I was joking once because he looked so saggy, but the reaction was intense.
She was so embarrassed that I had said such a joke that her face was dyed red.
“Tell me, I will never disappoint you for any reason.”
As she calmed down and returned to her normal state, she sighed and said.
“I was skeptical of what I could do for my future journey.”
There was no need to ask why he had such skepticism.
A hero, even if it wasn’t, she, who was uncomfortable with her clan’s affairs, was with her as a collaborator.
‘·······Oh, I see.’
Right. I think it has been since then.
Conversation with the hero, when I comfortedly told her that the only person I could depend on right now was you.
I wondered if Achel was skeptical after hearing the conversation.
If that were the case, then this guy was really misunderstanding something.
“Do you remember the conversation we had in the Archmage’s Dungeon?”
“···········?”
“I told you my wishes and goals, and you were willing to help him.”
I slowly got up and looked straight at Ashel.
“It was the first thing I ever spoke out of my mouth, and it was my true heart that I had never told anyone.”
“············”.
“Okay? Asher. You were the first. Think about what that means. And stop those pathetic thoughts.”
It has nothing to do with powerlessness.
In this lonely world, the person I can rely on the most is and will always be Ashel.
Ashhel stood there for a while, as if stiffened, and then nodded her head bewilderedly.
“Yes······.”
I thought it was serious, but it didn’t matter. anyway.
I ripped off my clothes and got up from my seat.
At that moment, he could hear faintly from afar that the hero had started talking to the heir.
***
The hero, Eindel, looked at Caan wielding a wooden sword from the side of the yard.
After entering the hut, she came back to the yard and was practicing swordsmanship.
“············”.
The sword draws one after another, the body’s balance, and the movement of the muscles.
It’s perfect with nothing wrong with it.
She was spreading the perfect sword at her current level.
You can tell at a glance. Is it the fruit of hard work, or is it a gift from heaven?
‘genius.’
Kaen is the heir to the Holy Sword. So it was not surprising, but she was the latter. I would have been surprised if it was rather ordinary.
“You’re looking very carefully.”
Kaan stopped swinging her sword and turned to Eindel.
It was Eindel who was in the yard first, and it was Caan who started wielding the sword in front of her, but Eindel handed her an apology.
“I’m sorry if I’m rude.”
“It’s not particularly rude.”
Ka-Ann, with a wooden sword on her shoulder, coughed a little and asked.
“I said Eindel. Are you a swordsman too? Can you tell me what my swordsmanship was like?”
“It’s absolutely wonderful.”
“Really? It’s not empty words, is it?”
“I’m serious. There’s no reason for me to speak empty words.”
Huh, snoring, Kaan shrugged her shoulders and walked over to Eindel and sat down.
“By the way, in the end, why did you ask me to hold that strange sword? What do I do to find out if that sword suits me or not?”
Eindel looked at her like that and said,
“To find a new master of the sword.”
“New owner…?…? Why?”
“It’s because I don’t have many days left before I can hold that sword. It’s a sword too precious to be buried with me in my grave.”
At that, Karen looked at her with a surprised face.
“Uh… did you have any incurable disease?”
“You can do that.”
“If it’s a disease, my father heals it well, shall we talk about it?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s not the kind of disease that can be cured. Don’t just be grateful.”
“No, though.”
Caan was about to say more, but felt an unknown firmness from Eindel, and gave up.
“······· So, am I suitable as the master of that sword? There was something dazzling about it, though.”
Eindel shook her head.
“I don’t know that yet.”
“I’m sorry.”
Caran looked at her and said cautiously.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me. I’ll listen to it if possible.”
Eindel smiled faintly.
“Then I want to ask you a few questions.”
“That’s enough.”
“It may sound strange, but why are you living alone with your father in such a deep mountain?”
There was no immediate answer to that question.
Kaan, who was scratching the nape of her neck while turning her gaze to another place, opened her mouth immediately.
“Well. There’s no particular reason. I’ve been living here with my father since childhood, when I can remember.”
“············”.
“The only memory I have outside the mountain range is that my father rescued me from dying and brought me here. Even that is faint, so I can’t remember very well. Even if I ask my father, he always avoids answering.”
Eindel looked at her strangely. So you’re not saying it wasn’t your father?
“Have you ever thought of going outside the mountains?”
Eindel changed the question, realizing that Car-Ann was trembling.
She had to somehow take this girl out into the world outside the mountains. Only then will I be able to try the succession of the Holy Sword somehow.
However, I had no desire to force myself out.
Even if the situation becomes so urgent that it cannot be delayed any longer.
It was Eindel who suffered and understood the reality more than anyone else about the sacrifice of cows for the sake of the generations.
However, she had no intention of shifting the responsibility if the heir refused to become the master of the holy sword by his own will. That was the reason she was a warrior.
“Um… well, I’m still interested in the outside world.”
Ka-Ann started talking with a little bit of excitement.
“I saw it in a book or heard only a story from my father. A place called a city where a huge number of people live, the tower of Seintea where all kinds of wizards gather to study new magic, and adventure groups wandering all over the continent to find ancient ruins.”
“Yeah. There are things like that out there.”
