I Became the Hero Who Banished the Protagonist chapter 99

99. between events (2)

“In the end, the fog disappeared without even fulfilling its purpose.”

Bishop Andre was delighted with the news of victory delivered by the warrior and smiled. The Pope looked at him as if he was bewildered and snorted.

“yes. The warrior handled it well as always. When a week had passed since I entered the fog alone, I was wondering what to do, but… . In the end, I managed to solve it somehow with the help of my colleagues. Looking at it that way, I thought that the warrior party would be different.”

The bishop smiled merrily and put a cigarette in his mouth. The pope looked at the burning tobacco and gestured to the bishop as if to offer one. Bishop Andrew took a cigarette from the box and handed it to the pope. The Pope held the cigarette in his hand and turned it around.

“… Oh yeah. I never thought that mythology would remain and be passed down to this age.”

“That’s why it’s called the grandiose title of a hero.”

At the bishop’s reply, the pope lighted a cigarette with a thin smile.

“Now look and listen. In the meantime, the soles of my feet were on fire and I was running around trying to catch their tails. How do you think it’s time to reap a good harvest?”

Bishop Andrew shook his head bitterly. At the bishop’s lack of confidence, the pope slightly frowned. Bishop Andre’s face was thickly tired.

“I tried to chase them day and night. I tried everything I could to stop them from cutting off their tails and running away. Well, in the end, all we were able to get was fragmentary information.”

Doomsday cultists are a group that are very good at running away and hiding. To the extent that he was able to get away while moderately avoiding the pursuit of the Heretic Questioners. In the end, what came into Bishop Andre’s hands was not the body of the bastards, but only side branches. And those side branches will grow back as much as they need time.

“I have to go deeper to get to their bodies… , clues are not coming out as if they would come out. It may have penetrated deeper into this world than we thought. Enough to help them disappear.”

The Pope nodded. The roots of doomsday worship, so to speak, devil worship are deep. much more than they can count. Like a parasite, it identifies a host to stick to, moves around, reproduces, and migrates to another host. That’s how you’ll wear a mask and hide deep in society.

“… I believe that the day will come when we will collide with them in the near future. Evil spirit worshipers are not the ones to sit back and watch as the disaster is destroyed like this.”

The Pope’s office was thick and filled with cigarette smoke. Bishop Andre opened the window of his office and gestured for the smoke to come out. A cold wind came in. Snow was piled up on the window sill. After overcoming the disaster, the kingdom was calm as usual. quiet and faithful

“Let’s get reinforcements. Be it people, money or things. I don’t think it’s time to save the relics. Even saints who left sacred relics wouldn’t want their heritage to rot at a time like this.”

The pope sighed and said: It’s a very ironic world. The reason why there is no fight between humans in the midst of a disaster is because a huge hegemonic state dominates the continent with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people. That’s why I was able to prevent the world from perishing due to infighting.

“Can you prepare?”

“Just because the mercenary we hired recently is quite useful. He alone could do what the entire Heretic Questioner had to do. I can even raise both hands and feet against him.”

Bishop Andre seemed quite amused as he talked about the mercenaries. The Pope pondered how strong the monster must be if it was capable enough to lift both hands.

“Marianne has been transferred to the Holy Knights.”

The bishop nodded at the pope’s words.

“That child won’t be able to serve as the Heretic Questioner any more. No matter how advanced the force, Marianne now has a reason for her to fight. Those who fight with something other than hatred or anger cannot become Inquisitors. You know, His Holiness the Pope.”

The bishop tapped the desk with his finger and said so. The cigarette in his hand burned out and reached the end of its lifespan. The bishop dropped a cigarette butt into the ashtray in his office and rubbed his hands.

“You don’t seem to fight with anger or hatred.”

“Well, what do you think?”

The Pope frowned.

“I can only see that one screw is missing somewhere.”

“Sorry to say.”

The bishop laughed lightly.

