Chapter 114: Hero King (2)

As she let the Fifth Legion Commander Noxius fall off the cliff, the Hero King felt dark emotions creeping up her heart, troubling her mind, and sat down again at the peak.

"......"

Her bleary eyes looked up at the sky.

The sky was purple.

It was not the clear blue sky and starry night she had seen in the Middle Realm, but a strange and eerie purple sky.

While staring blankly at it, the Hero King felt the dark emotions, stirred up by Noxius's remarks, begin to unravel memories of the past.

"...Ah."

The Hero King let out a soft sigh, thinking,

that she wanted to stop thinking.

But once she started, the torrent of emotions pulled forth memories of the past, despite her reason's attempts to stop them.

The first memory that came to her was of the first time she met him.

At that time, the Hero King was, in fact, nothing compared to the reputation her title suggested.

She had been chosen by the world to be a hero but could do nothing properly, having even less combat ability than an average hero.

...No, to be blunt, she was even less skilled than a mercenary.

After all, despite being a hero, she couldn't fight as well as a mercenary.

In other words, she was useless.

A useless person, despite being a hero.

A pitiful person who had to live day by day, despite being a hero.

Of course, she lived in hope that her talent lay not in combat but elsewhere, yet regrettably, she was unable to find any talent.

Even as a blacksmith.

Even as a mage.

Even working with books.

Even cooking.

Whether as a carpenter, hunter, scout, merchant, alchemist - whatever she tried, she couldn't find any talent befitting a hero.

As if she never had such talent from the beginning.

And so, as she despaired upon realizing she had no talent in anything, she found her ray of hope in him.

Living a life even mercenaries would scorn, so much that she was ignored in any territory she went to, he said to the Hero King,

that she had talent.

Ironically, before she met him, a few lords had told her the same thing several times.

Lords who wanted her as a decorative accessory or to serve them at night.

Thus, she didn't believe those words, but her doubt vanished in less than three hours.

After all, the lord who told her she had talent had awakened the talent she hadn't been able to find until then, in just three hours.

The talent to extract several times more efficiency from artifacts of a certain grade or higher, those with special magic or skills stored within.

It all started from there.

From then on, a useless person became a hero recognized by everyone.

...More than just becoming a hero, she became a great hero whom everyone had to acknowledge.

It all happened after he discovered her talent.

"...Sigh."

She was happy.

She became more than a hero, a great hero, earned the title of 'Hero King', and became strong enough to stand against any powerful being on the Continent.

...However, that became a problem.

At some point, she felt an unfairness.

Ironically, she felt this unfairness towards the one who had found her talent as the Hero King and nurtured her until then.

There were many heroes around him.

There were as many as four heroes who could sit at the "Round Table" like her, and the lord was always busy taking care of them.

Of course, that didn't mean the lord didn't take care of her.

Rather, he took care of her just like the other heroes.

However, the problem was that he took care of her 'just the same' as the other heroes, which made her feel unjustified.

Of course, there was nothing actually unfair about the lord's actions.

In fact, the Hero King knew it was rational.

Yet, despite this, she felt the unfairness and anger.

At least, she wanted to be someone special to the lord.

Someone particularly more special than the other heroes.

Therefore, she had openly shown her dissatisfaction.

When he gave gifts, she always demanded something more expensive than what the other heroes received.

When he spent time with other heroes, she insisted on spending twice as much time with him.

Of course, he showed a troubled expression, but in the Hero King's mind, desiring to be more special than the other heroes, this was rather taken as a positive signal.

Eventually, seeing him troubled yet showing her extra consideration, the Hero King thought she was being treated as someone special.

...Yes, until he left.

"...Sigh."

The Hero King, with her bleary eyes, gazed at the purple sky and then blankly stared at the old cigarette pack she took out from her bosom.

The Hero King, who had learned to smoke from mercenaries during her period of uselessness, blankly looked at the last cigarette in the pack and then lit it with an artifact she took out from the subspace.

