episode_0003

“I’m starting to get used to this.”

Lloyd extinguished his cigarette.

He never thought he would adapt to the smell of death.

He thought climbing to a high position would give him the power to save people, but instead, he ended up being responsible for killing them.

“Could it be that humans choose the heroes? What would the gods think if they saw this scene?”

He rose to a high position in the tower.

He learned the truth of this world.

Heroes are not chosen by the gods.

It was a structure where kings and dukes directly selected the heroes.

Among all the heroes in this world, there was not a single one chosen directly by the gods.

“Hmm, the Duke, who was rumored to be a doting father, issued this order. I never expected it.”

The assassination order was directly issued by the Duke.

Freya’s gift was inherently weak.

If she got married and had children, the family’s gift would weaken.

If she had quietly been sold to another family, there would have been no problem.

The problem was her being chosen as a hero.

Freya touched the relic hidden by Vigo.

She had no talent in gifts, but she had a relic and resonance, which led to her being chosen as a hero.

If she became a hero, her value would increase.

If she was sold to another family, there would be people questioning it.

Anything related to heroes had to be kept a secret.

In the end, the Duke called upon the creative hero to carry out the assassination.

Even Freya, who received the Duke’s direct love, was ultimately just a disqualified item.

“By the way, who would have thought that the creative hero had such a hobby.”

Lloyd glanced discreetly at the creative hero.

The creative hero, once famous for his kindness, was now joyfully slaughtering soldiers with a face full of excitement.

From an outsider’s perspective, he looked like a murderer who enjoyed killing.

“Well, isn’t that true?”

There must have been a reason why the Duke entrusted the assassination to the creative hero.

“Why are you trying to kill me? Do you not know who I am?”

Freya shouted.

It was pitiful to see her die without even knowing the reason.

“It’s better if you don’t know.”

Lloyd raised his sword.

He had to finish the job and go back.

“Huh?”

A blinding light seemed to come down from the sky, making it impossible to see.

Lloyd covered his eyes with his arm and looked at where the light was coming from.

“It’s divine.”

His heart was filled with reverence towards the gods.

“A hero… a real hero has appeared.”

He wasn’t a manufactured hero.

He was a hero appointed directly by the long-lost gods.

A true hero had returned.

“Oh, please forgive my sins. O Lord.”

Lloyd knelt down.

The days he had piled up sins and conscience to succeed.

Even if he fell into hell, he had nothing to say.

Thud!

The pale-faced creative hero entered the carriage.

He was someone who believed that the gods had disappeared.

If the gods truly existed, then all the sins he had committed would have to be atoned for.

It was the worst possible outcome for a sinner.

A sound of muttering came from inside the carriage.

There was no intention to spare him.

To cover up his sins, he planned to kill the real hero.

Thud.

But that didn’t happen.

The voice of the creative hero inside the carriage suddenly stopped.

His body fell under the carriage like a cut puppet.

“He’s dead.”

The creative hero was dead.

He, who ranked in the top 10 of the hero hierarchy, had lost his life.

In an unexpected turn of events, Lloyd killed him.

“Indeed, is he a real hero?”

Lloyd looked at the real hero.

The power he possessed was immeasurable.

As a mere 7th-grade wizard, he couldn’t comprehend the power the hero held.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A man got out of the carriage.

The thin thread of fate made it difficult to discern what he was thinking.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Lloyd had no strength to answer.

‘Halo…’

He looked at the halo above the man’s head.

A symbol that proved he was a disciple of the gods, said to appear above the head of a legendary hero long ago.

The man was a true hero appointed by the gods themselves.

“I am just a man burdened with sins. Please, forgive my sins even a little.”

He begged for forgiveness.

He sought forgiveness from a true hero and from the true god.

“Alright. Since you wish for death, I shall grant it to you.”

The man’s hand reached out.

He grasped Lloyd’s head.

‘No, I will not forgive your sins. You will suffer in hell for eternity.’

The voice of the god resounded.

He responded to his words.

The god did not forgive him.

Lloyd’s soul fell into the abyss.

