After answering that, he paused for a while before continuing.
“Seventh lord, I am truly grateful to you. Thanks to you, I have really found a successor like this.”
“Contrary to words, your complexion doesn’t look good.”
Then the hero turned his gaze to me, closed his eyes and asked.
“Do you even know that there are conditions necessary for the succession of the Holy Sword?”
The information on the successor is also provided by me. There was no need to pay attention to this.
“Four trials.”
“············”.
At my words, the hero turned his gaze back and muttered.
“I knew it too.”
A necessary condition to inherit the Holy Sword.
It was the four trials that the successor had to go through.
It was not about the growth of powerless such as swordsmanship or magic, but about inner suffering.
[Sorrow of losing a loved one.]
[The despair of being betrayed by someone you trusted.]
[The ugliness of human selfishness.]
[You will have to feel skeptical of the definition you have taken to be right.]
I remembered the revelation the Holy Sword gave to the hero in the game.
In order for the heir to inherit the holy sword, he must go through these trials and overcome them.
“············”.
I think about it again, but it was a really, really, really messy problem.
Finding a mystery or deceiving others by bluffing, it was a different kind of difficulty from the difficulties we had overcome so far.
The main story of Lhasa, which, in summary, is an adventure story with other companions, including the heir.
The place where the user and the heir first met was at the marker city of Lognar Kingdom, the Adventurer’s Guild building.
The user who was performing the quest will take on one quest with the successor who has the same interests.
The relationship that started there leads to a grand adventure as he meets his colleagues one by one, and in the process, the heir goes through many things and naturally meets all the conditions for succession.
To pass on the Holy Sword to the heir.
The easiest and surest way to achieve that would be to follow the story of such a game.
But that was impossible.
Because of my actions so far, the main story in the game has already been twisted.
Originally, some of the issues that should have been resolved in the adventure with the heir had already been resolved, and a meeting that should not have been achieved was made.
If the story of the game was to be reproduced as it is, it would have been a solid departure from the fact that he had come to the successor at the present time.
But for me, I had no choice.
Possessing the game, becoming the seven lords in order to survive, and collecting mysteries had a great influence on this world.
What if, due to the butterfly effect, the successor does not appear at the time and place where the user first met?
If that’s the case, you might not know her whereabouts forever.
In this situation, what should I do to reproduce the story of the game as it is?
Should I force myself to go on an adventure to find her comrades again?
‘It’s nonsense.’
The bond between the user, the successor, and the colleagues he met afterward.
It is a complex and sticky relationship that is built up and intertwined with numerous coincidences, occasions, and events.
Also, the heart of the heir was something I could neither look into nor control at will.
Even if you follow the many episodes of the game as it is, there will be a lot of variables, so there was no way to reproduce the main story in the current situation unless you were a god.
In addition, finding other colleagues was a headache. There are also many people who do not know where they are or what they are doing at this point in time.
So in the end there was only one way.
In a way different from the game’s main story, the successor must create new opportunities to satisfy the conditions for the succession of the Holy Sword.
‘·······How the hell?’
The hero now must have felt the same way as me.
The death of a loved one, betrayal, human selfishness, justice.
The current hero was just an ordinary girl who grew up only in the mountains with her father.
How could I have made her go through such pain and overcome it?
I’ve been thinking about it all this time, but there’s no clear way to do it.
Do I have to artificially set up a stage from one to ten and even put an heir on top of it? like a play?
It was questionable whether such a thing would be possible, but it was also something that was not possible as a human before the problem of whether it was possible.
Suddenly, a movie came to mind. The main character, who is trapped in a huge set from birth, lives as if the set is the real world, and everyone deceives the main character.
“So, what are you going to do?”
I asked the warrior again, but there was no reply.
After a while, the hero opened his mouth.
“I never thought deeply about the issue of succession. Finding a successor has been a difficult task for me until now.”
“············”.
“That’s why I don’t know. From now on, I have no idea what to do… right now.”
There’s no way the warrior didn’t even think about what I was thinking.
But that would be unacceptable for her no matter what. It wouldn’t have even been considered.
“Now that the successor has been found, maybe a new revelation may come from the Holy Sword. For now, I will wait a little longer.”
Saying that, the hero gently grabbed the hilt of the holy sword.
As expected, there will be no further revelations from the Holy Sword.
I knew it, but I didn’t say it. After all, I needed time to think about my plans for the future.
In the meantime, it would be better to stay here and be as close to the Heir as possible.
***
“They’re weird.”
Back in the hut, Caan sat down at the table. Across the street, Lodiven was sitting and still drinking tea.
She looked around and asked Rodiven.
“Where did your father go?”
“He went upstairs a while ago.”
Rodiven, who glanced at the front door, lowered his voice and asked.
“By the way, did you have any more conversations with them outside?”
“yes.”
“Can I ask what you were talking about?”
“It’s nothing special. We just shook hands and said hello.”
When he said that he had shaken hands with the 7th lord, Rodeven let out a sigh. I feel a sense of separation that is hard to describe.
There was a considerable sense of distance between the images of monarchs in his common sense and the 7 monarchs he actually saw. At least, it was never something they could share tea with or say hello casually.
Lodiven recalled the conversation from a while ago and guessed the intentions of the 7th lord.
