Ch.72Raising a Hero – 6

Even after I had fully recovered and stood up, Brunhilde was still blushing. When our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away.

There’s nothing I can do about that. I’ll just have to wait for time to resolve it.

‘I should probably change my clothes first.’

No matter how powerful an elixir is, it doesn’t regenerate clothes. My uniform was torn where the sword had pierced it, exposing bare skin. It was completely unwearable.

The bloodstains covering my entire body like splattered red paint and the drops still trickling down my pant leg were just a bonus.

‘…I guess her reaction was understandable.’

Around where I had been leaning, a puddle wider than my height had formed, making splashing sounds with each step.

I could understand why Brunhilde had panicked and ignored my words. My right arm had been severed, my left side was torn and mangled, and the floor was in this state.

I must have looked like someone who could die from blood loss at any moment. It was understandable that she thought I had no strength left, regardless of how coherently I was speaking.

“Brunhilde.”

“Huh?! Oh, yes?!”

We couldn’t stay like this forever. I called out to Brunhilde. She was still looking away but responded with a startled voice.

I picked up the holy sword that had fallen beside me and held out the handle to her. Fortunately, there were no restrictions like only the hero being able to hold it. That would have made things awkward.

“Let’s get moving. We need to get outside. We can’t stay here forever, right?”

“Y-yes! Let’s go! You’re all better now, so you can move!”

Brunhilde spun around and began walking with stiff movements.

“…Why are you moving your arms and legs in sync?”

Her arms and legs were moving together. She must have been really affected by what just happened. I stared at her in bewilderment before hurrying to catch up.

Brunhilde continued to display odd behavior afterward.

She kept walking straight ahead even when she needed to turn, almost hitting her head against a wall; she nearly tripped over rocks she didn’t notice; and she couldn’t find paths that were right beside her.

Naturally, it fell to me to look after her. I stopped her before she hit her head against the wall, caught her when she was about to trip over rocks, and guided her to the correct path.

But her stiff body showed no signs of relaxing.

“Brunhilde.”

“What?! No! I wasn’t thinking about kissing!”

“…Don’t you think it’s time to pull yourself together? We’ll be outside soon.”

True to my words, wind was blowing in from somewhere. A sign that we were getting close to the exit.

The problem was that I couldn’t let Brunhilde go outside in this state. She would surely make all sorts of mistakes in front of people. For the sake of her own image, that couldn’t happen.

‘There will probably be other incidents waiting for us when we get out.’

If Io and Elysier had completed their tasks properly, the entire city would be in an uproar. In our favor, of course.

This was a perfect opportunity to give the Starlight Order a taste of their own medicine.

“It’s the Hero! The Hero has returned!”

Fortunately, Brunhilde regained her composure as we approached the exit. Together, we stepped outside and were immediately engulfed by the cheers of what looked like hundreds of people.

Brunhilde wore a puzzled expression. The local lord approached us with a face full of relief.

“Oh, thank goodness, Hero. You’re safe. And this person beside you is…”

The baron flinched slightly upon seeing my miserable state. But like a true nobleman, he quickly composed himself.

When he tried to send a knight to bring potions, I stopped him, saying I was already fine. The baron seemed skeptical, but when Brunhilde explained that I had taken an elixir, he immediately understood.

The baron promptly had us board a carriage to his mansion, and on the way there, we could feel the completely upturned atmosphere of the city.

All the shops were closed, and except for soldiers, not a single soul was on the streets. Even the patrolling soldiers looked extremely tense.

“What’s going on here?”

“The Demon Lord has appeared in the city. Let’s discuss the details when we get to the mansion.”

“…The Demon Lord?”

Brunhilde was shocked to hear that the Demon Lord she had just fought had appeared in the city, but the baron kept his lips sealed, saying he would explain when we reached the mansion.

Shortly after, Brunhilde and I, having bathed and rested a bit, went to see the baron. Waiting for us in the audience chamber, he let out a deep sigh as soon as he seated us on the sofa.

“Shortly after the Hero headed to the dungeon, the Demon Lord appeared in front of the temple. And he said this: ‘The Hero wasn’t worth killing.'”

“…”

Brunhilde’s face hardened. She seemed to recall how Elysier had mocked her before disappearing. The baron hastily continued, trying to ease the tension.

“After saying that, he declared that he would punish them for making him move for such a trivial matter, then… skinned one of the priests alive before vanishing. The priest was still alive, screaming in agony with his skin removed. We had to end his suffering ourselves.”

It seems Elysier went straight to the temple after leaving us. His years spent as a Demon Lord had made him quite brutal.

“That priest was the only casualty, but the mere appearance of the Demon Lord has already exceeded what I can handle… I’ve reported to the imperial palace, restricted access to the temple, and was on my way to the dungeon to check on the Hero’s safety.”

Brunhilde still seemed uncertain about the situation. I decided to offer some help.

“Come to think of it, things were suspicious from the start.”

“Suspicious? What do you mean?”

“We didn’t come here through any official channels. We just came to buy some desserts. How did they know to welcome us?”

“…That’s true.”

Brunhilde finally seemed to notice the suspicious point and fell into thought.

This was likely the work of the Succubus Queen after receiving reports from Roxanna, but even the Queen probably hadn’t planned anything beyond placing surveillance on us.

If the Demon Lord hadn’t appeared, they could have easily explained away the high priest’s welcome with any excuse.

If only the Demon Lord hadn’t appeared.

