Chapter 74
“Ugh…”
A pitch-black room.
An underground prison with thick bars here and there that let in not a single speck of light.
An old man, his arms bound in chains and hanging listlessly, made a low groan at the sound of footsteps approaching from afar.
Clack—clack—
A torch flickered small and dim, barely enough to see an arm’s length ahead. It came slowly closer, and someone hairy stepped into the reddish light that it cast.
“Tsk tsk tsk. You look awful.”
The Demon Monkey King.
The old monkey clicked his tongue and looked down at the man with a detached expression.
The old man, Saint Devotio, who could barely lift his head, asked in a low voice.
“What do you want…? Why keep such an old man like me captive? What use could I possibly be?”
Where the Demon King’s forces had swept through, no one survived. Soldiers who had fought monsters, citizens who hadn’t managed to flee — old and young alike — lay cold and dead. There were of course some taken alive, but whenever rescue parties came, they found only grisly corpses.
If the captive was a priest of the goddess, the end was usually even worse.
And yet, to take the church’s own cardinal as a hostage — of all people!
“You keep asking the same question day after day. When the time comes you’ll know. What’s so urgent that you can’t wait?”
Watching the cardinal, the Demon Monkey King smiled meaningfully and chuckled.
“…Are you asking the kingdom to cede imperial land? Is this your price for borrowing the border?”
“Hohoho.”
At that question, the old monkey laughed scornfully.
“You’re trying to pull a trick that’s obvious to anyone, child.”
Even while being held hostage, this dog of the goddess tried, by hook or crook, to pry information from him. All the more evidence of how ignorant they were of the enemy’s forces, though obviously they didn’t notice.
Tick—tick—
—Gahk!
After a brief moment of that contemptuous look down at the cardinal, the Demon Monkey King glanced toward the stairs where another monkey was descending. Hearing what that monkey brought, he quietly smiled, then turned back to Devotio.
“…There’s no need to be so curious.”
It seemed like someone had come to wait outside.
“Soon enough, whether you want to or not, you’ll know.”
Eric left the cathedral after speaking with Bishop Pides and mounted the creaky carriage to head for the eastern fortress — the place where the cardinal was expected to be held. This operation had to be carried out quickly while the Demon Monkey King and his forces were away.
So that he wouldn’t be late for the Shadow Knights who had already begun moving ahead of the enemy, he climbed into the rattling carriage at once.
“Your Grace… are you really sure about this?”
“Right! Those Shadow Knights — I don’t know how strong they are, but the enemy is the Demon King!”
Leona and Lilian, who had boarded the carriage after a brief explanation, glanced at him with anxious looks.
It was dangerous. Starting from the troubles in the Nivosus Range, there had rarely been an uneventful moment, but this time the stakes felt different from the start.
“We’ll be fine. While the knights draw the Demon King’s attention, we’ll slip in, rescue the cardinal, and run.”
Eric reassured them as if to say there was no need to worry.
It was certainly dangerous — but not impossible. Great deeds come with great risk. And this particular risk was worth taking.
They were attempting to rescue one of the mere four cardinals of the church.
‘Besides, this isn’t just about public glory. Winning the heart of Cardinal Saint Devotio of the east could be decisive.’
Even as a single public deed, this would surpass all Eric had achieved so far. But more importantly, turning one of the four cardinals to his side would be invaluable.
‘If the Eastern Cardinal sided with Gregory, no matter how much the other two cardinals pressured him, they couldn’t push the trial any further.’
If both Saint Gregory and Saint Devotio gave their support, there would be no difficulty in making Eustia a saint.
What held her back most in the church’s eyes was reputation. Even the rumors about her past would be silenced if two cardinals covered for her. If Eustia was canonized as a saint by the church, supporting the second princess as the next emperor would also become easy.
With a church saint, two cardinals, and a young hero united behind her, the church could issue a statement endorsing the second princess. She, already enjoying widespread support among the people, would be given wings by such an endorsement.
“So — the person the bishop said would join us, who is he?”
Lost in thoughts of what lay ahead, Eric answered Leona’s question without hesitation.
“An odd fellow.”
An odd fellow. That description fit the man Eric was going to pick up to help rescue the cardinal.
“Odd? Is he someone you know?”
“No. That’s what the bishop said.”
Eric shrugged boldly as Leona cocked her head in puzzlement at his blunt description.
Of course it was a lie. In the game, the fellow only started to make a name for himself in the later stages.
“Ventus? Hmm… I’ve never heard of that name. Anyway, he worked as a hunter at the eastern fortress; if he survived that day, he should be at the Oblivium Keep. The duke is gathering everyone from the fallen keep and other captured fortresses there.”
He turned his head toward the window and recalled the conversation with Pides before departure.
“Since he’s not affiliated with the church, I can’t hand him over on my own, but I’ll write a petition to present to the duke in the church’s name. It’s only one hunter, and he’s needed to help the hero rescue the cardinal; I doubt the duke would refuse.”
