Chapter 51 - Secret
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"The rumor that the demons are regrouping."
Afterward, the rumor, spread by the Commander who had met Geshkafo, spread through villages, nations, and across the continent.
"They say the new Demon King's name is Geshkafo."
"No. I heard it was Beatrice."
"Then would that be fortunate? I heard the former Hero became the Demon King."
"Nonsense!"
Stories spreading from other places mixed in, and the rumors became a jumbled mess of truth and falsehood.
However, no one disputed the fact that, whatever the truth, the demons were attempting to rise again.
And that made the Holy State Alliance, which held sway over the continent, uncomfortable—no, displeased.
"No, is this really okay?"
Above Holy Kratia, or more precisely, in the northernmost snowy mountain region of the continent, lay the nation of Hanumeyer.
It was ruled by Selbaro de Bainemil, known as the 'Northern Ice Wall'.
"The dungeons are getting bigger too, aren't they? Are you listening to me, Brother?"
The one chattering in front of Selbaro, the Emperor of Hanumeyer, was his younger sister, Selimia.
"...Don't get excited."
"Do I look like I'm not excited right now?"
Selimia clutched her pure white hair and shouted.
"Brother, you're the Emperor! Not some soldier guarding the front of a dungeon!"
"Even Lutan, the Emperor of Kratia, guards the front of a dungeon."
"No...! Ugh, seriously!"
Kratia held the power to move the continent even while sitting still.
In contrast, Hanumeyer, which was vast but a harsh land unsuitable for proper farming and with underdeveloped commerce, was gradually declining while merely blocking dungeons.
"In the past, at least the Hero used to look out for you, Brother..." "Selimia."
"What?"
"He was a heretic."
From his throne, though not sitting comfortably, Selbaro spoke.
"Refrain from mentioning him."
"..."
Selimia watched Selbaro silently.
It was a wordless protest.
In the past, the Hero Clay, unlike Kratia who merely exploited other nations under the guise of an alliance, cared for and looked after various parts of the continent.
He investigated nations whose financial situations became precarious when facing war with the demons and encouraged other nations to help them.
The Hero had done what Kratia should have spearheaded through the alliance.
"Brother, do you truly believe the Hero was a heretic?"
"Selimia."
"What's the point of being one of the strongest swords? He's just a coward with no opinion of his own."
Hmph!
Selimia sharply turned her head and stormed out.
Selbaro watched where she disappeared and sighed.
"...Clay."
Indeed, it was hard to believe he was a heretic.
But Selbaro couldn't move to confirm that fact.
This was because the North was always precarious.
Numerous dungeons existed in the North.
Among them was the Ice Dragon's lair.
Because strong monsters constantly flooded from the dungeons, Selbaro had to stay in his place.
He was the Emperor who had to preserve this nation.
"Your, Your Majesty!"
At that moment, someone rushed urgently to Selbaro's front.
It was rude behavior, but Selbaro did not point it out. It was a perfectly natural sight in this place.
"The Ice Dragon has come out of the dungeon again!"
"!"
The Ice Dragon, Freezing.
Even right before the Hero's execution, it had emerged from its lair and turned the country upside down, forcing Selbaro to immediately enter combat.
Regardless of his own opinion, if there was a reason he couldn't attend the Hero's execution, that was it.
CLANK.
Selbaro immediately grabbed his weapons and walked outside.
The flustered minister who had entered followed him.
The throne where Selbaro had just been sitting remained, enveloped in silence.
"..."
At that moment, Selimia, who had gone outside first, came back in.
No, more precisely, she was dragged in.
She looked down at her feet.
A single ice shackle, visible only to her, was fastened around her delicate ankle.
"If only I hadn't been cursed like this."
Selbaro would have been able to leave the palace and rush to the Hero.
And he would have been able to confirm what the truth was.
CLINK.
She held up the shackle, recalling the past.
The sight of Ice Dragon Freezing entering the palace in its polymorphed form.
That day when the disaster bound her with an ice shackle that would never melt.
"...Ha."
Selbaro had asked Holy Kratia for help, but the priests only said they couldn't do anything about it.
But she knew.
Kratia did not want Selbaro to leave the North.
Because he was too honest and would not listen to their words.
Perhaps the Hero could have broken this curse, but she had only greeted him here and hadn't informed him of the curse's existence.
She hoped the Hero wouldn't catch the Ice Dragon's attention.
The Ice Dragon had no interest in the world. It merely lived for itself in this land filled with cold.
The Hero was someone meant to do greater things.
She couldn't attach troublesome flies to him.
"Still, if I had known it would come to this..."
She recalled the stories he told her every time he visited the palace. His gentle voice and bright smile too.
CRUNCH.
Her canine teeth bit into her lip.
White blood flowed down the corners of her mouth.
Perhaps this shackle was now for her own good.
If it were released, even if she gained freedom, she might immediately walk a path leading to death.
CRACK.
However, even she didn't know.
That the shackle fastened to her was gradually cracking.
-Fool!
And at that time, above Selbaro, who had grabbed his weapons and gone out, the Ice Dragon Freezing was shouting.
-How many times have I told you, that girl is not your sister!
Despite the shouts, Selbaro merely swung his sword, preventing Freezing from approaching the palace.
-Your little sister died when she got lost! The one who returned is someone else! Born from your sister's delirium, impersonating her body with ice...
"Shut up."
Selbaro's eyes shone coldly.
"She is my sister."
Selbaro, capable only of protecting, refused to acknowledge the loss he experienced as a child.
"I will definitely eliminate you to break this curse."
-You idiot!
Freezing clenched its mouth shut.
In the past, the Hero who had visited this place must have already known the truth.
He had, out of petty pity, left alive the 'Snow Witch' who might bring a great disaster to the North.
A being that even Freezing itself could only temporarily seal.
The Hero died as if burdened by karma, but this man in front of him was not like that.
With the curse weakening now, Freezing went into battle again to strengthen the structure of the seal.
And,
SPLAT.
"Hah, hah."
Finally, its neck was severed by Selbaro, and it died.
"Kuh, ugh."
Selbaro, fatally wounded, finally fulfilled his mission and collapsed.
And back inside the palace.
"Ah."
Selimia smiled faintly, watching the utterly shattered shackle scatter.
"You still won, Brother."
She slowly took a step.
"Since you've achieved this feat, I'll tell you. He will never die."
CREAK.
The door opened and closed, leaving only the silent throne behind.