Became a Hero

Monster colony subjugation in Count Sharian’s domain.

This expedition was more dangerous than the labyrinth and had more variables.

‘Still, it’s fortunate that it ended safely.’

Moreover, along with securing the mana stone mine, he was able to confirm the children’s growth.

In the case of Levi, Hwaryon, and Ponya, whom he had confirmed in the labyrinth, they had grown much more than then.

Borka’s performance, who had the qualities of an archmage.

Elyssia, who was still inexperienced but had a knack for handling holy power.

Greg, who showed nimble movements in monster subjugation despite his presence being low due to his timid personality, and.

Kenny, who made weapons on the spot and drove away the demon worshipper.

Doesn’t the saying go that a tree destined for greatness is different from its sprout?

Looking at the children, it was as if golden-coated sprouts were fluttering.

Of course, there were still many lacking points, but.

Time would solve that.

‘I shouldn’t take them to dangerous places for a while.’

As long as he didn’t create situations where they would encounter monsters like Targan.

“Ethan-nim, say ah.”

“Ah?”

Hwalin, sitting next to him in the carriage, put a well-peeled fruit in his mouth.

Munch munch.

‘Delicious.’

Come to think of it, he had forgotten about Hwalin.

She was a proper spirit tamer who had completed an exclusive contract with Elkar, the gatekeeper of the Great Forest (though she claimed she hadn’t gone through such a procedure).

That huge Elkar had shrunk smaller than a fist and was riding on top of Hwalin’s head.

“By the way, you don’t call me ‘husband’ these days?”

“T-That’s…”

Perhaps reading the emotions of his flustered contractor.

Elkar, who had been closing his eyes, pricked up his ears and stood up.

-Ah, I can explain that. Looking through the contractor’s memories, it seems she accepted advice from people called Meri and Anna before leaving, saying things like ‘Even our mother didn’t use such speech’ or ‘Don’t pretend to act older, just speak naturally. Okay?’…

“B-Be quiet!”

She had only used formal speech as taught by her family when she was young, but.

Others said it was stiff and made her sound older.

Hwalin had been terribly embarrassed.

She had tried to treat it as a kind of dark history and move on naturally, but.

Having her inner thoughts completely exposed made her uncomfortable.

Hwalin blushed and grabbed Elkar, throwing him out the carriage window.

-Waaaaaah~

The overly meddlesome wolf spirit disappeared like that… or not.

He returned to the top of his contractor’s head with a cute ‘poof’ sound effect.

“Elkar.”

-What is it, contractor?

“If you say one more unnecessary thing, I’ll somehow break this contract or whatever it is.”

Without a contracted spirit tamer, a spirit cannot leave its base.

Elkar’s base was the giant oak tree at the entrance of the Great Forest where he was born.

Returning to that life where hardly anyone visited for hundreds of years and he was bored.

For Elkar, that was absolutely unacceptable.

-Gulp.

Elkar swallowed dry saliva.

“Understand? Answer.”

-…I will obey.

‘She seems angry. I shouldn’t intervene.’

Though he didn’t know the reason, it was certain that Hwalin was angry.

So Ethan turned his head to the opposite side, motionless.

Hwalin, who had calmed her flushed face.

Decided to act more aggressively while feeling embarrassed.

She slightly pushed her arm to link arms with Ethan.

Fortunately, Ethan didn’t pull his arm away or push her away.

‘So this is what Anna called implicit consent.’

Thinking so, Hwalin leaned on his shoulder completely.

Elkar was able to breathe a sigh of relief after confirming that his contractor’s anger had rapidly subsided.

Meanwhile.

In the carriage carrying the children following behind.

-Grind.

“…Levi unni?”

Levi was grinding her teeth.

The return journey was relatively peaceful.

When the procession stopped briefly for meals or camping.

He could enjoy leisure time laughing and chatting with the children.

There was one minor change.

After the children discussed something among themselves.

Ethan’s carriage companion kept changing by time slot?

Listening closely, it seemed he heard something like ‘shouldn’t monopolize’.

Thanks to this, Ethan had time to consult with the children, which was good, but.

Hwalin’s expression somehow became gloomy.

Borka became more docile than before.

She still stuffed her mouth full of butter cookies.

Elyssia chatted with Ethan about ordinary things while smiling brightly.

