I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

96. An unbreakable heart

Clen’s territory came back and looked brighter than before.

The buildings had already burned down, so it seemed like all the old buildings had been torn down and new ones had been built.

“I’m glad it seems to be better than before.”

Arsel is relieved to see that.

Although there were unfortunate events in the past where many people were injured and lost their homes due to a fire, fortunately, it seems that they did not become immersed in sadness and moved forward by helping each other.

“Sometimes trials make people move forward, and sometimes serve as a kind of motivation.”

“Is it motivation? I think you’re right.”

Alfred and Arcel took a leisurely walk around the castle wall before visiting Clen.

Stella left the place, saying she was going to see the sights alone, and thanks to that, there were only two people here.

A walk with a cool breeze blowing under a clear sky had a quite mood-boosting effect.

“Of course, some people get discouraged and just sit there.”

Alfred shrugs his shoulders and sits down on the castle wall.

“Isn’t growth meant to overcome that and stand up?”

“That’s right, you know that well, right?”

Arcel sat down next to Alfred and leaned against her.

“Because I have experienced both.”

“Usually, once you lose your mind, you can’t get up again?”

“You held my hand and helped me up, but doing so knowingly was mischievous.”

“That’s all you need to know.”

Alfred chuckled, closed his eyes, and admired the wind for a moment.

The city, once filled with burning smoke, has regained its original appearance.

When I open my eyes again, the atmosphere has changed a little and I open my mouth.

“So you really want to meet me? “A knock-off that looks like it was made after you but mixed up the proportions wrong and ended up with a single screw missing?”

“…I think that metaphor is too harsh.”

“It’s true, but what?”

Once I got to the main point of the story, I got lost in thought.

Morian.

A mysterious girl who announced herself as Arcel’s next hero.

It is safe to say that he is a warrior in that he can definitely use the holy sword and his skills are not inferior to others.

“Still, didn’t this person receive a favor? I think it’s rude for someone who received help to not even listen to their story.”

However, I was concerned about several things.

“You’re not wrong.”

The first is that the original holy sword appears to be a sword with the attributes most suitable for the warriors of the time.

However, Morian was using a holy sword that had been on the auction block, a holy sword that had been used by the Demon King.

It’s strange that your holy sword didn’t appear, but you can even use a holy sword that isn’t even yours?

Of course, since the Demon King also used that holy sword, there may be some other hidden secret.

In addition, Morian’s fellow swordsmen also each carried a different hero’s holy sword.

“Is it because I look like you?”

“Honestly, yes. “Maybe there was a girl like that among my relatives.”

The second was that Morian’s appearance was very similar to Arcel.

It would be strange if it didn’t bother me because it wasn’t just a simple resemblance in appearance, it was as if her face had been taken apart and pasted together.

“That’s right, it’s not like she disguised herself, maybe it’s just that her appearance was imitated with magic. “It was really born that way.”

Like Alfred said, it wasn’t tricking the eyes with magic or makeup.

Even his sword-using habits were similar to those of Arcel at that time.

It was so amazing that it gave me goosebumps.

“…What on earth do you think it is?”

“Well? “Maybe we’ll find out when we meet in person again.”

Alfred did not seem to particularly agree or oppose.

Stella didn’t really like it either, but she ultimately revealed that she would respect Arcel’s choice if it was his choice.

“We can’t simply ignore it.”

Is that why?

Arsel seemed to have already made up his mind.

†††

After enjoying the cool breeze for a while, she decided to gather at Clen’s castle as planned.

But when she met Stella again, her hands were full.

“…Stella? “What are they all?”

“I, I don’t know. “I was just walking around like last time, and suddenly people were thanking me and giving me various things…”

Starting with various vegetables and fruits, and ending with flowers and ornaments containing the unique culture of the true demons.

These were all items sold at the market.

It seems that Stella gave it to her in return for helping people evacuate before.

“There is a saying that if you have been favored, you should repay them, so perhaps this is my way of repaying the favor of those people.”

Alfred slapped his fingers and sealed all of the items in a small piece of paper, probably because it was unpleasant to see.

“Ah, thank you.”

Stella caught the falling paper.

