episode_0017

Einhart, the heart of the empire.

And a mansion located in Einhart.

The sun of the great empire. This is the mansion that His Majesty the Emperor of Val de Magsitia bestowed upon the hero to honor his achievements.

There, too, a middle-aged man named Bordin goes to find his lord.

With news in hand that might interest the lord.

I hope she never loses interest in the world.

“My lord. This is Bordin.”

“Come in.”

After asking permission and opening the door, I see her sitting on a chair with a bored look on her face.

In her hand she held a sapphire-like jewel with a brilliant blue glow.

“It looks like you caught a blue wyvern this time.”

He tosses the jewel up a few times at Bordin’s words, catches it, then soon seems to get tired of it and throws it on the desk.

“I tried holding the jewel on its forehead because it was pretty, but when I actually looked at it, it wasn’t that great.”

“Hehehe.. The only person in this world who would catch a blue wyvern for that reason is you.”

He turns his gaze from the jewel to Bordin.

“So. Did you find any traces of the dragon?”

Dragon. A near-omnipotent being known as the ruler of the heavens.

It is said that typhoons arise with the flapping of their wings, and countries disappear with their breath.

“My lord, a dragon is not something you can find by looking for it.”

“Huh. They say there are all kinds of jewels hidden in the dragon’s nest. ”

“That’s just a rumor, too.”

Her eyes suddenly lose interest at Bordin’s words.

Soon a mocking smile appeared on his face, almost mocking.

“You came here to tell me that you are incompetent, Bordin?

He seemed completely oblivious to the aggressive language. He slowly approached her and placed the iron object on the desk.

“That’s not possible. I have some news that might interest you, my lord.”

“Video magic tool. Is there anything interesting in it?”

“My lord, do you remember the city of Drax?”

She touches the magic tool as if it were clay, and ponders Bordin’s words for a moment.

“Drax? I don’t know.”

“This is the area where the former lord subdued the monster Argentina.”

“Ah. That big lizard.”

“Yes. And it is the area that His Majesty the Emperor gave to my lord as a reward for subduing the monsters.”

“What the hell. I just threw it away because it was annoying.”

If you’re going to give it to me, give it in the form of jewels.

Bordin chuckled as he heard her mumbling.

“Half a year ago, I heard that a girl with considerable strength appeared in Drax.”

“Ugh.”

He activated his magic tool, pretending not to be interested and letting Bordin’s words go unnoticed.

Then, a magical tool that emits bright light.

“I passed over it because it wasn’t that important, but he turned out to be a better person than I expected.”

When there was no answer, Bordin continued talking to himself.

“Conquering the west and east of Drax, and taking care of all the monsters near the city. He has considerable magical power for a young age, so I investigated him.”

“….”

“But surprisingly, she had no trace of learning how to apply mana in the past.”

He said with his eyes wide open, as if the point was now.

“So, in this Bordin’s judgment, I am sure that she possesses unique abilities.”

Bordin raises his hands slightly exaggeratedly high into the air.

“The third unique ability user in the empire, following the crown prince and the saintess! If this is-”

“It’s as pretty as a jewel. I have to have it.”

“That’s true…. Yes?”

Bordin stopped talking. He looked at his lord furtively.

She didn’t take her eyes off the light emitted by the magic tool as if she was possessed by something.

Following her gaze, he saw the light, an image he had already seen once.

A scene was shown of a black-haired woman catching a monster with her bare hands.

“Bordin.”

The butler bowed his head immediately in response to her serious tone.

“Yes, my lord.”

She points to the girl in the video and gives orders.

“Where is this guy?”

The eyes of the lord who spoke like that.

Something I’ve never seen in all the time I’ve been with her.

It was a greedy eye that deeply desired something.

* * *

“Hero of the Empire. Athena is looking for you.”

At first I thought I heard wrong.

So I asked him to say it again.

“Athena is looking for you.”

His words were repeated exactly as if to say that it was not a mistake.

“Hey..what kind of joke are you playing?”

“Yes..?”

Charles’s expression of extreme bewilderment at my words seemed to tell me that this situation was not a lie.

‘No. That can’t be true.’

Why would Athena appear here?

But no matter how many times he checked, the answer he got back from Charles was the same.

“Really…?”

“Yes. He is waiting in the city now.”

Really?

Athena? Me? Why all of a sudden?

