51 – Scar-5

“…Don’t be shy, just come out.”

“i get it.”

As I was sitting on the bed in the inn room, Nerwen opened the door and came in.

“Looking at my face… I thought I wouldn’t like it.

“Of course I don’t like it.”

Still, leaving her outside the door of a well-groomed inn would draw too much attention.

“The signal has been received.”

The trip is distanced, but I needed a means of contacting her in case of emergency.

The method of calling her by burning appropriate incense seemed to work better than expected.

“I thought you would report first. There was talk about a group of orcs.”

Of course, no matter how good a scout in such a rural area was, there was no way he could surpass the Elves.

“Um. That’s…”

“Tell me. Why should I hear this from someone other than you?”

Nerwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. I made a mistake. I apologize.”

“A mistake? There’s no way you didn’t know this.”

“Of course I knew. But I didn’t think it was information worth reporting.”

“why?”

The movement of the Orc horde is crucial information. The fact that she didn’t report this had to be intentional, no matter how you look at it.

“…In previous trips, it was only natural for a group of orcs to wander around like that.”

“ah.”

“The battle was a waste, and it was easily avoided. As long as we secured a certain distance, Farseer solved it with stealth magic.”

“I guess so…”

When they entered the territory of the demons, there were countless groups stronger than that. Compared to him, the thousands of Orcs were mere junk that didn’t even need to be reported.

“But I can’t win, can I?”

“I still don’t know exactly how strong you are. Before… no, compared to the fake hero, to what extent.”

I smiled bitterly and touched the holy sword.

‘The warrior’s sword. When can I use it…’

-If we fight now, maybe we can use it? Don’t expect too much though. In the first place, it’s normal for that light to disappear when the demon lord is defeated, right? That picky woman was a bit of an exception, and that’s how it was!

I still haven’t been able to breathe light into the holy sword.

When he was focused or angry, light pellets would glow around his body, but if he wanted to use it for combat, he would have to put down his sword and learn martial arts right away.

“Hu… much weaker. I hate to admit it, but I’m not that strong. I can’t handle swordsmanship yet.”

“According to Eleanor, using sword skills also consumes the strength of the warrior.

“It’s not like that.”

There were times when I swung a sword alone. Little by little, I was able to judge myself objectively.

Compared to the hero’s mythical moves, combat skills, endurance and strength, I fell far short.

Of course, the strength of a hero is not small, and even if this power went to a young girl instead of me, she could have become a tremendously strong person.

“There’s no need to compare her with you. You’re just a fake hero swayed by fake power.”

“Still, he would have been a friend and colleague to you, but he’s pretty fierce.”

“I have no intention of treating someone who hides the most important fact as a friend of an elf.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t even thought about what she was doing in the capital. As much as possible, I wish I had been struggling.

“Still, the power was real.”

As time passed, the proportion of warriors in battles increased. She rushed into the enemy camp first and drew attention, and everything that could be solved with a sword was solved with her sword.

“I’ll say it again. There’s no need to compare her with you. In the first place, it’s just that the power was abnormally strong.”

The turmoil in the palace was an incident that could have happened due to a mixture of luck and circumstances.

Even if the old man was a powerful knight, he couldn’t do his best in a chaotic situation, and he must have felt the limit of his physical strength.

Eleanor was unable to adapt to the momentary loss of her heroic powers, and I knew Eleanor all too well.

Even taking all of that into account, he could be ranked among the world’s strongest, but his abilities weren’t infinite.

“…Yes. Anyway, she won’t be able to use the hero’s power again.”

He has been a warrior since he was young, and this is a case where the most talented person even gained the power of a warrior. Now that there is no demon lord, there is no need for such overwhelming power.

“If we fight the orcs, will we lose?”

“I don’t know. Combat using physical strength ignorantly isn’t my specialty, and I don’t know how specific your abilities are.”

“If it’s about a thousand orcs, how can I…”

“It’s Sichuan. It’s still increasing.”

More than I thought. At this rate, the moment you fight head-on, you should see that the Yeongji army is annihilated.

