The Hero Menace Page 5

  “Sir Hero!? Are you alright!? Those wounds look serious!”

  “H-He’s dead! He’s been turned into a zombie!”

  “Sir Ranhart’s a zombie!”

  “His comrades the Astral Fencer and the Divine Cavalier too!”

  Those are some impressive-sounding titles. I know it was in self-defense, but now I feel kind of bad for killing these guys.

  “Wait, the Holy Priestess still lives!”

  So she’s the “Holy Priestess,” huh? You guys should probably let her rest for a bit. Once the zombies reached the central square, they collapsed to the ground with a wet plop. Having carried out Gomoviroa’s orders, they returned to the corpses they originally were.

  A large crowd of soldiers gathered around the dead Hero, but they kept their distance. Considering what had just happened, I didn’t blame them. The hope of the north, the Hero and his comrades, had just returned to the city as zombies. Most of the rank and file soldiers were too stunned to do anything. It was then that a noble-looking officer ran up to the scene. I’d never seen a Meraldian Senate secretary before, but judging by his clothes, he was one. The middle-aged man walked up to the mage and shouted, “What in heaven’s name happened here!? Explain yourself, Holy Priestess Mildine!”

  Still lying on the ground, the mage screamed, “A-A werewolf! A werewolf killed all of them! And then he turned them into zombies...”

  “A werewolf, you say!? Impossible, our Hero wouldn’t be done in by such a lowly creature!”

  I guess a normal werewolf would have died pretty fast against the three of them. In fact, if I hadn’t used Soul Shaker I’d probably have died, too. The girl called Mildine shook her head vehemently and replied, “He howled once, and my magic was sealed! We didn’t stand a chance against him!”

  The soldiers watching the exchange started whispering to each other.

  “Was our Hero really so weak that he couldn’t take down a single werewolf even with his comrades at his side?”

  “That’s not it. Haven’t you heard about how the Demon Lord has this crazy strong werewolf general at his side?”

  “There’s no way that guy would come here, though.”

  Except I’m right here. Shaken, the secretary tried to quell the unrest among the men.

  “Don’t jump to conclusions, men! The Holy Priestess has simply lost her composure! Come, what you need now is rest!”

  He grabbed Mildine’s hand and tried to pull her to her feet, but was stopped by one of the soldiers. Judging by the simple breastplate he wore over his civilian clothes, he was likely one of the militia.

  “Wait a second, was Sir Ranhart really a Hero!?”

  “Yeah, there’s no way a Hero would die this easily!”

  “Did you guys trick us!?”

  The Meraldian Federation’s regular army was made up of former swordsmen and mercenaries, along with nomads with no other place to go. They were trained professionals, and they had nothing to lose, so they’d fight against any enemy without complaint. But that wasn’t the case for the militia, nor for the city’s garrisoned troops. Garrisoned soldiers were only concerned with defending the city under their jurisdiction, and the militia fought because they had no choice. Their morale could plummet at the drop of a hat.

  More soldiers gathered at the square, curious to see what the commotion was. Before long, they were rioting. They pinned down the Senate secretary and started beating him mercilessly. In seconds, his face was a bloody mess. Someone then hauled him up and threw him into the crowd, where he vanished. No one seemed to care at all about the dead soldiers. Once they’d finished venting their frustrations on the secretary, they crowded around the mage.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be a master of all twenty-six schools of magic!? Can’t you do something about that werewolf!?”

  Now that’s impressive. Not even Master can use all 26 types of magic. Mildine shook her head and shrunk away from the soldiers bearing down on her.

  “N-No... I can’t...”

  “Why the hell not!?”

  “I’m j-just a court magician... Th-The only magic I can use is illusion magic...”

  “Illusion magic!?”

  Terrified as she was, Mildine ended up saying more than was necessary.

  “Eek! M-My only job was to make ceremonies look more impressive and cover up scandals and the like!”

  Silence followed her confession.

  “So you’re just a crook!”

