38 – speed change -2

“Why… did you end up like this…”

A sad sigh escaped the old knight’s mouth.

“This is what I was hoping for. Well, fortunately, you didn’t even think about taking your life.”

“I could have died!”

“It’s unfortunate.”

Celia smiled softly, continuing to tend to the wounds on her body.

“It’s just that the wound is a bit bad. This much… I think it will heal if I treat it by tomorrow.”

“I didn’t see the situation properly because I was in a hurry. What kind of spell did you use?”

Celia’s smile, which had yet to change into her bloodstained priest’s uniform, instilled strange fear in Reinhardt.

“I was… an idiot. No matter how sick he must have been, I relied on Mr. Enelel’s kindness over and over again because he was good.”

“But, that’s…”

When the old knight saw him, he was no different from a monster who surrendered to rage.

“Don’t judge him on your own. I know better.”

“sorry.”

“Eleanor, Farseer, and Nerwen were beaten like that, but isn’t it fair that I’m the only one to escape?”

Celia tried to force herself to open her eyes, but no matter how much treatment she received, she couldn’t move her eyes the way she wanted.

“It’s only natural. I begged someone who was about to end his life to put his vengeance aside and force himself to live. If he decides to live, his vengeance will remain.”

“But… why?”

“I’m stupid, stupid, ignorant…but still, I mean what I said.”

“what?”

“I want to be happy. It’s okay even if it’s someone other than us, so I hope that good heart will be reciprocated with love.”

Reinhardt fidgeted and hovered around the hospital bed.

“The Magic Tower Master almost died.”

“We killed Mr. Enerel during the journey to kill the Demon King.”

Celia seemed to recall memories with her eyes closed. Hehehe laughed, then suddenly frowned or drooped into a sad expression.

“Is it true that he is a warrior?”

“I didn’t know either. It was amazing to see that person who didn’t know magic or divine spells cancel the barrier… but at most I thought it was an ordinary person whose family has special powers.”

“Actually… it was.”

Whatever the circumstances, he aimed his sword at the hero. Reinhardt’s face instantly became as dark as that of a saint.

However, he had no intention of suffering the penalty alone.

/////

-No, really, that place never changes, right? I’m in the capital once, but there are slums everywhere, right?

“Oh, okay. It’s fine.”

– So listen! People of high rank aren’t interested in slums anyway, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to reduce the number of people in moderation. There’s no way a goblin locked up in the city would become strong enough to escape the slums.

The holy sword must have been unhappy that there was no goblin den there, and until morning he was arguing about ‘the reason why his judgment couldn’t be wrong’.

-That’s why they leave the dens near the slums like that. But why…

“With my common sense, I still don’t understand why monsters are roaming around the capital…”

-I don’t know if it’s peacetime, but it’s wartime, right? There are many places to protect, and no one cares about the slums.

“Everything is fine, but can we do it later?”

The talking sword that spoke kindly while cutting through the goblin’s green bodily fluid was a bit grotesque.

“I wish I could have found it.”

In order to find the goblin lair, I had to walk outside the capital.

It seems that not long ago there were groups of goblins gathered here and there to attack the peddler.

However, when I came out, things were a little different. The princess’ army is roaming around the area. The prospective adventurers who were hiding or conscripted to avoid the call are looking for goblins to join the adventurer’s guild.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t have been able to find a place like this on my own.”

It was a little far from the capital, but for me, who was used to the pace of the warrior party, it was just a perfect distance for a walk.

“Now that I think about it, I rolled like crazy…”

However, this is a place that is difficult for adventurers who have just started their adventure. If it was at the level of barely killing goblins, considering the distribution of physical strength, there was no reason to come to a place like this.

– Is it because of me?

“Yeah. It’s thanks to you… it doesn’t.”

However, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

When I was at the hero’s party, the guide was an archer. And the directions she gave had an unusual speed.

The shortest distance, the time it took to reach, the enemies to meet and the enemies to avoid were organized in a matter of seconds, so I started giving directions.

