Ch.144Report on the Downfall of Diligence (9)

# “You must be keeping in touch with the other heroes as well.”

Kain asked as if the thought had just occurred to him. Hans, the Diligence, tapped his fingers on the table with a somewhat smug gesture.

“Well, these days everyone’s busy, so we mostly just exchange letters. Everyone has their own daily life, you know. They say glory is fleeting but life is long—and that’s truly the case.”

“For an ordinary person like me, it’s hard to imagine.”

“Want to know a secret?” Hans winked.

“I can’t imagine it either. You’re laughing! But I’m not joking. Let me tell you something. People may not know my face, but they know my name. And as you can see, my appearance is quite a mess. So when I show my face somewhere new, I get insulted first. ‘That man is fatter than a bloated whale!’ That sort of thing.

But when someone introduces me as ‘Hans the Diligence,’ from that moment on, people are desperate to even hold this bloated whale’s hand. Can you imagine such a nauseating life?”

“Nauseating? That’s harsh.”

“No. It is nauseating.” Hans emphasized each word.

“This is what fame is like. Have you heard the story about shadows longer than light? It’s about humans in a cave who were frightened by shadows cast from outside, but when they finally went out, they found the source was tiny and insignificant, and they said, ‘I knew it all along.’ That’s what my everyday life is like. You folks seem better off.”

Unlike Hans who appeared quite cheerful, Theodore seemed somewhat flustered. He nervously looked back and forth between Kain and Hans, tapped his foot anxiously, kept glancing at the door, and as soon as Hans finished speaking, he abruptly interrupted.

“Councilman. I apologize, but it seems we’ve taken quite a bit of time. If our distinguished guest from the capital has nothing more to discuss, I think it would be best to conclude for today.”

Kain and Maria’s eyes met.

‘Should we dig deeper?’

A glance and slight nod were enough to communicate. Kain deliberately ignored Theodore. He widened his eyes in feigned shock.

“My goodness, people these days! How could they fail to recognize such a hero!”

This time, Hans and Theodore exchanged glances. Their confusion was evident. The brother cleared his throat, attempting to interject, but Maria beat him to it.

“Have you considered attending public events? Your name is already known, so if your face became more familiar, no one would dare speak to you that way.”

“Ah.” Hans shrank back again. He glanced at the brother and smiled awkwardly.

“For that, I prefer my current lifestyle. As you may know, I have a rather, well, less than honorable past. That’s a burden I’ll carry for life. And by nature, I don’t much like being in the spotlight.”

“Come to think of it, all the heroes seem to have a modest side,” Maria mused dreamily.

“Roberta the Kindness has established a village in the Black Forest to reform bandits. Arianne the Humility lives in seclusion in her hometown. William the Chastity and Arius the Temperance have returned to pastoral lives. And Günther the Patience…”

“Ah, Günther. He also returned to his hometown in the north. Even though he’s the illegitimate son of a count’s family, being a world-saving hero means they can’t treat him poorly, so he won’t be turned away. You seem quite interested in the heroes’ lives?”

Hans winked lightly at Maria. Maria forced a benevolent smile. “That’s enough,” the brother muttered.

“Oh!” Kain clapped his hands as if something had just occurred to him. “Speaking of which, I’ve heard some strange rumors. Have you heard them? Well…”

Hans, who had been anxiously waiting for Kain to continue, asked:

“Well, what?”

“There are rumors that the heroes are being attacked. They say monsters are flying through the sky, and perfectly fine cities are being destroyed…”

“Such rumors exist everywhere,” Hans replied with unexpected composure. “All kinds of false information flies around. This year alone, I’ve heard more than five times that the Eastern Union has invaded the Empire. It turned out one merchant guild was spreading false rumors to interfere with another guild’s contracts.”

“If you’re done talking, can we please stop now,” the brother grumbled again.

“That makes sense. But there’s one more rumor,” Kain continued without interruption this time.

“They say the Shadow is rising. That people marked by the Black Phoenix Faith are wandering around muttering that the time for revenge has come. They’re supposedly inciting the ignorant to burn the world. Such utterly vulgar creatures.”

“Those people will receive divine punishment. Such things only exist in cities without faith and light, never in wealthy and great cities like this one.”

Brother Theodore spoke angrily. Hans the Diligence also rubbed his hands together.

“Yes, exactly. People fall into such heresy because of poverty. If you have enough to eat and a comfortable place to sleep, why would you turn to such delusions? When people are full of discontent with the world, such things happen.”

“But religion can’t solve everything,” Maria continued in a sing-song voice.

“If the Empire is a great rod, and religion is a strict parent, then the stories of heroes are beacons that lead people forward, a light. Hope, that is.”

Maria looked meaningfully back and forth between Kain and Hans. She made eye contact briefly and nodded slightly for emphasis. To an outsider, it might have looked like she was asking for agreement with her words.

But Kain saw it. While Hans himself was smiling, the brother’s face grew more distorted.

“That’s enough…”

“Hope. That seems like such a good word. Because of it, people can move forward. That which encourages people to find light even in darkness, the power that allows us to imagine and dream of better days even in pitch blackness—that’s hope.”

Maria murmured again as if dreaming.

Hope.

Kain recalled the letter William the Chastity had sent to Arianne the Humility. The decoded message of that encrypted letter was “hope.”

For all that time, the two had no contact with each other. Arianne particularly disliked William among the other heroes, and others disliked Arianne as well.

