episode_0098

The news of the hero’s death arrived at the Central Church in the form of a letter.

The bishops were shocked, and the royal family was in turmoil.

The knights were in uproar, and the news of the hero’s death began to spread like wildfire.

But perhaps it was because the hero’s deeds in this place were too great.

The chaos and shock did not last as long as expected.

“That trash, he probably wasn’t a real hero anyway.”

“It’s actually for the best. The goddess will surely choose a proper new hero this time.”

“He just caused trouble everywhere he went, what a sight.”

People murmured such things.

The fact that the hero died without subduing the Demon King was a first since the existence of heroes.

But for people to truly feel the gravity of it, the Demon King hadn’t even attacked from the Demon Realm immediately, and the memories of the hero Cain’s misdeeds were too vivid.

The royal family ordered the bishops of the Central Church to find a new hero.

Although this was a first, they thought they could simply choose a new hero through the oracle, as they had always done.

Whether it was truly possible or not was not important.

The bishops accepted the order from the royal family without any questions.

Finding a new hero was just a matter of course for everyone.

No one considered that maybe the goddess’s oracle would never come again.

They didn’t want to think that maybe they couldn’t find a new hero.

Such groundless atmosphere quickly spread within the royal family, the knights, and the Central Church.

And the saint Selena, who had pointed out the failed hero Cain, was immediately dismissed from her position as a saint.

She had to return to being an ordinary believer in the church, but the bishops accused her of pointing out a ‘false hero’ due to distorting the goddess’s oracle.

“Selena distorted the goddess’s oracle to point out a false hero.”

“No! I did not distort the goddess’s oracle!”

The bishops in charge of the Seven Goddesses’ Church held a religious trial to question Selena’s sin, and Selena shed tears of injustice.

But the bishops had already decided to blame Selena to find the cause of the hero’s failure.

The goddess would not give a wrong oracle.

A proper hero would not fail.

Therefore, Selena distorted the goddess’s oracle to create a trash hero.

“Blasphemy!”

Accusations against former saint Selena poured out in the religious trial.

Selena couldn’t understand.

She had only diligently performed her duties as a saint.

She couldn’t understand their confidence in being able to find a new hero by choosing a new saint.

But the situation had already escalated too much for her to voice her doubts.

“Selena, who distorted the goddess’s oracle, blasphemed the divine and selected a criminal hero, is banished from the kingdom.”

In the end, Selena’s position as a saint wavered into that of a witch, and through the trial, she received the punishment of being banished from the kingdom.

And at that moment, the unwavering faith that had always resided in Selena’s heart shattered like glass.

* * *

Clang!

As the Dragoon Knight swung his sword, a large tree spirit burned and fell.

It had been a while since he had received an official request from the guild to subdue monsters, and he had come to deal with the corrupted tree spirits.

Honestly, at this point, he could handle silver-rank monster subjugation requests with his eyes closed.

It wasn’t like he was in dire need of money, but to regain his identity as an adventurer and rekindle his original intentions, there was nothing like a quest.

Especially now, he felt the need to reclaim his identity as an adventurer amidst getting entangled in various matters.

“Your skills have greatly improved.”

After clearing out all the contaminated tree spirits and taking a moment to catch my breath, Mila approached me and spoke.

In fact, she had been following me from a subtle distance since early this morning when we received a request from the guild.

“Well, I’ve been through a lot too.”

“For someone who’s been through a lot, you feel quite ordinary. You seem different from other adventurers in some way…”

Mila’s gaze shifted towards the Dragnite sword I was holding.

I am indeed quite different from other adventurers.

Apart from talents in manipulating magic and the limits of magic transformation, the magic I wield is not entirely human.

I’m not sure if Mila has noticed that, but someone like her might have a keen eye for such things.

“By the way, Mila, don’t you have anything else to do? You’ve been following me around all day.”

“I just… wanted to see you. Am I bothering you?”

She said it so nonchalantly, with a blank expression.

Come to think of it, there was a time when she kept following me around like this before.

Back then, I tried to shake her off because it felt burdensome in many ways, even finishing requests on my own accord.

Strangely enough, I didn’t feel as annoyed or burdened as before, so I just let her be.

And lately, whenever I look closely, I get the feeling that Mila is pondering something.

