CH 9

The king and Morgan-san looked at each other when the man rudely called himself a hero, as if he didn’t care about courtesy.

“Your Majesty, is that really the hero we’ve been looking for?”

“Yes, Morgan. You have a good reason to wonder. But don’t worry, there is a way to find out if he is a hero or not.”

The king gives the man a hard look.

“Now then, let us begin by asking you your name.”

“I am Ark. ‘I am Ark, Ark Wilhelm Mirage.”

“Hm, then, Ark. Take off your clothes and show me your back.”

Ark turns around and takes off his clothes. On his back was a blue mark of some kind.

“… there’s no doubt. It’s the emblem of a hero.”

“Humph! Now you believe that I am a hero, O King.”

“Mm. It is the emblem of a hero that has been handed down in my kingdom for generations. I’m sorry for doubting you, hero Ark. Forgive me.”

“I don’t mind.”

Ark smiled wryly and put his clothes back on again.

“Gustav. I’m sorry, but we need to talk to the hero about [the Demon King] as soon as possible. I’m sorry to trouble you again, but the reward will have to wait a bit.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I bowed my head and walked off to the side of the room. For some reason, Princess Leia grabbed my arm lightly and followed me to the side.

“Hm?”

Ark looks at me for a moment, as if he is assessing me, then turns to the king again.

“So, King? What’s this talk about the Demon King?”

“Mm. ‘Well, hero Ark, it seems that the Demon King of my kingdom’s lore has returned.”

I know the story from here on. At any rate, it is the same as the original introduction to the game. The Demon King, who was sealed away about 300 years ago, has returned, so the king asks the hero to defeat him. The reason for not moving the kingdom’s army is simple: only the heroes are capable of killing the Demon King.

“Kukuku, I see.”

After receiving the explanation, the hero laughs.

“Fine, I will take care of the matter of defeating the Demon King.”

“We are grateful to you, Hero Arc.”

“But! there is one condition.”

Ark raises one finger and points it in my direction. No, wrong. It’ s not me who has his finger pointed, but at Princess Leia, who is now hiding behind me.

“King, when I defeat the Demon King, I will take your daughter, Princess Leia.”

“What the!?”

The king, Morgan, Princess Leia, and I were all stunned by Ark’s words. This line was never in any of the original scenarios.

“Do you know who you are talking to?”

Morgan, beside the throne, held up a spear in his hand with a furious look on his face.

“You’re just king’s close aide is pointing a weapon at me, a hero?”

“Shut up, in addition to your irreverent and insolent behaviour from a while ago, you are now speaking out of turn, no matter whether you are a hero or not!”

“Ha, which one of us has no sense of propriety?”

“What?”

Ark shakes his head in disgust and laughs.

“There are rumours amongst travelling peddlers. I heard that the monsters in the kingdom are now so active because of the Demon King that you can’t even move a carriage properly. If I, the only one who can finish off the Demon King here and now, don’t take on the task of defeating the Demon King, how much damage will the kingdom suffer?”

“Damn you!”

“……Mumm, that’s enough, Morgan.”

The king admonished him, and Morgan, gritting his teeth, once again took his place beside the king.

“You have made your point, hero Ark.”

“Good, thank you for being so quick to speak, King. I understand your point, Do you accept my terms?”

“…… I’ll give you as much gold and silver as you want.”

“No, I want Princess Leia.”

The king looks at Princess Leia with a pained expression on his face. The king looked at Princess Leia with a pained expression.

“I……”

I heard a very small princess say. I don’t know why, but her thin voice seemed to hurt me so much deep in my chest.

“….. Alright. ‘It is fine, hero Ark. I will accept your terms.”

“Hahaha, that’s great to hear. We have a deal then.”

As soon as he said that, the Hero came towards me with a big step and went behind me to stand in front of Princess Leia.

“I am Ark. I am the one who will defeat the Demon King.”

“Ah!”

The hero forcefully takes Princess Leia’s hand.

“You are beautiful, Princess. You may be blind, but you are many times more beautiful than other women. Princess Leia, from this day on you are mine.”

Ark blurts out and bends down to kiss the back of Princess Leia’s hand, who remains bewildered.

You bastard. Before Ark’s lips could touch the back of Princess Leia’s hand, I had already placed my own hand on top of the Princess’ hand.

“Hey, what’s this, Guard?”

Ark turns to me with a glare. It’s a look of blatant disgust directed at anyone who gets in his way.

“Because the conditions have not yet been met.”

I managed to stifle the anger that was welling up inside me, and answered with a calm and collected expression.

“What? Conditions?”

“Arc the Hero, didn’t you say earlier that you would take Princess Leia after defeating the Demon King? You have not yet defeated the Demon King, so I will not allow Princess Leia to be at your disposal.”

“Tsk! You’re being so cryptic! A little advance payment would be fine, but I’m the one who’s supposed to be defeating the Demon King anyway!”

“Your Majesty, what shall I do?”

I ask, and the king nods.

“Do not violate your promise, Hero Ark. You will not touch my daughter again until after you have defeated the Demon King.”

He pressed down on Ark with a somewhat gruff voice.

“….. Hmph! Fine.”

Ark sniffed and turned his back to the throne.

“King, I’ll take the money for the journey in addition to my fee! I need a strong group of companions, so make sure you have plenty of gold ready!”

With these words, Ark leaves, and the throne room is filled with calm, as if a storm had just passed. Ah, I’m tired. I wonder what the game’s creators were really thinking with that as the main character.

“…..Gustav-san!!”

Princess Leia’s cheeks are somehow dyed vermilion.

“Is something wrong, Princess?”

“That–hand.”

“Yes? What hand? Ah hand!”

I hurriedly let go of his hand. Before I knew it, I was holding Princess Leia’s hand. At that time, I kept the hand that I had laid on top of hers to protect her from Ark’s demon kiss, so I had done it unconsciously.

“P-Princess, I’m sorry!”

“No, no, thank you rather.”

“Heh? Thank you for …….”

“Oh, no! I don’t mean that, not for holding my hand, but for that, for protecting me from that Ark-sama, that ah…”

Princess Leia is unusually distraught, and her formerly snow-white face turns bright red.

“I’m so embarrassed,…… don’t look at me so much, Gustav-san.”

“Ugh!”

The arrow of preciousness has been caught in the heart. The embarrassed and venerable princess…….

“Gustav, you saved my life earlier. And now you did well to protect the princess.”

The king said this and then turned to the princess.

“I am sorry, Leia. For the sake of the kingdom, I have made you a ………”

“….. father, don’t worry about it. I too am royalty. I am ready to devote myself to the service of my country.”

Once again, the air in the room was heavy. The king and Princess Leia are still not happy with that hero arc. Well, he’s a man whose only selling point is his good looks and his ability (HERO) to force things, that guy. I don’t like him either. It was when I was thinking that maybe there was some way to separate the princess and Ark..

The door to the throne room was opened again with a bang, and one of the guards rushed in.

“Your Majesty, Princess! Run away!”

“What is it this time?”

“A monster claiming to be from the demon king’s army…”

But then, with a boom! With a sound, an obsidian-colored energy projectile struck the guard, who was still in mid-sentence, and sent his body flying wide open.

“Hou, throne room…”

Then, with slow steps, Dullahan appeared, dressed in black armor and holding a helmeted head by his side.

“Hey, what’s this guy!”

“I am from Demon King’s Army, One of the [Three Heavenly Demon] – – Barzeph.”