CHAPTER 34: WHAT IS IT WORTH? (2)

It has been a week since we fled from the city. We tried to go to a village nearby but there were posters of us as wanted criminals. Warren took one of them and brought it to me and even now when I look at it…

"This really doesn't look like me, does it?"

On my poster, it is displayed a man with a scar, described with an ugly and hateful face, and every word I speak is supposedly the words of heretic. At least, that's what Warren is saying from what is written below my portrait.

Speaking of which, those guys have had so many generations of heroes and they still can't even make printouts? What kind of stupid monkeys is governing here?

"Or maybe I am just rusted." Seeing as I am clearly displeased by the poster, Warren tries to save himself somehow, but the damage is already done.

"Oh well, it is not the most important, anyway. What do we do now?" I look at him while he is cutting some firewood. I went hunting so it is his turn to cook. I caught a deer that had three horns with one in the middle of its forehead, something similar to a licorn, I guess.

Warren wasn't too impressed when I came back with it so it must not be something unusual here.

"About what?"

"Our pursuers and the demons. I would like to fight the demon king soon." He wasn't able to fight him so I need to do it if I want to truly go beyond.

"We will need at least a year to reach the demon king's castle so it is a journey that needs intense preparations. And even that might not be enough. Thankfully, you are a chosen of the primordial spirits so I am sure we can do it."

"Right? That story about primordial spirits? What's the deal with you guys about them?" I know the gist of what truly happened from Efreet but that only concerns the spirits' realm. I don't really know what happened here.

"I don't know the whole story myself and surely, considering the tales of old that I know and what the demon king was saying from time to time, it would seem we, humans, were worshipping spirits before, and in return, they were selecting chosen few to protect us from the demons."

"I see." So it is basically the same story but from a different angle. That first hero really messed things up. But wait a minute… "You said from what the demon king said? Does that mean he has been alive all this time? Wasn't he killed by heroes before us?" Warren looks at me with a sneaky smile before answering.

"What do you think?"

"Just answer me." You are getting cocky for no reason here.

"The demon king has never truly been killed. From what I know, his soul is fragmented and dispersed so that he can always revive himself. For example, when you fought me-"

"You had a part of his soul in you. I see." So that means I must defeat all the commanders of the demon's army first. What a hassle.

"He won't let you do it." Warren continues as if he read my mind. "The demon king isn't stupid. As soon as there is a threat great enough to eliminate him, he will step out himself and fight. His objective is not winning but making sure that the remaining commanders will be spared and his soul's fragments left intact."

"I see. Still, I want to defeat him." I have the mission that Efreet gave me but I want to achieve that as well. In fact, I don't think I will be able to do the first one without accomplishing this first.

"Then you will need to prepare a lot more. You are a chosen, but being chosen isn't enough. He has darkness on his side, and trust my memories when I say this: he is as powerful as a god."

"Right. By the way…" Powerful as a god, eh? Oh well, we will see.

"Yeah?"

"The meat is burning."

"Oh, shit!!"

***

"Ahahaha!!! I found you, heretics!!"

The next morning, a group of knights wearing the church insignia find us while we were cleaning up the camp. And here I thought they had forgotten about us.

Three knights advance to us and among them, one has that same aura of the god of law and balance oozing from him. I am pretty much sure he must have an item close to what that head priest was trying to use on me.

"Warren, pay close attention to that guy." I directly point at him and Warren simply raises his shoulders in denial.

"You fight him then. The others don't look strong."

"Tch, of course."

"Archers!! Fi"

Before the knight emanating that god's power can finish, I am already before him. I am surprised myself at how fast I was. I grab the armor around his throat and the next moment, flames gather around my hand and his armor turns bright red almost instantly. Efreet, your power is quite frightening.

"Guahh-" The guy screams for a mere second but I guess getting burnt by your armor at the throat is worse than anything.

I release him and he falls backward, to the complete bewilderment of the guys near him.

"W-what just…"

"Kyaa!!"

The knight to his right, which seems to be a girl, screams like one while trying to unsheathe her sword. But ice completely envelopes her arms and they are locked in place.

"Don't kill them all. It will only aggravate our situation." Warren's voice breaks off the weird silence that I have established.

"Yeah, sorry." I am frankly surprised myself at the power I have at hand. Even more so because Warren says that I will still need the training to defeat the demon king. "That's hard to believe."

We dispose of the people who came after us quickly and I must admit that it is a bit hard to adjust my power.

"Urgh…"

Still, no one aside from the guy I killed at the beginning is dead. That's a success as far as I am concerned. I go to the guy I killed and remove his armor. It's not the best conduct to have but it is always good to have gear on. And his body's size is close to mine so.

"That's not very heroic, I would say."

"I know, Warren. I know. Everything I will say right now will just be excuses."

"Sadly, it is also the way of war. Heroes usually don't last long."

"Yeah." Judging by his voice, I think Warren is trying to comfort me. I guess it is eating me up a little to do things like this. It wasn't what I was imagining when I dreamed of it, I have to admit it at least. But I am here now, and I must push forward to realize my wish.

***

A few days later, we reach another village. This one seems smaller than the previous one and when Warren comes back after scanning the place, it would seem there are no wanted posters of us here.

"But I heard something weird from the villagers here." He starts scratching his chin vigorously, making a slightly irritating noise.

"Something weird?"

"Yeah. They say there is a girl here, a servant of the god of law and balance, who can heal any wound and even make scars disappear."

"Huh…Well, I guess it is weird. But thinking about how we can use magic in this world and all that, I can't really say that I am surprised."

"No, that power would make her either a saintess or an oracle, both are chosen by the God of law and balance. Why would such a person be in a remote place like this? Moreover, it would seem it is just recently that she obtained that power. It is suspicious."

"Yeah, I agree with you. We should just skip this place and continue."

"Sigh…I was hoping we could stack on basic necessities before moving on. There will only be large cities from now on and I am not sure we will be able to rest for a good while, at least not until we reach Darak."

"What do we do then? I personally don't mind going there and fighting that girl but-"

We suddenly the sound of a branch breaking. Then, multiple shadows come out of the bushes and trees around and land around us.

"And here I thought it would be quiet for a little while." I was wrong then.

"I knew it. I was sure you guys would be going this way."

A woman stands out more than the others. Her armor looks a lot like the one Emilia was wearing. I am sure I also saw her at the trial.

"They have sent a Valkyrie after us. Is that how carefree those guys are about the situation with the demons?" Warren does the talking, allowing me to understand who she is. A Valkyrie, just like Emilia. Why did they not send the one who can use the dance of wind? I want to have my rematch against her.