Chapter 35

35.) The Road of a Hero

There is no window inside that room, and the lamp that wasplacedon top of the desk put out a suspiciouslighton that room.

Around the table,therewerea few chairs arranged, and two people, a man and a woman,quietlysit on those arranged chairs. As if they bothwere sculpturesof some sort, they just sat there not moving an inch.

But the problem was actuallyaman.

His face was covered withalong bang whiletheleft side ofhisface was covered withamask; right now,that exact man was placing both of his handson top of the table and usingthemas a pillow for him to sleep.

Even though the sleeping man was a commoner, he was treated as if he was a royal knight.

[zzzzzz zzzz]

He was laying his chin on the desk while showing a really sloppy figure.

It really didnt fit for a rude man like him to be treated as one of the honored royal knights.

That guysname was Silva.

He was a man in hismid-twentiesthat was chosen as one of the candidatesasthe future Queen Karinas Guardian.

[Fuhaaatto]

After a long sleep,Silva finally wokeup from his slumber.

And soon after that,he checkedhis surroundingsandrealizedthat nothing hadchangedso far since before he was asleep.

[Thereisstill no one coming, huh? Geez, how long should I wait here?Werentwe gathered herefor the announcement ofwhat the final exam is?]

Silva was getting a bit irritated because ofthecurrent situation.

He has been waitingfora whole night since a letter came to the royal palace.

The reason he wantedto comewasonly because the letter was sent by an owl Rokomoko was fond of.

[When I was trying to write a reply to that letter I was taken to this place. Dothecommonersalso havenohumanityright now?]

When he saw who sentthe letter,Silva was dumbfounded.

When he finished reading the letter, he hurriedly triedto send back areply.

But, hecouldnteven do that.

In the time between the teststo become the Guardian, some people unexpectedly came tovisitthe room where he was staying. Hecouldntjust told them that he was busy preparing for the test.

He was told that there is some announcement about the test that will be told to him and he was brought walking downthroughsomespiral stairs to some dull place that looked like a prison.

[This is too long! What the hell is that prick doing! I have been locked in hereforalmost a whole dayalready!]

This is a room that cant hold even ten people here.

This place is a basement,isnt it? Now that I think about it,I heard therewerea lot of roomsin the basement thatwereused to confine criminalsinsidethem.

It hadpassedsometimesince the last time Silvawasmaking a fuss here.Then,hetook a nap.

And after he woke up, he startedto make noise again.

There were a man and a woman that&nb

sp;werealso sitting here with Silva and right now,those twowerelooking at Silva with a killing stare, but Silvadidnt even careaboutthose stares.

[You commoner. The next time you make noise again, I will let your head get separated for eternity.]

[Ooh, how scary! Screw that, its almost a daybynow! I cant even tell whether itisday or night because thereis not afriggin window here!]

[We are the candidatesfor the next QueensPrincess KarinasGuardian. As a guardian, we have to be prepared to exchange our life if it means Princess Karina will be safe. And the reason we were locked in this kind of room was so that we could learn how to keep our concentration no matter what happens. You cant even understand such simple things. I am soembarrassed, how come they let suchaviolent commoner like you become a candidateforPrincess Karinas Guardian?]

The man who was just talking, closedhis eyes and became quiet again.

And therewas also a woman that was brought here together with him, but she hasnt spokena single word up till now.

After seeing those two people, Silva startedtothink.

Hestarted tounderstand how Rokomokofelt. These guys are really stiff.

On top of that, he never heard from their mouth that they wanted to become a knight who will protectsothers.

He was only doingit because the princess was hoping for him to become someone that could direct this country from the shadows,andthat is why the Cardinal made himacandidate to become the Guardian without his consent.

[Haa, dont turn meintoa hope without my consent,damn it]

Silva only became what he is now because Princess Karina wishedhim to be.

[Yes,yes, I understand. I will shut my mouth now]

[Do you really understand what I said? And to let a commoner like you hold Darisnational treasure, even only for a short time. It shouldnt be something that someone like youshouldtouch]

Silva looked at the sword thatwashanging on his waist.

It was a sword made from a rare metal that could channel the spirits powerintoit.

No other countryhadsuch an abundantquantityof magic ore, so muchthatitwaspossible to create a sword from it.

