[1]
Sightings of the heroes, who had disappeared immediately following their defeat of the Demon King of Destruction, were spread all across the continent.
Their very first destination had been the Lehainjar Mountain Range.
“They suddenly descended from the sky to land right in front of us,” Aman Ruhr said with a smile as he recalled that moment.
His already fierce visage had had a few more scars added to it. Those scars had been earned while defending against the march of the Nur. Aman considered these scars as glorious medals commemorating their victory, so he refused to have them healed and wore them with pride.
“To be honest, at that time, I was extremely exhausted. And it wasn’t just me; we were all at our limits. After all, until just a few hours ago, we had been facing an endless tide of monsters…. Haha, though indeed, it’s not like we were the only ones,” Aman admitted with a chuckle before falling silent for a few moments and shaking his head. “When the news finally reached us by magic, we were informed that the Demon King of Destruction had been slain. As such, we were on our way back to base.
“We also heard about how the Great… Vermouth had returned from the dead, and of how the heroes had suddenly left the battlefield. Ahem, well, even though we had heard about it in advance, when the great hero suddenly landed in front of us, we couldn’t help but be amazed and thrilled to see him in person.”
The place where Aman had set up his defense was at the very northernmost tip of the continent. It was far from the frontlines of the battle against the Demon King of Destruction. Of course, if one could ride a dragon for transport and had all kinds of magic for support, it would be easy to cross such a distance in only a few hours.
“My ancestor, for whom I am proud to declare my eternal respect, threw his arm over my shoulders and told me I had done a good job. He also said that everything was finally over,” Aman said with a proud smile.At that time, Aman hadn’t been able to endure the sudden surge of overwhelming emotions and had fallen to his knees as his legs grew weak.
“It wasn’t just me,” Aman defended himself. “Lord Ortus, who had shared command over the vanguard alongside me, was also shedding thick streams of tears. Ivic refused to allow himself to fall to his knees or shed tears, but everyone there knew the reason why he kept stubbornly staring up into the sky. Haha, in any case, while we were still overcome by our emotions, the Great Vermouth had something he wanted to say to us.”
He had sincerely thanked them.
“He… the Great Vermouth… he actually bowed his head to all of us. Haha, hahahaha—hm? What happened after that?” Aman blinked as he looked at the crowd in front of him in surprise.
Those currently gathered around him were the various heads of the continent’s Union of News Guilds. Now that the war had ended, the News Guilds had quickly burst into action, trying to weave together the whole story of the war.
Although, on the surface, it was just the Union of News Guilds that was taking action, all of the guilds had the consent and were working in cooperation with the various nations of the continent. Unlike three hundred years ago, when only Sienna’s fairy tale had been left as an ambiguous historical record of that era, the Union had sworn to work together and create a clear record of everything that had happened in this war and thus preserve it as a historical record for future generations.
For the sake of this mission, Aman, the King of Ruhr, was willing to personally meet with the heads of the Union and talk about his own experiences.
In fact, even without knowing about the oaths sworn by the Union’s leaders, Aman would have still gladly accepted their interview. The heroes he so respected had recognized his efforts, and Aman was eager to boast about it.
“Hm… well… you want to know what happened next, do you? But there wasn’t really anything that came after that…. After praising us, they flew back up into the sky. They crossed over the peak of the Lehainjar range and seemed to have headed into the Raguyaran. They didn’t say anything about where they were going either…,” Aman confessed before awkwardly clearing his throat. “Ahem, more importantly, allow me to regale you with tales of just how courageously and desperately I and the rest of our army held the line against the Nur.”
Even though the forces under Aman’s command hadn’t been able to swing their axes into the Demon King of Destruction, they had also played their part in the battle to decide the fate of the world. It was all because of the duty they had been entrusted with. Someone had to stand guard here at the Lehainjar.
However, since they hadn’t been able to fight against the Demon King of Destruction directly, their efforts wouldn’t receive as much coverage in the stories that would be passed down to later generations, so Aman felt that he had no choice but to expound on their achievements to his current audience. The gathered heads of the News Guilds were only interested in finding the heroes’ whereabouts and weren’t really willing to take the time to listen to Aman’s tale, but in the face of Aman’s scar-covered visage, none of them could muster up the courage to say, ‘No thank you.’
Over in the Capital City of Shimuin, in the Southern Seas.
