#190
Settler (1)
“Thanks to you, Your Highness, we were able to rest well in a fine place before leaving. We owe you much for all you’ve done.”
“Owe me? You are the one who saved my life. If anything, I’m only sorry I couldn’t take better care of you.”
Before the main gate of the imperial palace.
Riley, who had come all the way here to see off the departing hero’s party, exchanged farewells with Heinrich.
This time as well, at the Saint’s request, there was no grand farewell banquet. However, the princess, who had personally received his grace, had come forward as the representative of the imperial family to send them off.
Starting with Heinrich, she spoke with each of the others one by one, wishing them good fortune in battle.
And after holding Isea’s hand for quite some time, reluctant to let go despite having already talked to her heart’s content the previous day, Riley...
“Haa—Heron, I’m still most worried about you.”
Finally stood before Hesperon and let out a deep sigh.
“Ahaha! What do you mean by that, Your Highness? Where else would you find someone as reliable as me? Yesterday, even my master was so astonished by my talent that she couldn’t stop admiring it. There won’t be any big problems, so please don’t worry too much!”
From beside him came Isea’s small grumble that it had not been quite to that extent, but he brushed it off lightly and, with a loose laugh, proudly thumped his chest.
Since the attendants accompanying the princess were watching from behind, he was being rather more courteous than usual, but his tone was still endlessly casual, as if speaking to a friend.
At that, a few of the attendants lightly furrowed their brows, but...
“...Very well, then. You’re not exactly an ordinary person either, so I suppose you’ll manage somehow. It’s not as if you’ll be gone that long anyway.”
Riley paid no mind to his tone and merely nodded slowly.
“However—”
But her words did not end there.
“I do think you need to correct that excessive confidence of yours. You seem to be misunderstanding something, but you are only a low-ranking mage now, you know? That means you are weak on an entirely different level from those people. And yet you’re going to follow them onto a battlefield where even they must do their utmost, with that groundless confidence of yours...”
His bluff, meant to ease her worries, had instead come back as an enormous scolding.
Hesperon, as if he had never been so full of confidence, immediately shrank in on himself and had no choice but to listen closely to her words.
“There’s no need for you to step forward and try to do anything. You’re just an extra piece of baggage tagging along. Even if you’re there, you won’t be of much use, and if you do step forward, you’ll only get in the way. So just keep yourself safe as if you’re barely there, learn only what you need to learn, and... Heron? Are you listening to me?”
“Ah, yes! Of course I am. Yep.”
He, who had been listening to her in a daze, hurriedly answered with a subtle expression.
‘No, no matter how you look at it, isn’t that a bit too harsh...?’
But if he needlessly argued back, the scolding would only last longer, so he did not bother protesting.
Seeing the worry in her eyes as she spoke without pause, he felt he understood why she was saying such things.
...Afterward.
Only after Riley poured out a lecture several times longer than all the conversations she had shared with the others combined did she step back, looking relieved.
Leaving behind only Hesperon, who wore a blank expression as if his soul had left his body.
“...Then, we shall be going now. Let us meet again soon.”
“Yes, Saint. Please take care and remain unharmed.”
Thus, the farewell, which had grown longer than expected, finally came to an end.
The party boarded the prepared carriage and headed for the Zeron Great Temple located on the outskirts of the capital in order to use the gate.
Unless there was no other choice, there was no need to make Isea suffer when they could use the well-established infrastructure of the Church, was there?
‘And with one more person added, she’d have more to worry about when using spatial movement too.’
Just as Princess Riley had worried, Hesperon had decided to move with the hero’s party for the time being.
To be precise about the duration... it would be about ten days.
‘He’ll only stay with us until just before the second summit meeting is held.’
The first reason was to properly lay the foundation of the path of magic by efficiently receiving instruction from Isea, an archmage.
Of course, even now, there was nothing to fault in his fundamentals themselves.
He also had the skill “Introduction to Magic,” and no matter how different the systems were, with the influence of that Immortal King, there was no way he would be struggling at a mere basic level.
On top of that, it was now only a matter of time before Riley ascended to the position of crown princess, so if she wished, she could provide him with an education within the imperial palace that surpassed the level Isea had received in the past.
