Chapter 23-24

Chapter 23 - The Warrior Who Became a Hero

I was in the courtroom with all the knights lined up in a row.

Behind the knights, the nobles were lined up in formal attire. In the midst of them all stood Count Roane.

On the throne in the background sits the king of the nation of Armand.

I felt like I was being suffocated by the whole atmosphere.

I was born in a small country-town, and raised by ordinary parents in an ordinary way, so I am not familiar with this kind of situation at all. I don't know what I should do, either.

Kaede, who is standing next to me, has a proud expression on her face for some reason. It's like she's saying; "that's right, he's my master!"

"Toru Eiban. Kaede Tamamo. Both of you, step forward."

I followed the instructions and knelt before His Majesty the King. According to the instructions I received beforehand, we are not supposed to raise our heads until we hear the voice of the king.

According to Jonathan, today is an official hearing.

If we are rude, we will be thrown in jail immediately.

Even the hero who saved the country would be beheaded on the spot.

Countless eyes in our surroundings are looking at us.

"Why do they allow a slave to be in a place like this?"

"She's very beautiful."

"His majesty has allowed her to be present in this place. Watch what you say."

I could hear what some of the nobles were saying.

Most things are about Kaede.

I'm the star of this place and no one is talking about me.

Well, I guess it's okay. I didn't do this for attention.

Finally, the king breaks his silence.

"The defeat of the Queen of the Death Ants has been successful. Although our army had already defeated most of them, it had become very complicated to finish them off due to them hiding in their burrow."

"Certainly… It was very problematic."

"I cannot deny that fact. Our troops are very powerful, but this time, the enemy was more cunning. What would have become of our royal capital without you? On behalf of all our people, I thank you for all your efforts."

"I appreciate your words."

I'm so nervous that my stomach churns. I'm not used to using honorifics, so I'm not very good at it.

We were allowed to stand up, and suddenly a carriage was brought to us.

There was a pile of white gold coins glittering inside the carriage.

"There are seven hundred million there."

"!?"

I looked directly at the king with surprise.

Our agreement was for 300 million. Why 400 million more?

"This extra money is a gift from me. I don't want you to hesitate to accept it."

"Thank you very much."

"Also, there's one more thing."

Hey, we agreed it would just be money. You're not going to tell me I'm going to be a hero now, are you?

If that happens, I will be stuck in this country.

"I am considering awarding the title of hero to the 'Manyu Brigade', of which you are the leader."

The royal audience hall went into awe.

I had never heard of giving a hero title to a party.

Normally it is awarded to an individual, so what this king just said sounds a little crazy.

The king opened his mouth again and continued talking, as if he didn't care about the agreement we had reached.

"I have always wondered why it is always one person who gets the title. The hero is a person who travels all over the country together with his party, it means that he is not the only strong one, but all those who make up the party. What about the rest of the people, don't they deserve to be heroes too?"

I'm sure they do. Should the party change all its core members, then clearly the difference in ability will significantly change. It is not necessarily that they have been strong in the past, but that they will also continue to be strong in the future.

The king crosses his legs and smiles even more.

"The title of hero can be revoked, and when you are no longer useful, you can be discarded, and in case you no longer want to be one, there is always the option of training a successor, Toru."

"I see."

The king's words seem to have convinced the nobles.

It is as if they had been convinced by force. Including me.

He found a hole in our agreement, I said I didn't want a title. But giving it to the party is crazy.

What should I look like when I go to the guild?

"After all, Master is Master!"

"What does that mean?"

Kaede quoted such words with a big smile.

Slaves rejoice when their master becomes a hero. From my point of view, this is an extremely problematic situation.

In this way, the king gave me a bracelet called "Title of Hero".

"You can use this place as much as you want."

"Thank you very much."

Thanks to Jonathan's contacts, we were able to rent a house in the royal capital.

It is a small and cozy house. However, the exterior and interior look quite elegant.

We're going to leave sooner or later anyway, so there's no need to force us to buy one.

Kaede pulled a teapot and two cups from her luggage and headed for the kitchen.

However, she quickly turned around and said;

"Would you like some tea, Master?"

"Sure thing. How about you, Jonathan?"

"I'll have to decline the invitation, I have to go home."

He took his hand off the front doorknob and turned, saying;

"That letter contained a request from Roane to His Majesty. He wants you to be the hero of this country."

"Is that why they made me take care of the ants?"

