episode_0160

Let’s leave the story about the magic sword aside for now. It’s an obvious story, but suddenly starlight fell in broad daylight and lightning struck the dry sky. There was no way the matter could be ignored. It was natural that the checkpoint was in chaos, and those who were waiting to enter Potera and those who were inspecting and passing them all forgot their original purpose for a moment and fixed their eyes on Wayne.

“Woman, goddess!”

“A goddess…?”

However, Aggro was twisted into a different topic than expected, as most people thought of the keyword goddess rather than warrior when they saw Wayne. That’s because, unlike the goddess Stella, whose existence has never been forgotten since the establishment of human civilization here, the warrior she selects has disappeared from human civilization for nearly 400 years.

‘No, he’s a hero.’

Regardless of whether it was a goddess or a warrior, being attracted to a lot of aggro like this was surprisingly not a bad thing. Whatever it was, it was an opportunity to clearly deliver the message that the protector of humanity had returned to an unspecified number of people.

Stella in the sky seemed to have the same thoughts as me, and even though it was time to stop, she was still pouring starlight around Wayne. It seemed as if Arjen was struggling to get back Wayne, who was originally his(?) during his 50-year hiatus.

“Kuhm….”

In fact, Wayne himself just blushed and cleared his throat, as if he was not used to the feeling of people’s attention being drawn to him for the first time in a long time.

“Um, who is that person?”

“I’m doing well too…”

People gathered in small groups to see the dazzling sight, and when they saw Wayne’s appearance up close, they whispered among themselves that they thought she was not a goddess after all. In the meantime, seeing as no one is thinking of talking to Wayne directly, it seems that it is difficult to approach him if he looks so blatantly sacred.

Wayne seemed to be a little embarrassed to come forward and say something even though he wasn’t asked directly, so instead of answering, he quietly pulled out the holy sword from his waist. As an object that made everyone who met him so far immediately believe that Wayne was a warrior, he caught the attention of people around him with his unique appearance and magical energy.

“You are a warrior!”

“You’re a warrior!”

“Wow! Hero!”

And only then did they become convinced of Wayne’s identity and chanted for the hero with all their might. Looking at it this way, there is no clearer sign of a warrior than the holy sword, but only the unbelieving guards were struck by lightning.

With such a commotion happening at a checkpoint just a few steps from the city, it was natural for people to come out of Potera. As expected from the well-established system of a large city, the first to come out were none other than the guards.

“What’s the fuss? Those who will enter Potera, please keep order and order… Wow! Fade? Why are you lying here!?”

As soon as the new guards saw the guard who was supposed to protect their position lying down with foam at the mouth, they went into an uproar. If it was an attack by thieves or monsters, it would of course be a big problem, and if the person fell due to a scuffle with the person being inspected, that was also a problem because it was a challenge to the authority of the guards.

“Well, that’s…”

I thought that the situation might get worse, so I was quickly racking my brain and trying to think of excuses in real time, while the people gathered around me spoke in unison one by one.

“That guard was rude to the warrior and was suddenly struck by lightning that fell from the sky.”

“That’s right. Lightning really fell in the dry sky.”

When dozens of people spoke together about something that would have been extremely questionable if one person said it, an unprecedented level of credibility was created. After that, something more unexpected happened. Still, the guards, who I thought would look suspicious or disapproving, all sighed at the unconscious guard.

“Ugh, this is what happens in the end.”

“I thought this guy would get struck by lightning at least once in his life. I didn’t know it was today.”

“Everyone talks too much. Of course, if you line up the people who will be punished in Potera, the person in front will be Fade, but he is still our colleague.”

“So, just live a nice life.”

It seems that the guard named Pade’s usual behavior was quite bad. It meant that the irritation creeping up on me while being inspected wasn’t because I was sensitive.

“Everyone, let’s get there and maintain order. Wise sent Fade to the medical class.”

Just before the atmosphere of chattering among the guards began to form, a middle-aged man stopped them. He wore armor of a similar color scheme as the guards, and judging from the fact that he was wearing separate epaulettes, he seemed to be in a position to command them.

“More than that, you are a hero… Did you really visit here?”

