For a mont I wondered if my ears were playing with .
However, there was no obvious change in Frillite’s expression, which ant she was telling the truth.
I wanted to shout out loud, ’Even if it’s the mid-point of the plot, level sixty is too high!’
But thinking about it again, unlike the other Heroes who acted with their parties, she acted all alone.
So, all the experience points reaped were monopolized by her alone, there was no one to share with. But, even considering that, sixty was still too high.
"What the hell had you been doing, Frillite? Level sixty, seriously?"
"Didn’t I tell you before? I have been busy subjugating monsters since childhood. The levels I raised in the process just ca out to be so high."
"Monster subjugations, uh? Then you must have consud a lot of beast cores."
"I ate all the cores of the monsters I killed. Besides that, I also ate what my father gave ... I guess I could say that I did consu more than the others."
Frillite spoke nonchalantly.
Is this the majesty of the golden spoon...?
’We backbenchers are still paddling, while you, the topper had already begun studying ahead of ti..?’
Maybe the reason Kieran beca a poor punk was not because of his lack of ability, but because he was simply a dirt spoon?
If Kieran had been the son of a well-off noble family like her, he might have grown into a full-fledged noble Hero.
’That’s why so people say, life’s shit.’
It was ti to ask Frillite about her abilities, of course, while feeling the impermanence of life.
When, a cavalryman riding on a horse ca from the other side of the forest and joined the army formation.
He got off his horse quickly and glided down, running straight to the lord’s barracks and inford loudly.
"Count Lykel! Miss Hero! Another Hero is arriving!"
Ho?
I looked at Frillite with eyes wondering what that ant. She tilted her head implying that she didn’t know it herself.
We turned around and went back to the lord’s barracks, and we got to hear more details as we got closer.
"Is that true? You an, Hero Lorian is coming?"
"Indeed, my lord! He said he would co by the ti the preparations on our side gets finished!"
...At this point, it seems it is going to beco a Heroes’ gathering session.
* * *
When Frillite heard that Lorian and his party mbers were coming, she stopped heading into the woods by herself. It was better to cooperate with the Lorian to subjugate the ogre.
Because acting in a group rather than herself can reduce the risk in many ways.
On the other hand, I was deeply troubled when I heard about Lorian’s arrival.
Should I leave before Lorian arrives?
Or should I stay and strive for the ogre’s glyph?
After much deliberation, I choose the ogre’s glyph.
I will earn more returns from the ogre’s glyph than the risk involved from exposing myself earlier and getting tailed by Lorian.
In order for Lorian to set a tail on , he would have to at least go to a city and contact his cronies, but as long as I move quickly before that, it won’t be too dangerous.
If I don’t stop at a town or a city in the middle and run all the way through the forest and inhabited terrains, how are you going to find then?
Camping is a bit annoying, but it’s unavoidable to get benefits.
"There he cos."
Frillite spoke.
I looked in the direction in which she was pointing with her chin. Eight figures were coming from a distance riding on horses.
The horses’ speed slowed down a little, and they stopped exactly in front of Count Lykel, who had ca out to et them.
"Goodness, Hero Lorian. It is an honor to et you like this."
"I am also honored to et Count Lykel, whom I have only heard of through rumors. You look a lot better with a beard than I was told."
The handso, long brown-haired man who was in the lead got off his horse, replied.
Wait, long hair?
"Did Lorian grow his hair?"
"I think so."
"You think so? You haven’t seem him in the middle?"
"Because there was nothing to et for, so I didn’t. The last ti I saw him was at the Imperial Social Banquet like you."
"Is that so?"
It was when we were having a silly conversation, Lorian with his party mbers and Count Lykel passed through the assembled soldiers.
Lorian was walking on his way, chatting with Count Lykel. Before long, Lorian’s eyes caught Frillite.
"Frillite? Why are you here..."
Upon discovering Frillite, he looked as if he had received a delightful surprise. That expression was distorted as soon as he saw standing next to Frillite.
"Kieran? Why are you here..."
Sa words, different feeling. I know, right?
Maybe so discriminating feelings between a noble and a commoner because he is a royalty?
Damn Lorian, why be so anish.
"Ah, that’s Jas, Frillite-sama’s friend... um? Did you just say Kieran?"
The Count, who was about to introduce , listened to Lorian and doubted his ears again.
There was no need to hide now, so I nodded and extended my hand.
"I’m Kieran, the Hero of the Kingdom of Prona."
"Ah, yes... But that, you said, Frillite-sama’s friend, until just a mont ago..."
"Friend thing is not wrong. It’s just that his na is not Jas."
"Oh, I see."
Instead of asking why I hid my identity, the Count held my hand warmly.
A guy with good ans of communication, I had to comnt.
It was when I was shaking my hands with the Count.
"Kieran..?"
I heard a familiar voice and turned my head.
The person who called my na was a woman I knew well.
A cute woman with long black hair tied in two.
A sorceress wearing a large witch hat and holding a large wooden staff in her right hand.
Kieran’s forr party mber.
It was Eri.
It’s been a long ti since I saw her.
At least, it seems like yesterday when she hit Kieran’s ass with a cane to co down to eat.
’But why is she wearing the sa equipnts as before?’
Isn’t it ti for her to have higher level ones?
I thought about it for a mont and then erased it from my course of thought. It’s not polite to judge about other’s personal affairs in front of them, especially when we were eting after a long ti.
I smiled and waved my hand.
"Eri, it’s been a while. How have you been doing?"
Eri’s eyes fluttered.
* * *
Eri Oller.
The second daughter of Duke Oller, a family with a strong influence in the Kingdom of Prona, born with a promising talent, with great talent for magic.
A proper genius, other’s say that she can learn a magic spell by giving just a single glance at the spellbook.
