Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 119

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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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Chapter 119

I staggered to my feet from where I sat.

‘Would it be okay to leave like this?’

Would Adam really not try to stop me?

If I went out of the room right now, I would run into Adam.

I leaned my back against the door and slumped down right there.

But it was too late to tell him the truth now.

Either way, he would feel like he had been deceived.

At the very least, I didn’t want him to feel betrayed.

“For that to happen…”

I needed an accomplice.

Someone who wouldn’t catch Adam’s attention, and who would help me safely escape from Adam’s sight.

Kyrillos, Ben, Iselda…

All the names that flashed through my mind were connected to Adam.

Would I have even been able to form relationships with them if Adam hadn’t been there in the first place?

Without me even realizing it, he had long since become an irreplaceable presence in my life.

After checking the time limit, I went outside for now.

Even following the Quest conditions, there were still about four days left.

Adam sometimes carelessly overlooked his own injuries, so I should leave plenty of herbs, tell Potato not to fight with Abracxas, and then…

And also…

Without realizing it, my footsteps stopped.

I was standing blankly in the hallway, feeling drained and enveloped by exhaustion.

“Eve, what are you doing?”

“Adam…”

“Were you crying?”

Adam approached me with large strides.

Startled by his appearance, I quickly raised my arms to cover my face.

Were my eyes red? If Adam noticed, the shock must have been worse than I thought.

I forced the corners of my mouth up and smiled.

“No, it’s nothing. I just had a bit of a nightmare.”

“I see. That must have been frightening.”

Adam gently brushed around my eyes with his tender touch.

Fortunately, there were no tears that came away on his fingers.

“I-I’m fine.”

His suffocatingly tender gesture made me unconsciously step backward.

I felt like a criminal standing before him.

Adam’s appearance right now seemed like an arrangement telling me to confess everything to him.

That made it even more awkward for me to face him.

Even though my attitude was clearly different from usual, Adam smiled gently and said,

“Then do you need a warm human embrace?”

Adam smiled as he spread both arms wide.

After hesitating, I carefully approached him.

When I hugged him while keeping a small gap, Adam tightened his hold and embraced me snugly in his arms.

Feeling the warm comfort in his embrace made the words “I’m sorry” stick even more in my throat, unable to come out.

If I apologized, Adam would surely be flustered but smile and say it was okay.

Because that’s the kind of person he is.

Someone infinitely kind to his people.

After sending Adam away, I returned to my room.

If only the Quest or whatever it was couldn’t be seen, maybe I could forget about it.

Cruelly, the Quest’s time kept flowing as if urging me on.

While wandering around the room restlessly in my anxiety, the flute suddenly caught my eye.

It was the flute that Judith had forcibly pushed on me, saying there would be a use for it someday.

‘Couldn’t I use it as… an accomplice?’

Recalling Judith’s face that resembled Adam’s, I put on my robe and went outside.

* * *

Peep-

It sounded like wind passing through a narrow passage, or perhaps like the sharp sound of a flute.

Iberis, who had been waiting at the meeting place blowing the small flute for the appointed time, spoke to the man who had just approached.

“This seems to be the first time I’ve used this flute.”

“So what’s this about?”

Sitting in front of her was none other than the Prince.

Brilliant golden hair and golden eyes.

The man who would stand out anywhere was wearing a black robe to suppress his presence.

“You said you’d grant me one favor. Please hide me.”

The first person who came to mind as an accomplice was Aphene.

Because he had no connection to Adam and no trust in her, so he would cleanly disappear once the deal was over.

However, strangely, Aphene’s unpleasant smile kept flickering before my eyes.

‘So in the end, I used the flute I said I wouldn’t use.’

It was a flute I had kept placed on a cushion like a sacred object.

Since it was the Prince’s gift, I couldn’t dare throw it in the trash.

Iberis glanced around, stealing looks at the Prince’s reaction.

He thought about what she was saying, then frowned.

“From whom?”

“…From the Hero.”

Judith sighed deeply as if he had expected this.

He pressed his forehead as if he had gotten involved in troublesome business and said,

“What’s the reason?”

“Does that matter?”

“Of course it does. If you’re going to dare order a prince of a nation around, you need an important reason, don’t you?”

Iberis bit her lower lip.

He was this passionate about Adam’s affairs.

If asked to help Adam, he would have helped without question.

But since it seemed like harm might come to Adam, he was being wary and defensive.

To make Judith lower his guard, ironically, she had to mention Adam.

“It’s all for the Hero’s sake.”

“That kid wouldn’t want you to leave. I don’t think he even knows we’re meeting right now.”

He hit the nail on the head.

I had made an excuse to Adam that I was going down to get ingredients.

How much arguing had I done to shake off him who tried to follow, saying the village was close so I didn’t need his help.

“…Fine.”

Judith frowned as if pondering, then finally gave his consent.

“I know how much you care for that guy.”

“…”

“I won’t bother asking. But after everything is over, tell that kid.”

Iberis kept her mouth shut.

Without knowing anything. Everything Judith said hurt her.

‘Will I be able to meet Adam even after this is over?’

The Quest told me to get away from Adam.

But would there be a chance to meet Adam after the Quest ended?

Iberis felt like letting out a hollow laugh but barely held it back.

“That’s the condition.”

Judith muttered briefly.

Iberis nodded. Surely he wouldn’t ask for a vow here.

Iberis suddenly recalled the contract.

He remembered hearing about the loopholes in that contract through Adam’s words anyway.

Written vows lose their effect if you change the words just a little. Like playing word games, saying it’s not banishing me from the Demon King’s Castle but sending her back to her original village for her safety.

There were many ways to exploit the loopholes in vows.

[Unless there are reasons that threaten life, Iberis will not be forcibly sent to the village but allowed to remain in the Demon King’s Castle.]

Back then, he resented Adam terribly.

He wanted to grab his arm and ask what reason he had for pushing him away like this.

Even now, if the man in front of him who resembled Adam were actually Adam, wouldn’t he have clung to him pitifully?

“Do you have paper?”

At Judith’s words, Iberis snapped out of his reverie and hurriedly searched his pockets.

He found the notebook and fountain pen he used when observing Adam.

She tore out a blank page from the back and handed it to him.

“It’s an empty mansion I own in Baiten Estate. Hardly anyone knows about it, so stay there.”

Judith, who handed over the note with the mansion’s location written on it, soon got up from his seat.

Iberis sat there for a long while until he became a small dot and disappeared.

‘Baiten Estate…’

Iberis read the note as if memorizing the address. However, the letters soon became blurry.

Iberis wiped away his tears and returned to the Demon King’s Castle.

The departure was tomorrow.

After Iberis left, the black insect that had been staying in the uninvited location quietly watched their confrontation before disappearing.

* * *

“Adam! There’s something important. Someone seems to have left the Imperial Palace urgently at dawn today… No, why do you look like that?”

The one who barged into the Demon King’s Castle early in the morning was Kyrillos.

He naturally went inside and looked for Adam.

The Emperor’s chess piece had moved.

It hadn’t been long since he entered the Imperial Palace to observe the Emperor’s movements.

This was pure luck.

After hearing that the former Mage Tower Lord’s whereabouts became mysterious after his connection with the Royal Court, he had been tracking him.

And today, someone rode out of the Imperial Palace on horseback in the early dawn.

Thinking it was certainly important business, he had rushed here using magic multiple times.

Kyrillos, who had used up his mana to the bottom, looked at Adam while panting.

Though this was an urgent matter, Adam kept looking around the Demon King’s Castle anxiously.

“…I don’t see Eve.”

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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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