Find the Hero's Successor! (4)
The moment Yubelia returned to her room, she tried contacting the Holy Kingdom. She worried the Holy King might be too busy to answer, but fortunately, the connection went through right away. A white-haired elderly woman appeared in the crystal orb, and Yubelia greeted her politely first.
"Have you been well, Your Holiness the Holy King?"
—This old bag's doing fine, thanks. But what's this about, Saintess? From the academy's orb? No, this is the direct line you got from me when you came here.
She must have sensed something was up from the fact that Yubelia was using the private crystal orb the Holy King had given her personally upon arriving at the academy. Yubelia calmly got to the point, facing the woman whose eyes narrowed slightly.
"I'll cut to the chase. I think I've found the Hero's heir."
—...Already? That's awfully quick. It's not even been two months.
Just a little over two months, at most.
To Yubelia, that time had felt endlessly long. She swallowed a small grumble inside and continued.
"Yes. He's so standout that I spotted him right away. I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but at least ninety, I'd say."
—If you feel that way, Saintess, it must be true. But out of an old woman's concern, what tipped you off?
"He has a sword that's presumed to be the Hero's legacy. And more than that, he seems to have inherited the vast mana the Hero was said to possess in life."
She went on to detail all the incidents he'd been involved in since the class assignment exam, plus his standout performance in the inter-club competition—anything that added to her suspicions. Once she finished explaining, joy finally lit up Marieta's face.
—Ho, I see. So he takes after the Hero in those ways too.
"Takes after? In what sense?"
—Heh heh, they say the Hero stirred up all sorts of incidents in his day too. And he was always at the center, resolving them all.
"Blood can't lie, huh."
—That's the idea. Not exactly hard proof, mind you.
Both women were already fairly convinced, so even those traits felt like clear evidence that he was the Hero's heir.
—So, what sort of man is the Hero's heir?
"Well, to be honest, he doesn't strike you as the Hero's heir at first glance. He's a delicately handsome young man."
He had some muscle from sword training, sure, but that didn't change the fact that he was slender and refined-looking. Something about him oddly stirred a protective instinct, yet the steel in his eyes created a striking contrast that lent him an air of profound mystery. When Yubelia shared her honest impression, Marieta's eyes went wide.
—Well, now. A frail young man bearing such a heavy fate. Astonishing.
"But thankfully, he doesn't seem frail. His personality seems pretty tough too. Like he grew up resilient, a weed in the cracks?"
—An amusing way to put it. They say the Hero was much the same.
Iferia, the Hero herself, had grown up in a poor commoner family and become self-reliant. If this kid had followed a similar path, it made sense he'd share some personality traits. Yubelia had worried the title might be too burdensome for a mere boy, but it seemed her fears were unfounded.
"So, when should I return home?"
Meanwhile, thrilled at finally completing her mission, Yubelia asked the question burning in her mind: her return schedule. Her original task had been to find the Hero's heir, so there was no reason to stay at the academy anymore. It wasn't a bad place, but home was always where the heart was most at ease. She was sick of jumping at every stranger's greeting on the streets and ducking into alleys.
—Return? What are you talking about?
"...Pardon?"
But like a bucket of cold water over her head, the Holy King's puzzled reply came back.
—Even if a presumed Hero's heir has appeared, it's too early for certainty. This old woman doesn't doubt your eyes, Saintess, but we need to observe more.
"......"
—So, if it's not too much trouble, stay there a while longer and keep watch. If he faces danger or strays from the path, guide him with the grace of light.
It was wrapped in the Light Church's faithfuls' flowery rhetoric, but it boiled down to extra work.
'Overtime!'
Yubelia despaired. Back home, an attendant always ushered her out precisely at four: 'Saintess, time to rest and preserve your health.' Here, with no set hours, even contracts meant nothing. The mission had started as 'Find the Hero's heir,' so how had it morphed into 'Find the Hero's heir and clean up after him'?
"W-Wait! This isn't what we agreed...!"
—Oh dear, this orb must be too old. Suddenly I can't hear you, Saintess. We'll contact you once we get a new one.
"Your Holiness...?!"
For the first time, she raised her voice before the Holy King to protest, but she couldn't outmatch the savvy of someone who'd lived three times her years. With blatantly fake acting, the Holy King moved to end the call.
—Oh, and don't be too strict with the rules around him—approach freely. You're so pure, Saintess; I figured you were struggling just to talk to him.
"......"
With that final message, she cut off without hesitation.
No... I've already held his hand.
