Ch.2626. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2)

June 1st, 8:10 AM.

The capital city had been bustling with people since the last week of May. From regular residents to people from nearby towns, sightseers from distant regions, and even visitors from abroad. They had all gathered to witness the second departure ceremony of the hero’s party that traveled to defeat the Seven Calamity.

“It’s only been two or three months since they defeated the third calamity, right?”

“It seems like the Kingdom of Kairos is really determined to eliminate the calamities this time.”

People murmured among themselves. Of course, it wasn’t all interest and goodwill.

“I heard rumors questioning the hero’s qualifications.”

“No wonder some people were skeptical during the first departure ceremony.”

“I don’t like that hero. They say he dismissed the Holy Maiden with his own hands? How can someone be so arrogant? Anyone watching would think he defeated the ‘third calamity’ all by himself.”

“You just like the Holy Maiden because she’s beautiful. Well, I’m not too happy about him kicking her out of the party either.”

Even so, whether people liked it or not, the movements of the Kingdom of Kairos and the hero’s activities were watched by the entire world. The Seven Calamity continued to slowly tighten their grip on humanity from all directions, even as people discussed the hero’s expedition.

I was sitting in the waiting room of the palace with the party members. The atmosphere was completely different from when I had visited for the hearing before. The nobles who had judged Ilroy based only on rumors about the hero. Their attitude toward me during the hearing was close to dismissive contempt.

“The departure ceremony will begin around 8:30 AM. We will leave here at 8:00, so please finish your remaining preparations in the next ten minutes.”

I wondered if it had been easier for them to simply ignore me rather than show such obvious wariness. I narrowed my eyes and looked at Wallace Bigwan, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. Given what he had done to me, his caution was understandable. I didn’t particularly care, but the Deputy Minister seemed worried that I might be planning some kind of revenge.

“Yes. I understand.”

Count Wallace sighed with relief as he moved away from me and fled the room. As the door to the waiting room opened, the commotion from outside slipped in, then was blocked again as it closed. I frowned at the confusion in that momentary murmur.

“It’s war from the morning, a real war.”

“I thought the first departure ceremony would draw the most attention, but I was wrong. It seems like there are even more spectators this time.”

George commented while glancing out the window. Today, George was unusually dressed in a neat navy blue knight uniform. On his left chest were two medals and several ribbons packed tightly together. Perhaps George’s pride was polishing them, as the ribbons gleamed in the morning sunlight.

“Probably because we actually caught the ‘third calamity.’ The more successful we are at defeating calamities, the more attention we’ll get.”

I followed George’s gaze to look out the bright window. I couldn’t see the streets, only the clear blue sky. I turned my eyes to look at the rest of the members.

“Nervous?”

Daphne slowly nodded at my question. She was showing off a fully dressed-up appearance for the first time. It wasn’t overtly flashy as if attending a social gathering, but subtle makeup and styling had been added to create the image of a beautiful and powerful magician. Though I wondered if the makeup was really necessary.

“…This is my first time, so I’m nervous.”

Daphne’s appearance was so beautiful that there was nothing else to say. It was enough to completely erase any trace of the former magician from people’s minds. At my scrutinizing gaze, Daphne blushed even more and slightly lowered her head.

“You’ll be fine. Have confidence.”

Daphne nodded at my words. I then turned my head toward Marianne. Looking more modest than Daphne, Marianne had her spear, taller than herself, leaning against her chair. I wished I could find some sign of nervousness, but Marianne was just looking back at me without any concern.

“Nervous?”

I asked, looking into Marianne’s shining golden eyes. Marianne blinked a couple of times and then slowly shook her head.

“I’m fine.”

That was the answer I expected. I smiled bitterly and looked at the mirror across the room.

There was an unfamiliar face in the mirror. It was much more deliberately decorated than Daphne, George, or Marianne. The white hero’s uniform. My mouse-gray hair was greased and combed into a comma shape, covering one side and swept over on the other. My face, lightly powdered, had deeper shadows than usual, making my features appear much more pronounced. In the mirror, my blue-green eyes, with a strong green tint, looked deeply sunken.

