episode_0229

Chirp chirp chirp chirp

The sound of birds chirping is heard.

As I slowly open my eyes, warm sunlight is streaming in through the window.

“…Sleepy.”

Perhaps because I fell asleep quite late, I’m still tired despite having slept.

I let out a deep sigh and got up to change my clothes.

“A goddess who lost her name, huh….”

I opened the door, recalling the events of yesterday in my head.

* * *

“The possibility of Hero Leon, who was on the verge of being destroyed and disappearing?…. And you barely gathered it?….”

“It means exactly what it says. Within the returning time, I gave you the power of Hero Leon that I had barely gathered. The power of Leon, who had the greatest talent…, with my hope….”

Leon had the greatest talent?

His basic stats were a disaster from the start?

“You have a look that says you don’t quite understand. As I said before, the curse cast by the ‘Demon King’ was powerful. An infection that was eroding the world…. And Leon was at the great center of that infection. And…, the Demon King used an unknown power to turn back time. And…, from that moment on, Leon’s ‘power’ weakened.”

“!”

“Originally…. Hero Abel and Hero Raguna were clearly not quite suited in personality to be called ‘heroes’ in the true sense of the word…. But Hero Leon played the role of guiding them, and the three became heroes who helped each other….”

Leon’s power is weakening….

In other words, as Leon changed from the ‘strongest hero’ to an ‘incompetent hero,’ he could no longer act as a ‘buffer’….

“…The heroes went astray, prioritizing their own will rather than helping each other. And at the point when that became glaringly obvious, I…. was no longer in a state where I could interfere with this world.”

The goddess spoke with her head bowed.

Her eyes were moist, and she forced back tears as she spoke each word with strength.

Her appearance seemed like she was forcibly holding back tears, so I felt strange.

…Especially since Leviathan, whose body she was borrowing, was naked, making it look like a victim of forced assault, or something?

“Due to the ‘Demon King’s’ scheme, I lost my name, lost my power, and lost the power to interfere with the world, so I could only watch as the heroes went down the wrong path. But I didn’t give up and started looking for a way somehow…. I found you, who has a soul similar to Hero Leon’s, with the help of that person, and I gave you the power I had gathered. I hope…, you can defeat the Demon King.”

As I listened to the story, something else started to bother me….

If I listened to it all one by one, the story would probably end in the morning. And the goddess seemed to realize this as well, so she said,

“I would like to tell you more in detail, but the time I have left is running out.”

“Wait a minute. Before you go, let me ask you just one more thing. If I succeed in defeating the ‘Demon King’…. what happens to me after that?”

“I intend to respect your choice.”

“My choice?….”

If I say I’ll stay, I stay, and if I want to go back, she’ll send me back?

“Yes. That’s right. If you wish to remain here, I will remain here according to your wish, and if you wish to return, you will return to your original world according to the promise with that person.”

“…I was wondering about this earlier. Who exactly is ‘that person’….”

Before I could even ask the question, the goddess’s presence faded.

Her white eyes gradually began to fade, and Leviathan’s original golden eyes began to return.

“I really…, don’t have much time left.”

“Hey, wait!….”

“Lastly…. I didn’t mean to ask you to do this…, since I asked you to do it without permission… but…. To humans…, I know that exchanging intimacy is a very important thing… but…. Still…, doing it in the cathedral for so long…, I have to say it’s a little embarrassing….”

“Ah….”

Thud

With those words, the goddess disappeared.

At the same time that Leviathan’s original eye color completely returned, Leviathan collapsed forward as she was.

And accepting that, I was able to prevent Leviathan from falling forward.

* * *

“….”

Glance

Breakfast time.

The four of us, me, Baekryeon, Seollin, and Leviathan, were gathered for a meal.

But perhaps because of the sex I had with Leviathan yesterday, or perhaps because she was too embarrassed by what she had said at that time, I’m not sure, but she would glance at me, and if our eyes met, she would quickly look away.

“Lady Leviathan? Is something the matter?”

“Ah, no!…. Ah, it’s nothing!….”

Baekryeon and Seollin couldn’t possibly have failed to notice Leviathan’s behavior, so Baekryeon shrugged and asked.

Of course, Leviathan was flustered and quickly shook her head, then started eating diligently.

“Leon.”

