Not An Enemy You Meet At The Beginning (2)

Early morning, three days later.

We gathered at the gates of the royal castle.

Not only the royal family, but knights and nobles were there to see us off.

We were about to depart on the quest to defeat the Demon King.

For the kingdom, this was a major event in every sense.

It was only natural that it drew attention.

“Erika, have you forgotten anything?”

“No, Father.”

“I see. Please be careful, no matter what.”

His Majesty the King spoke to the princess with a worried expression.

His own daughter was about to set out on a dangerous journey.

I could understand how he felt.

“Please give my regards to Mother and my sister as well.”

“Yes. They were disappointed as well. If their schedules hadn’t conflicted, they wanted to come see you off.”

“So did I.”

The Queen and the elder princess were not present for the send-off.

Apparently, there was an important conference with another country, and they had gone there instead.

They seemed just as busy as His Majesty, and in the entire past month, I hadn’t seen them even once.

I was a little disappointed—I had been curious about what they were like.

“Everyone! Once you’re ready, we’re setting off!”

Gripping the reins of the prepared carriage, Arka waved to us.

Our luggage was already packed.

All that remained was to board the carriage and depart.

“Hero-dono.”

“Yes!”

When His Majesty addressed me, my back straightened reflexively.

“Please take care of Erika. And please, save this country.”

The King bowed his head to me.

It was highly unusual for the ruler of a nation to bow to someone who wasn’t even a noble.

From that gesture and his words, I could feel the depth of his resolve as king.

“…Leave it to me! I swear I will defeat the Demon King!”

“Those are reassuring words.”

I wasn’t the real thing—but to them, I was the Hero.

To turn a fake into the real thing.

To live up to their trust.

For now, I would puff out my chest as much as I could.

We boarded the carriage.

Arka took the driver’s seat, while the three of us and the luggage rode in the back.

“All right—let’s go!”

With Arka’s energetic call, we set off from the royal castle.

Right after leaving the castle, the capital city was in an uproar.

“Hero-sama!”

“Please do your best!”

The townspeople had gathered to see us off.

Having heard that today was the departure, they must have come just to catch a glimpse of the Hero.

It was like a festival.

“This is kind of nerve-wracking.”

“You’d better get used to it. You’ll be attracting attention wherever we go.”

The princess whispered beside me, still in her refined mode.

The Hero was the people’s hope.

That was why so many eyes were drawn to him.

“If you get exposed, it’ll be trouble.”

“Ghk!”

The princess whispered maliciously in a low voice.

Because of all the attention, I had to behave like a Hero at all times.

What pressure.

My stomach already hurts.

That said, we would be traveling by carriage for a while.

Until we reached the Great Ravine that split the continent, we planned to take the safest routes possible.

First, we had to cross the border.

An hour passed after departure.

“It’s peaceful.”

“Of course. Our country is the largest and safest in the Human Realm. The Demon King’s army hasn’t reached our territory yet. I taught you that, didn’t I?”

That sharp tone again.

I remembered just fine.

The Kingdom of Etoile—the greatest nation of humankind.

Throughout its long history, it had survived countless conflicts between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.

The birth of Heroes had played a major role in those achievements.

Only the Kingdom of Etoile, with its long history and qualified royal bloodline, could perform the Hero Summoning ritual.

Geographically, it was located near the center of the Human Realm and far from the Demon Realm.

If the Demon King’s army ever reached this far, it would mean humanity was in a truly dire position—but for now, a balance was being maintained.

“That said, monsters live everywhere in the world. Don’t let your guard down, Soji.”

“Yeah, I know. Hm? You just used my name.”

“This will be a long journey. We’re important companions, aren’t we? It’s natural to call each other by name.”

The princess smiled softly.

She was still in refined mode, but she was probably just tired of keeping it up.

Honestly, constantly dealing with a perfectly refined princess was exhausting for me too.

“Then I guess I’ll call you Erika as well.”

“—! Please, do as you like.”

Her eyebrow twitched.

Don’t get carried away.

That was probably what she meant.

Still, since she was the one who suggested it, she couldn’t exactly object.

Nervously, I decided to call her by name.

Considering what lay ahead, it wouldn’t be good to let her hold all the leverage forever.

Little by little, I needed to build up my own cards to protect myself—

“Hm?”

“Is something wrong?”

“No… I just got a weird chill.”

“Did you catch a cold? If so, I can offer a prayer.”

Worried, Semirena clasped her hands before her chest.

“It’s not like that! More like… a presence? Some kind of feeling.”

“Ah! Everyone, stop!”

Right after Arka shouted, the carriage came to a sudden halt.

As the carriage lurched, I instinctively caught Erika, who nearly lost her balance.

“Hey, where are you touching?”

“I-it couldn’t be helped!”

This was going to come back to bite me later…

Semirena asked Arka.

“What happened, Arka?”

“Sorry! Monsters are coming!”

“—!”

We hurriedly jumped down from the carriage.

The road we were traveling on ran through a forest.

From between the trees around us, numerous red eyes stared back.

They were monsters resembling gray wolves.

I recognized them from the monster types Erika had taught me.

“A pack of Grey Wolves!”

Arka shouted.

They looked exactly like the illustrations in the bestiary.

Grey Wolves were a type of monster found all over the world.

They moved in packs of four or more and were vicious creatures that preyed on humans and other animals.

Erika closed her eyes and searched for their presence.

“Looks like we’re surrounded.”

“They’re blocking the road too! We’ll have to fight our way through!”

“It can’t be helped. Even though they’re monsters, I dislike pointless conflict… Hero-sama.”

“Y-yeah! Let’s fight!”

Our first real battle had come suddenly.

Our opponents were a pack of Grey Wolves.

As far as I could see, there were more than ten of them.

They had spread out to our left and right, completely surrounding the carriage.

Semirena clasped her hands before her chest.

“I will protect the carriage with a barrier.”

“I’ll handle the ones on the right! Soji-kun, take the left!”

“Got it!”

“I’ll support the two of you.”

In an instant, we divided our roles.

I was assigned the pack approaching from the left.

Even with Erika’s support, jumping straight into battle was honestly terrifying.

Their hungry eyes were fixed on me.

I wanted to panic and run—but I couldn’t.

It was fine.

I had trained hard for an entire month. I was stronger now.

If I couldn’t even defeat some dog-like monsters, how was I supposed to defeat the Demon King?

“All right.”

I placed my hand on the cursed blade at my waist.

Strangely enough, just touching it gave me a little courage.

“They’re coming!”