Volume 4 - CH 3

Chapter 3 – Sorano’s Worries

When Eto tried to utter some words to manage the situation without making a fuss, a knight who was listening to their conversation at a distance suddenly came and stood in front of Ronaldo and his group.

“Hero-sama, I very much understand that this is rude, but please allow me to say it. My name is Kirigan Hartfield from the first division knights. And in the stampede that occurred a few days ago, I joined the suicide squad along with Eto-dono’s party and purged deeply into the enemy’s territory. Hero-sama earlier mentioned that the hordes of Goblins are just 『a small threat』, right? But did you know that in order to send us to the enemy’s leader, 2000 cavalrymen dispatched by the knights and kingdom army put their lives on the line themselves just to open a way for us to reach the enemy’s leader? And from those 2,000 cavalrymen, more than 600 of them lost their lives or went missing during the operation. Although we did try to rescue them, some of them are still on the verge of life and death. Besides that, many others are also seriously injured or lost their limbs, making it difficult for them to work as a knight or soldier. That is why, does Hero-sama really think 『a slight threat』 will cause this many casualties? With all due respect, the words that Hero-sama said are an insult to those who sacrificed their lives to defend the royal capital.”

The knight spoke while sternly staring at the Hero and his group. Eto, of course, understood that there were many casualties in that operation, but it was the first time he heard the specific numbers. Thus, the knight’s words also strongly resonated in Eto and his party, who survived the operation. Subsequently, the knights and soldiers who were training in the training ground also gathered and lined up next to Kirigan, directing a silent pressure at the nobles.

In front of such pressure, Ronaldo seemed to falter for a moment. But, probably because he felt the gazes of the nobles behind him, he daringly smiled, as if showing his composure.

“No, no. I’m sorry if you guys misunderstood. I didn’t intend to question your devotion towards the kingdom. But, as a former party member, I just wanted to complain about Eto-kun, who gained some fame by using slaves.”

Needless to say, there is no way the knights, who consider Eto and his party as benefactors who saved the royal capital could be convinced by such nonsense. But as the knights tried to speak, he heard a familiar voice from behind Eto.

“Is this guy crazy?”

Hearing that, Ronaldo wrinkled his eyebrows and glanced at the source of the voice. However, the speaker didn’t seem to care about Ronaldo’s gaze at all.

“Let me ask again, is this guy really the Hero? Really, human? Now this makes me worried.”

Sorano continued to speak in a tone that sounded like she really couldn’t understand the reason. And Kohaku, who was unable to hold her laugh, finally laughed out loud, making the wrinkles between the Hero’s eyebrows become even deeper.

Meanwhile, Eto shook his head and thought, ‘Ah, they’ve done it.’ Even so, Sorano didn’t stop there.

“In the first place, does this guy know Eto’s strength?”

“Eto-kun’s strength? When he was still in our party–”

When Ronaldo was about to speak, without hesitation, Sorano interrupted him.

“No, I’m not really interested in your story. I’m talking about his current strength. If you have a complaint, you can just try to fight him here.”

However, Ronaldo didn’t seem to get what Sorano said right away, as he stared at Sorano for a while.

“Fufufu…….hahahaha. I see…Eto-kun’s strength, huh! I think not just me, everyone here wants to know about that, right? Yosh, in that case, I’ll be your opponent. Are you fine with that, Eto-kun?”

Saying that, Ronaldo stared at Eto, sharply, as if he wouldn’t allow Eto to say no. Even so, Eto was still wondering how to turn him down, before once again, Sorano began to speak as if to pour oil into the fire.

“Eto, isn’t it fine? It’s all about experience. Let this guy experience it himself.”

“Knights, can you make room for us? Please prepare some training swords too. Mirei, take everyone up to the audiences’ seats. Well then, Eto-kun, let’s test each other’s skills.”

Without minding Eto’s reaction, Ronaldo prepared for the mock battle right away. Yes, it was as if he didn’t intend to give Eto a momentary grace.

Eto then looked at Sorano with a troubled expression, but he knew she just said what she thought. Next to him, Kohaku is giving him a light punch and said, “Go for it, Eto!”. Even Amou, who has the most conscience in the party, just nodded and looked at Eto with compassion.

Thus, thinking nothing could be done, Eto sighed deeply and went to choose a training sword prepared by the knights.