CHAPTER 23: WHO IS IT THAT WE MUST PROTECT? (2)

"Heroes of another world. Once again, we thank you for your aid on this fight that was certainly hard." The king takes the floor and starts speaking to us with no interest whatsoever. This guy is pissing me off. "I always heard from the stories that almost half of the heroes who head out to fight against demons die during their first fight. But seeing you all here right now means that our knights were able to prepare you in the best shape possible."

"Kevin?"

I suddenly hear a distant noise like an explosion. Sarah who saw me looking away anxiously pulls on my arm.

"What is it?"

"The king is looking at you." She whispers to me and when I look the guy is fixating me.

"You, in particular, young hero, have been the star of the day. I heard that you even went and face their commander, risking your life for us. For that, I thank both you and Sir Telestal without who it wouldn't have been possible. Sadly…"

The king closes his eyes and right after, the door opens once again and this time,Telestal is brought by knights that have chained him down. The customs of this country are weird. Though, I can sort of understand what is going to happen.

"Teles…" Emilia whispers his name but doesn't dare to say anything else.

If I remember correctly, he was to stop the demons at the border if he wanted Emilia to remain a Valkyrie. So that means now, she will not be one anymore, right? The knights put him on his knees and the king smiles like a demon. Yeah, this is getting stupid.

"Telestal Von Farris. You have failed to suppress the demons at the border. The honor of your family has been tarnished by your failure but as the last representative of your family, it will thankfully end with you. Unless you have an heir that you would like to make public now."

"I do not my king. There is but one woman I ever loved."

"I see. Then-"

"Hey! What is this?!" Finally, someone wants to put an end to this. Thanks, David. "I thought we were about to receive the gold you told us about at the beginning. "Why are you wasting our time with this shit?!"

"Yeah, he is right. We have fought the demons as you told us to. Give us what you promised."

The heroes all start whispering, and noise takes over the place.

"Even though Will did everything. Bastards." I hear Sarah whispering some pretty harsh words as well. I didn't know she was one to curse.

"Sir heroes, I believe you didn't hear me correctly. My words and the words of the church of the god of law and balance were certainly clear. You will receive compensation in form of gold weighing twenty times your weight once the demon king is defeated, not before."

"Yeah, and we weren't stupid enough to die for you shitty people. So now that we have fought, pay up."

With David's speech, some of the boys start advancing as if to threaten the king. This is becoming both interesting and annoying at the same time. Also, it seems something has entered the castle. I can somehow feel an odd and uncomfortable presence coming.

"It would seem you don't realize the current situation." The king looks at the woman who is emitting that mysterious energy and the next moment, all the heroes, except me, fall to their knees. I can feel a small pressure over my head though. There is also a slight headache that is sprouting in my head for nothing.

"W-what?"

"Let me remind you that your powers were given by the god of law and balance to defend our people. Trying to harm us isn't something you should even be thinking about." The king speaks with distrust and animosity now. When will all this farce end; seriously?

"Now, I hope that you-"

"Why are you still standing?" While the king was about to continue, the woman interrupts him by talking to me. I would like to say that I forgot to kneel like the others but since I didn't, there is no use.

Because of her, the knights and the other priests present all look at me now. Even Telestal looks for a minute before smiling.

"Why should I kneel?"

"This is impossible." As if to confirm it, the woman raises her hand towards me, and the pressure from earlier increases, forcing me to use my aura.

"H-how?"

"A hero that can use aura! How is that possible?! Telestal, what did you do?!"

The oh-so-great king gets up from his seat as I release my aura. It's like he has just seen a ghost. Also, I can tell more clearly now. Something has just entered the room. It would seem to be an assassin again, but I think it is a different one compared to earlier.

"Hero, what training did you follow with our knight to-"

"Are we really going to continue to waste time like this?" The way this is going, it won't ever end unless I make it stop. "Emilia, should I do it or do you want to?" The current assassin is not as good as that woman. He can't hide his desire to kill like her.

Emilia simply nods as she seems to understand what I mean.

"What are you talking about?! And who gave you the right to call her-"

"Oraa!" In a flash, Emilia unsheathes her sword and launches it at the ceiling.

"Hiss!!" A big spider with a human's head then appears. The pressure that the woman is creating on us also subsides. The stomach of the spider that has been pierced has turned into steel. It can't move anymore unless someone pulls out the sword.

"H-how? When? What are you guys doing?!! Kill it!!" The king finally turns hysteric and starts screaming like a maiden in distress.

Does he seriously think anyone will help him after what he just did? Instead of minding him or the priests and knights that have started panicking as well, I go to Telestal and break his chain with my sword. The two knights who brought don't even try to stop me.

"You have sacrificed your arm for me. That was completely uncalled for. But thanks." I help him stand back up and when he is on his feet, he smiles at me then places his hand on my head.

"You are too young to understand."

"What? Hey, I am sixteen already, what do you mean, young, Aren't you only twenty-four?"

"Yeah, I lived eight years more than you. It's enough to understand some things."

The atmosphere of the room gradually heats up as many people have their own emotions they want to evacuate.

"Hiss!!"

However, the spider doesn't stay sit politely for long. It suddenly spurts a purple liquid towards me and while I dodge it, I take a knife on the waist of the knight to my left and launch at the thing. Its head is pierced, and it turns to smoke. I didn't use any magic so now I am sure of it. It is required to be a hero to kill them. So his theory about a connection between the demons and the god of law and balance must be true.

"W-what the hell was that?" Yeah, David. I wonder as well.

"That was a spider demon. They sometimes use them to assassinate people." The woman who restrained everyone's movements starts speaking, she seems to be very knowledgeable about all this. "But if one has managed to slip in, it means that the barrier isn't working properly anymore. We sh-" Before she can finish, somebody busts open the door. A soldier faces us with blood and dirt on his body and sweat on his face.

"T-the underground passage has collapsed!!"

"WHAT?!!"

Not only him, even Telestal and the other knights are screaming. What underground passage are they talking about?

"H-how can this be?"

The king falls to the ground like all hope is lost. Wait, could it be that we are fucked. Telestal puts his hand on his temple as well and takes a hard expression.

"What is that underground passage?" If I don't ask now, I don't think anybody else will. Plus, it seems most of the other heroes are still in the daze of their previous restrictions.

"Sigh…it is a passage that was created a long time ago in case we are overwhelmed by demons. It has been used many times before in the past so why now of all times…"

Telestal answers me with a desperate-sounding voice. I guess it is really bad.

"This…this all your fault!!!" The king points his fingers at me out of nowhere.

"What?" Wait, what?

"You are a bad omen!! You and Telestal who have faced the demons and shown them our potential too early!! It is your fault we are in this situation!" So, you don't even try to understand what is the origin of the collapse and you would just blame it on us, heh. What a king you are.

"He is right! This guy was bad news since way back!! That's why I was always beating him up!!" Hm…David, you just lost all possible considerations I had for you. What you just said bears no meaning nor pride.

"Were you always this-"

"He is right! This guy is bad news! Someone I know died once because of him!" Eleonor opens her mouth as well and things start to become really annoying.

"We should kill him! He might be a spy of the demons!"

"Yeah!! Let's kill him!!"

"Kill him!!"

Are you guys for real? This is turning into a comedy show and frankly speaking, it is not a very funny one.

At the same time, the priest woman, and Emilia use their powers. Not only do all the students fall on their knees, but they also faint for some because of her aura.

"What blasphemy this is?!" The woman now has a harsh and angry tone. Hey, this is your fault, to begin with. Don't look at me like that.