#190
Settler (1)
“Thanks to the princess, I’m able to rest well at a nice place. I’ve been in your debt all this time.”
“Debt? You’re my savior. I can only apologize for not being able to take better care of you.”
At the main entrance of the Imperial Palace.
Riley had come out to bid farewell to the departing hero party, exchanging goodbyes with Heinrich.
This time, there wasn’t a grand send-off as requested by the Saint, but the princess who had directly benefited from him was there as a royal representative to see them off.
She started with Heinrich, wishing good fortune as she spoke to each of the others in turn.
And after holding Isea’s hand, whom she had chatted with until yesterday, Riley sighed again for a while…
“Haa— Hesperon, you are the one I’m most worried about.”
Finally, she stood in front of Hesperon and let out a deep sigh.
“Aha! What do you mean, princess? Where else can you find someone as trustworthy as me! Even my master was astonished by my talent yesterday! I’ll be just fine, so don’t worry too much!”
Even though Isea’s quiet grumbling could be heard from the side, he lightly brushed it off, boldly thumping his chest with a laugh.
The attendants accompanying the princess watched, and although he acted somewhat more politely than usual, his tone still felt light as if he were speaking to a friend.
Several attendants frowned lightly at his demeanor, but…
“Well, you’re not an ordinary person, so you should manage just fine. Besides, you won’t be around for that long either.”
Riley didn’t seem to care about his tone and merely nodded slowly.
“However—”
But her words didn’t end there.
“I think you need to tone down that excessive confidence. You seem to be under some kind of illusion; you’re just a low-level wizard now? You’re a weakling compared to them. Even those types have to give their all in the battlefield, and having that groundless confidence while following them is…”
What was meant to be a comforting act turned into substantial nagging instead.
Hesperon, who had been so confident, immediately shrank and had no choice but to listen to her words.
“You don’t need to stick your nose in. You’re just a liability. You’re of little use, and even if you take action, you’ll just hinder us. Just lay low and learn what you can… Hesperon? Are you listening to me?”
“Uh, yes! Of course. Yup.”
He hastily replied with a subtle expression after blankly listening to her.
‘Well, even so, isn’t that a bit harsh…?’
However, he didn’t argue, knowing that would only prolong the nagging session.
Seeing the worry in her eyes as she kept talking made him understand why she was saying those things.
…Afterward.
Riley finally stepped back with a satisfied look, having lectured far longer than all her other conversations combined.
Only Hesperon, looking dazed and blank, was left behind.
“Well then, we’ll be leaving now. We’ll meet again soon.”
“Yes, Saint. Please take care.”
With that, the unexpectedly lengthy farewell finally came to an end.
The party boarded the prepared carriage and headed towards the Jeron Shrine located on the outskirts of the capital to use the gate.
If it wasn’t an unavoidable situation, there was no need to burden Isea unnecessarily, especially when they could use the well-established infrastructure of the Order.
‘With one more person added, it’ll be a bit more complicated to move around.’
As Princess Riley had been worried about, Hesperon decided to move along with the hero party for the time being.
In terms of exact time… It would be about ten days.
‘I’ve decided to stay here until just before the second summit meeting.’
The first reason was to receive efficient training from the archmage Isea to solidify his path in magic properly.
Of course, even now, his basics were flawless.
He had a skill called “Introduction to Magic,” and no matter how different their systems were, he wouldn’t be struggling at a basic level given the influence of the Undead King.
Moreover, since it was only a matter of time before Riley ascended to being the Crown Princess, if she wished, she could provide education within the palace that exceeded what Isea had received in the past.
‘But even considering all that, it’s still not as effective as learning directly from Isea. Here, I can grow much more efficiently.’
After all, ironically, both Hesperon and she could be seen as kindred spirits in a way.
…So-called “geniuses,” that is.
‘Of course, it’s different from Isea, who’s simply a born genius… But as long as the results are similar, it amounts to the same thing, right?’
With all sorts of growth adjustments and superior statistics made possible through vast karma, along with indirect assistance from Hans, who had “The Path of Magic” and “Evil Wisdom” skills.
This was the true form of Hesperon, the created genius wizard.
‘For someone like me, a typical curriculum is just a waste of time.’
If Isea, being the senior, could cut out the “unnecessary” aspects she’d felt while learning magic, focusing solely on the essentials, the time needed for study could be dramatically reduced.
Moreover, with her accumulated know-how of being an archmage…
‘Good. Of course, I can’t grasp all of that knowledge in just ten days, but even if I return to the palace, I’ll be able to meet her regularly. There’s no need to rush.’
Clatter—!
Finally, the carriage that crossed through the capital arrived at the Jeron Shrine.
As soon as they stepped down from the Palace’s splendid carriage, they were immediately guided to the gate room.
Also, the second reason why Hesperon followed the hero party was precisely here—
“Then, High Priest, please take us to the Glatan territory of the Resk Kingdom.”
“Understood, Saint. Now, everyone, please come this way. I will activate the gate.”
It was an incredibly fortunate coincidence that the next target location of the party led by Saint Heinrich was precisely the Resk Kingdom.
And that place was…
The hometown of the spear knight Geos Kalking, who was a member of the hero party, and where the so-called ‘Otherworlder’ he mentioned resided.
*
After the battle in the Imperial capital Jeron, a wager was established between Saint ‘Heinrich Saint Landgard’ and the Undead King ‘Hannibal Strauss.’
The basic gist was that the hero would have to block the Undead King’s forces attacking a randomly chosen location with no prior information.
It was truly a fight of spear versus shield.