"Yes. A hero has to have achievements that make him worthy of the title. No matter how close you are to me and His Majesty, it is something that is not easily bestowed."

Finally it was clear to me. In the end, nothing was as complicated as I thought it would be.

Jonathan and the king were working with the premise of making me a hero from the beginning.

And it was Count Roane who made the plan.

It looks like he was manipulating me, all along, like I was in the palm of his hand.

I look at the gold bracelet on my arm and suddenly a question comes to me.

"The king has granted the title to the 'Manyu Brigade', is it still wrong for us to leave the country?"

He walked out the front door as if he had said all he had to say. It was a little annoying, but I guess it doesn't matter as long as I can keep traveling.

Anyway, I need a place to settle down, so it's not a bad idea to stay in this country after the trip is over.

"Master, I brought you some tea."

"Thank you."

I sit in a chair and take a sip.

Haaa.

The backpack was moving from side to side. Suddenly, Panda emerges from a gap.

It floated in the air and landed on the table.

"Why do you always look like a cushion?"

"Kyui!"

Indignantly, he flew off to the kitchen where Kaede is.

I was surprised that he was angry about it.

I guess I should apologize later.

Knock knock.

Someone knocks on the front door.

"One moment please."

Kaede runs to the door and opens it.

It was Count Roane who was there.

"I heard you were here. I thought I'd stop by and say hello."

"Please go ahead."

The Count sat across from me and smiled.

"Well, I've become the hero, just like you wanted."

"Hahaha, I can't claim that it was something I wished for. But I did it with the thought of thanking you while granting you the best reward for saving my daughter."

"I suppose it's all right. Did you come alone?"

I thought Marianne was coming with him too since we were here, or is he going somewhere else later?

This guy looks quiet, but he's actually a womanizer. No wonder he's wandering around somewhere.

"She stayed at the mansion. However, she was very insistent on coming, since she wanted to see you."

Marianne is currently in the midst of training to be a wife.

Urara is the one who is training her, and apparently she is a very tough teacher.

So Marinane has found a good future husband.

"Toru, did you know that even a commoner can marry a noblewoman if he becomes a hero?"

"I heard it somewhere, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing now, but in the future maybe…"

He twisted his neck as he muttered something.

I still can't understand the nobles.

The count rose from his seat.

"You're going to the auction, right? I hear it's being held tomorrow night, so you should go. You might find a lot of interesting things."

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

"You'll find out when you visit the place. Now I have to go, if you'll excuse me."

The front door closed silently.

…Interesting things?

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Chapter 24 - The Hero's failures Part 3

After leaving Einark, we heard a rumor.

"A dungeon has appeared near the royal capital."

It seems that the dungeon has not been explored yet, and due to the high level of difficulty, it has not even been mapped properly.

In addition, it appears that many of the items that have appeared are rare.

We decided to challenge it immediately.

"It's in the middle of a very deep forest."

"I don't like the entrance area, it's very ugly."

"Who cares, let's go in!"

"Nei, stay calm. This is a high difficulty-level dungeon, which means the enemies are also high level."

In the middle of a deep forest, there is a huge hole.

In the center of it was the entrance to the dungeon.

A few meters away there were some adventurers camping.

I used my appraisal skills, but didn't find anything irregular. They are all low level.

I almost blew it.

It pains me to say that I'm desperate for a challenge, but we're going to have to make our way here.

I couldn't even challenge the Luntatta dungeon. I'm going to vent all my frustration here. Besides, I'm sure the world will be amazed when I beat a high difficulty dungeon.

I will get the sacred sword and make my name known to all people.

Now I just need to get some rare items for the battle against the Demon King.

The time is not yet right, but sooner or later I will embark on a journey to defeat the Demon King. It's a good idea to prepare now so that I won't have any failures when I do.

"Let's go!"

"""Alright.""""

"Hiiiiiiiiiii! What was that?!"

"Sain, wait for me!"

"Lisa, you have to run! If they catch you, you're dead!"

"But I have Soara on my back!"

A blue-bodied orc was chasing us wildly.

No, there are ten.

Ordinary orcs are no match for us.

Whether it's 20 or 30, we're sure we can finish them in a flash.

But these orcs are even more dangerous.

They are all level 50.

Normal orcs are between level 5 and 20, so it's a whole nother story fighting these orcs.

I'm sure because I used my appraisal skill to check their stats.

Besides, we are still only on the second floor. If this is the difficulty of the second floor, what kind of hell will we encounter further down?

