Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 142

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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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Part 2, Chapter 9

He was certainly maintaining the same peaceful expression as before and speaking gently.

However, there was a hidden dagger in his words.

“….”

The look in his eyes as he watched me was the same as when he used to look at the former Emperor.

It was the gaze of someone looking at a person who obstructed their future.

‘No, it’s not Adam but the Elderly High Priest who’s doing this to me?’

If there was someone to blame, it should be Adam, not him.

I don’t even owe the Elderly High Priest any debt of gratitude, so should I feel sorry?

I’m so sorry for being alive!

‘The person who tried to pull me in back then to get Adam on the Temple’s side, why now all of a sudden?’

Could the rebellion plan that the High Priests mentioned being moved up have something to do with me?

Still, I had been someone unrelated to Adam for three years.

Even the conversation that wasn’t really a conversation with Adam happened recently when I activated the Sacred Relic.

The rebellion being carried out early and Adam passing the throne to Judith were both stories beyond my control.

In the first place, I only learned about that story belatedly after coming to the Capital!

There was nothing I could say even if the Elderly High Priest blamed me.

Then suddenly, a memory from a few weeks ago came to mind.

Your Hero calls for you.

‘Hmm, come to think of it, there was such a thing.’

Doesn’t that date strangely coincide with the time of the rebellion?

There’s no way he would have called my name when he entered the Imperial Palace to strike down the Emperor.

Strange messages appearing was a common occurrence, so I had passed it off as nothing significant.

But now I could understand why the Elderly High Priest was expressing his dissatisfaction to me.

“This is an important time for the Hero. More so than Miss Iberis knows.”

He’s drawing a line. Is that it?

However, Adam had no intention of drawing a line with me.

In the first place, the line that had already been drawn was long since erased by Adam, who had even thrown open the doors of his heart.

I didn’t answer and just stared intently at the Elderly High Priest.

I’m the only one who can help the Hero by his side.

Your existence is unnecessary to the Hero.

That’s what the Elderly High Priest was saying.

I couldn’t understand why he was suddenly showing wariness and malice.

Eventually, my head tilted to the side.

“How much do you think I know?”

The Elderly High Priest hesitated for a moment but soon returned to his usual self.

“Surely you don’t mean the Hero trusts Miss Iberis more than me?”

Yes, you understood correctly.

But I just smiled sweetly. Until the Elderly High Priest revealed all of his true intentions.

When I remained still, the Elderly High Priest spoke in a slightly softer voice.

“I’m sure Miss Iberis shares the same desire to see the Hero rise to the highest position.”

The Elderly High Priest spoke with a smile as if coaxing a child.

However, the content of his words was far from affectionate.

“So please leave. Just as you did for the past three years. The Hero doesn’t need you.”

Until now, the Elderly High Priest had been subtly showing that he didn’t like me.

But now it was different.

To openly tell me to stay away from him. The hostility I saw from him was at least not my imagination.

Facing him directly made it even clearer.

I had felt it before but stayed quiet thinking it would help Adam.

However, what he wanted wasn’t something like the Former Emperor’s revenge.

The Elderly High Priest’s eyes were already consumed by desire.

Now that the Emperor was dead, there was only one reason for his desire to remain so brazenly.

‘He’s not satisfied.’

He wanted higher power.

He was displeased that Adam had passed the throne to Judith, and furthermore blamed me for that too.

That could be possible.

The Elderly High Priest, who had watched over him by Adam’s side, might know Adam as well as he boasted.

But….

“I don’t want to.”

When someone came at me like that, it was human nature to want to do the opposite even more.

The Elderly High Priest’s brow twitched.

“Miss Iberis. Can’t you make even that much sacrifice for the Hero? I suppose all your talk about being for him was lies.”

“Of course my feelings for the Hero remain unchanged. However, that doesn’t become a reason for me to leave Adam. And Adam doesn’t want that either.”

“….”

“In the first place, it was Adam who came looking for me.”

As I spoke, I found myself reflecting once again on Adam’s feelings over the past three years.

Why did Adam come looking for me?

If he had forgotten someone like me as the Elderly High Priest wished and found a better match to marry, his life would have been smooth sailing.

It was only natural that I found his sudden wariness strange.

What could be the reason the Elderly High Priest was suddenly acting like this?

He thinks of me as someone who blocks Adam’s path.

If he couldn’t reclaim the throne he had given up, the second most convenient way to gain power was through harmony achieved by marriage between families.

And the Elderly High Priest, who wanted Adam to gain power more than anyone, was wary of me.

‘Could it be that Adam is to me….’

Too much had passed to dismiss it as a misunderstanding.

No matter how I thought about it, the affection he showed was far from ordinary.

The overwhelming affection he poured out to me was certainly what the Elderly High Priest had hoped for.

Yet it was also an affection that wouldn’t yield even a single point to him.

“As I said, the Hero is someone who naturally suits a high position.”

The Elderly High Priest’s voice rose slightly.

I raised one eyebrow and spoke.

He was certainly someone who had worked for Adam, and I had believed until now that he had feelings of caring for him.

But had three years of time caused a layer of the game’s Elderly High Priest’s shell to peel away?

Or was this originally his nature?

“No.”

I answered firmly.

“It’s not Adam but you who wants to climb to high places, isn’t it?”

Hero-nim, Hero-nim. It wasn’t even funny how he kept calling Adam that.

It’s not like he thinks of Adam as a doll to suit his tastes!

“…Miss Iberis.”

The Elderly High Priest called my name quietly.

His face contorted as if he was facing a reality he had been avoiding all this time.

However, I moved first before the Elderly High Priest could rebuke me.

“Adam is no longer a young child you can manipulate at will.”

He said Adam had grown up, but in reality he thought of him as just a child in his hands.

He was mistaken, thinking Adam was a good child who would obey whatever he told him to do.

“Do you really think Adam trusts you more than me, Elderly High Priest?”

“….”

“I don’t think so. If you want to believe that, why don’t you go confirm it directly with Adam.”

Having roughly concluded the conversation, I stood up from my seat.

It was half a gamble.

Does Adam know what kind of person the Elderly High Priest is?

He must surely know.

Even so, the Elderly High Priest will rush to Adam in the coming days.

And he’ll want a definitive answer.

That he holds a superior position to me in Adam’s eyes.

I’m curious too.

Who Adam will choose.

‘And…’

That will make it clear for certain.

The true nature of the feelings Adam has for me.

The Elderly High Priest shouted something behind me, but I left the room as I was.

* * *

After leaving the Elderly High Priest’s room, I felt some regret.

‘What if I was mistaken? What if I just eliminated Adam’s reliable ally?’

I groaned and clutched my head, falling into regret.

However, it was unavoidable.

Because every time the Elderly High Priest mentioned Adam, I subtly felt like he was placing him beneath himself.

There’s no way such a person would truly move for Adam’s sake.

“Iberis.”

“…!”

I was startled by the hand that gently curved around mine.

It was Adam.

I had been thinking only of Adam until just now, but actually facing him made me feel restless.

“Iberis, where were you? I was looking for you.”

“Ah, I was having a brief conversation with the Elderly High Priest.”

“…With the Elderly High Priest?”

Adam frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed his expression.

“He didn’t say anything strange to Eve, did he?”

“He didn’t say anything particularly strange. He just seemed to be worried about Adam.”

I didn’t want to believe that he had no concern for Adam whatsoever.

It’s just that his own greed was greater, making it hard to see.

I deliberately spoke brightly.

“He said Adam is someone who suits a high position.”

“A high place… I see.”

Adam murmured as if repeating my words.

“What about Eve? Do you like high places?”

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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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