“Yes, it’s true,” said Scalia Animus.
Scalia had once been a member of the Violent Tide Knights, Shimuin’s representative knightly order, and had been known by her nicknames as the Flower of the Knightly Order and the Princess Knight. But that was a story from years ago. She had already laid down her sword and divested herself from her former knighthood. That said, she hadn’t just returned to being a mere princess either.
Instead, Princess Scalia had turned to faith.
And not just any faith, but the faith of Eugene Lionheart. Technically speaking, it was in Shimuin that Eugene Lionheart had first declared himself a ‘god,’ and a statue had been erected in the city’s main plaza of his return from slaying the Second Demon King of Fury.
Princess Scalia was so devout that she prayed in front of his sculpted icon every week — no — every single day, and the Royal Family was hoping that Scalia might someday be officially recognized as his actual Saint.
“On that day, I was praying in front of his icon, as I always do. Ah, of course, I wasn’t the only one present. With me, there were also the family members of the knights and soldiers who had yet to return from the battlefield… along with the other members of the faithful who worship Sir Eugene,” Scalia said, her smile even more beautiful than when she had gone around while receiving accolades as the Princess Knight.
She folded her hands together in prayer as she continued speaking with a sigh of admiration, “At that moment, aaaah , a light descended from the sky. Our lord had arrived in response to all of our prayers.”
The members of the News Guilds who were currently interviewing Scalia knew that the truth was different from what Scalia claimed. They had already heard the stories from the other believers who had been gathered there. Eugene Lionheart had descended from the heavens with a blatant look of embarrassment on his face, and his other comrades had been laughing in amusement as they alternated between looking at Eugene’s face and the face of the sculpture.
If the News Guilds were forced to speculate based on the information that they had gathered about the various heroes’ personalities, the group had simply descended from the sky to take a moment to tease Eugene Lionheart about his sculpture as they were passing by.
“Our lord spoke to us. He told us that he would return after making a trip into the distant sea. His reason for doing so…?” Scalia shook her head. “How could I dare to ask for the reason behind our divine lord’s choice of action?”
Did that mean she hadn’t asked him where he might be heading next?
In the face of this carefully posed question, Scalia’s expression grew stern as she scolded them, “Our lord is everywhere and nowhere. Even as I say this to you, he is surely here with us. Such beliefs are a core part of our faith.”
In other words, she didn’t know.
The next piece of news about the heroes’ sightseeing trip sprung up a week later.
Within the Zoran Tribe of the Samar Rainforest.
“I wasn’t able to hear the exact details, but it seemed like they had already spent a few days in the rainforest before they came to visit me. They must have been visiting the World Tree — I mean, the one in the elven domain,” Ivatar quickly specified.
The Zoran tribe, who had united all of the tribes within the Rainforest, already held enough territory that they could rightfully be called an empire. However, the young Great Chieftain, Ivatar Zahav, hadn’t raised himself as their emperor and still insisted on sticking with the title of Great Chieftain. This was because of the negative sentiments that the tribes of the rainforest still harbored towards the words ‘empire’ and ‘emperor.’
“I may have granted you this private meeting due to your oaths with the kings of the continent, but… hmph, let me first make this clear. If you ask me for the location of the World Tree, I will chop off your arms. And if you release your rats into our forest without my permission to find the location of the World Tree and the elven territory… I’ll just have to show you how we barbarians, about whom you so like to gossip, enforce our rules,” Ivatar warned them, the tattoos on his face writhing as his lips curved into a menacing smile.
It had already been confirmed during the war that the military forces under Ivatar's command could stand on their own when compared to any of the forces belonging to the overlords of the continent. So the News Guild heads, who had arrived at the rainforest with a plan of thoroughly investigating all its mysteries, decided right then and there to go back the way they had come.
“Ahhh… but please don’t worry too much. Since a promise is a promise, I will reveal everything that we talked about during our meeting. I’ve already asked and received permission to do so from my friend , Eugene.” Ivatar made sure to emphasize the word ‘friend’ before continuing his narration. “They said that they came here to greet the World Tree. I didn’t ask about the full details, but they said that the World Tree provided them with great help during their defeat of the Demon King of Destruction.”
The World Tree was the religious figure that all elves and the natives who lived in the rainforest worshiped. Seeing as how the heroes had said that they had received its help, it seems that the faith of the World Tree wasn’t just a simple folk religion.
