People's Love is Blind
Everyone cheered as the slime monster disintegrated. The green smoke slowly dissipated, replaced by clean, fresh air. The black marks on the villagers were also healing.
"LONG LIVE THE PRINCE!"
They applauded Pavor, who was smiling not for their praise. He was still looking at the broken Lynx Vanguard by his side, who picked up her father's head with a conflicted expression.
Though he was not able to fully break her psyche, he was sure that he had made quite the damage on it.
He can picture her mind and strong will like an impenetrable red brick wall, and yet he had managed to put some cracks on it. Soon, those cracks will grow until they fully collapse.
It was not because he had a strong hatred for Lynx Vanguard specifically though. He intended to do the same with every Retaliator, no…..
He wanted to break every human. He just enjoyed torturing humans very much.
These blind, foolish humans... Hailing him as a hero right now, just like how they worship their gods so easily. How easily they worship 'her'.
Davien the priest suddenly spoke. "People of Baileif, rejoice for the Prince that has saved your town. Let us express to him our gratitude and celebrate this day with festivities!"
The crowd cheered in agreement. "Your Highness, we owe you our lives!"
Even the rich nobles of the area were thankful, like the feudal lords that rule over this town. "Please accept anything you ask of us! Wine, riches, even our finest maidens….. All yours!"
"This day shall be written in records of our town's history.
The people encroached on all sides, wanting to embrace him and touch him. But before they could do so…..
He flashed his dark sword, making them take a few steps back as they gasped!
"Don't come any closer!"
He then lowered his voice, trying to sound more calm. "I... am still contaminated by the monster's dark essence. Allow me to cleanse myself first. I do not require any gifts or celebrations, just... Some rest after this intense battle."
He expected the people to be a little confused by his behavior, but then they all just laughed.
"Of course! Our Dark Prince was always so humble!"
"I have heard tales from other towns that were graced by the Champion, but I never expected that he would truly be so modest! Truly a hero not like any other, selfless and without greed or pride!"
"His love for humanity is truly beyond compare, asking for nothing in return."
Pavor was speechless for a moment. These humans....
They truly only see what they want to see.
He smirked at this irony and shook his head. Ah…. Let them believe what they want to believe then. That just makes his new life easier.
He can still do 'not-so-good' deeds covered in an illusion of good intentions. And these humans will easily mistake a wolf for a sheep if it wore its clothing. What matters now....
Was to gain points from these 'missions' and learn the 'Secret of The World'.
The excitement soon died down as more priests of Amore had come to fully purify any remaining fear essence. Other Retaliators also arrived to get Tudo and Lynx's report of what happened. They were pulled into the invitation of the town's high society for a party, and celebrated at a nearby tavern.
But because the death was that of her own father, they let Lynx not join the festivities much as she drowned herself in alcohol. Bottles and bottles of it to forget what happened.
The champions of the Goddess Violentia have never been great when dealing with sadness, pain and grief. They were expected to tough it out, and take every death as a natural part of battle. And so they hide it away or get drunk to numb it out.
Pavor, being the god of fear, never truly felt sadness and grief. At least...
It had been so very long since he felt it that it felt like it never happened at all. He only felt more invigorated as humans suffered from the loss of a loved one, but never empathized with them.
After all, he had no one. So there was no one to mourn for.
"Father... Mother..."
He passed by two children crying on the streets on his way to the palace. While everyone was busy, he slipped away easily by foot, taking the route of the forest to not be spotted easily.
The younger child was perhaps only six or seven years old, the older one somewhere around 11 to 13. Their hair was matted and the color of dirty hay left too long in the sun, so coarse and dry. They were looking at the entrails left by the Mysophobodemon.
There was not much left of the corpses' mutilated bodies, but perhaps there was enough for the boy to recognize them.
While everyone else was celebrating, he and many more that lost loved ones could not join in the festivities.
"Hic…. Please wake up... I'm scared to be alone, Father…. Mother..."
Pavor's red eyes suddenly flashed an eerie glow. He was drawn to feed on the boys' fear of abandonment but…..
The persistent memories came again as soon as he had just a dollop of taste from it.
Their voices mixed with that of the two children in his memories.
"What will happen to us now? Father and Mother are dead...." The weaker voice said.
A stronger, more mature voice replied. "Well... We could only try to find a new home. And we must continue living, even by ourselves."
"Can we ever find that? A new home?"
"I believe so, little brother."
"Thank you, big brother—"
"Pavor!"
Pavor suddenly snapped out of his trance as he heard a voice calling out to him. An old woman's voice, along with the sounds of a carriage pulling over as it came into a halt.
It was the Queen of Erosith, Queen Alexandria.
"My son, what are you doing outside? Did you forget that today is when you will have lunch with us and the royal family of Sagacitur?" She asked. "Your father has done his best to keep them entertained, but he will be crossed if you make them wait too long."
Pavor frowned. "The royal family of Sagacitur?"
He then recalled that before he was even born, Xarian Plover was promised to Princess Minerva Saline from the Kingdom of Sagacitur. It was seen as a proper allegiance between the two kingdoms, as they always had a good relationship.
The Kingdom of Erosith primarily worships Amore, and everyone actually treats her as their most important deity except for the cultists. But the secondary deity of other kingdoms may differ, and they become its 'patron' despite Amore still holding the number one place.
In the Kingdom of Sagacitur, the God of Logic, Mentem, was their 'patron'. They were blessed with gifted minds, especially when it comes to inventions and innovations.
Mentem was also the god who had blessed Tudo, and he actually came from that kingdom before becoming part of the Bulwark family. Sagacitur was an island, surrounded by the sea on all sides. And so it made sense that Tudo would come from a family of fishermen.
They must have truly traveled far just for this luncheon. But Pavor couldn't care any less.
He does NOT want to be betrothed.
Even if this was just marriage for political reasons, betrothal and marriage were highly associated with 'love'. And the fact that it was a facade just like most representations of love makes it so much more of an Amore thing more than anything.
But then the system notification appeared once more, and said:
[Congratulations on defeating the Phobodemon. You have received 100 Points, and reached Level 3. You have two Mission options to take.]
'I have options this time?' Pavor's red eyes gleamed with interest.
[Mission 1: Attend the luncheon and romance the princess
Or
Mission 2: Attend the luncheon and make her interested in someone else
Both options will yield to 200 points.]
Pavor grumbled, because either way, he had to attend this tedious luncheon. And both sound awful, because the first option required him to be the princess' lover while the second required him to play matchmaker and set her up with someone else.
Can't he just run away and avoid this princess affair altogether?
But his curiosity for the 'Secret of the World' won out in the end, and so he picked the lesser of two evils and went for Mission 2.
He'd rather romance a slime monster than a human.
"Very well, Mother." He went into the carriage, and suddenly had a grand idea.
Now that he thought about it, picking this option was not so bad. Because if he set her up with someone else...
Then the princess and her future lover would have to face the fear of being caught and hiding their relationship. That kind of paranoia that was birthed from love might be enough to even create a Phobodemon from one or both of them.
He smirked, and rubbed his hands together.
He couldn't wait to play the matchmaker of fear then.