“[They’ve done a decent job dressing you up. The time spent was worth it.]”

That was the Holy Sword’s one-line review after staying quiet. Fortunately, it wasn’t an insult.

The door to the waiting room rattled open. Wind and noise poured in. I stood up, and the other three followed behind me. The gazes of nobles and knights flew toward us. I didn’t return their looks.

Let’s go.

I moved toward the sunlight streaming in from the end of the corridor.

==

“There are a lot of people.”

Aryen muttered. From beneath her pitch-black hood, Isis observed the spectators, who had increased significantly since the first departure. Although they had ridden horses for three days without rest to reach the capital, she felt almost no fatigue. After an early breakfast, they were making their way through the streets of the capital, which had been bustling since dawn, heading toward the palace where the departure ceremony would be held.

“It seems like interest in the hero’s party has grown considerably since they conquered the third calamity. Remember when we returned from the expedition?”

Aryen nodded. National flags bearing the kingdom’s emblem hung from every streetlight, and military bands were playing hopeful marches. Aryen frowned as if disliking the music and moved away from the band. Street vendors had opened early throughout the streets, and occasionally the voices of innkeepers soliciting customers could be heard.

“Full of hope.”

Aryen’s voice was tinged with disillusionment. Isis looked at him and kept her lips firmly sealed. She knew too. The fact that they couldn’t maintain such a hopeful atmosphere forever. The fact that the current hero’s party might struggle to defeat the calamities.

“It would be better to watch from a distance.”

Aryen shook his head with his eyes tightly closed. At that moment, the murmuring of the crowd grew louder. The queen was walking out onto the palace balcony, to the podium. Isis and Aryen looked up.

The queen was wearing a military uniform rather than the dress typically worn for ceremonies. Red and gold embroidery adorned the completely black outfit. As the wind blew, her cape with its red lining fluttered. The queen looked around at the tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital’s streets and spoke in a clear voice.

“Dear citizens of the Kingdom of Kairos.”

Isis’s expression became clouded as she listened to the queen’s speech.

“The time has come to defeat the fourth calamity. The ‘Giant,’ which is waiting for an opportunity to advance from outside the kingdom’s shield, Evernode, must prepare to receive the hero’s sword.”

The queen briefly glanced toward the inside of the balcony.

“…The hero will win. Just as he succeeded in conquering the third calamity when everyone doubted him. He will grow stronger with each battle and deliver us news of victory. As strongly as I believe, as I believe in Hero Ilroy’s efforts, you too should believe in the hero.”

The word belief was heavy. A heavier silence fell over those who had been quietly listening to the queen’s speech. They seemed to be pondering the words hero and belief.

“Then, the hero will also give us his answer in return.”

The queen concluded her speech very briefly. Aryen was still glaring at the palace with narrowed eyes. He speculated that the queen’s talk of belief stemmed from anxiety. Anxiety about the half-dismantled hero’s party. Anxiety about the hero himself. There was only that reason for emphasizing and repeating the word belief.

“The current hero’s party must seem quite unreliable.”

Aryen muttered. Isis also nodded in agreement with Aryen’s words.

“‘Unreliable,’ you say.”

The voice suddenly came from behind them. Isis flinched, and Aryen’s expression sharpened as he wrapped around Isis and swung his hand backward.

Pak-!

And it was blocked. Someone blocked his attack? Aryen’s pupils shook with shock. Isis couldn’t hide her surprise when she recognized the figure that had appeared over Aryen’s shoulder.

“I have a slightly different opinion.”

Crack.

Force was meeting force. Aryen gritted his teeth at the strength of the uninvited guest who wasn’t yielding to his power. The visitor in priest’s robes flashed gray eyes between narrowly opened lids.

“There are many people here. Please refrain from causing a disturbance at the hero’s departure ceremony.”

