The Daybreak Volume 1 Chapter 3

As usual, I continued my days moving back and forth only between my room and the rest of the manor. The only thing that had changed was that I no longer felt confined as if I had been imprisoned here.

I could accept the slight inconvenience if I told myself that I was staying obediently in the manor so that Ricardo, ever the worrywart, could have some peace of mind.

The wind blew fiercely when I stepped out into the garden. It would soon be the season where the plants that did well in dry weather would flourish. And after that would come the rainy season, where huge rainstorms occurred frequently. I wondered if someone would pick some of the herbs that only grew in this season for me if I asked, because I really wanted stock up on them while I could.

The azuli flowers had stopped blooming, and the side of the path that they had once colored had now been replaced by the green of gra.s.s. Perhaps the gardener had cut them all away before the petals could turn brown?

The tree that I had once used to support myself with rustled noisily in the wind when I took a few steps forward, but I saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

But Alf, who had been standing behind me, suddenly stepped forward.

The expression on his face was stiff, and I felt coldness coming off of him that I had only felt once before when he had refused to let me go outside. He cast his sharp gaze at the tree and moved in front of me like he was trying to hide me away.

The tension I felt from Alf instantly brought me back to the battlefield, despite that I was currently located in a completely different place and with completely different people.

I had to quickly grasp the situation and begin battle preparations if danger was closing in on us. Fortunately, the doctor had finally given me permission to use magic again.

I cast my eyes over at everything except what was directly in front of me and took note of anywhere where someone could be hiding and swiftly began to chant a spell. I readied myself to be able to use the most quickly effective spell I knew at a moment's notice. My heart beat like a noisy alarm and echoed in my ears.

The tree's branches bent unnaturally. Someone was hiding within them.

"Who's there?!"

I saw a black shadow between the gaps of the branches panicking at the sharp cry that Alf had let out.

I looked around at our surroundings but didn't see anyone else. It looked like they were alone.

The black shadow, who had been moving around the tree for a bit, noticed how Alf's eyes had never once left them and finally gave up, climbed down from the tree, and let their feet touch the ground.

Judging by his face and stature, I could make out that the intruder was someone aged between a boy and a young man with blond hair and green eyes. He was wearing a robe, like the ones that magicians preferred to wear while they worked. The robe seemed rather expensive, judging by its quality.

My tension wavered at how he didn't seem to intend on hiding.

"Ow ow ow……that was a bad landing."

The way he spoke while rubbing his ankle to make the pain go away was rather defenseless. Alf asked me what to do by turning only his gaze to me.

The intruder didn't even seem to notice that we were being wary of him as he continued to rub his ankle in a carefree manner. He didn't seem to be here to cause harm, but I answered Alf by nodding without saying anything out loud nonetheless.

"Who are you?"

The intruder straightened up at Alf's inquiry and named himself in an unexpectedly courteous manner.

"Oh, my apologies for showing up here of all places. My name is Rider Wraithe, and I'm a magician……or at least I'm trying to become one. Are the two of you servants from this manor?"

"And what if we are? We had no plans to receive guests today."

The boy named Rider scratched his head with a troubled look on his face when he finally noticed the stern looks we were giving him. The fact that he was refined even if his slightest moments was proof that he had been raised well.

"I'm sorry, but I was turned away when I tried asking at the front door. So I let myself in by climbing the walls, though I knew I was being rude."

"What business do you have here?"

That one sentence suddenly brought a sparkle to Rider's eyes as he began to speak with excitement.

"Oh! Right! I heard that the renowned Hero of Hedalion was staying here! I'm here because I really wanted to become his disciple. Won't you please let me meet him?"

The Hero of Hedalion? Was he talking about the rumors I had heard the other day? But why was he bringing up the Hero here?

Alf tensed up strangely and worded his next question carefully, as though he was trying to walk past a sleeping tiger.

"Where did you hear about that?"

"I asked people who had been stationed at Hedalion about him. Man, I had a really hard time because everyone's stories were really inconsistent for some reason."