“Among the Heretic Questioners, there is no one whose screws have not been removed.”

—-

“… So, is that the reason you have to secretly return home?”

The commander of the kingdom’s general knights nodded. It was an old knight. At last year’s hearing, he was one of those watching from behind, along with Georg and the other knights. He was also one of the few knights who didn’t step out to pull out the holy sword. He patiently nodded his head at my question.

“Yes. Currently, in the kingdom, the ministers are struggling to take advantage of the absence of the warrior and seize power. It won’t be at a level that His Majesty can’t quell, but… , I think there could be no better opportunity than this to find out those who are dissatisfied with the current power system.”

I slightly narrowed my brows. An absent warrior. A kingship that fully supports the hero. And the request for reinforcements from the Holy Land and the disappearance of the hero. This was the perfect time for the wolf cubs to step out. For some reason, I felt like I was a little hesitant rather than leaving right away.

“Did you get permission from His Majesty?”

“I immediately sent a letter to His Majesty after receiving a report on the hero’s safety. It was my suggestion, and His Majesty said that he did not want to use the hero again for political purposes… .”

The Commander of the General Knights trailed off his horse.

“There were concerns from close associates that if left as it was, the palace would become too noisy. Your Majesty said that you would take full responsibility, so you wanted to ask the hero for help.”

It wasn’t difficult. Since we had turned our backs on them for a long time anyway, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start sorting out the trouble that would poke us in the back.

“What can I do?”

“When the inside of the palace is the most noisy, when all the impure elements have come out, please enter the palace with the news of victory.”

Trust in me and suspicion are just factors that divide sides in the political arena of the royal palace. It doesn’t matter if they actually believe in me or not. It felt a bit bittersweet. Those devoured by the mist must have been waiting anxiously for me to rescue them.

“All right. Let’s do that.”

I licked the stuffy roof of my mouth and said that. The general’s expression widened as if he was fortunate.

“Thank you, warrior. On behalf of everyone in the palace, thank you.”

I waved my hand at the commander of the General Knights who was about to bow his head.

“Then let’s go. I don’t think the wolves will be sitting around waiting for reinforcements to return.”

“Ah, yes. The fact that the hero is returning was thoroughly hidden with the cooperation of the Holy See. Even within our reinforcements, there will be people from the opposition.”

“It’s not the time to be fighting inside.”

At my sigh, the commander of the General Knights smiled bitterly. I got up from my seat. The commander of the General Staff stood up after me as if escorting me. Georg, who was with me, joined me.

“We will take you to the royal capital in the fastest and most comfortable way.”

“I look forward to it.”

The time has come to leave the Holy Land. Feeling that a new chapter was about to unfold, I left the room.

—-

“I knew it would be like this. In the end, there was a limit to entrusting it to only one person.”

Daejeon was louder than usual. The court aristocrats and ministers were having a heated discussion among themselves, and Agnes was glaring coldly at the aristocrats who were fighting not blood, but spattering saliva.

“The warrior alone… , as always, ‘self-righteously’ went to deal with the disaster and said there was no news for a week. It must have been a problem not because of one person, but because ‘that person’.”

Public opinion on the hero has not reversed since Evernode. Rather, during the hearing, those who fought for the brave and made progress were more busy trying to discredit the brave. Although those who had been neutral turned to his side after seeing the hero’s performance, it was not enough to completely reverse public opinion in the court.

“It’s not too late, Your Majesty. Even if the hero died in a battle against disaster, it will not have a significant impact on the morale of the entire nation.”

Count Bigwan’s words were quickly received by other nobles. It was a move conscious of the fact that the queen’s expression was not very good.

“Just taking down two plagues has already done its job. Although it can’t be called the full achievement of the warrior. If we make him a national hero and find the right person to succeed him, it would be like catching two rabbits.”

“Kyungs.”