‘But even taking all that into account, it won’t be better than learning directly from Isea. This way, he’ll be able to grow far more efficiently.’
That was only natural, for in a sense, the current Hesperon and she could be considered of the same kind.
...The kind commonly called “geniuses,” that is.
‘Of course, he’s a little different from Isea, who’s just a born genius... But if the results are similar, isn’t it all the same?’
All sorts of overlapping growth corrections, superior stats created by pouring in an enormous amount of karma, and the indirect assistance of Hans, who possessed skills such as “The Path of Magic” and “Wicked Wisdom.”
This was the true face of Hesperon, the manufactured genius mage.
‘For someone like me, an ordinary curriculum would be nothing but a waste of time.’
If his senior, Isea, cut away the “unnecessary” parts she had felt while learning magic before him and taught him only the condensed essentials, the time required for study could be dramatically reduced.
And with her know-how as someone who had reached the realm of an archmage added on top of that...
‘Good. Of course, he won’t be able to absorb all knowledge in just ten days, but even after returning to the imperial palace, he’ll continue meeting her anyway. There’s no need to be impatient already.’
Rattle—!
At last, the carriage that had crossed the capital arrived at the Zeron Great Temple.
As soon as the party stepped down from the imperial palace’s splendid carriage, they were immediately guided to the gate room.
And the second reason Hesperon had followed the hero’s party lay right here—
“Then, High Priest, please send us to the Glatan Territory of the Lesk Kingdom.”
“Understood, Saint. Now, the rest of your party, please come this way as well. I will activate the gate.”
By sheer coincidence, the next destination of the party led by Saint Heinrich was none other than the Lesk Kingdom.
And that place was.
The hometown of the spearman Jios Kalkin, a member of the hero’s party...
And the land where the self-proclaimed “otherworlder” he had spoken of was living in seclusion.
***
After the battle that took place in Zeron, the capital of the empire, a wager was established between Saint “Heinrich Saint Landguard” and the Immortal King “Hannibal Strauss.”
The basic outline was a battle between the Immortal King’s forces, who would attack a randomly selected location, and the hero, who had to stop them without any prior information.
It could truly be called a battle between spear and shield.
The rules themselves were overwhelmingly advantageous to the Immortal King’s side, but since this wager could dramatically reduce the damage suffered by ordinary people, the conditions were not too bad for the hero’s side either.
Though those still suffering from monsters steeped in madness would hardly agree.
‘Of course, this is only possible on the premise that someone capable of detecting the attack in advance exists.’
Otherwise, they would simply be one-sidedly struck down.
And the “attack” spoken of here did not simply refer to a large-scale air raid.
“...I found them.”
Glatan City, the central city of the Viscounty of Glatan in the Lesk Kingdom.
In an alley a little removed from the main road where many people came and went, Isea, who had been standing with her eyes gently closed, flashed her eyes open along with a brief remark.
“Where are they?”
“I’ll link you.”
As soon as her words ended, the party’s minds connected, and certain coordinates began to appear in their heads.
“...Three places?”
“That’s what I found for now. One seems to be the clock tower in the square over there, but we’ll have to go directly to the other two to know what they are.”
The type of attack this time was an indiscriminate terror attack carried out by secretly bringing magical tools into the city and performing a large-scale ritual.
It was a method that had been used several times before, and the kinds varied greatly according to the tendencies of the attackers.
From explosion-type rituals that physically blew away the surroundings, to contamination-type rituals that spread energy fatal to humans, to sacrificial-type rituals that offered up the lives in an entire area as tribute.
In addition to those, this type included all sorts of bizarre and unimaginable forms.
“However, since the ritual hasn’t started yet, I haven’t been able to determine exactly what kind it is. For now, all I’ve done is pick out the places where the flow of mana seems suspicious.”
“Good. I’d prefer it if we never find out from here on either.”
“Kheung! Then shall we move right away? Let’s smash them before the ritual even begins! Since there are three places, the three of us can split up! Miss, you stay here and prepare for any contingencies!”
“......”
At Harley’s words, Jios, who had been standing silently beside them, gripped his spear tightly.
