Half-elves Fall in Love

Chapter 347: Hero´s bewilderment

Kalwin Kingdom is said to have a force of five guardians, known as the Hero Alliance. Four of them, except Neia and one of them, showed up here in Rennesto. We didn’t understand the significance of this at first, but Sir Buster seemed to realize a lot in an instant.

“First of all. What form will this Rainer guy take in this Rennesto? That is one of the problems. Is Kalwin surprisingly close or did he use the instantaneous movement device at the ruins like Neia did or did he use some other means of transportation?”

“……I don’t think it’s possible that it’s close. At least not within a distance that a person could easily walk to and from……”

“Right. If you can reach it with a little effort, there is no way that a city with a population of 10,000 could continue to believe that the world has been destroyed for 300 years”

Sir Buster recommends a chair to the Queen and holds up a finger.

“The device in the ruins, then. This is not something that can be easily moved. I went to see the ruins of the destroyed labyrinth once myself, after the news of the recent appearance of the devil and I found that it was not something that could withstand stable use”

“Yes”

“Then, the last possibility is otherwise. ……Unless, of course, there are underground passages of unbelievable length, like the famous Russell Desert Labyrinth in Celesta, which is completely unexpected……there is only one possibility in the usual sense”

“……Dragons?”

Neia muttered and Sir Buster nodded.

“That’s about all I can think of at the moment”

“Sure, there was a dragon palace near Kalwin, but……”

“Maybe they’ve got some help or something to do with them. ……Well, let’s leave the details around that beyond speculation. However, the timing is just too coincidental”

“?”

“It can’t be that close together that there hasn’t been non-interference with the dragons for 300 years”

“That’s……but, only the heroes had the right to travel far enough to directly enter the Dragon Palace”

“Kalwin must have had nothing to do with the Fire Dragon War a hundred years ago. At least, the exchange was not as abhorrent as it is here. ……Neia, for the first time in all this time since you’ve been gone, the dragons have become cooperative with this Rainer guy and for the first time they’ve come out to Rennesto to seek you out and give you a mild greeting……what do you think is going on?”

“……That’s”

“The battle with the devil at the far end of the labyrinth was, as I recall, the last job you did 『Over there』. If you think about it normally, you should think of it as killed in action. There is no reason to look for you anymore, but the reality is. He came out here, confirmed that you were alive and parted without taking any particular action. How low do you think the odds need to be?”

Sir Buster strokes his beard unconsciously and snorts.

“At least I don’t think it’s such a new story. If they could use dragons as a means of getting out, they’ve certainly been using them for quite some time. If they can arbitrarily scout the outside world and the situation in Renfangas, it’s not that surprising that they’re here at this time. ……But given the circumstances in Kalwin Kingdom, there’s no way they wouldn’t consider the existence of the outside world a sensation, just like Neia”

“…………”

“The king’s office is the only place in the kingdom where the king is not aware of the existence of the outside world. ……That brings up the possibility that they are taking measures to 『Intentionally hide the outside world』”

“……Yes”

Neia nods without power. Sir Buster closed his eyes, looking sideways at Neia for a few seconds.

“Another way to put it is, 『I’m not trying to contact the outside world』. Even if there are dragons, 30,000 people can’t easily be moved in and out of the city. I don’t need to tell you now that Dianne’s team is looking to develop a route based on that. ……The first thing that comes to mind is the possibility of social disruption in the world. But if they were aware of what was out there, they’d be in a political bargaining position, whether it’s escape or trade. But until Neia came out, our world was not even aware of the possibility of a state in the demon territory”

In other words, beyond the fact that.

“……Everywhere. There are boss monkeys who are intent on making their own territory self-contained”

“Buster-sama, you don’t talk like that……”

“You are a hero. If you advocate courage, if you claim to protect your people, you must be willing to face things. There is no such thing as unalterable justice on an individual basis”

Neia, who has maintained the appearance of a 『Hero of Kalwin』 by hardening her attitude toward other people, can only be upset in the presence of Sir Buster.

