Even after hearing about my identity, the hero didn’t show any particular reaction.
She just looked at me with a curious gaze.
“...The Seventh Lord of Calderic?”
I thought she was curious about what a Lord of Calderic was doing in a place like this.
But as I listened to her next words, I realized that wasn’t the case.
“Weren’t the Seventh seat of Calderic already filled?”
The hero seemed to have no idea that a new Seventh Lord had ascended to the throne in Calderic.
I wondered why she didn’t know, but then I quickly understood.
'Could she have just come out of Holy City?'
During the meeting of the neutral country last time, I guessed she was in Holy City.
The Holy City was a space solely for the recovery of the hero. The said space could completely cut off communication with the outside world.
If she came straight here after leaving Holy City, it was entirely possible that she didn’t know about the new lord.
“A new Seventh Lord ascended to the throne in Calderic a year ago.”
The hero stared at me and asked, “Then why did you come here?”
...I was curious about the same thing myself.
The hero must have had a reason for coming here, and she probably knew everything that was happening at this monastery.
I met the hero’s gaze for a moment in silence.
At that moment, Jerel, who was next to me, interrupted and said to the hero, “Hero, that person... tried to protect us from the demons. I don’t know what his purpose is, but at least...”
Jerel looked confused, but he seemed to be on my side.
He quickly tried to help me, in case the hero misunderstood the situation.
Calderic and Santea were practically enemies in this situation, and it wouldn’t be strange if she slit my throat just because of my identity.
But I wasn’t worried about that at all.
I knew very well how kind and righteous the hero was.
I didn’t have any rose-colored glasses, thinking that I was important just because I was Calderic’s lord.
That’s why I revealed my identity without hesitation. Besides, there was no point in hiding it in the first place.
“I came here purely by chance. I didn’t even know about the existence of demons that were hiding in this monastery.”
I honestly explained my position without a single lie.
Of course, it would be an unbelievable story.
The fact that one of Calderic’s Lord came to a small monastery in Santea’s border, and that too by chance, where the demon’s seed was hiding.
'But she has no choice but to believe me.'
The hero had to believe my words.
Because among the numerous abilities that the hero possessed, there was also one that was similar to the ability of the Overlord.
The ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, one of the abilities of the Holy Sword.
So she would have known that I was only speaking the truth.
“...”
The hero, who had been silent for a moment, turned her gaze to the other three.
Erica, who had been watching this side, spoke hesitantly.
“Oh, we haven’t found our friends yet. They’re somewhere in the forest...”
Jerel added with a surprised look.
“The demons have kidnapped two children from the monastery, sir. They are probably somewhere in this forest.”
Jerel’s face looked dark, as if it was covered in shadows when he spoke.
It’s hard to imagine that the children were still safe at this point.
Regardless of their safety, we must find them as soon as possible.
The hero looked around before fixing her gaze in one direction of the ruined forest.
“Please wait a moment.”
Suddenly, the hero disappeared.
Within a few minutes, she returned with two boys in her arms.
“Tom!”
Erica and Heron jumped up when they confirmed Tom’s face.
Tom and the other boy were unconscious, but they were breathing normally.
The hero placed the two boys on the ground and said, “Don’t worry, they are unharmed.”
“Where did you find them?”
“They were buried in something like a stem and had their life force drained out. It was probably the work of a demon’s familiar.”
There were many demons who used life force as food.
Perhaps the abbot had hidden the familiar in the forest and occasionally fed people to it. Regardless, it’s good that they were safe.
The hero walked over to the dead body of the abbot and picked up something.
It was an object that looked like a black gem.
I knew what that was.
The object used by demons to find the demon’s seeds.
Many demons were secretly searching for the demon’s seeds for the resurrection of the demon king, and demon contractors who received their power also searched for it.
Lower-ranking demons or demon contractors could not recognize a demon’s seed even if they saw it, so they used the power of that object to distinguish it.
The abbot happened to learn that Erica being a demon’s seed, so I wondered how the archdemons knew about her.
The abbot was not directly connected to the archdemons. He wasn’t that strong.
However, since it was related to the demon’s seed, the demon who gave the abbot the power must have called the archdemons himself.
Sigh.
The hero also knew well what the purpose of the jewel was.
The hero examined the jewel briefly and then destroyed it as it was.
The jewel, engulfed in golden light, disappeared instantly.
The hero who destroyed the jewel moved towards Erica again.
Erica, who was examining Tom who had lost consciousness, looked up and stared at her.
The golden light in the hero’s hand gathered again, and the holy sword reappeared.
Hearing the sudden sound of the sword being drawn, Heron, who was next to her, was surprised and stood in front of Erica.
