The battle was over. The monsters that looked large enough to swallow Pialu left piles of corpses as big as themselves and were all defeated. They could no longer pose a threat to Pialu, and the soldiers burst out in joy. They and their families had reached the edge of death’s door and come back alive. There was nothing that could’ve made them happier—they hugged one another and cheered from the bottom of their hearts that their lives hadn’t been cut short. As big as their happiness was, their reverence for one person grew even greater.
A sword rose above a behemoth large enough to inflict fear with just its size. He was just like the hero they had dreamed of in their youth while playing with tree branches. Perhaps, they were witnessing a great historical scene that would be remembered for generations and generations. People felt a deep sense of awe, and everyone’s eyes landed on Zich as he stood on top of the behemoth’s corpse. No one spared a single glance to the man below gripping his fist tightly with his head lowered.
* * *
“Ahahahahah! Karuwiman Holy Knights are really different!” The commander-in-chief’s mouth was open so wide that one could almost see the insides of his throat, and he kept clapping his hands on top of Zich’s shoulders.
“You swept away that immense army of monsters by yourself! You are just like the heroes in legends! No, considering how your deeds would be spread for generations, you are indeed a hero from the legends!” Then, the commander laughed heartily again, and the people in their surroundings did the same. The cheering for Zich showed no signs of ending.
“Can I ask why you haven’t used the strength you showed us today until now?” The commander’s expression or tone wasn’t accusatory; it seemed like he had already guessed that Zich must have had his own reasons. However, as a commander, he needed to ask the necessary questions.
“I can only use the strength I just showed after meeting specific conditions. I can’t use it whenever.”
“As I thought,” the commander said and didn’t inquire anymore about the power. He knew he would be going too far to dig into an obvious secret skill. Then, he asked, “Couldn’t you have at least given us a heads up, though? We wouldn’t have gone through such a nerve-wracking experience then.”
“Would you have believed me?”
“Well, that’s true.” Although the commander sounded a bit disappointed before, he immediately looked understanding after Zich’s response. Even after seeing Zich’s battle with his own eyes, the commander still thought it lacked believability. If Zich had tried to explain what he was going to do, the commander most likely would have lost faith in Zich instead.
“Also, our battle isn’t really over yet,” Zich said seriously, which didn’t fit the current atmosphere.
“We have to quickly remove all the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations in the Denest Mountain Range. If we don’t, there could be more monster invasions, maybe not as big as the size we saw today, but another one.”
The commander hadn’t been able to control his lips from turning upwards even after he stopped laughing, and he also became serious.
“You are right, Mr. Zich. We can’t say the battle is over yet.” Then, the commander began laying down some commands to his subordinates. The soldiers surrounding Zich also stopped their cheering and became serious. Freeing themselves from the fever of excitement and joy, they soon resumed their usual demeanors. Some moved to clean up after the battle and others headed to the Denest Mountain Range holding artifacts to put a final end to this battle. Yet, the faces of these people looked unlike anything they had shown until now. Without a hint of despair on their expressions, their faces sparkled with hope. Like that, the large-scale monster invasions in Pialu came to an end.
* * *
Zich and his companions stayed in a gigantic mansion. Although Zich had received quite the treatment as one of the important forces for Pialu’s cause and as a Karuwiman Holy Knight, he now received a treatment of a completely different caliber. Before, there had been important fighters in Pialu besides Zich, and Glen also had the title of a Karuwiman Holy Knight like him; however, now that Zich had the status as the only hero who saved Pialu, the treatment he received improved.
The mayor lent Zich and his companions one of the most luxurious mansions in the city, and they placed many housekeepers and servants in the mansion so that they wouldn’t feel any sort of discomfort during their stay. Although Zich should have been relieving his stress from the recent battle without any worries thanks to this splendid treatment, he was growing more and more irritated.
They were all in a large room with a giant bed, elegant furniture, and fancy ornaments—it was the largest room in the mansion that had also been given to Zich. However, Zich wasn’t alone, and all his companions were gathered with him. On the bed, Zich lay on his side with one of his hands supporting his face. He was scowling, which displayed how much discomfort he was feeling. Nowem was lying face-down on top of the room’s thick carpet. He had increased in size several times larger than an average person and lay prone with his tongue hanging out like an animal shot down by a hunter. Of course, Nowem was completely fine. Above him, Lyla was standing with Zich’s sword, Windur, in her hands for some reason. She raised Windur towards the ceiling and burst into laughter.
“Pffft!” She clutched onto her stomach, fell over Nowem’s back, and let out stifled laughter. Tears collected at the edge of her eyes.
“Are you having fun?” Zich said, displeased.
