Ch.100100. Between Incidents (3)

“Welcome, hero. You must be tired after defeating the fog and rushing all the way here.”

“I’ve missed you. Has Your Majesty been well?”

The hero’s aura was noticeably different. The air exhaled by the ministers who held their breath settled on the floor. The hero didn’t even look at them. Previously, the ministers had seen an incomplete hero. He seemed to be constantly fighting against something invisible, and even when trying not to appear so, he was always conscious of their gazes.

Such an appearance made him good prey for the old men who had wallowed in the mud of politics for a long time. But even when he seemed about to collapse while being torn apart, the hero never fell.

“Missed me? What an amusing thing to say. Are you telling me you tried to send me letters while facing the Calamity?”

“If I had, perhaps Your Majesty wouldn’t have worried so much. From now on, even if I go on expeditions, I’ll send letters regularly.”

The hero was completely ignoring the ministers. The pressure emanating from him enveloped them all. It wasn’t the oppressive aura of an emperor crushing others. Rather, it was a presence like a massive mountain that naturally made one bow their head just by standing there.

“It seems you’ve become more comfortable around me. That’s what I wanted.”

“That can’t be true. My legs still feel like they’re trembling when I face Your Majesty.”

Agnes smiled at the hero’s words. The ministers exchanged glances among themselves. Eventually, their lost gazes converged on the Minister of Internal Affairs. What should we do? The minister secretly broke into a cold sweat at the questioning looks from the nobles. After observing those around him, he quickly opened his mouth.

“You’ve… returned, hero.”

He had to save his life somehow. The nobles who had been desperately looking at the Minister of Internal Affairs showed bewildered expressions. After enthusiastically disparaging the hero and challenging the queen’s authority, he was now lowering his tail and raising a white flag in surrender?

“No… Minister of Internal Affairs, right now.”

“You all seem displeased that the hero has returned? As I’ve said, I was hoping more earnestly than anyone for the hero’s return.”

The nobles’ expressions changed to ones of disbelief. Brazenly, the Minister of Internal Affairs shrugged his shoulders and turned his head toward the queen and hero.

“Well, if this is the case, all our assumptions become useless, Your Majesty. Now that the hero has returned in such good health.”

The Minister of Internal Affairs turned his head and looked at the nobles with sharp eyes. Don’t these fools realize? After the hero proved his qualifications at the hearing and defeated three Calamities, engaging in a political fight in front of the hero was suicidal.

“Indeed, Minister of Internal Affairs. But weren’t you desperately trying to expel Ilroy and find a new hero to take his place? Then who is this person I’ve been talking to just now?”

At the queen’s mockery, the Minister of Internal Affairs swallowed hard. That expression. The minister inwardly realized. This was an operation to remove disloyal elements from the palace. And the queen had already gathered sufficient grounds to dismiss the Minister of Internal Affairs.

“That’s not true. I believe even the hero would understand. You probably didn’t believe you could return either.”

“Why are you speaking so formally now, Minister? Please speak as you normally would.”

The hero’s words cut sharply. The Minister of Internal Affairs tried to distort his mouth but stopped the movement in a spasm. The hero was looking at him with disgust. No, not just the minister. The hero seemed to look down with disgust at everyone present in this space. The minister felt inwardly insulted by that gaze but endured it by pinching his thigh.

“People change, hero. I’ve simply been moved by your actions in Evernode and the Holy Kingdom. Let’s just say it’s pure admiration and respect.”

“Ah, yes. I see.”

The hero turned his head abruptly, as if uninterested in the minister’s excuse. The minister’s temple throbbed. When he slightly raised his gaze, he saw the queen looking at the hero with a contemplative expression.

“Hero Ilroy, I believe in you. Not as a queen’s trust in her subject, but as one of the many people who believe in the hero. Without you, this world would have perished many times over.”

“I’m humbled by your words.”

Agnes showed a gentle smile and then looked at the ministers with cold eyes. That gaze was directed mainly at the ministers who had been pouring out harsh criticism and trying to disparage the hero.

“Do you still see the hero as a new power in the palace? Do you see him not as a shield or wall to protect your lives, but as a sword aimed at you? Do you see him as someone to be checked in order to preserve your petty positions?”

The nobles remained silent. Agnes sighed in disappointment as she looked at the tight-lipped nobles. She had thought she could clean house this time, but more people than expected were lined up behind the Minister of Internal Affairs.

“This greed of yours will end your political lives today.”

Disaster.

That was the word that appeared on the nobles’ faces. Their will to resist was broken. This was because their leader, the Minister of Internal Affairs, had already tucked his tail. And the minister who had lowered his tail would probably survive this purge. At the queen’s gesture, another minister from the Internal Affairs Department rushed to stand beside the queen.

“The ministers I name shall leave the hall immediately.”

At the minister’s words, the court nobles’ expressions soured even more.

“Count Mason Charlton, Baron Maizen Rom…”

The reactions of the named nobles fell into one of three categories: those whose faces darkened even more, those who couldn’t even grasp what was happening, and those who couldn’t hold back and loudly defied the order.

