‘Was the magic circle that was here destroyed?’
Faint traces of a magic circle remained above the door. Looking at the cracks in the wall, it seemed the wall had collapsed, breaking the magic circle in half and rendering it non-functional. Before this magic circle was destroyed, entry must have been strictly controlled. If so, there must be even greater secrets below.
Jake carefully descended along the path, trying not to touch the cracked walls.
Below, it was a mess.
‘This is serious.’
The walls were completely slashed to pieces.
Jake was more interested in the sword marks that were carved deeper than the parchments piled in one corner. The sword marks that seemed to have been swung around thoughtlessly looked a bit different to Jake.
When he connected them one by one, considering the depth, direction, and angle of the traces left on the walls, he could vividly see how the person who swung the sword had moved. Though it was quite rough and lacked regularity, as if they had lost their reason and swung the sword frantically, thanks to that, the swordsman’s characteristic habits remained more distinctly, making it easy to recognize the swordsmanship. The fact that the swordsmanship they used was very familiar to Jake also played a part.
“…It’s our family’s swordsmanship.”
For some unknown reason, someone from the family had caused a rampage here. And the reason was surely inside this room.
Jake picked up a parchment placed in the most conspicuous spot.
“This is…”
It contained records about the Demon King and the Hero.
The Demon King, who appeared once every few decades or hundreds of years to paint the world with terror, was one of the subjects the Empire’s citizens loved to gossip about. Since roughly five hundred years had passed since the last Demon King disappeared, claims were circulating that it was about time for the Demon King to appear.
Perhaps the Demon King might appear in the generation I’m living in. That fact drove many into fear, but Jake didn’t fear a Demon King that wasn’t right before his eyes. If the one who would ascend to the position of Duke in the future feared phantoms and showed such an appearance to people, it would only bring greater chaos. Rather than spending time being afraid, it was far better to think about how to support the Hero who would be chosen when the Demon King was born and how to soothe the terrified public sentiment.
‘Rather than that, I want to see something about the Hero—isn’t there anything?’
Jake was more interested in the Hero than the Demon King.
The Lord God tended to choose a Hero wielding a sword to face the Demon King who wielded magic. Since they chose someone to fight against the being that painted the world with terror, the Hero must surely be the greatest swordsman of that era. In this place where all sorts of information was hidden, perhaps special sword techniques of past Heroes were concealed. Jake quickly turned through the parchments.
Thanks to everything being so well organized, it wasn’t difficult to find the necessary information.
[God invariably chooses the heir of the House of Duke West as the Hero.]
“……”
Jake was so shocked that he couldn’t react at all for a while.
‘Wasn’t the Hero chosen from among the strongest?’
The House of Duke West was known as the family that produced the most Heroes throughout history. It was also because of this that they earned the title of being a family ‘chosen by God.’
But to say that the House of Duke West wasn’t chosen because they were special, but that everything was predetermined—what did this mean?
‘If it’s the heir of the House of Duke West, that’s me.’
If this was true, it meant that if the Demon King appeared in this generation, the one who would become the Hero would be Jake West—himself.
Jake, who understood very well how pathetically weak he was, wasn’t particularly pleased with that fact.
It wasn’t an honor. Even if there was a Hero who collapsed in bed the day after swinging a sword, who would be able to spend their days in peace and comfort? This was by no means a choice for the Empire’s citizens. The only person who would be happy with such a result would be Father.
[One who is not the Hero cannot take the Demon King’s breath away.]
They couldn’t defeat the Demon King by putting the weak Hero in the back and bringing strong knights to the front either.
What on earth was he supposed to do!
[The Hero and Demon King of one generation are invariably born with the same conditions.]
Jake only calmed down after seeing that sentence.
According to the records, the Hero and Demon King’s limits were determined based on ‘whichever was born first.’ In other words, even if the Demon King was born while Jake remained as the heir of the ducal house, his abilities would be comparable to his own.
But he couldn’t feel at ease. Even if he could somehow face the Demon King, he wouldn’t be able to solve the problem of the demon tribe that would start rampaging with the Demon King’s birth.
[One who has ascended to the position of Duke or married cannot become the Hero. If one has married before becoming Duke, they must pass on the title as soon as possible and raise an heir to prepare for the Demon King’s attack.]