Then, perhaps he was mistaken? After all, the only guest staying at this manor was me.

I let my guard down and dispersed my magic, but Alf was still glaring at the Rider sternly. It felt like he was panicking for some reason.

"Unfortunately, there's no such person here. Go back."

"In that case, I'll confirm it with my own eyes. I already know that someone's been staying in this manor. I didn't come all the way here with half-hearted feelings. I'll have house Agnester issue Lord Bramdy an official apology at a later date."

His words left a bitter taste in my mouth. Apparently, the young master before us was from the n.o.bility.

Not only had he already unlawfully trespa.s.sed into the manor, but he had just declared that he was planning to pester the people here and had even used his own house's name as a threat. House Agnester was the house of an earl, if I remembered correctly. But, everyone who decided to become a magician had to first denounce their family. That was why he had called himself Rider Wraithe. Wraithe was to be his surname as a magician.

Magic was a secret art that was pa.s.sed down only from teacher to disciple, and you couldn't tell anyone about the spells you learned even if they were family. That was why it was customary for a magician's teacher to cut their students off from their family.

As a magician myself, it p.i.s.sed me off to see him rely on his family name while bragging about wanting to become a magician. But I also didn't intend to let him correct himself. I only wanted to cut our relationship as short as possible.

"The Hero of Hedalion was a mighty swordsman who mowed down the enemy soldiers, no? I don't know why someone who aims to be a magician like yourself, Lord Rider, would want to become a swordsman's disciple, but there is no one in this manor to whom that t.i.tle applies."

I didn't know if Rider noticed the hint of sarcasm that I had added to his name, but he looked at me as if I had said something strange.

"I guess that's what some of the rumors were saying? I don't know who told you that, but the Hero isn't a swordsman, you know?"

He continued speaking with unnecessary flare with his eyes sparkling after he had taken a deep breath.

"The Hero of Hedalion is a great magician……who overturned our despicable enemy's, Heliot's, strategy to dig a tunnel into our lines with just one blow and then saved our soldiers on the frontlines from the brink of death."

I forgot how to breathe for a moment.

My head was a whirlpool of thoughts and I felt like I would be sick. I could only think of one person who could be called a "great magician".

Just what on earth had I become?

……For me to be called a hero—it was either a joke that had gone too far or a simple delusion.

The only person here was a timid mouse who had scuttered around because she was afraid of death. Not even a fragment of the hero Rider admired had existed on that battlefield.

I couldn't wake up from this nightmare. I started smelling blood because I had clenched my fists too tight and I was losing feeling in my hands.

It was far more terrifying for someone whom I didn't even know to have mysterious expectations of me than it was to have my sins thrust out before my eyes. I was so unsettled that it felt like the ground beneath my feet had changed into water.

I paid no attention to Alf even after he had called my name as I looked down and tightly shut my eyes. I had the premonition that several things that I had already known about but had simply closed my eyes to had suddenly pressed me into a corner.

I wanted time to think. Time so that I, who wasn't even all that smart, could organize my thoughts.

I would probably never be able to take it back if I made a mistake here.

But there was a nuisance of a n.o.ble who had come in search of the illusion of a Hero here before my eyes.

If I couldn't settle my thoughts, then I would be at a complete loss as to how I was supposed to deal with Rider. As I remained silent, Alf spoke up frigidly in my stead with a strict look in his eyes.

"……We've told you multiple times now, but the person you're referring to isn't here. The only person who was currently invited to this manor is my master's personal guest. I cannot let you pa.s.s."

Rider continued to threaten Alf without bothering to hide his irritation.

"Like I said, I'll have a formal apology issued later. I have absolutely no intentions on giving up. If you won't introduce me to him, then I'll look for him on my own terms."

Alf blocked Rider's path with a bitter look on his face that made me feel like I could hear him clicking his tongue even now. He had probably thought that doing so would look more natural than moving to protect me.

Alf, a fully grown man, looked down at Rider, who was still just a boy.

Their glares met and neither tried to be the one to look away first.