The priest spoke in a calm voice. Aryen furrowed his brow at the words ‘hero.’

“…And if I refuse?”

“The Holy Maiden you’re protecting would be caught up in the commotion. And it wouldn’t end with just a brief disturbance. If that’s what you want, feel free to cause trouble.”

As he said this, the priest gradually released his grip on Aryen’s elbow. Aryen gritted his teeth and also relaxed his arm. As both men’s arms slowly lowered, Isis pushed Aryen’s arm aside and stepped forward.

“Bishop Andre.”

Bishop Andre greeted Isis with the gentle smile he always wore. Though the bishop’s smile was warm, the emotions behind it were unreadable. As Isis acknowledged him, Aryen stepped back from her with a displeased look.

“Isis, it’s been a while. Have you been well? From your appearance, it seems you’ve had quite a hard time.”

At Bishop Andre’s words, Isis frowned deeply.

“Yes, I’ve been well. Much better than staying under that hero.”

“That’s unfortunate. I had hoped you would get along without fighting, helping each other.”

“I found that some people in this world make that impossible. Including Aryen here.”

Bishop Andre looked at Isis, then at Aryen, then back at Isis with a deep sigh. Isis wasn’t unaware of the meaning behind that sigh. But what rose first was a kind of rebellious feeling.

“Isis, I must give you some harsh words. I’m quite disappointed in your conduct this time. So much so that I wonder if we sent you out into the world too early.”

Isis bit her lip tightly.

“I did what I did after preparing myself for many things. The criticism from the Holy Country, the public’s gaze. But people don’t know how arbitrary and incompetent the hero was during this expedition. And then he cut off a mercenary who was much stronger and more experienced than himself, citing jealousy as the reason.”

“That’s why I’m disappointed, Isis. Why are you acting like such a child? Have I raised you too indulgently in the Holy Country?”

Bishop Andre’s voice became quite stern.

“You were dispatched to help the hero. Therefore, even if he made wrong decisions, you should have been by his side to tell him why they were wrong, to advise him, to supplement the hero’s shortcomings, yet why did you throw such a tantrum?”

Isis hung her head low at the bishop’s rebuke. Aryen stepped forward to shield her.

“I thought the Blue Orthodox Church and Isis were separate entities.”

“First, remove your hand, mercenary. She is not someone you can touch so casually. The conversation we’re having is also not a matter that an expelled outsider should interfere with.”

Bishop Andre’s voice grew cold. A similar fighting spirit rose from Aryen’s body. But soon, as if realizing the fight was meaningless, the bishop withdrew his hostility and looked back at Isis.

“The hero informed us that you didn’t leave the party of your own accord, Isis, but that he directly expelled you.”

Both Aryen and Isis’s expressions froze simultaneously. Then Isis’s face immediately contorted. Her resolve when leaving the party had instantly become a bubble, turning into the hero’s fault instead. Questions and irritation boiled up simultaneously.

“Why would he do such a thing…”

“He also added reasons why you don’t need to be in the party, Isis. What have you been seeing while you were with the hero?”

Silence fell. Bishop Andre turned his gaze toward the palace.

“The hero is coming out.”

Isis and Aryen looked at the balcony. Dressed as he had been on the day of the first departure, the hero exchanged greetings with the queen and stood at the podium. Without turning his gaze, Bishop Andre spoke to Isis.

“Look at the hero once more, carefully. See what you’ve been missing all this time.”

==

“…Then, the hero will also give us his answer in return.”

The queen concluded her speech briefly but powerfully. With the applause and cheers of the people behind her, the queen slowly walked back into the castle. The queen faintly raised the corner of her mouth as she met my eyes. Her red eyes shone with a slight expectation.

“Now, Hero Ilroy. It’s your turn.”

I nodded with a stern expression.

“I expect the same brilliance you showed at the last hearing.”

With those encouraging words pushing me forward, I moved onto the balcony.