She may have a blank expression like she’s under a curse, making it hard to read her, but somehow, I could sense it.

What could she be thinking about?

Is it because of the hero’s death that she’s pondering?

Or is she disappointed that she couldn’t settle the score with her enemy, Bloodstain?

If Mila is pondering, it must be for a very heavy and serious reason…

Just listening to it might weigh on my heart, but I couldn’t resist my curiosity.

“If it’s not a bother… do you have something on your mind?”

“Seems like it.”

“I just had a feeling, that’s all.”

“Yunoa, you’re truly remarkable. Your skills as an advisor haven’t changed.”

“Mila was genuinely surprised that Yunoa had noticed her concerns.

She felt once again that Yunoa was the only person who could truly understand her heart and offer genuine advice.”

Well, I just said it on a hunch…

It seems like no matter what I say, Mila takes it much more seriously than intended.

Anyway, I did guess right about her having some concerns.

“If it’s okay, can I ask what’s on your mind?”

“Well…”

Mila hesitated for a moment before responding.

How serious and terrifying could her concern be?

What if I ask and it’s something I can’t handle?

I waited for Mila’s answer while swallowing the lump in my throat.

After a while, Mila looked at me expressionlessly and said, “People have been too afraid of me lately.”

Huh? That’s not something that happens overnight.

Could that be her concern?

Now of all times?

“Could it be because of your reputation and strength as an adventurer? It’s not something that happens overnight.”

“No. It’s different this time.”

Mila slowly shook her head.

Then, with a blank expression, she continued, “Seeing you getting along well with many people made me think. Maybe people can’t approach me because there’s something wrong with me. So, I’ve been trying to open up more to make it easier for people to approach me… but it seems like I’ve only ended up scaring them more than before.”

Honestly, it’s hard to deny that there might be something wrong with Mila.

She gives off a vibe of cutting through people with her gaze and expression.

But was her concern really about this…?

It’s unexpectedly cute for her to have such an unfitting concern.

I couldn’t help but doubt my ears even after hearing it just now.

“So… you suddenly want to get along with people? Why?”

“I’ve never really thought about distancing myself from people.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s just that, lately, when I see you, I realize that I can’t stay the same.”

Milaea spoke with her usual expressionless face.

Yeah, it’s good to be self-aware and strive for change.

Come to think of it, if Milaea can get along with people, it’s a plus for me too.

She often follows me around.

And her exceptional combat abilities will surely be of great help someday.

So, there might be a time when I end up doing something with Milaea.

It’s not like the other people around us would be uncomfortable with that.

Recalling the atmosphere that Mariel and Sephi created in the carriage on the way back to Kuvelo…

And if she can get along with people, maybe my pathological obsession and dependence on her will also improve a bit.

“Alright, that concern… I’ll help you with it.”

“Really?”

“Milaea’s issue is clear. The reason people don’t approach you is because they find you scary.”

“Am I… scary?”

Yeah, very scary.

I don’t know if it’s because of my unique constitution or if I’ve just gotten used to it.

But at least from the way other people look at Milaea or react to her, they seem to be scared as if they’ve seen a demon.

Milaea trusted me almost blindly.

In this situation, there’s no one else in this world who can directly support and help her change.

I was curious about how much she could change.

“First of all, that expression. Milaea, your expression is one of the reasons people find you scary.”

“I’m not making an angry expression though.”

Sometimes, a blank expression can be scarier than an angry one.

“Is that so?”

Milaea was listening to me seriously, but her expression remained unchanged as she responded.

No matter how much she tries to get along with people, if her outward appearance remains like this, it’s pointless.

“Come on, Milaea. Let’s try smiling. Let’s practice smiling.”

“Smiling…”

At my request, Milaea looked a bit awkward, looking at the ground, then the sky, and then back at me.

And slowly, she started moving the muscles on her face.

“Eek…”

The ‘smile’ that Milaea produced was extraordinary.

It felt like I had opened a cursed box that should never be opened.

Could such an expression be possible for a human?

When I asked her to smile, her facial muscles twisted strangely, creating an incredibly scary expression.

Unconsciously, I took a step back.

As I retreated, Milaea returned to her usual expressionless face.

“How was that?”

“…”

I couldn’t bring myself to honestly answer.

Perhaps, I had stepped into an impossible dilemma.