Chapter 0 – Prologue. [Correction]
Early morning when everyone is sleeping.
The full moon rising high in the sky was shining brightly, illuminating the capital of the empire.
Thanks to this, all the thick darkness disappeared from the streets of the capital.
And this came as a definite misfortune to only one person.
Sigh!
Red blood splashes out under the bright moonlight.
“Ugh.!”
A woman was running through the streets at night carrying a baby.
Behind her, she could be seen by her dozen women chasing her.
“Don’t miss it!!”
A voice full of spirit.
The friction sound of metal heard while running and the colorful patterns engraved on the armor.
Anyone who lives in the empire will be able to tell right away by looking at their appearance.
Those people are knights of the empire.
Knight of the Empire.
The imperial sword that protected the empire from the invasion of the demon king’s army before the hero appeared and defeated the demon king.
And the swords that were pointing at the demons were all pointing at one woman.
Because the skills of the knights who had been trained by crossing countless lines of fire were outstanding, there were many moments of crisis for the woman who was running away.
As if the woman was proving that she was no ordinary person. At every moment, he narrowly escaped the archers’ arrows and escaped the knights’ siege.
How much time has passed?
By the time the chasing knights were breathing heavily, her position had begun to get closer to the outer wall of the capital.
Looking at this, the sharpest sword of the empire. The knight commander sneered.
“Stupid bitch, that will be your limb.”
In order to drive her with a wry smile, her knight leader began to run at a faster pace.
The moonlight illuminated the armor of the running knight commander.
The emblem of the Imperial Knights engraved in gold, symbolizing the ‘Royal Knights’, responds to the moonlight.
The emperor’s direct unit comprised of the strongest men of the era who survived the fight against the leader of the Demon King’s 1st Corps.
As the siege narrowed, the Royal Knights began to block the woman’s escape route more skillfully, and it seemed certain that the woman being chased would soon become a rat in her poison.
However, the situation began to go differently than the knight commander thought.
A wall that protects the capital of the empire from the outside.
Royal Knights coming from all directions.
There was clearly no way to escape, but she didn’t slow down.
She started running towards the wall with all her might, as if she had a way to get through it.
The first to feel the change was the knight commander.
“Shoot the arrow!! “I mean, block the way, so they can’t run!!!”
At the same time, dozens of arrows hit the woman. However, no one could stop her rapid movements.
The long sword she was holding in her right hand began to glow with red energy.
Her knight commander also felt the mana flowing from her and foresaw her failure.
All I can do is shout in anger.
“Hilda-!!!”
Kwaaaaang!!!!
Immediately after the call, she crashed through the wall with a tremendous roar.
Of course, the knight commander also did not just sit by and watch this.
Even if I couldn’t catch her, I was planning to injure her, so the moment she broke through the wall.
She sent a slash made of her mana towards her.
Suddenly!
The sound of something being cut was heard in the knight commander’s ears.
The anticipation was short-lived, and there was nothing there when I looked.
As if there was no one from the beginning.
All that was left of her was a piece of paper cut in half by her slash, falling where she had been.
‘Teleport scroll… I guess so.’
This is the capital of the empire.
In other words, the entire capital, starting from the outer wall, was subject to 8-circle protection magic and transference interference spells, so the knight commander could not think of this method of escape.
Break down the wall and use the scroll? This is because such ignorant methods do not usually come to mind.
“You broke through that wall with a body like that?”
“This thing is going to be really messy.”
The other knights seemed to have given up on catching her.
On the contrary, the knight commander who had not yet given up said with a sigh.
“Joanne, bring the wizards from the Magic Tower right now. From now on, we will track Hilda by tracking the mana of the scroll.”
At the words of the knight commander, the knights moved in perfect order, and the sunlight that came through the broken wall dazzled the knight commander’s eyes.
Morning had come on a night in the capital that seemed to never end.
* * *
A forest quite far from the capital.
She hid there, holding the baby, sitting against a tree and resting for a while.
Her name is Hilda.
She was a member of the hero’s party, but she ran away overnight and ended up in her care.
First of all, did you succeed in escaping safely?
Why did things happen like this?
Her hair is a mess.
“Cough… Uweeeeek.”
Perhaps it is because of the influence of the emperor’s curse, but it has become so weak.
I can’t believe I’m using my innate energy to destroy a wall.
While she was trying to calm her mind and calm her tired body, her familiar voice lingered in her head like an echo.
-The only one I can trust is you.
-I have to stop it here. I’m already late. And there’s no way I could leave Elin behind.
-Hilda. Elin and my child, I ask you a favor.
-Go quickly!!! Come on!!
The moment when I was about to fall in love with the vivid voice, as if the warrior was still shouting next to me.
Hilda felt the strength of the baby she was holding in her arms weakening.
Oh, no!! Why are you doing this?
Hilda quickly began to examine her child’s condition and discovered a black wound on her baby’s right hand.
Shit.
Her condition is very bad.
We need to get treatment quickly…!
Even at this moment, as I was thinking about it, I could see black spreading from the wound on the baby’s hand.
As far as Hilda knew, there was only one poison of this type.
Amu, a poisonous poison that is said to be made by purifying the blood of high-ranking demons.
Of course, as a member of the hero party, it was a level of poison that even her weakened body could detoxify on her own through her mana, but there was no way such a method was possible for the baby born today.
Should I drive it out with my mana?
No, that’s impossible.
The baby’s body won’t be able to handle it.
And right now, even this time to worry was a luxury.
This is because the baby’s hands were turning black in real time.
In the end, Hilda had no choice but to make a quick judgment, and her action on her judgment was immediate.