With the sound of it catching fire, the cigarette burned with the Hero King's breath and scattered a pungent mint aroma around the peak.

"......"

Thinking back, she initially couldn't believe it.

She thought he would never leave her.

But as time passed, watching her territory slowly decline, she finally realized

that he had truly left.

And at the moment she realized that fact, she understood what she had done.

She realized how foolish her actions had been.

...How absurdly she had behaved towards him.

Regret, remorse, and sorrow enveloped her.

But she could do nothing.

By the time she realized it, it was already too late.

And after realizing this and wasting a year in the swamp of regret, the Hero King set a goal.

To find the lord who had left, once again.

To seek out the lord and ask for his forgiveness.

"......"

The Hero King, with her goal set, traveled around the Continent gathering numerous pieces of information and came to realize one fact.

That the Lord of Lartania, whom the Hero King was searching for, was one of the 'stars' from a higher dimension, descended from the sky.

Upon realizing this, the Hero King couldn't help but despair, yet she did not give up and searched even more for a way.

For her, he had become an indispensable being, a realization that dawned on her from the moment he was gone.

And a year later, from one of the artifacts she possessed, she received a proposal from the Demon King.

A proposal to come to the demon world, a higher dimension much closer to the place with more 'stars' than this Continent.

Upon hearing this proposal, she accepted the Demon King's offer without hesitation.

At the very least, she wanted to get closer to where he was.

To get closer, perhaps to reach the dimension known as the 'star' where he was, hoping that the demon world might contain clues about him.

Naturally, after heading to the demon world, her body was no longer that of an ordinary elf.

Her body, eroded by demonic energy, definitely became stronger, but as a consequence, it also became weaker in some aspects, and she could no longer return to the Middle Realm without manifesting herself.

But even so, it was okay.

No matter how much her body soaked in demonic energy and turned into that of a demon's, it wasn't that important to her; after all, what the Hero King deemed important was meeting him again.

To meet him again and apologize.

"Sigh-"

The Hero King exhaled with her bleary eyes.

A pungent mint aroma spread out.

She had been in the demon world for seven years.

And for seven years, she couldn't find a way to cross over to that purple sky.

The only thing the Hero King found upon coming here was this place, called 'the peak' by the demons, closest to the purple sky.

No other clues existed.

Nothing.

"......"

The Hero King looked at the cigarette.

The cigarette had already burned halfway through, and with one more puff, it would be finished.

"...Sigh."

Looking at it, the Hero King suddenly recalled a memory from the past.

Before she found her talent and became a great hero.

Specifically, the conversation they had when he had given her the title of 'Hero King'.

"Isn't 'Hero King' a bit much? I'm not the strongest among heroes, and I like cigarettes, just like those low-quality mercenaries."

"It's okay. You deserve it. And I think it's quite alright that you smoke."

"...Really? The smell of cigarettes is quite strong, though."

"It is strong."

"...Are you teasing me on purpose?"

"Not at all, it's strong but that makes you easy to find. You're the only one in the Lord's castle who smokes mint cigarettes."

"Feels like a scolding."

"It's not. If anything, it's good because it makes you easy to find wherever you are. You know, on your body..."

"...Sorry for being a heavy smoker."

"I said it's because you're easy to find. Isn't that good for you? Just smoke, and I'll easily find you. Smoke when you miss me, and I'll come running."

"Wow. Another strange dictionary... Namu, Wiki or something like that, right? Please, stop following what's in there. It's really cringeworthy."

"...Merilda liked it, though."

"She likes it because she's Merilda."

A very short, aimless conversation they had while looking at the developing territory.

A conversation shared when they could still smile at each other without any shadows between them.

"Sigh-"

Recalling that, the Hero King exhaled once more, and the mint aroma spread in all directions.

And then.

"...You said you'd come if I smoked."

Drop-

"You said to smoke when I miss you..."

Murmuring softly while gazing at the sky, the Hero King quietly buried her face in her knees.

"...Liar."

...Tears flowed from her bleary eyes.