Chapter 168 – [Hero] Crisis and Silence
After leaving Aseila, the capital is next.
Since the distance from the capital to the Devil Castle is the same as the distance we have come so far, it is roughly halfway.
How strong have we become?
Can you beat the devil?
“Eric, go that way!”
“Ugh… !”
An orc lunged at me and swung his club.
Bang!
I hurriedly put holy power on the sword and blocked the orc’s attack with the sword.
However, the sword coated with divine power rather cut the club in half, and the orc who was pushing with force lost his balance and stumbled toward my sword.
“Oh, no… !”
I tried to bite the sword in a hurry, but it was faster for the orc’s body to touch my sword.
“Keui profit!”
And as soon as the orc touched my sword, it melted and disappeared as if it were originally a liquid.
It happened in an instant, without me being able to do anything about it.
“Ugh…”
I got stronger.
To the monsters, this power is almost like a natural enemy.
Unstoppable force.
With just one swing, they die.
Without a moment to hesitate, they rushed at their own will, and died on their own without me even attacking.
“Good work, Eric. It was neat this time too.”
“Whoops… Have you become very strong?”
When the situation was over, Seria and Arin approached and looked at the location of the orc that had disappeared without a trace.
“… Huh.”
Considering my role as a hero, the fact that I can kill monsters faster must be a good thing.
However, the current situation where they die too lightly did not suit me at all.
“Eric… Great job.”
“Thank you.”
Yuni grinned as she wiped her blood off her clothes with a water spirit.
I watched her fight for a second… This one was also one-sided.
The sharp stream of water controlled by the spirit penetrated the orc’s body, and he died in an instant, bleeding from all over his body.
It was a terrifying attack.
If that’s the moment it’s directed at me or other people…
I keep imagining it even though I know it won’t happen.
“Then we’ll be collecting the by-products, so let’s take a break.”
Seria said that, and she and Arin collected the by-products, which should have been Jeren’s job.
Indeed, he was just watching the battle from a distance from the beginning to the end.
He hadn’t asked him to fight from the beginning, but for some reason he seemed to be bothering him.
“Don’t mind. It’s none of our business.”
“… Huh.”
Uni said so and she pulled me towards her and sat me on her lap.
“Eric, you’ve gotten really strong lately. Hi-Hi… Are you saying you like me that much?”
“Oh… Go, don’t tickle me…”
Yuni laughed as she gently tickled my lower back.
I had no choice but to smile awkwardly and give her a hug.
It’s true that I’ve become stronger, and it’s true that the power I can handle has grown thanks to Uni, but…
The reason was different from what Uni thought.
I get excited just by imagining Yuni struggling and hugged by a man other than me.
I haven’t seen it since I left Aseila, but the experience of the past few days has transformed me into a completely different person.
Even when I’m in a relationship with Yuni, her moaning keeps popping up in my head.
Her moans, which cannot be heard in real life…
“Whew… I got them all, Master!”
“I’ll put it here.”
Seria and Arin chatted with their owners and put the by-products in their backpacks and put them away.
It was delayed for a while after meeting the monster, but it’s time to move forward again.
I moved forward again, trying not to pay attention to the three distinct hierarchies.
It wasn’t long before the capital.
***
It’s not very important to us, but in that short time, the capital has changed a lot.
Perhaps the biggest news among them is that the king has changed.
The crown prince, whom we also met at the dinner party, ascended to the throne without realizing it.
When we stopped by the capital, we had to report what had happened to him.
“Hmm… It means that the last Four Heavenly Kings have also awakened.”
He said and stroked his chin.
The easy-going personality I saw at that time was still the same, but now, perhaps because he has risen to the position of the king of a country, he seems to be more careful with his words than before.
“Yeah, we couldn’t find out whereabouts either… First of all, I’m going to go to the demon castle…”
Also, this place is tense.
The four of us are reciting the scenario we worked hard to come up with, but what if an unexpected question comes up?
“Yes, I will believe in you. By the way… Didn’t you catch one of the four heavenly kings?”
“Ah yes…”
“Everyone is trembling with anxiety. I was worried that the remaining Four Heavenly Kings might invade their ground.”
In short, why haven’t the other Four Heavenly Kings been captured yet? It is said.
It was a question I expected to come up with.
However, it is true that we could not catch it, and it was not an opponent that we could win easily, so in the end, the answer we could give was fixed.
“… So that we can give you good news soon…”
Even as I spoke, my conscience stung a little.
How many times have you encountered them in the meantime?
In particular, he stayed alone with Sarah and even talked.
Of course, I couldn’t say this in front of them, but it also made our journey seem meaningless to outsiders.
“Hmm… As for me, I want to believe that you will do well. I just want you to remember that everyone’s patience isn’t that deep.”
“Yes…”
After that, there were more trivial conversations, but fortunately, the report was finished within the expected range.
Maybe it was because she wasn’t expecting that much.
From their point of view, the war that moves the army is more urgent than us, who are like detached units.
That’s how our existence was.
A small party with high hopes for the legend of the hero, but a somewhat dubious one to fully trust.
The reason why there is no sound of dismantlement is probably because we have a great achievement of defeating the Four Heavenly Kings.
But it also seemed to have run out of life.
“… I guess we should do more.”
