Ch.4141. Decision

I was heading toward the Hero’s party’s hideout, accompanied by only two young knights.

To my left was Katie, a junior from the Royal Order.

Honestly, she was quite behind others in terms of combat ability. As befitting a member of the Royal Order, she was at mid-level Expert, and among those, her skills could be placed relatively high, but not enough to go after the Hero.

And my friend on the right was a young holy knight who had been attending to a bishop and an old priest.

His name was Holan. This friend was even weaker than Katie. That’s because we weren’t going to face demons. Rather, we were after someone who had caused tens of times more damage than demons.

Yet I was heading toward the village accompanied only by these two.

It wasn’t that the older men were exhausted and had collapsed. They were following us at a slight distance, concealing their presence with an invisibility spell cast by the court magician.

This was a measure to prevent the Hero from fleeing immediately upon seeing the members of the pursuit team.

It might seem pointless for him to run away now, but the Hero had always shown more than what one could imagine. He was the type who would believe he could escape first and deal with the consequences later.

“Um, senior?”

Katie glanced at me nervously as she spoke.

A female knight with a fluffy appearance. There hadn’t been time to talk during our forced march, but she was my junior after all. She was also one of the colleagues who hadn’t been hostile or distant to me even when I was being scolded because of Cordana.

That’s why she still called me “senior” rather than “Lord” or “Inspector.”

“Speak, Katie.”

“I’m not sure what happens after we secure the Hero. Will we escort him to the imperial capital?”

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“Many seniors in the Royal Order are anxious.”

Those who have no skills except swordsmanship are anxious?

In a way, it was natural. Soon, an era would come when they would have to face the Demon Lord’s army without the Hero. Naturally, knights would be overworked.

“We need to prepare. Anyway, it seems you all have felt some sense of crisis too?”

“…That’s true.”

These days, under Commander Waynelight’s leadership, the Royal Order was conducting grueling sparring and mental training sessions daily.

Moreover, I heard that another Master of the Empire, “Starcather,” who had once been a member of the Royal Order before leaving to lead the Emperor’s direct intelligence organization, was pushing to return to the Royal Order.

It wasn’t because there were signs of war. They were just training in advance to prepare for an era when they would have to endure without the Hero.

‘Still, I need to bring him back alive for now.’

I had no intention of killing the Hero with my own hands. There was too much he needed to do to resolve this situation.

Of course, he might be critically injured during the capture, but that would be Gwon Heejin’s own decision.

“If he behaves, he’ll be escorted safely to the imperial capital and then held accountable.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“He’ll be dragged there as a cripple.”

Whether to be beaten now or be beaten at the imperial capital.

That was about to be decided.

I spotted five figures just leaving a small village surrounded by a wooden palisade.

One man and four women. The man had a notably large chin, and all the women were young and beautiful. There was only one party in the continent that moved with such a composition.

“Looks like we’re not too late.”

The Hero’s party soon discovered us as well.

Millia froze as if under a petrification curse upon seeing me and Katie, and the Saintess flinched and stepped back when she saw the holy knight Holan’s face.

This was exactly as I had expected.

The elf flinched and reached for her quiver, but unfortunately, there was no bow there. The magician didn’t even glance at us, considering us humans not worth being wary of. She wouldn’t have a chance to cast spells anyway.

Finally, the Hero wore an expression of disbelief.

I immediately announced to his face:

“Hero, I have received an imperial order to escort you to the imperial capital.”

***

…Fuck.

Fuck.

About a minute had passed since our confrontation.

All I could hear were the Hero’s muttered curses and the Saintess’s urgent deep breaths.

The atmosphere was generally tense, except for a few villagers peeking from beyond the palisade.

The Hero had positioned his party members behind him and was anxiously darting his eyes around, while I stood with my hands behind my back, staring directly at him.

The Hero spoke first.

“Erick… As you can see, I’ve been in the Demonic Land until recently.”

“Hero, I’ve already secured testimonies from two innkeepers and one village chief. The perception-hindering magic was good, but if you were going to do that, you should have hidden the holy sword too. Or at least reduced your spending.”

“……”

“There was also a report about finger loss. I had hoped that was a mistake, but it turns out to be true. In some ways, it’s more shocking than a false report.”

“So, you know everything?”

“Yes. Therefore, I advise you to comply peacefully.”

The Hero flinched, but the words of quiet compliance did not come from his mouth.

He seemed to hesitate, knowing too well the future that awaited him after being escorted to the imperial capital.

He would know better than anyone that the Empire wouldn’t simply placate him and ask him to resume his duties.

‘If he surrenders now, there’s a possibility it might end with public humiliation, a beating, and confiscation of property. Though that’s only if things go very well.’

