Zich looked behind him. There was a woman bowing low while heaving with her hands on her knees like she had hurriedly chased after him. The most notable part about the woman was her bright yellow hair. It was trimmed neatly and hung over the shoulders, wavering every time she took a breath. After recollecting her breath, she straightened her back and her black eyes shot towards Zich.
She was a hard-to-come-by beauty, and even the light freckles on her cheeks added to her charm.
“Did you call me?” Zich asked. She nodded eagerly.
“Y-Yes, I did! You are sir Zich, right? The one who saved Violuwin…!” She then fumbled through her bag and pulled out a rolled piece of paper. When she opened it up, there was a portrait of Zich’s face. Unlike the portraits of heroes that were on sale in the streets that contrasted the real faces of Zich’s companions, the portrait she was holding was remarkably accurate. Anyone would have been able to pick out Zich with just this painting.
“It was a really expensive item! Very hard to get too! I’m sure there isn’t another portrait that’s drawn as accurately as this one!” She smiled prettily and gleamed with excitement. Zich stared at the portrait.
‘It seems like someone who knows my face has drawn it. The artist’s skills are considerable too.’ It was clear that the item was pricey and rare, and Zich nodded in agreement. “I think the title of hero is too much, but it is true that I’m the person who helped when monsters ambushed Violuwin.”
“It really is you!” She grabbed both her hands and jumped up and down. Still, she clutched the portrait carefully so she wouldn’t crumple it. “Ah, I almost forgot!” She searched through her bag again and pulled out a pen and ink.
“If it isn’t too much of a bother, could you sign here…?”
Zich laughed in astonishment when he saw her pen. It was already soaked in ink, and with it, he signed his signature elegantly on the lower right corner of the portrait.
“Could you also write, ‘To dear Marilyn Frill?!”
“Is that your name?”
“Ah! I forgot to tell you my name!” As if she had witnessed the sky crashing down, she let out a small shriek and quickly introduced herself. “My name is Marilyn Frill! Sir Zich, I have admired you ever since you saved Violuwin!”
“Uh, Ms. Frill?”
“Please call me Marilyn!”
“Ms. Marilyn, could you please quiet down first?” Zich had disguised himself so that other people wouldn’t notice him, but it was about to become meaningless now. The people in his surroundings were even beginning to show an interest in him. It wasn’t that his identity was revealed, but the small commotion had attracted some attention. However, it seemed like he would be found out if he let Marilyn go on.
“Ah, s-sorry!” Marilyn covered her lips and arched her head low. Her voice became much quieter than before.
“It’s fine, miss. Just please keep your voice low like now.”
“Yes!” she clasped her hands together and answered. “But Sir Zich…” While addressing him as politely as she could, she took a step closer to Zich with admiring eyes. They were already too close considering that they were a man and woman meeting for the first time, but Marilyn didn’t seem to mind such matters. “Why did you come to Violuwin again? Where are your other companions? Ah, perhaps…!”
As if she realized something, her eyes turned wide. “Is Violuwin going to be ambushed by monsters again…!”
Her voice rose to an even higher level than a scream, and Zich blocked Marilyn’s mouth. They received attention from their surroundings again from more people than before. It didn’t seem like they recognized Zich, but he couldn’t feel relieved about it. ‘They are not looking at me like a criminal, but their glares are still pretty suspicious.’
If they caused any more commotion, someone might call the guards. Although some time passed, the city had been attacked by a swarm of monsters; furthermore, since this place was a tourist city, surveillance was much better than other places.
Zich took his hands off Marilyn. He had to get rid of the gazes that were suspecting him as a criminal trying to forcefully kidnap a girl.
“Didn’t I ask you to lower your voice?”
“I’m so sorry! I got too excited!”
Marilyn nodded again. Most people turned their attention away after seeing that. They made sure that Zich wasn’t someone trying to kidnap a woman in the middle of the day. Yet, it wasn’t like he was able to free himself from all the gazes.
“Let’s change locations first.” As soon as Zich suggested it, Marliyn’s eyes sparkled.
“TWould I be able to meet the other heroes?” she asked. It seemed like she also wanted to see Lyla, Hans, and Snoc. She rolled back the portrait with Zich’s signature and put it in her bag. When Zich peeked inside, he saw three more rolled pieces of paper and guessed what they were.
“Um, I have to think more about that…”
“What? Would I not be able to meet them!” Her voice grew louder and attracted attention from her surroundings once again.
Zich sighed and said, “Fine, let’s go.” He was a hundred percent sure that she was calculating all her actions.
* * *
“Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” She exclaimed in admiration exactly four times while comparing the portraits she was holding to Zich’s companions. In the end, she took out Zich’s portrait and compared it with him again.
‘She really does like me.’ Zich wasn’t being narcissistic. Even though Zich wasn’t stingy about complimenting himself, he was more cautious about people liking him; however, he wasn’t mistaken that Marilyn liked him.
Rather than showing romantic interest, Marilyn showed so much admiration for Zich that a five-year-old kid passing by to look for places to play would have easily noticed her affection.
“Ah? You’ve gotten one more companion?” Marilyn said this while looking at Elena.
“Another companion joined us while traveling.”
“So you’re saying that she’s a new hero candidate!”
“A h-hero candidate! I’m not such an amazing person! I’m just learning magic from my teacher, Ms. Lyla!” Elena quickly denied such claims, but it didn’t seem like Marily accepted this explanation
“I understand! So the new hero candidate is a disciple of a hero!”
“A new hero…I’m not a great enough person to receive such an astounding title!”
