Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 133

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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 133

The man seemed to sense the presence following him and finally stopped walking.

Iberis stopped as well, maintaining some distance from him.

“Adam?”

Even though she knew he had no reason to come to this village.

Iberis’s mouth was unconsciously uttering his name.

‘…No, it’s not Adam!’

Even knowing it wasn’t Adam, the name that slipped from her lips was still his.

‘Adam… there’s no way he could be here.’

It must be fake emotions created by her desire to see Adam.

He seemed to understand the meaning behind her words as he tilted his head slightly.

His fine yellow hair swayed gently.

‘Yellow hair.’

I squinted my eyes.

The completely different hair color clearly showed that he wasn’t Adam.

‘I guess I was mistaken after all.’

The bitter taste in my mouth was unavoidable.

‘Perhaps I was hoping that Adam would come looking for me.’

I thought I had sufficiently put away my feelings for Adam, but I hadn’t.

During our time apart, I missed him even more, and it was disappointing that there were more sides of Adam I didn’t know about.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone I knew, but you’re not.”

Iberis hastily corrected herself. She hoped that man wouldn’t find it strange.

As she smiled awkwardly and mumbled her words, the man slowly opened his mouth.

“Adam is the name of the current Hero, isn’t it? You called him familiarly, so you must know him.”

The low bass voice she’d never heard before rang in her ears.

Only then did she come to her senses as if cold water had been poured on her.

…It definitely wasn’t Adam.

“…That’s not it.”

Iberis said curtly.

Then the man’s head seemed to tilt slightly to the side.

“Is that so? Since you called his name, you seemed to have a special relationship.”

“You can call someone’s name even if you don’t know them. He’s a famous Hero right now.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

The man nodded as if he understood.

“Is that all you wanted?”

Iberis was startled by the cold voice.

Even though it was natural, she felt inexplicably hurt by the sense of distance.

Still, she couldn’t keep holding up a busy traveler.

“Yes, I must have mistaken you for someone else. Thank you for helping me.”

“Well then.”

When Iberis extended her hand as a gesture of gratitude, the man reached out his left hand to shake hers.

At that moment, she was overcome by a strange sense of déjà vu.

“Have we… met before?”

The slowly uttered words scattered into the air. But despite her quiet voice, the man seemed to hear her as he stopped walking.

Close enough that she could catch him if she ran right now.

However, neither Iberis nor the man took the first step.

Their gazes met in the air.

“Yes, even if we turn back time dozens or hundreds of times, if it’s fate, we’ll meet again eventually.”

The man left behind those cryptic words and began walking.

Iberis stood there motionless as if she had turned into a waiting stone.

“Ha…”

It definitely wasn’t him.

It couldn’t be…

Even if it really was Adam, how could he have found this place?

His appearance was different too.

However, Iberis stood there blankly, staring at her own hand.

‘Didn’t he have calluses in similar positions to when I held Adam’s hand before?’

Seeing how he easily lifted a grown man, he must also exercise.

A knight perhaps? If he’s a knight, would the callus positions be similar too?

“Adam…”

She belatedly tried to activate the Sacred Relic’s synchronization, but there was no response.

‘He said if it’s fate, we’ll meet again.’

And a few days later, news of the Hero’s rebellion arrived.

“…Huh?”

“Eve, you’re surprised too, right? I secretly overheard the villagers whispering! Even though our village is far from the capital, it’s a port city so many people come here. They say all those people were saying the same thing!”

“W-wait a minute. What did you say?”

Lucy, who brought the news, seemed to think she didn’t understand and kindly repeated her explanation.

But contrary to Lucy’s thoughts, Iberis had understood her words properly.

However…

‘Adam? That… Adam?’

Iberis froze in the middle of taking a bite of her sandwich.

Then she moved her creaking head toward Meriel, who was eating with her.

“Meriel…?”

“I told you that you would find out soon.”

She replied in a calm tone as if she had expected this, then ate her portion of sandwich.

“People can commit rebellion while living, you know.”

How can you talk about rebellion while eating a sandwich?

Iberis was the only one shocked here.

Iberis swallowed her confusion and calmly activated synchronization to check on Adam.

Your Deity asks about your purpose.

Your Hero smiles willingly.

Your Hero says to find out for yourself if you’re curious.

‘What on earth is Adam thinking?’

Should she go meet him instead?

Even with the Sacred Relic, she couldn’t clearly understand his thoughts.

Still, the news that Adam, whom she had raised like a precious greenhouse weed, had started a rebellion was still bewildering.

Iberis muttered with her mouth agape.

“That’s impossible.”

“All the adults said the same thing,” Lucy said, shrugging her shoulders.

Since the villagers who heard the news first had similar reactions to hers, Lucy didn’t think much of it.

If they were ordinary people, they would think like that after hearing about the Hero’s rebellion.

Meriel said not to worry about it, but how could she not worry?

“I really need to meet Adam.”

