Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero chapter 42

42 – His Student

He carefully set Daisy down on the floor, no longer moving.

The ground around it had completely collapsed and was hollowed out like a pit. There was not even a trace of the warehouse left, and of course the stairs had long since disappeared.

I lightly kicked the ground. After rising to the ground at once, I landed softly, and there was Captain Hermann in front of me.

Hermann opened his mouth in amazement when he saw the armor I was wearing.

“Phew, phew, ghastly… The true armor of the chest… !”

He trembled all over as if he felt a thrill, and then he said in a trembling voice that he even shed tears of emotion.

“Whew, Mr. Hungseong… ! Do you remember me? Oh no, of course you don’t remember… During the battle with the Demon Dragon Corps, when I was bitten by the dragon’s mouth and wanted to die! Hungseong-nim saved me by cutting off the head of the flying dragon… ! From then on, I will treat Hyeongseongnim as a lifesaver for the rest of my life-“

“Were you on the Prairie Great Plains?”

“Yes, yes! You’re right… ! You remembered!! At that time, most of my troops saved their lives thanks to Hyeongseong-nim. Even though I’m only serving as the captain of the guard now due to a knee injury I received then, my heart is always on the battlefield with Hungseong-nim-“

If you listen, there will be no end.

I raised my hand to interrupt Hermann. Then, as if my words were an absolute command, Hermann’s mouth fell shut immediately following that simple gesture.

Hermann maintained his immobile posture as if he would not even lift a finger until I ordered him to.

I asked with a short sigh.

“What happened to the kidnapped people?”

“Oh yes! We rescued all of them according to the Master’s orders. All of them were in poor condition, so they ordered their men to put them on wagons and send them to the nearby temple. But….”

Captain Hermann carefully looked around.

As I followed the direction he was looking at, I could tell. Around here, not only Hermann, but other people were already appearing one after another.

A knight wearing a pure white cloak with a dragon crest clearly engraved on it.

It was the symbol of the Royal Guard, the elite order of knights in the empire that protects the imperial family.

With the appearance of the Empire’s strongest fighters, each boasting skills comparable to a sword master, a heavy atmosphere hung over the place due to their momentum.

The Royal Guard’s rigid attitude even when not in combat meant that the person they were escorting was very important.

The face of a woman who appeared under the strict escort of the Royal Guard was very familiar to me.

“… Elizabeth.”

She was Elisabeth von Galatea, the only princess of the Empire and a student of Opal Black Class.

At my words, the Royal Guard, who faithfully escorted her by her side, stepped forward and answered.

“That’s rude. How dare you call the princess’s name carelessly. Hungry, no matter how much you are a hero of the continent, if you are a subject of the empire, show proper courtesy in front of the imperial family.”

“Stop.”

Elisabeth lifted her hand to stop her, and the Royal Guard, who had blocked her, bowed her head deeply and backed away from her again.

Elizabeth smiled, gently pulling up her red lips.

“Forgive your subordinates for being rude. It seems that he showed excessive loyalty because he was in front of me. Normally, if the scar had appeared, I would have been impatient to say a word. Oh, did I overreact because of that?”

“Woe, Princess. Those words… !”

At the princess’s mischievous remark, the face of the young royal guard turned red with embarrassment.

I looked around lightly. I couldn’t recognize them all because of their hardened expressions, but all the Royal Guards here had their eyes shining as they looked at my spear and armor.

I couldn’t reveal it openly because I was on a mission, but I could feel the excitement and curiosity in their faces that they had actually seen the malevolence, big or small.

But that kind of thing was fine with me.

I spoke nonchalantly in a different voice than usual because of the armor.

“If there is no business, it will pass.”

“Oh, cool down. We just met, so maybe we could talk a little bit more. Or would it have been better if we met as a different identity, rather than as the imperial princess?”

I was convinced by Elizabeth’s attitude as she covered her mouth and giggled.

You know who I am. That too from quite a long time ago.

Although we only met for a few days, my evaluation of Elisabeth was that she was a student whose true intentions were unknown.

She was an excellent student who was faithful to the class president’s duties even if it was temporary and faithfully followed the instructor’s instructions during class without any complaints.

Elizabeth said as she looked around the devastated District 20.

“The feat of single-handedly preventing a catastrophe that almost struck the system and sweeping away a group of treacherous criminals who dared to go against the will of the imperial family… I really want to invite you to the imperial castle and thank you properly. Will you accept my invitation?”

It is an honor to be invited directly by the Imperial Princess. No one would think of rejecting such an invitation, and even if they had that kind of heart, they would be very cautious, since refusing openly would hurt the princess’ face.

But I answered in a sullen voice.

“What if you don’t like it?”

While the entire Royal Guard and even Captain Hermann, who was standing behind, looked at me with shocked expressions, only Elisabeth smiled softly as if she knew it and said,

“Then I will feel a little sorry for you. Would you punish the hero of the continent for refusing the invitation? I don’t know if it’s my older brother.”

Elisabeth continued her words.

“But I am curious. Where are you going in such a hurry, even rejecting the invitation of the imperial princess?”

“I have no reason to tell you that.”

