Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 45

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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 45

The Hero’s awakening period, which was hard mode from the start, was problematic from the beginning.

The Hero had revealed himself, but he didn’t have a proper weapon.

I searched through guides to find the holy sword and discovered an easter egg.

I never dreamed the holy sword would be found in an abandoned tomb.

The planner probably thought, “Surely no one would dig here?” when they put it there.

But I couldn’t bear to see Adam holding a sword that would break in half at every turn.

It was no different from a three-year-old child advancing toward the Demon King with a fork.

‘Nermia’s Beloved Sword’

It was a holy sword excavated from the tomb of the first Hero.

Nermia was probably the name of the first Hero.

Adam naturally hesitated to dig up someone else’s grave. However, when the holy sword actually emerged after digging up the tomb, he couldn’t hide his amazement.

Even though the sword had been buried for 500 years, just wiping off the dirt with a handkerchief made the blade gleam as if it could cut through rock.

From the later playthroughs onward, I acted with the holy sword, but in the early days when there was no guide, it was impossible.

Demonic beasts couldn’t be properly cut with ordinary swords, and they would break against the beasts’ tough hide or corrode quickly due to demonic energy.

So when I wasn’t aware of the holy sword’s existence, I would visit the Imperial Palace as a second choice.

I judged that the Imperial Palace would have more money than the Temple, so I could find a useful sword there.

Fortunately, the Emperor welcomed the Hero with a grand banquet.

However, strangely, whenever I only visited the Imperial Palace, Adam would die suddenly within a few days.

[Your Hero loses consciousness.]

[Your Hero meets death.]

[Would you like to start a new playthrough?]

These were messages that followed me persistently.

Either he would lose consciousness after being hit by a blunt weapon right after leaving the Imperial Palace, or he would suddenly vomit and collapse, never to get up again.

Thinking it was an incorrect route that shouldn’t be easily breached, I would eventually take a detour with tears in my eyes.

‘Was it right to avoid contact with the Imperial Palace after all?’

I pondered with a “hmm.”

I couldn’t be certain of everything yet.

At least what was certain was that Adam was wary of the Emperor.

Since Adam’s judgment was generally correct, I too had to avoid meeting the Emperor as much as possible.

Of course, even if I wanted to see him, it wasn’t like I could have an audience with the Emperor.

Sitting still made my body feel chilly, so I got up from my seat.

I approached the fireplace that Adam had extinguished and poked it with a poker, looking for living embers.

Then, light suddenly flooded into the barracks that had been dark with all sides blocked.

I frowned at the sudden light and blocked it with my arm.

Unable to grasp the situation, I waited for my vision to adjust, when someone entered the barracks and shouted something.

“How rude! This is before His Imperial Majesty the Emperor. Hero’s maid!”

After blinking several times, a familiar face came into view.

Amber eyes looking at me as if I were pathetic.

It was a man with a color that seemed similar to someone yet different.

It was the Emperor I had seen just dozens of minutes ago.

“Eve, you must be careful of the Emperor. Make sure you never encounter him alone. Absolutely.”

‘But Hero, what if His Imperial Majesty comes directly?’

This wasn’t my fault.

With a haggard face, I stood before him, hiding my complicated feelings as much as possible.

“I greet His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”

I immediately bowed my head first.

The Emperor was someone whose appearance could rarely be seen even in the game.

Why would such an Emperor come to me, a mere extra?

“Are you the Hero’s maid?”

The Emperor made a “hmm” sound, barely acknowledging my greeting, then brought up something out of the blue.

The Emperor’s solemn voice echoed in the barracks. It felt like the Hero’s spirit would grab the back of my neck from beside me.

However, a mere maid had no right to drive out the Emperor who had entered the barracks.

“Yes. Though I am inadequate, I am assisting the Hero by his side.”

“I see…”

The Emperor’s golden eyes looked me up and down.

Rather than looking at an equal person, it was a gaze like examining the quality of an object.

Wherever his gaze touched, fine goosebumps arose.

I trembled at the feeling of snakes crawling all over my body, but remembering I was before the Emperor, I composed my expression.

“Interesting.”

The Emperor said incomprehensible words to the end and turned around.

