#175 Footsteps of a Hero (2)
“Oh dear—
Thank you, Saint.”
“You should be all right now. From now on... hm?”
Immediately after subjugating yet another band of evil.
Heinrich, who had been treating a patient with a benevolent smile, suddenly froze.
“...Saint?”
“Ah? It’s nothing. A new revelation descended for a moment, you see.”
“O-ohhh—! No, that’s not it! Th-then we’ve been interrupting...”
“Hahaha, it’s already over, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
But before those around him could look at him strangely, he quickly swept his gaze through the air and continued speaking calmly, as though nothing had happened.
His “prophecies,” which boasted a high accuracy rate, were not particularly strange at this point, so no one found it odd.
Even as Heinrich busied himself, he analyzed the privilege he had just obtained in his head. ‘I’d been expecting it ever since Hans became the enemy of the world, but as I thought, the savior side had a similar achievement too.’ And the conditions even seemed subtly more generous.
Unlike “Enemy of the World,” which had required the direct resentment of many, this one would count as an achievement simply if many people recognized his efforts. 《From now on, the clearer your path becomes, the stronger the effects of 「Footsteps of a Hero」 will grow.》 The additional phrase that appeared only added certainty to his suspicion.
Didn’t this mean that whenever he had a greater influence on more people than now, even the privilege itself would be further strengthened?
As a result of traveling all over the continent and working hard to spread his name, the effect of 「Footsteps of a Hero」 he had obtained was the ability to “move at once to any place he had set foot in.”
Of course, unlike 「Summon Otherworld Transfer Formation」, it couldn’t cross dimensions, and the cooldown was only once every three days... ‘The more efficient means of travel I have, the better. And if I can make people go beyond simply recognizing Heinrich and have them blindly rely on him instead, the cooldown should decrease too.’ Above all, what he liked most was that now, other avatars besides Hans and Heinrich could also move long distances.
Not only in the other world, but even on Earth! ‘Dispatching avatars on expeditions will become more convenient. It’s an ability absolutely necessary to face the Beoncheonhoe. That’s one more reason for Heinrich to work even harder.’ For now, Hans alone was rushing around on Earth, but later, a time would come when the other avatars would be needed as well.
If he could strengthen this privilege in advance, it would continue to be a great help in the future.
“Then shall we start moving?”
Heinrich gradually wrapped up the publicity activities he had been carrying out and gathered his party members together again.
Now that this whole series of events had been repeated several times, while he helped the patients, they too had been playing their own roles by patrolling the surroundings and helping with the post-battle cleanup.
Of course, no matter how diligently they moved, they could not catch up to the fame of Heinrich, who was both the party’s leader and a hero as well as a saint.
Even if the name values of the other three were all added together, they probably would not amount to even a quarter of his recognition.
“But, Saint? How long will the four of us keep moving alone like this? It may be fine for now, but our ultimate goal is to face the Immortal King directly, so shouldn’t we start increasing the number of people who will join us from now on...? Ah, of course, I don’t mean to disregard you, Saint.”
At that moment, Isea, who had been quietly preparing the spatial transfer, asked him a question while watching his reaction.
Since their initial promise was to entrust matters related to party members entirely to the hero, her attitude was extremely cautious, but as someone sincere about this matter, she seemed unable to endure and wait any longer, and an anxious air was faintly seeping through.
Likewise, when talk related to the Immortal King came up, the ash-haired lancer, Geos Calkin, also turned his head this way as though interested.
Perhaps because he had vented his anger again today by capturing the black mages who had fled under the pretext of patrolling, he looked brutal, with small droplets of blood splattered here and there across his expressionless face.
“Kahahah—! What’s the rush? There’s a saying that if five humans gather, one of them is bound to be trash, right? You’re supposed to be careful when accepting people, you know?”
As the atmosphere suddenly turned serious, the barbarian warrior Harley twitched his muscles and burst into a hearty laugh.
But immediately after speaking, unlike his calm exterior, he could not help but feel slightly flustered inside...
Because he belatedly realized that the source of the joke he had lightly thrown out to ease the heavy mood was an internet meme from Earth.
And of all places, in front of Isea, who was Korean!
“Hmm... It certainly does have a point. It’s philosophical too. Still, isn’t our current force too lacking to fight the Immortal King? I think the sooner we prepare people who can coordinate with us, the better.”
Fortunately, however, as a typical model student who had lived a life unrelated to internet memes, she merely tilted her head.
In truth, sayings like that tended to have a few similar versions in any region, so it was not that big of a problem, but Heinrich, who had still been startled by his own carelessness, quickly took up her words.
“Of course, I don’t intend to continue on like this forever. In fact, there are people I have in mind separately. I haven’t been able to invite them yet because the time hasn’t come, but once the second continental summit is held soon, you will be able to meet them as well.”
“...The second summit... I see. Understood.”
At that answer, Isea once again murmured softly and nodded.
But judging by how dark her expression still was, it did not seem to be much comfort. ‘Well, it’s already been nearly two months since the princess was kidnapped. Come to think of it, communications with the faction side seem to have become quite frequent lately too...’ Although the key figure of the Fifth Imperial Princess’s faction, “Viscountess Isea Pristine,” was building fame alongside the hero, without Princess Riley, the center of the faction, that was only a stopgap measure.
On top of that, even the Second and Sixth Imperial Princes were said to be expanding their power after seizing the opportunity, so her worries could only grow. ‘Hmm, I feel like I’ve unintentionally caused too much damage. I was just about to start preparing anyway... huh? Wait?’ Then, at a certain moment, the fact that he had just obtained a new ability came to mind.
