CH 36

“Aaaaaah! Please help me!”

A young girl, slumped over by the wrecked wagon, screamed loudly.

Three ferocious demons were roaring around her.

The knights had already escaped after being attacked by the demons and left the lady on her own.

They weren’t really incompetent knights, but this was the result of not calculating prior to the situation, that there were distinct differences between a man-to-man battle and humans versus demons.

[Sounds of a girl weeping.]

“…I shouldn’t have passed by this forest road… waahhhh.”

The girl regretted her choice to leave later than the scheduled time.

She encountered these demons because they took a shortcut into the woods that they were not familiar with. Just because the girl was already tired from the banquet that she had just attended.

Since they were unknown visitors to these parts of the woods, the demons excitedly ran towards them and bit her neck.

“Anyone, please… Help me! Help me please…!”

She cried out with all of her remaining strength.

However, only a few carriages passed by this road since they were aware of the rumors that demons were living nearby this area.

Especially on a dark night like this.

The demons suddenly stopped moving, but at the same time, one of them jumped up and rushed over towards her.

“Aaaahhhhhh…”

She screamed from the top of her lungs, while she closed her eyes and covered her ears in fright.

But then, she didn’t feel the pain that she was expecting.

Since she clearly closed her eyes after confirming that the demons were going to jump at her, she didn’t notice anyone approaching them silently.

Then she saw the three demons bleed black blood and a man, who was holding a sword, standing right in front of her.

Seeing the black blood dripping from his sword, the girl felt a little frightened, but when she saw the man’s face, her face color suddenly brightened.

“Warrior!”

As the moonlight shone upon him, his black-blue hair and face were now clearly visible.

Perhaps there was no one in the Kingdom who didn’t know the face of the famous Warrior, who was the only person who could fight face to face with any demons.

“Thank you so much for saving my life, Warrior!”

The girl slowly rose from her seat with trembling legs. It was just a little embarrassing that her dress was a bit dirty from the mud on the ground.

But what she felt right now was far different from shame.

“…So cool.”

It was not unusual to have a crush on the person who rescued her from such a dangerous situation.

Furthermore, it was even better since the person who saved her was famous and handsome.

After wiping the blood off the sword and putting it back into its sheath, the Warrior slowly approached the girl.

“Ah, Warrior?”

Even though the girl was still trembling from what had just happened, she still bowed her head as she approached the Warrior without hesitation.

“Well…. since you saved me…. Oh, no, it’s not this, what I mean is.”

The girl hurriedly spoke to the Warrior.

At that moment, the Warrior was already right in front of her.

“I mean… Warrior, I… Hahhh…”

The Warrior’s hands went to a place that she would never think of.

Haron gently grabbed the pendant of the necklace, which was hanging on her neck and simply pulled it off.

“…”

While he looked at the pendant quietly…

“Ahm, Warrior…? Why…”

“This.”

Haron opened his mouth for the first time.

A low, dark voice flowed through her ears.

“Is this a necklace made from a Mahone stone?”

“Huh? Ah yes…”

Recently, jewelry made from Mahone stones became very popular among nobles, which was why she came out to attend the banquet while wearing this stone as a necklace.

She didn’t know the reason why the Warrior asked about it, but since she was already smittened by him, she nodded eagerly.

“Why did you ask?”

The Warrior frowned slightly at the girl’s gentle response.

Since he had nothing more to do with her, he immediately turned around to look at the dead demon. Then he saw the Mahone stone that had the same appearance as the one from the girl’s pendant.

“Don’t ever use a Mahone stone for jewelry again.”

“Ahhmm, okay?”

“You killed all those demons for nothing, who never held anything against you.”

As she observed Haron, she first thought that he had a very polite face, but the voice that came out from him was imbued with irritation and unknown anger.

If she hadn’t heard it wrong, she would have thought that there was a tone of slight annoyance mixed in with his words.

What’s more, he said that these were creatures that we shouldn’t kill. Aren’t the demons the number one enemy of the Warrior? If so, then why did he say that?

As she was a bit shocked about what the Warrior had said to her, she tried to contemplate it. She had no choice but to watch the Warrior leave her alone and walk away from her sight.

~*~

Haron returned to the capital about a week ago.

“There will be a welcoming procession for the Warrior.”

A large crowd gathered around the soldiers while other people were shouting.

Whether they were adults or children, there was always a desire to see the Warrior up close.

In an instant, the square, which was said to be the largest in the imperial capital, became as crowded as the market area.