Oblivium Keep. Eric had never visited it within the game, but he knew roughly where it lay: near the fallen eastern fortress.
Since it lay along the road toward the fortress, stopping by briefly shouldn’t delay the Shadow Knights’ confrontation with the Demon Monkey King.
‘The bishop said he’s not church-affiliated, so I might not be able to recruit him this one time, but it won’t hurt to put a face to the name.’
“Hold on a moment!”
After several days without pause on the road to Oblivium, Eric arrived at the fairly large gate. He looked out as the guard stopped the carriage for an inspection.
“…Are you from the church?”
“I’ve come to ask the duke a favor. Is he available now?”
“The duke… please wait a moment. I’ll inquire.”
Once the guard saw the church’s emblem on the carriage, he became more cautious. Eric decided not to waste time and got straight to the point.
“Please come this way.”
Not long after, a knight of some fairly high rank appeared in place of the missing guard and led them somewhere.
“Your Grace, I have brought them.”
“Bring them in.”
Eric entered and bowed when he saw the man sitting at a desk, presumably the duke.
The ruler of the east — head of House Criseus. Lapillus Criseus.
“…I heard someone from the church had come. And a young lord too.”
“My name is Eric Ater, Duke. Today I visit not as the duke’s heir but as a hero of the church, to ask something of the rightful ruler of the east.”
He used the title on purpose; it seemed to make the man realize who he was. The duke, clearly displeased at a northerner involving himself in eastern affairs, didn’t hide his discomfort. Eric made his intentions plain and handed over the petition Pides had written.
“…Are you sure this will do?”
“It is sufficient.”
The duke, skeptical, took the petition and read it quickly, then looked at Eric as if to ask if that was all.
“Very well. A church hero has a wish — well, before I consider him my duke, he is first a worshipper of the goddess and deserves to be heard. Your request isn’t unreasonable.”
It was simply a request to hand over a single person housed in the keep. It wasn’t a difficult request, so the duke accepted without much hesitation.
“Is he outside?”
“Yes, Duke.”
“So the young hero wishes to find a hunter named Ventus.”
“I’ll fetch him.”
At the duke’s order, a knight waiting outside set off.
“Greetings to the rightful ruler of the east.”
Not long after, someone was led into the office by the knight.
“Is this the man?”
“Yes, it is.”
A burly, bear-like middle-aged man with a thick beard. Seeing the familiar face and the large scar crossing from his forehead over one eye, Eric nodded slightly.
“Ventus.”
“Yes, Duke.”
“You are needed by the young hero of the church. You will join him for the time being.”
The duke nodded and gave the man, Ventus, the order calmly.
“…No.”
Just as Eric was about to return the duke’s polite greeting, Ventus spoke — a thunderbolt.
“How dare you refuse the duke’s orders…!”
“I—”
How could a mere hunter, not a noble or a knight, refuse the duke’s command? The knight who watched from behind barked at Ventus, but Ventus raised his voice with pride instead.
“The memory of that day is still vivid before my eyes. The Demon Monkey King — that bastard’s army ravaged my comrades and desecrated their corpses!”
His eyes burned with vengeance and hatred. The Ventus in the original story carried that same feeling.
As the game moved into its late stages and the Demon Lords began appearing directly on the battlefield, Ventus, who had lost everyone he cherished to the Demon Lords, dedicated himself to their defeat and began to stand out — unlike before, when he had only done mercenary work to get by.
This was earlier than that late-game upheaval or the great war; one might have expected people to be gentler at this point. But clearly the Demon Monkey King’s interference had changed that.
“Your Grace, I apologize, but I won’t leave. I will not return to the fortress until I have my revenge on those damned monkey bastards…”
“Then take your revenge.”
Watching Ventus bow his head and stubbornly refuse, Eric replied in a clear voice.
“But will killing a few monkeys count as revenge? If we’re going to do it, let’s do it properly.”
“Properly… what do you mean?”
If revenge was what he wanted, then he could take it. But with the war not properly begun yet, and Ventus neither a great knight nor a high mage capable of unleashing powerful magic, he could at best slay a couple soldiers out of the thousands under the Demon Monkey King’s command.
“The cardinal has been taken by the Demon Monkey King. Whatever his purpose, he’s keeping the cardinal alive as a hostage. That suggests he intends to use the cardinal for something important.”
Of course, that didn’t mean Ventus was just any run-of-the-mill hero. Ventus was an S-tier hero in “Protect Humanity,” one of the handful of top-tier characters. Given the timing, his game-level stats might not be quite as high as in the original, but even so, he would be more capable than most heroes.
“So I’m going to rescue the cardinal.”
If he was going to take revenge, he should do it properly. Hearing Eric’s whisper, Ventus — who’d been listening with an interest that had slowly awakened — felt something stir in his wounded hunter’s eyes.
