Trial of Heroes (1)

Leaving Kisea, who showed no intent to move, behind, I slowly descended the mountain.

If this had been an ordinary alpine mountain, it wouldn’t have been all that difficult to find the glimmering tokens among the endlessly white snowy plains.

However, the high ground of Mount Tylaris, where ley lines flowed through the entire mountain, was thick with fog and covered in dense forest, making the search for small tokens no easy task.

‘Well, if that was all, I could manage somehow…’

As I perked up my ears, I heard dull explosions and the clanging of metal. A fight had broken out over the token that had fallen closest.

[It seems the process of finding the token itself matters more than the result.]

‘Exactly.’

It didn’t matter what means you used as long as you got your hands on a token.

In other words, there was no issue even if you stole the token someone else had found.

‘So, with a token dropped in a conspicuous place, it’s inevitable a fight will break out.’

Moving slowly, I looked between the trees at the three or so figures coming into view.

They were all formidable, but the most noticeable was the old gentleman, rascal.

‘There’s no need to clash with Rascal right from the start.’

So, I was aiming for the tokens that had flown out to the periphery.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one who’d thought of that.

‘How many are following me?’

[About three.]

As I left the scene and moved toward the edge, I sensed presences trailing behind me.

‘Do they see me as the easiest among this group?’

If they’d felt threatened by me, as I had just avoided clashing with Rascal, they would have tried to keep their distance.

But instead, they were following me?

‘They must be confident they can beat me at least.’

Even if I had achieved Swordmaster, I was still young, and they probably thought I was lacking in experience and skill.

Perhaps for the same reason, they hadn’t pursued Ian or Kisea either.

‘Still, I didn’t expect this many to come after me.’

Swiiish!

As the fierce wind masked the sound, a sharp sword strike rushed at my neck.

Without stopping my stride, I ducked lightly and easily avoided the attack, and I vaguely heard someone clicking their tongue behind me.

‘I’d better shake them off quickly.’

I used Meteor Step to increase my speed, but I still couldn’t shake them.

Though I was a Swordmaster too, all my pursuers were monsters who had also reached the level of Swordmaster.

It seemed impossible to lose them by ordinary means.

‘If that’s the case…’

Wuuuung!

My sword vibrated as prismatic light flowed over the blade.

Then, when I swung it into the air, a rift in space split open.

“What the?!”

Someone shouted in surprise and rushed at me.

But by then, it was already too late. I had already thrown myself into the rift in space.

“Damn! Where the hell did he go?”

“Is that the Divine Sword’s power? How can such an outrageous ability exist?!”

Listening to their conversation as I hid in the rift, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘So, that guy’s the Swordmaster of Orland Kingdom.’

Memories of Orland knights ambushing those heading to the Sky Tower flashed through my mind.

As I glanced over at the others standing with him, I frowned.

That was because a Holy Knight of Setram and an Inquisitor were also present.

‘I could just leave, but…’

No way I was going to take this quietly and just go.

“Urgh?!”

Bursting out from the rift, I kneed the Inquisitor in the face as he searched for me.

“You bastard…!”

The two Sword Masters belatedly swung their swords, but I was already gone. After knocking the Inquisitor away, I immediately slipped back into the spatial rift.

‘Now I understand why the demonkin struggled against Sior.’

This was truly the height of craftiness.

Maybe someone as skilled as Rascal could see through this easily, but the Sword Masters before me were different.

“You cowardly bastard!”

“Fight us head-on!”

Realizing the situation, they quickly stood back-to-back and watched their surroundings warily.

[… What are they on about? They’re the ones who attacked first, aren’t they?]

‘Exactly.’

The two bracing themselves for whenever I might appear, and the Inquisitor stumbling to his feet, eyes burning with rage as he searched for me.

‘This should be enough.’

I watched these guys from my rift in space, then turned to leave.

[What? You’re just going to leave them like that?]

‘Let them stay like that for a while.’

Thinking I could strike at any time, they wouldn’t dare make the first move easily.

Not even knowing I had already left, they’d keep cursing into empty air, on alert.

Maybe sensing what I was thinking, Grancesia clicked her tongue.

[What a wicked guy.]

‘Well, they’re the ones who ambushed me first.’

I’d gained an advantage with a surprise attack, but they were three Sword Masters. No matter how brilliant a surprise, if repeated, it would soon lose its effect.

‘There’s no need to reveal all my cards now anyway.’

It was enough just to have shaken off the pursuit.

After glancing at the three men brandishing their swords at empty air and cursing, I slowly made my way down the mountain.

To get back in time, I needed to hurry to wherever the Hero’s Token was.

* * *

Fortunately, thanks to those three foolishly isolating themselves, it wasn’t hard to secure a token.

After smoothly finding the Hero’s Token that had flown to the periphery, I strolled back without hurry.

“Well done. You’re the first to return.”

“I was lucky.”

“Hehe, is that so?”

When I handed over the token, restia smiled kindly.

Maybe it was the elf blood, restia was quite the beauty herself.

“The way you toyed with those three Sword Masters was splendid. The Divine Sword’s power is truly impressive.”

“… Don’t tell me you saw it?”

“Yes. From here, it’s quite visible.”

I was honestly dumbfounded by her response.

‘You can see from here?’

While the top of Mount Tylaris, where the tower was situated, did have a clear view of below—

But even so, seeing all that?

‘Even if you have elf blood, are those really human eyes?’

The fight with those guys had been in a dense forest area, so it should have been impossible for a human to spot with the naked eye.