“I-Is everything okay? Why are you suddenly...?”
“It’s okay. I’m not trying to hurt your friend.”
The hero gently pushed Heron aside and stood in front of Erica.
Then she raised her hand to Erica’s forehead.
Ah!
With a flash of the holy sword, a sacred energy wrapped around Erica’s body.
I have already guessed what the hero was doing. It seemed like she was removing the demon’s seed with the power of the Holy Sword.
Heron looked at the scene in surprise, while Erica examined her own body in confusion.
Anyway, it seemed like the situation was roughly under control.
All the archdemons were dead, and the missing two children were rescued unharmed.
The hero turned her gaze back to me.
There were still many things she would want to ask me, but I felt the same way.
Meeting the hero and talking to her was something that had to be done sooner or later.
I had never imagined that it would happen in this situation, but it was an opportunity I could not miss.
“Hero, I have something to discuss with you.”
***
We made it out of the forest and returned to the monastery.
As we arrived, priests and holy knights gathered in the backyard with frightened faces.
They were shocked to see us come out of the forest, almost as if they had seen ghosts.
The battle with the archdemons had turned the entire forest upside down, so it was impossible for the people in the monastery not to notice.
“Tom, Rex!”
“Everyone is safe!”
Some nuns hurriedly ran over when they saw the children.
The holy knights turned to Jerel with pale faces and asked, “Sir Jerel, what exactly happened in the forest?”
It was Jerel’s job to explain and organize the situation to the people in the monastery.
Since the abbot had died, there was no way to completely hide what had happened.
The abbot was a demon contractor, and demons who gave him power in the forest attacked him. They fought against the demons in this way.
Jerel did not explain why the demons were targeting Erica or about the appearance of the archdemons. There was no need to explain that.
The demon’s seed was something that he did not know about originally in the first place.
“Wow, the abbot was a demon contractor? That can’t be true!”
“But it is true. The abbot was also responsible for the kidnappings of children in the forest by using a demonic familiar.”
People denied it as if they couldn’t believe it.
The abbot seemed to have been highly trusted and virtuous among the people of the monastery, so their reaction was natural.
Especially since priests were those who hated and despised the demons more than anyone else.
It was only natural that they were shocked that the abbot they believed in and followed was a corrupt person who made a deal with the filthy demons.
“...There is the abbot’s corpse in the forest. We will send more people to investigate the details in accordance with the Pope’s order, but you can look into it for now.”
Jerel continued his explanation to calm the people down.
A few people looked at the hero and asked, “But what about her...?”
When the hero looked a bit embarrassed about what to say, Jerel covered it up nicely.
The sky was already getting light.
The atmosphere had somewhat calmed down, and a few priests took the children to treat them.
Jerel went back into the forest with the holy knights to finish cleaning up, and I went into the monastery building with the hero.
“Sit here.”
I took the hero to the room where I stayed.
'There was no better place to have a conversation than here.'
The hero looked around the room once before sitting down obediently on a chair. I sat on the opposite side of her.
“Let me introduce myself again. I am Ron, the Seventh Lord of Calderic.”
“Okay,” the hero replied curtly.
Since I was the one who wanted to have a conversation, she seemed to indicate that she would listen first.
She didn’t exude any particular energy, but just her gaze alone made me feel overwhelmed, as if I was being overshadowed by an incomparable level of intimidation, unlike that of the Overlord.
I organized my thoughts and went straight to the point.
“Did you deal with the demon’s seed the girl is carrying?”
The hero’s eyes narrowed at my question.
No one knew about the demon’s seed except the hero and the archdemons. Furthermore, the hero could destroy the magical seed with the power of the Holy Sword.
Therefore, among the things she was doing, she also sought out and destroyed the demon’s seed and protected those people from demons.
It was natural for her to wonder how I knew about them.
“How do you know about that?”
I didn’t answer that question.
It was a question that I couldn’t answer, and even if I did, she wouldn’t be able to understand.
Instead, I continued speaking.
“Hero, I know what your purpose and desire are. And also, that you have very little time left.”
“...”
As I kept talking without answering her question, she became slightly irritated.
“What do you want to say?”
She looked as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
The purpose of the hero, it was something that no one except the hero herself could know, and something that could not be spoken to anyone.
It was a kind of contract, and taboo that the hero had made with the Holy Sword.
That’s why she had done everything alone, without anyone’s help.
“The successor.”
“...!”
At my words, the hero was shocked, and her eyes widened.
The expressionless face that didn’t even blink when fighting against the three archdemons was instantly flustered.
I confirmed my thoughts with her reaction and continued speaking.
“You’re looking for someone to succeed the Holy Sword. I know that fact.”
