Chapter 47

Epilogue Was this what it meant to be the Great Sage? Nothing was off-limits? The man used a teleportation spell, a thing I only knew about from fairy tales, and it actually did take us back to the kingdom in a single instant. Sophia was so shocked that her mouth hung wide open. Maybe she understood just how impressive it was, being a mage herself. People had once called her a genius way back when—not that you could see a hint of that nowadays. “I have to use the magic circle in my mansion as the nexus, so it’s not that useful,” Solon said, though he still looked pleased with himself. You really had to wonder what the hell this guy’s standards were if he was saying this wasn’t useful. “He’s right. This is no big deal. One of these days, I’ll use a divine miracle to travel between this world and the next,” said Maria the Holy Maiden, as if she was trying to one-up him. I shudder to think what she has in mind… The weirdness didn’t end after we left Solon’s mansion. Right in front of the palace gates, there was a whole row of knights standing in a straight line. As soon as they caught sight of us, they drew their swords and held them toward us like an offering. Was this some kind of show of respect? “Welcome, Sir Leonard. Her Majesty awaits you,” one of the knights announced, stepping forward. I was guessing he was the captain. Seemed like they had been waiting around for us to show up. “Why the fuss? Orders from above?” The sarcasm slipped out before I could stop myself. “No, this was our prerogative. Sir Leonard, the exploits of you and your party have spread far and wide through word of mouth. You are the adventurer who challenged Berzera in battle in order to save the people. We believe that you, too, are a Hero.” I was about to say “You couldn’t be more wrong,” when I suddenly noticed the shortsword at the knight’s hip. It was still in its scabbard, but I could tell it was a spectacular work of craftsmanship, a real vintage piece. It probably had a magical enchantment to boot. The knight noticed my gaze. “Has my sword caught your eye? It is a family heirloom passed down through my house for generations,” he said, pulling out the blade and passing it to me. The blade shimmered with magic, just as I’d predicted. There was something oddly familiar about the sight. “That’s a good sword. It’s not up for sale? I could pay you handsomely for it,” I offered. “Unfortunately, this sword is priceless. But I might sell it to you for an inflated price if my house were to fall destitute.” The knight responded to my casual joke with a good-natured quip of his own. He was a pretty good guy, as far as knights were concerned. I gave the sword back to him. “What’s your name?” “It is Carmine, Sir Leonard.” …I felt like I’d heard that name somewhere before. It was a common name, so that probably explained it. We were ushered into a room inside the palace. It was clean, painted white as the base color, and filled with high-quality furnishings. It made me anxious as hell. “I’ll lead the way,” Zack told me. “What about the Sword Saint and the Holy Maiden?” “Their subordinates accosted them as soon as they got back to the palace. I guess a lot of work piled up since they were away for a while. Even Solon’s apprentice dragged him off back when we were at the mansion.” Zack chuckled. Slowly, we walked down the long, white hallway. Strangely enough, I saw barely anyone else around. Looking at the Hero striding forward with his back turned to me, it really brought back memories of him. I didn’t think they looked much alike at the time, but the influence was definitely there. “Hey, Zack,” I mustered finally. Zack stopped and looked back over his shoulder at me. There was a calm smile on his face. Oh, yep, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. There’s a resemblance for sure. “There’s something I should’ve told you a long time ago. I should’ve looked for you so I could say it sooner.” I took a deep breath. “You see, back when we first met, I was relieved when you told me you were Ares. I was glad you weren’t Zack.” Zack silently waited for me to continue. I wondered how Sophia and the others were reacting behind me. “…I ran away twenty years ago. Your mom and dad were my friends, and I abandoned them. Before the battle even started, I chickened out and ran.” I clenched my fist hard enough to draw blood. “The thing is, I was a cowardly piece of shit. Not the kind of guy who deserves praise. Everything I did, it was so I could copy your dad, Luke. Nah, I’m sure he would have done things better, but I figured out my own way by thinking, ‘What would he do in this situation?’ I wasn’t really in this to help people. I was just trying to fill Luke’s shoes. What I’m trying to say is that it’s wrong of me to get praise. I’m a fake.” Moments before seeing the queen, I finally let out what was in my chest. Talk about bad timing. But still, I just couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore. As for Zack… Well, he reacted with another calm smile. That part wasn’t a surprise. “Leonard, you’re here now. Isn’t that enough? Nobody can tell whether someone’s real or fake. Not even God, I’m betting.” Zack’s eyes brimmed with melancholy. “I abandoned someone dear to me, too. I’m not without sin.” Oh, right, I thought. If this guy was the Hero, then his struggles were probably way greater than mine. He probably had a bunch of things he regretted. There was no doubt in my head that Zack was still plagued by those thoughts even now. I wasn’t the only one who was trapped by his past… For some reason, I could feel something like a weight disappearing from my chest. “Let’s go. I bet Her Majesty is waiting.” Zack nudged me gently, as if that heavy conversation hadn’t even happened. He took me to a grand-looking place. Apparently, it wasn’t the audience chamber used by the king, but it was still pretty darn big. A woman who appeared to be the queen stood at the very far back. She had beautiful, flowing blond hair and blue eyes. She was cloaked in a white garb, and although she wasn’t wearing any fancy accessories, it made her feminine beauty all the more obvious. There was something very solemn and divine about the whole picture. I guess that’s the aura of royalty for you. Next to her was a younger-looking girl with similar facial features. My guess was that she was the princess. Weirdly enough, there wasn’t anyone else around—no retainers, no bodyguards, nothing. At Zack’s urging, me and the rest of the party stepped up in front of the queen. I felt like I should probably kneel to her or something, but I didn’t know the first thing about etiquette. There was a chance that Sophia would know, being ex-nobility and all, but I didn’t dare look back over my shoulder just to see. I walked up until I was about ten steps away from the queen. Her eyes were on me the whole time. Just as I was starting to get flustered, she said: “How do I look? Am I beautiful?” There was a smile on the queen’s face. What’s she on about? I mean, sure, she was beautiful. She looked so young it was hard to imagine she had such a grown-up daughter, and she had the kind of face you wouldn’t see from just milling around town. But was that really the way you’d start a conversation with a guy you were meeting for the first time? Wait, maybe there was a whole etiquette thing with highborn ladies where you had to praise their beauty when you said hello? But that didn’t make sense, considering her daughter, the princess, was looking at her mother in shock. So I guess this queen was asking a weird question. Either way, this wasn’t my scene. As much as Zack had insisted on taking me here, I had no love for royalty or nobility. When the monsters attacked, they should’ve been the ones fighting on the front lines, but no, they always had to sit back and give the orders. Feeling sorely tempted to turn around and leave, I glared at the queen. She held my gaze squarely, a smile on her lips. Wait, that’s not quite it, I realized. She was desperately trying to keep a straight face, but the nerves were getting to her. She looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Why? Why was she making that face? I had no clue what was going on, but I figured I might as well agree with her and see what happened from there. All kinds of words and phrases swirled in my head. But what ended up coming out of my mouth surprised even myself. “Yeah, you’re a beautiful lady. Enough to risk my life for.”