In this entire world,therewereonly 10 of these enchanted swordsever made;one of them was Darisnational treasure.

And Silva was granted one of those 10 swords, an elemental sword withthe blessing ofthe Great Light spirit on it.

The last test for the three people was to test their compatibility with the Great Light Spirit, and thatwas why the Cardinal Maldini strictly told Silva to always keep the sword by his side.

[That is why I always told them I am not someone whoisworth to be hopedon]

[Youarestill saying things like that By the way,I also heard some rumors about you. Hey commoner, I heard you are that fallen windsSlow Deningsformer knight]

[Oi! Just stop it! You are the one whoisgettingdistracted! That ishowmen are!]

It was the only woman in this room.

The woman that since the very beginningwasjust meditating without any expression, just now told the other off.

[Pardon me,Coomer-dono. Because of this ignorant commoner, I unintentionallydidit]

And after that silencecame backto that small room.

Silva bend down his head a little, and secretly laughed.

He recallsabout the letter that was sent to him by the boy who was called the fallen wind.

[Fallen wind eh]

Silva rememberedhow moved he was last night as hetookthe letter from Rokomokos favorite owl.

He will never forget how his body trembledas he finished reading that letter.

The contentsof the letter from Slow, his former employer and also his friend,werevery simple.

[[I know it was too late to realize it just now, but it was impossible for me to do italone]]

Silva was troubled seeing that.

Seeinghowthat letterhasbecome so tattered.

Imagining how much he correctedthe wording he used on that letter times and times again.

And on that letter,therewas one sentence that truly shockedSilva after all theseyears.

[[Silva I The truth is,I always had someone in my mind since a long time ago]]

He laughed.

Silvalaughedseeing that sentence.

In this entire world, besides Slow, there is only one other person who knew about Slow Denings most famous act.

Yes, only Silva knew about it.

The girl that was saved from the slavesmarket.

She shouldhaveturned into a girl with a nice growth on her since that time.

[Young master. It will surelybefoundout.]

Seeing Silva laughing by himself, the other two peoplewereseeing him with difficultin theirfaces.

[[Thething I dreamedof in the past. I finally realize that thefairytalewas actually tied with the girls happiness]]

Silva became somewhat troubled.

He thinkswhat the heck is that dream young master Slowistalking about.

And then, little by little he remembered about it.

The day that a child called Slow Dening met with me, a commoner.

It was when Silvawastaking a fun trip into the forest.

There,he found a baby was taken hostage, a child thatwasholding a cane with a troubled face, and countless corpsesof monstershehadnever seen lying around.

While he was hiding and listening to their conversation, he knew which side was bad.

That is why, he helped.

Seeingthatthe child thatwascalling forth various magic as he swung his cane was actually the rumored wind child prodigymadehim surprised.

After that,the wind child prodigy and the other guys talked about various things.

The child prodigy and the other guyweretalking all night long about their dreamsthat they couldnt tellanybodyelse.

[[If you are also the same as me, someone who still hideshis dream in his heart]]

These two guysdreams,he wasgladtheyweretruly one and the same.

[[Together with me my friend, once again lets challenge that dream]]

Since Silva was young, therewas only one dream he always sought while swinginghis sword.

As time goes, he now became so frustratedthat healmostgaveup.

It was impossible for him who could only swing a sword to attain it.

For him who was just a commoner,Silva already knew that his dreamwasalready impossible to attain and put it away deep in his heart.

[[I was just realizingthatitsactually quite simple to make this world a peaceful place]]

For the sakeofseeinghis dream in the future Itookupasword on my arm as a commoner.

Hecouldnt remember exactly when, but he began to forget about his reasonsto holdasword in his hand.

For him whowasstarting to get swept away, he was only following what that sleepyeyes Cardinal said andtookthe exam to become the guardian.

[-in the near future, I will go to the northern empire site where the demon lord rulesthe monsters]

When he finished reading the letter, Silva already decided his future.

Silva hadremembered the reason why hewasamassingpower.

[growing old is really unpleasant. I even forgot about the dream Ihadthat day. Aah damn it, I cant help remembering those days. Young master, as I thought you are really damn great]

[You commoner! You are noisy!]

[Aah Sorry uuh, what?]

But, wait a sec.

