114 – Stories of Old Heroes
Since then, quite a bit of time has passed.
The meeting, which was said to be held in the near future, took time to coordinate as it required the heads of each country to gather in secret.
…Even so, I didn’t know that the date wouldn’t be fixed even after two months.
If there had been a magic communication port found in the Magic Tower, it would have been possible to have a non-face-to-face meeting, but realistically, it was impossible.
It is a magic tool that consumes a lot of magic power, to the point that it cannot be used unless it is a place where magic power is always overflowing, such as the Magic Tower.
… Well, it is said that leased telephones were not popular at first due to their size and enormous power consumption, so I think they will become popular someday when they are improved.
Anyway, due to the delay in the talks, Princess Lefia and her two vassals spent two months at the Arianrod Fortress, and as a result…
“Hey, Miss Lefia! The fresh meat arrived today, why don’t you try some grilled skewers?”
“Wow! It smells good! Please give me one!”
“Oh my! Ms. Lefia, a fur that I said was pretty came in before. Would you like to take a look?”
“That’s great! I’ll go now!!”
…Isn’t it too quick to adapt?
In just two months, I have increased my intimacy with almost all of my territory residents, but this princess?
Even for Riel, who will one day become the mistress who will rule this estate, it took him nearly a year to get to this level.
Well, there is a difference in that while Riel attended her academy, she made friends with the residents of Arian Road Fortress in her spare time, and this young lady spent her two months directly.
Even so, I had no idea that I would become so close to the hundreds of people in the territory in just two months.
Is this like a royal family’s art of controlling people’s hearts?
Or is it just that I have a nature that makes it easy for me to become friendly with others?
Well, either way, I thought it was great.
Well, like Lefia, there was another child who became a celebrity among the people of the territory.
“Hello!!”
“Oh! Welcome, Sir! Are you taking a walk with mom?”
“Yes!!”
A new world tree, our daughter.
Sir Wentoth.
Anyway, unlike when he was a baby, he was old enough to walk on his own, so he was big enough to often follow me around whenever I went out.
I was very curious, so I started talking to people here and there, so I was exposed to a lot of people in the territory.
So, because of her appearance, it was a bit problematic to call her our daughter… So we tried to keep it a secret at first.
“Why can’t I call her mom and her dad? I don’t like that!!”
As Syr insisted on her, she caused trouble within the village and she was defeated.
… Suddenly, the villagers started looking at me with lukewarm eyes, but I was able to get over it somehow by saying she was my adopted daughter.
In this era, adoption was not unusual, so it was initially accepted.
…I didn’t believe him because Sir’s face was so similar to Riel’s.
As Mr. Cheini, the head of the magic tower, said, she had no choice but to consider whether it would be a good idea to bring her marriage forward.
And now, we are at the White Magic Tower again.
The members were similar to before, but this time they included the white egg that Sir was holding dearly.
…Blaig, the reborn guardian dragon, the time for the egg’s resurrection is slowly approaching.
“Welcome, the White Magic Tower welcomes you.”
Unlike the Magic Tower, which was quiet at the time, there are now quite a few members of the Magic Tower.
Among them, the one who welcomed us was a middle-aged woman we met for the first time.
“My name is Elise Allion, and I am the counselor to the Lord of the Magic Tower. I was away on urgent business earlier, so I apologize for not being able to greet her guests.”
The name was one that Liliana had heard of two months ago.
In the White Magic Tower, he was a high-ranking mage whose skills were just below that of the tower lord, and he was Liliana’s teacher.
He is an adult, and a high-ranking magician in the Magic Tower is a person who is treated as a nobleman of a nation.
After politely greeting and introducing myself, Ms. Elise smiled and said.
“The Lord of the Magic Tower has already told me to let you in right away when you arrive.”
Having said that, she led us to the Mage Tower’s room the same way we came before.
The hidden magic tower’s room. As we entered the room, a translucent woman greeted us with a warm smile.
“Oh, welcome.”
“It’s been a while, Mr. Cheney.”
Mr. Cheney, still slightly floating in the air, raised his hand in greeting.
“Okay, how’s the egg condition?”
Hearing Mr. Cheney’s words, Sir turned his attention to the egg he was holding in his arms.
Sir was holding the egg as if holding a precious doll, and a warm and soft light was shining from the egg.
Mr. Cheney said with a smile after checking the glowing egg.
“Yes, hatching is faster than I thought. It will hatch today at the earliest.”
Hearing Mr. Cheyney’s words, Sir smiled and said.
“Egg! Are you being born?”
“Yes, they say he will be born soon.”
As Sir laughed happily, Riel stroked his head.
After watching that scene with a smile, I turned my head to Mr. Cheyney.
The reason I came to the Magic Tower today is because it is the hatching time for the Guardian Dragon’s eggs.
But there was a reason why I wanted to hear Mr. Cheney’s story.
