“That was the original plan. Now that the situation has changed, the plan has changed too, and some plans including my death have been discarded.”
“If you hadn’t discarded it, you were thinking of dying and ending it.”
“That’s right.”
“Let’s hear just how remarkable this plan is that someone who’s no less than the Hero would die and end it.”
Jake pondered for a moment about where to start explaining, then opened his mouth.
“Do you know that the Lord God promises to grant one wish to the Hero who defeats the Demon King, Klad?”
“I know at least that much.”
“The moment I made that wish, my companion would have stabbed a sword into my back.”
“Why on earth would someone called a companion do that?”
“Because he would be Father’s person.”
Klad frowned. Watching Jake interpret the definition of the word ‘companion’ as ‘Father’s subordinate who will someday stab me in the back’ made his insides burn.
“Father wouldn’t want me to return to the capital intact, and right after battling the Demon King would be the best time to dispose of me. That way he could blame my death on the Demon King.”
“Didn’t you think to wish to God to save your life?”
“I can’t waste a precious wish on something like that.”
“Just how remarkable a wish were you planning to make?”
“I wanted to receive a promise that even if someone other than me ascended to the position of Duke, their heir would be qualified to become the next Hero.”
In the records Jake first checked, it said those qualified to be Hero were ‘the heir of the ducal house,’ but occasionally there were some that said ‘the first bloodline of the current Duke.’ It would be a disaster if they went to the trouble of putting another descendant in the Duke’s seat, but since he wasn’t the first bloodline, neither he nor his children met the Hero’s qualifications. Since they couldn’t retrieve the disappeared first bloodline when the time came, if they didn’t intend to let the world perish at the hands of the next Demon King, they had to make this part certain.
“Didn’t you say the condition for choosing party members was those who craved money rather than honor and wouldn’t covet merit? Weren’t you trying to distinguish Father’s people with that?”
“Even if they weren’t at the time they joined the party, they would eventually succumb to Father’s persuasion, so there’s no meaning in distinguishing them. If so, I judged it better to take someone who was Father’s person from the start as a companion. Watching the attitude of someone I thought was a companion change midway isn’t a very enjoyable thing.”
Jake shrugged as if it were obvious.
“Then why did you make such conditions?”
“As a result of watching Father’s people for a long time, those who craved money left with a high probability after obtaining what they wanted.”
“What about the guys who wanted honor?”
“They were executed for coveting more than what was promised.”
Those who craved honor or titles invariably met bad ends.
Just look at Baron Nolson this time. He succeeded in gaining the Duke’s trust and obtaining territory beyond his station, but when it came time to abandon that territory and return to the capital, he became greedy. Baron Nolson, who realized he couldn’t taste power beyond this if he returned to the Duke, fled. And he would surely be dealt with by Father’s hand.
“If my companion were someone who craved honor, he would surely try to use the name ‘member of the Hero’s Party.’ Father would ruin that person’s life to make the merit of exterminating the Demon King entirely the West family’s. Rather than that, wouldn’t it be better to take as a companion someone who, if given a few coins, would do as Father ordered and then appropriately keep their mouth shut?”
“So you’re saying you put up such conditions because you felt sorry that the would-be traitors who would inevitably betray you would meet miserable ends?”
“That’s about right.”
Klad resolved that if the moment came to choose companions later, he wouldn’t give Jake any choice.
“I’ve lived my whole life and never seen a human like you.”
“Huhu.”
“That’s not a compliment.”
“I’m explaining this now, Klad. I didn’t think you would go over to Father. Rather, it was the opposite.”
“That talk is done now.”
Klad, perhaps embarrassed that he had left creating an atmosphere as if he would never return and then came back not long after, subtly turned his gaze away.
“Ever since I was young, the only ones who approached me were those who received Father’s encouragement or had special purposes. You’re the first who chose to remain by my side even when that wasn’t the case.”
“You seem to have forgotten, but you were the one who clung to me asking me to join the party. It wasn’t my choice.”
“But you came back to me even knowing there was nothing you could gain from me.”
When he was dragged away by Father, he even thought he would never see Klad again. If Klad left the city, even the chance to find him and have a conversation would disappear.
Yet to meet again like this and have a conversation together. It was truly a joyful thing.
“Klad. I still haven’t heard the reason why you came back to me.”
“…It’s not a great reason.”
“I’m curious.”
He couldn’t avoid answering with the excuse that it was embarrassing he changed his words after just an hour or two when the other side had thoroughly shaken out and explained everything down to the past. Klad started explaining with an insincere attitude while avoiding eye contact.
