Underestimated Rage
I realized I had underestimated their rage and capacity for retaliation. I had only pretended to understand how she was treated inside the palace. In truth, I knew nothing at all.
“Ow, ow…”
“...It’s really swollen. What about your jaw? The bone doesn’t hurt, does it?”
Inside the room filled with the sound of rain, Hwian examined Serena’s cheek with serious eyes.
The skin had flushed bright red, evidence of a fairly hard slap. When he saw her squinting in pain, fury roared to life inside his head.
“Who did this?”
“...”
No answer came. She only averted her gaze with guilty eyes.
With a helpless sigh, Hwian placed his palm against her cheek.
He focused for a moment, and blue mana rose like smoke.
“H-healing magic…? Hero, when did you learn…?”
“This much isn’t difficult. You don’t have to speak, so just stay still for a second.”
The blue mana that had risen in wisps sank into Serena’s cheek.
It was one of the spells he had picked up during his wanderings across the continent before his regression. He had never been talented with magic, but healing magic was something he had learned out of pure necessity to survive.
“...I could have done it myself.”
Serena murmured suddenly, but he ignored her.
Healing was always more effective when someone else did it rather than treating yourself. Magic was no different.
It was far better to let someone else handle it, however clumsily, than to fumble around without a mirror.
“...All done. Move your jaw.”
“Ah, mm. Aah.”
A few minutes later, Hwian withdrew his mana after finishing the treatment.
Serena gently touched her now-restored cheek. The cautious way her fingers moved made Hwian press a hand to his forehead.
This much is familiar… That’s what she said.
Recalling her words, he swallowed a complicated feeling.
He had known she was probably receiving poor treatment. But he had never imagined anyone would harm her so openly.
...No. Hwian shook his head at his own thoughts.
Come to think of it, there was almost nothing else he truly knew about her.
He knew her mother was a commoner, but not the details behind it. He knew the royal family and nobles disliked her, but not how much. He knew there were scars on her body, but he had never bothered to ask what they looked like.
What rose inside him was self-loathing.
While she had treated him with unwavering kindness, what had he given her in return?
“...Sorry. It must have hurt.”
“Y-yes?! No! Not at all. I’m perfectly fine, really.”
When he apologized, Serena startled and quickly spoke. The way her voice came out sounding like she was the one who should be sorry made him clench his teeth.
Who had done this? Why did this small girl have to endure such pain?
“...It’s okay. It can’t be helped.”
Before him, where his hands were trembling with anger, she spoke again. A bitter smile lingered on her face.
“My older brother… must have been in a bad mood. It happens often. It wasn’t even that hard of a hit.”
“...”
“Um, it’s not something the Hero needs to worry about! You’re busy preparing for the journey. You don’t have to pay any attention to me.”
“...”
“It’s true. This much is completely fine. Because I—”
The words flowed out as if she were gasping for air. Countless excuses meant to reassure Hwian.
And at the end of them—
“...is it because I’m a commoner?”
“Eep.”
Hwian stole the next words from her lips.
“Because I’m half commoner? Because I’m the child of a merchant? Because I’m the daughter of a concubine? Because I can’t inherit the Adonia name?”
Anger edged every word he spat out. Before Serena, who had lowered her gaze, he continued in a suppressed voice.
“...What does any of that matter?”
He hated authoritarianism. He hated the arrogant nobles and royals who tormented the weak.
After all, before his regression, he himself had been the one exploited by those in power.
Those who casually deceived others, shook their hearts, and gifted them pain. He had always hated them, but now the hatred was driving him mad.
“...It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Ah, ugh…”
“You’re not fine. Why are you the one apologizing?”
Hwian reached out and gently stroked Serena’s cheek.
The way she flinched at the pain overlapped with his past self.
Healing magic could erase wounds, but it couldn’t remove the lingering ache inside. Even after the injury vanished, the pain remained for a while. It was even worse when you treated yourself.
Letting out a deep breath, he rose from his seat.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“H-Hero… …kya?!”
“So don’t apologize. Don’t say you’re sorry. Just… rest for a bit.”