It was an excessively large number, but originally fighting against the Demon King’s army in the field is ridiculous. Because human life is limited, and demons are not.

Conventionally, the performance machine had to be used. The group of demons who were lured in once tried to get in, no matter how rough the terrain, so they dropped boiling oil and heavy stones to make exchange money somehow.

Or you could use a wizard. If Farseer could prepare enough, he would be able to turn countless orcs into burning meat with a single great magic spell.

However, it never occurred to me that such a strategy could be employed here.

“It’s more dangerous than you think.”

The castle was nowhere to be seen nearby. Even if there was, it wouldn’t be a form suitable for defense. Or, there is no space to accommodate all citizens.

“No, it’s not dangerous. With just you, you can move anywhere.”

“…that’s probably it.”

Fighting head-on with thousands of orcs can be tough.

However, if you’re facing dozens of tamed wolves, you can just use Nerwen’s arrows to clear them up.

Contrary to what the noble said, it was easy to take my body and run away.

“I don’t know the maid, but…”

“It doesn’t matter if you run while holding it. It has that much power.”

“Again… again?”

However, when they run away, the lives of the people here become unpredictable.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t care. I am under no obligation to care for all of them.

However, it is impossible to predict how many people will die. Even if reinforcements miraculously arrived, at least those who took part in the battle would suffer near-annihilation.

The people I talked to just before are dying. Their lives are over, and they become people you will never see again.

There is no particular It was only to the extent that we met each other casually and saw interesting things. They don’t even know each other’s names,b it’s just a passing relationship.

I vowed not to play hero anymore. In the first place, I am neither a hero nor on a hero’s journey.

Still, the taste is bitter.

I bit my lip.

/////

“Two people have withdrawn today as well.”

Eleanor had barely put on her armor again, but no good news came from here either.

“Traitors…”

“Don’t talk too much. It’s my fault.”

“…”

The loyalty of her knights was unquestioned, but she harbored a desire for honor as well as her uprightness.

After all, knights are someone’s children and friends. There were rare people who had no connections, but there were people ‘outside the Knights’ who they were friendly with.

The social atmosphere was brutal. The aristocrats deliberately called them derogatory nicknames such as ‘Knights of Thieves’.

Even those who believed in Eleanor could not angrily refute a subject she had told them not to mention.

They followed her because they wanted to be praised. I followed her because Eleanor deserves praise.

Not all of them were like that, but some knights felt betrayed that she wasn’t a hero.

“Perhaps, according to rumors among us… are you being threatened by that man?”

“Don’t think about it. It’s just that he got back the power that didn’t belong to me from the beginning.”

The way Enerel was treated was also different from person to person.

Some thought of Eleanor as a traitor trying to harm her, others as a scapegoat caught up in a conspiracy.

“I’m sorry. Because of me, I’ve caused trouble to everyone.”

“Considering what you’ve done, this is nothing. And above all… I believe in you.”

Eleanor hung her head and said nothing.

“What did he say he was doing now… He.”

“He was moving somewhere. He was moving around using an inn with a maid.”

Even if he had no intention of capturing Enerel right away, the imperial agents were still monitoring him.

“An elf archer was also moving nearby, but the exact relationship has yet to be ascertained. Is he tailing the elf, or is the elf outrunning him and digging a trap…”

“…i get it.”

Eleanor gritted her teeth. The situation was already out of her hands.

Thinking this way, I thought I could understand why the emperor begged or begged to improve his relationship with him.

The opportunity to stand before him, even with the authority of the imperial family, no longer existed.

If he did return, the situation was out of his hands.

Now, whatever words of reconciliation Enerel may say, those who mistreat her will assume it is the result of intimidation or submission.

“If the next battle begins, how many people do you think will come along?”

“The remaining members will eventually follow. In any case, it’s Her Majesty’s order… But, those who are worried will come out of the Knights.”

There are many enemies, and the work is piled up. However, there was no power to move.

Eleanor’s armor felt heavy today.