Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part1

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Chapter 01: The Greatest Hero Gets the Boot (Part 1)

Two weeks after his battle with the demon king, Garrius returned to the royal capital.

After three days, he was at last granted an audience with the king. During his wait, the Holy Sword and Armor, which were national treasures, were taken from him and locked away in the royal treasury.

His return was kept a secret. He was ignored for several days. His audience was after sundown. He had orders to attend in plain clothes.

This acc.u.mulation of odd situations left Garrius feeling unsettled.

Could they have found out about me letting the demon king get away?

Or, worse, what if they knew the demons had escaped to the wild lands?

As his sense of unease grew, he was escorted to the audience chamber.

At the back of the s.p.a.cious room were several stairs, atop which was installed a lavish throne.

“Well, well. If it isn't Garrius.”

A man with gray-streaked hair, who was even fatter than Garrius, sat on the throne.

He was the Kingdom of Midterria's monarch, Edgar Midterrius

Seated beside him in an ornate chair was a beautiful woman wearing a resplendent gown and a prim expression—the Queen Isabella. His second wife, she had the youthful looks of someone in her twenties.

On the side opposite Isabella was a slender, handsome man. There was hardly a trace of the king's looks in his appearance, but this was, without a doubt, Prince Jered. As the son of the first queen, he and Isabella shared no relation.

At the bottom of the steps a husky, bearded knight, General Bran Gotte, stood in wait. Excepting the hero Garrius, he was touted as the fiercest warrior in the realm.

It was quite the gathering of eminences, but Garrius wondered why there wasn't so much as a single guard present.

With reflexes honed from long years at war, he took in his surroundings without turning his head while he proceeded forward to take a knee before the king.

“We have received word of your deeds. You have done well.”

“It has been an honor to serve, Your Majesty.”

“Hmf. You are the only man in the kingdom able to use the Holy Sword and Armor. We likely could not have accomplished this great feat were it not for you.”

“I am grateful for your words, Sire.”

It seemed that letting the demon king escape had not been discovered. Yet, the feeling of unease still weighed on his bowed head.

“Garrius, look up.”

The commanding voice belonged to General Gotte.

Garrius raised his head.

Queen Isabella gave a look of obvious revulsion. Prince Jered's fine face broke out in a sneer. Gotte turned a piercing look toward Garrius.

“We know of your actions—of your accomplishments. However, we…that is, you see…” King Edgar hesitated to continue until the queen shot him a glare. He added, with apparent resignation, “The demon king is dead and the demons are scattered. They no longer pose a threat. Thus, we would ask that you step down as hero.”

Oh, that's what this is about? thought Garrius with disappointment.

He had always known his role would be fulfilled once he defeated the demon king. He was so sick of war, he would have asked to step down anyway.

With the status of an ex-hero, he could live the rest of his life in——

“And we would like to have my son, Prince Jered, take credit for all of your deeds.”

“Uh…what?”

“We would like to change things so that all you've done up till now will have been done by Jered. Including defeating the demon king, of course.”

Garrius did not understand what the king was saying. Rather, he understood what the king meant, but felt as if there were no point. After all…

“Who is going to, uh, believe a story like that?”

Garrius may have worn full armor and almost always had his helmet covering his face.

But almost always wasn't always; he had revealed his face when he ate or went to bed.

Maybe just a few people had seen him without a helmet. But it wouldn't be possible to track them all down and pay them for their silence.

“Why, that poses no problem. The Holy Sword and Armor are the treasure of our realm, only able to be used by a hero. Which is why no one knew that when you draw on their full power, there is a curse that transforms the user into something hideous.”

There was no such curse. The Holy Armor would adjust its size to fit the wearer, but no more. Having used it himself, Garrius could vouch for that.

In other words, they were trying to pull the wool over the citizens' eyes.

“While you were venturing forth, Jered hid himself away. There should be none to doubt it.”

Garrius wanted to say this was well thought out, but sighed inwardly at their flimsy and despicable plot.

So… these are the people I was fighting for?

Things were now more absurd than before.

While Garrius was too shocked to speak, the king outlined his reasoning unbidden.