I hesitantly posed as question, unable to remain silent while both of them refused to give in.

"Why do you wish to meet him so?"

Rider moved his gaze to me and laughed as if I had asked a stupid question.

"He's the Hero of Hedalion, you know? He's a great magician who's said to be as great as Markleid from two hundred years ago. I could have no better teacher than that."

Markleid was the name of the arch magician who had left his name in the pages of history. There were too many stories of his exaggerated greatness in the world to count.

"You think he's so great even though you've never even met him?"

"I don't need to meet him—his achievements are proof enough of his greatness."

His blind faith p.i.s.sed me off and before I knew what I was doing, I asked him,

"Then just what do you, a n.o.ble, plan to accomplish by becoming this great hero's disciple?"

My question, which I had asked in exasperation, caused Rider to hesitate before he spoke for the first time today.

He had probably come all this way because of his childlike adoration and zeal alone. That was why he couldn't answer my question.

"That has nothing to do with you. ……I will meet with the Hero and talk to him directly."

I could tell that his answer had simply been lip service and that he was trying to hide the fact that he couldn't answer.

"Is it to master spells with which you can mow down your enemies? To learn spells to heal people with? You can do both without having to be a hero's disciple. It's possible, as long as you put in the effort."

"I…! I came here because I wanted to be someone great like the Hero!"

"Then what I'm saying rings all the truer. There is no way that someone who only thinks about chasing after greatness could stand next to it."

Rider, was glaring at me with his teeth clenched. I reflected on the fact that I had gotten the better of myself and rebuked Rider far more than was necessary.

I suppose I really just didn't like him. Perhaps Rider's immaturity reminded me of my own and I didn't know how to deal with him because he had characteristics to him that I was ashamed of in myself.

It was immature of me to act on my own a.s.sumptions without considering the feelings of those around me. It was a shortcoming that I couldn't fix even though I was aware of its existence.

"Even if the person here is the Hero you're searching for. What would he think about you, who broke your way into someone else's home?"

"That's……"

I had spoken out bitterly because I had been unable to stop myself even after realizing my own feelings. I had said this all for myself, and not because I was trying to guide him. I regretted my words after I'd said them.

What a small person I was. I had criticized him, someone who looked up to me even if he didn't know that I was his supposed Hero, based on my emotions alone.

Rider was probably an honest person at heart. My words had caused him to fall into deep thought. He was the type of person who expressed his own thoughts without taking that of others' into consideration, but there was still hope left for him because he was willing to listen to what others had to say.

"I apologize belatedly, but I am sorry for my rudeness. However, please be understanding of the fact that we cannot allow you into the manor without our master's permission."

I bowed to Rider, still pretending to be a servant, and he nodded meekly with a gentleness that he hadn't shown before.

"……I'll go home for today. I apologize for causing such a ruckus."

It looked like he had calmed down for now. Alf, who had been watching over our exchange up until now, stepped forward.

"Then, I'll lead you to the gates."

Guided by Alf, Rider, the cause of today's disturbance, stepped into the shadows of the building and disappeared from my view.

And yet, my heart was still in a chaotic disarray despite that.

I was apparently in quite a terrible state of mind.

*

Ricardo's study, which I had stepped foot in for the first time, was lined with bookshelves to either side and his desk, which was placed deeper into the room, was piled up with doc.u.ments. There was a circular table with chairs for receiving guests with, and the interior design of the room was very practical overall.

Ricardo, who had been working at his desk at the far end of the room, put down his papers and stood up when I opened the door and invited me in as I stood in the doorway.

"I thought you'd come here."

He had probably heard a report of what had happened during the day. The world outside the window was already dyed in the color of night. And yet, the inside of the room was lit brightly by the light from the candle stands.

I sat down on the chair that Ricardo had pulled out for me.

I didn't know if it had anything to do with knightly etiquette or whatnot, but I gave Ricardo permission to sit down on the chair opposite to me that he was standing next to. Ricardo wanted to act the proper roles of master and servant when there was no one else around.

"Pardon me."

