3 – return-3
“So, you can’t go home right now?”
“I’m sorry. So… it’s kind of hard to say this, but your work has been so successful. It’s far from the time we expected.”
It was a country where countless warriors were summoned and demon kings were exterminated. Even if you look at it a long time ago, there was already a lot of data.
Between summoning the hero and defeating the demon king, there must be countless battles, adversities, hardships, and victories.
And even when heroes are summoned from the outside, sometimes someone in this world is chosen, but basically there are many who have no meaningful experience in combat.
Such a half-punch would have to train a warrior, pass through numerous dungeons, and grow to a level capable of defeating the demon king.
Of course it takes time. And during this time, monsters continue to appear here and there, trade is cut off, and society trembles with anxiety.
However, this demon king eradication was a little different. To be precise, Eleanor, the emperor’s daughter whom I lent my strength to, was a little different.
Because he was born with the emperor’s lineage, his magic talent is unrivaled, and his swordsmanship is also excellent enough to surpass the noses of quite a few geniuses. The physical ability is also a sad level if it is second.
Even now, with no good feelings left for the hero, at least I had to agree that she was the best choice. Tenacity and nobility, ability and spirit. There was nothing that neither of them had.
“…So, how long will this be possible?”
“One month! One month is enough. Don’t be too angry, think that you’re enjoying the afterglow and go back after resting slowly.”
It felt like my expectations were falling to the ground. I thought it would be the last year to see it here, but the reality was crueler than I expected.
The most infuriating thing is that I have no choice but to be persuaded that the emperor’s words are plausible.
The rough record of summoning the hero and defeating the demon lord remains sparsely in my head at the same time as the summoning.
Even if that wasn’t the case, information about the adventure was recorded in detail in the Imperial Library. Maybe someone will go to the warrior party soon.
If you look at those records in detail, no matter how you think about it, their achievements were too fast.
The adventure that would have taken 5 years even if it was less was finished in a much faster time than that, so other preparations could have been insufficient.
Still, the brain was gradually complaining of its limits.
I was tired of understanding all the problems and tricks surrounding me because it was plausible, because there was no harm to others, because I could understand it.
Besides, they now have no civilians to take hostage.
“…Tell me when you’re ready. I’ll be leaving right away.”
I left the audience room with a heavy body. The sound of footsteps in the hallways of the palace, which I believed I would never have to hear again, sounded grotesque and disgusting.
/////
Lying in bed doing nothing was insanely easy the first day.
But the spirit continued to shake. Anger at not being able to go home, resentment at what I had to do ‘under rational thinking’ during the trip continued to wriggle.
By the third day, I thought it would be less boring to do anything.
“…”
But I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do.
If it were the emperor, there was a high possibility that most of what I wanted would be granted.
However, I didn’t like the fact that I sought the emperor’s understanding and he showed mercy just to do what I wanted.
I didn’t want to take a penny from him. It was unimaginable to meet face to face or bow one’s head.
“I do not know…”
The place I was staying was a large guest room. The bed is large, the facilities are good, there is an attached toilet and light refreshments.
Considering the legs that were about to break, I didn’t think I would be able to walk here for long. Even if I could walk with my body, I didn’t think I would be able to enjoy it.
What should I do?
It seemed that if I started working on something, I wouldn’t be able to go back immediately after a month. The unfounded anxiety that I might never be able to go back if I miss the opportunity was eating away at my heart before I knew it.
Leaving that aside, I hated making connections.
All I can say now is just a false identity. It is embarrassing to talk openly about the setting of being the successor of a vanished family that the emperor appropriately created.
Besides, I hated meeting people. Just as if you are pickpocketed once while traveling abroad, the image of that country will be remembered as a pickpocket the next time, the image of this world as four women was already firmly fixed in your head.
There might be a decent leisure life here too, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to enjoy it.
My insides were surprisingly empty. Like a person who succeeded in revenge that he had devoted his whole life to, he felt that whatever he did was meaningless.
