Chapter 18: Confirming the Feeling, I Recognized the Right Person
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
People in the first place said the Hero had asked for directions, saying he wanted to rescue someone; people in the second place said the same; people in the third place said the same…
Though their accounts matched perfectly, what puzzled everyone was that these places were located in completely different parts of the continent, far apart from each other.
—From “Bizarre Romances You Must Know”, Part Four
Eso Town had no dragons. So, although the Hero had earlier warned about suspicious outsiders inside an association that barely existed, Eso Town still couldn’t conjure dragons or magicians. But after one letter, the king of the Orandi Empire dispatched an elite squad a second time. Now, in this remote Eso Town, a senior magician had arrived—along with a few team members.
When the Hero saw a distant point on the horizon, a bad feeling rose in his chest. He turned to the new squad and said, “So, can we put other things on hold for now? What’s important is there.”
He pointed toward the horizon. The magician simultaneously cast spells: a fireball and an arrow shot toward the magical dragon. The warrior reclaimed his greatsword, and the thief, after a failed grab, took something from the Hero—
But there was nothing to take, only some discarded debris. The thief looked back at the Hero, who returned the gaze. Wilted flower petals scattered in the wind over the ground.
“I was the first to arrive. I was the first to see the princess sitting in a tree, her long dress soaked with dew and wild grass, looking exhausted and miserable,” the thief said.
“At that time, the princess was very hungry. After being lost in the wilderness, she endured many hardships,” the warrior added.
“I shot the beast that fought the princess, allowing her to come down from the tree,” said the archer.
“The princess suffered greatly near the border because of the Hero’s presence. So His Majesty the King ordered us to bring back the Hero when he appeared in this town,” explained the magician.
“—After the princess was rescued, she entrusted us with rescuing another scholar imprisoned in the demonic realm. But we decided to return her first before continuing. And with new orders, we were to bring back the Hero as well.”
“According to the princess, the scholar in the demonic realm share a similar plight. Because of his value, he is imprisoned and left behind—so he can wait a while longer.”
The magician explained everything. This was the rescue squad the king had secretly sent out before, and they had arrived here while en route to carry out their mission.
The Hero, vouched for by the entire village, was cautiously trusted for now, especially after explaining the emergency situation. Guided by a surprised fisherman uncle, he was led back and, witnessing the mess, pieced together what had happened from the villagers’ accounts, finding some comfort in the magician’s words.
The magical dragon came, took Joshua away, and burned the nearby trees when attacked. Thanks to nearby water, the fire was quickly extinguished, but Joshua was gone. The Hero asked, “The scholar the princess mentioned is…?”
After hearing the villagers’ descriptions, the magician replied, “Yes. His name is Joshua.”
The Hero, who had once checked nearby villages for strange people on the day of the matchmaking event, confirmed Joshua’s identity based on the princess’s information. Upon receiving confirmation, he clenched his fists tightly. If only he wasn’t so directionally challenged…
The Hero looked at the magician and again recalled the sword he had lost far upstream. If so, he could search for anomalies, prevent the dragon’s sudden appearance, retrieve his sword, and slay all evil. He sighed and looked toward the road stretching out before him. At the road’s end, the landscape twisted into the same strange shape.
…
With the shared goal of confirming the Hero was under their control, the magician added the Hero to the squad to journey together into the demonic realm. On the way, the magician explained that starting a war was a troublesome matter that required persuading the majority of the pacifist factions.
He also said that war was a large-scale destructive event that required convincing neighboring smaller nations closest to the demonic realm—those most likely to become cannon fodder.
Based on these points, after nearly a hundred years of peace between demons and humans, the King of the Orandi Empire wasn’t eager for actual war but rather aimed to apply pressure.
“After all, these past decades have been the few with the fewest casualties for humans. The human and demon territories are separated by ever-growing forests, each guarded by their own sentinels. Most of the time, there are only minor skirmishes between the two races. That’s precious, especially considering the scale of the wars back then,” the magician said.
“War is always detestable. So if this Demon King isn’t keen on fighting, then His Majesty the King isn’t eager to spark flames either.”
After they found the sword, the magician summarized thoughtfully. His red hair fell over his shoulders as he spoke with the weight and understanding of a leader. “Developing weapons and building armies prepare you for war at any moment, while forming squads and conducting secret operations are meant to avoid constant war. These two aren’t contradictory.”
The thief hopped around beside them. “Anyway, it’s super annoying to get dumped with all the work~”
The archer coldly snapped, “Shut up.”
The Hero nodded, confirming his experiences matched what was written in the letter, then added details the letter left out. He followed the river upstream, searched for a long time, found the sword, and from afar saw the desolate wasteland described in the reports.
For now, he was believed: the previous rumors were probably just that—rumors. After all, before those rumors spread, the princess had confirmed she never saw the face beneath the helmet or heard the voice clearly.
—Only someone had rescued her from the demonic realm, and the Hero, who fit the criteria of entering alone, had arrived during that period to save her. That person also admitted to being the Hero. With the reward publicly announced, no one thought anyone would give up the throne they had a chance to claim. Even if the throne came with a ton of blame.
The Hero said, “I confirm I did not rescue the princess. And I don’t need to marry her or become the next king.”
He simply set out because it was the right thing to do. The thief continued bouncing around at this. The warrior, thoroughly confused by the thief, closed his eyes. The archer silently drew an arrow, isolating himself from the rest. The magician, as leader, nodded and promised to report back.
***
The magician led the squad to the boundary of the demonic realm. They stealthily infiltrated. Then, while disguised, they got caught up in conflicts as mere passersby.
The thief jumped even higher, shouting, “Hey hey hey? What’s this? Two demons got into a fight and the winner happily took the spoils, while the loser happily beat up innocent bystanders like us?”
The demonic border was guarded by minor demon soldiers who often fought among themselves. After resolving a conflict with fists, two demon soldiers then proceeded to beat up the squad, who were disguised as demon passersby. The squad reacted calmly, even trying to reason with them. But the demon soldiers, following their usual logic, labeled the squad suspicious and chased them off.
Demon soldier: “What’s with all this reasoning? Where’re you from? What kind of upbringing lets you yap like that?”
The chased squad learned their lesson and on their second infiltration, dealt with issues physically as soon as they arose. Fortunately, this time, after disguising not only their appearance but also their handling of situations, they successfully infiltrated.
Less than two days later, the Demon King spotted the Hero by instinct. The Demon King stood atop the castle, his chin slightly raised over his domain. His purple tunic and sword decorations suited his title perfectly, and his distinctive half-mask added to the imposing image.
Then, on the castle tower, the Demon King muttered, “Wait… this annoying feeling is familiar.” He searched around and confirmed, “Hmm… yes, that familiar feeling of loathing.” Trusting his instincts, the Demon King pointed directly down. “Go.”
The dragon obeyed, swiftly flying down and precisely tossing the Hero out of the demonic realm. The other four squad members were inspected and expelled by a temporarily assigned marquis.
The Hero, who had found his way near the castle by instinct, was swept up by the dragon before even entering the castle. Though he hadn’t fought back while in the demon realm, as soon as he reached the human territory and attempted to retaliate, he was dropped straight down. He fell into a lake and survived—for now.
After the dragon returned, the Demon King rewarded it for its silent and stealthy tactics—mainly for not making noise and flying high. The Demon King praised and reminded the dragon while rewarding it. “As long as you don’t reveal yourself and fly high, most people looking up can’t tell what you are.”
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