Facing battle against the Immortal King’s subordinates... against “enemies,” he, as always, had both eyes wavering with murderous intent, his body twitching repeatedly as if he would charge out at any moment.
“Please wait a moment. Let’s confirm things properly first.”
However, Heinrich stopped them and shook his head.
If matters had already broken out, that would be one thing, but they could not come to another person’s territory and create a ruckus without so much as a word.
He turned his gaze to the side and looked at the man who had been continuously wiping cold sweat away with a handkerchief.
A knight sent by the territory after they had contacted them in advance; he was the person responsible for public order in this city.
“...Indeed, these are not locations where our territory’s facilities are located. They should all have simply been ordinary places...”
The knight, who had received the coordinates through Isea, took a map from his breast and examined it before closing his eyes tightly with a sigh.
Though the hero’s party’s visit had allowed them to identify the abnormality in advance, the current situation itself was by no means good news for him.
Even if this matter was resolved well, the fact that the city’s defenses had been breached was clear, so he would not be able to avoid responsibility afterward.
‘Whew—still, is it fortunate that we discovered it now? What if a real catastrophe had occurred?’
It would depend on the scale of the damage, but punishment for that would likely not have ended at the level of simple discipline.
This time, they truly had to consider themselves relatively lucky.
“Ah! We will provide support from our security forces. The more troops we have, the better it will be for handling this properly.”
“No. If a large number of troops move, they will notice that something has gone wrong. If that happens, we don’t know what they might do in their final struggle.”
“Th-then...?”
Heinrich gave a gentle smile to the knight looking at him anxiously and continued in a solemn voice.
“Hmm, still, it would be best to prepare just in case. First, station only a small elite force around the target points, and may I ask that the rest of the troops guide nearby residents to evacuate in the event something happens?”
“Ah! That much is no problem. B-but when you say something happens...?”
The knight trailed off with an inexplicable sense of unease and cautiously looked at the Saint before him.
The smile hanging on his lips was as benevolent as before, yet somehow, unlike earlier, it sent a chill down his spine.
“Naturally—”
Before Heinrich, who had opened his mouth, could even finish his sentence.
“Kahahaha! We’ll be the ones barging in and smashing them all to pieces!”
The one who continued his words was Harley, who burst into a savage laugh as he gripped the handle of the battle axe slung over his back.
“...Hrr.”
And on top of that, there was Jios Kalkin, holding a long spear and letting out an eerie laugh.
Gulp—
At that, the knight unconsciously swallowed and discreetly took a step back.
Thinking that, as expected of members of the death squad, they were strange... no, extraordinary.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
When Isea frowned at the gaze that had unconsciously turned toward her, the knight quickly turned his head back and wiped away his cold sweat.
After all, this little girl who was with them did not seem ordinary either.
***
Since they had already identified where the enemies were hiding, cleaning them up was not difficult.
Slash—!
Heinrich’s blade of light, as always, refreshingly cut down the enemy.
“Krahaha! Come at me, you bastards!”
Harley tore the enemies apart as boldly as usual.
“Die!”
And Jios, whose eyes had gone mad upon facing black mages, unleashed his fury and punched holes through their bodies.
Identifying any unexpected situations was the role of Isea, who handled rear support.
The enemies, as if unwilling to be defeated so emptily, used every method they could, from overloading the magic circle to suicide attacks, but...
To the party, which had grown used to such methods through repeated battles over several months, it was nothing more than meaningless resistance.
“Something felt easier this time compared to before. Should I say it felt a little lacking, as if they started preparing in a hurry?”
When the incident finally concluded without major damage and the party gathered in one place again, Isea tilted her head with a somewhat doubtful expression.
“Uhaha! Well, it’s a good thing we stopped it without major damage! Didn’t we barge in before they had even finished preparing this time?”
“Hmm, that could be it. Well, I suppose there are times like this.”
“Haha, everyone, you worked hard! Even though I was only watching from the side, I was terribly nervous. As expected, all of you are amazing!”
While the rest of the party was noisily talking like that.
“Saint.”
Jios, who had returned to his gloomy expression the moment the battle ended and had been deep in thought about something, quietly approached Heinrich.
And the words he then spoke were.
The very words Heinrich had inwardly been longing for.