I quickly became anxious. If I go back to Earth, will I be able to continue my life on Earth?
Until now, it had been vague anxiety, but now it was fear of the reality that was almost right in front of us.
I felt like I couldn’t laugh, endure, or forgive like I used to.
More than anything else, that scared me.
/////
“Good work, my daughter.”
The emperor’s caressing smile was the expression of longing for her daughter, Eleanor.
A person who seems completely harmless, yet has complete control over his emotions, without losing his dignity and dignity. It was a smile that fit the emperor’s expression.
“I was just following the orders given.”
“So, how was your trip, Eleanor? Well, of course, there were many hard and happy things, but after the trip, what remains are always people like jewels. I also went on patrol when I was young, but… I can’t do it.”
Eleanor felt that ‘like a jewel’ meant more than just being precious and beautiful.
The emperor’s dragon technique was surprisingly similar to jewelry work. Cut any part that is visible or sticks out with a sharp knife, and if the light fades because of the stones around you while you are shining, split the stones and throw them away.
“Everyone I met on my travels, I’m sure there’s no one I won’t remember. Even if there are people I don’t want to remember…”
“Then, how was the hero? Did you have any problems with each other?”
“You mean that?”
Eleanor analyzed the situation with a skeptical look on her face for a moment, but then realized that she didn’t mean it.
“I have nothing to say about that coward.”
“Has he done a great wrong?”
Doubt, anger, calculation. Eleanor’s intuition told her that countless thoughts were swirling in the emperor’s head.
“No. It’s just that he lacked responsibility and will.”
“Is that your idea?”
“That’s right. I have to teach him how to use a sword somehow, but he lacks basic stamina, so he wears a pearl necklace around a pig’s neck, and always becomes a burden to others and comes back as a super corpse, confident without any shame.”
If it wasn’t for the training she gave me, I thought he was a man I didn’t have to worry about. He would have died in the evening.
Eleanor was commendable for somehow enduring the training and giving the hero’s strength to the right person, but the rest was a useless man.
“I see, I wonder if that child will think of you that way too?”
Seeing his expression darken, Eleanor sensed something was wrong.
“I do not know.”
“Eleanor, do you know about the protection the royal family receives?”
Not only the empire, but many countries in this world took it for granted to receive the protection of the gods. Even if it was not necessarily a god, it was common for a dragon to believe in a contract with the family and protect the country, or for a spirit to contract with the royal family and provide help.
“You mean defeating evil and fertilizing the land?”
“That is of course important, but the condition to receive it.”
“Isn’t it enough for a member of the imperial family to ascend to the position of emperor?”
“It could be right up to now. But originally, it’s a reward given to a recently summoned hero or his blood relative ascending to the throne of emperor.”
Seeing the emperor’s tone so calm, she slowly thought about where there was something odd about his words. And, sooner or later, I had to realize.
“A recently summoned hero? That’s ridiculous! If there was such a thing, we would have known about it already!”
“At that time, the hero didn’t want to return to his country. Then, the imperial family either gave him a suitable princess or adopted the hero on his own.”
“then…”
The summoning of warriors is specific. In the Royal Library, there are numerous analyzes of this event. What to do, why not to do it, why to do it, and explanations are clear in their own way.
However. Even if an exceptional situation occurs just once, to find the previous procedure, you have to search the summoning of the warrior 600 years ago. Even if misconceptions spread, there was little time to correct them.
“The warrior is me.”
Eleanor clenched her hands in contempt and anger. The power of the warrior who defeated the overflowing demon lord was here.
Most of the disquieting forces wriggling inside and outside the country were also cleaned up. Few people, whether in public service or status, were higher than Eleanor.
But as if her words were funny, the emperor shook his head.
It’s information that I can’t tell everyone, but I didn’t know that no one really knew.
“He’s the hero. When he first came to this land, that hasn’t changed even now.”