He sat down on the chair with fluid movements much more beautiful than mine had been. This person, who was aristocratic even down to his smallest movements, looked to me nervously as I sat hunched in my own chair.

I, too, was so nervous that the inside of my mouth was dry because of all the thoughts that had been running through my head since noon.

"You already know about Lord Rider, yes?"

This was just for confirmation. Ricardo lowered his gaze ever so slightly and affirmed,

"Yes."

"He seemed to be of mind to visit again —what should I do with him next time?"

"Please be at ease. I happen have business relations with Lord Agnester. I am sure that the matter will settle down as soon as I tell him about what happened today. He is not so foolish that he does not know what lies in his best interests."

Then, could I a.s.sume that this would never happen again? I was relieved by fact that I would not have to address Rider's rampant emotions a second time.

But, now I had to ask the question that I had been dreading all day.

It was a problem I was directly involved with that I couldn't ignore.

The second hand of the clock on the wall loudly urged on my next words. Ricardo, who was sitting in front of me, simply remained silent and refused to speak. His cerulean eyes quietly watched over me.

"I…"

I managed to wring out one word after a long time had pa.s.sed.

I pressed down my trembling fingers and endured the cold chill running down my back my slouching forward.

My next words, hoa.r.s.e and on the verge of withering away, were as feeble as a draft of air.

"What have I become?"

I couldn't do anything else but watch and wait for his mouth to open even though I wished for him not to say the answer in my heart.

With a look of pity in his eyes, my knight sonorously declared,

"The magician who ended the war. An exceptionally skilled healer…… The Hero who saved the kingdom."

Ricardo. That was the one word that I never wanted to hear.

I didn't know if I should be embarra.s.sed, remorseful, or terrified.

Convoluted feelings came and went through my heart. I cradled my head on my hands and tears trickled down my cheeks in the place of my collapsing ability to reason.

I had committed so much murder that they called me a Hero, and I was hated by so many people that they called me a Hero.

The actions I had taken on the battlefield were not something that I was proud of, but rather a great tragedy that I wanted to avert my eyes from. I was being made to acknowledge something that I could never run away from now that things had quieted down and I had found peace.

A Hero. What a radiant and truly ridiculous thing to call someone!

The t.i.tle was so heavy I thought it would crush me.

It hurt so much that I seriously thought that I would turn into a small animal without the ability to reason. Even if I couldn't turn back human again, it would mean that I would be able to continue living in my own little world.

A meaningless wail escaped my lips. A voice fell down on me from above as I cried.

"You have me, Lord Halka. I will be as your sword and I will be as your shield,"

said the person who had come up to me and was standing beside me even before I'd realized it so strongly, as if he understood everything. He continued,

"I will protect you from everything. There is nothing for you to fear."

I could see nothing but light in Ricardo's eyes when I raised my head out of my hands and glanced at him. I understood and cracked the corners of my lips up into a twisted smile. It was a rather tired smile.

"You were keeping me away from this, weren't you?"

I had been so thoughtlessly ignorant about what was going on around me and had been sulking selfishly all this time.

A lot of things started to make sense in hindsight.

Why had I been allowed to stay at a hospital that wasn't normally open to commoners? When had Ricardo suddenly changed from being a misanthrope to being social? What was it that I had said before he had become unable to return to his own manor?

Both back when I hadn't been able to move properly and now.

I finally realized how deep Ricardo's, who had been protecting me ever since we first met, considerations for me were.

"Just how many blessings have I received from you until now?"

And, a single thought came into my mind as I looked back at my past. It was a natural conclusion based on how he didn't want me to go outside and on Alf's existence. Ricardo would be necessary to me from now on.

It seemed that the past wouldn't allow me to cast it into oblivion. Its dark and ominous hand had latched onto my ankle and was trying to pull me down.

I asked Ricardo once I was firmly convinced by my own thoughts.

"Is someone after my life?"

Ricardo lowered his eyes and complained,

"I detest your sagacity sometimes."

So, I was right. Nothing had been over yet.

