Only the Party Members Returned, Not the Hero

51. King’s Invitation (1)

51.

Clap.

The restraints that were restraining both hands of the prisoner were released.

“… What is it?”

The prisoner glared at his guard, who had undone his restraints, with sharp eyes.

The guard pointed to the prison door with one hand.

The prisoner looked suspiciously at the prison door and wiggled his free hand.

Unable to adjust to the sudden freedom, the prisoner’s hand touches the prison doorknob and falls.

I mustered up the courage to open the door and step outside.

Because there weren’t many places a prisoner could go anyway.

“…… Ah.”

After opening the thick iron door, the bright sunlight sharply stabs both eyes.

Spits out an instinctive exclamation at the freedom that stings both eyes.

How long had he been locked up in the dungeon?

It was nice to see the sunlight for the first time in months,

I couldn’t feel free.

Because the prisoner’s crime was never light enough to end with months of confinement.

The prisoner was a traitor.

Talgrand-

Ahead of him, lost in the sunlight,

The sharpened iron sword shatters.

The prisoner quickly bent down and grabbed the handle of his iron sword.

After deciding that the kingdom did not release him in good faith,

He instinctively chose to protect himself.

After the stimulus of the dazzling sunlight has passed,

It was only then that I saw a man tying his hair up in a twist in the center of a wide sandy clearing. It was dark because of the backlight, so his face was hard to see.

“…… Chancellor.”

The chief justice standing next to the man was recognizable.

Because he was the one who sentenced the prisoner Erpe to the dungeon.

The green-haired man pulled out the iron sword that had been placed vertically and began to slowly walk toward him.

“What is this?”

The prisoner said to the man who came closer to him.

The man’s steps stopped.

The man turned his head and looked at the magistrate,

The judge said in a solemn voice.

“The traitor Erpe is sentenced to death.”

Death penalty.

I wasn’t surprised.

Erpe knew that he would be executed.

But, then, he did not know why he had untied the condemned man’s wrists, bestowed his freedom, and even held an iron sword in his weary hands.

Erpe looked at the man standing a few meters away with a puzzled expression.

The scorching sun stings my eyes again.

Erfe exclaimed, squinting his eyes.

“I rebelled for a good reason!”

The man whose face cannot be seen due to the backlight tilts his head crookedly.

“Even though I was defeated, I have no regrets! The death penalty is also acceptable. So if you’re going to kill, kill with honor! What are you doing?!”

An empty lot with a sandy floor.

A man whose face is hard to see because of the backlight.

Erpe risked his fate and chose rebellion to protect the people of the territory.

I risked both honor and family, and was defeated.

I lived righteously and fulfilled my duties as a noble.

I’d rather be decapitated with a single knife,

I didn’t want to die in a dog fight like a gladiator on the street.

“Honor?”

The man standing in front of Erpe groaned in a low voice.

“As expected, traitors are different. Seeing that you talk as if there is an honorable death.”

“… ….”

A strange but familiar voice.

Erpe looked at the man standing in front of her with surprised eyes.

When I saw the green hair shining in the sunlight, I thought it was long.

It wasn’t until after I heard that annoying, ignoring voice,

I could tell who the man standing in front of him was.

“… Kashan?”

Put down Erpe’s rebellion,

You defeated Erpe’s soldiers,

The king of a country that has never been defeated.

Lord of the continent,

Kashan was standing in front of Erpe.

“Call My Highness, you cheeky bastard!”

The justice of the Supreme Court raised his voice and shouted.

“It’s okay, Pierce. I have already raised a rebellion, so will I look like a king?”

An elderly chief justice named Pierce bowed to Kashan.

Kashan raised his iron sword and aimed it at Erpe’s chest, but

Erpe still lost his fighting spirit,

I was looking at Kashan with incomprehensible eyes.

Kashan asked with a bewildered expression.

“Don’t you understand?”

“… To be honest, yes.”

Kashan looked at Erpe’s bewildered face and lowered the tip of his sword, which was aimed at his chest.

“Since you told me honestly, should I be honest too?”

Cook.

Kashan’s sword stuck in the sand and stood upright.

Kashan placed both hands on the hilt of the sword as if to cover it.

“My father emphasized class for me. A weak-minded person like me always had to put human blood on his sword as a habit. That way, when you really need it, you can wield it without hesitation….”

Kashan said so in a flowing voice as if it was nothing.

Erpe still couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Kashan had the most excellent swordsmanship among all the previous kings, but his heinousness was also evaluated as being too cruel.

Evaluation may vary depending on the person, but

Erpe is someone who has personally shared a sword with him.

At least the fact that he was not a weak-minded person was certain.

“Now that I think about it, maybe my father wanted to use me as a hunting dog…. So I killed my father’s favorite brother first. Oh, he wasn’t my brother. Because they have different mothers.”

Kashan had no last name.

There were two reasons.

First, the king traditionally did not use a surname, as he was meant to honor the nation, not his lineage.