Lifting Serena with both hands since she showed no sign of revealing who had done it, he laid her carefully on the bed and pulled the blanket over her.
“Sleep for a little while. I’ll be back soon.”
Gentleness underlay his low voice. It was a trace of kindness he himself hadn’t even noticed.
He hated the current situation.
Summoned hero or not… he hated seeing the girl who had shown him goodwill suffering helplessly.
“I’ll be back.”
“...”
Serena looked up at Hwian as he stroked her, clutching the edge of the blanket tightly.
It really wasn’t a big deal. It was something she had experienced many times before, a familiar occurrence…
Then why did it feel like tears were about to fall?
“...Thank you.”
He nodded at her voice coming from behind him.
Grabbing his coat, he stepped out the door. It was time to run wild.
“Captain, a messenger hawk has arrived.”
“Hm? At this hour…?”
Meanwhile, in the plains far from the royal capital. The Royal Guard, currently reorganizing at their base.
They had been exhausted from the subjugation mission that had continued for days. At his subordinate’s sudden report, Serion tilted his head.
A messenger hawk? When night was almost here?
He lightly scanned the letter handed to him. Then, reading the contents, he burst out laughing.
“Haha. Really, that guy. What a strange fellow.”
“What does it say, sir?”
“That’s a secret. Instead, write exactly what I say and send a reply. ‘I’ll gather evidence like a mountain and return immediately, so don’t worry and go wild.’”
The person who had sent the messenger hawk was Hwian.
Serion moved with an amused expression after reading the letter demanding the ‘source’ of the suspicious funds held by the bandit group—wherever he had stolen that information from.
He knew who I was from the first time we met, and he’s strangely well-informed about the affairs of our world…
His information network was outstanding. Not everything about him was likable, but it was fortunate that the one staying by his little sister’s side was that guy.
“And tell the members we’re moving up the return time. We depart the moment the sun rises tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
His subordinate ran off with a loud reply. Turning his gaze away, Serion quietly looked up at the sky where rain poured down in sheets.
For some reason, it felt like tomorrow would be clear.
At that same moment, in the royal capital. On the street of nobles where rain poured down.
“Khaa~! Excellent! Eat as much as you want, lads. On a day like this, you’ve got to eat and rest your fill so you can use your strength again, right!”
Inside a luxurious room that contrasted sharply with the gloomy atmosphere outside the window, several burly men were noisily enjoying alcohol and meat.
The man sitting at the head was Sikal Front.
Using the excuse of ‘record-breaking torrential rain that makes it impossible to go outside,’ he had absurdly ordered half the Royal Guard to standby at their homes.
“Krru… As expected, alcohol tastes best on days like this. It’s delicious!”
“It really is, Captain. How long has it been since we last drank like this?”
“Well, about six days?”
Loud laughter erupted among them.
As children of high-ranking nobles, they had no worries about their reputation. While the Royal Guard’s duty was to protect the king, they had left behind the adjutant and others they usually disliked, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.
Even if something did happen, one word from his father would resolve everything, so there was no need to worry.
While they were enjoying their drinks with such thoughts—
“Huh…?”
“What the, who at this hour—”
An unwelcome guest arrived.
With a thunderous bang—!!, the thick door shattered and flew through the air. Before the Royal Guards who scattered in panic, the man who had broken in spoke with perfect composure.
“Enjoying your holiday, Royal Guard gentlemen…? …Ugh, the smell of alcohol.”
At that voice, Sikal’s pupils shook with confusion and terror.
The uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared in the kingdom a few days ago. The merciless, cold-blooded man who had brutally crushed him and his subordinates.
“You can stay comfortable. I have a little business in this house’s… basement.”
Hwian stood there, carrying cold fury in his eyes.
Looking around at the Royal Guards who seemed to have lost their will to fight in an instant, Hwian let out a short snort. He removed his hood and gazed deeper into the mansion.
Sikal was certainly an annoyance, but the reason he had come here wasn’t because of him.
The Front family basement. That was where the ledger containing Princess Elisie’s secrets was kept.