The Hero Menace Page 7

  In order to corroborate this information, I had my werewolves and some merchants make further inquiries. The reports they returned with were worrying. Apparently, the request to station troops wasn’t the only demand of Meraldia’s that Shardier had refused. They’d been butting heads with the Senate for a while now. Furthermore, the reason they’d given for refusing Meraldia was that their city wasn’t sufficiently prepared to house such a large number of troops. For an excuse, it was pretty weak. They didn’t seem interested in masking their disdain for the Senate in the slightest.

  In truth, most of the southern cities, including Ryunheit, didn’t much like the north. During the Meraldian unification war, the cities had been split between north and south, so it was understandable. The problem was, it wasn’t just common citizens who were worried about these rumors, but the Senate itself. If the government was taking the threat of Shardier declaring independence seriously, then these rumors weren’t just rumors anymore; they were weapons of informational warfare. There might be some way to utilize them to our advantage, though.

  I called Airia over to my office to get her opinion on the situation.

  “Ah... Well, there certainly are a lot of complications between the south and the north. There’s a reason why the prestigious Aindorf family was only granted the rank of Viscount.” Airia observed Lacy and Master’s loner talk with some amusement as she spoke. “Even though it was the riches Ryunheit has gained through trade that filled Meraldia’s coffers, both my father and I were only granted the title of Viscount.”

  “So that’s why you were so willing to leave Meraldia.”

  “Viscounts are little more than glorified custodians. They don’t possess the right to make large-scale policy changes in a city. Even if the citizens requested expansions to the city or improvements to public infrastructure, I was unable to approve them without the consent of the Senate. And the Senate would never approve any of our requests unless we gifted them with ‘donations’ of gold.”

  “How awful.”

  Now that Ryunheit was under demon control it needed no such permission from the Senate, and the city was in the middle of a large redevelopment project.

  “Shardier is likely suffering under similar restrictions. My father and Shardier’s previous viceroy often used to get together and complain about the Senate. Our families happen to have a bit of history with each other.”

  I’m amazed you guys have held on to your grudges for this many generations... But if these rumors were credible, perhaps it was possible to open a dialogue with Shardier.

  “Do you think Shardier’s current viceroy is someone we can negotiate with?”

  “I’m not sure. While I know the current Lord Aram is a capable leader, I’m not privy to the details of Shardier’s current situation. I’m not sure how he’d receive us.”

  So Aram’s not the kind of simple-minded fool who’d join hands with the demon army simply because he hates the north. Good, that means he’s worth negotiating with.

  “He sounds like an interesting guy. I think I’ll go meet with him.”

  “Personally?”

  Airia seemed shocked, but I was determined to see this guy for myself.

  “If he’s a friend of yours, Lady Airia, then I’m sure he’ll at least agree to speak with me. If he doesn’t... well, I’ll think of something then.”

  It was a bad habit of werewolves not to consider the possibility of failure. But in all honesty, it seemed unlikely that the viceroy of Shardier would try to assassinate me.

  “Anyway, I’m off to find people to bring with me. Take care of things here for me, Lady Airia.”

  “Do you want me to report you to the Demon Lord?”

  “Now, now, don’t be so stiff. Overlook things just this once. I’m doing this for Ryunheit’s sake, you know. Now then, I’ll be heading out. You should stop drinking tea and return to work as well.”

  I somewhat forcefully pushed Airia out of my office and went off to search for suitable attendants.

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  —Lacy’s Letter—

  Mother, Sister, are you doing well? It’s Lacy, your foolish little sister. Until recently, I’d been serving as the Hero Ranhart’s Holy Priestess under the name Mildine. But I’ve since quit that job. Now I’m living in Ryunheit. Oh, and Ranhart never existed. He was a fake Hero the Senate cooked up.

