“Is that… the ‘Hero’?” Aria-san muttered, staring in the direction that man had disappeared.
It seems I wasn’t the only one he noticed; Aria-san was too. …Well, whatever.
As I tried to walk towards Aria-san, my legs tangled slightly, and Aria-san quickly supported me.
“Snow-san… you’re much better, but don’t push yourself.”
“Yes… you’re right.”
The Magic Stone that had been pressing on my heart has shrunk, and for the most part, I have no problem moving as a Magician, but there’s still more pressure than a four-element Magician would feel.
“I’ll make some medicine for you later.”
“…Do I have to drink it?”
My body has improved considerably. Still, after more than ten years of pushing it too hard, it’s worn out, and it seems I should have been resting and taking medication for years.
Well, I suppose even Aria-san thought that was too much for me, and as a result, I’m being made to drink that incredibly bitter and smelly medicine. …I wonder how much Grandma’s health remedies can actually heal my body.
…If it were the old me, I operated on the premise of dying, so I could push myself. But now, I can’t overdo it that much.
The pain of death is just suffering, but the suffering of life is painful, which makes it troublesome.
If it were the me from back then…
I might have even been able to kill that Hero.
“Hey, Aria-san! Snow-san!”
“Are you alright?!”
Just then, I heard those voices and saw the two warriors, Jesha-san and Feld-san, dismounting from the carriage, rushing over with drawn weapons.
So it wasn’t just Aria-san who came out when the fighting intensified… though the older group stayed put.
“For now, let’s go back.”
“Yes, let’s…”
Escorted by Jesha-san, I returned to the carriage and was resting my body while drinking tea when Aria-san and Feld-san, who had been investigating the battle site, returned late. Dolton-san, who had been standing with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, spoke up.
“You two, tell us what you saw.”
His voice was low, an order befitting the leader of the “Rainbow Sword.” Should I speak first?
“A certain individual was being attacked. Probably by assassins.”
I explained that since they wore identical equipment yet had erased their distinguishing features, I felt they were an assassination squad belonging to a noble or a wealthy individual, not the Assassin Guild.
“Yeah. Members of the Assassin Guild are generally selfish, so I don’t think they’d wear the same equipment.”
“If it’s a noble’s assassination squad, those characteristics wouldn’t be out of place. It’s also possible they usually alter their faces, so since they’re dead, we couldn’t find out anything.”
Aria-san, who had checked the battle site, affirmed this from her perspective as a former member of the Assassin Guild. Feld-san affirmed it from his perspective as a former noble.
That Hero might have wanted to capture a few of them alive, but if they’re dead, it can’t be helped.
“That man said he lured out the assassins.”
“A high-rank individual being attacked by a noble’s forces… and though we ended up fighting by chance, he called us ‘Hero-Class.’ From that, Snow-san and I believe that person is the ‘Hero.'”
“Besides, he was stronger than us,” I added to Aria-san’s words while sipping my tea. The inside of the carriage fell silent, as if frozen for a moment.
“No way…”
I understand why Jesha-san would feel that way. The Royal Capital was half-destroyed in the battle between Aria-san and me.
In terms of skill, he was almost on par with me, a Rank 6. And since he was also Aria-san’s equal with a sword, at the very least, that person’s skill level would be Level 6 in magic and Level 5 in close combat.
And that’s just the bare minimum.
“Snow-san, were you able to see that thing’s combat power?”
“…No. I couldn’t see it either.”
Not “person” or “man,” but already being treated as “that thing.”
I didn’t have time to appraise him thoroughly, but at my or Aria-san’s level, we should be able to get a rough appraisal by sensing it through our skin or magic power, yet I simply couldn’t see it.
If that was the Hero, does he have Spirit Blessing? Is that why I couldn’t tell?
Mmm, Chigau.
Perhaps the nature of his strength is “beyond our expectations.”
He might have a special power like Aria-san’s “Iron Rose” or my “Soul Thorn.”
…How do we kill that thing?
Perhaps thinking the same thing simultaneously, Aria-san’s and my gazes met.
“Aria-san, do you know any poisons that might work on that thing?”
“If, as legends say, the Hero receives Spirit Blessing, then ordinary poisons won’t work.”
“Not Poison Resistance, but poison immunity? Is that even possible?”
“Poisons work physically by being absorbed into the body. The Pink Hair Melrose woman is less susceptible to illness due to the spirits’ grace. But that doesn’t mean she nullifies the poison of illness; her body simply became able to withstand small amounts of poison.”
“So, that means we just need to use a stronger poison.”
“I think Corrosion Poison would work, but an amount lethal enough to kill that thing would kill the person who deploys it.”
“Acid would be easier then. But if we can break through its defenses, I think injecting poison directly would be faster.”
“In that case, we could ask Galbas-san to make special arrows. But…”
“You’re right. It would be more certain for Aria-san to cut him directly.”
“If we want to be certain, should we aim to weaken him?”
“In that case, we’d eliminate the people around him one by one, isolate him, and then…”
“Wait, wait, you two! Why are you planning to kill the Hero?! We’re partly at fault in this incident, and if we attack him without clear hostility, we’ll become enemies with the Holy Church too!”
“”Ah…””
Just as we were seriously plotting to eliminate the Hero, Dolton-san’s interjection brought us back to our senses.
That’s true. We did end up fighting, but he’s not an outlaw; he’s the Hero-sama, with a name and status. Planning his assassination was so much fun I forgot.
By the way, the others seemed dumbfounded that the two youngest girls were gleefully plotting an assassination.
For now, we decided to hold off on judging whether the Hero would truly be an enemy or if things could be settled peacefully until we reached the main sanctuary of the Holy Church.
The problem then becomes the “Hero’s” standing within the Holy Church.
The Hero was under attack. He has a clear enemy with a certain degree of status. Moreover, he was trying to lure them out and annihilate them. This means his life has been targeted several times before.
From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem like a picture-book story of good versus evil, where a powerful person became jealous of the Hero’s fame. But in politics, there’s no simple rewarding of good and punishing of evil.
There are only one’s own ideologies and biased justice. I’m not saying that’s bad, and some people are saved by it, but others resent it.
Is it that his ideology doesn’t align with that of the Holy Church, which seeks only the happiness of the human race, or does one of them have a fatal flaw? …I suppose that’s something to look forward to when we meet again.
But…
(…I don’t like him.)
I don’t like the way that man looked at Aria-san.
I don’t like that man’s smile, as if he was looking down on Aria-san.
For me, the only “Hero” or “Hero-Class”… is Aria-san.