It was written that if you soak the paper in hot water, it will come back, so be careful.

From Noble mtl dot com

“Come in.”

Afterwards, the castle door opened and Clen’s voice was heard.

I guess I was going straight to the point, but when I entered the castle gate, I was taken to an underground area reminiscent of a prison.

Arsel and Stella were not very reluctant as they remembered what they had seen in the land of the elves.

Of course, unlike there, there were no prisoners or corpses behind the bars here.

“There is a saying in Grandma Clen’s territory that if you commit a crime on this land, you are rarely put behind bars.”

“What does that mean?”

“For minor misdemeanors, such as urinating in the open, you can pay a fine and be released, but anything beyond that is a no-brainer. Of course, the same thing happens if you urinate in the open too often. “But instead of the neck, we cut off the bottom.”

“…It’s a little cruel.”

Alfred laughed and pretended to slit his throat.

The reason why the demons in this land are friendlier than the demons seen elsewhere is probably due in no small part to Clen’s influence.

“It’s because it would be a waste to feed and put a criminal to sleep.”

And then Clen’s voice was heard from the other side.

Clen stood with her arms crossed in the underground hallway.

“Hello, Grandma Clen? “Is she feeling okay?”

“I was fine until a little while ago, but after seeing you, I started to feel no better.”

“That’s a good thing.”

Clen frowned and motioned for her to follow him before starting to enter her basement.

Surprisingly, the basement was larger than I thought.

Most of them seem to be used as warehouses, but as expected, bars without prisoners were often seen here and there.

“Unfortunately, it looks like you didn’t read the letter.”

“Because it was full of poison that melted your hands if you touched it, the warrior read it for me.”

“Then next time, I’ll put poison directly on your face… What?”

At that time, Clen was surprised, her body shaking.

Immediately after that, he turned around and headed straight for Arcel.

“Why, why are you doing that?”

Arsel seems a little taken aback by Clen’s sudden reaction.

That’s because Clen stared at her face, then looked at every part of her body, and finally even her hands.

“Amazing, I touched it and it was still fine. “I was wondering if that insidious Satan had done something strange to my body.”

“Don’t worry, even if you die, we will resurrect you as undead. Of course, keep your body warm too.”

Leaving behind Alfred, who was clearly making scary noises, Clen looked at Arcel again.

“Now that I think about it, it seems like a lot has changed. I guess you went to that place called the land of the elves and somehow resolved the curse?”

He heard through Zion that Arcel had gone to the land of the elves, but he didn’t know exactly what he did there.

“It’s a bit long to explain.”

Inevitably, Arcel briefly explained what happened there and the condition of his body.

Of course, he did not forget that he met Morian there.

The person who sent the letter saying he was a bird in a cage is also most likely Morian.

“I see, this is the power of the hero who removed the curse. It definitely can’t be compared to before. But still…”

It seemed a little insufficient to defeat the Demon King.

Even though there was a good chance of winning at this level, I honestly didn’t think the odds of winning were high.

I was confident that it was Clen who knew the strength of the Demon King, and this was something Arcel himself also knew.

“I have only recovered half of my strength yet. “The effects of the curse probably remain.”

“…That’s half of it?”

Then, he is surprised to hear that the current Arcel has only recovered half of his strength.

At first, I thought it had regained all its strength.

Except for Arcel, the strongest warrior Clen had ever seen was a little worse than this.

“Umm…”

Is that why?

Clen groaned and thought for a moment.

It seems like many thoughts are going through my head.

“Why, did you think it would be dangerous if the hero found my condition?”

“Shut up, I don’t think that’s important right now.”

Alfred whispered with a smile as he pressed Clen’s side.

He seemed very taken aback by Arcel’s strength, which was stronger than expected.

Honestly, even this wasn’t enough to defeat the demon lord, but I couldn’t believe how a human, neither an elf nor a demon, could have this much power.

Is this really a power that can be obtained simply by being chosen as a hero?

To be precise, is it possible to remain human even with such power?

“It’s okay to honestly say that if you run away, you run away. Anyway, the Demon King eventually fell off his head.”

“Hey, is there something wrong with me…?”