“Huh….”

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of asking Leviathan, Seollin asked me the question. I shrugged and avoided answering, but Seollin seemed to have already guessed what was going on, so she snorted and closed her mouth, continuing her meal.

As I continued to eat with everyone, I wondered if there was someone missing. Then I realized who it was.

“…But now that I realize it, where did Pyeong Cheon Daeseong go?”

Pyeong Cheon Daeseong, Mino, whom I met after heading to the Western Continent.

I couldn’t hide my confusion as she, who called me Master and chased after me, suddenly disappeared.

“She left for Tayo Nation first. She said she had to support you, Master? She said she would go ahead and ‘clean up’?”

“….”

To be honest, I’m scared.

“But for sure…. It took longer than expected here. I don’t know what happened to White Tiger, so we should hurry and go.”

“Hmm….”

Baekryeon nodded at my words.

Leviathan also realized that we were originally just passing through this place, and quickly returned to a serious expression.

“S, shall we leave right away?”

“Let’s do that. There’s no need to waste time. As soon as we’re roughly ready, we can leave right away….”

Knock knock knock

Before I could finish my sentence, a knock was heard.

The one who carefully entered after I said it was okay to come in was a male priest.

He politely greeted me, Leviathan, and my party, and then looked at me again.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re having a meal. A messenger from the Prune Kingdom has come to find the hero, so I came to inform you.”

“The Prune Kingdom?….”

Why are they looking for me there?

Of course, the Prune Kingdom is Leon’s hometown, but I’ve only been doing hero activities, so there’s no reason for them to be looking for me.

“What would you like to do?”

“I will meet them now.”

“I understand. Then I will guide you.”

* * *

Guided by the male priest, I headed to the reception room inside the cathedral.

Inside, there was a man wearing quite luxurious clothes and about three knights to guard him.

The moment he saw me, he jumped up and bowed his head.

“Greetings, Hero Leon. I have heard much about your fame. As a vassal of the Prune Kingdom, I couldn’t be happier that a hero like you has appeared in the Prune Kingdom.”

“Yes, but I heard you were looking for me.”

Knowing that there was no need for unnecessary formalities, I spoke directly, and he nodded as if he understood my intention.

“Actually…. An envoy from Yeom Country has come.”

“From Yeom Country?….”

“Yes. As you may know, Yeom Country is….”

“Ah, that’s enough. I already know. More importantly, why did they suddenly send an envoy?”

He might have been displeased by my cutting him off, but he continued speaking without showing any displeasure.

“Actually, envoys from Yeom Country have already been sent several times. They said they had received great grace from Hero Leon and wanted to have exchanges with us. So, while we were conducting occasional exchanges, a sudden envoy from Yeom Country visited. And he was looking for Leon.”

Yeom Country is looking for me?….

Why?

Is it a problem with the Cheonsan side? Could it be that the orcs did something strange?….

I said, sweating with ominous imagination.

“Why are they looking for me? Did you hear the reason?”

“Yes. I heard the reason. They said, ‘The Vermilion Bird has been kidnapped.’”

“…What?”

Who did you say was kidnapped just now? The Vermilion Bird?….

Following White Tiger, even the Vermilion Bird has been kidnapped? No, more than that, that place is full of martial artists, so they kidnapped the Vermilion Bird there?

Is the opponent that strong, or were the martial artists of Yeom Country weaker than I thought?

‘…Well, only Dokjon was usable, and the rest were just so-so.’

It might be possible for her to be kidnapped.

But at the same time, a question arose.

If the ones who kidnapped White Tiger and the ones who kidnapped Vermilion Bird are the same people, then Vermilion Bird would also have been taken to Tayo Nation.

Then what I’m curious about here is….

‘Why did they kidnap White Tiger and Vermilion Bird, two people?’

I can’t understand what they’re aiming for by kidnapping White Tiger and Vermilion Bird.

“Anyway, for that reason, we heard that Hero Leon was in the Holy Kingdom and came here in a hurry.”

“I see. I understand the situation roughly. Are the envoys from Yeom Country still in the Prune Kingdom?”

“Yes. Probably.”

“…We will head to Yeom Country immediately. Please tell the envoy that.”

He nodded as if he understood my words.

…It seems like the road to saving White Tiger will be a little longer.