I had always been at the center of this battle —it was simply that Ricardo had been covering my eyes. The peace I had known until today had been a mere dream.

"Is Alf my bodyguard?"

I recalled the way he always stood in wait behind me. The oddness I had felt when I had taken his hand. It was because his was the hand of someone who held a sword. The awkward servant had been hired only after I had begun my stay at this manor.

A countless number of factors that all pointed to the same conclusion had been strewn out before me. I had simply failed to turn my eyes to them.

"The mercenary Alfred. His name was the most renowned from the war after yours."

"……I've heard of him before. He's known as a valiant mercenary."

I had never thought in my wildest dreams that I would find him so close by. I couldn't have imagined it based off the gentle and un-mercenary-like expression he always wore.

But, if he was a mercenary, it probably meant that he had been hired with money. How much money had been necessary just to hire the man with the most distinguished military service on the battlefield to act as a fake servant?

"Please tell me everything you've done. Ricardo,"

I said to him with the unhesitant resolve to "order" him for the first time if I had even the slightest inkling that he was lying.

"All of it."

*

Despite the situation, I was overpowered by Lord Halka's strength as I caught his gaze from head-on in front of me.

The strength in his eyes, which I had seen when we had first met, entranced me even now.

Back then, I had bet my everything on the chance encounter that had shaken my very soul because I had nothing else to lose.

Even if I was to be reduced to naught but a convenient tool to be used at his disposal, I thought that I had nothing to lose because I had planned to cast myself away regardless.

I only wished for one thing. For this person to be able to spend his days at leisure.

I had been anxious about how I would feel when Lord Halka found out about everything I had done to make it happen. But, if this was what he wished for, then I had no option to refuse.

"I'll tell you."

I revealed everything that I had done since the day I had met Lord Halka to my master. I told him of the things I had done in the past as faithfully as I could.

"I had already vaguely predicted that this would happen back when you lost consciousness on the battlefield. Everyone's hearts were trembling before the miracle you had caused before our eyes, Lord Halka. I was probably the most heavily affected. That was why it was easy for me to imagine. People would gather under you, for better or for worse."

At that point, I had not known what Lord Halka himself had wanted. But Lord Halka's body had been so weak back then, so I had decided to prioritize keeping him away from the eyes of brutes.

"I entrusted your being to the hospital, Lord Halka, and reached out to the people who visited you after you awoke. I asked them to sow confusion in the information that would spread about you. Every last one of them was extremely cooperative, and their efforts have probably played a large part in why your existence has yet to be pinpointed, Lord Halka. Allow me to say that Sir Baska Marg, in particular, worked extraordinarily hard to this end."

"Did he now……"

It looked like Lord Halka remembered the young man who had been the first to visit him. It was thanks to him that only a few commoners knew of the truth.

He had personally hired a wandering minstrel to tell a false tale. I had to say that the way he skillfully spread the falsehood deeply into the lives of the people was nothing short of masterful.

"I hired Alfred to be your guard when I returned to the capital ahead of you. And, once you had been welcomed into my manor, I devoted myself solely to building up my own power."

That was all there was to it when I said it out loud. But I had actually done so many things that it was impossible to describe it adequately in words.

I had relied on my prior friendly connections and peddled my face as far and wide as I could. A n.o.ble's power had mostly to do with one's personal connections.

If, for example, Lord Halka wished for fame, then who would be as his backers?

If, for example, Lord Halka wished to erase the past, then who would be the person to manage that?

I was uneasy about the financial a.s.sets I currently had as well. I had to gather as many quick-witted people as I could, put them to work, and make more profits.

I sought for power as though I was starved. But it still wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to conceal him.

I nonchalantly spread both truths and lies amongst the n.o.bility and listened in to the whispers of the underworld with money.

"I was able to erase your name from the conscription records, Lord Halka, but I was not able to close the lid on people's mouths."

It was possible to figure out the truth if you asked the people who had been on the battlefield directly.

But that would take a considerable amount of effort. I could only surmise that Sir Rider was most certainly enthusiastic in that regard.