“And I think the Calderic you came from is also a very interesting place. The lords who rule are all different races?”
Eindel nodded and listened to her quietly.
Still, it was good to have an interest in the outside world. If you weren’t interested, it wouldn’t have been too difficult to convince you.
“The most interesting thing is the academy that Rodeven talked about.”
“Academy······?”
“Yes, the Academy. Was it the Academy? Anyway, it’s a place where a lot of people of the same age gather to learn all kinds of things. Learn swordsmanship, learn magic, and gather to study.”
Eindel looked at Caranne, who continued the story happily, with a strange gaze.
Listen carefully, because all of her stories were focused on people doing something together rather than the place itself.
heir (11)
The sun was setting and night was approaching in the mountains.
“So, by the way, can I sit here for a while?”
I had no intention of leaving this place until the heir issue was settled, so I asked Ben for his pardon.
There was no specific reason, but it was enough to make it. To find more traces of the demon that gave him power.
Ben willingly accepted whether he had any intention of arguing.
“Do as you please. But there is no room for all three of us in the hut…”
“I don’t mind staying outside the hut.”
I’m homeless. I made you tired of coming all the way here, so there wasn’t much of a problem.
We were seated a little further away from the hut’s yard.
After dinner, I talked to the hero.
“So, how did you think about taking the heir?”
The warrior, who was staring at the burning bonfire, shook his head.
“I don’t have much time. I can’t stay here forever.”
“Know.”
“Aren’t you going to tell the whole truth for now? It doesn’t seem like there’s any other way.”
It was something I had to do anyway. The heir couldn’t inherit the holy sword without knowing anything about it.
“If there really isn’t a way, it would be. But once you say it, you can’t go back. I’d like to think about another way a little more.”
The warrior’s words were right. To her, who almost had no basic common sense about the world, she had no idea what kind of reaction she would get if she had to talk about the holy sword and the successor.
“Then, putting that aside, do you have any plans on how to satisfy the conditions of succession?”
“No… No. That’s more difficult than persuading.”
I glanced at the hero’s eyes and asked.
“What do you think about artificially constructing the situation to satisfy the conditions of succession?”
“I don’t think it’s possible. And even if it is possible, I have no desire to do it.”
The hero cut it off firmly and answered.
Seeing the answer came back right away, she seemed to have thought about it too.
Satisfying the conditions for the succession of the Holy Sword by artificially constructing the situation.
that is, that is.
Forcing the heir to make companions, forging bonds with them, sacrificing them, creating rifts, trampling hearts and emotions, and giving them despair…
In fact, it is no different than arbitrarily manipulating and destroying the life of the heir.
It took a lot of experience and adventure for the Heir, but we couldn’t force it.
“Even if the demon invasion and the demon king’s resurrection are just around the corner?”
“okay.”
Even if he put the worst future in his mouth and spit it out, there was not a single fluttering in the straight eyes of the hero.
“When that time comes, succession is probably better. I will head to Oltero to finish everything myself.”
“············”.
Oltero, the land of demons.
The sealed demon king, the original horses that protect him, and many other high-ranking demons and demon beasts are infested.
The hope of ‘succession’ is holding onto the current hero, who has little time left.
If even that hope faded, she had no other option.
At that time, as I just said, he will go to the realm of demons and try to end it. Even in the story of the game, it ended up in that way.
After a moment of silence, the hero opened his mouth again.
“Still, I think I got to know a little bit more about the heir by talking to him.”
“is it?”
Earlier, when the hero was talking to the heir, I was listening from afar.
There didn’t seem to be any content. Wasn’t the heir excited about the world outside the mountain range?
“He seemed to be interested in the outside world. He felt especially wanting friends.”
“I’m sure. It seems that you’ve only been living in this mountain since you were little.”
The warrior hesitated for a moment and then continued.
“So there are thoughts that came to mind…”
“what?”
“In order for that child to fulfill the conditions of succession, he needs to experience the wider world and feel many emotions and realizations. .”
“right.”
“In the best way for that, I thought about what the academy would be like.”
······Academy?
For a moment, I was taken aback by the somewhat absurd remark.
“Conversations with the successor showed that he was particularly interested in the academy.”
“It must have been the story I heard from that Lodiven.”
“Yeah. Anyway, it’ll be easier to convince her if it’s what the heir wants himself.”
“No, wait…”
What are you talking about now?
“So, you’re going to have your heir enter the academy and even meet the conditions for the holy sword there?”
The warrior nodded his head.
“I’ve thought about it once. There are a lot of children of the same age as the heirs there. Isn’t it the best place to make friends?”
“Yeah, but… Anyway, that’s it.”
It’s definitely an academy, a place that’s no different from a school, so there’s nothing wrong with what the hero said.
But isn’t it too much to expect that the succession conditions will be met?
“Then, are there any other options you have in mind? Seven Lords.”
“············”.
Of course not.
I fell into a brief thought.
Come to think of it, the warrior’s opinion had some truth to it.
Thinking of the road to succession step by step, the first priority is for the heir to make companions.
And it’s true that joining a group is the best way to make friends.
Then the question is where the group is… There was no other option that came to mind.
‘Is the real academy the best?’