Seeing that they accepted the keyword ‘warrior’, which has not existed for over 300 years, without any hesitation, it seemed like what Fade said earlier was properly conveying what we have done to get here. In response to that question, the people all looked in Wayne’s direction, and Wayne’s eyes met the guard’s, who naturally followed his gaze.

“Huh… You really are a warrior. I don’t know how to greet you, but… My name is Jake, and I am the checkpoint leader at Potera Checkpoint.”

“This is Wayne. Even though I am lacking, I still possess the Holy Sword.”

Wayne said it in a euphemistic way, perhaps because the pain in Wayne’s heart had not yet resolved to call himself a warrior. However, from the listener’s perspective, it was meaningless because possessing a holy sword was the same as being a hero.

“First of all, I would like to apologize for our soldier being rude to the warrior.”

Jake bows his back. Even though he was in a position of leading others, he had no hesitation in bowing down in front of everyone. I wasn’t sure if that guy named Fade was famous for being a dog-faced person or if the value of being called a warrior was so high, but seeing Wayne hastily help Jake up, I guess it was the latter.

“It’s not even possible. It was also my fault for being searched without an ID card.”

Of course, the fault is extremely minor. We didn’t threaten or use force to let us in without any identification. Stella is the only one that has staged a military demonstration so far. It was literally a demonstration of force on a scale that was impossible to estimate by human standards, like a lightning strike in the distant sky.

“We will issue passes to those accompanying you. According to my name as the head of the checkpoint, the validity period is limited to three days, so if you plan to stay for a long time, it would be best to visit the Adventurer’s Guild or Stella’s Cathedral in Potera.”

“Thank you for the guidance.”

The inspection ended in a very clean manner, putting the previous scuffle to shame. Moreover, they didn’t say a word about my identity. Is it possible to demonstrate such flexibility when one becomes the head of a checkpoint? The truth is that customers say, ‘The boss needs to come out!’ It seems there is a reason why people are crying out for the whereabouts of the person responsible.

“…Well, in the end, I hope I came in safely. Isn’t that right?”

“Not really. I thought my face would explode from embarrassment.”

Wayne’s face, ripe as a tomato, was quite a sight to behold.

“Now, put that mindset aside. From now on, you have to act confidently like a warrior so Stella will like you.”

“Yes, that’s right. I found out about today. Stella is always watching me. There was a time when my faith faded… but I think I still have to live as a warrior.”

I can’t bear to say that I called Stella and asked her for a favor. Let’s keep quiet. The fact that she was masturbating right up until then.

“Okay. So where should we go first?”

“After a bit of a fight at the checkpoint, I felt like I wanted to rest. As the checkpoint chief said, should I first renew my ID card?”

As Wayne said, we started by making ID cards. There was no need to worry about whether to go to the adventurer’s guild or the cathedral. Because they both had to go. The Adventurer’s Guild had to sell off the materials it had collected, and the cathedral had to officially announce that the warrior had returned.

No matter how much I did good deeds and spread good stories to inform the people of the hero’s return, it was meaningless unless the church officially announced that the hero had appeared. Aren’t the official ones important in everything?

With that in mind, I first went to the nearby cathedral. The cathedral in Eletrov was also quite large, but the cathedral in Potera was truly out of this world. Numerous people had already visited the cathedral, which was built so magnificently that it was suspected that it was challenging the authority of Lord Potera.

“Welcome. What brought you here?”

In that crowded situation, a priest who managed to catch the two of us who had just entered approached us. Just as I was about to say something, Wayne first showed the holy sword and spoke to the priest.

“Wayne the warrior. I came here to pray to Stella.”

I was surprised by Wayne’s confident words, which made me wonder if he was the same person who hesitated in front of the checkpoint. Anyway, wouldn’t the priest be confused if I said that out loud?

“Ah… You are a warrior. In fact, the Pope’s words were just delivered to our cathedral. The hero will come soon.”

“Is that so?”

Aside from Wayne’s reaction, which seemed to be surprising and a little emotional once again, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Seeing that Wayne was likely to return to being a warrior, Stella made a quick move.

“Ah… And the Cardinal wanted to meet the warrior. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask if it would be possible to have an audience after the prayers are over…”

“Can you tell me briefly what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but I guess it’s probably about the magic sword.”

It came out again. Demon sword. As I kept seeing stories like this coming up, I had a feeling that this would be a problem that we would have to solve.