253. The Significance of a Hero (2)
Yeonhwa closed her mouth for a moment.
An unknown look glances at Saerin. Saerin confidently made eye contact as if she would not be stabbed.
A strange war of nerves ensued.
“….”
“….” I wonder
how long it had been since they exchanged meaningless glances, but Yeonhwa was the first to look away, ending the short silence. There was a belated response to the previous statement.
“…Killing Deonhardt is natural.”
She glanced at Saerin’s expression.
“I don’t think that’s what you meant.”
“That means killing Deon Hart is a ‘high priority.’”
A stern expression appeared in his field of vision.
Saerin has a personal grudge against Deon Hardt. Because that’s the only drawback she has as a tactician. The King of the Mountain Kingdom was on guard, wondering if the current argument might have been swayed by personal emotions.
There is no way Saerin doesn’t know this. Even though no reason was asked, an explanation followed as if it were obvious.
“What difference does it make if we just block and hold on? As you know, time is not on our side. If it becomes a war of attrition, this is the side that is at a disadvantage. Humanity must drive the demons out of this land as quickly as possible.”
“….”
“The current situation is frankly hopeless. The hero and the demon lord are on the same side.”
This is not something we can simply say, ‘It’s shocking,’ and move on.
“The hero is the devil’s only opponent. Not only is this not something that can be solved by simply enduring, but enduring in itself is difficult. Just looking at that scene right now is enough to tell.”
For a moment, I caught my eye on Deon Hart, who was stirring up the battlefield.
Wherever he passed, his body was left hanging like a trail. Even longevity was no exception. On the contrary, if the appearance of the armor were not different, it was so meaningless that you would not even think of him as a general.
“If things continue like this, there is no hope.”
No one found hope in that scene.
“Our only hope is to kill Deonhardt.”
In the midst of despair, the only hope is to suddenly ‘kill Deonhardt’, so it may seem a bit unexpected… but it
makes sense if you look at it as a ‘hero’ rather than ‘Deonhardt’.
Yeonhwa’s expression changed as she guessed what Saerin was thinking.
“Two heroes cannot exist at the same time.”
“…also.”
You guessed right. She nodded.
There is only one warrior per generation. The next great warrior is born only when the previous warrior dies.
Anyway, there are no ‘enemy’ warriors, so it’s just as bad as none.
“Rather, the only hope would be to kill the heroes who are on the Demon King’s side and reduce the power of the Demon World while also looking forward to the birth of the next great hero.”
“Yes, that’s right. I can’t say I don’t have any personal feelings at all, but… isn’t this enough grounds, Your Highness?”
“…okay.”
That’s enough.
The problem is how to kill that monster…
Just as I was about to get lost in my thoughts, the communicator light came on. Their eyes were focused on one place.
“This is…”
A communication device connected to the current emperor of the empire.
Saerin, who realized the identity of the communicator, spoke softly.
“It seems like there is someone who had the same thoughts as me.”
“…I guess it’s a union offer after all.”
They would have heard the news about Deon Hardt by now.
Yeonhwa didn’t receive the message right away and thought for a moment.
“Even if that’s not the case, we should unite. The warriors of the mountains cannot be dealt with alone. Isn’t that right, dear?”
“That would be good. It would be good to make sure of it beforehand. Now that Deonhardt has been to the human world for the first time in a long time, this is an opportunity. As time goes by and he returns, there may be another opportunity.”
“Be sure…”
Yeonhwa, who was staring at the light of the communication device, looked up and saw Saerin.
“Are you sure that if we unite with a foreign nation, we can kill Deonhardt?”
“…’Confidence’ is such a dangerous word. I made a mistake. I’ve never tried to kill a hero like this before, but I’m not sure if it’s a demon lord, and I’m wondering how it could be possible for a hero who is now out in the human world like this. .”
“…well.”
Suddenly, the king of the Mountain Kingdom thought.
Has there ever been a time
in history when a warrior died at the hands of a human ?
***
The hero who killed the Demon King was so loved by the people that his very existence became a religion and a god. Many powerful people have made every effort to kill warriors who threaten their positions.
From pushing with numbers to using the very human psychology of inducing people to fall in love and then being attacked by the person they love.
However, the only individual who can kill the Demon King is a warrior, and the only individual who can kill a warrior is the Demon King.
All of this was in vain before the warrior’s talent, survival instinct, and desire for survival.
Even if you push with a hundred blades with regular troops, it won’t work, and those with warrior fragments are basically very small in number, so it’s virtually impossible to push them down with force.
Therefore, they turned to psychology and further discovered one of the common characteristics of warriors: the desire for survival.
The conclusion that emerged after the investigation was that ‘desire for survival’ also falls within the realm of ‘talent’ that is fundamental to becoming a warrior.
When we look back on history, all warriors basically had a strong desire to survive.
A loyal knight who was willing to sacrifice his life for his lord became a warrior and when his lord tried to kill him, he took his head.
Another warrior who was so in love with an unresponsive love that he could give the world if he wanted to was hurt and frustrated when the person he loved tried to kill him, so instead of letting go of his desire for life, he showed extreme betrayal and killed the person he loved.
So some say.
Maybe the hero’s weakness is the hero?
