Chapter 122: Heir (2)

He could not be held accountable for his crime.

It was only natural for Asher to express her incomprehension at the hero’s words.

A hero who had once saved the continent, an embodiment of justice who had slit the throats of demons.

Why would such a being say that an old, decrepit emperor could not be killed?

“…Why, because it would jeopardize your status as a hero hailed by all?”

Asher’s voice was choked with anger, but what she said was not the reason.

The hero was not someone who acted for the sake of her own honor. Even if the hero were to execute the emperor, as long as she had the justification, it would not greatly harm the hero’s reputation.

In any case, she was an irreplaceable presence in Santea, and if she set her mind to it, she had more than enough ability to deal with him. There was only one reason.

“Because, as it stands, I cannot control the chaos that will ensue in Santea after I kill the Emperor.”

I pondered the hero’s response silently.

The hero’s principle of action was always consistent: peace in the world.

But she was also a person who knew better than anyone else the difference between idealism and reality.

She was not a hero from a fairy tale who would blindly commit any action to uphold her beliefs.

The emperor was a cunning and sly man. He understood the hero’s mindset well and had already prepared all the resources he could muster to counter the hero’s movements.

One prominent example was his incitement of even more dirty and brutal struggles among his children who were eligible to inherit the throne.

This was to ensure that his abdication or death would cause as much chaos and disruption to the empire as possible.

It was a time when the invasion of demons was imminent, and everyone needed to unite.

Therefore, the hero could not just kill the emperor.

She was someone who had more tasks and responsibilities than anyone else. It was impossible to uproot everything that was tangled up in the governance of Santea, like a spider web centered around the emperor, and set it right again.

At least for the time being, the Emperor was fulfilling his role well enough that she had no choice but to look the other way.

The hero did not bother to explain the complicated situation. Whether she thought it was just an excuse or not was unknown.

Asher watched the hero quietly and sighed.

She seemed to be looking at me, so I intervened and said, “It’s okay. If you have something to say, say it all.”

The hero also nodded her head.

Asher hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “I know it’s ridiculous to blame you like this.”

“…”

“It’s just my tribe’s business. The plight of a now-forgotten minority race in the world shouldn’t be your concern.”

“…I don’t think that way. You have the right to hold the Emperor and I accountable. Even if you resent and hate me, I have nothing to say.”

That’s not just talk, she really thought that way.

This was the most emotion I saw on the hero’s expressionless face since I met her.

Asher lowered her head.

“I was just curious about the reason. That’s all. I only follow Sir Ron’s will.”

With that, she bowed sharply.

“I apologize for the disrespect I have caused you.”

She apologized to the hero in a polite but emotionless tone.

The hero looked at Asher with a slightly embarrassed expression before turning her gaze to me.

The conversation ended awkwardly, but since Asher seemed to have nothing more to say, I decided to end it there.

“Asher, as I said before, we will now move to find the heir with the hero.”

I said to the hero.

“The location of the heir is the Ramon Mountain Range in the east of Santea.”

“…!”

“It’s not completely accurate. But the probability of the heir being somewhere around there is very high.”

“Ramon Mountain Range…”

The hero seemed to be lost in thought for a moment and asked, “Are we going to move right now?”

“Yes. There’s no reason to delay.”

It wouldn’t take long to get to the Ramon Mountain Range by riding on Ti-Yong, not to mention the hero.

After a moment of thought, I changed my mind and said, “No, let’s leave tomorrow morning.”

Since I would be away from my seat for a while, it would be better to organize anything that needed to be sorted out before leaving.

After setting the time for departure with the hero, Asher and I left the inn.

Asher’s feelings towards the hero seemed to be somewhat negative, but fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any major problems.

“Asher.”

“Yes.”

“I want you to tell me your honest thoughts about the hero.”

I asked Asher on the way back to the castle.

After a considerable silence, Asher replied, “Honestly, I don’t have good feelings for her.”

“Do you resent her?”

“As far as resentment—— no, it’s my job to deal with the emperor. Who am I to blame anyone else, just…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but I understood what she’s trying to say.

The massacre of the White Moon tribe was clearly unrelated to the hero, but on the other hand, the hero could have prevented it.

Furthermore, even though the hero had the ability to judge the Emperor’s wrongdoings, she chose not to.

Even if she understood that the hero’s situation was complicated, it was hard for her to accept. Reason and emotion were not the same thing.

Then Asher said with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry for causing concern, Sir Ron. I’m fine now. My heart was just briefly disturbed.”

“Okay…”

Anyway, there didn’t seem to be any immediate big problem.

It would be nice if they could maintain a good relationship with each other, but it was not as if the relationship between the hero and Asher was important for the future.

***

When I returned to the castle, I had to greet another guest.

“Chief of Staff?”

Chief of Staff Dayphon had arrived while I was out.