Arcel did not know Clen’s thoughts and seemed to be worried that he had done something wrong.

Clen in particular seems to be able to see other people’s fates, so I wonder if there is some problem.

Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

“That’s not it. But what’s surprising is that the swordsman who uses that holy sword didn’t turn out to be hostile towards you.”

Other than that, it was about Morian’s attitude.

It is a miserable reality that not only the Kingdom of Hermod but also many other kingdoms are hostile towards Arcel as if she were a witch.

Although in the past they were praised and called heroes as the only hope to defeat the Demon King, it seems natural that they are treated as nothing more than a nuisance after the Demon King has been defeated.

However, Morian, who should have been most hostile to Arcel due to his location, actually came out in favor.

“I think that’s strange too. Stella, aren’t you like that too?”

“…At first, I felt like a child who didn’t know anything about the world, but that changed when I held the sword. “Just like you did.”

But when I held the sword, the atmosphere changed.

A cruel and bloody swordsman who cuts down the humans and elves that were reflected in the crystal at that time.

When sniping at the World Tree from the observatory, Stella saw Morian cutting down elves and shadows.

At least it is certain that the two people are the same person.

“There is a saying that you should not judge life by looking only at the outside, but surprisingly, there are many cases where it is right to judge only by the outside appearance, right?”

Alfred said, snuggling next to Arcel.

Arsel sighed once and left it at that.

“Yes, in the end, the choice is yours. I just show you the letter and the person who brought it according to its contents. “I will not be involved further than that.”

Is there something else going on?

Clen thought that he should check again to see if there was anything else to the human who had been sent on an errand by Morian to send the letter.

In addition to previous incidents, I was very worried that he might have hidden a bomb.

I’ve already looked into it once, but there’s no harm in being careful.

“But Grandma Clen, I have one question.”

As we were going back into the basement, Alfred spoke first.

“What, I don’t want to hear your voice for too long, so speak quickly.”

“In the end, Grandma Clen didn’t have to write a separate letter and send it here, didn’t she just have to deliver the letter said to have been brought by a human here?”

This is the part about Clen bothering to write a new letter and send it, and about having Arcel come in person when he could have just sent a letter.

If you think about it, aren’t all these cumbersome procedures unnecessary if you just deliver a letter?

“There are three reasons for that.”

“What is that?”

“For one thing, I was thinking of testing the poison I made as an experiment. Unfortunately, the poison was so thick that it seemed to have been detected beforehand.”

Alfred still had a bright expression, but Arcel and Stella seemed a little reluctant.

“And the second and third reasons do not need to be explained, but you can tell by looking at the person who sent the letter.”

Why didn’t Clen send a separate letter or just send the humans to Alfred’s castle?

How far underground did you walk?

After walking for about 3 more minutes, I came to a fairly large square.

There seemed to be a person in the center of the square who had sent a letter.

“Aha! Was this the reason? “I understand now.”

“At first, I tried to kill it, but it was stronger than I thought, so I kept it captive. Besides, it seemed like you had some business to attend to.”

Alfred, who went ahead first, was able to understand the reason before Arcel.

“Why are you doing this-“

Then, Arcel immediately understood why Clen was like that.

“Oh my God…”

Stella was also shocked, her eyelids trembling, and Clen’s attitude was that it was not his problem and that he should solve it on his own.

“Alfred, maybe there’s something wrong with my head.”

“Don’t worry. “My head is perfectly fine.”

“…I wish I wasn’t fine.”

The center of the large underground square.

A girl was caught there.

Her arms and legs were tightly bound with iron chains, and a large stake dripping with thick poison was driven into her chest.

If it were an ordinary human being, no. Even if he had been a strong demon, he would have died long ago, but the human was still alive.

“…Uh, la?”

The human raised his head slightly at the sight of someone he hadn’t heard in a long time.

At first, his face was blank with the light lost in his eyes, but after seeing Arcel’s face, he started to come to life again.

“Ah, senior! “Here!!”

Morian welcomed Arcel brightly.

Even though his hands are bound with chains, he even waves them.

Arsel frowned and stopped Alfred from taking out the guillotine.

I began to worry deeply about the future of humanity, seeing that such a child was one of my future heroes.