“Apart from that, they also passed on a message from the World Tree. Though, well, the message didn’t really contain anything special. It just charged me with the duty of cherishing and protecting the forest. But well, haha, we already do that every day,” Ivatara declared with a proud laugh.
Every single day? The heads of the News Guilds recalled the sights they had seen before arriving at this meeting. The figures of those fierce-looking warriors as they went around transplanting seedlings and spraying fertilizer….
“But what you’re still curious about is where Eugene and the other heroes went next, right? Haha, I did happen to hear where they were planning on going. I am his friend after all,” Ivatar said as he emphasized the word ‘friend’ once more. “They said that they were going to Ravesta.”
Following the end of the war, these reporters had met countless people and listened to all of their stories, but this was their first time hearing about the heroes’ next destination. The leaders of the various News Guilds unconsciously leaped right out of their seats.
Ivatar burst out laughing. “Hahaha, I understand why that news might light a fire under you. However, do you really think that you will be able to meet them if you head there now?”
It turned out just as Ivatar had said.
The leaders of the News Guilds immediately left Zoran territory in a hurry. Going through a chain of warp gates, they traveled across the whole continent to arrive at Helmuth.
There, they were met with many problems. Following the death of the Demon King of Incarceration, Helmuth had been placed under the collective control of all the nations on the continent. Yet, even so, Helmuth still needed to find a representative who could speak as the country’s new leader. The demonfolk who had refused to participate in the war were all candidates for that position, so Helmuth was trying to decide which of them should take on that role through the unfamiliar process of holding an election.
In such a situation, it was only natural for there to be great confusion.
Much of that confusion came from the human immigrants, who were faced with the suspension of the overwhelming levels of welfare that they had previously enjoyed, and the closure of most of the shops within Helmuth.
Elite knights dispatched from every country on the continent were stationed on every street, standing ready to prevent any riots; demonfolk held up signs, calling for people to give their precious votes to the candidates that they were supporting; and meanwhile, the human immigrants were holding a protest on the main street.
—We aren’t demonfolk!
—Respect the rights of the human immigrants!
—We just want to go home!
All of this was already confusing enough, but what especially gave the heads of the various News Guilds a headache was the fact that Ravesta happened to be located in the very hinterlands of Helmuth. This meant that there weren’t any warp gates that could take them directly to their destination. Even after going through the closest warp gate to Ravesta, they would still have to travel a few days by foot, and then a few more days by boat, before they could finally arrive at Ravesta.
But with their goal seemingly right in front of their very noses, the hardworking heads couldn’t help but continue with their mission.
They went through that final warp gate, raced past all the various towns and villages on the way at breakneck speed, and finally arrived at the ocean.
Only to hear some disappointing news as they were trying to find a ship that would carry them across the water.
“Ravesta? That island disappeared a few days ago.”
Fortunately, they could hear the true story of what had happened from a most unexpected place.
Within the Holy Empire of Yuras’ Prison of Heresy.
This was the place where Yuras imprisoned any priests or paladins who had fallen into corruption, as well as members of any religious cults not recognized by the church.
“To think that the Union of News Guilds would find its way here. It seems that your name isn’t just for show. Your eyes and ears must truly be quite sharp.”
The person who met with the heads of the News Guilds wasn’t the Chief Warden of the prison. It was the commander of the Blood Cross Knights, the Crusader, Raphael Martinez. With a cold smile that didn’t suit his youthful appearance, he led the leaders deeper into the prison.
“I hope you don’t misunderstand why we are holding the witness here, as we never intended to conceal her presence in the first place. It is merely because she happens to be a sinner who has betrayed the faith before. Because of a deal that she had made with Lady Sienna in the past, we allowed her to go free instead of killing or capturing her… but she happens to be the only witness to what happened that day. So after recapturing her, we only transferred her here to keep her from escaping before we had a chance to listen to her account of the events,” Raphael explained.
In their hearts, the heads wanted to protest. Wasn’t any information discovered about Eugene Lionheart and the other heroes supposed to be immediately shared with all of the nations of the continent through the News Guilds?
However, the heads of the News Guilds couldn’t actually muster up any of those protests. The Crusader was known to be second to none when it came to the depths of his fanaticism, and this was Yuras’ Prison of Heresy. Even if the Crusader were to chop off all of their heads right here and now, not a single word would ever leak to the public about it.