“A hero is a champion beloved by the citizens. Thus, one needs the sort of looks that everyone will adore,” said the king matter-of-factly, perhaps having lost his sense of remorse. “You see, Garrius, you are too ugly to be called a hero!”

This was hardly news to him. He was long past caring about it.

Then Jered stood up.

“Whereas my looks are more than good enough for the job. Moreover, I have the gift of ‘Charisma'.”

Jered's gift was being attractive and charming. In addition to his good looks, his gift made people like and trust him. So no matter how wild a lie he told, his power could make others believe it.

There is that. But…

It was well known that the prince had the gift of ‘Charisma'. Surely there were a good number of people who would take that fact into account.

As he pondered this, Garrius gazed absent-mindedly at Jered.

“Don't glare at me so.”

He hadn't really been glaring. His puffy eyes just made people think that.

“Now, I'm sure you find this all unsatisfactory. But I don't think you're planning on doing anything against me, are you? After all…” Jered gave him a derisive smirk. “Without special gear, you're weaker than a common solider.”

This time, Garrius did fix Jered with a glare.

However, he had no intention of acting out against the provocation. When he was empty-handed, not only could Gotte easily overpower him, Jered himself could do it all on his own.

Because Garrius' strength was simply a byproduct of his gift, he had no way to currently manifest it.

The king cut in. “Of course, we have no intention of ignoring your feats.”

At a glance from the king, Gotte picked up a leather bag that was resting by his feet. It jingled when he placed it in front of Garrius.

“There are fifty gold coins in there. That should be enough to keep you fed for a while if you take up country living.”

“As I'm sure you already know, you're not to let on about any of this. Which, you realize, means you can't stay in my kingdom. It would be a bit of a problem if you ran into anyone who knows your face.”

It seemed they weren't merely going to steal his accomplishments; they were ordering him to leave the kingdom.

And his compensation was to be a trifling fifty gold.

“I…understand.”

Garrius picked up the leather bag and bowed.

He had no desire to stick around.

◆

Garrius left the audience chamber and trudged down the dimly lit hallway.

When he had received his gift at the age of twelve, he had been summoned at once to the royal capital. They had done their best to keep him away from other people, and he had spent all his time in training to be a hero.

Thinking back, they had probably been planning this from the start.

“Garrius, wait a moment.”

General Gotte came up behind him. He drew alongside Garrius and kept pace with him.

“Did you know about this, General?”

“Well, yes. But I don't have the power to do anything about it.”

Garrius listened dispa.s.sionately.

“I've no doubt you're disappointed, but there's another way to think about this. You came from a poor farming village, but you were able to rise to the status of hero.”

Gotte was pretending like he cared, but everything he said was filled with contempt for Garrius.

In the end, Gotte was one of ‘them'—not the sort of man who would support Garrius. There were certain unsavory rumors, too. He wasn't someone to trust.

“And what a jest of a gift it was that G.o.d bestowed upon you. ‘Item Master'—full mastery over any and all weapons or armor, eh? But on the other hand, if you don't have proper gear equipped, you're weaker than a common soldier.”

Strictly speaking, his gift wasn't limited to weapons and armor. He could draw out the maximum capability from any item.

However, it was true what Gotte had said about him being weak.

It was the Holy Sword and Holy Armor, which were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with special powers, that had made him a hero. They had raised Garrius' pitiful capabilities to a level beyond that of a superhuman.

“Whatever. I don't really care.”

“Now, now. Don't go all to pieces. It'll be good to get away from the battlefield and take it easy, don't you think? I've gotten you an inn room for the night. You can use it to think over where you'd like to go from here.”

Gotte thumped Garrius on the shoulder.

“Oh, by the way, tomorrow we'll be unveiling the ersatz hero. You may not enjoy it much, but, then again, it could do you some good to watch the prince's idiotic antics before you go.”

As if I'd go to that, Garrius thought to himself bitterly, then realized, Wow, this guy even speaks ill of the prince himself.

He had no interest in the power struggles of elites and royals.

He was sick of it all and determined to leave the capital to start a new life as quickly as possible.

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