‘Monster.’

No wonder people called her Divine Archer.

“Well then, why don’t you go inside and rest? The servants have set out all the meals.”

“Ah, yes.”

I bowed deeply and entered the tower.

Maybe because I was the first back, as Restia said, the inside of the tower was rather empty.

Sehenz, who had been relaxing and munching on an apple, looked startled when I walked in.

“W-what? You—no. How did you come back so quickly?”

I’d always thought so, but his extremely formal speech made me a bit uncomfortable.

“Please, you can speak freely with me.”

“Oh, really? Actually, I’ve heard a lot about you from Rutia anyway.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at how quickly Sehenz switched to casual speech.

“Do you talk with Rutia often?”

“Of the members in my mercenary company, she’s the prettiest—I couldn’t possibly ignore her.”

It was true, Rutia was a beauty.

“Never imagined she’d be a married woman, though… In any case, I heard about the Eintban incident too.”

With his earlier surprise gone, Sehenz was now looking at me with a serious face.

The sharp scar near his eye only made him look more intense.

“I heard you were amazing, but you’re even more impressive than I expected. You must’ve been targeted a lot?”

“There were about three after me.”

“Three…? And yet, you’re back this quickly?”

He seemed genuinely surprised.

Rubbing his chin with his thumb in thought, Sehenz soon nodded.

“Well, I guess with skills like that, it makes sense that the mister is keeping an eye on you.”

“Mister?”

“Ban Sylvest. That mister really rates you highly. I can see why now.”

With that, Sehenz patted me on the shoulder and stood up.

“Well then, I look forward to seeing you pass the third trial.”

He left with light steps.

Almost immediately after he left, the inner door of the tower opened, and another person came in.

“Oh, Clay.”

The second person to make it through was Kisea.

She carefully entered the room and, when she saw me, gave a bright smile.

It surprised me a little—not that she was the second to arrive, but because of the thick scent of blood lingering around her.

Grancesia seemed to sense it too and asked in a soft voice,

[Is she really the heroine?]

‘That’s her profile, at least…’

Kisea sat beside me, very cautiously, and sipped the tea a servant had prepared.

She looked perfectly cute, and yet, I couldn’t shake off a chilling feeling.

‘Come to think of it, Kisea didn’t seem surprised to see I’d arrived first.’

[Ah! That’s right. When you returned, someone was hiding—and maybe that was Kisea?]

‘… She was hiding?’

[Yeah. I was going to let you know if she approached you, but she didn’t move at all.]

A chill ran down my spine at those words.

One particular suspicion came to mind.

‘Now I get why she didn’t leave right at the start.’

[Huh? What do you mean by that?]

‘She could take out whoever returned with a token and just take it for herself.’

At that, Grancesia was momentarily speechless.

Though she sometimes said harsh things, Grancesia was innately kind-hearted and would never have thought of such a thing.

She let out a weak groan and cautiously asked,

[… She really is the heroine, right?]

‘According to the profile.’

We repeated a similar conversation, then fell silent.

Right beside me, Kisea quietly munched on some snacks.

* * *

As evening went on, the ones who had secured tokens returned one by one. Surprisingly, rascal, who had gone after the token closest by, was only the fourth to come back.

Later, I learned that the token had been blown far away during a fight, so he had to retrieve it after a long detour.

“Well done.”

Restia glanced around, counting people.

There were eleven who had returned.

“One was badly injured and is being treated separately. Luckily, there were no fatalities.”

I glanced at Kisea.

There wasn’t the slightest change in her expression.

[At least she didn’t kill him.]

‘Honestly, I thought she had.’

Looks like she still retained a shred of morality.

But if they called it a serious injury, the fight with her had certainly not been ordinary.

“So, including the one not here, the four who didn’t bring back a token will have to leave the tower tomorrow morning.”

“No, but…!”

At Restia’s words, the Swordmaster from Orland Kingdom shot to his feet.

The other Swordmaster who had ambushed me only came back much later in the night. He must have spent a long time at the scene where we’d fought.

‘The Inquisitor made it through.’

He was the one I’d most hoped would be eliminated, but unfortunately, he wasn’t among the dropouts.

[Inquisitors are usually veterans at finding things.]

Even with the limited time, they’d managed to find a token.

The others I’d kept an eye on—Ian and Teo—also made it through.

‘The four eliminated were the obvious ones.’

Initially, I’d been half skeptical about this Hero’s Trial, but seeing who made it, I had to acknowledge it.

“Let me explain the second trial in advance.”

Restia spoke, and looked toward one spot.

With a dull sound, the door opened.

‘What in the world…’

For a moment, I doubted my eyes.

The massive door, which I’d thought was already large, now seemed like a side door.

That’s how enormous the person coming in was.

Some of the contestants were on the bigger side, but in front of this giant, they looked tiny.

He stood well over two meters tall, and his thick arms and legs reminded me of tree trunks.

“I am Marvin Dreistler.”

The man with brown skin spoke in a deep baritone.

Those who knew his name gasped.

The continent’s Second Hero of the Seven Heroes, Marvin Dreistler.

He immediately followed Ban Sylvest in the rankings.

“The next trial is simple.”

He rummaged in his chest and took something out.

It was four flags.

“Bring back two flags per team to pass.”

“There are only four flags—aren’t there too few for all of us?”

Someone raised their hand to ask, and Marvin nodded slowly.

“It’s two per team. That means the teams that fail to bring two flags are eliminated.”

At his words, the room fell silent.

No one had expected they’d have to fight alongside another.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep