Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 98

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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 98

At that time, Adam had clearly said that he was the Emperor’s right-hand man.

The fact that he was here now was definitive proof that this incident was also orchestrated by the Emperor.

‘What on earth did Adam do wrong!’

The man who had hesitated upon seeing Adam threw his dagger at him with all his strength.

It was aimed not at Kyrillos who was right in front, but at Adam who was behind him.

It was clearly a deliberate attack targeting him.

However, Adam lightly twisted his body to dodge the blade. Rather, Adam’s sword swiftly sliced through the side of the man whose stance had crumbled from the recoil.

Realizing that his confident strike had failed, the man moved his body.

“You shall not pass!”

A wall created by magic blocked the man’s path. However, the man raised his sword and swung it multiple times in a short period, destroying the wall.

“…!”

As if expecting this, Adam immediately gave chase without delay.

“Kugh!”

And before Adam could even reach him, the man suddenly let out a death groan, then collapsed as his arms went limp.

Seeing this, Kyrillos quickly rushed over to check his pulse.

“Damn it…. He killed himself.”

He stood up, grinding his teeth.

“Naturally, it seems he was commissioned by someone with a very powerful backer above him.”

Kyrillos said while examining the dead man.

“The fact that he committed suicide, and that this appears to be something where the mastermind cannot be revealed. Also, he was quite skilled.”

“Magic didn’t work well on him either. He swung his sword a few times and broke through Kyrillos’s barrier.”

Kyrillos nodded with a frustrated expression.

“…What he used when swinging his sword to break my barrier was definitely Imperial Palace swordsmanship. It’s a habit that becomes ingrained in anyone who spent several years as an apprentice knight in the Imperial Palace.”

Kyrillos muttered while gazing into the air.

He seemed lost in thought, retracing the past. His face showed that he too had realized this incident was connected to the Imperial family.

“Preventing us from extracting information…. Whoever it is seems to hate the Hero intensely.”

To deliberately stage this as a monster attack and direct the arrows of blame toward the Hero.

“Will people believe us when we couldn’t capture the culprit alive?”

“Let’s make it clear that this was a murder case, not a monster attack. If I say I caught the culprit, that side won’t be able to move rashly either.”

The “that side” Adam was referring to was surely the Emperor.

What kind of deep resentment does the Emperor harbor to do this to Adam?

My fists trembled with uncontrollable rage.

“Ah, this must have been too gruesome for the maid to see, right? Shall we go get some fresh air together?”

Though it was trembling from anger, Kyrillos seemed to think she was scared from seeing the corpse, so he changed the subject with a grinning face.

Normally, Iberis would have laughed and let his shameless attitude slide, but her eyes were calmly settled with fury.

Adam, who had been touching his chin in thought, opened his mouth.

“Didn’t it seem like he deliberately changed direction at the end?”

“It does seem that way.”

Kyrillos recalled the man’s unnatural movements and nodded.

“Usually, those who flee tend to escape to places they know best. But then to suddenly twist his body and head to a dead end….”

“It seems like something is hidden over there.”

“In a shantytown like this, anything could turn up….”

Born a nobleman, Kyrillos, no matter how he was taught to be unpretentious, would have wanted to leave this place immediately.

A place that stank, where the poor lived.

Or had lived.

Having chased the man deep into such a place, this area had an eerie atmosphere.

“Of course, this might be too much speculation.”

Wanting to escape this place as soon as possible, Kyrillos urged Adam on.

“You surely cast a tracking spell first when you encountered the man.”

“…That’s correct.”

Kyrillos seemed inwardly surprised.

In a confrontation with an enemy, since he couldn’t kill them in one strike, he would first cast a tracking spell, then pursue them while creating attack magic.

He found it amazing that the Hero knew this habit of his that no one else knew.

“Could you tell us?”

Kyrillos nodded, then squinted his left eye to focus on the flow of mana.

“Hmm, he briefly went left.”

Adam, as if something was bothering him, retraced their steps following Kyrillos’s explanation.

Iberis, seemingly unafraid of such places, hurried along behind him.

Kyrillos scratched the back of his head and followed after them.

“I’ll come with you too, Hero!”

What entered Kyrillos’s view as he followed them at a slight distance was Iberis.

Iberis truly didn’t belong in a place like this.

He didn’t even know why she followed the Hero and served him in the first place.

‘It doesn’t seem like an ordinary master-servant relationship.’

If anything, Iberis was closer to playing the role of the master.

Kyrillos approached her and whispered.

“Aren’t you scared, maid? There was a corpse, and well, coming to such a gloomy place too.”

“Because the Hero is here. If you have faith that he can resolve any dangerous situation, there’s nothing to fear!”

“You really trust the Hero a lot.”

Fire is red, the sea is blue.

Iberis’s tone was calm, as if stating obvious facts.

Kyrillos found this attitude quite curious and questioned her persistently.

Iberis smiled mysteriously and asked him.

“In your view, isn’t the Hero a trustworthy person?”

At her question that seemed to pierce through his true feelings, Kyrillos’s mouth, which had been moving smoothly, lost its way and stopped.

“Well. Honestly, I’m not sure. But I want to trust him. That’s probably why I keep talking to you, maid. Asking for reassurance.”

It was a strange feeling. Kyrillos raised his head and shifted his gaze to Adam walking ahead.

“Then trust him.”

“….”

“Because Adam will never betray Kyrillos.”

Kyrillos, who felt a strange nostalgia at Iberis’s words, was just about to open his mouth.

Then Adam’s footsteps quickened.

“Wait a moment.”

Leaving those words, Adam headed toward one place.

It was a dilapidated shack in a dark alley.

When he removed the makeshift covering patched over a hole in the roof, children could be seen inside.

They were small bodies that didn’t belong in this place untouched by human footsteps.

Looking at their clothes, they were commoner children.

They hadn’t been kidnapped for ransom.

They were clearly brought here to further inflate the rumors that monsters devour young children.

“This…!”

Kyrillos, who entered belatedly, was outraged at the sight, but remembering Iberis behind him, he bit his lips and swallowed his anger.

“…Crazy bastard. To capture children and keep them like this. Hero, are the children alive?”

“Fortunately, they’re all safe.”

Adam checked their pulses, confirmed they were breathing, and let out a sigh of relief.

Kyrillos threw the dagger he had taken from the man earlier to Adam.

With delicate hands, he cut the ropes binding the children.

“Uh, mommy….”

When he untied the string around their mouths, an awake child sobbed and shed tears.

Adam looked at Kyrillos with a troubled expression.

He naturally lowered his posture toward the child and slowly took their hand.

“We came to rescue you. We’ll save you before the bad villains come, so shh. The villains might come, so let’s be quiet.”

“Y-yes….”

The child followed Kyrillos’s lead and covered their mouth with their hand, but their face still showed lingering fear.

Adam became even more frightened when he saw the sharp dagger that was cutting the ropes binding the children.

“This isn’t meant to hurt you….”

“This person is the Hero!”

Adam seemed to struggle with dealing with the children and stammered as he tried to make excuses.

That’s when Kyrillos interjected.

The child’s face lit up at his words.

As if the fear they had felt moments ago had vanished, their eyes sparkled as they asked.

“The Hero? Really?”

“Yes, of course! The very Hero from the fairy tales! That dagger is the holy sword the Hero used to kill the Demon King. He’s going to rescue you with that sword.”

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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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