“Hey, there’s the Warrior in that wagon!”

“Oh, please, I wish I could see his face even just once…”

The hero that they were looking for was hidden inside the luxurious black carriage, not even a hair was visible, but the people were still clamoring with joy and excitement.

The shouts were so loud that it even traveled through the soundproof luxury wagon.

Haron, who was quietly closing his eyes while leaning his head against the wall of the wagon, eventually opened his eyes slowly, frowning slightly.

[Shouldn’t you wave your hand towards your avid fans, Mr. Celebrity?]

“…”

Ignoring the voice in his head, he turned his gaze towards the window.

“That’s quite a crowd out there.”

[You’ve done quite a good job in this battle, haven’t you? Wow, thanks to you, I also had some fun writing after such a long time.]

The disgusting chuckle shook Haron’s head, throbbing his mind like a rattle.

[Human, does it make you more enthusiastic when you fight against other humans? Do you also feel that your popularity is getting better, more so than in the past when you used to fight against demons, isn’t that right?]

“…So noisy.”

[In fact, these days a lot of women have been sticking around trying to get more details about anything related to you while also sending you a bunch of love letters. You must be very happy, right Warrior?]

“You’re so noisy, Riggs. Please shut up.”

Haron quietly murmured with irritation laced under his words.

After two years of being together with the spirit of the Mahone stone, Riggs, Haron also learned a lot about him naturally.

Riggs was actually a top-class demon, but was sealed by the Devil about 300 years ago and trapped in the form of a Mahone stone underneath the Devil’s castle.

Other than that, he heard a lot of information, but he forgot most of it already.

For the most part, it was all just useless information.

“I don’t have the energy to respond to you right now. I’m tired.”

Haron ruffled his hair roughly with a tired expression.

Additionally, he couldn’t sleep well because he had been busy recently, so his irritation and tiredness have doubled as well.

[Well, a lot of problems have been chasing after you lately, which ordinarily would have caused you even more trouble. If it weren’t for me, you would have collapsed already.]

“…That’s just a fragment of it. Besides, I’m not that careless either.”

[Then, please get some sleep, man. If not, then you’re gonna die early. Well, it’s none of my business, whether you go after them or not. After all, it also depends on your condition, so it’ll be terrible if you go after them as you are now. But why can’t you sleep well at night? Don’t tell me that you’re dreaming of her again or something like that. Am I right?]

“Please, shut the hell up.”

Eventually, extremely harsh words flew out of Haron’s mouth.

Whether it was because he’s a demon or he just has a filthy personality, if he left him be, he would eventually spit out rude words just like that.

“Most of the reasons why I’m out of shape are because of you, so just do me a favor and shut up already.”

He couldn’t help but get tired of all his constant jabbering inside his mind.

As soon as Haron sat back irritably, someone knocked from outside the carriage door. As he opened the window, he cracked open only one eye as if he had just been disturbed from his rest.

From outside the window, the face of Marquis Frenbel, who was a major contributor to this war, could be seen.

“What is it?”

“As you can see Warrior, there are a lot of people outside. Why don’t you come out and say hello?”

“Are there any reasons why I have to? I’m a little tired right now.”

He answered with a slight hint of annoyance.

It was very different from the old days when he would just do everything they asked him to do.

“You just need to show your face, even if it is just for a little while. You simply need to show your appearance to them and they’ll be quickly satisfied in no time. Then, it will be much quieter than it is now.”

“How about getting some more rest after that?”

Marquis Frenbel never gave up and tried to ask him again while smiling sweetly. He was not an objectively bad person, although that smirk seemed a bit off.

He had never asked for more than necessary or behaved rudely towards Haron.

Haron didn’t know if he was being sincere or not, but he has been one of the few people who used to call Haron the Hero and treated him with respect.

It was the same this time as well.

If he came down and told him to do this and that like other ignorant nobles, he would have refused him right away, but he thought it would be better if he just asked Haron to show his face briefly to appease the crowd.

Haron sighed in the end.

“…Only until we get out of this square.”

“Thank you, Warrior.”

The Marquis also cracked a smile like a very charismatic person.

Haron immediately got off the carriage and climbed on top of the large and beautiful white horse that the Marquis had prepared for him.

Then as if everyone had been waiting, the procession split in half, letting Haron and his horse pass by them in order to have him lead the parade.

As soon as Haron revealed his face, the response of the people watching reached its climax as the people clamored on with exuberant cheers.