━ From an old book ━
***
‘…It contains only useless words.’
Elpidius closed the book.
I was trying to find a case where a hero was actually killed, but I ended up only coming up with absurd stories. Just in case, I feel like an idiot for reading until the end.
‘It’s the last book, but I’m just in a bad mood.’
I threw the book I had finished reading on the desk. Another book was placed on top of the pile of books.
After leaning back on my chair to take a break, I notice a desk without a single document. Even though it is in name and appearance the emperor’s desk, all kinds of old books are taking up the place instead of documents.
If the Prime Minister sees this, he will grab your back. He looked at the pile of books he had finished reading and then turned his gaze to his younger brother. She, too, seemed to have almost finished reading and was turning the last chapter of the book.
‘Then let’s wait a bit.’
Elpidius drowsily lowered his eyes.
In a calm and quiet space, you can occasionally hear the sound of paper fluttering and turning. A thought came flooding back to me.
‘This is the only book related to heroes, so I’ll have to hope that the books Alethea read contains what she wants.’
It was obvious why they suddenly started looking through old books.
Deonhardt, who had been confined to the demon world after killing the Emperor, finally came out to the human world. They say they are having a spectacular comeback in the country.
This news meant that for the two royal families, the opportunity to kill Deonhardt had finally arrived. Aletea and Elpidius’ eyes lit up at this opportunity that they never knew would come again.
Their flow of thought was similar to Sanguo’s.
[A hero on the Demon King’s side is useless anyway. Rather, it will only cause harm.]
[In order to expect the next great hero, you must kill him.] There
is only one hero in a generation and the current hero who is on the Demon King’s side. Based on this, the plan that was developed to anticipate the next generation of warriors coincidentally coincided with personal desires.
[You must kill Deon Hart. That too as a ‘top priority.’]
But the problem is.
‘The question is whether it is possible for humanity to kill a hero…’
Just then, the sound of Alethea closing a book was heard, as if she had finished reading.
Elpidius looked up and saw that there were no more books to read, and immediately opened his mouth.
“I found it?”
“No. I found a case where a country, a specific person in power, or a powerful group tried to kill a warrior…”
“There was not a single successful case.”
Obviously, if a hero kills the devil and gains fame, he will not be a thorn in the side of those in power, but there has never been a successful case of killing a hero in history.
Even one nation failed to kill its warrior and instead collapsed.
“In short, it would be difficult with the current ‘empire’ power alone.”
“….”
There was silence for a moment.
Despair was short-lived. The two royal families thought with their golden eyes shining, as if they had been frustrated for some time.
…then.
“We may need a force that is more than ‘one country.’”
“okay.”
Wouldn’t it be worth a try if several countries, rather than just one country, united?
It is not a goal that is as broad and long-term as ‘drive out the devil’s army from this land’, so it will not be impossible if we all focus closely in a short period of time.
“We need unity.”
And that too at a large-scale level.
Elpidius picked up the communicator.
***
A week is a very short time to plan and execute something.
Dernivan has been busy since the day he decided to steal the baby. The process became more complicated because we had to avoid the eyes of Trover, the commander of the 9th Corps.
Nevertheless, he managed to select people who could hand over the baby within the given time, and laid out the profiles of the people he had compiled in front of OL on the night of the week ahead.
Among those who had little overlap because they were selected without paying attention to status, occupation, age, gender, country or power, the one he recommended the most was an old man.
“It is said that he was a former imperial palace doctor of the empire. Not long after the full-scale war broke out, he retired due to his age and lives peacefully in a quiet village. Since he is a doctor, he will be able to respond immediately even if the baby he entrusted to his care becomes sick, and the area where he stays is also close to the place where fierce battles are taking place. “There seems to be little chance of being directly involved in a war.”
It’s not that the probability is ‘none at all’, it’s just that it ‘is likely to be small’, but in today’s era, that’s a good thing.
“…By the way, Dernivan.”
OL, who was looking through the documents with an interested look, suddenly raised his head and asked.
“The most important thing is whether or not the person concerned wants to raise the baby themselves? Have you checked that?”
“All of the people in the documents I gave you are basically good-natured people. Not only would they not pass over a baby abandoned in front of their house, but they wouldn’t even dare to abuse the baby during the process of raising it.”
“In that case…”
Orel shook his head and flipped the document forward again to see the details of the person Dernivan had mentioned. She was reading the information for a moment, but when she checked the age written on the document, she stopped and tilted her head.
“Dernivan. The human you were talking about… he’s over 70 years old?”
Isn’t he too old by human standards? How long does an average human live?
I frowned slightly, remembering the average human lifespan I once heard about. He is a human being who is almost ready to die.
“Wouldn’t the baby die before it grows up?”
“When he was working as a palace doctor, he built up a strong network of people in the village where he is currently staying. So, even if he dies, I believe there will be people who will take care of the baby for him. Isn’t there a saying in the human world that says ‘we meet each other’? Those who are close to him are probably similar to him.”
“Is that so…?”
I’m not sure, but seeing Dernivan say that, I guess it’s
because I know I don’t have time to ask questions, so I swallow the question and answer it roughly. Satisfied, Orel nodded and tapped the document.
“Then, let’s decide! Let’s make this human.”
