“Is this… the Holy Kingdom?”
“Wow… This is the place I’ve only heard about… I’ve never been here before.”
As soon as they arrived at the Holy Kingdom, Uriel and Stella, who had never traveled far before, exclaimed in surprise. Evan didn’t seem as startled; perhaps he had been here before, but he too looked amazed at the sight of the Holy Kingdom.
‘I’m not sure about that.’
It could be because it was a place I had lived in for a long time, but I suspected it might be more due to the fact that I couldn’t see anything.
In truth, no matter how beautiful it was, how could I know if I couldn’t see it?
Of course, if it were up to me, I would want to confirm how beautiful it is with my own eyes, but if that were possible, I would have done it long ago.
Putting aside the concept, even a pitiable sight could be shown sufficiently if I had sight, so why set it up in a way that prevents me from seeing and hearing?
The reason I initially set my character to be blind was solely to maximize this character’s potential; it was definitely not because of any such preference.
But…
‘If I were given the opportunity to choose again, I would still make the same choice.’
It was an unavoidable thing to easily defeat the Demon King.
I just needed to return to my original world.
With that premise… haven’t I been keeping my spirits up until now?
Of course, I would love to see the world with my own eyes one day… if such an opportunity ever arose.
“Aria?”
“[Ah… I’m sorry for zoning out. I was just thinking about something for a moment.]”
I said this with an awkward smile.
Speaking of which, there was a letter from Dannes.
‘Didn’t he mention that the knights of the Holy Kingdom were eager to see what kind of person the Hero is…?’
I didn’t know why they were reacting so excessively, but the fact that Dannes would go as far as to send a letter suggested it wasn’t a trivial matter.
It would be wise to heed the warning and prepare adequately.
The only problem was not knowing how to prepare.
‘Well… Should I explain about Evan to every knight I meet?’
If I did that, I would surely be exhausted from overworking.
Rather than that…
‘I’ve thought of a good way.’
What if I just introduced everyone?
“[Evan, I have one request.]”
“A request? A request, you say?”
Since I rarely asked for anything, Evan turned to me with a surprised expression at my mention of having one request.
It wasn’t anything major…
“[The knights seem to be curious about the Hero. Since we’re visiting the Holy Kingdom, how about introducing yourself?]”
I said this with a big smile.
If that were the case, it would make it clear that Evan was harmless, of course.
I wondered if it was really necessary to go this far, but introducing my friends, including the Hero, would prevent any troublesome occurrences later on.
Even if such troubles didn’t arise, I thought it was good to clearly instill that in everyone, so…
There wasn’t really any issue.
However, it’s truly odd.
‘Shouldn’t people generally like the Hero?’
He was the human chosen by the Sacred Sword created by the deity they believed in so much… Shouldn’t he be considered a human chosen directly by the deity?
If they thought that way, it would make sense to have some favorable feelings towards him, even if not as much as the Saint born directly chosen by the goddess.
Regardless, one should have the belief that since the goddess chose the Hero, he wouldn’t be harmful.
Yet, rather than that belief, they seemed hostile, which I couldn’t understand.
‘How strange…’
It was truly…I couldn’t comprehend it.
*
Thus, the unexpectedly arranged introduction scene.
Should I call it an introduction chapter? To stay in the cathedral where the Saint and the Pope reside, it was also an act to understand what kind of people they were.
Well… that was really just a formal reason; the real issue was that there were suspiciously many knights who seemed hostile towards the Hero, so it was Aria’s consideration to inform them about the Hero to prevent any negative feelings.
Yes, it must have been a consideration.
However, Aria overlooked one thing.
The knights she intended to introduce were all elite knights.
Of course, they would be skilled at handling not only physical but inner feelings as well.
“Hello everyone~!”
“Ugh… This is embarrassing… Can’t we just talk about ourselves casually? Why do we have to go this far…?”
Uriel waved to the knights cheering for her with a bright smile.
And Stella sighed heavily next to her, lamenting how it came to this, feeling shy.
And…
‘Um…’
In the center, standing at the front, Evan felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue the moment he met the knights’ gazes fixed on him.
Initially, when Aria turned to him and mentioned having a request, he had resolved to grant any request she made.
However, the request he received was, to be honest, ridiculous.
‘To introduce myself…?’
She wanted him to introduce himself since the knights had questions about him.
Even so, he didn’t intend to refuse.
It wasn’t particularly difficult, and if he could announce his identity in this way, it might avoid any troublesome incidents.
With that thought in mind, he stepped forward to introduce himself.
However…
‘Oh…’
At the moment he stepped forward among the many gathered knights, a chilling sensation hit him.
‘I will kill you… I will definitely kill you…’
‘The enemy who took the Saint away…’
‘Hero, you’re unwelcome, you bastard.’
‘I will kill you…’
Various malicious thoughts surged in his head as a murderous aura concentrated solely on him.
Exclusively aimed at the Hero, so much so that Uriel and Stella behind him were completely oblivious.
Even Aria seemed not to notice anything unusual.
Naturally, it made sense.
This was merely a feeling.
He was only sensing hostility from the excessively hostile knights aimed solely at him.
‘What…?’
The atmosphere was undoubtedly calm.
Uriel and Stella behind him didn’t sense anything amiss and were smiling while introducing themselves.
Even a high priest was praising them as the future Hero party, so if one only observed the atmosphere, it appeared to be festive and bright.
Yes… if one only looked at the atmosphere.
‘It’s only directed at me…!!’
If this were a properly formed murderous intent, Aria, who could sense thoughts, would have noticed immediately, and so would Uriel and Stella behind her.
However, the fact that it was not meant for anyone but him was threatening.
At this point, it felt as if he had committed some great crime against the Holy Kingdom.
‘What on earth did I do…?!’
At this point, he was feeling wronged.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet the gazes of the knights directed at him felt like he was the enemy who killed their parents, filled with enormous hostility.
He wanted to shout out why they were looking at him like that.
But…
‘If I shout out like this, everyone will look at me strangely…’
So Evan had no choice but to endure.
Although the knights’ gazes pierced at him like arrows, Evan wore a mask that didn’t fit.
He ignored the gazes while donning an unfamiliar iron and leather outfit.
He felt a twinge of regret for following along but then…
‘… Aria…’
Looking towards Aria made that feeling melt away.
Ah, how foolish a man in love can be.
Evan showed a strong will to turn the world against him for her, but the person herself remained completely oblivious…
It was truly a sad situation.
Or was it not quite so?
Despite Evan’s expectation that no one else would notice, Aria was definitely aware of the malicious intent directed at the Hero.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
But that didn’t mean she would help Evan.
She merely exhibited curiosity at seeing the knights with unknown malice-filled gazes directed towards the Hero.
However, in this situation where everyone was laughing and having a good time, it wouldn’t be appropriate to break the atmosphere by questioning why they were looking at Evan like that.
Thus, Aria felt anew how difficult it was to be a Saint.
Of course, she understood that it was not true hatred but merely a feeling similar to jealousy, so it didn’t particularly concern her.
