."
Once everyone had changed, the parade began.
"Ooooh!!!"
"That must be the newly chosen Hero!"
"And those people beside him—are they the Hero's party?"
Just as expected, the moment the parade started, the crowds poured in. Lively music, dancing, and the Hero's party marching in formation—people watched with wide, fascinated eyes and cheered them on. When the crowd waved at Alex, he waved back.
"Nnh..."
The party members did the same, returning the waves of the people reaching out to them. Of course the Hero's party was popular. Their looks alone ranked among the finest in the Empire.
Being good at parading, however, was another matter entirely. Karne, the elf among them, in particular looked like she was suffering through every second of it.
Hang in there, Karne. Just endure it for now... Once the Demon King is down, we run. Immediately.
Still, Karne bit back every complaint and said nothing. Whether she planned to turn on him during the rebellion or simply flee, right now she had to endure. Because the Demon King still had to fall. This Hero was going to defeat the Demon King. So she would endure.
Wait...?
But... what was this? Why did something feel off?
Ayla had the distinct sense that she was missing something. What was she overlooking? She thought it through—and then she understood the source of that unease.
Can this man actually defeat the Demon King?
When, exactly, had she started assuming that he could?
In all the chaos until now, she had never once questioned it. Only now did the doubt begin to surface.