“Oh my, but isn’t it fine? Ms. Lyla is a renowned hero in Violuwin, so I doubt that someone like her would carelessly choose someone to be her disciple. So if I may ask for your name…”
“I’m Elena Dwayne.”
“I’m sure that Ms. Elena will definitely become an amazing hero. You’re even traveling with the other heroes as well.”
“I don’t think I’ll become such an amazing person…”
“You have an amazing teacher, right? So I’m sure you’ll definitely become an amazing hero.”
Elena hesitated. Even though she thought that Marilyn’s assessment of her ability was exaggerated, it was hard to deny her words since Marilyn’s overestimation of her ability was based on Lyla, her admirable teacher. Marilyn passed Elena while she could not find the right words to say and officially began addressing the other companion.
“You must be the Sun Hero, Mr. Hans! The bright light emanating from your brilliant sword must be truly fantastic!”
Hans awkwardly replied, “Ah, t-thank you.” Even though he had gotten quite used to harsh travels and battles, he wasn’t used to such direct compliments yet. Moreover, his nickname as the Sun Hero was also embarrassing. On the other hand, he also felt happy. It felt as if his dream was slowly coming true. This was also the same for Snoc.
“The one holding the small mole must be the Earth Hero, Mr. Snoc! Your ability to lift the earth and drop it is truly formidable!”
“T-thank you.” Snoc’s reaction was not much different from Hans’. Compared to him, Nowem loudly cried, “Koo!”
“And you must be Ms. Lyla! The one who annihilated monsters with her powerful magic! You’re an astounding beauty at that! I’ve heard that men clutched their hearts after seeing you and couldn’t fall asleep!”
“Thank you.” Unlike Hans and Snoc, Lyla calmly accepted Marilyn’s compliments. However, Lyla felt overwhelmed by her disciple’s admiring eyes, and she tried her absolute best to not turn towards Elena standing next to her.
“And…!” Marilyn stared at Zich. She amplified the sparkle in her eyes a hundred times more. “The leader of this party of heroes and the hero swept the monsters in this city with his overwhelming strength! Even his name is the Strength Hero! The very picture of a hero who led three other heroes to save Violuwin in the midst of danger!”
Marilyn took one step towards Zich and said, “Sir Zich!”
“Hmm, yes, I am in fact Zich.” Zich withdrew a step back as if he found this quite wearisome. Even though Zich had no qualms about people complimenting him, this type of compliment was too painful for him. After all, wasn’t she complimenting him as a hero?
‘It makes me want to throw up.’ Zich’s complexion became pale. Even though Marilyn was able to perform the astounding feat of making Zich pale in horror and take a step back, she seemed completely oblivious to her achievement. She merely looked around and made a bright smile.
“I never imagined that I would be able to directly meet the heroes of Violuwin like this. I wonder if this is all just a dream!” Marilyn pinched her cheeks. It seemed as if she put a lot of strength into it since her cheeks immediately reddened. The pain must have been intense, but her cheerful face didn’t change in the slightest.
“It really is real!” Rather than pain, it seemed as if her happiness was much greater. “Ah, I can’t believe I almost forgot!” She quickly shuffled through her bag and took out portraits of them.
Hans, Snoc, and Lyla were startled as Marilyn pushed their portraits toward them and a pen dipped in ink. However, they soon carefully signed their names on their respective portraits. Even though most of them merely wrote their names in clear handwriting, Marilyn was extremely happy with them.
Koo!
There was even Nowem’s footprint in ink next to Snoc’s signature. She also received Elena’s signature. Marilyn’s claim was that since Elena was going to definitely be an amazing hero in the future while following the other companions, she needed to get a signature in advance. After getting everyone’s signatures, Marilyn looked at them and creepily smiled. She looked almost mad that the other companions unconsciously took a step back.
Zich asked, “Have you fulfilled all your goals?”
“Yes, I have! I can’t believe I’m this lucky!”
“Are you that happy about meeting us?”
“Yes, beyond words!”
“Then do you want to have a meal with us?”
Marilyn’s lips shut close. It was obvious that she couldn’t believe her luck, but that was only for a moment. She passionately nodded her head. “If it won’t trouble you, I will gladly accept that offer!”
“Would you be able to come here again during dinner time?”
“I will definitely come! No matter what happens, I’ll come! Even if all my legs and arms are broken, I’ll still come!”
“You don’t have to go that far.”
However, even Zich’s dissuasion couldn’t stop her passion. Marilyn hummed as if she had received the best present in her life and left their lodging.
Lyla asked Zich, “What are you thinking?”
Zich’s current action was completely different from their original goal of disguising themselves to avoid getting their identities discovered.
Zich shrugged and pointed at Hans and Snoc. “I think this is a good opportunity. It’ll be good for those two to experience what type of reaction they’ll receive for the kind acts they did.”
So far, Hans and Snoc had never received any compensation or praise for all the hero-like actions they did. Even when they did good deeds and people began praising them, Zich quickly left the city to move on with their travels. If they talked to a person who received their help and found out what kind of thoughts they had, it would’ve had a positive effect on their motivation. Hans and Snoc felt embarrassed about Zich’s words.
“That’s not the only thing, right?”
Zich immediately nodded at Lyla’s question. “Yeah. There’s another reason, but you also know about it, right?”
“Yep, that’s true.”
Marilyn Frill. She was someone that was in Zich and Lyla’s memories. Before his regression, she was the last member of Demon Lord Zich Moore’s four subordinates—the Witch, Marilyn Frill.
Zich had not expected that he would meet her here.