But the Hero was indeed the Hero. Judging by the way he was chewing his lips, he seemed to be thinking of something again.

After sizing up the situation, the topic he brought up was the “harpy nest.”

Harpies. They were a group that needed to be quite wary of among the Demon Lord’s forces. Their ability to fly freely in the sky gave them high tactical utility.

Of course, the Hero wasn’t offering a strategy to exterminate harpies in one go. What he mentioned was the gold supposedly piled up in the harpy nest.

“I heard there’s a considerable amount. Of course, it might not be enough to recover all the losses of the Cordana investors, but without going all the way to the Demon Lord’s castle…”

“You mean we can secure gold relatively safely.”

“That’s… right?”

“But Hero, may I ask where you obtained this information? There are no intelligence operations within the Demonic Land.”

“I’ve entered the Demonic Land myself to fight the Dark Lord before. I got the information then. I caught a harpy and tortured it.”

I nodded and said, “I see,” pretending to accept the Hero’s brazen statement.

The Hero brightened up and was about to continue, but then closed his mouth. He must have realized I wasn’t fooled after seeing my stern expression.

“So what are you suggesting?”

“Nothing.”

“Then should we organize a large expedition to secure the gold in the harpy nest? Would an expedition of dozens of Experts, a dozen mages, and a dozen priests be sufficient? We should probably include a Master as well.”

“……”

“To my ears, it sounds like you’re saying we need another holy knight order. Meat shields to fight in your place.”

At this, the Hero closed his mouth again.

He didn’t seem particularly flustered; rather, he appeared to have become calmer.

He took a deep breath and looked at me and the young knights positioned on my left and right. Then, as if having made up his mind, he stepped boldly toward me.

One of his hands was already placed on the holy sword.

“You said you’re a baron?”

“Yes. Along with the title, I also hold the position of Border Inspector.”

“You’ve done well for yourself… But for someone in that position, your entourage seems a bit small. Just three people?”

Having eaten my share of sword fodder, I could roughly guess what the Hero was thinking.

‘He’s saying he’ll kill us to silence us.’

Subduing an imperial messenger by force was insane, but considering the Hero’s current situation, it was a drastic measure he might consider.

Since the borderlands were filled with beastfolk habitats and occasionally had Demon Lord’s scouts appearing, he probably thought he could kill us and conceal it.

Or perhaps he was thinking of taking us prisoner and hiding us somewhere.

“…Hero, fifty knights from the Black Iron Knight Order have deployed a surrounding net from a distance. Don’t entertain foolish thoughts.”

Of course, it was a lie. At the same time, it was also the last chance I was giving to the Hero.

However, upon hearing this, the Hero instead smiled with satisfaction. Something about the number fifty seemed to strike him as odd.

“Fifty knights? Do you take me for a fool? If that many personnel were mobilized, all the nobles would know about it, and you wouldn’t make such a big scene. You should have said you brought a Sword Master and an Archmage instead.”

“…In any case, don’t think about escaping.”

The Hero shook his head saying, “No,” and drew his holy sword. His party members looked terrified, but he seemed to have already made up his mind.

“Who said anything about running away?”

“……”

So he wanted to fight after all.

It’s true that I had baited him. From the beginning, appearing with only two young knights would have suggested the option of killing us all to him. But that doesn’t give the Hero any excuse.

With this, the Hero’s treatment was decided.

“Very well, Hero. No, Gwon Heejin.”

I immediately drew my sword.

Lowering my stance, I held the hilt close to my chest and pointed the tip at the Hero.

Katie beside me tore a signal scroll and drew her sword, and Holan also took a fighting stance. Against the Hero’s party, no less.

“You’re really going to do this.”

The Hero was about to sneer and mock us, but then closed his mouth again.

He seemed to realize that I wasn’t foolish enough to engage in a direct confrontation with the Hero’s party when outnumbered. Of course, considering the composition of the Hero’s party, which included many non-combatants, fighting 5 against 3 might not be so one-sided, but-

‘It wouldn’t be right to deprive those who rushed here like madmen of their chance to act.’

Shortly after, pursuit team members with demonic expressions began to appear one by one.

Three aged knights who had been frustrated just short of becoming Masters, two mages at the edge of the 6th circle, and two clergy with holy power at the level of a saint.

They were already exceptionally skilled, and now, fueled by madness, they were exhibiting some unknown monstrous strength.

“…You clearly said Black Iron Knight Order.”

“There is indeed one person who was among the top ranks of the Black Iron Knight Order. Anyway, I don’t think you’re in a position to point out my lies.”

“……”

“What’s about to happen is something you brought upon yourself.”

With these words, I immediately charged toward the Hero.