All sorts of questions began to mix in my head and disharmony began to set in.

Athena. A character with overwhelming power, and the person I infer as the mastermind.

She was never the type of person to be interested in others.

Although it has not yet been written about, an incident that occurred in the past caused her to lose interest in human relationships and instead began to covet beautiful jewels.

‘That’s why I was interested in Robin.’

The protagonist’s golden eyes shine like gold. When Athena first met the protagonist, she was curious about his eyes.

He watched the protagonist’s every move and often helped him when he was in danger.

But that was the end of it. No further interest was shown.

He was a person who didn’t show much interest in the main character.

Why would a woman like her come to such an abandoned city?

‘Is this a story that didn’t appear in the novel?’

Just as Drax was a city that formed a secret alliance with the Empire to catch criminals.

Although it is not in the novel, there were events that occurred according to the flow of the world, like gears meshing with each other.

This means that events that are not fully written in the novel can happen at any time.

But still, the decision to stay in Drax was due to Athena’s exclusive nature.

A city that she had abandoned from the beginning as if it was a bother. There was no reason for her to suddenly become interested in such a city.

‘There’s no end to worrying about.’

For whatever reason, once she starts looking for me, there’s no way out.

I thought I should go and talk about it.

“Please, let this incident have nothing to do with the original….”

It might exist somewhere in this world.

I prayed to the goddess.

As I returned to the city with such heavy steps, I was able to meet Dania, who was waiting at the entrance.

“Lily!! Hera!!”

“Sister.”

There was deep bewilderment on her face as she ran toward us.

“Hera.. In the city now… That person..”

“I heard it from Charles.”

I could no longer believe that Dania’s words were a lie.

“Why is he looking for you?”

Dania looks at me with a worried expression.

“..I don’t know either. I think I’ll find out once I meet him.”

As I say that, Lily grabs my hand from behind.

“Sister..I feel uneasy..”

I stroked Lily’s head like that.

“It’s okay. You’re a hero. You won’t cause any harm.”

Let’s reassure Lily and go inside the city.

A crowd of people was seen gathering.

And in it I.

I was able to find her.

An expression on his face as if he was sitting proudly on a chair, waiting for something.

Dazzling platinum hair and golden eyes that seem to see through anything.

The strongest human in the novel Indomitable Warrior. But at the same time, she is the mastermind behind it.

It was Athena Caladbolg.

‘What kind of atmosphere…’

There was an air of impenetrability surrounding her.

Let’s approach her slowly with heavy steps.

As if he noticed my approach, he turned his head towards me.

Then, in an instant, it disappeared and then came right in front of me.

“Ugh!”

And then she put both hands on my cheeks as if to embrace me, and stared at me intently.

“Pretty….”

Her golden eyes, which look at me with such a burning heat that it seems as if they will burn me, cause an instinctive fear to rise up from below.

“What the heck are you doing..!”

In an instant, I slapped her hand away and fell back.

Then Athena stared blankly at her hand, then turned her gaze back to me, with a small smile on her face.

“Ah. Sorry. Are you surprised? I lost my mind for a moment. Nice to meet you, Hera.”

She reached out to me, saying my name even though I didn’t tell her.

But, because of the unknown fear coming from her, I ignored her hand and said.

“..Why did you come here?”

Her eyes widen at my words.

“Your voice is pretty too…”

“Why did you come here?”

Like a hedgehog raising its thorns in the face of a predator, sharp words instinctively came out of my mouth.

She smiled as if she thought I was cute and raised one hand to the sky.

“Um… First of all, are there too many people here?”

Golden mana spread out from Athena’s hand and began to quietly surround her.

As soon as she snapped her fingers, the environment changed in an instant.

What you see before your eyes are countless trees and plants.

It was a dense forest, like a giant forest.

“Instant..move?”

As I stare blankly at the sky and say this, Athena laughs and says,

“No. This is a space I created. It’s easier to think of it as a barrier.”

She began to walk towards me slowly, step by step.

“Don’t come.”

She came towards me, ignoring my warning.

“..Don’t you know who I am? It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you speak informally.”

“I speak informally to the person who spoke informally to me first.”

“Hehehe.. But when I hear it from you, informal speech isn’t bad either.”

“…What do you want to say?”

“Why did you come here?”

She pointed at me and said.

“You. Be my slave.”