Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 150

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

Part 2, Chapter 17

* * *

Adam was definitely hiding something from me.

I wanted to crack open Adam’s head right now to find out what it was.

Adam was worried about my safety. I knew that he truly cared for me.

Even so, I couldn’t just obediently follow along. Hadn’t I become complacent thinking peaceful days would continue, only to receive a strange Quest and be separated from him? Something similar could happen again this time.

If I were to be separated from Adam again this time, it seemed like he would die following me.

‘Hmm, that must not happen.’

Also, being dragged around without knowing anything was enough with just one Quest.

I quietly fell into thought.

Glancing sideways at the air, the persistent Quest was still floating there.

No matter how much I wanted to ignore it, the sparkling screen was hard to ignore.

The Quest’s content hadn’t changed.

Stress Level ― 48%

And the stress level had barely changed either. Sometimes it would rise, and other times it would drop sharply.

As if telling me which direction I should go.

‘No, let me think about this again.’

Was lowering Adam’s stress level really what the Quest wanted?

What was closely related to the Quest was the game.

‘Is this happening because I couldn’t see the ending? The sudden error right before making the stress level 0% might also be because the prerequisites weren’t properly met.’

Because it’s a game, it hasn’t ended yet.

Dragon’s Horn was a game where the Hero kills the Demon King.

The clear condition for such a game is…

‘Killing the Demon King.’

The Demon King might not have truly died. I recalled that in all those countless playthroughs, not once did the system display the message [The Demon King has died.]

As long as the Demon King’s curse remaining on him was intact, the Demon King might also be alive and well.

Or perhaps, he had been resurrected.

Adam, being the Hero, would know a lot about the Demon King. Perhaps he had known early on that the Demon King had been resurrected.

However, I couldn’t discuss this with Adam.

It was because of Adam, who would subtly avoid the topic whenever the Demon King was mentioned, let alone the Demon King’s Castle.

Thanks to that, I became certain.

“I have no choice. If Adam won’t tell me, I’ll have to find out myself.”

Adam would definitely be shocked if he found out, but it would be fine as long as I didn’t get caught, right?

I was worried about the eyes of the servants working at Grace Mansion, but that wouldn’t be much of a problem either.

Half voluntarily, half involuntarily, I had only stayed in my room, and except for the butler, no one had seen me, so it would be easy.

Given Adam’s personality, he wouldn’t keep many servants either.

The problem was still…

“Hmm, as expected.”

The door was still firmly locked, but it wasn’t much of an obstacle.

I had a last resort remaining.

‘I have no choice. Lady Meriel, please allow me to become a righteous lock picker just this once!’

Soon, a small white divine power formed near my palm.

And I poured the divine power into the keyhole.

Lady Meriel hadn’t taught me to use divine power for such purposes, but I had no other choice.

‘I’m practicing how to use divine power this way.’

It was difficult since I had never handled divine power delicately before, but soon I heard a welcome metallic sound.

‘It worked!’

I first cautiously opened the door and then thoroughly examined the hallway.

As expected, there was no one there.

It was strangely quiet, which bothered me, but I was able to safely exit the mansion.

‘It is strange that I don’t see the butler either.’

Whether he had gone to do other tasks Adam had assigned, even the butler who used to pop out from somewhere whenever Adam called was nowhere to be seen.

He was a butler who retained his expertise even behind his smiling face.

‘Anyway, this is my chance!’

When the butler wasn’t at the mansion was my opportunity.

While I could overlook the other maids since none of them had seen my face, if the butler who knew my face caught me, I would have no excuse.

I left Grace Mansion more easily than I had thought.

‘Isn’t there a bit too few servants even if there are few?’

Of course, I glimpsed a maid’s clothes at the end of the hallway before they disappeared, but she didn’t seem to have seen me.

Adam said he would come back late, so I just needed to return before sunset.

My first destination was Dainil Village.

Thinking that if Adam were to look for me, he would come to Dainil Village, I hadn’t been able to visit or exchange letters for three years.

Sometimes I would suddenly miss it when I was with Adam. Though it was a short time to call them family, they had treated me more warmly than my original family.

Even if it was because of the Quest, it felt wrong toward Violet. I had considered visiting Dainil Village several times a day. Wondering if I could drop by to hear Adam’s stories.

However, what stopped my steps each time was the sparkling Quest.

But now it was different.

There was no Adam, and no Quest to stop me.

Since someone she had raised like a daughter for three years had disappeared, she must have been very heartbroken too.

And since rumors that I was alive had spread strangely quickly, I felt relieved thinking that Violet must have been somewhat reassured.

Still, it would be better to meet face to face.

I hitched a ride on a carriage. I paid with small gem-studded earrings that Adam had given me. I received a firm promise that they would return them if I came back with money next time.

Even though the Demon King had disappeared, no one entered the forest near the Demon King’s Castle. Even though he was said to be dead now, it would be because they felt uneasy. It was also a habitat for monsters.

The carriage was the same. After getting off at the entrance of the forest, I decided to walk to the village.

“Ah.”

Lost in thought while walking, I had arrived at the wrong destination.

I slowly raised my head.

My feet, which should have gone to Dainil Village, had naturally arrived at the Demon King’s Castle where I had stayed until three years ago.

The place where Adam and I had lived.

It was the starting point where everything began.

* * *

Creak-

The heavy iron gate slowly opened.

Returning to the Demon King’s Castle, I felt a strange sensation.

The unmanaged grass that had grown up to my ankles tickled my feet. Even so, my gaze was directed only straight ahead.

I had returned.

To the Demon King’s Castle…

It felt like someone should come out right now to welcome me.

Whether it was Abracxas, Potato, Kyrillos, or even Adam.

Hmm, Adam would naturally be in the capital, so that wouldn’t happen.

The Demon King’s Castle remained the same, but only I had changed.

There wasn’t any particular big reason for mentioning the Demon King’s Castle to Adam.

I had just become curious.

The reason why he, who had never left the Demon King’s Castle, had left it so readily.

Going inside, the interior, which was in better condition than expected, welcomed me.

“Ugh, dust…”

However, only the exterior was intact, as the unmanaged Demon King’s Castle was full of dust.

Adam’s room was also covered in dust, as if he really hadn’t visited the Demon King’s Castle even once since I left.

However, I soon had my attention drawn to one area.

‘This is strange…’

Why is only this free of dust and left as it was?

I reached out my hand toward the dreamcatcher as if entranced.

It was the moment my fingertips touched the dreamcatcher.

Then, the dreamcatcher began to burn from where my hand had touched it.

At the same time, I felt chunks of sacred power draining away.

‘It stings…!’

I jerked my hand back in surprise.

Then, small pieces of ash from the dreamcatcher that had been burned by divine power fell down.

What could be stinging about a dreamcatcher?

Sacred power automatically reacted to wicked things that possessed demonic energy.

Especially those with completely opposite auras.

That’s why the Sacred Relic repelled Adam who was cursed by the Demon King, drove away Abracxas, and…

‘Aphene also stayed strangely distant from me.’

I recalled the moment I first met Aphene.

It was a faint sensation. An even fainter and weaker aura than when I touched the dreamcatcher.

It was such a subtle sensation that I could have dismissed it as a mistake.

However, after learning how to use divine power, I knew for certain.

At that time, the Sacred Relic had rejected Aphene.

‘Could it be…’

Aphene, the dreamcatcher, the Sacred Relic, and the Demon King’s demonic energy…

‘Wasn’t it after he brought this that Adam started having frequent nightmares?’

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