Kalwin is a country that has struggled to survive in the midst of poverty and fear in the middle of the demon territory. Neia herself was aware that she could not build a bridge to that society by merely making contact with it and that it was therefore closed to the extent that she was willing to promote pioneering activities based on organized exchanges. But what the encounter just now signifies is not such a simple thing, but the possibility that this is indeed a box garden that has been deliberately 「Closed」 by the rulers. What we do is the same. We just go for Kalwin, that’s all. But it’s as if Neia has been told that all the justice and guilt on her shoulders is the product of deception brought about by a warped desire for control. It will take her a while to swallow down the implications of that, or rather, her heart may not be able to bear it.

“Neia”

The Queen calls softly to Neia and Neia, though her response is delayed for a few moments, hurriedly takes off her hat and kneels down.

“Look up, Neia. Alex, you should be a little more considerate of her. It’s not Neia’s fault, is it?”

“……That’s right. I was a little too sarcastic in my remarks”

Sir Buster put his hand on Neia’s shoulder.

“And it’s all still speculation. It’s possible that someone is trying to create such an illusion for a purpose. ……Don’t break on your own until you’ve confirmed it, hero”

“……Y, Yes”

Neia nods quietly. ……Her figure looked even smaller than usual.

-

“It’s just one possibility”

On the way home, Naris said, folding her hands behind her head.

“The guess of the Great Knight Chief Buster earlier, for example, that Rainer is simply super bad and he won’t tell his friends about the outside world. Only he knows, doesn’t it?”

“……Naris-chan, I feel that it’s beyond the realm of bad character”

“Eh. You can’t let everyone escape outside the demon territory, there’s no place to go. I think it’s possible to do extra things to increase responsibility or keep it your own secret”

Naris’s argument has a certain amount of persuasiveness, though.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t you rather just fly out to another country instead of staying in poor and doomed Kalwin? Even if you don’t have a nationality, with your heroic skills you could be an adventurer or a member of Renfangas’ army”

“So it’s just a matter of bad character to look down on those poor fellows”

I think that most of the puzzling things can be explained away with one word, 「Character」.

“It is true that Rainer was……not a very cheerful person”

“That’s right. I’m not sure how someone who smiles like that can have a fresh personality”

“……I’m not very cheerful and as a hero, after years of training for death and side-by-side with each other, there are some parts that can be ironic”

“Eh. You’re quite cheerful, aren’t you, Neia-san? Before Almeida-san, Knight Chief Sharon Knight and so on, there was a really spiky and dark place”

“Yaa, I wonder if it’s okay for Naris-chan to say that just because they are not here”

“……No, what’s with the laughing! I think it’s really not a good idea to tell people!”

……But somewhere. Even though she has a terrible upbringing, I wonder if Naris has a different feeling from Neia. Kalwin is not a world so naive that it can be satisfied with such simple logic. People kill sinners because there is no food, kill children because there is no food, kill old people because there is no food, and so on. The role of the hero is to protect such an order, while being covered in blood. There is a way to do something about it, but there is no way I can be convinced with just one word: bad character. ……No, I wonder if I’m too emotional about Neia.

“Maia. Can you be on the lookout for dragons flying around here, just in case?

“I’ll be on the lookout, but it’s impossible to spot an illusion flying in and out of the whole city. If it’s a dragon, they can be much better at magic than I am……”

“I see……”

It was only natural, if you think about it. With illusions, it’s hard to spot what you know to be in front of you. Even if you can solve it if you have a background in magic, it must be difficult to see through. Even with a dragon’s senses, it would be difficult to spot an entire fortress city several kilometers long. And if the opponent was a dragon skilled in magic, it would be a fool’s errand.

“So, just be on the lookout for anyone approaching the house. That fellow Rainer might come after Neia”

“Aiming? Why?”

“…………”

I don’t know either, if you think about it. I mean, no matter how upset Neia is, if she’s bad, is there any need to protect her, whose fighting power is superior to Maia’s dragon body……?

“……B, Because he might try to be mean to Neia and go after me or some other girl”

“Okay. I understand”

That made more sense to me. And.

