Volume 4 - CH 2

Chapter 2 – The Two Who Never Change

“Hou, so you guys are the ones being called heroes for saving the royal capital, huh. You seem to be quite reliable. Hm? You… Aren’t you Eto, the one who ran from our party! Why are you here?”

Ronaldo said with many emotions, as if he was performing a drama. And Eto looked at Ronaldo with cold eyes. Although Eto noticed the change in Ronaldo’s way of speaking, he understood that this was probably how he talks to a commoner who is no longer his party member.

“Long time no see, Ronaldo-sama. Speaking of which, I’m not running from the Hero’s party,  you kicked me out. Or maybe you already forgot about that? And, I’m in the royal castle because I was allowed to have an audience with His Majesty for my achievement of solving the stampede that happened a few days ago. After the audience was over, this knight just happened to kindly guide us around the royal castle when we were about to return.”

After giving a brief explanation, Eto once again glanced at the knight. Seeing Eto’s signal, the knight immediately judged that staying there would only cause more problems for them.

“Well then, please excuse us.”

The knight then took Eto and his party to exit the training ground.

“Ara, even though it’s been a long time since we last met, what an unkind attitude you got there, Eto-san. Or maybe I should call you Eto, the Hero?”

That voice undoubtedly belongs to Mirei, who speaks out from behind Ronaldo. Naturally, Eto knew it was Mirei’s voice even without looking at her, but he felt that the way she spoke was more vulgar compared to when Eto was still in their party, which sounded like she always had the high ground. Eto then turned his gaze at Mirei and slightly bowed his head.

“Long time no see, Mirei-sama. By the way, I’m not someone fit to be called a hero. I was simply just an adventurer who finished the job I was asked to do. Besides, not only us, many other adventurers, knights, soldiers, and magicians also participated in that operation. And we were only able to remove the threat to the Kingdom thanks to their sacrifices. That is why, rather than me, everyone who participated in the operation are the real heroes.”

Although Eto thought that answer was a little too exemplary, he knew he couldn’t show any weakness when facing those people, so he gave them a perfect response. Besides, that was what Eto truly thought.

Hearing his response, Ronaldo and Mirei glared at Eto with a frustrated look on their faces, probably because they also wanted to be called heroes by solving the stampede. When Ronaldo noticed the gazes from the surroundings, he immediately smiled, as if he had been preparing to.

“That’s truly remarkable, Eto-kun. Looks like you have been doing your best for the Kingdom after leaving our party. I’ve heard the rumors too. It seems you’ve been using your slaves very well.”

Saying that, Ronaldo looks down at Eto. And Mirei, who had a grim look until then, started laughing as if she had regained the high ground.

‘Ah, I remember these gazes.’

At that time, Eto still believed that the Hero is a man of character. For that reason, he never blamed Ronaldo who was always looking down at him, but he genuinely felt that he was the one responsible for whatever it was. But now that such belief has been completely removed, the only thing Eto felt when receiving such gazes was just unpleasantness.

“Even if you said stampede, the opponents were merely Goblins, right? If Ronaldo-sama and I were in the royal capital at that time, I’m sure we wouldn’t even need the help of Eto-san and his friends. Truly regrettable.”

From those words, Eto can clearly see how Mirei seemed to have regained her previous attitude that thought herself as superior.

“I’m sure numerous Goblins pose a slight threat. So, those who defeated the Goblins are, without a doubt, heroes. Besides, we could just get more achievements by exterminating more powerful monsters, right?”

And the words Ronaldo uttered clearly didn’t show any respect for those who fought with their lives on the line for the royal capital.