But things were different now. The man best fit to lead a kingdom in a time where many small nations were warring wouldn’t be the hero (King) who could be seen as weak but the violently energetic hero (barbarian).
It wasn’t that the hero had become a king despite his barbaric nature—he had become the king because of his barbaric nature. The hero was starting to understand where the Demon Lord was going as well. He closed his eyes and became lost in thought.
“That may be true,” he said. “But does that mean I should accept Valschein as it currently is? You know very well how many sacrifices this kingdom was built upon.”
“Who was sacrificed? The aides who were given all the troublesome jobs?”
The hero seemed to have difficulty responding to the Demon Lord’s mean-spirited question, but he continued. “You were sacrificed for the kingdom’s sake, no?”
“It’s only natural to take down a swarm of monsters.”
“Do you mean that you forgive—?”
“Don’t get it twisted. I’m going to continue resenting you for stealing her away from me.”
Man, stalkers have such a scary way of thinking. The hero is definitely not guilty when it comes to the queen.
With how the conversation was going, the hero couldn’t just say, “She never had feelings for you in the first place,” so his face tensed up.
Things were getting off topic, and the Demon Lord was starting to get tired of this whole thing. How was the hero going to deal with this? After a moment of silence, the hero finally opened his mouth.
“My younger brother was also sacrificed.”
Oh, he changed the topic. The hero set aside matters relating to the Demon Lord and began speaking of the role the Hillrose family had to carry out.
“He intentionally opposed the royal family for the kingdom’s sake. This curse is surely continuing to torture the Hillroses.”
Um, well, you’re not wrong, but... It was true that the Hillroses knew they were doomed, and there were probably many struggles that came with that, but the duchy was now...
“It’s bright outside now! Are you all right, Yumiella?!”
If it had been anyone else, I would assume that they had been eavesdropping and waiting for the right moment to appear. But it was Eleanora, and she just had great timing.
Once she stepped outside, Eleanora took notice of the hero and the Demon Lord. The daughter of the former Duke of Hillrose wasn’t shy around strangers, and she energetically greeted them.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eleanora!”
“O-Oh, nice to meet you, Eleanora,” the hero responded, but he was troubled by the appearance of the cheerful noble lady. The Demon Lord just ignored her, or perhaps he didn’t think she was greeting him as well. I feel like it’s the latter, and that’s making me sad.
Though Eleanora’s appearance had thrown him off a bit, the hero got right back to it. He gestured towards her using his hand. “I can tell that she’s a good person and that she was raised with love. If she had been born into the Hillrose family, she wouldn’t have had the chance to grow up to be such a person.”
She totally would’ve. She grew up in that very family, spoiled, and turned into this innocent and pampered noble lady.
The hero’s attempt to use the lady that barged in to prove his point completely backfired.
“She’s the daughter of the Duke of Hillrose,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Oh, she’s not a Hillrose anymore, though.”
“What?”
“The Hillroses carried out their duty about six months ago, leading to the fall of the household. Her father, the last Duke of Hillrose, is now living out his days having fun. The same goes for his daughter, as you can see...”
Before I knew it, Eleanora was standing in front of the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord was a naturally unapproachable man, and on top of that, his aura was practically screaming, “Don’t talk to me.” Despite all of that, Eleanora didn’t seem timid.
“Your black hair is lovely! I’m Eleanora. What’s your name? Where did you come from? Is it a coincidence that you have similar hair to Yumiella?”
“Yes...” After all of Eleanora’s pushing, the Demon Lord was able to respond to just her last question. Let him write his responses. Actually, no—he’s creepy through text, so don’t do that. Just leave him alone.
The hero stared at Eleanora, who was the personification of innocence, stunned as she continued to try and get through to the Demon Lord.
“Is that so...? She’s a descendant of my brother...? I guess things can change quite a bit with the passage of time.”
“That’s right. We’re living in a period where the only daughter of the duke could grow up to be a girl like that.”
The duke had hid Ronald’s identity and left him with the royal family, and he had planned to be the last Hillrose to fulfill the family’s role. Eleanora had probably grown up with many freedoms partially due to those surrounding circumstances, but there was no need to bring that up.
After hearing my explanation, which did leave some room to misinterpret the facts, the hero slowly nodded several times. He then seemed to suddenly realize something.
“Has the royal family of Valschein changed as well?”
“The king is a proper leader. I don’t know how skilled he is in battle, but I think he does a wonderful job at running this kingdom.”
I wouldn’t admit this out loud, but I’d never thought of the current king as a particularly extraordinary leader, but he did do everything he needed to... In other words, I thought he was someone who could be trusted. I don’t like that my feelings about the king seem kind of condescending... Still, that’s how I feel.
I trusted that our current king would satisfactorily fulfill his duties. If the king had been a strange person, like a grown-up version of how Prince Edwin was back when he was a student, I probably would’ve fled from Valschein before I got to know Patrick.
Though I’d shown plenty of evidence that the kingdom was currently doing well, the hero still didn’t seem satisfied. It didn’t seem like a logical issue, but rather an emotional one.
“Still, even if the kingdom is doing well now, its foundation is no good. As the king, I—”
The moment she heard the word “king,” Eleanora, who’d been trying to one-sidedly pursue a conversation with the Demon Lord, reacted. She stared at the hero in shock. “You’re a king?! I couldn’t tell at all!”
“Are you saying that I don’t look like a king?!”
I thought he looked like a king and nothing else, but I guess Eleanora had a different impression...
The hero seemed quite shocked, since he, too, appeared to think that he looked regal. My opinion was based on how he was dressed, his hair, and his behavior, but Eleanora was someone who didn’t let such things color her thoughts, so I was curious about her opinion.
“If you don’t mind, could you tell me what parts of me make me seem like I’m not a king?”
“A king is someone who must tolerate all things, both the good and bad. There are people who have chosen not to become the king because they understood they were incapable of that.”
I see. It makes sense for someone who had a dad that was the worst of the worst in this kingdom to think that way.
Following what Eleanora said, our current king was a man who would probably choose to sacrifice someone if it was necessary for the kingdom. People who couldn’t do that—in other words people like the hero, or the person who Eleanora brought up as an example despite her point not needing any additional clarification, or someone who could only tolerate the good—would all have a difficult time being the king.
The hero seemed to be curious as to who had stepped back from being king. You shouldn’t ask. It’s going to be a long story.
“That man who gave up becoming the king, what path did he choose?”
Oh no, he’s done it. He asked about the second prince. This is going to be long.
“He believed in his own sense of justice and decided to press forward... In other words, he chose the path of being a hero. He does take some wrong turns sometimes, but I believe it’s just the other side of the coin of his goodness. You could say that he can be quite self-righteous, but I think that’s why he can save many people as well. When the negative sides of his personality come up, he’ll be fine as long as he has allies to help stop him!” Eleanora spoke with a beaming smile.