Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 91

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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 91

The boy, unfamiliar with the capital’s geography, quickly entered a dead-end street.

“Huff, huff. I caught you…”

“Eek…”

I caught my breath and looked at the boy who was breaking out in a cold sweat as he stared at the high wall.

Upon spotting me, the boy hastily tried to climb the wall to escape.

However, before he could reach the top, he lost his footing and fell down.

“Ah, be careful…!”

But the boy flailed helplessly in the air before falling to the ground with a loud crash.

I hurriedly approached him to check his condition.

He was breathing, but he seemed to have hit his head during the fall and couldn’t open his eyes.

“Hero!”

Just then, seeing Adam who had followed me, my face brightened with relief.

‘Adam should be able to assess the child’s condition well, right?’

However, Adam who ran to me immediately cupped my cheek gently.

“Are you okay, Eve?”

There’s a boy collapsed right in front of us – is this really the time to worry about me?

I nodded in bewilderment.

Only after confirming that I wasn’t hurt did Adam’s gaze turn to the boy.

“But this child… doesn’t he strangely resemble the child from the flyer that Kyrillos showed us?”

“I think so too.”

Adam touched his chin with a troubled expression.

He seemed reluctant at the thought of calling back Kyrillos, whom he had just sent away.

“I was hoping he could escape without being noticed by him, since he’s the child the Imperial Palace is looking for…”

“But he’s fallen right before our eyes.”

Adam added in a small voice.

Could it be that Adam knew from the moment we were pickpocketed that he was the boy from the flyer?

“Why is the Imperial Palace looking for this child in the first place? He doesn’t seem particularly special…”

Judging by how he fell while trying to climb a wall taller than Adam, and how he pickpocketed with skills even I could notice, he didn’t seem accustomed to such activities.

He didn’t look like a nobleman, but rather a well-raised commoner boy?

“Perhaps he saw something at the Imperial Palace that he shouldn’t have.”

“That’s possible…”

Still, the boy was quick thanks to his small frame.

I almost lost him myself, didn’t I?

I only caught him because he ran into a dead end, being unfamiliar with the capital’s geography.

If this child had seen something critical at the Imperial Palace, and while they were panicking, he escaped at high speed…

And if he had an accomplice helping him, it would be difficult but not impossible.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Kyrillos about it?”

This is my chance to make Kyrillos his friend…!

I looked at Adam with ambitious eyes.

Though he looked troubled, he eventually nodded.

“We came out alone together for once, but we have to return like this.”

“…”

Was that really the reason for his reluctance?

Despite saying that, Adam bent his knees and carefully lifted the boy into his arms.

“Let’s go out again next time.”

Adam spoke as if he were comforting me for being disappointed.

No, you look more disappointed than I am, though?

But I secretly kept that thought to myself.

Adam seemed unaware that he was being affectionate toward me.

I wanted to monopolize his affection just a little longer.

* * *

Kyrillos, who came running at full speed, had a purely delighted expression.

“Hero. You say no with your words, but your body is honest!”

“…Stop saying strange things. Why are you looking for the boy from the flyer you mentioned before? If it were a simple missing person case, you wouldn’t go to the Mage Tower.”

“Ah? Hmm… Well. Honestly, I’m not really interested. Oh, I think they said he was a witness.”

“A boy who doesn’t even look ten years old?”

“Hmm… Now that I think about it, that is strange, isn’t it?”

Just as he had said with his own mouth that neither the Imperial Palace nor the Mage Tower would ever dream of him achieving merit, Kyrillos looked clueless despite being the person involved.

He really wasn’t thinking about anything…

“Hmm…? That’s strange. They definitely said he was an important witness. That he would be connected to the missing person case too…”

“Who said that?”

“His Majesty.”

Kyrillos pondered with a “hmm.”

Adam listened to his words and took a moment to choose his words.

Then he met eyes with me, who had been staring intently at him.

‘Something is strange after all, right?’

I mouthed the words to him. Adam nodded without answering.

It was when Adam looked at Kyrillos again and opened his mouth.

“Then Kyril…”

“But Hero, you sometimes speak casually to me? I like it! It feels like we’re close friends or something.”

“…”

Adam closed his mouth.

It seemed he hadn’t even realized he had been speaking informally.

The Adam I had observed so far sometimes acted casually toward Kyrillos, as if treating him like a comfortable friend.