Raphael continued, “The woman we have in our custody is Hemoria. You’re all familiar with that name, aren’t you?”
They did recognize that name. It was the name of the previous ace of Yuras’ Maleficarum Inquisition, the woman who had once been known as the Guillotine. However, that former Inquisitor was said to have fallen and had become Amelia Merwin’s servant, only for her to completely disappear following the liberation of Hauria….
“I allowed her to go free. However, I also branded her with a mark that would allow me to find her no matter where she went or what she did. I told her to hide away somewhere like a dying rat, breathing its last breaths… but it seems that impudent woman still harbored some malicious intent,” Raphael said with a sneer.
“That’s not true!” A loud shout emerged from the iron bars of an occupied prison cell. Hemoria, who had been crouching inside her cell, shook the bars while screaming, “What do you mean, malicious intent?! I-I never showed anything like that!”
“Shut up, you evil creature. If it weren’t for Lady Sienna’s orders, I would have never let you go free,” Raphael spat out as his eyes narrowed in a glare.
Hemoria, who was grinding her teeth furiously, banged her head against the iron bars as she growled, “I was falsely accused!”
“What do you mean by ‘falsely accused’? Don’t you know full well just what kind of place Ravesta was? It was where the Demon King of Destruction was being kept asleep,” Raphael said as he loudly kicked the bars of her cell.
Bang!
Struck by the shockwaves from his kick, Hemoria let out a scream as she was sent rolling across the ground.
“You also spent some time hiding in Ravesta along with Amelia Merwin. So, were you preparing to perform some kind of evil ritual there in anticipation of the Demon King of Destruction’s resurrection? Or perhaps you coveted the traces of dark power he might have left there? Maybe you were even planning on inviting the radicals who are enraged by Helmuth’s current situation over to Ravesta to start a rebellion?” Raphael laid out his guesses.
“You’re being delusional!” Hemoria shouted. “Hasn’t this shitty brand of yours already told you where I was and what I was doing?! I-I only went to Ravesta after the war had ended. Before that, I was just….”
It was hard for Hemoria to keep speaking. She didn’t want to admit to having lived the life of a vagrant who was forced to wander the back alleys of Helmuth. The only good thing she had going for her was that she wasn’t a complete vampire, so she wasn’t forced to feed solely on blood.
However, she was occasionally overcome by the urge to suck someone’s blood. Since she wasn’t allowed to drink human blood, Hemoria had survived by sucking the blood of other vagrant demonfolk, who were in no better shape than the rats who lived in the gutter beside them. While fearing that the hunters of Yuras would eventually come looking for her, no matter where she went, Hemoria had lived in hiding like this ever since she had left Hauria.
Then, the war began, and soon afterward, it abruptly ended. While still in hiding, she had harbored some hopes that the Demon King of Incarceration or the Demon King of Destruction might win the war… but that didn’t happen. Helmuth was defeated.
Even as Helmuth fell into chaos, Hemoria’s living space was gradually reduced. This was because of the knights sent to Helmuth from the countries on the continent. Among their numbers were a few paladins and battle priests of Yuras.
If she were forced to compete with these knights solely in terms of strength, most of them were weaker than Hemoria, but the problem was the brand on her shoulder. If she were caught committing a crime, a hunting party would definitely be sent after her. And since the paladins could also sense the presence of her brand, the darkness of Helmuth’s back alleys could no longer offer Hemoria a safe place to rest.
The only safe place that had popped up in her mind at that moment was Ravesta. The Demon King of Destruction who had owned the island was dead. There weren’t any demonfolk left living there either. The place was truly a barren wasteland with nothing going for it, and no reason for anyone to visit it… but didn’t that make it the perfect place for her to hide out?
So Hemoria had crossed the sea and arrived in Ravesta.
When she finally reached the shore after an exhausting swim, Hemoria was drained and felt pushed to her very limits. She decided to just live in Ravesta for the rest of her life. Although the land was barren, she could still try to cultivate a field. She could farm, plant trees, grow fruit, and catch fish…. Eventually, she might even be able to raise some kind of livestock, right?
Hemoria was still worried about being overwhelmed by her urge to suck someone’s blood, but she remembered the old days when she was still living as an Inquisitor. She had gone without touching a single drop of blood… so as long as she could endure and hold on to her restraint, she should be able to completely overcome the urge in time.
