Ch.5555. Cutting Ties

After dismantling one Count’s family and returning,

I headed to the Cordana exchange, leading a few elite soldiers from the Royal Guard who were stationed within the imperial palace grounds.

Of course, it was to see the Hero.

The decision regarding the Hero’s fate had been made just a few hours ago. The Papal State, fallen into despair, had entrusted the Hero’s punishment to the imperial palace.

Upon arriving at the exchange, I first observed the Hero from a distance.

‘It’s quieter than I expected.’

Even considering it was dawn, the area around the cage was unusually peaceful. A few people were looking at the Hero’s miserable state, but rather than venting their anger, they just lamented briefly before moving on.

Then suddenly, one person approached the Hero.

A woman who appeared to be in her late 30s, her face marked by the hardships of life.

‘Is she the woman I once advised to leave the country?’

Thanks to my senses that had become incredibly sharp since entering Master level, identification was easy.

Judging by her decent clothes, she seemed to be living comfortably enough, and she was holding bread wrapped in paper in one hand.

She glanced around cautiously, then tossed the bread through the bars. It wasn’t exactly a kind gesture, but it was surprising that she treated the Hero as a human being at all.

Soon after, I could hear her murmuring.

“Excuse me, Hero.”

“……”

“You’re not coming to your senses. I didn’t come here with anything particular to say. I was just curious to see this place so quiet for once after all the commotion of the past few days. My child even asked why the Hero was getting hit with tomatoes.”

“…Hah.”

“I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

“……”

“Perhaps if you had been a bit more diligent in your role as the Hero, would this not have happened? From what I can see, you’re no ordinary person. You must have been busy enough fighting the Demon Lord’s army, yet you even ran a business. If that can be called a business.”

“…Shut—”

“You even dated all four of your party members simultaneously. I know many people who practice polygamy, and it’s no easy feat.”

The Hero didn’t respond at all. Based on my experience, he was probably glaring at the woman with murderous eyes.

The woman sighed and slowly got up. She seemed satisfied just to have gained a story she could tell for the rest of her life.

Seeing this, I decided it was unnecessary to keep the Hero in front of the exchange any longer.

I led the soldiers toward the cage. And while I was at it, I decided to answer the woman’s question.

“It’s a meaningless hypothetical, but you might be right. If he had been a little more cooperative, things might have gone better.”

“…?”

The woman flinched and turned to look at me, then belatedly showed proper respect and hastily retreated.

Only after the woman disappeared did I have the Hero removed from the cage.

“Get up, Hero.”

The Hero emerged staggering and was looking at me with utter contempt.

It could be that my very existence disgusted him, but more likely he was curious about the intent behind my evaluation. After all, the very person who had beaten him to a pulp and arrested him was now giving him a favorable assessment.

“…You bastard, after reducing me to this state.”

“I wasn’t trying to mock you. I just think your malice and intelligence are separate matters.”

“……”

“The idea of borrowing power from the Papal State wasn’t bad, just too extreme. In fact, the Holy Knights were almost too valuable to be used solely for the defense of the Papal State. It’s not like the Papal State is on the frontier or has security issues.”

“…What do you know.”

“Someday, perhaps in the very distant future, when the Papal State recovers from its wounds, we might cautiously propose cooperation.”

“……”

“And instead of passively accepting Great Warriors sent unilaterally from the Great Forest, it might not be a bad idea to seek cooperation with individual elves. There are many records of Hero parties struggling due to the elitism of the Great Warriors, who are essentially the nobility of elven society.”

The Hero’s face gradually contorted.

He seemed to realize that I wasn’t praising him, but rather forcibly extracting lessons from the catastrophe.

Gwon Heejin was never a stupid man.

To be honest, he knew more than me, or anyone else in the Empire. If he hadn’t underestimated the Empire so much, he would still be playing above our heads.

“…Perhaps.”

As the Hero looked at me, his eyes gradually regained their sharpness. Along with that sharpness, anxiety began to settle in as well.

I ignored it and removed his restraints.

The Hero tried to shake me off, but strangely, I felt no strength from him. It was odd, considering we hadn’t completely deprived him of food or sleep. Perhaps it was because he had been in a rigid posture and was suddenly freed.

“Hero. You will be given a few days of grace until the execution site is prepared. There will be no torture during that period. It would be meaningless anyway.”

The Hero looked at me with a distorted face covered in all sorts of filth.

“…Erick, that means.”

“Meals and sleep will be guaranteed until then. We can’t have anything go wrong before carrying out the sentence.”