“Of course! It’s fun! You of all people have begun to walk the path of a true hero. There’s nothing more joyful and hilarious than that. Your pose was perfect then.” Then, she got back up again and raised Windur high in the air. Nowem looked up at her when she sat down, so he lowered his head back down and stuck out his tongue.
“Pfff!” Lyla burst out laughing again. Currently, Lyla was imitating Zich’s actions at the end of the battle, and Nowem was imitating the behemoth and pretending to be dead. Moreover, when Lyla climbed up on top of Nowem and raised Windur high in the air, she looked similar to Zich. Compared to Lyla, who was laughing outrightly, the disciples were gathered together in a corner and covering their mouths with red faces. Nothing much would happen to Lyla if she made fun of Zich like this, but if the disciples burst out laughing, they would surely receive serious backlash.
“Hero Zich who saved Pialu!” At Lyla’s shout, the disciples were reaching their limit, but they barely managed to suppress their laughter. It was basically torturous to keep their laughter down.
‘Damn it!’ Zich moved his gaze away from Lyla and sprawled out on the bed. ‘I shouldn’t have copied that bastard.’ Even though he said he was going to act like a hero, this was not an easy task for Zich who lived the opposite life of a hero. When he first regressed, he even asked Lubella what he should do to live a kind life.
To Zich, his strongest impression and idea of a hero came from Glen Zenard. The pose he made at the end was merely a pose that he copied from Glen. Moreover, he had received a very good reaction; there was even talk of building a statue of Zich in that pose. However, the problem was that all of this was an excellent subject matter for Lyla to use to tease him. Even though Zich was unfazed by people’s mockery or teasing as long as he was not embarrassed, he felt intense disgust toward heroes. So he was more than just annoyed at Lyla’s teasing. While Zich’s companions were enjoying their long-awaited leisure (except for Zich who was having an awful time), a sound came from the door.
Knock! Knock! They heard someone knock on the door.
“What’s the matter?” Lyla got off Nowem’s back and shouted towards the door.
The person who knocked on the door was one of the staff members. “There’s someone who is looking for Mr. Hans. Would you like to meet them?”
“Me?” Hans got up from his seat after working hard to suppress his laughter in the corner. He wondered who would be looking for him, and one person came to mind. Yet, he still asked, “Who is it?”
“She introduced herself as Ms. Lara Browning.”
Hans quickly headed towards the door.
* * *
Lara felt uncomfortable in this situation. Even though she had met everyone in this room before, they were basically strangers. Moreover, even though she had conversed with some of the people here before, it was closer to a verbal fight rather than a conversation. However, Lara thought it was fortunate that Hans was at least sitting in front of her.
Hans was the only person that she felt comfortable talking to in this room—no, she felt most comfortable with him in this whole city. The staff placed a teacup in front of her. Lara expressed her thanks and took a sip of tea. It was an expensive tea that fully satisfied even Lara’s taste buds who grew up as a noble. After taking a couple of more sips, she felt as if her heart felt a bit more relaxed.
Hans asked, “Ms. Browning, for what reason have you come here?”
Lara made a bitter smile at his business-like tone. Punch! Lyla kicked Hans’ shin. Even though she was a mage, Lyla was strong enough to beat up a knight apprentice with her bare fists and no mana. Hans rubbed his shin in pain.
Lyla said to Lara, “Please speak comfortably and excuse this guy. He’s a bit crude.”
“Thank you.” Lara slightly bowed towards Lyla. “It’s all right. I know Mr. Hans doesn’t mean it in a bad way.”
“Is that so? Then, that’s fortunate.” Lyla looked at Hans with a surprised expression. She knew that Hans had been hanging out with Lara, but it seemed as if they had gotten closer than she expected. ‘She might really separate from Glen Zenard like Zich wanted.’
When she slightly glanced towards the bed where Zich was, he was looking at Hans and Lara with a pleased expression.
“Shall we leave if you want to talk to him privately?”
Lara shook her head at Lyla’s suggestion. “No. I can’t burden you with that much when I’m an uninvited guest. I didn’t come here to say anything that important. I just wanted to say my farewells before I leave this city. Since I received a lot of help from Mr. Hans, I wanted to also thank him as well.”
“Oh my, are you already leaving? I’m sure that the city is also planning to give a big reward to Mr. Zenard’s party.”
Everyone knew that Zich made the biggest achievement in this incident, but this didn’t mean that other people’s achievements were less notable. The number of achievements that Glen and his party came right below Zich’s achievements. Of course, even then, the difference in their achievements was as big as the space between the sky and the earth.
However, Lara slowly shook her head. She made a bitter smile and said, “Glen, Widne, and Acous are going to stay in the city.”
“What? Then, will you be the only one leaving, Ms. Browning. Ah, perhaps…”
Lara nodded as Lyla looked surprised. “Yes, I left Glen’s party.”
Zich’s eyes gleamed.