“Mr. Cheney, I have something to ask you.”
“Yes, I’ll tell you if I can answer.”
“…What kind of person is Saint Velia?”
As I said, Mr. Cheney had far-seeing eyes.
But it was a very important story to me.
A person who caused the death of the World Tree, which managed the world, out of jealousy and love-hate, and twisted the lives of countless people around him in order to harass a girl named Riel.
And about 400 years ago, she was a member of the heroes who defeated the Demon King.
The culprit of everything, Saint Velia.
But I didn’t know anything about her in detail.
No, I didn’t even know what happened 400 years ago.
As for the story of defeating the Demon King, various stories are told throughout the founding history of the kingdom.
However, since it is a story about the founding of the kingdom, only the stories of the founding queen Olivia, her knights, and her lord Callidos are the main focus.
Although there were a few stories about the beast warrior Leo and the witch Chaney, there were almost no stories left about the story of Saint Velia.
All that remains is the story that she left to serve the World Tree even after death.
So, I had to know about that woman for her future.
“…How much do you want to hear?”
“Anything that can be heard.”
At my words, Mr. Cheney nodded his head.
“Yes, it might be a little longer…But that’s okay.”
Before we knew it, Riel was also listening to this story with her Sir sitting on her lap.
Even Phyllis and Leeloo, who were behind her, were listening to her.
Then, Mr. Cheney opened his mouth and the story began.
“We started… So, Leo, a mercenary, and I, a witch… It started with the two of us.”
Beyond the north, the forbidden land of the Demon Continent where the Demons live.
The king who unified this Demon Continent, the King of Demons, led a large army south and invaded the continent where various races, including humans, lived.
At the time, many countries fighting for continental hegemony suffered great damage, and they sensed that it was not the time for them to fight each other.
On a continent where more than ten countries existed, the powerful country that occupied more than 30% of the land was the Marcos Empire.
Centered around the Marcos Empire, all countries formed an alliance and fought fiercely against the Demon King’s army led by the Demon King.
After almost 10 years of war, a hero suddenly appeared from the empire leading his comrades and defeated the Demon King.
After the sacrifice of several of his colleagues, the hero disappeared from the world along with his lover.
The Demon King died and the war against the Demons ended, but even seven years later, the scars left by the war remained.
Demon spirits were rampant due to the demonic energy shed by the demons, and each country that suffered great damage due to the war did its best to heal the wounds.
The ones who shined there were none other than the mercenaries.
Mercenaries are paid to do everything from exorcizing monsters to helping with restoration work.
At a time when human casualties were high, it was common for mercenaries to be used.
Many mercenaries wandered around looking for work and raising money.
Among them, there is a small country called Altma City, which can be said to be a small country.
There were mercenaries in Seren, a city on the border of that country.
Well, since it was a city in a corner, there weren’t many mercenaries, but it was still good enough to fill the needs of a small city.
Among those mercenaries, there was one mercenary of a high rank.
A large man with his bulging muscles wrapped in leather armor and a wolf-shaped steel helmet on his head.
There was a shining silver sign hanging around his neck.
But if you look closely, you can see brown hair between his clothes.
The man was a prisoner.
“Mr. Leos! A nomination request has arrived!!”
“Nomination request? Here in Seren? There’s a lot going on.”
“Mr. Leos, you are a silver rank mercenary, so you can receive nomination requests!”
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Mercenary Guild, well, it didn’t have that name at the time, it was just an organization called the General Mercenary Union… Something like that.
Anyway, among the ranks issued there, a silver rank means that you are a fairly mid-level mercenary.
Well, that’s because he was a hired veteran who participated in the war against demons seven years ago since he was very young.
“So? Who nominated me?”
“Hey…That’s it…?”
The union employee spoke with a slight cold sweat.
“What, did some dangerous organization make a request?”
“No…It’s not like that.”
Well, no matter what dangerous organization it is, the Mercenary Association accepts requests as long as it is not illegal.
The employee closed his eyes and thought for a bit, then opened his mouth and spoke.
“Mr. Leos, have you heard of the Forest Witch?”
“Forest Witch? It’s a famous story in Seren. But I heard she hasn’t been seen in about 10 years.”
There was a story that a forest witch had been living in the border forest around Seren for decades.
This is a story about a devil-like old woman who kidnapped residents and tried to use them as experiment material, or who regarded them as a thorn in her eyes and tried to attack them.
No, in fact, people who are quite old say that they have seen a witch in the forest, so it may not be a made-up story.
Still, since the witch of the forest had not appeared for almost 10 years, I was wondering if she was already dead.
“Why the witch of the forest?”
“Well… It was the witch of the forest who requested the nomination from Mr. Leos.”
At the employee’s words, Mercenary Leos remained silent and slightly shook his head.
The helmet shook and a slight metallic sound rang out.
“…You’re kidding, right?”