The Queen’s voice was colder than the north wind. At the chilly echo, the minister, who had been pouring out words like a rapid-fire gun, shut his mouth. The initiative rests with the Queen and with the Minister of the Interior, who still controls the majority of the court nobility.

“Are you trying to cover my eyes and stop my ears? Or, do you think I have no eyes and ears? You don’t think that only the narrow palace is everything in this country. Did you think I wouldn’t know what a hero is to the people and how much he is revered in the North?”

The substitutes averted their eyes.

“You guys don’t think about saving the hero, but you’re thinking about finding a replacement right away.”

Agnes spoke rebukingly, and the ministers kept their mouths shut and did not open them.

“They said a week had passed, Your Majesty. And since we haven’t heard anything from reinforcements yet, we need to think about the following in preparation for the hero’s death. That’s what the warrior himself wants. It’s not just about letting go, it’s about preparing for the next one.”

Those were the words of the Minister of Home Affairs. The Queen looked at him with fierce eyes, but the Minister of Home Affairs showed no reaction other than a shrug of his shoulders.

“So, to prepare for the next one, I will sit down with a warrior who can do whatever you want and eat whatever you want, does that mean? Do you want to take the achievements of the hero?”

When Agnes said it sarcastically, the Minister of Home Affairs showed a relaxed smile.

“You speak harshly, Your Majesty. How can I hold the existence of a warrior in my hand and control it as I please? That would be something no one in the world should ever do.”

There were bones in the words of the Minister of Home Affairs. It was no different than asking if the queen was trying to do something that no one should do. The eyes of Agnes and the Minister of Home Affairs met.

The Minister of Home Affairs was walking a tightrope with a tightrope. It could be done if the queen suppressed it by force, but if it came out like that, the public sentiment of the subjects would get worse. It is difficult for the power of the ruling party to come entirely from him. An invisible tug of war continued between the two who knew the fact.

“My servants are anxious. There is no news that the fog has disappeared, and there is no news about the hero’s whereabouts. We urgently dispatched reinforcements, but there is no guarantee that even those reinforcements will return safely.”

Agnes barely swallowed the rising anger. When the reinforcements were sent, they had already endured their resistance and the bleeding of their strength. It didn’t even take a few days for the ministers who took a step back to counterattack like this. Agnes firmly gripped the armrest of the throne.

“You look like you desperately want a hero to die fighting disasters. Do you still want to say that he is not fit for a hero?”

The Minister of Home Affairs shook his head.

“It can’t be. However, I only look at the situation and judge objectively, and give you advice. We, too, are hoping for the return of the hero more than anyone else.”

“If the hero comes back alive, everything you said will be of no use, and there will be a frantic group trying to oust him.”

“You have to accept that kind of stigma. Wouldn’t that be better than putting your hopes on a hero who can’t come back?”

The queen calmly looked at the ministers together. The group, blinded by the lust for power and trying to bite at any cost, has now been sorted out to some extent. At Agnes’s meaningful gaze, several astute ministers faintly frowned.

“Your Majesty seems to be quite desperate.”

“… No, I was just disappointed with your shortsightedness.”

“I mean, it’s realistic. Your Majesty, why don’t you do as we say?”

Agnes stared inorganically at the Home Secretary. The Minister of Home Affairs seemed to be trying to bring a smile of joy to the face of the queen, who seemed to have softened.

“Come in.”

Until the Queen’s words came out of her mouth.

jump.

The door is open. The atmosphere in Daejeon froze as it was. The ministers creaked like broken dolls and turned their heads toward the entrance of the Great Hall.

jerk, jerk.

A proud footstep is heard. The Home Secretary’s expression was tinged with astonishment. At the end of that line of sight, someone with a strong aura was walking along with the knights.

“I remember the last hearing, Your Majesty.”

“Your position has changed.”

A smile spread across Agnes’ lips. Illroy, the hero, opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Hero Illoi, you have returned after defeating the fifth plague, the fog.”