151 – I Told You They are Not the Enemy – 1

Fortunately, Lectus opened his eyes on the way back.

He, who had not even properly seen the evil dragon, gave a bitter smile and spoke when Gi-jun showed him some of the evil dragon’s bones and scales that he had stored in his inventory.

“Perhaps it was rather a relief that I was unconscious. What about Patum?”

“Patum said he would return to the Empire. He was worried that the honor that should return to us would be tarnished if he, the Hero of Light, stood at the forefront.”

“Honor. It is an embarrassing word to hear for someone like me who passed out early, though…”

Lectus murmured as he slowly moved the stump of his left arm, which was completely empty below the shoulder, up and down, and soon asked Gi-jun.

“Is Miss Ye-min safe?”

“She seems to be safe. She also finished her battle and—after confirming the quest completion message that appeared just in time—is returning.”

“I see… That is a relief.”

Slowly closing and opening his eyes, Lectus nodded.

“It is truly a relief…”

How nice it would have been if everything had ended just like that, but unfortunately, it was not so.

Just as Patum and Lectus had initially feared, a very small number of vampires had attacked the strategic locations of Gratia.

Of course, since the royal army had preserved its strength, they were able to repel most of the attacks without any problem, but the problem was the royal palace.

Surprisingly, a vampire who had reached the Legendary grade—and a particularly powerful one at that—had invaded the royal palace.

Hearing that story as soon as he entered through the main gate of Cor, Gi-jun recalled the fact that Mok-su had volunteered for the role of defending the royal palace, and his expression instantly hardened.

“What about Brother Su?!”

“Many knights, of course, as well as the Summoned, have been killed or injured. Fortunately, His Majesty is safe, but other than that, the casualties haven’t even been properly tallied yet…”

“Uncle!”

Letting out a sharp scream, Ji-hye ran ahead first.

Perhaps unable to read the serious atmosphere of Gi-jun’s party, someone suggested a triumphal ceremony, but now was not the time to naively enjoy the atmosphere of victory like a fool.

Pushing past the soldiers and knights who were gathered like a swarm of bees, Gi-jun hurriedly entered the royal palace and soon sighed in relief upon finding Mok-su alive and Ji-hye clinging tightly to him.

Mok-su was perfectly fine except for the fact that he was wearing rags that were worse than wearing nothing at all and was bathed in sweat and blood, but since Gi-jun, who had just fought a battle against the Lord of Thorns, was in a similar state, it was not an issue.

“Are you really okay, Brother?”

“As you can see. I don’t know why, but that guy chased only me for dear life, so I really thought I was going to die.”

“Thanks to that, it was much easier to deal with him.”

One of the royal knights who was sprawled nearby in a similar state shook his head and spoke.

“If he had not guided the vampire’s movements, twice as many knights would have died by now. In the end, we had to settle for just driving him away without being able to kill him, though—”

“I see. You worked hard, John.”

The royal knight whose identity was immediately exposed by Gi-jun, Code Name = John, flinched and froze.

Confirming that Mok-su was safe and feeling relieved, Gi-jun chuckled at that sight—but only then did Mok-su notice the rest of the party, narrowing his eyes as he asked.

“So… why is ‘that person’ with you?”

The person standing where his gaze was directed was the Demon King Beatrice, whose overwhelming presence could not be hidden even if she concealed her horns and wings.

“Who, me? Ah—now that I think about it, you were there ‘back then’ as well. Nice to meet you!”

“We aren’t exactly on terms to wave hands and greet each other… No, she has already lost interest in me.”

She casually waved her hand at Mok-su and clung tightly to Gi-jun just as she had been doing; in fact, while there were quite a few people who wanted to cling to Gi-jun, the fact that he rarely accepted it made Biche’s presence seem exceptionally special.

As everyone sent Mok-su a look as if beholding a hero for boldly questioning her presence—which anyone who saw Gi-jun’s party had thought about but no one dared to ask—Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“It’s a bit difficult to talk about it in detail here… I’ll explain it once Min-i and Shin-i are gathered as well.”

“No, since Min-i is probably going to throw a fit the moment she sees this, I was trying to hear the explanation beforehand.”

“I wanted to say that too, yes.”

Mok-su spoke, frowning deeply.

Ji-hye chimed in with an extremely serious expression.

Mok-su aside, for even Ji-hye, who had received direct help from Biche, to react like this, Gi-jun smiled bitterly at the stubbornness of the two and replied.

“Min-i will also understand once she hears everything. Since everyone only has memories of facing her as an enemy, it must still be awkward—but it wasn’t like Biche wanted to do that either.”

“Jun, you still don’t know anything.”

“You really know nothing to the point where I wonder how a person can be like this, Oppa.”

“That’s strange, it feels like my words aren’t getting through at all…?!”

Gi-jun seemed utterly flustered by the attitude of the two, but Biche had already noticed how things were going.

“Hmm—so that’s how it is. I don’t like things that take up too much time. I have to go on a date before I go back, too.”

“A date?!”

“A date!!”

The countless gazes of the surrounding people pierced Gi-jun.

However, rather than explaining his personal life, Gi-jun had something that immediately weighed on his mind.

“…Before you return?”

“Huh? Yeah. Didn’t I tell you…?”

Biche spoke with a vague smile.

“It’s not like I can stay here forever. Probably about three days? After that, well, I have to go back.”

“Weren’t you completely free?”

“No way. What do you think the system’s constraints are? It’s still a long way off. But well, thanks to this business trip, I managed to chip away at it quite a bit.”