How many people could there be? There were so many people filling the streets of the capital that counting seemed meaningless. Just looking at all those people made me feel suffocated. I took labored breaths while fidgeting with the hilt of the Holy Sword.

“[Are you nervous?]”

As if reading my mind, the Holy Sword spoke to me. The voice was a little kinder than usual. Instead of forming words in my chaotic mind, I muttered my answer.

“Yeah. I’m nervous.”

“[You’ll be fine as long as you don’t show that you’re nervous.]”

I chuckled. So it’s all about appearances, is that what you’re saying?

“[Appearances indeed.]”

The Holy Sword responded to my unspoken thought. I looked down from the balcony. People were looking up at me with various expressions. Eyes full of expectation, eyes of doubt, eyes of admiration, eyes of hatred and jealousy, eyes shining with faith, desperate eyes. There were quite a few negative looks. The commotion of the past few weeks had clearly affected the hero’s reputation.

“[Can you see the people’s eyes?]”

“Yes. I can see them.”

I nodded slightly. I think I now know how I should appear to them.

“[Stand tall and proud, Ilroy.]”

A handful of the Holy Sword’s magic seeped into my body. Following its guidance, I straightened my body and looked ahead.

“[The hero’s role is not to betray those who doubt, but to transform doubt into belief.]”

The Holy Sword’s voice firmly supported me.

“[Plant hope in them. Plant faith and conviction. Make it so that their hearts, sunk in doubt and distrust, can be set right by you alone.]”

I straightened my body. I steadied my breathing and calmed my heartbeat.

“[Be that single ray of light faintly shining at the end of the dark tunnel that approaches in the form of calamities.]”

I drew the Holy Sword and held it low.

“[Be a shining presence, Ilroy. So that they can live by seeing your light. Even if they doubt you, even if they can’t believe in you. As long as you continue to shine there, people will look to you and move forward. They will believe there is a tomorrow.]”

I exhaled. The hot pulsation of mana trapped inside my body was released.

“[Raise me and show them. Let them hear hope.]”

Even if it’s an act.

“[Yes. Even if it’s an act.]”

I raised the tip of the Holy Sword high into the sky. As the first stage of the Holy Sword opened, a cluster of light as bright as the sun gathered. Now there was no pain when opening the Holy Sword. The people who had been murmuring slightly all changed to blank expressions as they looked at the shining Holy Sword.

“I am going to the battlefield.”

I opened my mouth. My voice, amplified by mana, echoed across the silent square.

“I won’t make a long speech, but I will make one promise before I go.”

Suddenly, I noticed someone wearing a pitch-black hood far in the distance. I thought I saw a flash of blue light glaring at me. I spoke clearly and forcefully so that my voice would reach that person, word by word.

“I, the hero, will not be defeated.”

I raised my voice. The resonance of the Holy Sword spread with my voice.

“The only time I will stand here again will be when I bring news of victory.”

==

She saw the light of the Holy Sword.

Isis continued to stare blankly at that spot even after the hero’s speech ended. A holy and powerful force that she had never seen before lurked in that light. When did he acquire such power…?

No, it wasn’t just the power, but the hero’s attitude and appearance were different from what she knew. Dignified, confident, the appearance of a true hero. Of course, considering his usual demeanor, it must have been fabricated, but Isis couldn’t adjust to the discrepancy.

Meanwhile, the hero had already begun marching with his new party members. The murmuring of the people grew louder as the hero’s party approached.

“Brief, but fitting words for someone departing on a mission.”

Bishop Andre’s voice was heard. He was showing an inorganic smile after seeing Isis’s reaction. In contrast, Aryen still maintained his contorted expression.

“What do you think, Isis?”

“…That’s.”

Isis lowered her head and shook it in disbelief. Bishop Andre looked at Isis and let out a small laugh.

“Come, Isis. Don’t just stand there in a daze. Shall we move elsewhere for a moment?”

Isis raised her head to look at the bishop. The bishop glanced briefly at the approaching hero’s party and said:

“A new duty has arisen for you as the Holy Maiden.”