“This cannot be! What wrong have we done to deserve this!”

“That’s right! This is just the usual debate that happens in the palace!”

The knights who had entered the hall with the hero grabbed the shoulders of nobles who wouldn’t leave on their own. The nobles struggled to shake off the knights, but there was no way they could budge them.

“Well then, thank you for your service.”

Words fell like a death sentence. The Minister of Internal Affairs could only blankly watch as his subordinates were dragged out of the hall. He had survived. No, even though he survived, it wasn’t really survival. Now he was just a scarecrow. A scarecrow merely keeping his position.

“If only they had kept their mouths shut.”

One internal affairs official muttered, and the minister sighed. The nobles who had been watching cautiously turned their gaze to the hero. The hero was still glaring at the nobles as if they were disgusting and pathetic. The nobles who met his eyes quickly lowered their heads, and they heard the hero snorting derisively.

The doors of the hall opened, and those who would never be allowed to set foot in the royal city again left. The Minister of Internal Affairs avoided the resentful gazes of the nobles who had lost all strength in their bodies.

==

“This is amusing. Do you see how those people are looking?”

Daphne whispered to me in a low voice. I nodded slightly in agreement. There were hardly any gazes directed at the Minister of Internal Affairs now. Only occasionally did people turn their heads out of curiosity to look at him, and even they quickly turned away. With just a few words from the queen, the minister’s limbs had been cut off, and those who would have tried to shake me from within had disappeared.

“Indeed. Now all eyes are on us.”

There were people who couldn’t even be bats. With eyes wondering where to line up and how to flatter next. I clicked my tongue softly when I realized that most of their eyes were on me.

“That’s how it always is.”

I turned my head toward the sudden voice. It was another minister from the Internal Affairs Department, Count Benoit Aufre. Around his late 40s. A medium-height man with a bushy beard. He seemed to be approaching the prime of his career as a minister. He would probably take the position of the now powerless Minister of Internal Affairs.

“It would be harder to find those who aren’t like them within this palace. Every moment is an opportunity for them to look after their own interests and expand their influence. Now that a big pillar called the Minister of Internal Affairs has fallen, they’re naturally searching for another pillar. They’re just under the illusion that it’s you, hero.”

“What about you, Count?”

“I’m no different. I just hold onto the rope I’ve caught more firmly than others.”

Count Benoit smiled faintly. He had a roundabout way of saying he was loyal to the queen. At least he wasn’t putting on unnecessary airs, which was good.

“Thank you for defeating the Calamity. You’ll continue to be the hope of this world, won’t you?”

Count Benoit said this while offering me a handshake. I nodded and answered his question.

“Of course, Count.”

“Thank you, hero. I look forward to working with you. And, I’ll also… take good care of the queen with you.”

Count Benoit glanced at the queen cautiously as he added the last part. I felt quite uncomfortable with those words but pretended not to hear and let it pass.

“Hero Ilroy.”

I flinched and turned my head at the sound of the queen calling me. The queen was looking at me with her red eyes. I passed by Count Benoit and approached the queen’s throne.

“Thank you. Thanks to your intervention, many things have been resolved. The temporary personnel department led by Count Benoit will take care of the aftermath.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Thanks to that, I won’t be shaken from within.”

“What are you saying? I’ve never doubted you even once. If I don’t waver, how could you be shaken from within?”

The queen answered firmly. I was just a little surprised that she could trust me to such an extent.

“…Your Majesty seems to trust me greatly.”

“It would be strange for anyone to try to hold you back after seeing what you’ve shown so far. Why, is my trust burdensome to you?”

I quickly shook my head, and the queen smiled at my reaction.

“I told you that you could relax your shoulders when dealing with me… That relaxed attitude you showed when entering the hall just now was all an act. Do you still find me uncomfortable?”

“Not at all. I just don’t know how others might perceive me relaxing my shoulders. Some might think it’s disloyal or crossing a line.”

Indeed, there were knights glaring at me with burning gazes as I conversed with the queen. Whether it was part of their duty as royal guards or personal jealousy. Seeing even the female knights glaring at me made me want to sigh.

“I didn’t know you were the type to be so conscious of others’ eyes.”

“…I can’t handle Your Majesty’s words.”

I inevitably addressed the queen in a slightly more casual tone, and the queen smiled more deeply, seemingly satisfied.

“Good. Anyway, you’ve brilliantly concluded this Calamity as well. A reward naturally follows. But this time, I’d like to grant one personal request or wish you might have. Separate from the rewards given to the hero’s party.”

The queen propped her chin and looked at me with her proposal.

A personal request or wish.

I looked at the queen quietly, mumbling my lips, and decided to voice another resolution that had taken root in my heart since defeating the fog.

“Then, may I make a request now?”

The queen’s eyes sparkled at my determined gaze. There seemed to be some expectation in them.

“Oh? You already have something in mind? Good. Go ahead and tell me.”

I opened my mouth, looking straight into those red eyes. With my passion. And sincerity.

“I want to become stronger.”

The queen’s expression soured for about 0.1 seconds after hearing my words.