Chapter 63 : Hero of Hilderan
Chapter 63: Hero of Hilderan
The anomaly.
Spread quietly.
Knights rushed in and whispered to their masters. Nobles whose complexions had changed hurried toward the terrace.
“My goodness.”
“The annex palace....”
On one side of the royal castle, black fiery light charged up. It was such dense and ominous demonic energy that anyone could feel it.
────!
A burst followed. A magical alarm, previously drowned out by the banquet, signalled its urgency.
“Put out the fire!”
“It’s an invasion by demons!”
“Save the Princess!”
Soldiers moved in haste. The steward entered the banquet hall.
“Tonight’s banquet ends here. An intruder has appeared within the palace, and for your safety, His Majesty asks that everyone remain inside the hall until the situation has settled. This is a royal command.”
The nobles hesitated.
No fool failed to notice that behind the guise of safety lurked a measure of suspicion.
“...Ahem. Very well.”
“I am certain that demonic energy is the work of the demon race....”
Where joy should have filled the banquet hall, only an ominous atmosphere and awkward silence remained.
* * *
“Who was it?”
“Berje Deias. The Demon King of Ergest.”
The one who abducted the princess had introduced himself as the Spirit Sorceress of Darkness. That alone was not enough to determine which Demon King he was.
But the black flames consuming the annex palace were.
“It is definitely the Demon King of Dark Flame.”
It matched the identity of the Demon King recently spread by the Hero Guild.
If the demon belonged to him, it would not be strange to wield a portion of his authority.
“Whom did he take?”
“Her Highness Princess Ellena....”
Clang—
The King hurled his cup. The clothes he had just changed into for the banquet tore apart entirely.
“Ellena returned only a few days ago.”
Yes— not months, not weeks. Merely days.
The festival held to celebrate her survival was still ongoing, and the banquet had only just begun.
“Yet that bastard thinks so little of Hilderan.”
He hadn’t merely spoiled the festivities—he had detonated a bomb.
“It is certain the Hero Guild is not doing its job. The Demon King of Dark Flame? Not deceit, but flame?”
To dare deceive him like this!
“I tried to endure it, telling myself it was not yet time, barely holding back my anger. But Berje Deias. That accursed demon dares test my patience.”
He wished to make Hilderan stronger than any other nation. Until now, he had moved solely for that goal.
And at this very moment, the dignity he sought to elevate had dropped into the gutter.
“Pressure the Hero Guild.”
A Demon King who had already kidnapped a royal and vanished could not be pursued. Their concealment arts could not be caught.
It was an unchanging law of this world.
Nor could they rely on the tower.
Daphne Phillian’s failure meant that unless they resorted to recklessness, at least for now, no method existed.
Anger boiled within him, yet he was a king before he was a man. The kingdom came first.
He felt no lingering attachment to a single failed attempt. Instead, he simply sought another method.
“Deliver a formal protest to the Hero Guild and demand an answer. Tell them that if their incompetence continues, I will have no choice but to establish a royal hero division under the crown.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The knight bowed his head. The chilling killing intent made the maids tremble.
* * *
The 13th Princess of Hilderan, Ellena Hilderan.
His connection with her went back to the moment Berje had first descended.
A princess so useless that the kingdom could do nothing but ignore her.
Before the regression, relying on a piece of information he heard from Ugar, he had attempted to kidnap her. But he made the wrong choice and ended up abducting the princess whose number lacked the 3 in thirteen.
Fortunately, the outcome was good, and things proceeded to where they were now.
But to build a better future, much more had to be done. The kidnapping of the 13th Princess was a part of that process.
He could not deny that Ernan’s request played a major role, yet had the 13th Princess he encountered at the Gold-Steel Tower been useless, he would never have abducted her.
On the 4th Floor, where Ernan had been acknowledged as the master of the layer, Berje placed the 13th Princess upon the earthen bed Ernan had crafted.
“As expected.”
