episode_0066

They were an army that couldn’t even be called a ragtag bunch.

It was a throng of humans, armed with weaponry barely enough to make up a force, consisting of elders, children, and even women, sent out to fight.

They weren’t even confronting them from within the city walls.

Instead, they were sent outside the city walls, which protected the capital, to fight on the plains.

However, the knights who should have protested, and moreover, protected this country in their stead, were acting as a combat discipline unit at the Queen’s command.

Ruthlessly swinging their swords at anyone who turned their backs, begged for their lives, or made any such move.

“Th-this… this is truly Her Majesty’s command?!”

An elder, too weak to even wield a sword, cried out. Beside him, a child, young enough to be his grandson, was sobbing in terror.

Those people were sent into the jaws of death against an undying army that neither rested nor stopped.

It was effectively no different from pushing them to their deaths.

Therefore, even the Templar Knights, who proclaimed themselves the combat discipline unit and drove them into the jaws of death, could not have been at ease.

They merely—obeyed the command.

From the Star Nation, to the ruler bearing the name of the Star King, blessed by the stars.

One of Charlotte’s Twelve Knights, Bradamante, who protected that position, silently bit her lip.

‘Do you believe in miracles, Sir Knight?’

Charlotte had said that to her, who was resisting such an absurd command.

‘Miracles only reveal themselves when things are most difficult and arduous.’

‘But, Your Majesty!’

‘This is an order, Sir Bradamante.’

Her eyes were those of a fanatic, filled with unquestioning certainty.

‘Let’s all believe in miracles.’

What on earth could this ‘miracle’ be, happening amidst such a meaningless, dog’s death? It was unknowable.

Only, now Sir Bradamante had no choice but to believe in miracles as well.

Just like everyone else there, she longed for someone to appear miraculously in this hellish situation and solve all their problems.

*

What unfolded beyond the horizon was a one-sided slaughter that could not even be called a battle.

A massacre where a ragtag mob, unable to even be called an army, was unilaterally butchered by an undying army that neither died nor stopped.

In front of the kingdom’s army, which was not only failing to maintain formation but was being unilaterally ravaged and instantly collapsing, only blood flowed.

I, we, watched that scene in silence.

“It’s horrifying.”

Cheokrang, who had been watching the scene, opened his mouth.

“Hah-hah, yes. It is horrifying.”

Silan also shrugged his shoulders, his voice indicating there was nothing to deny.

“If there’s such a thing as justice in this world, then to such an extent that it could never be overlooked—”

“……Tch.”

Cheokrang Sandalphon silently shook his head.

I merely maintained my silence.

With the ones by my side. With the women.

I merely questioned in silence.

—If a hero were to appear at this moment, in what form would they reveal themselves?

With such a hero before my eyes, what different approach would I take compared to before?

Saying ‘I don’t know’ is unnecessary. I will soon find out.

Whether I like it or not, I’ll have no choice but to know.

*

It was a scene of slaughter where meaningless deaths occurred unilaterally.

A spectacle of the army of the dead, which neither rested nor stopped, endlessly butchering and trampling the living.

Dying, dying, dying. Spears and swords were swung indiscriminately, and blood was scattered, heedless of the living, those who would live, or those whose lives were numbered.

—Amidst that sea of blood, there was a terrified boy.

He was a child soldier, who, despite being relatively in the rear, could only watch as the front line rapidly collapsed and the dead approached him.

He wanted to run away. He wanted to turn his back and flee immediately.

But he couldn’t.

Behind him, the Templar Knights’ combat discipline unit stood guard, executing deserters under the pretext of maintaining the battle line.

It was a world without hope.

A world where one could expect no dreams, no hope, only a conclusion of suffering in the coming despair.

A world where evil had triumphed.

The place where the boy stood was such a world.

And just as everyone in that place did, when he truly yearned for a hero deep in his heart—

Finally, there was someone who answered that voice.

It was himself.

*

“……”

At first, it was a subtle anomaly.

Everyone there, who had been too preoccupied with their own lives to even spare a glance at the boy just moments before—

It was because they felt a faint sense of incongruity from that very boy.