Yet William had sent an encrypted letter, and Arianne had naturally decoded it using “hope” as the cipher word.

Among the heroes, the word “hope” meant something slightly different from what the world meant by it. That was the point Maria was touching on.

Maria, as if she truly knew nothing, repeated the word “hope” like a bird’s song.

“The Seven Heroes had hope too!”

THUD.

A loud noise echoed through the room. The brother had slammed his palm on the table. Even he seemed surprised by his action, his face turning red. Hans also looked at Theodore with bewildered eyes.

“A mosquito. There was a mosquito. Um, Councilman? You haven’t forgotten your appointment with Count Melrich, have you?”

“Oh my, look at me.” The plump man suddenly stood up and offered his hand to Kain and Maria.

“I apologize. I had an important appointment but completely forgot about it, hehehe. I’m like this these days. I keep forgetting things! I’m not very smart to begin with, but I have so many things to do, haha.”

“That happens when you’re busy,” Kain shook his hand. “But with such an excellent mentor, you should be fine.”

“Oh yes, yes indeed. Anyway, thank you for your kind words. From what I understand, it doesn’t seem like the time to take active measures just yet. The matters you mentioned would take at least a few years to implement.”

“If I were you, I’d keep a close eye on developments in the capital,” Kain patted Hans’s hand. “It would be troublesome if such a big money-making opportunity went to another city. Where goods go, people follow, and where people go, money follows.”

Kain released his hand, and Hans wiped the glistening sweat from his forehead. Before Kain and Maria withdrew, Brother Theodore asked:

“How long do you plan to stay in the City of Lombardt?”

“We’re thinking of staying about two or three more days. We’re in no hurry, so we could stay longer, but we plan to visit charity organizations in other cities as well.”

“I see.” Theodore looked at Kain with strange eyes. The slight tilt of his head made him look like a bird of prey.

“Enjoy the rest of your days here.”

* * * * *

The downtown area outside the city hall was still vibrant. Kain and Maria walked slowly along the busy street. They talked about the weather, examined goods at stalls, and exchanged brief pleasantries with passing nobles and merchants. Kain’s elaborate clothing and Maria’s nun’s habit had attracted the attention of others.

Though it was the logistics center of the eastern Empire, it wasn’t that large a city, and the faces of the upper and middle class were all familiar to each other, so Kain and Maria’s appearance was a subject of curiosity for the city’s prominent figures.

“I hope you’ll visit us! We’re curious about recent news from the capital too! After all, all goods pass through and come from the capital, don’t they?”

“You should visit Berta Village if you have time! I haven’t been there myself, but I heard Roberta the Kindness reformed rough people in a completely new way. A self-sufficient community in the forest—isn’t that romantic?”

They were mostly good people who shared good stories before leaving. Kain and Maria gladly accepted their advice. After the people had passed, the two exchanged words in low voices.

“Still there?”

“Yes.”

“Persistent fellows. I want to turn around and see his face once.”

“Don’t,” Kain stopped Maria. “If our faces are exposed, they’ll send someone else. For now, it’s better to walk casually along the main road.”

As soon as they left the city hall, they were being followed. The agent didn’t seem particularly skilled.

When Kain had tested by pressing himself against a wall, the follower had carelessly come out onto the main road and looked around.

“Where are we going?”

Kain gently guided Maria. It was a busy central road wide enough for carriages. The street was chaotic with crowds, horses, and carriages. But there was an advantage: no tall buildings or alleys nearby, leaving the follower nowhere to hide.

“Now. Turn around and walk back.”

Kain and Maria turned around on the spot. They saw the startled follower—a careless, mouse-like man.

Finding himself face-to-face with his targets, the follower had no choice but to brush past Kain and Maria, pretending he was just passing by. Just as they were about to meet, Maria firmly stamped her cane on the man’s foot.

“Ouch!”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry!” Kain bent down in surprise. The mouse-like man’s eyes widened. “Are you hurt? I apologize.”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry,” Maria also bent down. The mouse-like man blushed, then pushed past them saying, “Watch where you’re going!” and left.

“That worked well?”

Kain whispered. Maria sniffed and brushed her collar.

“Hmph. That was nothing. Is there anyone else?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Now that his face was exposed, they probably wouldn’t see the mouse-like man again. Kain and Maria walked leisurely down the street, staying close together in an affectionate posture while talking. But the content was anything but affectionate.

“Hans himself seems decent, but that Brother Theodore is quite strange. Didn’t he act extremely sensitive?”

Kain nodded at Maria’s whisper.

“We should probably check out the surrounding villages. I need to find out what Theodore is doing in the nearby villages.”

Maria stopped quietly. Looking around at the scenery, she whispered as if in admiration:

“Theodore. That seems right, doesn’t it?”

Kain reflected on what had happened earlier. Theodore had been uneasy about the Black Phoenix Faith. He had even become uncomfortable when the heroes were mentioned.

Of course, they had already suspected that Theodore might be deeply connected to the Black Phoenix Faith. He could freely move in and out of the city on behalf of Hans the Diligence, and could secretly cultivate heretics without arousing anyone’s suspicion.

But if Theodore was more than just a peripheral figure. There would be no reason for him to react so sensitively to the word “hope.” If that were the case.

If Theodore was actually Hans the Diligence.

If setting foot in this land without any connections was not a coincidence.

“Why would he have to do that?”

Kain murmured quietly. To anyone watching, it would look like he was admiring a distant view.