Here, in Ravesta, she could be reborn. She could live a whole new life.
“I… I was falsely accused…,” Hemoria sobbed as she clawed at the floor.
That was truly all she had been hoping for when she crossed over to Ravesta.
Once there, she found that the ground in Ravesta no longer showed any traces of dark power. So it seemed that if she just tilled some fields and sowed seeds in them, they might truly bear fruit in time.
Hemoria dove into work, tilling the wasteland and fishing the sea….
But after about a week had passed like this, devils descended on Hemoria from the sky.
Or at least, to Hemoria, those people had felt no different from devils. Immediately recognizing who they were, Hemoria let out a scream and tried to run away, only to be captured by one of those devils.
—What the fuck are you doing here?
Eugene Lionheart, her sworn enemy who had ruined Hemoria’s life, had asked her this question with a puzzled expression. Hemoria was so scared that her teeth were chattering. And when she was unable to answer, he smacked her on the back of her head.
—Are you still insisting on doing that bullshit of grinding your teeth at me?
That was yet another false accusation. She wasn’t grinding her teeth; she was just so terrified that her teeth were chattering on their own.
“There’s no point in listening to her ramblings any further,” Raphael said as he looked back at the various leaders with a bored expression. “Sir Eugene and the other heroes arrived on that island to check the situation in Ravesta. They must have been worried that traces of the Demon King of Destruction still remained. It turned out that there wasn’t anything to be worried about, but…. They then decided there was no need for a place like Ravesta to remain, so they sank the entire island.”
And so, the comfortable hideaway Hemoria had been dreaming of was laid to rest at the bottom of the sea.
“Sir Eugene threw this bitch down onto the shore and left her there. Ah, but of course, we were already aware that she had gone to Ravesta. We were just leaving her alone for a while because we were curious about what she was planning to do next. But since someone had suddenly returned her to the shore of the mainland, and she was just lying there, what else were we supposed to do?” Raphael said with a shrug.
They captured her and locked her away here in the Prison of Heresy.
“However, we intended to let her out in a few days. We don’t intend to kill her… and it would be a far greater punishment for her to continue living a life in the outside world without any safety than it would be to keep her locked up in here. Ah, but the thing you’re really curious about doesn’t have anything to do with her situation, now, does it?” Rahael said with a smirk as he stared back at the News Guild people. “Have any of you heard this piece of news before? Before the Liberation of Hauria, a dragon came by to see Sir Eugene.”
It was the Red Dragon, Ariartelle. Instead of directly participating in that battle, the dragon had opened up her treasure vault and bestowed various precious weapons onto the warriors gathered there, while also giving some advice to the human wizards. The story of how a dragon came looking for Eugene Lionheart in person and lent him her assistance would surely become one of his many legends that would be passed down to future generations.
“According to what this thing claims, an unknown woman with red hair was accompanying Sir Eugene to Ravesta,” Raphael said as he indicated towards Hemoria with a tilt of his chin. “I don’t know where Sir Eugene was heading next after he was done sinking the island of Ravesta, but… he might have gone with that mysterious woman to the dragon’s lair. Ah, of course, I don’t know where the dragon’s lair is either.”
As the heads of the News Guilds were left silently stewing in their frustration, Raphael’s murmurs continued, “If you want to speak with the heroes, you’ll either have to search for the dragon’s lair or… wait for them in front of the Lionheart Estate. Haha, the latter option might actually be the more difficult challenge. You must have heard the latest news, haven’t you? It’s said that when the Kiehl Emperor tried to visit the Lionhearts, the Patriarch and his wife stood their ground and prevented him from entering.”
Following the end of the war, a procession of worshipers seeking to meet with the Great Vermouth and Eugene Lionheart had arrived at the Lionheart estate, but they had all been blocked and turned away by the Lady of the House, Ancilla. Even the Emperor who had visited to pay his respects was no exception to this.
“Especially since the main branch of the Lionheart clan is currently busy preparing to move out of the estate…. You should just try your best to find where the dragon’s lair is hidden,” Raphael advised with a chuckle.
Through the sound of Raphael’s laughter, Hemoria weeping as she ground her teeth could still be heard in the background.
1. As in, ‘happily ever after.’ ☜
Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts
OBW: I guess she deserved it, but still, poor Hemoria.