episode_0046

The atmosphere heated up with the words, “Let’s start a real banquet.”

It was truly disgusting to see the nobles who had been chewing on me with their faces plastered on their faces, but I knew that’s what nobles were, so I spent the time at the banquet just replying.

At first, I was able to endure it to some extent, but as time went by, the nobles who kept talking to me became annoying, so I ran away from the nobles who approached me and headed to the balcony.

Fortunately, there was no one on the balcony, and I was able to rest and lean on the railing while looking at the sky that had already darkened.

“It’s cool.”

A cool wind blows.

I felt like all fatigue was relieved from the coolness penetrating my entire body.

‘As expected, I don’t fit into that kind of atmosphere.’

The same goes for the pretentious nobles. I didn’t have the confidence to smile while putting on the mask.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get together with close friends and have an exciting atmosphere?

Other than that, being alone like this was more familiar and comfortable.

As I was enjoying my rest to my heart’s content, someone came in.

“There was a passenger like this.”

A person enters slyly.

When I saw the figure, I was struck by the earth and sighed.

The person who came in was the first prince.

Rather than sending his subjects like other princes, he came directly with the princess and was also the most advantageous person in the current succession structure.

‘There is no law that says Prince Gog 1 becomes king.’

Basically, it was an undeniable fact that since he was in the position of first prince, he had a head start.

In fact, he is currently the strongest candidate for king.

anyway.

“I remember clearly refusing it.”

1When the throne came, he said to me:

I’m not asking you to help me, I want to make my younger siblings give up.

At first I thought that was some kind of bullshit, but his explanation that followed was as follows.

I love this country more than anything else.

That’s why I hope this country prospers even more than before.

But I said that my younger brothers were not good enough to succeed the king.

To be honest, when I heard it, I thought it was sophistry.

I thought it was just nonsense for him to become king.

-I don’t want to fight with my younger siblings. No matter what my younger siblings are, I share blood with them. How could you want to fight? But if I give up… The Kingdom of Dillun will grow slowly. Children still have a long way to go to understand what a country is and its true meaning. I can’t give up, at least until those kids realize it.

More than anything else, it was difficult to see the sincere voice as a lie.

Of course, it could just be acting.

It could be just to deceive me.

Having seen human groups for a long time, I thought that what he said was not a lie.

The words the 1st Prince spoke were pure truth without a single hint of falsehood.

‘But I refused.’

Although the country has prospered, I cannot hand it over to my younger brothers who are not yet qualified.

I don’t want to fight with my younger siblings.

Therefore, I understand what Prince 1 asked me to do, but I cannot accept Prince 1’s proposal.

First of all, although I belong to a religious order, I can also be said to belong to the empire, so not only should I not carelessly influence the succession structure of other countries.

This is because if you support someone, there is a high probability that a major diplomatic problem will arise.

The purpose of my coming was to exterminate heresy.

I couldn’t think of anything else other than that.

The prince burst into laughter at my words.

“I know. No matter what I say, the hero will not change his choice.”

“Why did you come when you knew that?”

“The purpose of my coming here is simply to be the hero’s companion. It looks like dealing with nobles is a hassle.”

He says that and stands next to me.

It was funny that the only person who knew how annoying it was to deal with nobles was a member of the royal family.

“Huh. If the nobles are annoying, what about the royal family?”

“At least I can assure you that you are better than the nobles.”

He seemed extremely shameless, but funny enough, talking to the first prince was more comfortable than talking to ordinary nobles.

That’s probably because it doesn’t look pretentious like a typical noble.

But that didn’t change the fact that I still preferred to be alone.

“Let’s leave after a while. I like being alone.”

“I’ll be back in a little while. Because I’m lonely these days.”

“1Prince. I think what you just said is very misleading.”

It wasn’t the woman who did that, but the man said he was lonely and said there would be more, so I felt quite a bit like that.

Prince 1 must have realized what I was talking about, and his eyes widened and he desperately shook his head.

“I like women.”

“It’s just a joke, but the 1st Prince takes it seriously.”

“… ”

The first prince laughs as if he is dumbfounded.

I felt like I knew a little bit why the emperor called me a fool.

‘That’s fun.’

To be honest, I felt uncomfortable hearing Namjeong say he was lonely, but I already knew that he didn’t mean anything strange. However, the reason was that I thought the prince’s reaction would be somewhat interesting.

And as expected, the reaction was quite outrageous, which helped me understand the emperor’s feelings a little.

‘I don’t want to go through that.’

I don’t know if it’s me doing it.

The jokes told by the emperor, who was the sky and sun of the empire, did not seem like jokes.

It’s enough to drive people apart to the point where you wonder if you can kill them with words.

“… The hero is quite different from the rumors.”

Prince 1 looked at me intently and said that.

It was obvious that this was a rumor he was talking about.

You’re probably referring to the rumor I spread.

It must be quite surprising from his perspective.

Because the bad rumors and the way I am now are quite different.

I smiled back at him.

“That’s what rumors are. Unless you see it in person, you can’t know if it’s true or false. Normal nobles are idiots who often spread rumors and believe them, but it is usually true that they judge by seeing for themselves.”

“I also agree. Rumors are usually exaggerated or made up.”

Prince 1 said this and looked up at the sky.

I asked the two eyes that seemed to be filled with many thoughts.

“So, what kind of person do you think I am in the eyes of Prince 1?”

The first prince’s eyes turned to me.

His eyes were straighter than ever.

“At least in my opinion, the warrior seems to be a person worthy of the name.”

“That sounds truly touching.”

It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, but the name ‘Hero’ suits you.

I thought he would just come out as a good person, contrary to the rumors, but I never thought that he would be suited to be a hero.

“I wonder what you think. If we think about it, it hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen each other.”

“Even if you don’t look at him for a long time, I think you have an innate personality to see someone as a royal. And I think that the warrior I have seen is more suited to the name warrior than anyone else.”

Laughter flowed out of my mouth.

Even if it’s only for a short period of time, it’s enough to judge whether the person is different from the rumors.

A person fit for a warrior.

Until now, I never once thought about it like that.

The thought that he had awakened the holy sword and achieved the awakening of a warrior still remained.

‘Not at all, but it’s not the same.’

If you are asking whether you are still suitable for the position of a warrior, well, no.

I felt like shaking my head.

As it is that kind of situation.

The first prince’s words were funny, but I couldn’t just laugh.

The first prince’s expression was too serious to just be funny.

‘I really can’t get used to it.’

I can understand.

It was an expression that I couldn’t get used to.

It feels somewhat uncomfortable.

‘I find it really funny too.’

It wasn’t that he was insulting me, but he was praising me and saying that my existence was suited to that of a warrior. What is so strange and uncomfortable about it and denying it?

I thought it was really funny to see myself.

‘I don’t know either.’

I don’t know why I am so offended by being called a hero.

It’s definitely a good thing.

Even though he was such a good person, I felt an inexplicable feeling of rejection.

It’s as if it’s engraved in our instincts.

‘Is it because I rejected fate?’

Originally, I should have been killed by Arien.

However, I think that may be the reason why I really woke up as a warrior after putting it off for a while.

‘I don’t think that’s the case again.’

It felt a bit simple for that reason.

I thought there might be something a little more complicated and profound, but my mind was too complicated to think about that.

After roughly organizing my thoughts, I took my arm off the railing.

Because it was quite late, I was tired.

Because the heresy had to be eradicated in earnest tomorrow.

I spoke to the first prince next to me.

“I will go first. I have to start in earnest tomorrow.”

“Oops. I think I held on to it too long. Rest in peace.”

I bowed my head slightly and left the balcony.