And also the fact that, by obtaining that unplanned ability, all the cumbersome procedures he had originally established had become useless. ‘Ah, of course, it’s not like I dislike that. ...It does feel a little empty, though.’ Still, even if he went through complicated and troublesome procedures for no reason, it would only increase the risk of plausibility being shaken by even trivial matters.
In everything, simple and intuitive methods were best. ‘Simple is best. Then, let’s begin right away.’
***
“Phew~ Today was a fulfilling day too.”
Lilith... no, Siana, who was the general manager of the residential area of the Immortal Castle and also in charge of Crown Prince Simon, strolled through the garden of the Second Residential Area with a satisfied smile.
At first, she had felt nothing but despair after being enlisted in the Immortal Army, but perhaps because she had relieved plenty of stress today by tormenting the crown prince as usual, she found herself thinking that life here might not be as bad as she had expected. ‘At least there’s this kind of fun, so I can endure this boring place. That arrogant Simon is now my toy! Ahh, how thrilling~!’ As she had also spent quite a long time as a member of the imperial nobility, she had encountered the crown prince quite a few times before.
To be more honest, it would be more accurate to say she had intentionally approached him in order to put him in the palm of her hand and shake him around.
However, no matter that she was a former high-ranking officer of the Immortal Army, while devoting all her strength to concealing her identity, it was impossible to charm the crown prince of the empire without leaving any trace.
If she overdid it for no reason, her identity might be exposed.
In the end, like the daughters of ordinary noble families who used their pretty appearances as weapons, she began the work of seducing the crown prince purely with her own “skills”...
And unlike how confidently she had stepped forward, she failed miserably without achieving any particular results. ‘...If only those vixens hadn’t interfered, it would have been simple!’ If she wanted to make excuses, she could make as many as she liked.
From the checks of noble ladies backed by the power of high-ranking noble families to political pressure, it had been at an unspeakable level, hadn’t it?
It had also been a time when the crown prince wanted a powerful noble family to support him.
However, the fact that she had failed in the end did not change, and that left a great wound on her pride as a succubus. ‘Hu, huhu—
My mood suddenly turned foul. As expected, shall I educate him just a little more before I go?’ Having fallen into her own thoughts and ruined her own mood, she eventually turned around and retraced the path she had come from.
Toward the crown prince’s quarters, where he was probably lying sprawled out like a rag already torn to shreds.
“Hmm? Those are... the princess and Hesperon.”
Siana’s gaze then caught sight of a man and woman gathered in the garden in front of one lodging, whispering among themselves.
As though they were practicing magic as usual, mana was rippling, and around them was even a laughable barrier.
“...Tch.”
If she wanted to, she could easily ignore a barrier like that, but she forced herself to turn her gaze away and hastened her steps.
Just as she always had until now.
—No matter what words pass between the princess and Hesperon, no matter what they do, do not concern yourself with them and ignore it absolutely.
Because that was the stern command given by their king.
Unless some particular abnormality occurred regarding their safety, she could not intervene beyond supplying food and other necessities. ‘At most, they’re probably just talking about low-level magic. What could they possibly do in here?’ Of course, she knew that the man was an otherworlder with some kind of special ability, but that too would only be useful after he had grown to a certain extent.
No matter how impressive an ability he possessed at the early stage after transfer, how impressive could it be? ‘Hmph, well, it would be amusing if they plotted an escape. Though there’s no way they’d dare be so fearless. Come to think of it, I wonder if Andrew is doing well... I don’t think I’ve seen him recently.’ Thinking she should visit him sometime soon while she was at it, Siana ignored whatever conversation the two were having and paid it no mind.
Yet at that very moment as she, their watcher, passed by, the man and woman were indeed talking about escape.
“Riley, you said you wanted to get out of here, didn’t you?”
“Pardon? Of course I do. Do you think I’m here because I want to be?”
Riley looked at him as though dumbfounded.
Since she had been captured as a prisoner in the first place, it was a question that did not even need to be asked.
“...I think I can get you out.”
Facing her incredulous expression like that.
Hesperon, unlike usual, wore a confident look and smiled meaningfully.
***
[Kihihihik!]
[Huuuu—]
Atop a spire that rose high, exposed outside the Immortal Castle.
Amid the hazy forms of ghosts busily moving about, there was a man crouched in a corner, muttering to himself.
“...I’ll die. I’m going to die. At this rate, I really will die...”
With dull blond hair, disheveled as though no one knew when he had last washed, and hollow green eyes staring blankly into the air.
Andrew Weaver, whose mind had broken under the harsh environment, turned his gaze toward the ghosts drifting around him.
The sight of them wavering through the air—
Seemed like his own future, and a chill crawled over him.
Unable to rest even after death, tormented by endless labor... ‘...No! As expected, I can’t just stay still like this!’ At that dreadful thought, Andrew shook his head violently.
But not only did he lack the ability to escape this Immortal Castle, even if that were possible, he had no confidence he could survive while avoiding pursuit.
However.
He still had one method left that he believed in—
“Ugh—
Just a little... just a little more...”
That alone was the support that allowed him to endure the present. [Kkeuheuheuheuk—]
[Huaaaa!]
Whether he would truly be able to obtain the freedom he longed for was something that would require a little more watching to know.
Smack—!
“Uegh! Lady Lilith! Master! Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”
“I’m simply in a bad mood, you see? Now, Simon? Shall we continue with some light obedience training for just one hour?”
“Hieek—!”
...Of course, inside this castle, there was also someone who could not even afford to think of escape.