  It’s been a few days since I quit being a fake Holy Priestess and started living in Ryunheit. I was surprised by how different the weather was at first, but you know me, I can get used to anything. And while the weather’s not the greatest, the food definitely is. Also, Ryunheit’s completely different from what I expected it to be.

  When I’d taken up the role of Holy Priestess, the Senate had told me: “Ryunheit has turned into hell under the demons’ rule. Executions and torture are the norm, and corpses litter the streets. The entire city lives under a haze of rot and plague. The sewers run red with blood, and clean water is nowhere to be found.”

  To be frank, I was terrified of fighting demons after hearing that. But I also thought I needed to step up and rouse Meraldia’s forces so that we could free the cities suffering under the demons’ tyranny. Unfortunately, none of our plans went as planned.

  I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night. But I don’t want to ever think about it again. The three knights I’d been traveling with were all killed in an instant. I still feel bad that I’m the only one who survived.

  Afterwards, the werewolf Veight saved me from the Schverm army’s lynching, and took me to Ryunheit. The people here don’t know that I’d been pretending to be a fake Holy Priestess, and even if they did, I doubt they’d mind much. Even the bishop of this city’s Sonnenlicht order is a surprisingly nice man. He came to visit me shortly after I arrived in the city. When I confessed my sins to him, he just nodded and smiled. Then he told me, “I’m the same. My sins are too numerous to count. I will never be able to erase them, but at least I can atone for what I’ve done. At least, that was what a certain someone said to me.” I always thought Sonnenlicht priests were more stuffy, pompous types, but this one wasn’t at all.

  Another thing that’s different about the city is that there were demons walking around everywhere. There’s a lot of... I think they’re called canines(?) opening shops in the city. They’re all really cute. Every time I see one I can’t help but cuddle them. There were some werewolves and lizard-looking people too. I was scared of them at first, but they’re all really polite and nice. Oh, there’s also these demons who are half-horse. All of the guys are super handsome and muscular.

  Oh, one more thing before I forget. I’m going to write down the names of the three knights I fought with here. I’m not sure if the names they gave me were their real names, but if you can, try and find their families and let them know what happened. The master swordsman was called Ewinem. He always used to say there were plenty of other swordsmen better than him out there and that he didn’t deserve the title of master swordsman. The lord knight was Karnitz. His favorite thing to say was, “It’s nice that we’re popular and all, but it’s tough acting all heroic and moral all the time.” And the one who usually played the part of the Hero Ranhart was Shierk. He always hoped that once the demons had been driven out of Meraldia that he’d be able to tell the people the truth.

  Even though Mister Veight killed them all instantly, he still praised their bravery and said they were valiant soldiers. I hope those words help them rest in peace. They really were all wonderful, reliable, kind people.

  I know it’s cowardly, but I’m thinking of living under the demon army’s protection from now on. Really, I’m so sorry I’m such a spineless wimp. But Mister Veight saved me, his enemy. I still don’t know why he did that. Not only that, but he didn’t kill anyone else in Schverm, even though he easily could have. He created this huge diversion to help me escape, but he still did his best not to kill any of the other soldiers. When I asked him why, he looked really surprised. Then he turned a
round and said, “Oh... Well, you know. Those small fries weren’t even worth my time.”

  I’m not a demon or a soldier, so maybe I just don’t get how warriors think, but I get the feeling that wasn’t really the reason why. Either way, I’m glad he didn’t kill anyone else. I hate watching people die.

  Also even though he’s a demon, Mister Veight feels more like a kind older brother than some kind of scary monster.

  Oh yes, I also became the disciple of the Great Sage Gomoviroa. I call her Master Movi now. I feel like I heard the name Gomoviroa during my days in the magic academy, but I can’t remember where now. Was it in magic history class? I never liked magic history. Regardless, I’m glad I get to spend time studying again. Unlike people, magic works exactly how you expect it to, so it never gets tiring to spend time with. When I told Master Movi that, she said she agreed 100%.