At first, I thought he was being curt because Kyrillos was so clingy and he wanted him to get tired and give up quickly, but seeing Adam’s “oops” expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I was rude. I apologize if I was impolite.”

“No? I said I liked it. This is also fate and destiny, so shall we speak casually? Like friends!”

“I’ll decline.”

Once again, Kyrillos made an embarrassing “hiiing” sound and was visibly disappointed.

Kyrillos completely slumped over the table.

His mumbling voice echoed.

“Why, Hero? I want to become close as if I’ve known you for decades… That’s why I come running immediately even when you suddenly call me…”

“…”

“I’m really not usually like this… I’m serious.”

Kyrillos smoothed down his disheveled hair and smiled.

I have no idea what Adam is thinking.

“So what did His Majesty say?”

Adam, who had been strangely silent while Kyrillos was speaking, changed the subject.

To a stranger, he would look like a taciturn person who ignored Kyrillos’s goodwill and only cared about work-related matters.

But to me, Adam seemed to be afraid.

‘Of what?’

It felt familiar, like a scene I had seen somewhere before.

‘During the fire… Similar to how he looked just before discovering me.’

I watched them thoughtfully.

“But if you’re suddenly asking about the boy from the flyer, could it be…?”

“That’s right. Actually, we were pickpocketed by that boy on the street earlier. So we had our wallet stolen and ended up returning early.”

I didn’t mention that the child was currently sleeping in an empty room at the Demon King’s Castle.

“Hmm…”

Kyrillos seemed to think for a moment, then took a round crystal orb and went into the room.

And I could hear the sound of them saying something, but I couldn’t make out the actual words.

Of course, I could have listened if I tried harder, but….

“No, I was just purely curious…!”

“If it were pure curiosity, you wouldn’t be pressing your ear against the door to eavesdrop.”

Tch, I was easily restrained by Adam’s touch.

All my effort of quickly pressing my ear to the door as soon as Kyrillos entered was wasted.

I grumbled and asked.

“Hero, Adam, aren’t you curious?”

“He’s not the type to hide his inner thoughts. If you ask him, he’ll spill everything in detail, so asking him directly would be enough.”

Would that really be the case? He went into the room with such a serious expression.

What if he trusts the Emperor more and won’t tell us!

However, when Kyrillos soon came out of the room, I composed my expression as if nothing had happened.

“You said that child was a pickpocket? I asked a magician colleague of mine about the detailed circumstances, and he said she’s the child of an Imperial Palace maid who ran away with something important.”

“….”

“What could it be? If they really wanted to find it, they wouldn’t have assigned it to me.”

Kyrillos was well aware of how the world viewed him.

A scoundrel. The Duke of Evant’s troublemaker.

Various derogatory names followed him around.

He had an indifferent expression about it.

Rather, he seemed to like those derogatory names because they meant he didn’t have to fulfill his duties as a Marquis.

“You said your wallet was stolen, right? Shall I help you? If you give me just one strand of hair, I can roughly locate where it is!”

He put away his crystal ball and spoke with a confident expression.

Rather than being an unmotivated scoundrel, he seemed to have excessive enthusiasm.

“There’s no need for the Marquis to go through such trouble.”

The same person who had smiled at the commoners we met in the marketplace was strangely giving only stiff replies to Kyrillos.

As if he would absolutely never let him get close.

He was acting the same way he did when pushing me away.

“…Ah, I see.”

Kyrillos rubbed his neck as if feeling awkward.

“But if you need help, please let me know anytime!”

However, Kyrillos was also quite a formidable man.

He moved as if he couldn’t even see the wall Adam had put up.

Adam replied to him a few times with annoyance, then got up from his seat as if the conversation wasn’t getting through.

“Eve, let’s go.”

“…Ah, yes!”

I, who had been watching their battle of nerves, was singled out by him and got up from my seat.

When I bowed my head to Kyrillos, who was left alone, he waved his hand with a smile as if telling me not to worry.

“He won’t come anymore.”

“…Do you really think so?”

Adam was probably underestimating Kyrillos’s persistence.

He didn’t know how tenacious a person could become.

Even though Adam had experienced what I put him through, he still didn’t know how scary people who burn with stubbornness could be.

‘Kyrillos showed no signs of backing down at all.’

Hang in there, Adam.

I patted his head.

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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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