  “Holy Priestess, my ass! Those Senate bastards!”

  “I lost good friends thanks to these bastards’ scheming!”

  “Let’s kill her!”

  “Yeah, off with her head!”

  Oi, oi, are these guys serious? Were they really going to kill an unarmed, helpless woman? Besides, the only reason you guys were able to take back two of your cities was because these ‘fake’ Heroes boosted your morale. Just then, I felt someone tug on my sleeve.

  “Lord Veight.”

  The only people in here who’d recognize me on sight would be Mao’s agents. I turned around and saw two young traders looking at me in surprise.

  “What are you doing here, Lord Veight?”

  “I just came here to scout out the area, but it looks like I ended up killing the Hero.”

  “Are you serious!?”

  I mean, really, it’s your boss’ fault for being so shady. I could have just come to you from the start if he was trustworthy.

  “Regardless, please come with us. We have a change of clothes ready.”

  They led me to a nearby tent, and gave me a northern-style overcoat.

  “Please try not to stand out too much. It’ll put our position in jeopardy.”

  “Sorry.”

  Like I said, originally this is all your employer’s fault.

  In the time it took me to change, the soldiers had convinced the crowd to lynch Mildine.

  “STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!”

  Someone grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet.

  “This isn’t my fault! I just did what the Senate told me to! Why do I have to die for that!?”

  Tears streamed down her face as she clung desperately to the flagstones. She didn’t have any of the dignity befitting a Holy Priestess.

  “Come on, aren’t you supposed to be a Holy Priestess!? The least you could do is act like one!”

  “I’m not! I’m just a government official!”

  Mildine shook her head, trying everything she could to avoid being pulled into the crowd. Considering the tough fights they’d been forced into thanks to the fake Hero’s urging, I could understand why they were so angry. But this girl really was just a tool of the Senate. I wasn’t too knowledgeable on the Senate’s inner workings, but I doubted a mere desk clerk had the power to disobey them. Eventually, the soldiers succeeded in dragging Mildine to the raised platform in the square.

  “Damn Senate! Always lording over us! How come they get to sit back and watch while us peasants die!?”

  “We won’t forgive you for this!”

  “No, no! NOOOOOOOOO! Stop! I don’t want to die! Please forgive me!”

  “Give it up, bitch!”

  “STOOOP! No, no, no! I don’t want to diiiiie!”

  Surprisingly, no one raised even a single voice of complaint. No one found it strange that they were forcing a single girl to bear the weight of the Senate’s sins. And from the looks of it, the people weren’t too fond of the Senate to begin with. But regardless of the circumstances behind it, it was true that Mildine had tricked a large number of people into fighting against the demon army. On top of that, she was my enemy. That being said, I couldn’t just turn a blind eye to her plight. I turned to Mao’s traders and whispered, “I’m gonna transform, so get away from me.”

  “Lord Veight, what are you planning on doing!?”

  “Saving her, I guess?”

  “That’s far too reckless! Aside from us, everyone here is your enemy!”

  I knew that better than anyone. But unless
it was in battle, I didn’t want to let anyone die. Before I could second-guess myself, I transformed and leapt onto the dais. I grabbed the soldier closest to me, and threw him into the crowd below. The soldiers were so shocked by my sudden appearance that they couldn’t react.

  “A werewolf!?”

  “H-He’s here!”

  “We’re under attack!”

  But soon enough, they all fell into a panic. Meanwhile, I kicked off the rest of the soldiers on the platform. One of them struggled, so I crushed his helmet before throwing him off too. I made sure to hold back enough to only crush his helmet and not his head. I finished cleaning up the dozen or so soldiers left, and occupied the dais. Compared to the fake Hero, these regular soldiers went down easily. They were all far too weak. Since I’m already here, I may as well give them a little demonstration.

  “My name is Veight, Vice-Commander of the demon army! As you can see, I turned your pathetic Hero into mincemeat! Even your strongest warriors are no match for us demons!”