  You know, even after Mister Veight saved me, I felt like it was all the Senate’s fault for making me do all this fake Hero stuff. But now that I’ve gotten some time to think about it, I’ve realized I need to take responsibility for my own actions. I can’t lay all the blame on the Senate. Although... I can definitely lay some of it on them. After all, they’re the ones who treated me like a disposable pawn. Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I was partially responsible too. I’m thinking that in order to make up for deceiving all those people, I should do something to help the world. I’m not sure what a lowly court magician like me can do, but surely there’s something out there for me. I hope. Maybe I can help bring about world peace?

  Now then, I’m not sure who I can ask to deliver this letter to you two... or if it’ll even reach you, but I promise I’ll come see you two again, Mother, Sister.

  Stay well.

  P.S. I’m pretty sure the Senate’s fired me, which means my scholarship’s been revoked. But I promise I’ll work hard here in the demon army and pay all my fees back, so don’t worry about that. No matter what it takes, I’ll pay those fees back. Just you watch!

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  “Do you think you could have one of your caravans deliver this letter for me?”

  I handed Mao a sealed envelope. Recently, he’d been spending more and more time in my office. He looked at the pink embroidered border and tilted his head.

  “Where to?”

  “North to Krauhen. The recipient’s name is on the envelope.”

  “That’s quite a lengthy trip... but I just so happen to have business in that area, so I suppose I could.” Mao looked dubiously at me as he took the letter and asked, “Do you happen to know someone in Krauhen?”

  “Nah, it’s that fake Holy Priestess’ hometown. I already looked through the contents and it’s nothing I need to censor, so there’s no issue with sending it off to her family.”

  Mao gave me a strange look, but then nodded and put the letter in his pocket.

  “I shall do my best to deliver it, then. Do you require some kind of proof that the letter was successfully delivered?”

  “If you can get it, a reply or something should be fine.”

  “Understood.”

  What business could Mao possibly have in Krauhen, though? It was situated far up in the rural northeast.

  “What are you going to Krauhen for?”

  “To procure more of this.”

  Mao pulled out a chunk of whitish rock. I wasn’t able to tell what it was on sight alone, but my enhanced werewolf’s sense of smell made it obvious. That was a lump of crystal salt, halite.

  “If it’s salt you need, couldn’t you gather some from the sea to the south? Why go all the way to Krauhen to buy it?”

  Mao shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Rock salt and sea salt have different flavors. I’ll take the salt harvested from the saltpans here up north, and come home with their rock salt. Since I’ll be carrying only salt for both legs of the journey, I can save a lot of time and effort on the logistics front.”

  “I guess they do taste different, but...”

  The halite lump in Mao’s hands smelled faintly of sulfur. Even in my human form, my enhanced sense of smell picked up on those details.

  “This salt is best used as seasoning for meat. Once you grill the meat, the unpleasant smell of sulfur vanishes, and the salt’s taste is vastly improved. High-class restaurants and nobles buy up rock salt at high prices.”

  Really?

  “By the way, do you happen to have any connections in Shardier?”

  “I’m afraid not. My primary trade routes run north-south... Refined sea salt doesn’t fetch good prices in Shardier. I’ve occasionally visited it to sell rock salt, but that’s the extent of my dealings with the city.”

  What a useless guy.

  “However, Lord Aram, the viceroy, is known for being a gourmand. I have fulfilled personal orders of salt for him once or twice. If you desire an audience with him, I believe I could arrange one.”

  “You’re one hell of a merchant, you know that?”

  That was more than enough for me. That being said, I didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary talking with this scoundrel.

  “In that case, set one up as soon as possible.”

  “Understood. What exactly should I tell Lord Aram?”

  I smirked. “Just tell him I’m coming to pay him a visit.”

  “As you wish.”

