Chapter 242

When does a person truly realize they are out of strength?

Once, they dreamed of soaring high into the sky,


but when they realized it was all just a fantasy?


When they faced the fact that what they had wished for from the start


was nothing but a delusion from the very beginning?


Or when their wings broke and they fell from that great height?


Perhaps a person could endure one of these things.


They might have clung to a glorious past to endure a bleak future.

“The Demon Emperor’s Empire has been officially recognized by the Church Country.”

But that ‘past’ was denied.


All the effort they had put in until now became utterly meaningless.

“The Empire didn’t protest. They even sent an envoy to Harmail.”

Personal desires and the mission of a hero.


When one was thwarted and the other was meaningless from the start,


the hero was already hollow. Even if the broken Sacred Sword returned, she could never be the same as before.

“Isn’t it funny? This is what happens between nations. We’ve become useless.”

Mentally and realistically. Though she hadn’t been tortured, Grimudo’s dark energy still lingered in her body.


It felt suffocating, as if all her pores were blocked. She, who should have been able to recover her magical power on her own, now couldn’t use magic without drinking a mana potion.

“…I’m sorry.”

Parnell, standing in front of her with a strangely relieved expression, tilted her head in confusion.

“Sorry? For what?”


“It’s all my fault. You and Lucia could have succeeded without me. I dragged you down with me.”

Parnell sighed and looked at the hero, Yurinel, who had bowed her head.

The psychological shock must have been immense. The Yurinel she knew would never have said such things, even with a sword to her neck.

Lucia wasn’t doing well either. Parnell was the most composed, as this wasn’t her first time experiencing such a thing.


She had once been the princess of the Citadel Kingdom but escaped with her life when the kingdom became a republic. Accepting that she was no longer royalty wasn’t easy.

But she had done it.


She forgot her noble status and adapted to life as a novice mage in a Magic Tower. Through effort and talent, she rose again. Though this shock was great, it wasn’t unbearable.

At least they were alive,


and not crippled.


That was something to be grateful for.


She had endured worse when she was younger and less mature.

“…Yurinel. You’ve always been our leader. Even when Lucia and I had different opinions, we always left the decisions to you because you were a good leader. Well, the results weren’t great.”


“Parnell.”


“But I don’t blame you. Following you was my choice, and I take responsibility for it. Did you deceive us? Betray me? No. It’s just that something unpredictable happened, and it went in an unlucky direction.”

Pain torments people, but if you endure it, it can make you stronger.


People either grow wiser or break during tough times. Parnell hoped Yurinel and Lucia wouldn’t break.

“Hang in there, hero. You’re still our leader. I didn’t follow you because of the Sacred Sword or your power. Well, it started that way… but I told you. You were a better leader than you thought.”


“…Thank you.”


“Don’t mention it.”

They were still young and had some abilities left. Dreaming of great success like before might be hard, but they wouldn’t fall to the point of not being able to survive.

As long as their spirits didn’t break,


they wouldn’t starve even in the toughest situations.

“And this… no, I’ll tell you when we’re all together after you’ve rested. For now, take a break. I’ll go check on Lucia.”

Even when she only had palace etiquette and basic magic knowledge in her head, and after losing her family to bandits, she had managed to survive.


Now, compared to then, the conditions were much better. She planned to persuade Lucia with these words. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.

Unlike Yurinel, who still had a chance to recover, Lucia had locked herself in her room since being rescued. In fact, she had already been broken before being captured.


Turning someone at a crossroads is hard, but pulling someone out of a swamp is nearly impossible. But it had to be done.

Because


that’s what comrades do.

“…Once I pull myself together, I’ll make sure to repay this debt dearly.”

Muttering under her breath, Parnell left. Watching her retreating figure, Yurinel shakily got up from the floor. She couldn’t deny that Parnell’s words had been a great help.

People aren’t as strong as they think. When this situation hit, she had been overwhelmed by depression and despair.

When someone is drowning, they can’t see anything. They just flail their arms, hoping someone will grab them.


If you recklessly try to save them, you might drown with them. That’s the scary thing about despair—it’s contagious.

But if someone throws a lifeline from afar, it’s a huge help. Parnell’s encouragement gave Yurinel the strength to stand again.


Before Parnell, there had been someone else who did that. Someone who, despite failure, could always rise again and help others do the same.

“Would they have returned to that village by now?”

Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to say the name “Pumpkin Vine Village.” She had never liked that rustic name.

She had even suggested renaming it “Sweet Pumpkin Village” or “Deepleaf Vine Village” a few times. The former could promote sweet pumpkins as a local specialty, and the latter might attract adventurers thinking there was a dungeon nearby.

But the village elders had vehemently opposed changing the name passed down through generations, so it never happened. Still, she couldn’t proudly say where her hometown was. If asked, she just said it was a rural area.

She had left the village the moment she saw the Holy Knights who came for her, hating the rustic name. But now, she couldn’t help but think about it.

If she had refused the Holy Knights’ offer and stayed in Pumpkin Vine Village, telling them to find another hero candidate, what kind of life would she be living now?

It might not have been so bad,


but that was all in the past now.

“Maybe living peacefully is the best.”

She thought about the people of Pumpkin Vine Village, living leisurely, enjoying long lives, and being buried in the village’s back mountain. Maybe they were living first-tier lives.

But she couldn’t return there. Because she now knew why Harmail had let her go without even cutting a finger.

“You must have heard about the arrival of the Death God. The Church Country is currently in dire need of strength. The Death God’s forces, carrying that ominous darkness, have begun appearing everywhere.”

The Saint of Nemi, Araidel.


The Saint of Elysia, Arseria.


And the Saint of Hilrae, Sestine.


Except for Araidel, who had become a bird, the other two Saints briefly visited the hero.

“What’s frightening about the Death God isn’t just their strength but their endless ability to spread corruption. Unless soldiers are baptized by priests, ordinary troops will be consumed by the Death God’s darkness and become part of their army.”


“Watchtowers and walls, unless consecrated, can’t stop the Death God’s forces. Entire fortresses can become corrupted, turning into uninhabitable territories of the Death God.”

The two Saints, different in appearance and personality, both looked extremely tired and worn out. Tasks that should have been handled by Holy Knights now fell to the Saints.

“Hero Yurinel. Please lend a hand in this fight.”

Even knowing Yurinel wasn’t the same as before, they had no choice but to reach out. The allied forces desperately needed anyone who could withstand the Death God’s power and repel their forces.