He said that he came here simply to pursue a demonic contractor, but of course, Rodiben did not believe it.
Maybe it was just her mood, but Rodeven felt that the gentle attitude of the Seven Lords was more towards these women than towards herself.
‘Isn’t the real purpose of the Seven Lords related to them?’
Of course, even with that, there was nothing Rodeven could do.
It was time for him to fall into trouble again.
“Uncle, can you tell me more about the outside of the mountain range?”
“······Well?”
“They say there are some big powers like Calderik. More about that.”
At her request, Rodeven nodded with a shrill smile.
“Okay. Then, where should we start talking?”
The four major powers of the continent, including Calderic and Seintea, their leaders, and the demons, Lodiven explained in turn.
Caran grew intrigued and listened to the story.
“That 7th lord is a new lord who recently ascended the throne. He is also famous for killing the same lord, the 6th lord, the tyrant.”
“Why did you kill me?”
“Well, I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s a very good idea to ask him directly.”
Seeing Car-Ann’s curious eyes, Rodivn regretted saying this for nothing and added a backstory.
“Kan, you don’t know much about the outside world, so you’re comfortable with him, but Calderic’s lords are really dangerous. They’re monsters that can destroy a country with their own power.”
“It’s incredibly strong.”
Ka-Ann exclaimed hey, exclamation.
Of course, it wasn’t a word that really resonated with her, who was fuzzy on the concept of country.
“Still, they don’t seem like bad people. It’s a little strange to have them suddenly hold a sword or something.”
“······knife?”
Kane shook her head.
“No. Rather than that, you said you were a professor of what kind of academy?”
“It’s not an academy, it’s an academy.”
“Yes, academy. What is that place? What else does the professor do?”
Rodeven sighed and answered.
“Academy is a place to teach something. Whether it’s swordsmanship, magic, or knowledge. And a professor is a person who teaches.”
Kane nodded as if she understood.
“If a professor is a teacher, what do you call a learner?”
“You’re called a student. Thousands of children your age learn from different professors, and sometimes they share learning with each other.”
There was a little interest in her eyes at those words.
Heir (10)
To ensure that the successor meets the conditions for the succession of the Holy Sword.
It was a difficult task by itself, but there was a problem that had to be solved first.
‘How should I take the heir?’
Once you take your Heir to the world outside the Mountains, anything can begin.
I thought that it was not a problem that could only be persuaded by the successor.
What was ambiguous was the existence of Ben, the father of the successor.
‘Even in the game, the Heir was obviously very reluctant to talk about his father.’
That was the part that was easy to guess. From now to a few years later, could something have happened to her father in the meantime?
Other than that, there didn’t seem to be any particular reason for her to go out of the mountains, to be reluctant to talk about her father, or for her personality to look darker in the future than she is now.
And if that was true, it was obvious what the affair was. The attack of the Demon Contractor was prevented by the intervention of me and the hero.
It cannot be said for sure, but considering the given evidence, it was the most reasonable guess at the moment.
Putting that part aside, the father is the only family to the heir anyway.
It was unlikely that the heir would easily go out of the mountains alone, leaving such a father, and vice versa.
So, unless the successor was forcibly kidnapped, not only her but also him needed persuasion.
‘The hero must be tied up by now.’
I asked Ashel, who was standing in the back.
“Achelle.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any good ideas? About the succession of the Holy Sword.”
Information about the Holy Sword and the successor had already been shared with Ashel, so she also understood the current situation.
Ashel shook her head with a slightly embarrassed look.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do my best to think about it.”
“No. I was just asking.”
I can’t think of anything that comes to mind, and there’s no way I’m going to have an idea.
I let out a small sigh and lay flat on the grass.
As I was looking up at the sky with my arms cut on my head, Ashel’s expression caught my eye on the other side of my field of vision.
An expression that feels as if something is strangely shaded.
“············”.
Since when? Why did Ashel look so strange?
It must have been about the middle of the journey with the hero.
The reason was unknown. I just have a vague feeling that it’s not just because the presence of a hero is uncomfortable.
At this point, I thought that I should clearly address the problem about her, and I opened my mouth right away.
“Achelle.”
“Yes.”
“Is it because of my mood that you’ve been feeling a little strange for a while?”
I asked openly because it seemed like it would pass if I spoke round and round.
Ashel took in a small breath and could see hesitating. There is also something.
“No, Ron-sama. I…”
“If you want to get over it that it’s nothing, just do it. I believe in you, so there’s no problem thinking that way.”
Ashel’s eyes fluttered.
“Just be aware. You don’t always have to be sober or unwavering in front of me. I’ve never wished for that.”
Having said that, I turned my head again.
Even though I said this, I can’t do anything if I don’t open it up. I don’t want to force myself to ask.
After a moment of silence, Ashel opened her mouth in a stifled voice.
“It was just too pathetic for me to tell you.”
“···········?”
Are you sad?
I tilted my head and said.
“What anew. You look pathetic. I’ve seen it a lot.”
“Yes?”
“It’s either you forgot to add salt while cooking the stew, or secretly stroked the thong and licked the corners of your mouth, or…”
“·······Yes, yes?”
As if there was something wrong with Ashel, she stuttered several times.
“It’s a joke.”