Chapter 56 – The Two Champions – 4
“Oh my God… Is this the person? Is this the hero?”
“I can’t believe it. You look quite young.”
“Age doesn’t matter. Welcome, warrior… No, I don’t think this title is a bit off. What should I call it…”
“Well, the hero is enough! People will like that side more.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll call you ‘Hero’. Would you mind?”
“Is that just what we call it?”
“Don’t be immature even at a place like this. It’s not a place where we’re alone.”
“Let’s just skip trivial issues like titles…Let’s start with the important stuff. So, what should we do from now on?”
Meaningless words are floating around. I listen to them once, but every single word just flows into my head, then it shatters and sinks into the other side of my unconscious. They continued to talk among themselves, whether they knew about my condition or not.
“… That method is too risky. No matter how much the brave man came to us, he would be annihilated if he acted hastily.”
“But it’s just as sure. And what’s the point of wasting time now?”
“What do you mean by sure? How to make sure everyone dies?”
“Don’t be sarcastic. I didn’t come here to hear rude things.”
“Sounds rude? Seriously. I think it’s all because you’re old…”
“What?”
“Come on. Let’s calm down. We didn’t gather to fight among ourselves.”
“That’s right. And what kind of insolence is this in front of the warrior.”
“I was harsh. I’m sorry, warrior. But my intentions don’t change. We…”
I think someone apologized to me. But you are not the one to apologize to me. That’s why I didn’t even listen to it in the first place. I have so many things to think about right now.
No, actually, I only have one thing on my mind.
…
She’s no longer here
What does that mean?
Coming to my mind right now.
Even if you try not to think about it, it comes to mind helplessly. Is that what it means?
“Isn’t that what it means to give up everything? In fact, it means to give up everything.”
“It’s not like that. I’m just a little slow…”
“Slow down on him! Do you know what’s important now? Time. If we procrastinate, not only the people of the empire, but this city, no, this entire empire could perish. We are the empire’s last hope. Decades later, the history books There would be nothing more disgraceful if we were recorded as losers who missed our last chance.”
“After all, that’s it. Fame. Is that what you want?”
“What?”
“Wait. Let’s both stop. Fighting amongst ourselves won’t help anything.”
“That’s right. To be honest, I’m a bit scared right now, seniors? So…”
“We’re not fighting, we’re talking! Let me say it again, man. What do I want?”
There are two possibilities. Lost or otherwise. Or the seal has been broken.
Okay. There are only two of them.
If it is the former case, I will have to set out on the road again. A long way to find you. Maybe, such a road that you don’t know if there is a right answer at the end of the road. It didn’t matter. I thought I’d rather do that.
But if it’s the latter…
If Leo finally succeeds in unsealing you.
And if you’re with him
Beside him…
By his side you…
…
If so.
What should I do?
“Are you done with your words! Do I look like such a serpent who only wants honor?”
“Yes! I’m done! Why, can you hear me again? You’ve always been like that. You’ve always wanted to be a captain, a hero, so you did all kinds of crazy things! So what’s left? So with your mistake…”
“Let’s calm down! What is this like in front of the warrior!”
“Don’t do this, everyone! What are we fighting for?”
“I want to be a hero? Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I want to be when a hero is right in front of us!”
Hero.
Suddenly, those two letters pierced my heart.
Ellie always said it didn’t suit me. The bloody, iron smell that emanated from my body, she said, was so awkward.
But the world says otherwise. I’m a hero. Called a warrior I have more important responsibilities than finding the girl I lost years ago.
Perhaps that day, when I nodded at Nadia’s words and left my hometown, all of this fate might have been decided. I was ready to lose everything when I left the place where people lived and went to the land of demons.
If I had made a different choice then, would everything have been different?
I tried to think of it, but strangely, I couldn’t imagine it well. It’s because you have to go through all the time that has accumulated like a layer on the choice of the day with your hands. But it has accumulated so much that now, no matter how deep I put my hand, my fingers can’t reach it. Even if I stretched out as hard as I could, my fingers couldn’t touch it. The only thing that fragile fingers can barely touch is the present.
There is only this moment.
“Let go of this! Who the hell is going to fight…”
“Let’s calm down!”
“Tell that human to calm down! I’m rational enough!”
“Why are you doing this, really! I don’t have time for this! Sooner or later…”
“Let’s open the gates.”
The moment I opened my mouth, the noise of the loud argument died down in an instant. Chris, struggling between the two men, looked at me and tilted her head.
“That…What do you mean?”
“Let’s open the gates and let all the people of the empire inside.”
“That’s good, but after that…”
“I’m going to see Leo.”
Without delay, I jumped up from my seat. And I looked at Rachel.
“Would you like to come with me?”
Rachel, who had been sitting quietly in her seat in the midst of this commotion, staring at her floor, lifted her head for the first time and met her eyes. And she exhaled deeply, she said.
“A request? Or, a suggestion?”
“You’re asking.”
“Either way the answer is the same.”