It seemed like he was about to leave the barracks, so just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I noticed the Emperor’s eyes lingering on the extinguished fireplace.

I also noticed him clicking his tongue softly with a “tsk.”

“Phew…”

Even after the Emperor left, I stood there dumbfounded in the same spot, and only after the sound of footsteps disappeared and several minutes passed could I plop down in the chair.

The fur laid on the chair, probably made from animal hide, was soft.

“What on earth is this all about.”

I didn’t know if he was a dangerous person as Adam had said, but it was the first time I felt an instinctive desire to avoid someone so uncomfortable.

Come to think of it, if he’s the Emperor, he would be Judith’s father.

‘They seem similar yet not similar.’

The sharply raised eye shape was similar,

but the atmosphere they gave off was completely different.

If Judith felt like he knew his presence was formidable and tried to suppress it, the Emperor was the complete opposite.

He deliberately let his lofty presence flow to prevent anyone from approaching.

So that no one would dare covet his authority.

Thinking of the Emperor suddenly made me feel chills, so I left the barracks.

Since the Emperor’s eyes had lingered in the barracks, I felt uncomfortable and wanted to breathe fresh air outside.

‘The Emperor won’t appear anymore, right?’

Like a wary meerkat, I quickly looked around, watching for the Emperor’s movements.

Fortunately, the Emperor seemed to have lost interest in the empty barracks and had disappeared without looking back.

Still, the unpleasant feeling I had earlier clung to my body and wouldn’t go away.

I brushed the goosebumps on my arms with my hand.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey.”

“Eek!”

While I was tense, my shoulder was grabbed along with a rough call.

I put strength into my legs that were about to give way and turned around.

For a moment I thought it was the Emperor.

But it was slightly different.

“Your Highness the Prince?”

I opened my eyes wide and called out to him.

“Why are you here? Where’s the Hero?”

Judith sent me a reproachful look that said ‘Well, I’m the Prince, who else would I be?’ then looked around me and tried to enter the barracks.

‘No, it’s not like Adam’s barracks is exclusively for royalty, so why does everyone try to just barge in?’

I couldn’t bring myself to stop him and was floundering, when Judith, noticing there was no presence in the barracks, quickly came back out.

“Don’t tell me he went into the forest leaving only you behind? This is driving me crazy. Who knows what might happen.”

Judith irritably ran his hand through his hair.

“You should just stay quietly in the barracks. Why are you loitering outside when you have the safest place? If you hole up in the barracks, no one can get in.”

“Well, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor came. I felt awkward staying inside continuously, so I came out. Of course, His Imperial Majesty has left now and is way over there.”

It meant ‘Why aren’t you over there chatting happily with him instead of coming here and making a fuss,’ but he turned pale and looked back.

“His Majesty came and left?”

It wasn’t really asking out of curiosity, but rather muttering in surprise after hearing an unbelievable truth.

He anxiously bit his nails as he looked me up and down.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes? Yes…”

Nothing particular had happened.

Other than looking at my face intently as he passed by, he didn’t say anything else.

To the point where I didn’t even understand why Adam had told me to be careful.

‘It just felt creepy, but he seemed like an ordinary person.’

No, when that gaze touched me, it felt like snakes were crawling over my body.

But when the Emperor withdrew his gaze, I felt fine and thought it was just my imagination.

However, it was strange that after Adam, even the Prince was being so wary of the Emperor.

Adam was one thing, but Judith was the Emperor’s son…

“So the Hero went to participate in the hunt as scheduled?”

I nodded silently.

Then Judith’s demeanor became menacing. He repeatedly swept back his bangs in frustration.

It was the moment when all the effort the servants and maids had put into carefully grooming him went to waste.

However, Judith acted as if he couldn’t see anything.

“So he walked right into his death? Damn it, for now you stay quietly inside the barracks!”

“What do you mean by that…”

It was an encounter like a storm.

But Judith’s voice remained ringing in my ears.

‘He walked into his death?’

Adam participated in the Hunting Competition, but it’s not like he went out as prey, so there’s no way he’d be walking into his death.

However, I threw on a robe and ran toward where Judith had disappeared, unable to shake off an inexplicable anxiety.

Somehow I had an ominous feeling.

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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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