An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#60

The Orphea before my eyes, unlike other heroes, didn’t look particularly strong or powerful.

I knew she had abilities as a bard, but she was just an ordinary person who could die screaming if the deer outside charged at her even once with its antlers.

There didn’t seem to be any other heroes outside to draw attention, and it was far too dangerous for Orphea to face the deer alone.

Helena also urgently tried to dissuade Orphea.

“You, you should just wait here until another hero comes. This is a bu-busy district, so a hero will come soon.”

‘Heroes.’

This was truly the great age of heroes.

After the war between the ancient gods and current gods, monsters were born on earth from the blood spilled by the ancient gods.

But the gods themselves had suffered too much damage in the war to intervene directly on earth.

The monsters that were born gradually grew in power and threatened humanity. Fortunately, the bloodline of Alkides, who had been active in the gods’ war, remained, but it was impossible to eliminate all monsters.

So the gods, each by their own standards, bestowed a little power to deal with monsters upon humans they favored.

Those who gained superior strength and skills beyond ordinary humans began wandering around various places, slaying monsters.

They accumulated military achievements and raised their honor by how powerful the monsters they killed were.

Since heroes were all people who liked to show off, they would boast about their exploits in taverns and social circles throughout the capital.

This was the capital, so there were surely several heroes in the vicinity.

If news spread that a monster was causing a rampage, a hero who heard the news would surely appear.

“There’s no time to wait like that. Waiting would be pointless anyway.”

But Orphea calmly answered, removing Princess Lairinne’s hand that was holding her back. The composure on her face was strange.

“The opponent is an adult golden-horned doe under the protection of the goddess Artume. Ordinary heroes could never calm it down or subdue it. We need to buy time until the Followers of Artume arrive.”

“Orphea!”

Orphea opened the door and stepped out, leaving behind the cries of Princess Lairinne and Helena. Through the brief gap when the door opened, the commotion outside became amplified and clearly audible.

Those left in the instrument shop could only watch Orphea’s retreating figure in a daze.

Orphea’s departing figure was exactly what they, as young people who still had dreams of the expedition a few years ago, had expected from expedition members.

Not retreating in the face of crisis, bravely moving forward…

Like a hero from heroic poetry, that kind of figure.

***

“Monster! It’s a monster deer!”

With just one door between us, the noise was incomparably louder than when I was in the instrument shop, piercing my ears.

Thud!

Between the dull roar of stone walls collapsing, people’s screams could be heard. Oranges that had rolled out from overturned fruit boxes were being kicked around by people’s feet.

Some people were pushing each other as they fled, while others were embracing fallen elderly people and pressing themselves against walls.

Though their attitudes were opposite, the emotion that consumed them all was the same. It was suffocating fear.

I moved forward step by step against the flow of people. My heart was pounding, but I couldn’t stop.

As the dust that had obscured my vision settled somewhat, I was able to spot the golden-horned doe that was rampaging through the chaos, attacking the city.

‘…Wow, it’s really huge.’

With a bit of exaggeration, it was as big as a house. The deer’s antlers were tall enough to sweep the roof of a single-story house, so it was understandable that those who knew nothing would call it a monster deer.

Everything the bronze hooves stepped on was crushed with a crunch, and every time the golden antlers rammed here and there, walls were deeply gouged.

‘Real gold would dent easily with just a little impact, so why are those antlers so hard?’

When the deer twisted its head and pulled out its antlers, a huge hole appeared in the wall. Seeing the spider web-like cracks spreading around it, it seemed the wall would collapse with one more charge.

The fountain in the middle of the square was shattered and spraying water in all directions.

Then, I saw several sturdy men trying to subdue the deer one by one. They weren’t faces I recognized, but seeing them roll up their sleeves and step forward here, they seemed to be heroes confident in their abilities.

For me, it wasn’t a bad situation. A performance could only contain one intention at a time. Either play to restrain the deer, or play to find the fawn.

‘If they hold the deer and buy time, I can release the mice in the meantime. If I just find the fawn, I should be able to calm the mother deer too.’

Then things wouldn’t end too difficultly. I had small hopes.

But contrary to my expectations, one hero who had stepped forward boldly tried to stop the deer by grabbing its antlers and was thrown away. The large man floated in the air and crashed into a wall.

“Ugh! What kind of deer is so…!”

Another hero charged with a spear, but the divine beast was faster. The golden antlers flashed, and the spear shaft snapped.

“Spear! Doesn’t anyone have another spear?”

Perhaps excited because they had attacked it unnecessarily, the deer rampaged even more violently.

‘…Are they trying to face the golden-horned deer with brute force right now?’

I was momentarily horrified.

Subduing a golden-horned doe with force was something only someone like Gert could do. I thought they would use other methods, but to think they’d have a head-on confrontation so recklessly!

The deer shook its head this way and that as if looking for a target to attack. Each time, the deer’s golden antlers shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

“Wait, those antlers… Is that a golden-horned doe!”

“What? You mean Artume’s divine beast?”

The heroes stepped back one by one, making their previous brave advance seem pointless.

Only then did I understand their reckless response.

‘They didn’t know the identity of the golden-horned doe? When the antlers are so obvious?’

I shook my head watching the heroes in confusion. My brief hope that they would block the deer felt futile.

They might lack strength. But being a hero isn’t just about strength. If Dietrich, the twins, or other heroes had been here, they would have devised some scheme to neutralize the deer.

But unfortunately, the heroes here didn’t seem to be at that level.

Their observation skills didn’t seem very good either, considering they only noticed it was a golden-horned doe belatedly.

‘I’ve been with expedition members so much that my standards for heroes have become too high.’

The doe breathed roughly through its nose and scraped the ground with its front hooves. The people surrounding the doe nervously swallowed their saliva.

“There’s no choice.”

I stepped forward with a sigh.

Of course, I wasn’t unaware that this was reckless, nor was I unafraid.

I had desperately pretended to be bold in front of Helena and Princess Lairinne, who had just passed their coming-of-age ceremony, but it was all pretense.

‘I know that I could die if I get hit wrong too…!’

If it were the usual me, I would have left everything to other heroes and just helped appropriately from a safe place. The expedition heroes were all trustworthy when it came to dealing with monsters, regardless of their personalities. It never even came to my turn.

But now I couldn’t do that.

‘If I don’t do it, more people will get hurt.’

I had to hold out somehow until the Followers of Artume arrived. And no matter how I thought about it, I was the only one who could do that.

‘The opponent is a divine beast touched by a god’s power, can I really do this?’

I wiped my sweaty hands on my clothes. They were still damp. Holding the lyre under my arm, I drew something on the palm of my free hand. Two dots, a half-finished semicircle. It was a smiling face.

“It’s a spell for courage.”

Over the smiling face drawn on my palm, the face of Gert from back then, who had been utterly stoic when he told me that story, overlapped in my memory.

And at the same time, warmth returned to my ice-cold hands, and the cold sweat gradually subsided.

One hero who belatedly noticed my presence shouted in alarm.

“Run away! This isn’t a situation to be loitering around!”

I listened to the hero’s nagging with one ear and let it out the other, clenching and unclenching my palm a couple of times.

Then I steadied my breathing and placed my fingers on the lyre strings.

Ting- Ting-

The strings produced irregular, sharp sounds. Though I had finished tuning, since I had just replaced them, they weren’t producing the sound I wanted.

‘But that much can be managed with technique.’

I set my nails and quickly struck the strings near the bridge.

Ding!

Before long, I found exactly the sound I wanted. Having roughly learned how to handle these silk strings, it was time to begin playing in earnest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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