Biche spoke with a bright smile, saying that the future outlook was also very positive thanks to Gi-jun, but her words did not reach his ears properly.

To be fair, she had never once said that she could completely cross over to Leta.

Gi-jun had just arbitrarily interpreted and anticipated it in a way that was convenient for him; from the start, she had focused solely on rescuing Gi-jun from his crisis.

This meant she had been assuming all along that she would have to return afterward.

“Ah—well, now that you mention it, that’s true. I suppose it would be…”

“Wow… look at Oppa getting so discouraged.”

“Whatever you do, don’t mention this in front of Min-i. Just imagining it scares me to death.”

“…”

While Ji-hye and Mok-su whispered, Gi-jun’s party members maintained a unified silence.

In the strange atmosphere created by Gi-jun and Biche, the pressure emanating from the silence of Tilla and Lora, who had realized that Gi-jun was by no means insensitive to the opposite sex, was truly indescribable.

Overwhelmed by the momentum of the two, Gin pitifully tucked his tail and trembled, but the ones who were even more pitiful were the royal knights, who had to listen to the love affairs of the Lumen party without even being able to leave…

* * *

“Through the sacrifice and devotion of many, we have finally achieved one of our long-cherished desires. The downfall of Kudlak is that very achievement! Welcome the heroes who have returned after completing this great task!”

The king’s booming voice resounded throughout Cor.

In reality, less than a few dozen people, including the strike force, were actually invited to the award ceremony to set foot inside the royal palace, but throughout the ceremony, the king’s voice alone was made audible to everyone through the magic tools installed in Cor.

Those who had contributed in any way to this Grand Quest would receive rewards from the system on behalf of the king.

In the case of the expedition led by Ye-min, since they had acted on their own from start to finish without even receiving the king’s authorization, let alone receiving quest rewards, it would not have been strange if Gratia had imposed some kind of sanctions on them.

Thanks to Ye-min and Gi-jun somehow coordinating their stories with the king, they were also able to line up in the plaza of Cor, at least for appearance’s sake.

“Knight Lectus, step forward!”

Lectus, who had lost an arm, received an artifact in the shape of a metal arm stored in the Gratia royal treasury as a reward.

Because the arm he lost was due to the Lord of Thorns and his Holy Relic, it could not be restored even if Lucy stepped in—perhaps the Holy Empire, where the most outstanding priests of this continent were gathered, might have a way to restore him, but it was unknown what would have to be sacrificed in exchange.

Moreover, since a suitable item for him happened to be available in the Gratia treasury, he chose it without regret.

“Let the representatives of the Golden Spider Clan and the Species Alliance Demander, who bravely infiltrated the land of the vampires and contributed to tearing down their castle, step forward.”

The Golden Spider Clan and the Demander Guild also received many benefits, and in particular, the two who stepped forward as representatives received precious artifacts retrieved from the royal treasury.

Furthermore, they were scheduled to receive a certain percentage of the gold, silver, and treasures Nabinya had secured from the Lord of Thorns’s castle—meaning they had obtained a clear reward for risking their lives.

Especially considering that they had not directly fought the Lord of Thorns or the evil dragon.

“Let the knights and the Summoned who protected the royal palace from the invasion of the wicked vampires also step forward.”

Whether he wanted to leave a good impression on Gi-jun or not—the king gave Mok-su a clear reward as well.

Specifically, he received a Unique-grade full plate armor that only royal knights could wear, and looking at it, Gi-jun felt a surge of envy, but he barely held it back as he thought of the spoils of war in his inventory—which would serve as materials for armor far superior to Unique-grade.

“And lastly—let the heroes who uncovered the vampires’ plot to overthrow Gratia, directly entered their lair to decapitate the Lord of Thorns, and decapitated the evil dragon born of a wicked soul that sought to bring despair to this continent, step forward and show themselves to us.”

There were too many flowery words.

Smiling bitterly, Gi-jun forced a calm expression as he led his party forward in front of the king, who brushed aside his escort knights and strode forward to grab Gi-jun’s hands.

“As the king of a nation, I have run up too great a debt to you. I cannot bear to imagine what would have happened if you had not been here.”

“…”

Gi-jun remained silent, unable to reply to the King of Gratia, who whispered in a voice audible only to him.

It was true that they had cleared the Grand Quest.

However, Patum had suffered a severe mental blow, leaving his recovery uncertain, and Lectus had his arm severed.

Although the party members were safe through sheer luck, half of the strike force had died—and Mok-su, whom he had left at the royal palace believing he would be safe, also had to risk his life.

He had not thought of this at all while engaging in a life-or-death battle with the evil dragon… but ironically, only now, when everything was over and he stood at the place to receive the rewards, did Gi-jun realize how perilous this quest had been.

Yet, because he had played the greatest role, he had become the representative of this quest that had sacrificed so many lives, and everyone’s eyes were focused on him—.

Would Gi-jun be able to continue moving forward so that the sacrifices of all those who had died in this quest would not be in vain?

Could he continue to carry the burden on his shoulders, which would only grow heavier without ever diminishing…?

“I simply did what I could do.”

There was no need to even ask.

Had he not promised himself to do so?

“And I will continue to do so.”

“…Excellent.”

Smiling faintly at Gi-jun’s stiff tone, the king patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Showing off his intimacy with the hero as if purposely demonstrating it to everyone, the king announced his reward in a loud voice.

“Praising the exploits of the hero whose fame will spread not only in Gratia but also across the continent, I award three artifacts from the Gratia royal treasury and one ‘Piercing Awl’ to the Lumen party as rewards!”