  After pushing all of my duties onto Airia, I started making preparations for my trip to Shardier. Since we needed to cross the eastern desert to reach Shardier, it’d turn into a somewhat lengthy trip. Honestly, I would rather just go alone, but if I told the other werewolves that, they’d all yell at me not to be reckless. Hmm, guess I’ll take Hamaam’s squad with me. Hamaam and his men used to live together with the desert nomads, so they were used to the harsh temperatures.

  “I’ll be counting on you, Hamaam.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I requisitioned a carriage for the trip, since I would be going in an official capacity as the demon army’s ambassador. Hence why a simple cart or riding in on horseback wouldn’t do. The covered wagon wasn’t especially ostentatious, but it was sturdy and would serve for my purposes. Considering how expensive carriages were in this world, having a personal one was like owning a private jet. Even if it did smell like horse dung and rattled all the time, it was the best this world had to offer. While carriages were a great way to display one’s status, they were also prime targets for bandits.

  “Sir, there’s a dust cloud up ahead.”

  Hamaam knocked on my door, and I stuck my head out the window.

  “Looks like there’s about ten of them...”

  “They’re doing their best to move stealthily, so I suspect there’s more than that. Thirteen, maybe fourteen.”

  Hamaam was the desert expert, so if that was what he thought, then I trusted him. Hamaam and two of his squadmates readied themselves for a fight. He gripped the hilt of his scimitar and asked, “Should we transform?”

  If we transformed, a dozen or so cavalry wouldn’t be a problem, but there were too many of them to beat in our human forms. This was a dilemma. Maybe I should have brought more guards with me after all. I squinted and tried to get a better look at exactly what we were up against.

  “Those are bandits, alright.”

  “Technically, they’re warriors belonging to this region’s ruling nomad tribe.”

  So, bandits. Asking for a toll in order to be granted safe passage through their lands was no different than highway robbery.

  “What a pain.”

  Killing them would be easy, but we were on a diplomatic mission. I wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble. Noticing my dilemma, Hamaam said, “Could you leave this to me? I can get us out of this without fighting.”

  Hamaam wasn’t originally from our village. He moved there right around the time I’d become a full-fledged mage and was thinking of joining the army. Before that, he’d been living in this desert. He definitely knew more about this area than I did, so I had no problem
letting him handle the situation.

  “Alright, I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Thank you. In that case, sir, make sure you play along.”

  Play along with what? Before I had a chance to ask, the mounted soldiers surrounded our carriage. Hamaam’s guess had been right on the mark. There were exactly 13 of them. They were all dressed in loose nomad’s clothes, and had bows and scimitars slung across their backs. A middle-aged man who appeared to be their leader scraped some sand out of his beard and shouted, “This land belongs to the Srujaaf! Those who wish to pass must offer a tribute of two sheep!”

  Are you kidding me? We don’t even have any sheep. Without waiting for a reply, the man continued, “If you have no sheep, then you must pay five silver coins per member of your caravan!”

  So that’s what you’re actually after. Since there were five of us, we’d have to pay 25 silver coins. That was roughly equivalent to 250,000 yen. To be honest, it was a price I could easily afford, however it seemed Hamaam would save us from having to spend even that. He stepped forward and said, “Long time no see, brothers.”

  The nomads turned to Hamaam in surprise.

  “Is that you, Hamaam!?”

  “You’re still alive!?”

  Just what kind of past did Hamaam have? He nodded and said, “Yeah, I managed to escape somehow. Now I serve this man. I can’t reveal what exactly our business is, but suffice to say, he’s someone of noble status.”

  I am? Hamaam turned back to me and stared. Oh, this is what he meant by play along. Alright, I can do this. I straightened my posture a little and nodded solemnly.

  “People of Srujaaf, it is an honor to meet you. I am an official diplomat of Ryunheit. Hamaam here has served me well as a bodyguard.”

  Our carriage had Ryunheit’s crest emblazoned on it, so that story should be believable enough. The nomads exchanged glances, then dismounted from their horses. They then brought their hands to their breasts and bowed respectfully.