Chapter 33: Last Will (2)

As Iris and I walked around holding hands, I could hear whispers all around us.

“Hey, isn’t that the last-ranked cadet standing next to the Saintess?”

“Huh? You’re right!”

“What’s that guy doing with the Saintess?”

“H-he’s even holding her hand!”

Swallowing a sigh, I tried to let go of Iris’s hand, but she tightened her grip, pulling my hand back as if asking where I thought I was going.

I looked at her. “Won’t this be a problem if people from the Holy Empire find out?”

“Why would it be a problem? I’m holding your hand purely for safety reasons, of course. Right?” She grinned playfully and gave me a cheeky wink.

I let out a dry chuckle and shook my head. Thinking of what Camilla probably went through every day to protect this wild Saintess made me feel a little sorry for her.

No wonder Camilla always looks so done with life, I thought.

At my expression, Iris asked, “What? You don’t like holding hands with me?”

“Of course, I do.”

But realistically, we couldn’t enjoy the festival like this while drawing massive attention from all the other cadets. So, I said, “How about we go somewhere less crowded?”

“If we want somewhere quieter… How about the exhibition hall?” she replied.

“You sure? There’s not much to do over there.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

The Sealing Festival commemorated the day the Great Five Heroes had sealed away the Demon God five hundred years ago. So, it was not just about food and fun; there was also an exhibition area that showcased the history of how they had fought the Demon God’s forces and won.

However, no cadet in their right mind would go there first thing in the morning. We were constantly drilled on the Demon God War of five hundred years ago, so who would want to spend their festival day going through an exhibition on that?

Still, if we want to avoid prying eyes, that’s probably the best spot, I thought.

As everyone’s gaze burned holes into us, I walked with Iris toward the exhibition. When we stepped inside, what greeted us was a massive mural depicting the five heroes facing off against a demon the size of a house. I glanced at the painted Demon God and let out a soft laugh. They had no idea what he actually looked like.

To be fair, even I, one of the Final Five Heroes who had fought him in my previous life, did not know exactly what the Demon God looked like. When the Demon God had broken free from his seal, he had been entirely shrouded in burning, dark mist. None of us got a proper look at his face or features. All I knew about him was that he was monstrously powerful.

In our final battle, we never even got the chance to resist him properly. We were utterly crushed. But then, the Demon God had taken his own life. When the curse from that act spread across the continent, not a single life was left, except for me.

Whenever I thought of that day, I always frowned. Why did he do that? He had defeated humanity’s last hope, the Final Five Heroes. There was no need for him to die. If he had taken his time building up his forces, he would have conquered the entire continent easily. But he hadn’t done that.

Instead of ruling, he chose total annihilation, erasing every living thing, including his army too, on the continent. So, his real goal wasn’t domination; it was extermination. I never understood why he wanted that. Maybe I didn’t need to. Because this time, he was not going to succeed.

Grinding my teeth, I glared at the mural’s depiction of the Demon God.

Iris found this odd. “Dale? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, sorry. The artwork was just so impressive that I got lost in it for a second.”

Iris looked at the painted figures of the Great Five Heroes with sparkling eyes. “Right? It really is amazing. Reynald, the Knight of the Sun; Julius, the Great Sage; Ryu Jin-Sung, the Iron Fist; Baek Seung-Hyuk, the Divine Spear; and Grace, the Light of Life.”

She smiled brightly as she admired the images of the legendary heroes who sealed the Demon God five hundred years ago. “I only ever read about them in books, but seeing them like this… My heart’s racing.”

“Didn’t think you were the type to enjoy heroic tales,” I said.

“Oh, even if I look like this, I was obsessed with the Great Five Heroes when I was a kid!”

The “Five Heroes Game” was a popular roleplay game among children across all three nations. Each kid would pick one of the heroes and pretend to fight the Demon God together—except the poor kid who always got picked as the Demon God. They’d just get ganged up on and beaten down by the others. Not the fairest game, really.

I frowned slightly as the hazy memories of the orphanage resurfaced. “So, which hero did you usually play?”

“Ryu Jin-Sung, the Iron Fist. Beating the Demon God to a pulp with my fists? So satisfying.” She giggled, throwing a few light punches in the air, then asked, “What about you, Dale? Who did you play as?”

“The Demon God.”

“Ah!”

Gripping my hand a little tighter, Iris hurriedly changed the subject. “L-let’s go check out the inner section.”

Just like that, we continued exploring the exhibition together, though she didn’t let go of my hand even when no one else was around. By the time we finished, it was nearly time to meet up with the kids.

“Shall we go see the kids now?” she said.

