#175
Hero’s Footsteps (2)
“Oh dear— thank you, Saint.”
“You should be fine now. Moving forward… hm?”
Just after vanquishing another group of evil.
Heinrich, wearing a benevolent smile while healing patients, suddenly paused.
“…Saint?”
“Ah? It’s nothing. Just received a new revelation.”
“O-Oh—! No, that’s not it! D-Does that mean we interrupted you…?”
“Haha, it’s already over, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
However, before anyone could glance at him strangely, he quickly scanned the air as if nothing had happened and continued speaking casually.
His ‘Prophecy,’ boasting a high hit rate, was no longer seen as strange, so no one found it odd.
While busy moving about, Heinrich analyzed the special perk he had just gained.
“I had expected something when Hans became the world’s enemy, but it seems the saviors have similar achievements.”
It appeared the conditions were also subtly more lenient.
Unlike the ‘world’s enemy,’ which required multiple direct resentments, merely gaining recognition for his efforts from various people was enough.
《The clearer your path becomes, the more the effect of “Hero’s Footsteps” will increase.》
The phrase that popped into his mind further confirmed his suspicions.
Wasn’t it saying that every time he had a greater impact on more people, the perk would strengthen even more?
The effect of “Hero’s Footsteps,” gained by diligently spreading his name across the continent, was the ability to instantly move to places he had visited.
Of course, it couldn’t transcend dimensions like “Dimensional Teleportation Circle,” and the cooldown was only once every three days, but…
“The more effective means of transport, the better. If people become blindly reliant on Heinrich beyond merely recognizing him, the cooldown could also be shortened.”
What he liked most was that now, aside from Hans and Heinrich, other avatars could also travel long distances.
In this world and even on Earth!
“Dispatching avatars will be much easier. This ability is essential for dealing with the Buncheon Society. One more reason for Heinrich to work harder.”
For now, Hans was busy bustling around Earth alone, but moments would come when other avatars would be needed too.
If he could reinforce this perk in advance, it would provide great help in future endeavors.
“Well then, shall we start moving?”
Heinrich, wrapping up his promotional activities, gathered his party members back together.
Having repeated this series of processes several times, while he helped patients, they also showed their own efforts by patrolling and tidying up the surroundings.
Of course, no matter how diligently they moved, they couldn’t catch up to Heinrich’s reputation as both the hero and saint.
Even if the rest pooled their names together, it wouldn’t amount to even a fraction of his recognition.
“By the way, Saint? How long are we going to be moving just the four of us? For now, it’s fine, but our ultimate goal is to face the Undead King directly, shouldn’t we start increasing our numbers from now… Ah, I’m not disregarding you, Saint.”
At that moment, Isea, who had quietly been preparing for spatial movement, cautiously asked, glancing at him.
Having pledged to fully trust the hero when it came to matters related to the party, she was incredibly careful, but perhaps due to her genuine feelings about this matter, a hint of impatience surfaced.
Similarly, the knight with ash-gray hair, Geos Kalkin, seemed intrigued as he turned his head at the mention of the Undead King.
Having just vented his frustrations by capturing escaped dark wizards under the pretense of patrol, blood splattered across his otherwise expressionless face.
“Kahahah—! What’s the rush? When five humans gather, there’s bound to be one piece of trash among them, right? It’s usually wise to be cautious when bringing people in.”
As a serious atmosphere suddenly engulfed them, the barbarian warrior Harley burst out laughing, his muscles twitching.
However, immediately after speaking, contrary to his relaxed demeanor, he couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered…
He realized that the source of this lighthearted joke was an internet meme from Earth, of all places!
And it just had to be in front of Isea, who was Korean!
Hmm… “That is indeed a valid point. Philosophical, too. But isn’t our current strength too lacking to fight the Undead King? I believe we should prepare our allies as early as possible.”
Luckily, Isea, living a life unacquainted with internet memes as a typical model student, merely tilted her head in confusion.
In fact, proverbs tend to be similar across various regions, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but still, Heinrich, having momentarily lost his composure, quickly responded to her.
“Of course, I’m not planning to keep going like this. In fact, I have some people in mind. Although the time isn’t right yet to bring them, you’ll be able to meet them soon when the second continental summit is held.”
“…The second summit… is that so? Understood.”
Isea murmured softly, nodding again in response.
However, seeing her still wear a dark expression, it seemed that it didn’t provide much comfort.
‘Right, it’s been nearly two months since the Princess was kidnapped. Speaking of which, I think communications with the factions have been quite frequent lately…’
Even though the core member of the fifth princess faction, “Isea Pristine,” was earning her reputation alongside the hero, it was all but temporary without the faction’s central figure, Princess Riley.
Even more so since the second prince and sixth prince were gathering power, her worries surely increased.
Hmm, “I feel like I’ve unintentionally put too much burden on her. I was preparing to act soon anyway… Huh? Wait a second.’