Perhaps, even those few seconds were not the time it took her to figure it out, but the time it took her to explain what she found out to us.

Of course, considering the woman’s cold expression, it was better to go alone, even if it just took a little longer.

“One ear, two…”

If there was one ability that grew the most while following a party of warriors, it would be escape and dissolution, no matter what.

-Are you using me for slaughter?

“You’ve been cutting well until now, so what else are you doing?”

-But this and that are different!

“Even daggers are all money. Give up right now.”

In the beginning, I had no intention of making a lot of money.

The ability to handle the sword and the way to use the power of a warrior are much clumsy and weak compared to Eleanor. Since the actual experience was different, I couldn’t help it.

However, I have the strength of a warrior who has grown to the point of killing the demon king and has received all the blessings of the goddess.

There were plenty of ways to make money as long as you didn’t rush to kill even a dragon.

“Ah, you have to catch a dragon…”

-Why the dragon? dragon slayer? After all, I know romance!

“No, because I need it.”

However, it is a world where demon dragons do not exist. I couldn’t even guess when it would appear.

Fighting it, when to kill it felt like a future too far away,

The same goes for unicorn blood. Regardless of where the unicorn was, killing a living unicorn at will left a bitter aftertaste.

Even if they did, according to the emperor, it would be a pointless killing. Waiting for the unicorn to die of old age, I don’t even know how long the horse will live.

The only thing that had the slightest possibility was the remains of a phoenix. At least, if I knew where it was, I could find it.

All he was doing now was putting the goblin’s ear cut off with the holy sword in a bag.

/////

“There is no chase. This is a secret. This is an order.”

The emperor was bedridden, but his eyes were burning.

“Ha, but Your Majesty. How can I explain this to others…”

“No need to explain. I can’t clamp down on everyone, but I’m not giving any official answer.”

The late knights rushed in, trying to figure out who the culprit was in this terrible raid.

The entire warrior party and the emperor all went to bed. It wouldn’t be strange if half of the imperial nobility disappeared right away.

However, he had to turn his head at the old knight’s voice.

“No. Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“…Reinhardt?”

In front of his old friend, the emperor had no choice but to give a convincing explanation.

“Everyone should know why I had to point my sword at the hero. I have no intention of hiding this fact.”

“Can you wait a little bit?”

“your majesty.”

In Reinhardt’s eyes, there was tension to the point of danger. Just one step further, the tension reached a dangerous concentration that could be interpreted as hatred for the Emperor.

“You know?”

Reinhardt’s obsession with the hero was abnormal. From childhood until now, he acted as if he were a swordsman in a warrior’s party.

Quite a few scholars could not open their mouths about the ancient warrior in front of him.

It was because he dug into the imperial palace library, perused several books about heroes, and sometimes even visited villages or historical sites where legends of heroes remained.

Even after 10, 20, 30, 40, and more years have passed since he was young and immature, he has not forgotten his pure passion and will.

So, the Emperor knew that this job was more important to him than anything else.

“I will know. I will find out who the real warrior is, how he was treated, and why he was so angry.”

“If you want, I can tell you.”

“That’s not enough. He’s a real hero, and he’s the one who defeated the Demon King, but if someone steals that glory…”

His past, in which he aimed his sword at the hero and treated him as a rogue, was whipping himself more harshly than anyone else.

“He must pay the price.”

The emperor closed his eyes for a moment.

There are already too many eyewitnesses. No matter what excuses she made, it was an established fact that Eleanor could no longer use the hero’s power.

Terrible things had happened, but in the light of precedent, this was just an accident that could happen. That, too, is the result of relying on his inhuman mercy.

I didn’t know what kind of rumors would flow out if I left that old knight unattended.

But if the truth comes out of his mouth, no pompous person will be able to open his mouth easily.

Reinhardt is an eyewitness to the Enerel Incident, a person who has explored the adventure of a hero longer than anyone else, and a trusted knight.

The damage must be acknowledged. You shouldn’t be greedy more. After completing his judgment, the emperor quietly opened his mouth.