WKTH Chapter 5

“I see you’ve come.” Solon was sitting in the room as if he had been waiting for me. He was wearing his usual purple robes as a sage. It seemed he was anticipating my arrival.

“Why did you do something as foolish as revealing that Ares was not the hero?”

“It was bound to come out eventually.”

“I reviewed the investigation report. When you referred to ‘Ares,’ you were talking about Ares. But when you referred to ‘that guy’ or ‘him,’ you were talking about Zack.” Solon didn’t answer the question and gave a faint smile.

“When did Zack become Ares? According to the investigation, Zack was already calling himself Ares when he arrived in the capital…”

“He was attacked by a demon on the way to the capital, and Ares died. That’s what Zack says, anyway,” Solon replied, as if testing me. He was implying that Zack might have killed Ares.

“I believe him. But why did you bring this up now?”

“I already told you, didn’t I? He has no talent. He’s bad at lying. It’s a miracle he wasn’t found out all these years. You probably didn’t think he was dead either, did you, Princess Alexia?”

At those words, I fell silent.

“After we returned to the kingdom, you were proposed to a few times. The primary candidate was Leon. But you and Leon both refused, citing that the recently deceased hero was your fiancé. You’ve been avoiding marriage proposals ever since.”

It wasn’t just Leon; Solon was also a candidate. However, he refused as well. I kept refusing marriage proposals that came my way, and Leon and Solon supported my decision. Only Maria said, “For the sake of the kingdom’s peace, you should get married soon” and tried to convince me to get married.

“But that can’t go on forever. His Majesty won’t allow it anymore. That’s why you started a project to document the hero’s achievements. To search for him.”

That’s right. As part of the country’s policies, I proposed compiling the achievements of the hero into a document and started investigating it myself. Believing that he was still alive. However, I had no idea that he wasn’t actually Ares. “There are many meddlesome people besides us. Leon is using the power of his earldom to gather information on where he went, and Maria is utilizing the church’s information network to search for him. I have also come up with a few magical spells to search for him.” “But you haven’t found him yet?” “He went outside the country. It’s not that easy to find him.” I felt like Solon’s grumpy expression had softened a bit. “Why are you searching for him?” “To bring him back. He’s my friend. Life without friends is boring.” He spread his arms and tried to joke. ” … Doesn’t Zack want to reveal himself as the hero. Are you still going to bring him back?” That’s the concern. Zack wants to stick to his lies. “Who is he lying for? If he went all the way to Taris Village, he should know, right?” “For Shera-san. He wants to at least make it seem like Ares was the hero for her sake.” “That’s right. She is Ares’ mother and his foster parent. He even had her draw a picture that resembled Ares.” The first time I saw the picture, I thought it was a bit embellished, but there was a reason for it. “So what now? Zack won’t come back just for his lies. He’s a strong-willed person who defeated the Demon Lord. But at the same time, we can’t tell Shera-san the truth. We don’t want to waste Zack’s resolve.” “That’s true.” Solon readily acknowledged.

「But what if Shera knew about the lie from the beginning? What would you do then?」

“I don’t know…I mean, what could we do?”

“I know. She definitely knows.” Solon asserted.

“Why do you say that?”

“If you go back and see Shera again, she will tell you.”

What does this man, known as the great sage, see that others do not?

“Do you mean I have to go back to Talis village again?” It was a ten-day journey by horse, not an easy trip.

“What? I’ll take you there. I’m not called the Great Sage for nothing.”

“Are you saying you can teleport us there?”

“The spell is complete. Only I can use it.”

Solon said it so casually, but teleportation magic was a legendary magic that was said to have existed a long time ago. It was not something that was easy to do.

“So, what do you say, Princess? Are you too scared to use magic to get there?” Solon challenged.

Of course, it was scary. How could it not be? It was magic that she had never seen before. But it was too late to back down now.

“Very well. Let’s go.”

When I answered that, Solon stood up and led me to another room.

In the deep basement of the mansion, the room had a large magic circle drawn on the floor.