Sitting still and fretting wasn’t really her style after all.

Iberis stared intently at the Quest.

At the new Quest that sparkled as if she could now meet Adam again.

Rather than staying in this uncomfortable state, she thought she should meet him and properly conclude things.

Whether it was because of Adam’s message or some other reason, she couldn’t be certain.

* * *

A tavern near the capital.

Even though the Emperor had gone missing and the Hero had rebelled, the capital surprisingly had no negative public opinion.

Rather, people were cheering for his appearance.

‘What’s going on?’

To learn information he had deliberately ignored for three years, Iberis headed to a tavern where he could easily gather stories.

Finding out news about him, which he thought would be difficult since everyone would be reluctant to mention the traitor, turned out to be too easy.

He was currently the hottest potato.

As soon as he entered the capital, everyone on the streets was talking about Adam’s story.

No, to be precise, it was the story of the missing ‘Prince.’

…Of course, if you asked whether she knew about it, she didn’t.

There was such a secret setting?

Shouldn’t that have been agreed upon with the Player?

If they were going to add such a setting, they should have told me earlier!

At that moment, the Quest at the top flickered as if feeling wronged.

Iberis slowly read the contents of that Quest with her eyes.

Hidden Quest: Protect the Hero’s welfare! The only thing supporting this world is the chosen Hero ‘Adam Leonhardt.’ However, his mind is very exhausted from numerous regression attempts. Remove all of the Hero’s stress and make the Hero happy! Success Reward: Return to the original world Failure: Death

‘Adam Leonhardt…’

Iberis muttered Adam’s name to herself.

It was the first time calling him by his full name, but it felt familiar somehow.

She had felt it from the beginning, but it was something she had heard somewhere before…

What flashed through her mind at that moment was the Prince’s name.

Judith Leonhardt.

‘They were really giving it away so obviously!’

But isn’t it common sense to skip backstories?

Who would be busy doing Quests and still painstakingly read through all that content?

Iberis quietly pressed her forehead, recalling her past self who had neglected the settings.

Even so, if you asked whether she would have read the settings written in small text at the beginning of the game with bleary eyes, absolutely not.

It was the moment when scattered puzzle pieces came together as one.

Now she finally understood Judith’s behavior of having excessive responsibility toward Adam.

But don’t royal successors usually not get along well with each other?

Moreover, Adam was solidifying his position as a Hero.

Helping him wouldn’t bring any good to Judith.

Iberis, who learned where Judith’s guilt toward him originated from, rubbed her face.

Whether Adam was actually a lost prince or really of commoner birth didn’t matter.

The fact that Adam was Adam remained unchanged.

But what was so scary about this?

‘And…’

Would Adam even be happy to see her now? Wouldn’t he find it bothersome?

He might have already forgotten everything.

How much would he remember someone he spent less than a year with?

‘To Adam, I was nothing.’

Just an annoying maid, wasn’t that about it?

Hearing Adam’s story from all directions made her even more disturbed.

Adam, who had been my Hero alone, had now become everyone’s Hero.

Even with her eyes closed, she could hear all of Adam’s activities.

And when the mention of the Hero’s lover came up, Iberis almost spat out her drink unconsciously.

‘Adam has… a lover?’

Eventually, to correct the strangely spread rumor, Iberis opened her mouth.

“No, just… a lover? I was wondering where such talk came from.”

Iberis said with an awkward laugh.

Barely recalling the information that High Priests cannot marry, she rambled excuses, and the man nodded as if he understood.

And as if he would kindly explain for her sake, since she wasn’t well-versed in worldly affairs due to secluded training, he raised his voice.

Though his pronunciation was slurred from alcohol, Iberis clearly understood what he was saying.

“The Hero’s closest aide said it directly.”

“…The Hero’s closest aide? Who would that be?”

If it was someone who would spread false rumors about Adam, Aphene came to mind first.

Because if it were others, they would be tightly protecting Adam.

However, the name flowing from the drunkard’s mouth was completely different from her expectations.

“Prince of the Evant Family! No, now it’s Kirillos Evant who inherited the ducal title!”

…What?

Why is Kyrillos appearing here again?

Everything changed in an instant.

Like a deer caught in a snare and struggling, Iberis felt an invisible monster gradually tightening around her.

Then, unconsciously calling up the status window out of habit, Iberis suddenly stood up from her seat.

Stress – 51%

The stress level had changed again.

‘I don’t know why it’s decreasing. But based on memories so far…’

Iberis looked around for an exit faster than she could think.

She hadn’t sorted out her feelings about him yet.

Just a little more calmly…

However, among the noisy and crude people chattering, she clearly saw only one silhouette approaching her.

The distinctive silver hair that could be recognized anywhere.

More mature and with a larger frame than the Adam in her memories, but she could recognize him at a glance.

“My Eve, I’m happy to see you again.”

Adam, who walked toward Iberis, smiled with his eyes as if asking to be praised.

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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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