Chapter 53 – Two Heroes – 1

The dawn before the sun rises is always cold. The same goes for dreams. It is always just before waking up when a dream tears the heart apart. I was trapped in the maze created by the night again and wandered aimlessly through the past.

Handsome brother Wake up.

If the body is far away, the mind is also far away, does it mean that the closer the body is, the closer the heart is. Every day, as she got closer to the capital, Ellie’s appearance became more and more vivid.

‘If you don’t wake up, will you kiss me?’

No. It’s not just the look. The voice, the touch of the palm. Even the scent of peppermint flowers. The white flowers that once bloomed between stones and shook my delicate hands are now stuck in my head like cordyceps and I don’t think about leaving.

…

‘Really?’

As her figure begins to take on substance, the flame of hope that burns in her heart grows bigger and bigger. Ellie is alive. She’s somewhere in the capital. But the bigger the fire, the thicker the shadows on the ground. And Leo is there too. When that simple fact squeezes me, I wave my hand and deny it. No. There’s no way he’s still obsessed with Ellie. Fate will no longer bother me and Ellie. If the god above has a conscience, he’ll grant us happiness now.

Yes?

“Of course not.”

“…!”

The moment a clear voice rang in my ears, I flinched and opened my eyes. Then the sunlight filtered in through the window and pierced my vision sharply. Have you ever heard someone’s voice? I looked around, but all I could hear was the purring and purring of the horses.

“…Ha.”

Lately, I’ve been waking up in this way a lot. A voice that penetrated reality always hit my ear at the end of my dream, and thanks to that, I greeted the morning with more fatigue. Obviously, the only thing he did for several days was riding a carriage and moving, but the physical and mental fatigue only accumulated.

No, maybe it’s more like that because I can’t do anything. I knew all too well that waiting could be hard work depending on the circumstances.

But now, that time is running out. Now if I run a little more, I will finally step on the capital. And you will meet Leo.

This is not the time to be weary. No matter what the situation, you have to stay sharp.

Leo must be like that too.

“Whoa. The weather has gotten quite hot. Coachman. Let’s go.”

Then the carriage door opened and Rachel’s voice leaked out. She sat down in her wagon, fanning her fan with her hand. Soon, the wheels creaked and once again the scenery began to move.

“This country is ruined, and prices are going crazy. No matter how peddler you are, you hit more than twice as much.”

“Have you got anything useful?”

“There were some good ones.”

Rachel grinned and took a tattered newspaper out of her arms.

“It’s strange that newspapers are published even in this situation.”

“Well…It’s a newspaper supervised by the imperial family. Rather, it could be forced to publish it because of this situation. It proves that the imperial family is doing its job.”

“So. Is there anything good about it?”

“Actually, I haven’t seen it yet. I’m going to watch it together.”

Rachel came over to the seat next to me and she opened the newspaper. Her sweat lightly touched her wet shoulders, warm and damp.

“As expected, the first page is about the demons. The imperial family finally seems to have decided to admit it.”

“Actually, it’s strange that he’s admitted it now. How far have they come?”

“Hmm…It’s written here. A group of demons with large quantities of goods crossed the border… His Majesty the Emperor said he was planning to drive them all into one place and wipe them out at once. You do it so nicely.”

“It seems the entire territory is being violated.”

“Yes. But I dismissed the demon king’s resurrection as an unfounded rumor. Well, it can’t be helped. If we affirm the existence of the demon king, it’s the same as denying the legitimacy of the imperial family, starting with Leo.”

After all, the title of the hero who defeated the demon king is Leo’s only property. I sneaked a peek at the article about the demon lord, and there was an unusual amount of rhetoric about Leo. Is he also insecure?

“And…Here is also a story about the Four Heavenly Kings. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who faced the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord Army.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Four Heavenly Kings appeared in three places. Erendel, Mayler, and near the capital. All of them appeared through space movement. At least, the capital was surrounded by barriers, so they couldn’t move directly into the city…Erendel and Mayler It was not something I could prepare for.”