The person whom I wished to be my master only had the modest wish to return to his previous life. But my kingdom sought out the Hero so desperately that it wasn't possible to make his wish come true.

"The fighting was only growing fiercer. Two of our fortresses had already fallen to Heliot's hands. We would have basically had a sword at our throats if we allowed another one to fall. The people saw your achievements of protecting the fortress, drastically reducing the enemy's might, and forcing them to retreat as hope itself."

And word of the Hero had reached all the way to Heliot. But, if their only threat was the existence of one person, then all Heliot had to do was to erase them.

"Heliot is after your life, Lord Halka."

The look on Lord Halka's face did not change as he looked at me. He did not show any signs of despair or resignation, but simply accepted the truth for what it was and had begun turning the gears in his head.

I had apparently underestimated my own master. He was much stronger than I had originally thought.

I had learned that Heliot was searching for the Hero by tracing the footsteps of those who had smuggled themselves into the kingdom. They probably thought that it would be possible to a.s.sa.s.sinate him even if they couldn't kill him on the battlefield. But, unfortunately, I had yet to be able to kill the would-be a.s.sa.s.sins and expose their plot.

Lord Halka looked up at me with a tired expression on his face when I told him about this.

"You……geez. You're way too capable."

"Thank you."

"I wasn't praising you. And so, you were doing all of this without even sleeping while I knew nothing? And all while shouldering the heavy burden that I myself was supposed to carry?"

Lord Halka smiled wryly as I grew confused because I couldn't understand what he was saying. He continued,

"I'm honestly happy that you did everything you possibly could for me. But there's no point to it if it brings you harm instead. It seems that I had sent you off into battle without even realizing it."

Beneath his words were his concerns for me. He was implying that he didn't mind if I didn't act as his sword.

Oh, I see.

I was just one person in his eyes. He was undoubtedly seeing me as an individual.

I could never be as a tool for Lord Halka.

The way he treated me with honest sincerity bound my heart in yet more chains. What were these feelings of mine that wished to draw closer to his heart?

He was composed as he sat in his chair—a stark difference to how he had been when he learned of his pseudonym. It looked like the fact that someone was after his life was of smaller importance to Lord Halka than the fact that he was being worshipped as a "Hero".

I couldn't understand his train of thought at all, but it was also something that was very much like him.

"I will take care of my own matters myself……is what I'd like to say, but it looks like the burden is too heavy for me to bear on my own. Nothing would rea.s.sure me more than to know that you'll be here with me. Will you please help me?"

"But of course."

I was sure that he would go and try to solve matters on his own even if he had no one with him. He had said this simply out of consideration for me.

I had made our contract out of impulse, but I was convinced that my intuition had not been wrong now that I knew of his temperament.

Lord Halka had said that he liked this manor, which had been cast away like I was. This fact had comforted me so. It had felt as though I myself had been forgiven.

I had been bewildered and hesitant to accept the experience of receiving good will from others, but the world in which I had received it was dearer to me than anything else.

He had taught me the happiness of being treated sincerely by someone I cared about.

Lord Halka didn't know how ecstatic this made me, nor of how it had served to deepen my loyalty to him.

*

If someone was after my life, then I would have to fight back.

If I was only being put up on a pedestal, then all I had to do was to distance myself from the people who selfishly places their expectations on me. But it wouldn't be that simple if someone wanted to eliminate me entirely.

"Ricardo, what measures were you planning to take if I hadn't realized any of this?"

Ricardo gave me a perfect smile and answered without a hint of hesitation as I'd expected him to.

"I was planning to send someone of a suitable build outside the kingdom once I had fished out the insolent fiends who were after your life and eliminated them, Lord Halka."

"Would this person have been a child, like what I appear to be now?"

"Yes. All I had to do was to send them outside our borders, so they wouldn't have been faced with any danger."

The plan he had presented to me was so appealing that I almost wanted to agree to it on the spot. If his plan was enacted, then I would have been able to return to my village as I had always wanted to.