“Yes. It’s mana overload.”
Child of the World Tree was ultimately a spell that forcibly injected mana and enhanced the human body.
Meaning, children born from it possessed an excessive amount of mana. And they raced toward their respective endings.
They were either born with bodies capable of adapting to mana, or they suffered bodily damage, unable to accept the power and therefore incapable of handling mana, or they simply died.
The first type was Ernan.
The second type was the twelve princes and sixteen princesses known officially as Hilderan’s royal family, excluding Ernan.
And the third were the rest—those who never came to term and thus were not even acknowledged as royalty.
But Ellena Hilderan fit into none of these categories.
She was neither a complete success nor a complete failure.
Her body could not withstand mana and had grown frail, yet at the same time, it absorbed an enormous amount of mana.
Energy that her body could not endure remained constantly overflowing. It was overload.
The only reason she managed to survive when she should have died immediately was a single stroke of divine luck—her status as a hero. The interference power of a hero barely held her collapsing body together.
“Had her body been even slightly sturdier, the King of Hilderan would not have left her alone.”
The only reason overload had even been possible was because of her unusual physique. Without any cultivation method, without any effort, she possessed a unique constitution that drew in dozens of times more mana than an ordinary person.
It was both a blessing and a curse—earned as the price of the spell known as Child of the World Tree, a magic burdened with tremendous risk.
She had obtained mana that anyone would envy, yet lacked the body to withstand it.
She could learn nothing, nor could she step forward in anything.
“You survived well.”
“Meiar.”
A tiny spirit poked its head out from Ellena’s shoulder. The small sparrow-like spirit perched atop Ernan’s finger.
“I attached her.”
The method for Ellena to survive was simple: use all the mana she possessed. Consume it as quickly as it filled.
But her frail body rejected even the most basic methods. Her maximum output amounted only to the existence of a very small, delicate spirit.
And that became her lifeline—extending her life just enough for her to live until now.
“How is it? Will it go as you said, Demon King?”
“It will.”
But before that.
“Ellena Hilderan. I assume Ernan has already told you the details.”
“Yes.”
“I ask you. Can you stand against humans for my sake?”
“Can I really learn magic?”
“I swear it on the honour of a Demon King.”
“Then I can pledge my loyalty to you. I don’t want to lie in bed anymore. I don’t want to fall asleep worrying I might die at any moment.”
“Even though you are a hero?”
“I’ve never felt any pride in being a hero. I was always a bedridden invalid.”
“Ernan Hilderan.”
“I’ll take responsibility and teach her.”
Berje crossed his arms.
Ellena Hilderan certainly had value. She was merely a sickly girl now, but with proper instruction, she could become an undeniable asset.
A princess, a hero, and on top of that, someone with a unique constitution that absorbed mana.
‘But I still can’t trust her.’
Ernan had shown much through her actions. Ellena had not.
“Even if I implant a special substance in your head?”
“What limitation does it impose?”
“It simply makes it impossible for you to betray me. That is all.”
“I’ll accept it. I would have died if I had remained as I was.”
“You’re just the same.”
Berje snorted. It felt as if another Ernan had appeared.
“We’re sisters.”
“So you’re fine with having something strange put in your little sister’s head?”
“It’s better than dying. Honestly, Meiar was already reaching the limit of what she could handle.”
Had things continued for a few more years, Ellena would have died. The only reason she survived up to the moment Berje found her was—
‘Thanks to Ugar.’
“But can I really recover?”
“I cannot say you’ll recover immediately. But you can learn magic—and once you do, you will be able to strengthen your own body.”
“That’s enough for me. Then what should I do?”
“Nothing.”
“...?”
“Just wait on the 2nd or 3rd Floor without doing anything. That alone will heal the overload.”
Ellena’s problem lay in the fact that her body drew in mana far beyond what it could naturally withstand.
Her body was too frail to intentionally expend it, leaving no proper means of dealing with the excess.