“But you don’t know where the remaining Four Heavenly Kings are.”
Is Sarah still in that town?
From what she’s talking about, it doesn’t seem like she’s resident, but managers like Ea might be able to locate her.
However, since these plans are tentatively conducted after signing a treaty with the royal family, it is difficult to touch them easily.
“I don’t know where Luella is… How is Ertina?”
“Oh…”
Ertina.
She is cooperative with us, but she is still one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
They’re probably following us, and they’re cooperative enough to help Uni, so if we use her opportunity, we’ll kill one of her… Would it be possible
Seria is suggesting that.
Yuni’s expression suddenly deteriorated.
“… I’m kidding. There is no need to kill the Four Heavenly Kings who are cooperative with us.”
In the end, apart from Ertina, there are only Luella and Sera left. Do I have to kill one of them?
Unlike the Four Skeletons, who were not human to anyone’s eyes, they were human beings.
In fact, he was once a human or an elf.
Can I kill them?
That… I don’t think it’s any different than just killing people.
“Actually, even if you say this, you can’t kill them right away. You don’t even know where you are?”
Yeah, in the end, even if you talk hard here, it’s not like you can take action right now.
In the end, the meeting ended without much success.
We booked a room at an inn in the capital city and rested for a while, but Ertina came to visit us again.
“Certainly performance matters. If you don’t have that, they won’t know what you’ve been through.”
Ertina criticized them in a voice filled with emotions, as if there were a lot of things that had accumulated secretly.
“But don’t worry too much. After all, your destination is Demon Castle, right? It is a more important mission to defeat the Demon King than to go around looking for the Four Heavenly Kings for the sake of performance.”
“… But will I be able to catch the demon lord with my current skills…”
“It is possible.”
Seeing the words come from the mouths of the Four Heavenly Kings, I could feel the reliability.
… Although it feels a little strange to think that the enemy is listening to it.
“Somehow, I think a lot of people are misunderstanding, but the demon king is also a king. There is no need for a king to have overwhelming force.”
Yes, that may be so, but isn’t the demon king different from other kings?
When the demon king appears, the number of monsters also increases.
When the demon king disappears, the number of demons also gradually decreases.
Like us, when a king dies, the next king doesn’t immediately appear.
There is no one to replace the king.
So, isn’t our hero party created just to kill one demon king?
The war ends when only one demon king is killed.
That is this war
“… Is it so. It is different in many ways. But I’d like to tell you that you don’t have to worry that much. I can’t go into more detail, but…”
Ertina didn’t go into detail because of her limitations, but she repeated her words to not worry too much anyway.
Thanks to her conviction, there is a little hope.
“So, Yuni. Are you going to continue?”
“Yes!”
As if there was still something to learn from her, Yuni immediately nodded her head.
“Okay, then let’s start again tomorrow. Even the warrior, you just have to do as you are now. You have improved a lot.”
As it is…
To do that, you need to be more excited.
To get excited…
I blushed slightly.
***
When Uni went out to train with Ertina the next day, I left the inn as if I had promised.
Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect it, but since this isn’t Aseila, the same things that happened there won’t happen.
Even so, the reason why it came out, is it really because of the change of mood?
“I look forward to!”
“Yes, please.”
As if there was no proper space, Ertina and Uni were training in the front yard of the dorm.
Still, even though he is a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, seeing him doing this in the middle of enemy lines felt a bit out of place.
Perhaps the nobles of the palace would froth at her mouth if they found out Ertina’s true identity.
I looked away with a strangely uncomfortable feeling.
Outside the inn, the alleys that were intricately tangled like a spider’s web came into my field of vision.
For me, this is only my second visit, the roads in the capital city were a complex maze.
However, for those who were born and raised in the capital city, these complicated roads must be like a neighborhood playground.
People pass by alleys that I would not even dare to enter.
One of them stood out strangely.
Braided brown haired woman.
It’s a very familiar look.
I inadvertently turned my gaze to check Yuni’s appearance.
Uni is here
Then, what about Uni on the other side… ?
Doppelganger.
And performance.
After a moment of hesitation, I decided to follow my doppelganger Uni.
I could call the real Yuni and her other colleagues, but for some reason, my foot moved first before I could call them.
I followed her straight after her, following the movements of my body.
As I approached her, her doppelgänger evaded me and ran away, as if she were luring me in.
“Huh, huh…”
Did you come in too deep?
I roughly memorized the route, but I’m a little anxious.
I hid in that alley…
I chased after her and ran into her alley.
Dead end alley!
Her finally drove her into her.
In front of the blocked wall, Uni glanced back at me.
“Whoops…”
“Who are you?”
This woman is not Uni.
Then it must be a monster… !
I quickly drew out my sword.
“Your eyes are strong, Eric.”
“… Don’t pretend to be Uni.”
“Whoops…”
Yuni looked at me and smiled.
My heart fluttered slightly at the gaze that seemed to look down on me.
Uni is me…
“Yes, I am not Uni.”
Suddenly, Yuni’s appearance melted away and her appearance began to change into a different one.
It flowed down like a liquid and then came together again to take the form of a human. It appeared in front of me in the form of Luella, one of our enemies and the bad luck we met in the capital city.
“I am Luella, the enemy you are desperately looking for.”
Louella?
Why is she at this timing?