“I’ll talk to Neia a little later with a voice barrier, so don’t worry about that”

“?”

“Neia is too shy to speak her mind when other kids are listening”

“…………”

Maia stared at me.

“Alright. ……Andy-sama, keep up the good work”

“……Y, Yes”

Maybe it was misunderstood in a feminine sense. I just want to talk with the flash sword. ……I’m relieved that it’s better not to correct it.

-

So, Neia speaks to the flash sword propped up on a chair in a room in the Celesta mansion with a sound barrier.

“Flash Sword. ……You know, did you?”

“What?”

“Royal family……Rainer”

“The question is vague, but it’s not much different from the facts you know, at least as far as Rainer Exeliza is concerned. There is no way I could have gathered more information than what you have seen and heard”

“As for the royal family?”

“As I said before, I’ve noticed that there is something inexplicable about them compared to ordinary rulers. If the dragons were involved, then surely the logic of what that Alex Buster is saying is transparent”

“……So you’re saying that someone had already found our world on a dragon?”

“It was a story that had no connection to the flash riders of the past, but it makes sense when you think about it”

“……That. Then what I was trying to do was……”

“It’s not pointless. Right, Andy Smithson”

I nodded as the flash sword spoke to me.

“That’s why Sir Buster is calling on a number of forces. And it’s not just Kalwin that is the main goal of this plan. It is to return the demon territory itself to human hands. Kalwin will find it difficult to remain isolated and we have not wasted time in starting this trend”

“……R, Right. Are you convinced, Neia?”

“That’s not what I meant. ……Flash sword. It wasn’t until my generation that you guessed that much, was it?”

Neia says in a dark voice.

“Are you really on the side of the male or female flash rider……? What is a hero to you?”

“……Neia”

It seemed that Neia’s mental damage was more serious than I had thought. She doubts and possibly curses, even the flash sword, which is her only ally right now I see. No, it’s probably because I felt so humorous. And the flash sword.

“I am a hero´s sword, Neia. It is the sword that has been fighting alongside the male or female heroes from all the way back to Faria, who have fought with all their might to protect their people. I´m the sword that made a promise to Grans Leyland to protect”

“Then! What is the Hero Alliance for you! Why didn’t you use your intellect to admonish us who have been deceived while we have been killing our people one after another with such dubious justice!?”

“Neia. I will say it again. I am the sword. ……Don’t be lenient. The sword is a tool. It is courage to seek the future in a tool”

“That’s a load of crap!!”

She yells and then Neia slumps down. She hugged her hat, his ears drooped.

“……Why. Why……”

“……The sword can’t do anything, Neia. Do not be lenient. A sword is not a person. It cannot walk anywhere, it cannot want or give anything. My righteousness cannot be the same as the righteousness of a human. Faria would have said. A hero makes decisions. I will not let my impersonal mind confuse that decision”

“That’s an excuse”

“……And my sphere of action is the same as yours. I may think that the king is strange based on my knowledge of the past, but that doesn’t mean that I can deny it. I didn’t even know there was an outside. What is the point of inciting the hero?”

“…………”

Silence.

“……Smithson, san”

“What?”

“Can you hold flash sword……for a moment”

“Eh”

……Hey, hey. It’s a treasure as a hero. What?

“I want you to leave me alone. ……Even if it’s just for one night until I come to terms with it……”

“Hmmm. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that. I’m counting on you”

“……I, Is that okay?”

Neia puts her hat back on and silently stands up. I can’t do anything about it, so I watch her leave the room.

“……Courage is a decision, huh? Faria said some good things at the end”

“What?”

“Remember, Andy Smithson. ……The decision that wielded the most courage in all my long years was talking to you……”

“……What the hell is that?”

“You are a brave man, but you will never be what Kalwin calls a hero, nor will you ever be called Flash Rider”

“That’s……well, there’s no doubt about it”

“I am the sword of a hero. ……I am the sword that protects the hero. I chose you to be that. I want to be that this time”

“?”

“You don’t have to understand……for now”

- ToC -