Small talk like how beautiful an unnamed flower she saw yesterday was.

Ethan liked being able to feel warmth even in such trivial conversations.

Kenny showed her inventions one by one and asked for reactions.

She diligently recorded ideas suggested by Ethan in her notebook.

Next was Hwaryon.

Like an energetic puppy, she recounted her experiences with gestures by Ethan’s side, but.

Soon got tired and fell asleep with her head on his thigh.

Ponya wasn’t much different from Hwaryon, but.

She seemed to have become somewhat more modest than before.

Levi was unusually quiet.

Instead, she closed her eyes while holding Ethan’s hand and leaning her head.

‘She must have been having a hard time lately. Well, Levi is in the eldest sister position.’

He readily offered his shoulder.

And lastly.

“Hello?”

“…Hello.”

The owner of a blunt impression and.

Greg, the only male among the six big shots, got on.

“……”

“……”

Unlike the other children.

Greg didn’t speak to Ethan.

Nor did he narrow the distance.

Sitting with correct posture and only watching straight ahead, he looked like a private who had just been assigned to his unit.

“You can be comfortable.”

“This is comfortable for me.”

‘He really is like a private.’

Ethan was about to ask if his relationship with the kids was good.

If there was any inconvenience in living, etc.

But feeling like he had become a company commander taking care of a new soldier, he stopped.

Still, since Greg was the only male like him.

He felt like a younger brother he wanted to get close to and take care of.

“Shall we take a bath together when we get back?”

“…Pardon?”

So Ethan suggested taking a bath together as men.

It’s easy to get close while scrubbing each other’s backs and talking.

But.

“Huh? Do you have a fever? Why are your ears turning red.”

“I-I’m fine! I, I’m fine so…”

‘Is he shy?’

Ethan couldn’t understand why Greg was blushing.

The next day.

As the returning procession reached Serdin.

“What’s that.”

Ethan witnessed banners in various colors.

[Welcome the hero of Serdin! From all merchants of the Free Market]

[Sincerely welcome the return of Ethan, hero who saved the country! Serdin Mayor, Asif Carodin]

“???”

Only then did he realize.

That something unusual was happening again.

The northern road opposite to the southern part of Serdin where the Free Market is located.

This place was usually quiet with few people gathering, but.

“Here he comes!”

“Ethan! Ethan! Ethan!”

Today was different.

Not only people from the Free Market, City Hall, and City Council, but even ordinary citizens gathered together to cheer for Ethan.

“?”

Of course, the person in question only opened his eyes wide wondering what on earth was going on, but.

As the carriage approached the city, an enormous crowd welcomed him.

A familiar face popped out from among the people.

“Albert?”

“Ah, Ethan-ssi. I’m glad you returned safely. Are you not injured?”

“I’m fine as you can see. But why are they all gathered like this…”

Albert, like a merchant, explained briefly and concisely.

1. Ethan ‘voluntarily’ (Albert emphasized this part) headed to the barren northeastern region to solve Etrion’s mana stone depletion problem.
2. He roamed mountains and underground, always standing at the forefront to eliminate monsters, and even cut down that vicious demon worshipper.
3. Even Count Sharian was moved by his courage and declared he would voluntarily help with mine development.

   “Who on earth…”

   “Merchants, mercenaries, and even people who heard the story while passing by, everyone. Since the Serdin Guild puts a price on information, everyone would have exaggerated and sold the information competitively.”

   Slap!

   Ethan smacked his forehead sharply.

   ‘This is crazy.’

   “Ethan!”

   “Mayor?”

   “Excellent! Not content with just ordering Albert to purchase mana stones, you even developed a mana stone mine, and to do so, you eliminated monsters and even a demon worshipper. Truly amazing!”

   He vigorously shook Ethan’s hand and then.

   Got on the carriage and shouted to the people.

   “The winner of this year’s Serdin Top Citizen Award is Ethan here! Do you all agree???”

   “Right! Right!”

   “Woooooo!!!”

   “Ethan! Ethan! Ethan!”

   The mayor smiled benevolently on the outside, but.

   Inwardly, he cackled wickedly.

   ‘Let’s keep going like this.’

   Inflate Ethan’s achievements as much as possible and definitely get him elected as mayor in the next mayoral election.

   ‘I see possibility this time!’