[Hey. right now, howdoa noble go to where the northern empire siteis?]

[Commonersare really stupid! Right now,the northern empireisbeing ruled by the demon lord and his subordinates,andisalso currently fighting with the country on the south! The demon lord himselfhasalready declared war against allofhumanity! If there is a case where a Darisnoble enter the northern empire site ontheirown, the country will have nothing to do withthem! Its a reasonable stanceofa countryagainst aperson that has abandonedtheirown position! At the beginning of the northern empiresdemise, thereweresome noblesthatthrewawaytheirown position anddidwhat they thoughtwas right, but right now therearenone of them left! Because that placehasalready become a paradise of monsters!](I think they wanted to say that if they go to hughjack empire then they will abandon their position as a noble in Daris)lose their position, yes.

[Aaah, of course it is. Thank you.]

[Oi, you guys, I told you both are too noisy! That is whymenare!]

Afterit wasdestroyed by the Dostork empire, the Hughjack empire was ruled by the demon lord and itssubordinates.

Silva laughs.

Because he thinksabout how that guywasalways in a bad position in his life.

Because, if hegoesto the place where those wicked creaturesare.

then,he intended to throw awayhisnoble position in this country.

[To the candidatesforPrincess Karinas guardianposition! Your final test has finally arrived!]

Its a surprise attack.

The sturdy doorcame outflying with great power, the two people thatweremeditating on their ownweretakenabackand lookedat the spectacle in front of them.

At the place where the door hadopened,lined up there was a man that hadthe same powerin Darisas Duke Dening, that man was the leader of this test to become princess Karinas guardian.

He has abald headandpointy eyes, heisthe Cardinal Maldini.

[The goalis thecity of Yolem andtheKurushu Magic Academy! And this time you will comealongto accompanytheprincesspilgrimage with half of the royal knight and also myself!!!]

An unpredicted destination, princesspilgrimage, the departure of the royal knights, and also Cardinal Maldinisvisits, after receiving that kind of information there wouldbe nobodywhocould stay composed.

[We have an urgent business with the headmaster of Kurushu Magic Academy, sir Morozov! Forest of the lost! A royal knight called Rokomoko Highland alsogaveus information aboutanoutbreakof the dungeon in the forestjustoutside the academy! This is the perfect chance fortheRoyal knights, no, for the Duke Deningtoowe me a favor!]

A dungeonhadjust born at the forest just outside of the academy.

Therewas no doubtthatit was a big blunder done by the military.

The military was ownedby the great noble Duke Dening, while the Royal Knightswereownedby Cardinal Maldini.

The military affairswereleft to Duke Dening, while the internal affairs wereleft to Cardinal Maldini.

Even a child knewthese two are always in bad terms.

[And there is anotherpiece ofbad news! It was not about the dungeon,andthis is the reason whytheRoyal Knights, Princess Karina, and alsotheCardinal himselfare goingthere]

Something worthy for the Cardinal Maldini.

Afterrealizingwhothe old man who was standing in front of themis, the Guardian candidates stand and fix their posture.

[we have confirmed there was a sight from the Daris border, a black dragon flying on top of the northern empire site! There seems to be a fight happening between the dragon and the monster that occupies thenorthern empire! As the fight with the black dragon goeson,the monsterslowly but surely broughtthe dragonalongtothe border of Daris. If this continues,theywill come close tothecity of Yolem! That is why we need to arrive in Yolem with haste! If there isaone in a million chancethatsomething did happen, the princess has commandedthe Royal knightsto protect the citizens! Even though it was just miniscule, I want Princess Karina to taste how it feels!]

[Cardinal Maldini? What is the princessstask?]

[To the candidatesforPrincess KarinasGuardianposition! Hold your enchanted swords, our Daristreasure, tightly and prepare to gives us your live! You three will assist the princess to conquer the dungeon! Yes! Defeat the dungeon master, and the one who earnsthe princess trust the most will become the Guardian! Become the one who will stand beside Princess Karina, and the path to become a hero will open!]

With much vigor, the Cardinal raisedboth of his hands towardsthe Guardian candidates.

After seeing each of their faces, he told them with a loud voice.

[Only a hero, will match up with the lovely princess! Yes! The birth of a Hero is how Daris will live!]