Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 89

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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 89

I had quite a headache in the early stages because I rejected Kyrillos without reason, even though he wasn’t evil-natured.

To think I had to leave behind Kyrillos, who had superior stats in every aspect.

However, in playthroughs where I forcibly brought him along, Adam would invariably die before we even reached the Demon King’s Castle.

And I’d have to restart again.

It was probably a bug.

Because if conquering the Demon King’s Castle became too easy, the whole point of strategy guides would disappear.

‘I still don’t understand why he was so resistant back then… but isn’t he perfect for the friend-making project?’

If he had a tail, I had the illusion that it would be spinning like a propeller behind his back.

If the holy knight from the temple was a small Chihuahua, this one was a retriever.

A large dog that loves people so much it rushes toward them the moment it spots them.

“Hero, we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“…I suppose so.”

Kyrillos and Adam had apparently met before!

Judging by Adam’s attitude, they weren’t close, and Kyrillos had probably pestered him one-sidedly like he was doing now.

“Ah, the Hero and I know each other from meeting whenever he visited the Imperial Palace. You stopped by several times before His Majesty’s birthday party.”

Ah, that time!

It must have been one of those days when the Emperor summoned Adam to the Imperial Palace to coax him into handing over the Subjugation Stone.

However, Kyrillos, who knew nothing about this, looked purely delighted.

“When coincidences keep happening, isn’t that fate? Fate ordained by God! Don’t you think so?”

“I wonder.”

Adam answered indifferently, but now that I heard it, he had a point.

After all, I was the one who brought him here.

Though it’s rather humble to attach such a grandiose modifier as fate.

“Does a mage believe in fate? I heard that everyone at the Mage Tower ridicules fatalists.”

“Let them ridicule. When I say I felt it was fate, who’s going to argue with that?”

Wasn’t he embarrassed to bring up such talk in front of the person involved?

Kyrillos was confident in everything, as if he knew no shame.

However, it was a different story that the observer felt embarrassed.

Adam seemed fed up with his confident attitude too, eventually surrendering with “Ah… do as you please,” and seeing him throw up his hands, I decided to leave him be as well.

It struck me anew that Adam was endlessly weak against people who charged forward looking only ahead without any reservations.

Somehow, looking at Kyrillos gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.

No, wait a minute.

‘Don’t tell me I have that same image to Adam?’

That’s very burdensome.

He was looking at Adam with sparkling eyes, as if whatever Adam did was fascinating.

He looked like he was on the verge of cheering at every single gesture Adam made while drinking the herbal tea I had served.

Did he want to see someone get indigestion from the burden of just drinking tea?

Come to think of it, Kyrillos used to admire the Hero.

I didn’t know it was still ongoing in the present tense.

Since nobles usually don’t hesitate to step on those trying to climb up to protect their own rice bowls, his behavior seemed particularly remarkable.

When I unconsciously stared intently at Kyrillos, perhaps noticing the intense gaze, he switched his target to me.

His gentle eyes instantly sparkled like a predator that had spotted prey.

“What’s your name, Miss Maid?”

“Ah, I’m…”

“Don’t act familiar with her.”

A low voice interrupted, sounding displeased. It was Adam, as expected.

Kyrillos looked back and forth between me and Adam as if reading the situation.

“Hmm, the Hero must care for Miss Maid a lot!”

Kyrillos grinned, seemingly not hurt at all.

“Since the Hero I’ve always admired is being so firm, I don’t want to go against his wishes either, so I have no choice! Then Miss Maid, please take care of me?”

However, Adam, who had inserted himself between us, swatted away Kyrillos’s hand.

The hand extended for a handshake became awkward in mid-air.

“Don’t act familiar either.”

“Ah…”

If Kyrillos had animal ears, they would have visibly drooped.

Our Potato doesn’t get disappointed because he’s been rejected by the Hero so many times.

Rather, I was more restless than Adam, like someone who had accidentally stepped on their pet’s paw.

However, Kyrillos soon smiled brightly.

No matter how much of a wall Adam put up, I could only watch with fascination as Kyrillos brought in excavators to demolish that wall.

‘Is there any popcorn?’

My wariness toward Kyrillos had long since crumbled.

I watched with interest to see who would be the victor in this confrontation.

“But why? Why can’t I act familiar?”

“Because we’re not close.”

Even so, did he have to cut him off so bluntly!

‘Our Kyrillos gets hurt too!’

If he could read my thoughts, he would have asked when I’d seen him enough to call him ‘our’ Kyrillos.

However, I was already projecting my past self onto Kyrillos, making objective evaluation impossible.

‘Don’t give up, Kyrillos! Don’t lose to that sharp-tongued cat!’

I wanted to shout at Adam, but I held back because Kyrillos was right there.

“Then we just need to become close, right?”

“How can we become close when we have no business with each other?”

“We can create some!”

Kyrillos chuckled and smiled, folding his gentle eyes.

And then…

“Miss Maid! I brought famous cakes from the capital!”

Sometimes he’d come with both hands full of desserts from the capital’s famous bakery,

“Miss Maid! Isn’t this a monster? But it’s incredibly docile? It’s different from what I’ve hunted so far… Its name is Potato? Hahaha!”

He detected Potato, whom we’d been secretly hiding, with magic and greeted him warmly.

“Miss Maid! Why does the Hero keep glaring at me like that? Ah, because I’m doing this kind of thing? What kind of thing?”

His storm-like encounters with us never seemed to end.

As if he’d keep his word once spoken, he really did create business to come by.

And that business was trivial stuff.

Like seeing a monster in the forest wearing a hood that looked like one he’d seen on Miss Maid before.

Or bringing a bouquet thinking it would please the Hero, only to have it slammed to the ground.

Adam was stressed by his every action.

Eventually, with such a large crack appearing in our peaceful daily life, Adam’s explosion was a foregone conclusion.

“That’s enough. Marquis Evant.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“The reason you came all the way down here wasn’t to engage in trivial chatter.”

Only after Adam mentioned it did I realize that Kyrillos’s first appearance was suspicious.

There must be a clear reason why Kyrillos, whom I hadn’t even made into a companion, suddenly appeared.

I’d been caught up in his pace and forgotten something important all this time.

“Ah, that’s right!”

Kyrillos clapped his hands as if just remembering.

Since he seemed to have completely forgotten too, I held my forehead.

I felt sorry for briefly suspecting that he was hiding ulterior motives to win our favor and then stab us in the back.

“Have you perhaps seen a child like this?”

Kyrillos pulled out a piece of paper from his chest and showed it to us.

It was a portrait of a boy who appeared to be about eight years old, with vague features as if drawn from a general description.

Kyrillos said he had come down to investigate because missing person cases had been occurring frequently in this area lately.

He added that he had come to see the Hero’s face while he was at it, but forgot his original purpose.

I examined the portrait carefully, then shook my head and said.

“Unfortunately, it’s not a face I’ve seen before. If I happen to encounter him, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you. Kind Maid.”

“Still, you probably won’t need much help from us. The Marquis’s information network would be much more useful.”

Kyrillos didn’t deny it and nodded obediently.

Then he cut the mont blanc he had brought in half with his fork.

“Yes. Mages usually prefer being locked up in their chambers, so I’m the only one suitable for legwork. It’s ridiculous that this request came to the Mage Tower. No one would want to get involved in such troublesome business.”

Kyrillos grumbled that if they truly wanted to find the boy, they should have sent the Royal Knights instead of him.

As he said, mages disliked working outside, and this applied to Kyrillos as well.

“But strangely, His Majesty told me to investigate the Demon King’s Castle?”

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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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