She smiled faintly and stood up after me.
“What about the castle gate anyway? Have you finally thought of taking care of people?”
“It takes a lot of people to get Leo’s attention, but that doesn’t mean you can’t drag away the guards guarding the gates. And even Leo wouldn’t annihilate that many people.”
“…And it’s too pitiful to leave them alone, right?”
I turned my head to hear her jokingly add. And approached the door. Unlike the dimly lit room, strong light was still streaming in from outside.
“So. Are you guys going too?”
I heard Rachel’s voice from behind. But I didn’t care and opened the door.
When the door opened, light began pouring in in front of my eyes. I started walking towards the light.
Obviously, when I left this road, I thought that I would now walk alone for the rest of my life. I was just a useless lump of stone when I thought only of the bloody smell of the sword, carrying only one sword.
But as soon as I left the land of men, fate began to step in my shadow.
Suddenly I heard footsteps following me and turned her head to see Rachel looking at me. She followed me with a strange smile, just like the first time we met. That expression reminded me of a question a girl asked when leaving Erendel.
Please tell me your name too.
I don’t know what kind of question you were expecting. At that time, I rejected the girl and left the village, saying that I had no name.
Maybe from that moment. The world started asking my name. Paradoxically, the world, which had no interest in becoming a warrior, asked my name when I pointed a knife at their throat.
Come to think of it, I have walked this path, being called by so many names. When I put on the skin of the face of that coachman named Will, I was the monster of Erendelle. A nameless slayer and a savior who liberated the city. I didn’t say my name, so people gave me names on their own.
It’s the monster of Erendel. I smiled and turned my head to see the guards, including Chris, this time. Before I knew it, they were following me, covering the sound of Rachel’s footsteps. Even though some of them still don’t know exactly what my name is.
Come to think of it, there were people who didn’t even know my name. Bella. Kate. They called me a killer. It was so accurate that it didn’t even need a name. In the end, Bella couldn’t call me by my name until the end, and called me by a title whose meaning was still unclear. Dad. Or brother Actually, that was the name I wanted, but Kate put the name of a warrior over it.
Okay. Even that kid eventually called me a hero.
I had so many names. Most of them were given by people, and none of them were false, so they were all my names.
Lorenheim country boy.
Lump of stone.
Monster.
Killer brother
And, a warrior.
As always, among all the names that fit on one finger, the last name was placed on the most painful finger. It’s definitely a name I gave up once, but it’s a name that took away a lot of things from me, but people persistently call me by that name and force me to give up everything that’s left.
But I have always been in denial. I am not a warrior I denied that fact in front of the Demon King’s Castle, in front of the girl who asked my name, and even in front of the wall I turned around to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings. But the world asks. Then who are you Who are you to liberate the city, save the people, and defeat the demons even if you don’t intend to?
I’ve been putting off answering that question for too long. Who am I.
Now, it may be time to make a choice.
“Who are you!!!”
I raised my head at the sound of a thunderclap. Before I knew it, I saw a huge achievement in front of me, and the knights guarding it. I stopped and looked at them.
And at that moment, thousands of footsteps stopped at the same time as me.
After one step, another step stopped, and at the same time another step stopped, and the sound of stepping on the ground echoed like a wave. The sound made the ground vibrate, and the sound echoed again in line with the vibration.
Even if I didn’t turn my head, I couldn’t imagine the scene unfolding behind me. Those who are too weak to live without me must be staring at only one person’s back. Everyone was trying to get on it, not knowing that it was the back of a boy who could only support the weight of a girl at one time.
“Who are you!
Again, I heard a question asking for my name. Now I had to answer their questions.
I took a deep breath. In fact, if you think about it, it was a question that had been fixed for a long time. I just hesitated to answer. When the air filled my heated lungs and my will stood firm at my fingertips, I opened my mouth to answer. To those who ask me for my name. To this world
And, towards the beautiful, ugly, omnipotent, and incompetent you who are still looking at me.
“My name is Luca!”
The voice of a young man from Lorenheim, whom no one cared about, resounded loudly. The voice that flowed without trembling soared over the sky, toward somewhere you might be.
“A young man from a village where peppermint flowers bloom, a swordsman who killed the Four Heavenly Kings who died twice, and a member of the expedition who was called by the emperor to assassinate the demon king!”
Those who were puzzled by my name gradually began to realize my identity as they listened to the stories that followed. I shouted while staring at the knight’s clearly agitated eyes.
“Today, I came here to punish the false hero on behalf of the Emperor of the Empire!”
I threw my eyes over the shoulder of the knight who was looking this way in fear and toward the imperial palace standing tall in the distance. Soon, the shape of a clearly visible person began to emerge. Even though we hadn’t met eye contact yet, I realized his identity, and I was able to intuit that he also saw my face. I, in a different sense, called out the name of the person I missed so much.
“Leo!”
“…!”
His bewildered expression was visible from a distance. Now, it was time to end everything.
“Come. I’ve come to receive everything from you.”