“…I couldn’t help it.”

“Yes… That’s right…”

While swallowing back some bitterness, Rachel stared at the newspaper article, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She was so focused that the thin newsprint crumbled under her sweaty fingers. She read the small text for a long time before letting out her long sigh.

“Besides those three… I guess one of the other Four Heavenly Kings didn’t appear. There’s a guy Leo said he dealt with last. They say he didn’t show up this time.”

“Is he in command of the main force?”

“Maybe he never resurrected.”

“Or he might be with the Demon King.”

“Yes. Maybe.”

Rachel replied with her sigh and ran her hand over her collar to wipe away the sweat. She then looked at me and asked.

“Do you think the Demon King has been resurrected, Luka-san?”

“There is no way that a non-dead Demon King can be resurrected.”

“What do you mean?”

“We couldn’t kill the demon king at that time. It’s because we didn’t enter the demon castle after killing the last four kings. Maybe… The demon king who couldn’t be killed then grew stronger and invaded.”

“Anyway, you seem to think that the one leading the invasion now is the Demon King.”

“Because now is the right time. I would have done the same.”

Now is the time when the Empire is at its most vulnerable. I’m tearing down an empire that has rotted under Leo’s hands for five years. It must have been the best opportunity for the Demon King.

…Although it all fits bizarrely.

“…But it’s not written about what happened to those four heavenly kings. Did you intentionally omit it?”

“Well. Maybe in the next chapter…Ah. Here it is.”

On the next page, there was an article about the Four Heavenly Kings who appeared in the capital together with Leo’s portrait. Judging by the embarrassing compliments followed by the splendid rhetoric, it seemed that Leo had also successfully defeated the Four Heavenly Kings.

“Erendel… Yes. It was overrun. Rick and Nadia were executed by the righteous citizens for cowardly running away. And the great Leo very cruelly killed the Four Heavenly Kings who appeared in the capital to avenge Erendel. Butchered. Well, something like that.”

“Looks like he took care of it himself.”

“Yes. It’s very flashy, overwhelming… It’s a bit embarrassing to read. Anyway, he said he went outside the castle wall and defeated it.”

“Okay.”

I clasped my hands together and stared at Leo’s portrait in the newspaper. Even in the picture, the eyes of the guy staring at us conveyed his unique arrogance. I slit his fingers and stared into his eyes.

There were still traces of Leo in my swordsmanship. The trajectory of the swing, the life at the tip of the sword. Even if he tried to deny it, there was a strong smell of Leo somewhere between them.

Come to think of it, Leo and I have never directly exchanged swords. But strangely, I felt like I had been fighting him for a very long time. Maybe it’s because I’ve been struggling to erase the traces of him left in me for the past five years. Of course, that doesn’t mean that habits once ingrained in the body can easily be erased.

Even so, in order to be different, I have been struggling to become stronger. What about you? Did it become dull in time like Rick and Nadia? Or is it still maintaining its strength like the Minotaur?

Or will it become stronger?

Lost in thought, Rachel flipped through the newspaper, then roughly crumpled it up and threw it on the floor. Then she let out a long sigh and leaned her head against the wall.

“Well, there’s no more useful information. It doesn’t even accurately describe what happened to the Four Heavenly Kings of Myler. It just says that the brave soldiers of the Empire responded brilliantly.”

“That’s right. An empire doesn’t need two warriors.”

“Are you sad? Because there is no story about Luca-san?”

Rachel winked her eyes playfully and smiled. I rubbed her tired eyes and shook her head.

“Stop making weird jokes.”

“I’m not joking. Because this is a real hero. I think I’ll have to go to the newspaper office first when I go to the capital. I’ll have to issue a corrective article.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll be sure to include a story about the red-haired detective.”

“Ooh. You sound like that. But the title is fine. Two warriors and a detective save the empire. It’s interesting just to hear it.”