   A meticulous calculation to then grab the retirement life he had dreamed of.

   Of course, the person in question felt like he was going to die from the burden.

Inspection Bureau Director Tom Muro.

He kept fanning himself with his hand.

As he was the type to easily feel hot when nervous.

‘Damn, the royal palace always makes me tense no matter when I come.’

Rudy, who had served under him as a subordinate for a long time, naturally held out a handkerchief.

“You still get nervous even after becoming the Inspection Bureau Director, I see.”

“That’s right. Thanks, Rudy.”

He wiped the sweat beads on his forehead and looked over the report again.

Tom, who checked again what he had checked dozens of times last night, from sentence arrangement to word meanings.

While doing so, he pondered again.

‘Is it really right to reveal this?’

The report was about Ethan, who had established himself as the new underground leader of Serdin.

In fact, though the danger level was rated high, Ethan had not committed any illegal acts.

Rather, he had helped the Inspection Bureau in realizing justice.

He drove out Baron Roan and helped arrest Councilor Enfield.

There were signs that he had killed and secretly buried underworld organization members, but there was no evidence.

Of course, that incident was largely due to the underworld launching a preemptive attack.

‘But I can’t just leave it alone either.’

He had a headache from the various rumors related to him recently.

It seemed he should clean things up before positive reactions came out.

“Haah.”

“Relax a bit. Would you like some tobacco?”

“His Majesty dislikes the smell of mana tobacco. Remember that well.”

“That’s fortunate. I won’t have to burn tobacco anyway.”

Though Rudy was also a mage.

He was the type to carry mana stones rather than live with the terrible smell of burning tobacco.

Even now, high-purity mana stones were inserted in various parts of his clothes.

“Director. His Majesty has granted an audience.”

“I see. Let’s go.”

When the two entered the audience chamber.

A heated meeting was already in progress.

“-Therefore, this situation can be considered settled for now.”

“This is all thanks to Serdin providing surplus mana stones.”

Fortunate news that the mana stone depletion problem that had hit all of Etrion recently had been resolved.

But at the words that followed.

Tom momentarily stumbled in his steps.

“According to the report from Count Sharian, a young man who is a special envoy of the Serdin mayor personally led support troops to subjugate the monster colony in the tunnels.”

“It is said that the mana stone vein in the northeastern region will begin mining in the near future.”

“Moreover, he defeated the vicious demon worshipper Targan with the help of his assistants, so I believe he should be rewarded at the national level.”

‘What did he defeat?’

Wondering if he had heard wrong.

He turned his head to Rudy beside him, but.

Rudy also looked flustered.

“Ah, Inspection Bureau Director. You’ve come.”

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“Yes, what is it this time? Have you finally uncovered the identities of the nobles entangled with the underworld?”

Tom bit his lower lip and raised his head.

After pondering for a moment whether to take out the report he had preciously kept in his bosom.

He finally opened his mouth.

“I have a personal acquaintance with the young man named Ethan, the hero of Serdin who is the subject of recent rumors.”

“Oh! Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. He is a capable and trustworthy young man, so I was thinking it might be good for the Inspection Bureau to take responsibility for safely escorting the young man to the royal capital.”

“Good. If we entrust it to the fair and impartial Inspection Bureau, there should be no negative influence on our hero. I’ll leave everything to you.”

“I will do my best.”

As he turned around and came out, Tom thought.

‘How can I say this here.’

When the king and high-ranking ministers were all looking positively.

To confess ‘That man is actually the underground leader and a dirty murderer!’

‘I can’t do it even if I had ten necks. There’s no direct evidence in the first place.’

It would be better to quit the position of Inspection Bureau Director than to do that.

“What are you going to do?”

“What else, His Majesty told us to bring him.”

Since the public was already evaluating him as a hero.

“Let’s rather definitely draw him in as an ally. He might even help with clearing out the underworld.”

“Will things go that easily?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Tom couldn’t think of any better method.

A few days after returning to the mansion.

Things to organize were mostly finished.

In front of Ethan, who had become exhausted from responding to countless public attentions.

A mana messenger ball flew in.

“What is it now?”

[The great King of Etrion invites you. We will come to escort you, so please prepare.]

He recalled Targan’s corpse that he had thrown in the warehouse and completely forgotten about.

“Ah.”

It was the moment the next destination was decided.