Chapter 28 - Escaped

Chapter 28 : Escaped

Alendros the Third of the Romana Kingdom was hailed as the Hero King by his people.

However, the starting point of his life was anything but easy.

Because his mother was a commoner, his claim to the throne was nonexistent. His father and step-siblings didn’t even treat him as royalty.

Thus, he abandoned his status as royalty as soon as he became an adult, starting over as an adventurer.

Thanks to his talent and upbringing, he quickly rose through the ranks as an adventurer. Eventually, he became one of few platinum-rank adventurers in the latter half of his twenties.

By then, he could return to the royal palace with his current status, but a disaster-class monster appeared in his motherland.

When his step-siblings, starting from the crown prince, abandoned the kingdom and fled to another country, he fought that monster along with his comrades. After a long and fierce battle, they killed it.

Feeling disappointment in his siblings, Alendros the Third understood that he had to lead the kingdom to become a better place, so he usurped the throne.

Even though there was slight resistance during the early years of his reign, he received overwhelming support from the citizens and safely established his own faction.

For the above reason, his personal declaration, 「The Royal Capital is safe」 had managed to calm the turmoil in the kingdom.

「I’ve heard about that undead. I’ll personally led our army if he comes.」

「His Majesty subjugated a disaster-class monster before. This time, I’m sure that he’ll protect this kingdom again.」

In this way, the unrest within the kingdom was suppressed to a minimum. There were no riots, even when people learned of the order to restrict traffic in and out of the Royal Capital.

Naturally… not all people believed Alendros the Third’s declaration.

A certain inn in the Royal Capital.

There was a certain guest who didn’t dare to come out from their room even during mealtime.

「Can you hear me, dear guest? You’re a famous adventurer, right? Are you really going to seclude yourself in your room like this? Shouldn’t you leave your room and help His Majesty on the frontlines like the other adventurers?」

「S-Shut up! I have my own circumstances!」

The one who shouted at the owner of the inn with a tearful face was a certain red-headed adventurer.

Moreover, she was a platinum-rank adventurer, a rank which could only be obtained by one percent of adventurers.

「AAAH, why must he come to the Royal Capital of all places!」

Wrapping herself in a blanket, Estina tried to seclude herself in one corner of the room and trembled in fear.

At first, she thought that the Royal Capital was safe. But that undead turned out to be heading to this very place, and she could feel her anxiety growing by the day.

「Is he… chasing after me? He wants to kill me for sure this time! AAAH! Why did they suddenly prohibit the traffic to and from the Royal Capital! Are you trying to prevent me from escaping this place?!」

Estina was already at wit’s end.

Then, the owner of the inn spoke to her.

「Don’t worry, dear guest. His Majesty will do something about that undead. I mean, he subjugated a disaster-class monster before.」

「You only say that since you’ve never see that monster with your own fu*cking eyes!」

Estina then recalled the event that transpired on that fateful day.

The monster didn’t even flinch from her most powerful, ultimate attack—he wasn’t hurt a scratch.

「He might be the Hero King, but I don’t think he can win against that monster… And then, as soon as you’ve lost your Hero King, the Royal Capital will fall… And all of us will become UNDEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!」

The inn’s owner heaved a sigh upon hearing the reply from his guest.

「… Anyways, please keep your voice down since you’re disturbing the other guests. Well, it seems the guest in the room next to yours has the same opinion as you.」

After he said so, his eyes glanced at the room next to Estina’s with a troubled look on his face.

「Don’t come… please don’t come to this place…」

He heard the voice that was leaking from the crack. It was the desperate voice of someone trying to stay away from something.

The one who rented that room was a merchant-like man named James.

「He must be coming after me… So I really am going to die… Aah, w-what should I do now?! The fear I feel from that time…」

The inn’s owner knocked on the door angrily upon hearing that ghastly voice.

「D-Dear guest! Can you move out of this room immediately?! I don’t really care even if you want to die, but please die outside!」

◇　◇　◇

===A Certain Patriotic King Who Want to Die in Battle===

「Your Highness! The undead called No Life King is already less than five kilometers away from the Royal Capital! Judging from his direction, his destination is definitely here!」

「… I see」

I nodded upon hearing the report from my soldier.

「As expected of His Majesty, unlike us… he hasn’t even flinched upon hearing the news about the undead.」

「To be so composed even when facing against the incoming great disaster-class monster…」

「That must be because he has the confidence to defeat that monster. As expected, our kingdom is safe as long as His Majesty is alive.」

I heard that kind of praise sung repeatly every now and then.

But contrary to that, I heaved a deep sigh inside.

… Good grief, all of them were completely relying on me.

What would become of this kingdom if something happened to me?

Hero King.

I’d been called that title for a long time.

Until the reign of the previous king, our Romana Kingdom—so prideful of its tradition and history—was being pressured by the rapidly growing neighboring kingdom.

Thus, as soon as I took over the throne, I rebuilt the kingdom in just one generation with my powerful leadership and made the Romana Kingdom great again.

But I, of all people, knew that the existence called “Hero King” was a double-edged sword.

One look from me was enough to make anyone obey my order.

They were starting to forget to think with their own heads, reduced to tools that only knew how to follow my orders.

This kingdom had lost the people who could think on their own.

But still…

「SEE MY FIGHT WITH YOUR OWN EYES!」

I raised a cry, urging the people to see my death.

I would fight a great disaster-class monster in a few minutes by myself.

I had a record of defeating a disaster-class monster once, a long time ago.

But that alone was far from enough to guarantee my victory against the great disaster-class monster.

Nevertheless, I had no intention of dying that easily. I would defeat that monster to protect this kingdom, even at the cost of my own life.

Yes, there was no doubt that I would die in this battle.

But I accepted that as the price for the future of this kingdom.

My existence had already become deadly cancer for this kingdom.

Although this might be a rather drastic measure, I had no choice but to die in this place, and my death would rouse the people of this kingdom, forcing them to think for themselves.

That was why… I wish that, of the people who bear witness to my final battle here… I wish that at least one tenth of them would awaken some patriotism for their kingdom.

「Let’s go, Ryuun!」

「Hihiii~n!」

I ran toward my death along with Ryuun, my beloved horse.

This white horse, who inherited the blood of a unicorn, had an extremely long lifespan. It had been my comrade ever since I was an adventurer.

Together, we’d been through so many trials and tribulations up until now.

Before long, I saw the figure of the white-haired undead fast approaching in my direction.

It seemed the other side had seen me too.

… I couldn’t get a clear grasp of that undead’s mana from this distance.

But I wouldn’t underestimate my foe for such trivial reasons.

Rather, I became more and more vigilant against him.

The reason was because I’d already met a lot of monsters who lived so long that they gained wisdom, hiding their unfathomable mana in their bodies to conceal their presences. This would make their enemies let their guards down.

I’d never seen one with this kind of mana before.

My intuition told me this.

This undead was definitely that type of monster.

SWISH!

I unsheathed the sword strapped to my hip.

The other party was definitely a formidable foe.

I named myself for the other party with the loudest voice I could muster.

「MY NAME IS ALENDROS THE THIRD! I WON’T ALLOW WICKED UNDEAD LIKE YOU DESTROY THIS KINGDOM! THAT’S WHY, IN THE NAME OF GOD, I SHALL DELIVER DIVI―」

At that moment, the undead suddenly turned around.

「… Eh?」

And ran at full speed getting farther and farther away from Royal Capital.