Secondly, he was an illegitimate child born to a commoner woman.

So even before he became king, Even after he became

He never had a last name.

“Even after my brother’s life was ended, there were many blood relatives who wanted to inherit the throne, so I had to kill them all. It hurt my heart, but I don’t think I should be compensated for my hard work.”

Erpe instinctively gripped the handle of the sword strongly.

There is only one reason why Kashan talks so much about herself.

It was certain that it was because he had no intention of letting Erpe live.

On the other hand, Kashan was still relaxed.

“That’s why I like and respect rebels. I love the moth-like spirit and passion that rushes to change the weak world with one insignificant life. I was like that too.”

The king turned his head and looked up at the distant sky.

As if reminiscing about old memories.

“My brother told me as he was dying. You are a traitor Even though you were born as a commoner’s son, no one would recognize you as a king because you killed the king’s lineage. Forever.”

Yes, for life.

After muttering, Kashan raised his sword again.

“I was not wrong. My traitor friend.”

Kashan laughed,

Erpe had a hunch.

If you don’t swing your sword now,

You won’t even have a chance to wield it.

Erpe’s sword, which spurred the floor and ran out, plunged vertically into Kashan’s head like the wind.

“… Ah.”

Kashan let out a pitiful sigh.

From the moment Erpe vigorously raised his sword behind his head to cut himself in two,

Knowing that the fight against this young traitor won’t last long.

A sword that descends vertically vertically,

A mouth that screams as if it were about to be eaten.

The sword of the clumsy traitor who was ahead of the momentum was easy.

Chaeeng-

The tip of Kashan’s sword lightly straddled Erpe’s crossguard.

As Kashan turned sideways and pressed the vertically descending sword down in the same direction,

Erpe could not stop his sword even though he knew Kashan had dodged it and had to strike him bare.

Kaang- Giying-

“Keugh… !”

The tip of the sword was firmly embedded in the sand, delivering pain to Erpe’s grip.

When Kashan stepped on the blade of the sword stuck in the floor, Erpe, unable to withstand his weight, missed the handle of the sword.

“Heeuk, heeuk….”

Only one workshop.

It’s barely been over.

Erpe, who had become empty-handed, stared in vain at Kashan, who was holding a sword from a distance close enough that their shoulders touched each other.

Erpe’s lips parted.

“… For a moment.”

Before Erpe said one more word,

Kashan brushed past Erpe and cut his side.

Seoguk-

He was cut deep below his ribs and was bleeding.

Kashan’s sword, which had been gripped in reverse, was embedded in Erpe’s staggering back without delay.

“ぅ-“

A blood-soaked blade that pierced through the heart.

Erpe couldn’t even scream and knelt down with his upper body on his knees.

I convulsed as I spat the blood that swarmed from the corners of my mouth onto the bare floor.

“… ….”

Kashan did not pull out the sword stuck in the traitor’s back.

I walked in front of the Supreme Court judge, leaving only his handrail behind.

Gureuk, groureuk.

From behind the king’s back, the sound of blood clotted in the neck is heard repulsively.

Kashan asked, roughly wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve.

“Pierce, what was your next schedule?”

The elderly Supreme Court Justice replied politely.

“There is a supreme council meeting.”

“Looks like you’re late.”

“I have told you that it may be late.”

“I’m glad. What was the subject of the meeting?”

“It was about an irregular meeting for warriors.”

“Ah.”

Kashan, who was indifferent until the moment he stabbed the knife into Erpe’s heart, stands out.

Hero Ellen’s fairy-tale achievements were reported to the king,

Kashan was full of curiosity about her person named Ellen.

She was born as a commoner, and after being chosen by her goddess, the saga of killing three Colcass alone was not enough.

Until the unfortunate past that she was persecuted by nobles and members of the expedition.

Isn’t he the indomitable warrior in a fairy tale?

As a swordsman, and also as his king, I really wanted to see her face.

So I held an irregular meeting as an excuse.

Kashan asked the chief justice just in case.

“Couldn’t the Treasury Secretary and the advisor be against the meeting?”

“Isn’t there a cause for objection?”

“Yes.”

Fluffy.

The sound of Erpe tipping over came from behind.

“The hero must come.”

“I made it clear that this was a direct request from the King, so he will definitely come.”

“Yes, I guess.”

After walking for a while, Kashan spoke again to the Supreme Court Justice.

“Could you send me another letter?”

“Yes, what would you like to say?”

“Tell the hero that if he doesn’t come, I will go see him myself.”

Kashan walked away with the Chief Justice without looking back.

***

The tower of the hemp tower.

Nia Rishkarte blinked slowly as she fiddled with a piece of stationery stamped with the royal seal.

Eyelids cover her eyes, every time darkness comes.

A long time ago beyond that darkness,

The image of a shabby little boy with green hair and green eyes came to mind.

With the image of a girl holding the boy’s hand tightly.

Basrock.

Nia ran her thumb over the edge of her stationery.