First, Hilda numbed her right arm by pressing on her baby’s acupuncture point, and without hesitation, she swung her long sword at her baby’s wrist.
Sak!
The fern-like hand was cut off cleanly, and at the same time, a large amount of the highest quality potion was sprayed onto the child’s severed wrist.
“I’m sorry… This was the only way…”
A child who has to live with her disability because of her own mistakes.
It seemed that she would live the rest of her life without being able to escape discrimination and pain.
Hilda began to sob as she held her baby.
“I’m sorry. Because of my incompetence.”
However, since she had no time to blame herself, Hilda wiped away her tears and stood up, holding her baby.
It was obvious that the wizards of the Magic Tower were tracking her at this moment, so Hilda moved her body again while holding her baby.
The destination is,
“Okay, let’s go to a village on the outskirts of the empire.”
It would be good to avoid the eyes of the empire.
In villages in the outskirts, magic tools have not yet been widely supplied, and information transmission is slow, so it will be easy to hide your identity.
…
Hilda arrived in a rural village on the outskirts of the empire.
The name of the village is Gunargil.
It would be nice if she could now settle down and live quietly in the village, but unfortunately, Hilda still had a lot of work left to do.
Because right now, I could feel the distance between me and the empire’s pursuers getting closer and closer.
“Huh… Is the Magic Tower in full swing… I guess they are using the blood I shed as a medium to use tracking magic.”
She couldn’t run away any longer.
The moment of choice has arrived.
Tuk.
Her leaves fell in the wind, and Hilda’s red hair blew.
Hilda naturally shifted her gaze and took in the village in front of her.
Looking back, it was a really nice village.
The villagers seemed good and the number of people was adequate, and there was no one who could be called evil.
There is no possibility of seeing it wrong.
Because she reached a high level, she was able to see through even the good and evil of ordinary people.
As she was looking around her village for a while, a couple who felt only bright light in Hilda’s eyes came in.
She had passed through dozens of villages on her way here, but she had never seen such a kind-hearted couple.
Okay. I can trust that much.
Just then, a couple was seen entering the house.
Hilda solved the magic and sleep magic that drastically reduced the baby’s metabolism.
The baby quickly woke up and looked at Hilda with her clear eyes.
“Abusing!!”
The baby cooed and stretched out her arms to Hilda.
However, there was no hand on her right arm, and the innocent baby continued to extend both her hands to Hilda with an innocent look in her eyes.
Hilda’s heart seemed to be torn apart by guilt as she looked at her baby, but she quickly gathered herself and looked at her baby’s face.
He had black hair and eyes that resembled a warrior.
Even though she was a baby, her appearance was extremely beautiful, resembling Elin and the warrior. However, as if her misfortune was not the end, the baby’s right eye was gray and could not focus properly. Just like blind people.
After seeing this, Hilda was convinced that it was the effect of a curse.
Because the curse did not cover all life in that place.
It was just a pity that I had to take comfort in the fact that my life was not in danger.
Hilda stroked her baby’s head once and then carefully placed it in front of her couple’s door.
After carefully knocking on her door, Hilda quickly hid out of sight.
“Huh? “Who are you?”
Perhaps because there was no answer from outside the door, the door opened, and the man who came out of the house was surprised to see the baby in front of the door.
“Ah. What is this? Honey!! Come here! Come on!”
At the man’s words, a heavily pregnant woman came out of the house.
“… Baby? “Who left the baby in a rural village like this?”
She even had a moment of doubt. The couple immediately left the house and went looking for the baby’s parents, but of course they could not find them.
Hilda was watching this situation from afar with her superhuman sense of self.
“Yes!!”
The baby is crying, and her parents don’t show up no matter how hard they search.
Now the couple had no choice but to admit that the child’s parents had no intention of appearing.
“Aren’t you nice? “Don’t cry.”
First, in a hurry, the man held the baby and comforted him.
Perhaps thanks to this, the baby quickly stopped crying and started smiling brightly while looking at the man.
The man who was examining the brightly smiling baby was surprised by the baby’s physical condition.
“Honey the baby… Is missing her right hand… And only her right eye is gray. The left one is black…”
“What? No, what happened to such a small baby…”
“Honey.”
“. Huh?”
“This baby. Let’s raise it.”
“What are you talking about. Just in case, I need to find this baby’s parents.”
“No. I looked around earlier, but there was no one. I think I probably left it behind. And the fabric covering this baby is very high quality. So much so that they won’t even sell it unless it’s in a place like the capital. There’s definitely a reason for that. In the meantime, let us raise it.”
“Huh… Okay. “My child suddenly has a family.”
The woman who was touching her baby’s hair smiled and stroked her own belly with her opposite hand.
* * *
Hilda, who was watching the whole situation from afar, felt reassured.
I’m so glad, they’re good people.
Now I have to do my own thing too. The goal of the empire is me and the hero’s child.
You would never think that I would leave my child behind. And since there are dozens of rough villages on the way to the outskirts, no one will know that there is a baby here, so you can fight without worry.
Good. First, I have to find and kill all the wizards who are tracking me.
Hilda looked at the house where the hero’s child was and made a promise to herself.
Just wait a little while, I’ll come back to you.
After setting her goal, Hilda started running at a fast pace.
Get as far away from the village as possible.
* * *
“But what should we name the baby?”
The man seemed to be thinking, but quickly answered.
“… “How are you?”
* * *
3 years later.
A red-haired woman who said she was a retired adventurer came to the village.
Soon, a new small bakery opened in the village, and the woman quickly blended into the village.
