Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 67

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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 67

“Excuse me- let me through!”

Iberis bravely pushed through the crowd like a knight heading into battle, but eventually began to be pushed around by the ever-increasing number of people.

It was when Iberis’s grip loosened.

Then Adam firmly interlocked his fingers with hers.

“…!”

Iberis startled and flinched her shoulders, but didn’t avoid his touch.

Iberis, who had been walking while looking only ahead until just now, stiffly turned her head and spoke in a crawling voice.

“Hero, you’re keeping the lantern safe, right?”

It seemed like she wanted to ask something else.

Iberis blushed and brought up a different topic.

Adam, who was quite displeased with that, was about to speak to tease her, but realizing this, he closed his mouth again.

“Of course.”

In the end, meaningless words flowed from Adam’s mouth.

Returning to the hill where they had originally settled, Iberis was exhausted and dazed.

There were far too many people.

It seemed like staying here from the beginning had been the right choice after all.

Even though they had come to a place that was relatively less crowded, Adam didn’t let go of her hand.

Iberis realized this fact belatedly and said in a small voice.

“H-Hero. We need to make a wish….”

Only then did Adam quietly let go of her hand.

As soon as she released the lantern he had given her into the sky, Iberis clasped her hands together and prayed.

From the side, she looked serious and quick enough to be called solemn as she made her wish.

Seeing her show such a serious attitude over what was just a wish, Adam found the sight quite adorable and almost let out a laugh without realizing it.

However, if he laughed, Iberis would surely glare at him with fierce eyes.

Thinking it fortunate that Iberis had her eyes closed, Adam used his hand to lower the corners of his mouth that had been rising.

At the same time, Iberis’s sky-blue eyes opened toward Adam.

“Wish complete!”

“You made it quite quickly.”

Before he could even count to ten in his mind, she had opened her eyes with a sparkle.

Her clear, glass-bead-like sky-blue eyes reflected Adam.

“It’s a wish I’ve been thinking about constantly. So it could pop out in an instant.”

Iberis spoke proudly and grinned widely.

Adam, who had been quietly looking at her face, only came to his senses after Iberis urged him on.

“Huh, weren’t you making a wish, Hero?”

“I should make one now.”

Since she was really watching whether he would do it or not from the side, he had no choice but to play along with this act.

Adam let out a small laugh and thoughtfully tried to think of a wish.

She said she could make her wish quickly because it was one she had always cherished.

Adam also had such a wish.

Having always been alone, he had wanted someone who would truly be on his side.

Adam tried to recall the last time he had prayed to God.

When was the last time?

His distant first prayer had already crumbled and disappeared.

The last time was probably when his God abandoned Adam and left.

He had coveted her with his wicked desires, and as if knowing his true feelings, she had left.

So Adam remained alone in the Demon King’s Castle as if atoning.

He chose a path that left behind no glory, honor, or fame.

Yet his God never appeared again to hear his prayers.

However….

Adam smiled slightly.

Like Iberis had done a moment ago, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

The prayer wasn’t long.

When he opened his eyes again, more lanterns than before were decorating the sky.

“Isn’t it beautiful? I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since coming to this place….”

Iberis fixed her gaze on the lanterns flying far away.

Pretty and bright yellow light like Adam’s eyes was rising toward the sky.

Taking in that scene, Iberis spoke in an extremely excited voice.

“What wish did Adam make?”

“…It’s a secret.”

Adam hurriedly sent up his lantern, worried that she might see inside it as she peered around trying to look.

…He didn’t know why he had suddenly changed his wish.

Adam thought himself foolish as he watched the lantern rising into the sky.

‘Just, may these kinds of days continue….’

Noble honor, abundant wealth, and reclaiming his stolen position were all unnecessary.

Adam’s wish had always been to see God once more.

At the very least, he wanted to know the reason she had left him.

He wanted to ask if it was because he couldn’t meet their expectations like other people, or if she had simply grown tired of him.