  The soldiers stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on me.

  “Did he say Veight!?”

  “The demon general who obliterated Ryunheit!?”

  Uhh, the city’s still standing, guys... At my declaration, even the hardened soldiers of Meraldia’s regular army froze up.

  “I heard he slaughtered four hundred men by himself...”

  “Four hundred? I heard it was four thousand. Supposedly he murdered every last man, woman, and child in Thuvan.”

  “Rumor has it that he smashed through Thuvan’s massive walls with a single swipe of his claws...”

  Is it just me, or are the rumors even more embellished than before? If even half of these were true, I’d be as strong as the Demon Lord. I’d been planning on making an example out of anyone who came to challenge me, but since everyone was cowering, I had no idea how to proceed. There goes my chance to go on a rampage. I stared blankly at the crowd, like a comedian who’d forgotten his lines. Oh yeah, the Holy Priestess girl or whatever’s still here. Didn’t she say she was proficient in illusion magic? Guess I’ll put her to work.

  “Oi. If you don’t want to die, cast something big to draw their attention. We’ll run while they’re distracted.”

  “Why are you helping me?”

  She likely hadn’t expected me of all people to come to her aid. To be honest, neither had I.

  “I promised to spare your life. If I let you die here, I’d be breaking that oath.”

  I came up with some half-assed excuse to explain away my actions.

  “Anyway, unless you wanna die, hurry it up.”

  “O-Okay!”

  Mildine nodded multiple times, and started casting as fast as she could. Her practiced movements belied her panic. A few seconds later, our surroundings went dark. The heck is this?

  “Bwahahahaha!”

  Wait, that’s my voice. It sounded like it had been run through a filter, but that was definitely my voice echoing from above. I looked up and a saw a giant werewolf towering over me. For an illusion, it was pretty realistic. This girl really was a skilled illusionist.

  “You mortals stand no chance against me! Come, I’ll slaughter you all! Be it four thousand or forty thousand, it makes no difference to me!”

  How exaggerated is that one battle going to get? Still, Mildine’s illusion worked; the soldiers lost their will to fight. First, their Hero had come back as a zombie, then they’d learned their Hero had been a fake all along, then a werewolf had jumped into their midst, and now that werewolf had grown to the size of a giant. It was only natural they’d be panicking. And it appeared my illusion wasn’t done yet.

  “Us werewolves are everywhere! There’s plenty even among your own ranks! You better be careful, or you’ll find yourself eaten one night!”

  Oh yeah, thanks to the clothes those guys gave me, I looked like a Meraldian militia right before I transformed, didn’t I? At my illusion’s words, the soldiers all started looking suspiciously at one another. Their attention had shifted from the dais to this new fictitious threat. Mildine sure knew how to rile up an audience. For an impromptu act, it was quite well done. Maybe she really did have the makings of a Holy Priestess. Hidden by the illusion, I transformed back into a human. I then picked up Mildine, slung her over my shoulder, and dashed into a nearby alley.

  “Umm, where are you headed?” One of Mao’s agents asked. They’d followed after me the moment I’d made my escape.

  “I’m heading back to Ryunheit. I’ll take her with me.”

  “I-I see...”

  “Be careful, you two. Don’t do anything reckless.”

  The two of them exchanged glances and said, “With all due respect, you’re the last person we want to hear that from, sir...”

  Am I really that bad? I snuck out of Schverm during the chaos, and safely returned to Ryunheit with Mildine in tow.

  After the Schverm incident, there was a shift in the northern front. Officers and foot soldiers alike grew suspicious of the Senate, and many of the militia deserted and returned home. The Senate did their best to deny allegations that they’d purposely propped up a fake Hero, and in the end, they managed to partially convince the citizenry. Thanks to that, rumors started to spread that I was as strong as the Demon Lord. Apparently people are calling me the Sub-Demon Lord now or something. Personally, I wished they’d stop exaggerating my strength like that. I really wasn’t all that powerful, so it just felt awkward.