A somewhat more definitive solution emerged.
‘I should marry as soon as possible so that I don’t become the Hero.’
Jake let out a sigh of relief and put down the parchment, turning his gaze.
Actually, something had been bothering him quite a bit since a little while ago. The pile of damaged parchments stacked in the corner of the room. A large quantity of parchments were stored, torn to shreds.
Judging by how torn they were, it seemed someone couldn’t contain their anger and poured it all out on the parchments. Was it the work of the person who slashed up the room?
What on earth had happened that they destroyed such important materials? It was truly regrettable.
Rustle—
“Lord God, contract…. Mm.”
Unlike the other parchments that were preserved like new, the torn ones were severely corroded and unreadable. It was presumed that the preservation magic cast on them disappeared along with the parchments being damaged.
Jake organized the parchments as he had first found them and left the room.
If it had been someone else who snuck into the Duke’s room, the Duke would have noticed someone had visited from the magic remaining in the room, but Jake, who lacked even enough magic to sustain his own body, could leave the Duke’s bedroom without leaving any trace.
Upon learning that the events of that day hadn’t been discovered by the Duke, Jake thereafter entered and left the room more boldly whenever the Duke was away from the castle. There, Jake gathered information. All of the ducal house’s secrets and true history that Father hadn’t taught him.
Time passed quickly. When the Duke was absent, Jake visited the underground space, and when he was present, he spent his time swinging his sword.
And one day, when Jake’s coming-of-age ceremony was just around the corner, a priest came from the Grand Temple.
That day too, Jake was swinging his sword while reaffirming his plan to marry immediately after completing his coming-of-age ceremony.
“Jake-nim, the Duke is looking for you.”
“Father is?”
Even when guests came, the Duke never called for Jake. That was because Jake was an embarrassing figure to present before people. So what wind had blown?
‘Could it be that the temple found a way to cure my heart?’
When he thought that, his heart fluttered. Jake even put down the sword he was swinging and ran in a single bound.
However, the news the priest brought was different from what Jake had expected.
“A divine oracle has been delivered.”
‘Ah….’
Unable to let out a sigh in front of Father and the guest, Jake felt disappointed only inwardly.
Well. They couldn’t so easily discover a way to cure such a tremendous illness. Even after searching through all the parchments underground, there was no record of anyone suffering from symptoms similar to his. Since there was no precedent, they wouldn’t have any idea where to begin their research.
Though Jake felt disappointed, he tried to collect himself and focused on the priest’s words. Just how remarkable an oracle had been delivered that they came to report to the Duke’s castle before revealing it to the world?
The priest looked back and forth between the Duke and Jake, then opened his mouth.
To deliver the words the Lord God had sent down to these two people.
“The Demon King has been revived.”
“…Huk!”
This time, Jake couldn’t stop the sound from bursting out.
‘This is terrible.’
That the Demon King had been revived meant a Hero to oppose him would appear. And the one who would sit in the Hero’s seat was predetermined.
‘No.’
He couldn’t become the Hero. He must not become one. The Hero who should become the Empire’s hope couldn’t be someone who couldn’t even sustain his own body.
“The Lord God has chosen the heir of the ducal house, Jake West-nim, as the Hero to face the revived Demon King.”
Jake urgently turned his head toward Father. Duke West was also looking this way. It wasn’t exactly a pleased expression. But neither was it a face worried about the world at the birth of a weak Hero. Rather, it was a gaze filled with extremely unpleasant and displeased emotions.
‘…Father?’
It was the same expression he had worn when Jake was five years old and diagnosed with a heart abnormality. Back then, he didn’t know the exact meaning of that gaze, but now that he had come to understand Father’s various aspects, he could tell.
It was jealousy.
‘Father… knew.’
In that moment, Jake instinctively realized.
The Demon King hadn’t just appeared now. The Demon King had appeared before Jake was born, waiting for the day of his revival. And the Duke had caught on the very day he received the report that his son, who had just turned five, was suffering from heart disease.
That Jake West would become the Hero to face that Demon King.
If so, there was only one reason Duke West showed such a gaze.
Father had wanted to become the Hero.