“I tend to become sensitive about matters related to the House of Duke West.”
“Hmm.”
Come to think of it, both times Klad had stormed off and turned away were when they had talked about the Duke and his schemes.
“I was so angry that I stormed out then, but I came back because I wanted to have a proper conversation.”
Just as Jake had organized his thoughts while swinging his sword, Klad also had time to collect himself while walking alone. Honestly, he regretted it a little bit after turning away like that. Because of his nature to become sensitive about anything related to the House of Duke West, even knowing Jake was in a dangerous situation, he had left him there.
Klad wavered for a long time between the feeling of not wanting to be involved with the House of Duke West anymore and the thought that Jake probably had no ill intent, then came to a conclusion. The two weren’t accustomed to communicating with each other, and there wasn’t enough time to sort out today’s situation. Right, let’s go back. Let’s have enough time, think things over, and have a conversation just one more time.
And when Klad returned to the lord’s castle following Jake’s traces, the damn Duke West was causing a rampage.
With dying Jake beneath his feet.
Enraged by that sight, Klad blew up even the lord’s castle that didn’t need to be blown up. It was ambiguous to interpret this entire process as ‘choosing Jake,’ but he couldn’t say it completely wasn’t either. After all, it was true he decided to remain by Jake’s side.
“I see.”
Whether Klad’s explanation was satisfactory, Jake nodded with a smile.
“The past is done, so let’s talk about what to do from now on. You said the plan changed?”
“That’s right.”
“You said dying was removed… is the plan to find descendants and pass on the West surname still the same?”
“It’s the same.”
“Even though you can’t make a wish to the Lord God since the Demon King is gone?”
“……”
As if he hadn’t thought that far yet, Jake bowed his head deeply and fell into thought.
“That… I’ll somehow… even if I have to search through all the records, I’ll find a way…”
“Are you certain that these descendants exist?”
“Of course!”
Jake, glad that Klad had changed the subject, answered readily.
“Long ago, the descendants of one who left the ducal house and settled elsewhere must exist somewhere in this world.”
“Would the previous Dukes have just watched as a member of the family escaped to the outside?”
“That person didn’t escape from the ducal house. He was driven out.”
“Driven out?”
Records related to this couldn’t be found even in the pile of parchments in the secret space, but Jake was certain such an existence existed. He also had solid grounds regarding him. Jake’s eyes sparkled with joy at being able to reveal the thoughts he had secretly harbored alone all this time.
“The Hero from 500 years ago is known to have been of commoner origin. Isn’t that strange?”
“If only the heir of the House of Duke West can become the Hero, the sudden appearance of a commoner Hero is strange.”
“I think he was driven out of the family. They lied that he was a commoner and drove him out for reasons like it being shameful for the previous Hero to be recorded as a member of the ducal house.”
Klad had previously discussed with Jake about the whereabouts of the disappeared Hero’s sword. When he mixed well the story from that time with today’s conversation, everything fell into place.
The previous Hero, who had been the heir of the House of Duke West, fulfilled the Hero’s duty, but for some reason brought shame to the family. The House of Duke West drove out the Hero and recorded him as a commoner. The Hero’s last traces were on the road toward Audrit, and it was presumed that another descendant of the House of Duke West and the Hero’s sword were there.
Really, it was reasoning that fit together so perfectly it felt even more suspicious.
“What could a Hero who safely defeated the Demon King have done to become a family disgrace?”
“Who knows. Perhaps he too failed while trying to reform the ducal house like me. But what’s important now isn’t the previous Hero but his descendants, Klad. We need to focus on the whereabouts of those descendants.”
“That previous Hero fellow might have died without having children.”
“I haven’t not thought about that problem either. But I can’t give up the possibility that they might exist because of the possibility that the previous Hero’s descendants might not exist.”
Seeing his face full of conviction, words telling him to give up such a preposterous goal right away didn’t come out easily.
Tap, tap.
Klad tapped the table with his finger, lost in thought.
The reason Jake wasn’t giving up the plan to find descendants was probably because he still thought he would die at the Duke’s hands. No matter how much help he received from Klad, he must think he couldn’t defeat a Duke with an army with just one supporter.
Would such a Jake believe him if he said, ‘I can sweep away the Duke and everything by myself, so don’t think about increasing party members or dying’? While in a state where he couldn’t even display his original power.
Tap.
Klad’s finger struck the table hard one last time.
“How about we just destroy the ducal house?”