I almost wanted to reach out to him and agree, much like how you wanted to reach out immediately when someone offered you water when you were thirsty.

But a small voice in my head whispered that something felt off and stopped me. My premonitions told me that I would regret it if I didn't think long and hard before I made a decision.

All I had to do was close my eyes and everything would have pa.s.sed me by, but I could only be amazed and exasperated with myself for being unable to do so.

"It's my nature."

"……Lord Halka?"

Ricardo tilted his head to the side in confusion at the words that had escaped my lips, as they had been so sudden that he couldn't understand them.

This young man was absolutely my ally, but he was not an extension of me. Just like now, when he had tried to distance me and protect me from all the dangers that lurked around me, he would do things that were outside of my intentions. I fished around for a better grasp of my vague misgivings, organized them, and put them to words.

"Why is Heliot after my life?"

"It's likely because they see you as a threat, Lord Halka. And, because your achievements in war were so great, our kingdom's morale would fall by the same extent if their Hero perished."

"There's no reason for morale to fall that low if only a very few select people know who I really am. I'm ultimately just a nameless magician, no matter how great the damage I did to the enemy was. Why does Heliot believe I'm that much of a hindrance to them?"

"The things you did had a greater impact on the people's hearts than you think."

"Even still, I would have targeted the royal family or the executives of the military if I were in their shoes."

"Naturally, the people you spoke of would be targetted as well if given the chance. But Heliot has a tradition of hating our magicians in particular. They have yet to forget the fear they experienced two hundred years ago."

I let out a deep sigh once I figured out why I was being targeted.

Heliot had attacked our kingdom once before long ago. At the time, Heliot had been larger in territory and had more soldiers than they did today, so everyone had predicted that Rolights would lose the war.

The person who had overturned those predictions all by himself was a magician named Markleid.

Markleid, who had been hailed as a prodigy ever since he was young, was said to have thoroughly annihilated the enemy soldiers. Heliot had been reduced in size as a result because their losses had been so great that they lost the power to maintain their territory.

Markleid manipulated his own lifespan and reigned as a protector of the kingdom for a very long time. It was only about half a century ago that he had pa.s.sed away. Not enough time had pa.s.sed for the world to have forgotten him.

I was keenly aware of the fact that the t.i.tle of a Hero, which had been pushed on to me, came with an excessive amount of expectations attached to it. So excessive, in fact, that it made me nauseous.

Markleid had been a great magician. A true hero. There were many anecdotes about his greatness, such as how he was easily able to reduce an entire mountain to ashes —something that I could not possibly do.

Magicians did their work by using their magic and creativity, and I simply happened to have slightly more scientific knowledge than the people of this world. This was why my spells were stronger than that of the average magician's. But, on the flip side, it meant that the truth was that my spells were only as powerful as the extent of my general knowledge.

I had just so happened to be able to use an explosion spell.

I had just so happened to be in a situation where I could use that spell to its fullest extent.

I had just so happened to know more about the human body than did the people of this world.

Everything had been a result of mere coincidence.

The real hero that Heliot feared was different case entirely. Markleid could destroy an enemy battalion almost entirely by himself. He was even said to have been able to regrow his severed hand just by using the vast amount of magic he was born with alone.

He had been a supreme magician who had turned wild fantasies into true miracles. There was no way that I, who was an above-average magician at best, could possibly do the same things that he had done!

"……I see. They see Markleid in me, don't they? I can understand that reasoning. So much so that it brings me more questions."

I glared at Ricardo in front of me and continued,

"There is no way that Heliot, as afraid of me as they are, would simply let the matter go just because they happen to catch wind of someone who looks like me leaving the kingdom."

Heliot would undoubtedly go on a manhunt for the person Ricardo sent out to confirm if I had really left the kingdom. And there was no way that Ricardo had failed to account for that. He had to be thorough if he wanted to oppose Heliot, which was terrified of the Hero's shadow. And, I knew of just how unimaginably harsh Ricardo could be beneath his beautiful visage.

"My double……you're planning to kill him."

