Chapter 142 – [Hero] The Hero and the Elementalist
Someone knocked on the door in the morning.
Because of that, we woke up earlier than usual, and we blushed when we saw the other person lying naked and face to face.
“Ah, Yuni, a person…”
“It must be Seriana or Arin anyway… Isn’t it?”
Yuni, who grumbled, stopped him and jumped up.
“Eric… Princess Ertina is here.”
“Uh?”
Yuni said so as if she had looked outside the door through the spirit.
After she hurriedly got her dressed and opened her window to let the heat out of her hot room, we greeted her.
Of course, there would still be a smell or traces of it all over the place.
Because as soon as Ertina entered, she twitched her nose.
I was ashamed to be caught by someone I didn’t know well, but I tried to keep my composure.
“… How are you doing? What a relief.”
Ertina’s greeting was a bit odd.
“Uh… Go, thank you…”
I received a greeting, but I do not understand the current situation well.
Isn’t she the Four Heavenly Kings?
It probably wasn’t intentional, but we saw Sarah and Luella take her and disappear.
Then, what is the girl in front of you?
I don’t think they would ever release them again.
“I’ll explain everything you’re curious about later. Can I sit down for a little longer?”
Ertina then sat down on the floor before Yuni and I could even say her words.
“Thank you.”
… You didn’t even give me permission?
She had no intention of refusing anything, but it didn’t feel very good to sit down and say thank you.
“I sat down after seeing what everyone gave me permission to do. There is a difference between a person who refuses and a person who accepts it in their body movements. I just read the signal before you speak.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Who the hell knows that?
It was an embarrassing answer, but I thought it might be because I thought it was a spirit lord and the Four Heavenly Kings.
No, but why the hell are you here?
“I came here to help you.”
Also, before I could speak, she answered first.
“Help me? You?”
Yuni put on a slightly bitter expression and said that.
She never thought she was someone who could make such a scary face.
“I understand that you don’t believe me. The Four Heavenly Kings must be loyal to the demon king, and your mission is to punish the demon king, so it’s contradictory.”
Then she opened her mouth before Uni could say anything more.
“But I am not the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Sera and Luella…”
“No.”
Firm answer.
We could read the anger on her face.
“I, you know, didn’t come here because I wanted to.”
“As expected, the river…”
“Yes, it happened against my will.”
It’s all good, but he keeps interrupting me, which bothers me a bit.
“Oh, sorry. Stop habitually.”
As if looking into my heart, she apologized as soon as I felt uncomfortable.
“I heard you were an elf princess before. But the fact that he became the Four Heavenly Kings… Did the demon lord turn you into monsters?”
“It was the power of the former demon king. This time, the Demon King stole that ability and put us in the position of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Wait, does that mean that this demon king eventually took away the power of the last demon king and became the demon king?
But the demon lord must have been subjugated by the last hero.
“It is exactly what you think. In fact, the hero couldn’t subdue the demon king.”
“… Yes?”
Our common sense has been denied.
“To be more precise, it wasn’t the hero who subdued the demon lord.”
“… The current Demon King?”
“That’s right.”
It’s not that the hero subdued the demon lord, but that this demon lord subdued the last demon lord?
“Why?”
“It was for a simple reason. Power and eternal life. Demons basically have no concept of dying of old age.”
Hearing that, Yuni frowned for a moment as if it was strange.
“You are right. This demon king was also a human at one time.”
“Well, then…”
An uneasy feeling of foreboding running through my head.
Ertina said that our predictions were not wrong, and nodded her head.
“Yes. The current demon king… It was the start of the last hero.”
“Start?”
If it’s a start, that… Aren’t you referring to the little kid who assists the knights?
“The war in our days was very different from now. To hear Sarah… They said that you go there separately from the regular army.”
Actually, it’s not a very good story, but the king and nobles didn’t expect much from us.
However, it is not appropriate to be a warrior to be incorporated as a soldier, and it is not trustworthy to be placed as a commander.
In the end, our party was organized like a kind of detached unit.
“We were the commanders of the war. With the warriors at the center, we acted like staff officers or generals. Because of that position, the warrior had no choice but to bring boots.”
If we had been able to lead the military so confidently, would it have looked different from now?
“The war was long, and we both got older, too. It was a long time for a child to become an adult.”
It’s an embarrassing story.
I didn’t want to hear this back story.
“Shall we stop?”
“Eric, if you want…”
Ertina still read my mind like a ghost and asked that question, and Uni seemed to not intend to listen to me if I refused to listen.
To be honest, I want to refuse.
I felt like I knew the back story.
“Speak briefly.”
Still, we had to know.
You need to know so you can prepare.
“The grown-up Jang-do finally betrayed the hero and took the power of the demon king to become a new demon king. The priests and wizards who were close to the hero sympathized with him.”
“The priest and the wizard…”
“I wanted to protect the hero, but I couldn’t. We lost, and…”
Ertina looked down at her own body.
“It happened like this.”
Yuni and I were silent.
Maybe this is our future.
“Yes, at this rate, everyone will just step on the same train.”
“Wait.”
Uni put her hands on her lap and said more politely than before.
“Yes. Please speak.”