At some point, the fact that he had just acquired a new ability popped into his mind.
And by gaining an ability he hadn’t planned for, it rendered all his previously established cumbersome processes useless.
‘Ah, it’s not that I dislike it… but it feels a bit anticlimactic.’
After all, going through a complicated and tiresome procedure only increases the risk of disrupting credibility over trivial matters.
Simple and intuitive means are always best.
‘Simple is best. Then, let’s get started right away.’
*
Hoo~ “Today was a rewarding day as well.”
Lilis, the general administrator of the Undying Castle, and in charge of Prince Simon, wore a satisfied smile as she strolled through the garden of the second residence.
Initially filled with despair upon joining the undead army, after tormenting the crown prince and releasing some stress as usual, she no longer felt that life here was as bad as she initially thought.
‘Still, if there’s some fun in this, I can endure this dull place. The once arrogant Simon is now my toy! Ah, how thrilling~!’
Having been a part of imperial nobility for quite some time, she had met the crown prince many times.
To be more honest, one might say she had intentionally approached him to manipulate him.
However, no matter how high-ranking she was in the undead forces, hiding her true identity while charming the empire’s crown prince was an impossible task without leaving any trace.
There was always the risk of her cover being blown if she overreached.
Ultimately, she resorted to using her ordinary charms, much like any noble girl, relying solely on her “skills” to seduce the prince…
Despite her confidence, she ended up humiliated and empty-handed.
‘…If those fox-like women hadn’t interfered, it would have been an easy task!’
She could have made many excuses.
From the constraints of high-ranking noble families to political pressure, the levels of interference were unbearable.
The crown prince had also been looking for a powerful noble faction to support him during that period.
However, the fact remained that she had failed, and that left a significant scar on her pride as a succubus.
‘Hoo, hohoh— My mood has suddenly soured. Should I continue training him a bit more before I leave?’
Having let her mind wander while feeling gloomy, she turned her steps back toward where she had come.
Towards the direction of the crown prince’s quarters, which would likely be in tatters.
“Mm? Is that… the princess and Hesperon?”
At that moment, she spotted a man and woman gathered in a garden in front of a lodging, whispering to each other.
It seemed they were practicing magic as usual, with magical energy shimmering around them, and they had even set up some trivial barriers.
“…Tsk.”
Although she could easily disregard those kinds of barriers if she wished, she deliberately averted her gaze and quickened her steps.
Just like she had always done.
– No matter what is exchanged between the princess and Hesperon, or what they might do, ignore them completely.
That was the stern command given by their king.
Unless something particularly unusual happened to their wellbeing, she couldn’t intervene beyond providing them with supplies and basic necessities.
‘It’s probably just the same boring talk about low-level magic. What can they possibly do in here?’
While she was indeed aware that the male had some special abilities as a person from another world, those would only be useful after some growth.
What could be so impressive about the limited abilities they possessed now during the early stages of transmission?
Hmph, it would be fun if they tried to simulate an escape. But I doubt they’d dare to do that. By the way, I wonder how Andrew is doing… I haven’t seen him lately.
Thinking that, she decided she would visit him soon and continued to ignore the conversation between the two.
However, at that fleeting moment when the observer passed by, the two were indeed talking about an escape.
“Riley, you mentioned you wanted to get out of here, right?”
“Of course! Would I want to be here if I didn’t have to?”
Riley looked at him incredulously.
After all, being captured as a prisoner didn’t really require questioning.
“…I might be able to help you get out.”
Facing her incredulous expression, Hesperon wore a surprisingly confident grin on his face.
*
[Kihihihik!]
Huuu—
On top of a high spire exposed to the outside of the Undying Castle.
Amidst the blur of ghostly apparitions busily flitting around, there was a man crouched in the corner, muttering to himself.
“…I’m going to die. I’ll really die at this rate…”
With messy, untamed blond hair and vacant green eyes staring blankly into space.
The gaze of Andrew Weaver, driven insane by the harsh environment, fell upon the roaming ghosts around him.
The sight of them swirling in the air felt chilling, as if they were his own future.
Never resting even in death, endlessly laboring…
‘…No! I can’t just sit here any longer!’
Andrew shook his head violently at the horrifying vision.
Unfortunately, he had no means to escape this Undying Castle, and even if he could, he had no confidence until he could evade pursuit and survive.
But…
He still had one method he believed in remaining—
“Ugh— just a little… just a bit more…”
That was the only thing keeping him going at this moment.
[Khuhuhuh—]
[Huhheee!]
It remained to be seen whether he could truly seize the freedom he longed for.
Thud—!
“Ugh! Lilis! Mistress! Why are you suddenly like this!”
“Just feeling a bit off? So, Simon? Shall we try some obedience training for just an hour?”
“Hieek—!”
…Of course, in this castle, there were those who had no time to even think about escape.