‘What is this?’

They realized simultaneously.

That this boy was by no means a human who belonged here.

“Ah, ahh…!”

The boy who no one had paid attention to just moments before, his very existence, was newly etched into the minds of everyone present.

As if a light that had not existed suddenly appeared and brightly illuminated the surroundings.

“Look, that boy! He’s that legendary adventurer!”

Thus, the boy, who had not even existed moments before, began to accrue fame.

“Could it be that he’s the one who defeated the kingdom’s Red Dragon…!”

All sorts of fame and stories, whose existence no one had known, heard of, or understood moments before—

Too naturally, they became the boy’s exploits, his deeds, and were reborn as his great achievements and sagas.

As if distinguishing the boundary between the shining protagonists and supporting characters present there.

By the time they realized it, the boy who had been there was no longer someone yearning to be a hero.

—For his life was now the life of a hero.

He was, quite literally, a hero whose heroic achievements everyone praised and glorified.

*

It was like a bookmark forcibly inserted into a book. Yet, there was a sense of incongruity, as if everyone was mistaken that the inserted bookmark was part of the book itself.

Even I couldn’t help but think that way.

An existence that shouldn’t have even been in memory just moments before, its exploits, were etched too clearly, as if they had been a part of this world from the very beginning.

Someone who, starting their activities as an adventurer, repeatedly accumulated all sorts of exploits and fame, and finally reached this place.

“……They’ve appeared.”

As if she had been waiting, Aria murmured.

Even I, who believed I had prepared myself in my own way, couldn’t hide my bewilderment at his appearance.

‘……What is this?’

It was different from the heroes I had raised. Or, had they been like this too?

By the time I realized it, a ‘hero’ armed with all sorts of great achievements and accomplishments that didn’t even exist in this world was there.

There was no way I wouldn’t know.

At least in this world, I had been carefully observing the existence of adventurers who gained fame in such ways.

Yet, this hero wasn’t one who had appeared out of nowhere.

Everything was a story I was hearing for the first time.

Yet, despite hearing it for the first time, it felt natural, as if it had existed from the beginning.

An ‘existence’ was there, filled with incongruous exploits and fame, as if a bookmark had been forcibly inserted, one that had never existed in this world from the start.

Is this how a hero appears? What on earth is a hero?

Why were ‘exploits’ that I, existing in this world, had never known or heard of, being so naturally etched into that existence, distorting perception?

I couldn’t understand.

Therefore—I had to find out.

Just as the character I raised with my own hands remained a blemish on this world now.

Now, regarding that existence that had appeared before my eyes, one I didn’t know.

Because it was another duty I had to fulfill, as the leader of the 《Black Serpent》, as Rain Grey.

“……I will step forward myself.”

Leaving the Serpent members there behind, I said.

“But, Leader!”

Sandalphon raised his voice, as if he couldn’t obey those words. Nothing would change.

“……Those who wish to follow.”

Therefore, I calmly continued.

“May come with me.”

“!”

Several Serpent members’ eyes widened. They held their breath. This was certainly not the ‘Rain Grey’ way they knew until now, given how the Serpent had always operated in my presence as a player.

I knew.

“Are you afraid?”

Because I knew, I asked again.

“……Hah.”

When I asked again, Sandalphon burst out laughing after a brief silence.

“It’s the best…!”

As if he couldn’t hold back because it was so funny. He laughed wildly, revealing his unrestrained delight as it was.

“That’s unexpected.”

Silan also agreed, continuing his words.

“Weren’t we going to just observe?”

That was Rain Grey’s policy, which I didn’t know, and a question regarding Rain Grey’s command, which I also didn’t know.

“What do you mean?”

Therefore, I asked back with feigned calmness. In a voice as if asking about something I already knew.

“How this world takes away human lives and disguises them as ‘heroes’.”

Hearing those words, I smiled silently. They were words that could only make me smile.

“……I have observed enough.”

“Hah, is that so? As expected of the Leader!”

Silan laughed as if it were someone else’s business.

Those words were true.

It wasn’t just observation. Now, I knew more answers to that question than anyone else.

Now was the time to directly confront that answer.