  At any rate, the only soldiers left in Schverm now were Meraldia’s regular army, a few city’s worth of garrisons, and Bahen and Schverm’s militia. Moreover, all soldiers were now subject to periodic checks to make sure no demons had snuck into their ranks. That added logistical problem meant Meraldia’s army couldn’t move as quickly as before.

  On the other hand, thanks to all the mana Master had drained from those magic items, she’d been able to heal the second regiment’s wounded in no time. Everyone who’d survived was now in fighting shape and had returned to the front lines. Master was skilled enough that even those who had lost a limb or an eye had been restored fully. For someone who’d mastered the secrets of death, healing was hardly a challenge. Though it did consume vast quantities of mana. The demons of the second regiment had taken to calling Master a saint because of all she’d done for them. Master herself seemed pleased with the title, and she’d taken to visiting the northern front on occasion.

  “Master, weapons like these have both strategic and historical value, so could you please not destroy them from now on?”

  “Weapons designed for humans are unsuitable for demon hands. The size of their handles and so on are misaligned. Besides, to the magicians of the era, these were mere tools used to stockpile spare mana. I simply used them as originally intended.”

  “Yes, but in this era they’re rare. I bet the soldiers’ morale would have risen if we’d handed these weapons out to them. You could have left at least one shield intact.”

  In retrospect, I had to admit Master had made the right decision back in Schverm, but she could have left a few magic items untouched. Weapons of that caliber were coveted by soldiers the world over. Back in my old life, I’d gotten pretty obsessed with collecting them in MMOs and the like. Sadly I was a werewolf now, so even though such legendary weapons existed, I couldn’t use them.

  “Is that so? I suppose in that case I could craft something when I have mana to spare and pass it on to the second regiment. Surely a masterpiece created by the Great Sage Gomoviroa herself will have a similar effect. So could you please put this matter to rest?”

  “If you’re really going to do it, then...”

  “What do you think of a necklace that allows its wearer to reanimate after death and continue fighting?”

  “I think they’d prefer something that keeps them alive.”

  Master considered my suggestion for a few seconds, then said, “Then what about a sword that temporarily reanimates foes it kills, and turns them into allies
?”

  “Can we do something other than zombies?”

  Honestly, I found the concept intriguing, but it’d just sow chaos among regular demon soldiers, so it was probably a bad idea. And more importantly, it’d be devastating if the enemy managed to steal a weapon like that.

  “Very well, what about a sword that transforms defeated foes into evil spirits that haunt the wielder’s enemies?”

  “So instead of zombies, we’re going with evil spirits now? Why does everything you suggest have to involve necromancy? Just how much do you like dead things, anyway?”

  Master scratched her head awkwardly.

  “If I were to enchant something with necromancy, those are about the only effects I could imbue items with. I’m much less experienced in the other fields of magic, and it would be difficult to create something enchanted with other properties. And I doubt demons would be happy with a helmet or breastplate that utilizes the souls of their departed comrades to protect them...

  “Actually, I think that’d go over pretty well.”

  Afterwards, Master made a few of the aforementioned helmets and brought them over to the men of the second regiment, which in turn skyrocketed her popularity even higher. Honestly, Master could stand to do things like these more often, but because she was bad at socializing, she never did. Most mages, myself included, weren’t very social to begin with. But necromancers were especially reclusive. Probably because they just saw things on a completely different level than us mortals.

  Though Master didn’t look like it, she was just as much of a problem child as Tiverit, just in a different way. Practically all strong demons were peculiar in some way or another, for whatever reason. That was why they needed grounded, reliable vice-commanders like me or Melaine.

  With their morale restored and powerful new magical artifacts at their disposal, the second regiment was once again able to fight the Meraldian army to a stalemate. Their forces were still significantly depleted compared to when they’d started the campaign, but retaking Schverm was a possibility now. For the present at least, the northern front was stable. The only problem was, Mao wasn’t happy with how I’d handled the situation.