But the high priest who needed to make excuses died in the dungeon, and the Demon Lord appeared and revealed that something had happened with the Hero.

It was obvious that something unusual had occurred, and with the evidence I had planted through Io, the truth would come to light in an instant.

All the evidence was fabricated, but who cares? These people were so corrupt that even the original hero had given up on them.

‘Now, evidence should be discovered right about now…’

“My Lord!”

Just as I was thinking that, a knight burst into the audience chamber and knelt urgently. Bowing his head, he held up something in his hand.

“What is it? I’m in the middle of a meeting with the Hero.”

“There is something you absolutely must see, so I’ve taken the liberty of interrupting!”

“Hmm…”

The baron’s expression contorted as he unfolded the paper that supposedly needed to be seen. Judging by the pattern on the outside, it was the evidence I had fabricated and planted.

It seemed Io had completed his mission properly and returned.

‘I wonder how much he took from their treasury?’

The additional payment I offered for this job was unlimited access to the Order’s treasure vault. I gave him the location and method of infiltration, telling him to take as much as he wanted.

Most of it would be illegal assets not recorded in any ledgers, so it didn’t matter how much he took. It was property that officially didn’t exist.

Besides, whatever remained would be confiscated by the national treasury anyway.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… No. It’s just that this is so shocking I can hardly bring myself to tell you. Here, please read it yourself.”

Brunhilde’s expression mirrored the baron’s as she read the evidence he handed her. Her already serious face grew increasingly grim as she read through the contents.

“What does it say to make you look like that?”

“…You’ll understand if you read it yourself.”

When I pretended not to know and asked, Brunhilde gestured for me to come closer. I approached her side.

Due to our seating positions, any approach would be awkward, but as I hesitated, Brunhilde gathered her hair and swept it over her right shoulder, revealing her snow-white nape.

“This way.”

I leaned over her left shoulder as she wanted. A refreshing mint scent emanated from her blue hair.

—I have confirmed your letter and, as instructed, burned it completely. The Hero is coming—

The letter was cut off at “the Hero is coming,” but that was enough to serve as evidence.

Evidence that contains too much information in a single page or reveals the entire context tends to be suspicious.

I smiled inwardly with satisfaction. The Order in this region was now completely finished. This would also upset the Queen. She wouldn’t know who the traitor was.

Would she ever guess that the traitor was the Demon Lord?

“Haaa… This doesn’t even count as a warm-up. Humans are just too pathetic.”

Astaroth sat up, swallowing the last bit of energy by moving her throat. Around her lay nearly a hundred men, all withered and twisted.

Initially, she had planned to drain just five of them, but none could withstand even three rounds, so the number gradually increased to the current state.

Every one of them had been drained of so much energy that they would die soon even with immediate treatment, but Astaroth showed no concern for this fact.

“Pope! Where’s the Pope!”

“Yes! My Queen! I’m here!”

Astaroth shouted irritably. An old man in elaborate religious robes, looking shabby and decrepit, hurriedly prostrated himself before her.

Her right foot, encased in a high heel, kicked his face. The Pope fell backward, then crawled back, blood dripping from where he’d been kicked, and bowed his head again.

“Hey, aren’t you managing your subordinates properly? Do you know how much the Demon Lord chewed me out because of you?”

“Kheuk! I’m sorry! My Queen! Khurk! Please forgive—”

The heel of her shoe mercilessly trampled the Pope. His shabby, aged body was instantly reduced to a bloody mess. Only after he was covered in blood did Astaroth stop, breathing heavily.

“Have you found out who sent the letter?”

“Not yet, *cough*. We haven’t identified them.”

“You useless pieces of…”

Astaroth, who had been summoned by the Demon Lord and severely reprimanded for making him move for such a trivial matter, was naturally in a frenzy trying to find out who had sent the letter.

Of course, it was a futile effort. The letter itself had been fabricated by the Demon Lord.

But Astaroth had no way of knowing that it was Elysier, the possessed vessel, venting his accumulated frustrations, so she was desperately trying to identify the sender from within.

“If you don’t know, you must pay the price. Take all the girls dispatched to that area, remove their wombs, and throw them to the goblins. Don’t take them out until I say it’s enough.”

“Understood, My Queen.”

A succubus standing behind her bowed her head. While the order was to not retrieve them until she said “enough,” it was essentially a permanent sentence.

For example, a succubus who had committed a grave sin about 700 years ago had her womb removed and was thrown to the orcs, and she still hadn’t been pardoned.

Unable to reach climax or absorb energy for 700 years, she had now become a mindless vessel of flesh, shunned even by the orcs.

Still not satisfied, Astaroth glared down at the Pope after fuming for a while.

“…Fine. That will do. Hey, you. Didn’t you say you wanted revenge on that guy?”

“What? Yes! That’s right!”

“Go ahead and try. I’ll give you as many of our girls as you want. But if you fail, consider your head gone. No, I’ll cut off that useless cock of yours first.”

In truth, the Pope had been raging about revenge as soon as he heard that Alexander had died. He had only restrained himself because the Queen had forbidden it.

But now things were different. Astaroth gritted her teeth.

“Mira Crate… let’s see how far you can go.”

From the moment the Hero and Mira Crate were discovered together, Astaroth had been convinced that this whole affair was a plot orchestrated by that man.

Method? Means? Who cares? It must have been him.

With just a little thought, she could have realized how flimsy the evidence was, but her judgment was clouded by her wounded pride from accumulated failures.

Of course, Mira Crate was indeed behind it all.