Ricardo looked down in silence for a moment but eventually looked up again as if he had cleared away his doubts.

"Please, won't you close your eyes to this? Lord Halka, you……no, I can gain what I wanted just by you staying here and living as you have been. The sin of murdering a child is a crime that I alone will be committing, and of my own accord. I will bear the punishment for it as well."

Ricardo thought that I would see the murder of a child as a sin that ought to be punished.

I was certain that the past me would have rejected even the very thought of such injustice. But could I, who's killed so many people already, really reproach Ricardo for using and killing one more? Was I supposed to criticize him and say that a child's life weighed more heavily than an adult's?

I could say nothing against Ricardo, who was only trying to rob someone of their life because of things that I couldn't concede.

But, if there was just one thing that I could say…

"You chose me as your master. That means that the responsibility for everything you do belongs to me."

Ricardo opened his eyes wide in surprise, likely because he had antic.i.p.ated that I would deny his request.

I reached out and brushed my fingertips against Ricardo's arm as he stood right beside me. The jet-black letters of his incantation swirled into view on his skin at my slightest desire.

The bond between us would not be severed as long as these letters continued to circulate inexhaustibly within him.

The black letters that crawled across his white skin like a rosary slipped back out of view the moment my fingers left him.

"Then……?"

Ricardo asked without speaking the rest of his question. The greedy desire to simply nod existed in my heart, but, ultimately, my answer was to shake my head no.

"No, that option won't be necessary."

"Why is that?"

"I don't want to make you chose it. And more importantly……there's a possibility that Heliot will attack us again if they think I'm dead. I stepped foot on the battlefield so that the kingdom could be at peace, and all of that would be rendered pointless if I went into hiding and threw everything into chaos again."

I was sure that our greedy neighbors would attack again if they found out that the Hero was a fake. I'd realized from what Ricardo had told me just now that they had only pulled back because they thought that I was a hero as great as Markleid.

I had no doubts that the townspeople had been so excited because they had vaguely understood this. That the peace we had now existed only on the thin sheet of ice that the existence of a Hero had bought them.

I could run as much as I wanted, if I wanted to. Only another magician could capture a magician who could change their face at will.

Then, should I run?

……But where to?

I would not be able to return to my original world even if I walked to the ends of this one.

I truly had nothing except for the memories I had living in this kingdom with the man I had called my teacher. There was no place that I was more strongly attached to than this land. Losing the place that I belonged to once had been one time too many. That was why I wanted to protect this kingdom.

The decision I had made when I first departed for war was thrust out before me yet again.

I was being asked if I had the resolve to bet my life on my feelings.

I had ended up learning that my teacher, who had stolen me away from my world, was a kind person whom I could not bring myself to hate.

I had ended up learning that the villagers, who were afraid of magicians, were honest people who treated me with respect despite their fear.

I looked at Ricardo, who stood before me now.

And, more important to me than anything else was this kingdom, in which this knight who had bet his everything on me had been born.

This sense of homesickness that budded in me anew. How could I let it be taken from me again?!

I turned to Ricardo and smiled boldly.

"I will rise. As a Hero to protect this kingdom."

I used the word 'Hero', which I was so terrified of, and spoke boastfully on purpose even though it really wasn't to my preference.

I felt like I would begin trembling if I didn't.

I didn't know if I was actually capable of doing this. No, I'll be honest. I lacked the ability to stand in line with a Hero. But all I had to do was make them believe that I could, even if it was all just a lie.

To make them believe that there was a giant in this kingdom who could stop tens of thousands of soldiers all by himself.

"……Lord Halka."

I turned my eyes to the man who had lowered his eyelids with a sorrowful look on his face. Ricardo knew that I loathed the t.i.tle of a Hero from the very core of my being.

I've reduced everything you did for me until now to nothing.

I heard a voice I'd grown used to hearing echoing in the deepest reaches of my heart when I lowered my head like a believer confessing to G.o.d. The voice was a hoa.r.s.e whisper that belonged to an old man saying, "I'm sorry."