“……”

By this point, the Hero seemed to realize what was coming for him.

No, he probably knew all along but had been forcibly ignoring it. Now he could no longer look away and was forced to face reality.

“…Kill me. How can you kill someone over something like this.”

The Hero muttered in a monotone voice.

‘He’ll resist at this point. Or try to escape.’

That was why I came personally.

Although he was the weakest Hero in history and had lost a hand, he still possessed strength incomparable to ordinary people. He could probably knock down a few guards.

Moreover, now that he had been informed of his execution, resistance would be normal.

But strangely, the Hero just trembled, his upper body shaking. He didn’t even attempt to escape.

‘What is this…’

Before this question could be resolved, a voice called out desperately, “Please stop-!”

Looking back, I saw several priests approaching with quick steps from a distance.

They weren’t just any priests. The one gasping at the front, face drenched in sweat, was the acting bishop of the imperial diocese.

“Why suddenly…”

The Papal State’s divination had ended just a few hours ago. They had stopped right after confirming that the Hero’s blessing had not been withdrawn.

I thought they would be in despair by now, so this was quite unexpected.

“Bishop?”

Moreover, the bishop was holding the holy sword in his hands. It was the item that had been kept at the imperial diocese since the Hero’s arrest.

Only the Hero could use the holy sword, but anyone who wasn’t a demon could at least carry it. Even then, they couldn’t touch the sword itself and could only move it by holding the scabbard. In any case, it wasn’t something to be carried around outside.

“What’s the matter?”

“Lord Wellesley! Just now, the Saintess, no, that is…!”

The bishop, who had been mumbling something, suddenly had a blank expression as he looked at the Hero. The priests who had come running with the bishop mostly had similar expressions.

“…Huh.”

He even dropped the holy sword he was holding onto the ground in his panic.

The bishop hurriedly crouched down as if to pick it up again—

But for some reason, he didn’t get up. He just took deep breaths in that position.

‘This might be…’

I looked alternately at the fallen holy sword, the Hero who was just cautiously observing, and the priests with their dazed expressions.

Soon, a suspicion arose in my mind.

The way to resolve that suspicion was simple.

“Bishop. Excuse me for a moment.”

I picked up the holy sword by its scabbard.

Then I approached the Hero with determined steps.

“Hey, what are you—!”

As the Hero gasped and tried to step back, one of the guards restrained him, saying, “Hey, you bastard.”

“Hm?”

…Yes. Restrained him. Quite easily at that.

A mere guard had restrained someone whose physical abilities had been superior to mine, despite his lack of practical combat experience. Even in his weakened state, this shouldn’t have been possible.

I immediately held out the hilt of the holy sword to the Hero.

“Grasp the holy sword, Hero.”

“You fucking bastard, you took my hand.”

“You still have your left hand. If you need incentive… Yes. If you comply, I’ll ensure you stay in a quiet place until your execution. If you wish to meet your party members briefly, I’ll permit that as well.”

This wasn’t enough to persuade him. Then threats would be the answer.

“If you don’t comply, I’ll cut off your left hand too. If you don’t want to hold it with your mouth, then comply.”

Only then did the Hero flinch and quickly extend his left hand. Despite it being his left hand, he ignored even the basic grip and just clutched it tightly.

“This damn thing…”

Unfortunately, the miracle of the Hero heroically drawing the holy sword and stabbing me did not occur.

“Ugh!”

The Hero couldn’t hold the holy sword for even a second before dropping it.

The holy sword, rolling on the ground again, began to emit a brilliant radiance. As if protesting the rough treatment it had received.

In contrast, the Hero’s only hand was red and inflamed, as if burned.

This meant only one thing.

The Hero had been stripped of his qualification.

I couldn’t know the exact circumstances.

The bishop had just mumbled something about the Saintess, but I couldn’t make out what he meant. The priests who could explain the situation were all crying with expressions of awe, and the guards were just blinking in confusion.

‘…Whether the Goddess cuts ties or not, the decision regarding the Hero wouldn’t have changed.’

However, for the Empire and the Papal State, which had decided to punish a Hero for the first time in history, this was especially meaningful.

It would be a comforting message to both the priests of the Papal State who had fallen into despair and the ruling class of the Empire who had resigned themselves. Although the intentions of the Goddess, who quietly cut ties with the Hero and withdrew her blessing only after everyone had given up, remained unknown.

A moment later, Gwon Heejin, pushed by me, began to move obediently.

There was no need for restraints or beatings.

Now he was just an otherworlder weaker than an ordinary soldier.