*****

‘An expected outcome. If I wasn’t chosen as the hero, who else would be?’

Freya covered her face with a fan.

Whenever she fell into arrogance, she had a habit of covering her face with a fan.

‘Yes, the gods had marked me as a hero.

It’s just that the timing was much later than now.’

The humiliation and inferiority she had felt due to her weak gifts disappeared in an instant.

She, now full of pride, boarded the carriage.

Her colleague had already boarded the carriage.

‘With someone like that as my colleague? Disgraceful.’

She furrowed her brow.

His behavior was crude.

She had never heard of his family.

A mediocre and insignificant family.

It annoyed her to travel in the carriage with such a person.

‘I hope we arrive at the academy soon.’

Being in the same space as him felt distasteful.

When the opportunity arose, she quickly left the carriage.

‘What have I done…’

If Freya could go back in time, she wanted to scold her past self for being foolish.

She had failed to recognize a noble and had fallen into disdain.

To forget the pain of dying, she closed her eyes.

But even as time passed, the pain did not come.

She opened her eyes slightly and gasped.

Two men who had been her escorts lay dead.

‘Did that man kill them all?’

She was astonished.

The two assassins who had attacked were monsters.

They had overwhelmed the escort that appeared to protect the hero and were about to kill him.

But that man had killed those monsters in an instant.

‘How strong is he?’

She looked at the man.

She couldn’t accurately gauge his strength with her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

The man approached.

Two people had died by his hand.

But the man acted as if it was of no consequence.

‘I need to stay calm.’

She took a deep breath.

She tried to maintain her composure.

Her life depended on him saving her.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

She behaved meekly towards him.

“Well, I’m glad you seem fine.”

Tsk, a clicking sound was heard somewhere.

It was an auditory hallucination. But her mind, pushed to its limits, couldn’t distinguish between hallucination and reality.

She mistakenly thought the man regretted not dying.

‘I might die after all!’

Her eyes rolled frantically.

“Well, I thought I would travel to the Papal Palace normally, but it seems that won’t be the case.”

Just now, she had killed two people.

Dozens of people had died.

But the man remained calm.

‘He’s insane. He’s as insane as the two attackers who assaulted his escort.’

“Would you like one?”

He had taken out bread and was eating it.

The bread was stained with blood.

“I apologize! I was rude and disrespectful.”

She bowed her head.

First meeting when acting arrogantly.

Apologizing a hundred times is not enough.

“You don’t need to apologize. Don’t say such things. Oh, and this is our little secret.”

She held her breath at the man’s words.

‘Why…?’

She thought about what the true intention behind his words was.

They were thugs trying to kill the daughter of the Duke.

If this fact were to be revealed, it would cause a big commotion.

‘Could it be that he’s hiding his strength?’

She felt a sense of fear.

‘If it’s revealed that I’m hiding my strength, he might try to kill me.’

There must be some reason why he’s hiding his strength.

If it’s revealed that he’s hiding his strength, she didn’t know if the man would come back for revenge.

“I’m just acting nonchalantly. The guards fought desperately against the villains, and we barely managed to escape.”

The man reached out his hand.

It contained the meaning of concealing the truth.

“Yes! I understand! I won’t say anything no matter what happens!”

She grabbed his hand and stood up.

Her military spirit was on high alert.

“Hurry and get on. We need to head to the academy, right?”

She quickly got on the carriage.

****

‘I won.’

The battle was easy.

When he touched the body of the heroic warrior, he instantly died.

The heroic warrior was ranked in the top 10.

He killed such a person in one go.

‘Anyone can win if I just touch them.’

If he could touch them, he could easily kill even the top-ranked devil.

But it was as difficult as plucking stars from the sky to actually touch them.

“I guess I have to drive the carriage.”

There was no one else but him to drive the carriage.

Damn bastards. They even left their horses tied to the carriage.

“The academy! Let’s go!”

He connected the horses to the carriage.

He finished the job easily, making them regret challenging him after the apocalypse.

He flicked the reins. The startled horses hurriedly ran forward.