But in the Demon King’s Tower? If the mana there was so thin that there wasn’t even enough to cause overload?
Then simply living her daily life would reduce her mana, gradually restoring stability. From that state, her body could be strengthened little by little.
“When enough mana drains for you to live normally, then learn magic.”
“...If that’s truly enough.”
“Do not doubt the Demon King.”
“...Yes.”
Ellena stammered as she nodded.
* * *
A flash burst.
Dozens of magical cameras captured Hillan’s face.
Good. This kind of attention.
Hillan enjoyed the reporters’ gazes before schooling his expression. A single tear drop fell.
“I never imagined something like this would happen.”
He spoke slowly. His voice, damp with emotion, carried sincerity.
“I was born in Hilderan. I grew up in Hilderan. I have always taken pride in being a person of Hilderan.”
And therefore—
“I wanted Hilderan to shine. I stepped forward as if its disgrace were my own.”
“To rescue Crown Princess Ernan, I stepped forward before anyone else, and despite all the mockery for failing, I risked my life to bring back Lady Ellena Hilderan.”
But to think she would be kidnapped again....
Hillan choked back his words, trembling.
A reporter raised his hand.
“Does that mean the palace’s defenses were insufficient?”
“That is not what I mean. It is entirely my failure. Had I been more attentive, this would not have happened.”
“But....”
Hillan cut him off. He did not want the responsibility pushed onto the kingdom.
“In my heart, I wish I could slay the Demon King this instant and bring the Princess back. But regrettably, incompetent as I am, I could not even find a trace of the tower.”
“You are not incompetent. If a hero who has slain two Demon Kings is incompetent, then there is not a single good hero in the world.”
“That’s right! No one has worked harder for Hilderan than Hero Hillan Cargill!”
The citizens watching the conference shouted. Hillan lowered his head, holding back tears as he expressed thanks.
“Thank you. But even so, this does not bring the kidnapped princesses back. It does not mean I can save them. However—”
With strength, solemnly, he steadied his voice.
“As someone who has received so much from Hilderan, I can never overlook this incident. I do not wish to overlook it.”
“As a citizen of Hilderan.”
“I, Hillan Cargill, hereby swear on behalf of all heroes of Hilderan, here and now.”
Someday—
“Without fail, someday.”
Hillan’s voice settled into calm certainty. That quiet tone only made him seem more trustworthy.
“That I will rescue the two princesses from the Demon King’s clutches.”
“That I will restore the honour Hilderan has lost.”
“That is what I swear.”
The moment his words came to an end, a roar like blazing fire erupted.
Waaaaaaaaah—!
Long live Hillan Cargill!
Long live Hero Hillan!
Please save the Princesses!
The air trembled. Hillan’s body shuddered with exhilaration.
Hilderan’s anger and shame twisted into frenzy and worship.
Hillan Cargill was filled to the brim with ecstasy.
* * *
『I heard your speech. Quite impressive. You said you’ll save the princesses someday?』
『And can you?』
“I never claimed I would kill the Demon King. And no one knows how long such things might take, do they?”
『Such empty words. Hard to believe you’re a hero.』
“I can give that kind of lip service a hundred times over. Thanks to it, I have become the greatest hero in Hilderan.”
『The people of Hilderan would be delighted to hear that.』
“They’re delighted even without hearing it. I now have the support of all of Hilderan.”
『Congratulations. I look forward to seeing your future achievements.』
“Thank you.”
『Still no word from the Hero Guild? A hero who has slain two Demon Kings—surely the central branch must be desperate to recruit you.』
“There is something I forgot to mention due to being so busy rescuing Princess Ellena, but they already contacted me.”
『Is that so? Then...』
“Yes. I will be joining headquarters, where I will hold more authority—and be able to assist you, Demon King.”
『Assist me? You mean assist yourself. But very well—I fully support your ambition.』
“Thank you.”
The Demon King and the hero exchanged smiles across the communication sphere.