A girl with a mouth so rough that it can’t be more venomous.
Etc, etc.
These are the public opinion of her.
But they are all only half right.
It is true that Eri is the second daughter of Duke Oller. But her mother was just a commoner maid working for the family. It is true that she has inherited the blood of aristocrats, but only half.
Due to which, she grew up facing all sorts of ridicule and contempt from her brothers and sisters.
It is true that Eri has a talent for magic, but it’s too much of an exaggeration to say that she can learn magic from just a single glance.
All of the things that Eri has achieved today were all result of her hard work and effort.
It’s also true that Eri has a rough mouth.
But it’s not because she’s toxic from heart.
Eri, who has been at the rcy of her family for a long ti has developed a sense of delusion of harm, in short she has beca sort of paranoid. The roughness of her mouth is more of a defense chanism to protect her heart from her paranoid thoughts.
Eri had no true family by her side, neither she thought she will, only magic as her close companion, she had lived up to that point, and she thought she always will.
If it hadn’t been for the King’s orders to co to the palace, her life would have been like that.
When she arrived at the palace, she t a boy without knowing anything about the situation.
-Hello..?
Eri is a noble lady, even if only half. Modest handsoness won’t even catch her eye. However, the boy in front of her was in a league of his own.
He was such a handso man that even she felt her breath taken away for a mont.
She saw him for the first ti there.
-Excuse ...?
-Who’s so ignorant, so daring to talk to , hmph?
But her tongue didn’t soften in the least.
Because of the paranoid thoughts that webbed her mind.
A handso man like him must be a nobleman. He’s being friendly to now, but that’s not going to last long. If he finds out where I am from, he will laugh at from inside, even if he doesn’t show it on the outside.
Good things were not ant to happen to her.
So, from the very beginning, she spit out harsh words. Hoping that he would get away from her on his own, like everybody else. But the boy wasn’t like that.
He just smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
-Um... I’m a little clumsy. By the way, did I do sothing wrong? If so, I apologize. I never ant to make you feel bad.
-...W, What?
That was Eri and Kieran’s first eting.
After that, she learned that he was a Hero from the king’s mouth who appeared only a little later.
Together with the fact that she was chosen as the Hero’s companion.
When she heard about it, Eri’s heart swelled with hope.
Her family, until now had not recognized her for any of her achievents.
But what if she contributes greatly towards defeating the Demon King as a mber of the Hero’s Party?
Wouldn’t she, with all she was, be then recognized by her indifferent family for such a big achievent?
Eri had such hopes, and she set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King as a companion of the Hero.
The journey was more arduous than she had thought. It was only natural for her to camp on the hard ground instead of lying on a soft bed, and she was often unable to wash for days. For her who had lived as a half noble, those were so terrible days.
But only for a while.
Little by little, she began to feel the happiness hidden in it. As ti went on, her close companions took a liking to her.
They recognized and respected her even if Eri did nothing special form any perspective.
Eri felt that comfortable feeling for the first ti with her companions.
And it was all thanks to Kieran who was able to make her feel that way.
At the start of the journey.
When even Ophelia or Neria couldn’t get close to her because of her haughty personality, it was Kieran who kept coming to her.
No matter how harsh the words were, he never lost his pure smile.
He didn’t even look upset when she grudgingly hit him on the head with her wooden staff.
He was such a foolishly nice person.
To put it bluntly, he was like a pushover, but because of him, she was able to open her heart to others.
Thanks to which, she was able to calm down her temper, which could pierce right through people’s heart to the point of lightly scratching them.
Years passed like that...
And a feeling of impatience had blood in Eri’s chest.
She had only wasted years of ti, but she hadn’t grown up in strength. It’s not that she hadn’t grown up at all, but those didn’t t her standards by any margin.
The reason was simple.
It was because Kieran was weak.
When he was first selected as a Hero, he was just an ordinary boy.
He was a weak boy who had never learned about sword, had no prior knowledge, and had never killed.
Because of this, most of the journey was spent on him growing up ntally.
Eri could only sigh deeply, feeling that she had wasted her golden years. She hadn’t even noticed it in these years.
Kieran was like a sweet poison.
It’s fun and joyful to be with him, but if you keep staying with him, you will get ruined together soday.
In that way, she would lose the chance of being recognized by her family, that she had been seeking since birth.
As her heart was gnawed by such impatience and fear, Eri t Lorian.
Not as handso as Kieran, but handso enough.
The background of the heir to the Kingdom of Carta.
Together with outstanding skills and talent.
Except for his face, he was far superior to Kieran in every way.
Such a man showed his affection for her.
She refused at first.
She spit out harsh words, showed flat disagreent.
But Lorian didn’t give up. He smiled at her as gently as Kieran, and approached her as patiently as Kieran, anwhile showing generous affection for her.
Little by little, she began to compare Kieran with Lorian, it eventually got to the point where she ended up ultimately weighing the two of them.
Of course, the scale leaned towards Lorian.
Because every ti he showed her a Kieran-like image, she got that certainty.
She felt that confidence, that if she follows him, she will be able to catch both a pleasant journey with a friendly companion, and a happy future.
Eri took Lorian’s hand to have her everything.
As a result—
She lost everything.
"Eri, it’s been a while. How have you been doing?"
Kieran, whom she had not seen in a long ti, welcod her with a smile that was no different from before.
Eri also tried to greet him with a smile, but she couldn’t.
Because she had long lost her smile.
"Long ti no see."
Barely squeezing out her voice, she lowered her head to avoid Kieran’s gaze.
She hadn’t seen him in a long ti, she shouldn’t have greeted him like that....
But, she felt so hollowed that she couldn’t even act to her wishes.
Reviews
All reviews (0)