…To be precise. It’s like those two heroes are working hand in hand with the demon king to destroy the empire.

It was a joke that didn’t even come off as cynicism.

“Anyway, I need to get ready soon. In just one more hour, I’ll be in the capital.”

When I looked out the window at Rachel’s words, I saw the shadow of a huge capital towering over the horizon. The country boy who once headed for the capital as a warrior with a beating heart was aiming his sword at the city he longed for with quite different feelings. I opened my mouth again without taking my eyes off the capital.

“I guess so.”

“Yes. I need to prepare… Wait a minute…”

Rachel rummaged through her pockets that clung all over her body. And soon after, she poured out dozens of pieces of paper.

“What is all this?”

“It’s a forged document required when entering the capital. They say quality over quantity, but you can’t ignore quantity anyway. I didn’t know what you would like, so I prepared all of them.”

“For example?”

“Most of them are identification documents. Would you like to pick one? First of all, this is the father and daughter document that I used in Myler. I personally like the last document.”

“How many of them were you thinking about seriously?”

“Everything. Especially the last one, I paid a lot of attention. I wanted to pretend to be a nobleman at least once in my life. Do you not like being a servant? It’s the same. I can be a servant, so if that’s okay with you…”

“Rachel.”

“Yes?”

“It’s okay if you don’t force a joke.”

I quietly looked into her eyes. Then, the mask of awkward positivity that had been overlaid on Rachel’s face slid off. She moved her lips meaninglessly and then let out a light sigh.

“Does it show a lot?”

“Very.”

“…Is that so.”

“Well…It’s not unreasonable to be nervous.”

Rachel nodded her head and patted her hair for no reason. I looked at it and looked out the window again. And, after hesitating for a while, he added a word.

“Because entering the human capital with the body of a demon is a nerve-wracking thing.”

“Yes?”

I didn’t look back However, I could roughly guess what kind of expression Rachel was making. She let out a little nervous breath, then spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.

“How long have you known?”

“After I became an adult, I spent a lot of time in the land of demons. I’m not as sharp as the priests, but I can tell if the person sleeping next to me is a demon or a human.”

“Did you know…From the beginning?”

“At first, I was skeptical. But when I met the Minotaur in Myler, I was sure. Few humans can identify the Minotaur just by hearing the sound of it running. But, it makes sense for demons.”

“…”

Rachel shut her mouth. Only the rattling of the wagons could be heard quietly.

“…Are you okay.”

In the end, I opened her mouth first and threw out her words. His eyes were still looking out the window.

“Whether it’s a demon or a human, it doesn’t matter to me right now. You know that.”

“Aren’t you angry that I hid it?”

“At all.”

Even though she answered firmly, Rachel still twisted her body anxiously. I finally brought out the question I had in her mind to alleviate her guilt.

“I just wanted to ask one thing from the beginning. What is the reason for helping me?”

“That… I mean.”

Rachel took another deep breath. I waited for her to answer without saying anything. In the meantime, the appearance of the capital was getting closer and closer.

“…Me too.”

“Huh.”

“I also… Just had someone I wanted to see.”

“Okay.”

I nodded her head and slowly turned her gaze towards her.

“That’s enough for now.”

Rachel, looking up at me with her slightly dejected eyes, with her shoulders hunched, looked very small today. I tried to pat her on the shoulder with her hand, but withdrew her hand. Then he looked out of her window again.

“Then… Shall we do it as father and daughter?

Rachel caught her tense breath before she finally opened her mouth. I thought over her words and answered in a heavy voice.

“That’s nice too… But no. You don’t have to.”

“Then what are you going to do with it?”

“Luka.”

I put my hand on my waist. A sword, taken from the wreckage of Myler, was hanging there. I felt a cool sensation in my palms and felt as if my veins were getting cold.

“There’s no time for camouflage anymore. There’s no reason for that. And above all…”

I gripped the sword tightly in my hand. And quietly exhaled.

“I’m tired of hiding things now.”