Though the rules heavily favored the Undead King, the ability to drastically reduce the damage to ordinary citizens through this wager wasn’t a bad condition for the heroes either.
Those still suffering from the madness of monsters wouldn’t agree much, of course.
‘Of course, it would only be possible if someone who could sense the attack in advance was present.’
Otherwise, it would just be a matter of being beaten down.
Also, the “attack” mentioned here didn’t only mean large-scale assaults.
“…Found it.”
In the central city of Glatan in the Resk Kingdom.
In a slightly secluded alley, Isea, who had been quietly closing her eyes, spoke a short phrase and her pupils glimmered.
“Where is it?”
“I’ll link it.”
As soon as her words finished, the minds of the party connected, and specific coordinates began to appear in their heads.
“…Three locations?”
“That’s what I’ve found so far. One seems to be a clock tower in that square, but we’ll need to go check out the other two directly.”
This attack would involve indiscriminate terror through a large-scale ritual performed using magical equipment smuggled into the city.
This method had been used several times before, and the types varied widely depending on the attackers’ tendencies.
From explosive types that physically blew up the surroundings to contamination types that spread deadly energy to humans, to sacrificial types that offered local life forms as tributes.
There were all sorts of extraordinary forms this time around.
“However, it hasn’t started yet, so I can’t pinpoint what kind it is exactly. For now, I’ve just selected locations that have suspicious magical energy flow.”
“That’s good. I hope it continues to be unknown.”
“Keheum! Shall we move right away? Let’s smash it before the ritual even starts! With three locations, we can split up!”
“……”
At Harley’s words, Geos, who had been quietly standing beside him, tightened his grip on his spear.
“In the face of the Undead King’s subordinates… ‘Enemies,’ he’s eager to spring into action.”
“Just wait a moment. We need to confirm things first.”
But Heinrich stopped them, shaking his head.
If something was happening immediately, it might have been a different story, yet they couldn’t recklessly cause chaos in someone else’s territory without a word.
He turned his gaze to the man who was constantly wiping cold sweat with a handkerchief beside him.
The knight sent by the lord through advance notice was now the security chief of this city.
“…Indeed, the locations I received from Isea are not where our facilities are supposed to be. They should all simply be ordinary spots…”
After checking the map pulled from his belongings, the knight sighed and tightly shut his eyes.
Though they managed to catch the abnormal situation as the hero party arrived, the current situation was still not good news for him.
Even if this incident got resolved smoothly, it was clear that the city’s defenses had been breached, and he could not escape responsibility afterward.
‘Hoo— But at least discovering this now is fortunate. What if a real disaster had occurred?’
Depending on the scale of the damage, the repercussions wouldn’t just end with a simple reprimand.
It truly seemed they were somewhat lucky this time around.
“Ah! We’ll provide our security forces for support. The more troops we have, the better we can secure the area.”
“No, if many troops are mobilized, they’ll get suspicious that something’s wrong. If that happens, we can’t know what kind of last-ditch effort they’ll make.”
“Then…?”
Heinrich gently smiled back at the knight, who looked uneasy, continuing with a serious tone.
“Hmm, still, it would be wise to prepare just in case. Let’s position a small elite force around the target areas, and for the remaining troops, I’d like to request you to guide nearby residents in case of an emergency.”
“Ah! That’s manageable. But, when you say emergency…?”
The knight spoke hesitantly, casting anxious glances at the Saint before him.
Heinrich’s smile on his lips looked kind, but strangely gave off a chilling vibe as well this time.
“Of course—”
Just as Heinrich opened his mouth to finish…
“KuhaHaha! We’ll raid in, smash them all to bits!”
It was Harley, bursting into wild laughter as he gripped the handle of his battle axe slung on his back.
“…Ugh.”
Then there was Geos Kalking, letting out a chilling laugh while clutching his long spear.
Gulp—
The knight unconsciously swallowed hard, taking a slight step back.
Surely, they were part of a special task force, and he couldn’t help but think they were odd, rather than just exceptional.
“What’s up? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
As his eyes involuntarily turned aside, Isea frowned, causing the knight to hastily turn his gaze back and wipe his cold sweat.
The little lady accompanying them seemed no less extraordinary either.
*
Now that they had pinpointed where the enemies were hiding, clearing them out became much simpler.
Ska-chak—!
Heinrich’s Light Sword always cut through enemies with ease.
“KuhaHaha! Bring it on, you bastards!”
Harley tore through enemies with his usual carefree style.
“Die!”
Geos, mad with rage upon encountering the dark wizard, shot holes into their bodies.
Understanding the potential risk of unforeseen situations was left to Isea in charge of rear support.
The enemies also could not just give up so easily, employing all means from magic circle overloads to self-detonation attacks…
But to the party, who had gotten used to such tactics over several months of repeating battles, these were just meaningless struggles.
“This time felt easier than ever. It seems they started preparing in a hurry, so it feels a bit lacking, I guess?”
As the major incident wrapped up without significant damage and the party regrouped, Isea tilted her head in thought, sensing something suspicious.
“UhaHaha! Well, as long as we managed to defend successfully, that’s what matters! We must have crashed in before they could finish their preparations!”
“Hmm, that could be it. I mean, these things happen sometimes.”
“HaHa! Thank you all for your hard work! Even though I was just watching from the side, it was so thrilling—everyone is amazing!”
Amidst the lively chatter of the others, Geos silently approached Heinrich, his expression turning serious once more as the battle ended.
And the next words he uttered were exactly what Heinrich had been eager to hear.