“Hmm, that’s right. But I’m a little worried.”

Elisabeth smiled as she folded her crimson eyes.

From noble mtl dot com

“If a rumor circulates that the Horror Killed a high-ranking noble of the empire in the first place, whether it was justified or not, it will surely affect the reputation of the Horror… As a fan of the chest, it would be really sad if that happened.”

“… ….”

This guy. Did you know that I was going to kill Marquis Ein Eyar?

“If you knew, why didn’t you take action sooner?”

“Imperial intelligence does not have all information. I’m just guessing. With this level of trickery in the system, it must be clear that there is a back ship….”

Elisabeth folded her slender fingers one by one as she named her suspects.

“Lord Ein Eyar, who tasted the money well through war? Prince Eisenfeld, the head of the local aristocracy holding the mighty imperial power in check? Or is it Lord Runhard, the archmage who usually doesn’t even treat people of different races?”

Elizabeth said with a soft smile.

“I don’t know which of these the Hungryung considers the culprit, but if you kill any one of them, you’re the only one who’ll be in big trouble.”

I crossed my arms and answered indifferently.

“Those who deserve to die will die.”

“Just doing what needs to be done and not caring about honor? It is indeed rumored.”

Elisabeth smiled at my answer, then she went on with her serious expression.

“But you don’t have to dirty your hands. Please leave this matter to the imperial family.”

“You mean that?”

“Not all problems need to be solved by force. Now that we have enough justification and evidence, we will make sure that the criminals who rebelled against the will of the Imperial Family receive the punishment they deserve. If other female sins are revealed in the process, they will be judged as well.”

I thought for a moment.

Certainly, it would be cleaner for the imperial family to directly step forward and judge the guilty than for me to personally kill Marquis Ein Eyar.

Even the imperial family wouldn’t want a dispute with the elves, so I’ll take care of it myself so that the problem doesn’t escalate with appropriate punishment.

I was fine with all the guys who were aiming for Titania disappearing.

“If the problem is not properly resolved.”

“I will do my best not to incur the wrath of the evil spirit.”

I nodded and said.

“I am the Marquis of Ein Eyar.”

At my words, Elizabeth glanced at the Royal Guard standing next to her, who nodded and signaled to the others waiting in the rear.

Several Royal Guards who were present immediately left quickly.

Elizabeth greeted her as she gracefully lifted the hem of her dress.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Then, the urgent business has been solved, so now, relax with me in the imperial castle-“

“I refuse that.”

“Sorry. Could you meet me in a school uniform instead of a dress?”

“… ….”

I put on an expression of disgust, but it was hidden because of the helmet.

At my silence, Elizabeth covered her mouth and giggled.

“Is there anything else you need?”

I was about to answer no right away, but a thought suddenly popped into my head and I stopped talking. While she pondered for a moment, Elizabeth calmly respected my silence and waited.

I opened my mouth slowly.

“There is the last princess of the ruined country down there.”

Elizabeth nodded her head as if she understood what she meant.

“Let me tell you to be polite.”

“Yes.”

I left immediately after that answer.

***

Elisabeth looked at her receding figure as the chest slowly faded into the darkness of the night.

Her royal guard escorting her cautiously opened her mouth.

“Is it okay if I send him away like this?”

“Are you really okay? I sang a song saying that I want to meet the malevolent nature once.”

“No, I didn’t sing! Just out of respect for the 7 heroes of the continent as a single soldier-“

Elisabeth burst into laughter at the words of her escort knight, who made many excuses for her.

“What if it’s not okay? The opponent is a beast.”

“… Even so, Her Highness the Princess is the noblest being on the whole continent. There was no need to come out this low.”

“I think I showed the proper courtesy to the hero of the continent? And the chest is even more special.”

“What do you mean special?”

Elisabeth turned her back without answering the question of her escort driver. As she had never been like this once or twice, her escort knight followed Elizabeth as if he was accustomed to it.

Elizabeth thought with a smile.

Yes. The chest is special.

Because he is the only one among the 7 heroes of the continent who wants nothing from the empire.

Everyone has their own desires. Continent 7 Heroes is no exception.

The saintess wishes for the salvation of mankind, the Jijang wishes for the honor of the family and the glory of the empire, and the Great Warrior worships the will of the goddess. The 7 heroes of other continents also have their own goals.

And the mighty power of the empire could make everything they wished for come true.

But the evil spirit was the only one who didn’t want power, nor fame, nor did he ask for a huge amount of money.

The last hero who contributed to the victory of mankind more than anyone else, but chose to quietly hide away without expecting anything.

Chest, Ion Graham.

My father and older brother are afraid of evil spirits. Because you don’t know what you want apart from strength. In other words, it means that even the power of the Empire cannot control the malevolence.

There is nothing more frightening than power that cannot be controlled by those in power.

But.

“Today was an unexpected harvest.”

Today, the Hungryung defeated the enemies of the Empire to protect his students.

To Elisabeth, it seemed to mean that the malevolent spirit, who had never made any human relationships with no family or lover, had begun to value her student.

And then, she was a student of the chest now.

Elizabeth sang her pleasant hum and her steps lightened.