“… Clearly Sarah and Louella met you before…”
“Are you worried I might be cheating on you? Do not worry. I only talked to them after that. How the world has changed… What is the demon king doing…”
She fiddled with her chest for a moment, searching for something in her, then paused.
By her gestures, she seemed to be looking for her necklace.
“Please forgive me for not being able to tell you about the demon lord. I can’t tell.”
What kind of ban is it?
I don’t think it’s a very strong kind, considering that it’s possible to talk about the past…
“Just know this. He is not the kind of demon king you think. We have more freedom and authority than we think.”
Ertina said that while looking at Uni.
“I will help you. You must become stronger and assist the hero to subdue the demon king alone.”
“But for the two of us…”
“It is possible.”
She convinced Yuni with conviction.
“I’m sorry, but your elemental arts are too monotonous. That attitude of being considerate of the spirits belongs to a proper spiritist. You must have learned from a good teacher.”
Suddenly, I thought of the teacher who taught Uni the basics of spiritism.
Where is she and what is she doing?
“But before you are a Elementalist, you are a fellow warrior. We need to learn how to take down enemies more efficiently.”
“Oh…”
At those words, Yuni’s eyes fluttered.
Until now, Uni had never directly harmed monsters in battle.
Her role was mainly to assist, tie up our feet or make up for our blind spots, but it was very rare for her to directly attack monsters.
“I will teach you. How to sharpen the wind spirit, and how to parasitize the water spirit into the opponent’s body.”
It was a scary word to hear.
But… Certainly her teachings would make her uni stronger.
Because it’s a way to use the spirits more efficiently.
Then what about me?
Me too… Can’t you use it?
“I-I also have that skill…”
“It is an unnecessary skill for you. You are a warrior, not an elemental sage. It is more urgent to find your own skills than to learn the skills of your colleagues.”
Saying that, Ertina suddenly grabbed her wrist.
“Uh, what… !”
“I’m just checking the pattern.”
Her Yuni tried to get her up, but Ertina stopped her and lifted her arms.
“… It’s like this too. I’m glad that even one of them is intact.”
“Oh…”
She said that while looking at the two small roses that had almost disappeared and the one that remained intact.
She said, “I heard that she once released divine power from her body, is that true?”
Was it?
When she thought about it, she remembered what she had done against the Skeleton Merchant then.
After that, you could still do it if you wanted to, but it wasn’t as powerful as it was back then.
Did Sera and Luella even know about that?
“It’s the most powerful skill that only a hero can use. It is also the most fatal weakness of the Four Heavenly Kings. That’s what you have to deal with.”
Is it.
When I heard it, it was just that.
“Your power is the most direct and powerful force that proves the existence of a goddess. Practice so that you can handle it freely.”
“Yes yes…”
At first, I thought she was trying to trick us, but her advice was accurate and sharp.
He is also very sophisticated, probably because he is from a professionally active hero party.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. In today’s world, it’s a technology that only you can use. But Elementalist, I will teach you elemental magic. The Demon King alone…”
“Now, wait a minute.”
Her words kept assuming something of her.
“They are no longer part of your party.”
“Three, Seria too… Arin too… You are still a member of my party.”
“Do you really think so?”
I looked at Yuni before speaking.
Will Yuni be angry? Will she be disappointed?
“Me too… I think so.”
Although Yuni had a slightly somber face, she agreed with me.
Even though she was angry, she thought she had nothing to say, but the unexpected reaction surprised me a little.
“Do you really think so? They are traitors who pursue pleasure instead of mission…”
“Still… I’m here to save you.”
They chose that man over me,
Still, she stepped into that dangerous space to save us from confronting Ertina.
“They still… I wouldn’t have forgotten.”
Our mission, they will still cherish.
“… All right. Still, I want you to learn spiritism from me.”
Fortunately, Ertina respected our wishes, and nevertheless decided to teach Yuni her elemental arts.
“Eric…”
“It’s a good opportunity.”
She looked at me anxiously.
Her promise to always be by my side.
However, if she learns her spirit art from Ertina, she will spend less time with me that much.
Sadly, this is absolutely necessary.
I wanted Yuni to learn spiritism.
“… Okay. Sorry.”
“Do not be sorry. That’s a good thing. I will cheer you on.”
“Huh…”
Uni bowed her head at her.
Unlike usual, it was a stiff and strict posture.
This is the second time I see Uni’s greeting like this.
This is the first time since she met her first teacher and asked for guidance.
“I look forward to.”
“Please take care of me.”
That’s how Yuni got her second teacher.
***
The spiritual class began the next day.
Yuni left her room and I practiced controlling her divine powers by myself.
It wasn’t easy.
No, to be honest, nothing caught my eye.
I didn’t know what to practice or how to train.
If I exert myself, I get tired quickly.
However, it seemed that the more I used it, the more time I could use it.
Yes, let’s increase the activation time first.
I’ve been planning in that direction.
That day, Uni was away for a while to take a spiritual class, and I was training my divine powers by myself. Other guests came to my room.
“Hello, Eric.”
“Hello, Mr. Eric.”
I froze with the door open, but Seria and Arin smiled slightly as they looked up at me.
“… May I go inside?”
