Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Scar-11
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"No time."
Celia kept glancing back at the village as if she were reluctant, but she understood the Hero's decision.
Pashier and Nerwen had already finished preparing to leave, as if it wasn't even worth the effort.
"...No."
The only one who couldn't accept it was the nameless porter.
"There's no reason to waste time here. You know that."
Elenor tried to persuade him as calmly as possible.
"You saw them. That horde of monsters... We could take them down in a few hours. Even just for combat experience..."
"Are you worried about our 'combat experience'?"
At Nerwen's cold words, he shut his mouth. No matter how easy the enemies were, he wasn't the one fighting them.
"Magic always comes with a price. We should avoid battles we can dodge."
The porter had no rebuttal to Pashier's words either. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't gather magic reagents from somewhere.
"But if we leave like this, those people..."
They were in the path of the monster advance. They had started preparing to evacuate, but the village was so deep in the mountains that proper news hadn't reached them.
"As Pashier said, the fight is unnecessary. Time is limited, and we can't chase down the enemy first to intercept them. Inevitably, it would take more than a day."
"That's not..."
"No."
The rational judgment was clearly on Elenor's side, to anyone watching.
If they failed to reach the Hero's secret base on time, the Demon King's surveillance would intensify, potentially wasting months more before they could defeat him.
And during that time, countless soldiers on the front lines would die.
It was the tantrum of a child who couldn't do the math. The foolish judgment of someone who only saw what was right in front of them and ignored what lay ahead.
But to him, it was unacceptable.
These were the villagers who had laughed and chatted with him just yesterday, providing him a place to sleep. He had heard that they could survive with just a brief moment of time and a bit of fighting.
"Still, I'll do my best..."
He hadn't learned how to weigh human lives on a scale.
"The journey so far hasn't been easy for you either. If we push the pace any harder, even you won't hold up."
But his eyes burned with determination and reluctance. Elenor had no choice but to hesitate for a moment.
Rationally, leaving them behind was the right call.
But not everyone moved purely on reason. Since he had joined the Hero's party, even as baggage, there couldn't be the slightest doubt about him.
The Demon King's ways of swaying hearts were cruel and cunning. She didn't think he'd side with the Demon King, but if even a sliver of suspicion arose, they wouldn't be able to handle emergencies.
"Then, can you take responsibility?"
"...What responsibility?"
"I won't listen to the porter. But if it's a request from my knight—or rather, an imperial knight—I'll consider it."
In truth, she hoped he'd back down at this point.
"If you agree, I'll appoint you as a knight. You'll be treated as one by me, and I'll demand a knight's duties, endurance, and loyalty from you."
"I can do anything."
But his eyes were ablaze.
Elenor looked at him with pity and bitterness.
"So please, save those people. If I'd moved faster from the start and gotten hurt less, we could pick up the pace, right? I'll make it up somehow..."
Protecting the empire's citizens was an obvious duty. It was something she should have said, not him.
But now, she was extracting a promise of his safety as if she were a mercenary.
"You think that makes sense?"
Pashier cut in to stop him, but Elenor slowly shook her head.
"No. Let's fight."
If that was the case, then at least they had to move accordingly.
"Are you sane?"
"I am. From now on, the types of monsters appearing will change, so his point about needing combat experience isn't entirely wrong. Besides, the monsters coming now are probably scouts too. Clearing them out even if it's a stretch will delay the horde's advance."
There were plausible reasons, but it wasn't an efficient judgment.
"I'll ask you, outsider. From now on, I'll subject you to harsher training, grueling schedules, and heavy responsibilities. Can you handle it?"
"...I might not make it, but I promise. I can endure."
The porter gritted his teeth, his eyes burning.
"I can take it. I'll hold on. No matter the role, until the Demon King is dead, the journey ends, and I go home."
Elenor believed those words.
And in time, those feelings faded, leaving only the promise behind.
The monsters increased, the battles grew frequent, and any leisure vanished.
Gratitude and respect for his decision dimmed, replaced by growing anger at him for failing to keep up with the tasks assigned.
It was his choice. The burden he accepted. The agreement they made.
When conflicts arose in the party, he became the target of blame. Placed in a schedule no untrained human could handle.
Impatience reduced her words and erased respect.
That shouldn't have happened.
She shouldn't have trusted his words. In the end, he couldn't endure. No—he could endure only up to the promised moment.
Defeating the Demon King was his limit. Holding on until the promise to return was still valid was already beyond that limit.
There was no way he could endure. No matter how good, upright, or just he was, he was human.
Even until that moment he exploded in the basement, Elenor hadn't realized it.
Complacent in his kindness, the one who tore his soul to shreds was none other than her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Was that it? All that imperial family nonsense—just because you needed my seed, that's why you said all that crap?"
Swinging sword aura filled with rage at the Orc Lord, he rampaged like a beast. The maid tried to grab him, but she couldn't match his strength.
"If you don't want to, then there's no helping it."
The specks of light humming around him shook more violently.
"Sorry, get lost, or help the damn imperial family in exchange for sparing you. Pick one!"
"...Greed got the better of me again. I apologize for the talk of the imperial family and blessings."
She couldn't take a dangerous stance or block the enemy's attack head-on.
The moment she overextended even slightly to parry the orc's greatsword, the bones she'd barely positioned would scatter freely inside her body.
"I'm sorry. You were just one human bearing no responsibility, and I shifted my burdens onto you, stole your glory. I forced impossible missions on you and demanded mercy you had no need to give."
"Now what..."
"So go! I'll protect the citizens here, so you continue your journey!"
But he stared at the Orc Lord unblinkingly, as if entranced by the fight.
"What are you gonna do with that broken body! I'll hold out, so deal with the other orcs first..."
"Saying you can endure again!"
Expecting endurance from those comfortable, complacent words, Elenor had wounded Enel countless times.
Even as an outsider, while in the empire, it was the empire's duty to protect him. He was innocent and good.
Even at the cost of her life, she had to pay for the wounds she'd inflicted on him.
"Go! Forget the emperor, bloodlines—none of it. Just go home!"
If she failed to secure the Hero's bloodline, the empire would be in danger. It wasn't something she, who always had to prioritize the empire, should say.
Regardless of the Demon King, the moment the empire's protection ended, countless evil beings would flood in.
But ultimately, what mattered most was his will. He was the one holding the rightful debt the empire—this world—owed.
"You can't win!"
The Orc Lord's sword strikes had definitely slowed. At least enough for them to bicker loudly like this.
But what was crumbling faster was Elenor's body. Fighting the Orc Lord with a body that shouldn't even be in combat—and holding out this long—was already a miracle.
"Grroooaaar!!!"
"Kuh!"
Enel was slammed into the ground.
It wasn't a direct hit from the greatsword. The orc's greatsword had been blocked by the holy sword he held.
But attacks and defenses weren't just sword against sword—they were carried out by the beings wielding them.
Since it happened in the split second Enel, growing hasty, had floated slightly off the ground, he could block with his hands but had no footing to absorb the impact.
Seeing Enel rolling on the ground, Elenor vaguely felt a memory from the past flash by.
"Of course, I have no strength left."
Elenor briefly etched his face into her mind, then refocused on the green monster.
"But I still have the will to fight, and the reason. An imperial knight doesn't only fight winnable battles."
The well-trained knights were barely holding back the orc wave. At this rate, they could secure a retreat path for Nerwen and Enel.
"I know it's presumptuous, but think of this as my atonement."
Once more, the orc's greatsword veered off just barely.