“For now, we will teleport from this room, and we can only return to this room.”
Solon says it like a defect, but the content is quite amazing. One could say it’s groundbreaking. When Solon and I stood at the center of the magic circle, he began chanting the spell. The magic circle on the floor started to emit a pale blue light. As the light continued to shine brighter, our vision was completely engulfed in white light, and in the next moment, we found ourselves in a completely different place. We were surrounded by young trees. Although we were supposed to be in the royal capital just a moment ago, I could smell the strong scent of plants. “Where are we?” “We’re in a forest near Talis Village. I chose a place where we won’t be seen by anyone. Nevertheless, Shera’s house isn’t too far from here. Let’s go.” Saying so, Solon started walking briskly. At first glance, he looked like a scholar and didn’t seem good at walking outside like this, but he was one of the members of the hero party. He probably didn’t mind walking like this. In fact, he was walking fast. I hurriedly followed him. As Solon had said, we didn’t have to go too far to reach the village chief’s house where Shera lived. Along the way, we were looked at suspiciously by the villagers we passed, but Solon completely ignored their gazes. And then, when we arrived at the village chief’s house, I knocked on the door as prompted. “Yes… Oh?” The one who came out was Shera. “You’ve come again… I thought you would.” She smiled a little nervously and led us inside the house. It was the same time as when we came before, but it seems her husband, the village chief, is often out at this time. “Um… who is this person?” “He’s Solon Barclay. He’s known as the Great Sage.” Before I could introduce him, Solon introduced himself. “Great Sage… It’s amazing that someone like you would come all the way here. I’m Shera Schmidt. Nice to meet you.” Shera gave a polite bow to Solon and then knelt facing me. “You’re Princess Alexia, aren’t you?”

“It was just as you said. As part of the country’s policy, I proposed to compile the achievements of the hero in literature and started my own investigation. I believe he is still alive. However, I did not know that he was not in Ares. ” “There are also many other meddlesome people. Leon is using the power of the earl’s family to gather information about where he went, and Maria is using the church’s information network to search for him. I’ve also developed a few spells to help with the search.” “But haven’t you found him yet?” “He headed outside the country. It’s not easy to find him.” I felt Solon’s irritable expression soften a bit. “What’s the point of looking for him?” “To bring him back. He’s my friend. Life without friends is boring.” He spread his hands and put on a playful expression. “…Zack doesn’t want to reveal that he’s the hero. Are you still going to bring him back?” That’s the concern. Zack wants to stick to his lie. “Who is he lying for? If he went to Taris Village, he would know, right?” “It’s for Shera. He wants to at least make Ares the hero for her sake.” “That’s right. He’s being considerate of her, as she is Ares’ mother and guardian. He even had a picture of himself made to resemble Ares.” When I first saw the picture, I thought he had embellished it a bit, but there was a reason for it. “So what? Zack won’t come back for his own lies. He’s a strong-willed person who defeated the Demon Lord. But we can’t tell Shera the truth. We don’t want to waste Zack’s determination.” “That’s right.” Solon agreed easily.

I asked, “Did Ares defeat the Demon King?” I was probably shaking as I asked. The child silently nodded. When I asked, “Where have you been and what have you been doing?” he replied, “I’ve been living in the capital while working.” It didn’t make any sense. Tears streamed down from Shera’s eyes. “But that child had become so magnificent that it was unbelievable. His body was trained like I’d never seen before, his face was sharp and rugged, and only his eyes were the same as before he left on his journey. He didn’t look like he had worked on a farm or at a shop. If he had been working as a soldier, he wouldn’t have looked like that. When I asked him, ‘What are you going to do now?’ he replied, ‘I’ll be leaving on a journey soon.’ I didn’t want him to go, so I held his hand to keep him. That’s when I noticed that his hand was rough and callused, like he had swung a sword tens of thousands of times. His palms were covered in blisters, and when I looked closer, there were scars all over his skin that I couldn’t believe. That’s when I realized, ‘Ah, this child defeated the Demon King.’ ‘He defeated the Demon King for Ares and me.’ I couldn’t say anything more. I couldn’t possibly tell this child that his kind lie was a lie.” My vision became blurred as Shera spoke. Solon had his face hidden under his hood. “I didn’t want Ares or Zack to become heroes or anything like that. I just wanted them to grow up and live happily. That’s no longer possible for Ares, but at least I want Zack to be happy. And I have to hear about Ares’ final moments from that child’s mouth. It’s my duty as his mother. So, Princess Alexia, please find that child, find Zack. I beg of you.”