But strangely, at this very moment, it didn’t seem to matter at all.

It was one of the few nights when God’s absence didn’t come to mind.

Adam looked up at the sky while keeping Iberis’s back in his sight.

Countless lanterns were rising toward the sky.

It was an unforgettable scene, just as Iberis had said.

Normally, he wouldn’t have even come to see the Founding Festival.

Crowded places were noisy, dirty, and chaotic.

Having spent countless hours as a Hero, it was too late for him to be moved by such trivial things.

Killing the Demon King was the only way he could meet others’ expectations.

Adam fidgeted with the inside of the robe he had taken off.

It was an impulsive action.

He hadn’t planned to give it this quickly, but now it seemed like he could give it without any other thoughts.

He had bought it as if enchanted, thinking only of her, but he never expected to actually deliver it right away.

He thought it would end up piled in a corner of his room like the other things he had bought but failed to give.

“Eve, this is a gift.”

“Really?”

At the unexpected words, Iberis’s eyes widened in surprise.

Iberis, who received the earrings, looked as if they might break if she gripped them too hard.

They were earrings the color of her eyes.

Her blue eyes rippled with the light flying around them.

“Actually, I also have a gift prepared for you, Hero.”

Iberis, whose cheeks were slightly flushed perhaps from the lanterns, fumbled around and pulled something out.

They were golden cufflinks with a golden lion, the Imperial Palace’s symbolic animal, drawn on small gemstones.

“Of course, you might not like this sort of thing, Hero….”

“No. I like them. More than anything else.”

Adam smiled like someone receiving a gift for the first time.

Iberis quietly waited for his reaction.

Adam slowly stroked the cufflinks with his finger, then handed them back to her.

“I’d like Eve to put them on for me.”

“Alright.”

Iberis received the cufflinks from him with a careful expression. Adam extended his arm. Iberis attached the buttons to his shirt cuffs with cautious hands.

The golden cufflinks matched well with the white shirt without any sense of discord.

“It suits you well.”

It was the same color as Adam’s eyes.

Seeing it displayed on the stand, Adam immediately came to mind.

It was nice to enjoy the fireworks mixed in among the people, but it was good to watch them together with Adam.

Iberis unknowingly let out a cheerful laugh.

The light of the fireworks spread across Iberis’s face and then disappeared.

Adam gazed endlessly at that sight.

Until the fireworks ended.

Continuously.

* * *

Adam had been frequently visiting the Imperial Palace since the incident on the rainy day.

It seemed like he wasn’t appearing before people, but rather having private meetings with someone.

And it was probably the Emperor, or their close associates. Stories about the Demon King…

‘How frustrating.’

He killed the Demon King alone.

It was a tremendous achievement that no one could find fault with. However, in order to kill the Demon King in a short time, to see the hidden ending, I had him kill the Demon King without any companions and without anyone knowing.

The aftermath brought by that was fierce.

Starting from ‘Is the Demon King really dead?’ to speculation that the Hero had become the Demon King’s minion.

‘Unlike other heroes, he didn’t kill monsters, so it’s even more understandable.’

Did he kill the demons except for Abracxas?

The usual strategy was to kill the monsters living near the Demon King’s Castle, kill the demons guarding the Demon King’s Castle.

And finally kill the Demon King.

However, Adam was exceptionally one who killed the Demon King first.

The demons except for Abracxas, who couldn’t leave the Demon King’s Castle, would have fled.

‘What were their names again…’

Since killing the Demon King was Adam’s role as the Hero, except for Abracxas who always appeared in the role of guarding the castle gate, the remaining demons were distracted or dealt with by other companions.

I spent time absent-mindedly thinking of Adam who had gone to the Imperial Palace again.

Unlike before, Adam didn’t say let’s go first.

Was it because that place was the Imperial Palace?

Thinking in the best way possible, he didn’t take me because he was worried it would be dangerous for me to be in front of the Emperor’s eyes.

Thinking in the worst way…

‘That I’m bothersome.’

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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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