The Chief of Staff, who was standing at the entrance of the castle, greeted me politely.

“It’s been a while, Seventh Lord.”

It was the first time the Chief of Staff had come to the castle since the incident with the Sixth Lord.

When I looked at him with a curious look, he immediately stated his reason for visiting.

“I’m here because I’ve heard from Her Lordship regarding the Magic Tower incident, and I’m glad to see you’re alive and well.”

“…”

Well, there’s nothing else, really.

I went into the castle with the Chief of Staff, who said he wanted to talk.

“What did you come here to talk about?”

I asked as we sat down across from each other, and the Chief of Staff took a sip of the tea the butler had served.

Knowing my personality, the Chief of Staff quickly brought up the reason for his visit.

“Do you remember the intelligence officer rescued by the Seventh Lord at the scene?”

“Yes.”

“I heard from that intelligence officer that the Flaveros tower master had a contract with the Archdemon named Ditrodemian. Also, that the Seventh Lord executed Ditrodemian on the spot and that you hid your traces for a while afterward.”

I looked at him with a “so what” expression.

Honestly, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that the Overlord’s intentions were mixed up with Ditrodemian’s appearance.

Perhaps feeling pressured as I intently stared at him to read his intentions, the Chief of Staff spoke in a slightly tense tone.

“I want to hear directly from the Seventh Lord what happened at the scene.”

How should I answer?

I was lost in thought.

I didn’t want to talk about the monastery at all.

The Overlord might already know about the emergence of the hero at the Robelgio Monastery.

But it was information she would have to learn eventually, and if she did, I didn’t want her to find out about my connection to the hero.

“I understand that Seventh Lord had been following Her Lordship’s order. If it’s related to the Magic Tower incident, I hope the Seventh Lord could provide the necessary information.”

Since I didn’t answer for a long time, the Chief of Staff spoke again.

The assassination of Flaveros Tower Master was what I had promised to do for the Overlord. Therefore, it was necessary to disclose what had happened during the process.

I purposely let out a fake laugh, slightly exaggerated. The Chief of Staff stopped talking.

“It’s a little annoying.”

As if I hadn’t gone through enough because of this incident.

Fighting with Ditrodemian, being stranded alone in Santea’s border and meeting other archdemons in succession, I didn’t know how many times I almost died. Of course, I also met the hero thanks to that.

Anyway, I went through such a hardship because of the Overlord, and the Chief of Staff’s words were enough to piss me off.

If one didn’t want to answer a question, then they shouldn’t. And right now, I had every reason to do just that.

“Chief of Staff.”

“…”

“Is it a coincidence that Ditrodemian showed up there?”

I asked as coldly as possible.

The Chief of Staff, swallowing his saliva cautiously, seemed to understand the meaning of my words and said,

“You are mistaken — The appearance of Ditrodemian has not the slightest relation to the will of the Overlord.”

“I see. It’s just a miserable coincidence that he appeared at the moment I was trying to handle the Tower Master, which happened to be his demon contractor.”

“…”

“Tell the Overlord. I’m going to need a proper explanation for this that I can live with.”

I said that and ordered the Chief of Staff to leave.

“I understand. I will convey it to Her Lordship.”

The Chief of Staff had no choice but to leave without asking any more questions.

I figured if I came out this hard, I’d be able to get away with it somehow. After all, I’d taken care of that Tower Master as promised.

***

Nothing in particular happened while I was gone.

When I couldn’t see the siblings, I asked and found out that Reef had gone on a mission with some of the trainees to a northern city, and Rigon had gone with her.

Reef and Rigon seemed to have settled into the castle by now.

I took a day off to rest and took Ti-Yong with me to leave the castle early the next morning with Asher.

I told the butler that I would be away for a while, so he should manage things well without any problems until I returned.

The hero had finished preparing in the forest outside the city and was waiting.

The hero gave Ti-Yong a curious glance.

“Is that your wyvern, Seventh Lord?”

“Yes.”

“Black wyverns aren’t easy to get along with, but it looks like you have a good companion.”

The hero gently stroked Ti-Yong’s wing.

For a creature that vehemently disliked being touched by anyone other than myself, it strangely didn’t show any particular antipathy to the warrior. It merely purred and looked at me with an awkward posture.

Come to think of it, did the hero originally have a wyvern too?

I remembered the hero’s wyvern must have died in the war with the demons.

It was killed by the demons while fighting alongside her.

“Will you fly on the wyvern with us?”

The hero shook her head.

“It’s okay. I’ll fly next to you.”

There was no problem since we weren’t going to fly directly to our destination without stopping at cities along the way.

“Then let’s leave right away.”

With that, we were ready to go.

Kroooh!

Ti-Yong roared loudly and took off into the sky first, followed by the hero.

Let’s go find the heir of the Holy Sword in the Ramon Mountain Range.