This is dangerous. The difficulty of this dungeon is beyond me.

"Hey, Sain! Don't leave Lisa and Soara!"

"Shut up! It's their fault for being so slow!"

I'm in the lead, Nei is behind me and Lisa is running behind her with Soara unconscious on her back.

Damn, I didn't even calculate this.

I wanted to finish this easily and get some rare items.

I'd like to at least kill that damn orc and get some experience, but it has an intelligence I've never seen before in other monsters.

If I try to attack them all at once, they show signs of being alert and keep their distance.

They are also very agile and can use magic.

Soara, who was hit on the head by a magical earthen rock, fainted and is now a useless burden.

"Sleep Arrow!"

Lisa used a dream magic targeting the orc.

However, upon hitting its target, the magic arrow disappeared completely.

"No way, it's too tough!"

"We don't need that – we need a wall! Build a wall to hold them back!"

"Good!"

Lisa made a wall of earth appear in the hallway.

Aaah!

The orc broke through the wall with its body and, although it got tripped up a little, it continued to give chase fiercely.

"You're useless!"

"Sorry!"

Well, we're almost to the stairs.

If we get to the first level, they will give up.

I can see it now!

I went upstairs first, followed by Nei, Lisa and Soara.

"Gaaaaaaaaaahh!!!"

The orcs stopped in front of the staircase and shouted in rage.

Don't think some beasts can beat me.

This time, I will surrender, but as soon as I get the sacred sword, I will kill you.

"You've got to improve your magic! You're slowing me down!"

"I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Lisa collapsed, holding her cheek.

I was so angry that I reached for my sword.

"If only Soare hadn't fainted, none of this would have happened."

"I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"Hey, enough is enough – what's the point of having a divided team?"

"...You're right."

Nei's words helped me cool down.

There are a lot of people around here. Killing them would be bad for my reputation.

I need to calm down a bit too. A hero must be a smart man.

However, this party has become disorganized.

When Toru was here, no matter how irrational the situation, he always laughed it off.

I sneered at the thought.

Why am I thinking about that?!

No way did I trust that guy. He was just a simple burden. Someone like that can't be associated with a hero like me.

Damn, I can't stop this frustration.

"Oh, I got something good this time too!"

"This place is excellent! The amount of experience is good, the items are valuable and it's great to have a dungeon so close."

"If you know all the tricks, you can get to the second floor."

I saw three people coming out of the dungeon with their bulging backpacks.

Their levels were hovering in the thirties. I wondered how they managed to get rid of those orcs.

"Sain, what if we ask those people for advice?"

"Huh? Do you want me to bow my head?"

"But we won't get anywhere at this rate."

" ......."

It's extremely unpleasant. Me, a hero begging to be taught things?

"I'm going to pick some flowers."

"What for?"

"Don't you know, that's how a woman does her business."

"No, I was planning to talk to those three anyway, so stay here while I go."

The trio of girls lingered as I headed for the bushes.

What was the need for us to ask them for advice?

We can steal the things they have.

I am trying to save the world. A small sacrifice is like a necessary expense.

"Hold on a second."

"Well, let's rest for a bit in the meantime."

"Aaahhhh!"

"Hey! Don't run!"

I jumped out of the bushes and ran as fast as I could.

Men threw brown stuff at me with their bare bottoms exposed.

One of those things hits my back.

It sucks, it sucks, it sucks!

When I went to attack them, all three were relieving themselves with their rear fully exposed.

"Sain!"

"Yuck, you're covered in crap!"

"Aaah!"

The three girls made a face of disgust.

What kind of attitude is that even though they're such useless pigs?

"We must flee!"

I'm not stopping to pick up my backpack.

The three girls started running away with me too.

"You're not going to get away with this!"

"I'm going to crap on your body!"

"Come here, we're not finished with you!"

They still continued to chase us.

They are very persistent.

How humiliating. I'm the hero and I'm covered in crap.

I want to kill them right now, but if I stop, I'll be in the crossfire.

It is unbearable.

It's frustrating, but the right thing to do here is to run away.

Little by little, the distance between us and them widened and we lost sight of them.

I crouched down in a safe place and caught my breath.

"Hey Sain, you smell awful."

"I'm sorry, but I won't go near you for now."

"There's a river over there… Why don't you take a dip?"

The girls were far away from me.

Damn, this is the price I pay for screwing up.

Flies were beginning to swarm!

Get away from me! Get away from me!

Shaking my fist angrily, I headed toward the river.