I forgot my saintess title and let my womanly instincts run wild like a beast, thinking it was my first time holding a man's hand.
Hell, I kneaded it so long I even drew sharp looks.
Her words, with nowhere to go, echoed emptily over the darkened orb.
Click—
"...God."
Overwhelmed by crushing emptiness, she pressed her forehead and collapsed onto the bed. She didn't want to do anything right now. She wasn't doing much anyway, but now she really, really didn't want to.
Swish...!
Maybe that's why. She fell into a deep sleep without noticing the presence slipping past her window.
＊
"Nyaaang."
Two days later. A black cat wandering the academy grounds hopped the fence and headed outward. Unlike a stray drifting aimlessly, it climbed the steep mountain path as if someone awaited it from the start.
"...You're here."
Poof—
Atop a thick beech tree, overlooking below, a woman locked eyes with it. The cat did a backflip in place. Faint smoke rose around its body. When it cleared, a navy-haired short bob woman with an eyepatch over one eye emerged.
"Sorry I'm late, Boss!"
"Never mind. Lena. No word for two days—what'd you dig up?"
The woman perched on the branch gestured for her kneeling subordinate to rise.
"Yes! Our initial guess missed the mark."
"Missed? What do you mean?"
"The Hero's heir isn't the guy we first pegged."
"What...?!"
At the unexpected news, the woman frowned and leaped to the ground.
"Not Theo?"
"Seems not."
"Impossible! He hailed from the same village where Iferia vanished last. And we had reports of him using her husband's 'Origin Reversion'!"
Origin Reversion was the power of Iferia's husband, Lucas Moldwin—a secret to most. It literally reverted real phenomena to nothingness. A godlike miracle requiring a steep price, but it let Lucas help his wife topple Nemesis, the continent's worst criminal. Some on that battlefield even claimed he felled Nemesis, not the Hero. And one of their spies had witnessed a fragment of that power in a male student: Theo.
"Think about it, Boss. Rural folk up and move all the time, scraping by day to day. No need to fixate on origins."
"Then what was that power he had?"
"We viewed it too narrowly. Healing one injured traveler on the way here—how could we jump to Origin Reversion?"
"Hmmm..."
The subordinate pressed on as her boss stroked her chin, still dubious.
"Strip those away, and all we have is similar hair and eye color, plus a ring like the Hero's. That's it."
"Hm...?"
Wasn't that plenty suspicious? A core doubt nagged, but her subordinate's confident tone meant the new suspect had even stronger grounds.
"So, who's the new candidate?"
"A guy named Aren."
"Rings a bell. The one who took down the Magic Tower Lord's disciple, right?"
Word was, he'd gained fame early as the knight class's lone wolf.
"Exactly. And the saintess herself confirmed he's the Hero's heir."
"The saintess...?!"
"Seems she infiltrated the academy for that purpose from the start. I overheard her reporting directly to the Holy King—believe me."
Ah, so that's how it was. The pieces clicked into place in her mind at her subordinate's words. No wonder the saintess had come all the way to the academy for no apparent reason. The Holy Kingdom was hunting the heir too, pretending to focus on church affairs while meddling behind the scenes like the old foxes they were.
"If the saintess says so, it's certain. I've heard saintesses' Holy Eyes pierce souls with mystical power."
"So it's not just church fairy tales?"
"Guess not."
"Indeed!"
As new intel meshed like gears, they shared satisfied smiles. Without this, they'd have mistaken an innocent for the heir and botched the grand plan. Information was key!
"But Boss, this means we can't move on the plan for a while."
"Why not?"
"My two days of scouting: he's surrounded by heavy hitters. Bronheim's eldest, Ruendel's Second Princess, the Tower Lord's prized disciple."
"Tch. Hero's blood draws power, they say. Spot on."
Regrettable, but it solidified their certainty—why else would big shots flock to some country bumpkin?
"Fine. We bide our time for now."
"Understood."
Swish—!
The two women's figures vanished in an instant.
＊
"Hm hm hmm~."
Theo, fresh from his shower as usual, returned humming. Aren watched him openly, then his eye caught the ring on Theo's finger.
"Hey, Theo."
"Yeah? You call me, Aren?"
"You always wear that ring, even in the shower. Something special?"
"Ah... this?"
He flinched briefly at Aren's notice, then smiled sheepishly and nodded.
"It's actually a keepsake from my late mother."
"Figures. Worth keeping close."
"Yeah."
Come to think of it, Theo had lost his parents like Aren. Fitting for the original protagonist—deep backstory. It tugged at his heart a bit.