“Yeah. If we’re late, Camilla’s going to blow a fuse again.”

“Oooh, now that you say that, I kind of want to be late just to see what happens.” Iris grinned mischievously and gently tugged at my hand like she was tempting me.

The soft, warm sensation was like slipping under a fluffy blanket after a hot shower, and for a second, my rational mind almost gave in. However, I managed to hold back and said, “But what if Camilla panics and reports you missing to the academy?”

“Yeah, that does sound like something she’d do. Kind of scary now that I think about it.” Realizing that teasing Camilla wouldn’t end well, Iris quickly walked toward the meeting point.

As we waited by the academy gates, I spotted Father Antonio, Camilla, and the orphanage kids approaching from afar. The kids were bursting with excitement the moment they stepped through the gates.

“Woooooow!!”

“It’s the festival! The festival!!”

“This is the Hero Academy?”

“Y-you little rascals! Didn’t I tell you to behave?” Father Antonio’s voice thundered, but the kids ignored him completely, scattering like wild foals let loose in a field.

“H-hey! Calm down, all of you!” Camilla said. Even she seemed flustered and unsure of how to handle the unexpectedly excited kids.

Iris took charge in this situation. “You can’t be this shaken up over something like this.”

She confidently stepped forward and said with a click of her tongue, “Leo, come here, will you?”

“Big Sis Iris! There’s so much food here and all these crazy cool things to—“

“Pipe down,” she said.

“Huh? Pipe what down?”

“I said pipe down and shut your mouth, you brat,” Iris said sternly.

“B-Big Sis Iris?”

Iris smiled sweetly as she patted the kid on the head. “Leo, didn’t you say before that you were the leader of the orphanage kids?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then you’ve got to keep your people in line. You can’t just let them run wild like this, right?”

Leo’s eyes widened like he had just experienced divine revelation. He gasped and said, “I got it! I’ll make sure they behave!”

With blazing determination in his eyes, he ran back to the kids and barked orders like a true commander. Surprisingly, the once-unruly little ones began gathering obediently in front of him.

A quiet sound of admiration escaped from Father Antonio. “Incredible. To calm those rascals down so easily…”

“Kids tend to listen more to their peers than to adults,” Iris replied with a knowing smile.

The old priest smiled warmly. “Hahaha. As expected of you, Saintess. Seeing how well you handle children, I suppose we won’t have to worry when you have kids of your own someday.”

“W-what? K-kids?” Iris stammered.

“Hmm, was his name Dale, perhaps?” Father Antonio said.

“Wait, what? Where is this coming from?”

“Hahaha!” With that lighthearted tease from the priest, the real fun of the festival began.

The kids soon received their gifts and wandered around the booths wearing those animal ear headbands.

“Big Sis Iris, how do I look? Don’t I totally look like a cat?”

“Ugh! Big Sis! Why do you make us wear stuff like this? It’s embarrassing!”

“Pant! Pant! Big Sis Camilla, I’m wearing these dog ears, so can you please tell me to bark just once?”

Maybe it was because I had cooked them ramen once, but it seemed like my reputation with the kids had gone up. A few of them came to me, not just Iris or Camilla, and begged me for snacks.

“Wow! This is so good!”

“Big Bro Dale, can you buy me one of those chicken skewers?”

“Big bro! Me too, me too!”

“Hey! Cut it out! Do you know that one skewer costs ten gold?” Camilla said.

“Don’t worry.” I pulled out Jules’s wallet, bulging with gold, and flashed a grin. “I’m loaded.”

* * *

I had been so busy enjoying the festival with Iris, Camilla, and the kids that before I knew it, the sky had turned a dusky shade of twilight.

They say time flies when having fun. I guess that’s true, I thought.

“It’s already this late.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Even the kids, who had been running around like wild animals earlier, were now trudging along, half-asleep and nodding off on their feet.

Father Antonio looked fondly at the drowsy children and smiled warmly. “It’s getting late. We should be heading back. Saintess, Camilla, Dale. Thank you all so much for spending time with the kids today.”

“Oh, not at all! We had a great time too,” Iris said cheerfully.

“I’ll walk you to the front gate,” Camilla said.

“Hoho, thank you, Camilla.”

Camilla and Father Antonio led the children back toward the main gate.

Iris and I stood there, watching their backs grow smaller in the distance. We could still feel the lingering warmth of the festival in the air.

Glancing up at me, Iris hesitantly said, “I’m sorry, Dale.”

“Hm? What for?”

“I feel like I dragged you around all day.”

“You didn’t drag me. I had fun.” I meant it, too. Sure, it would’ve been nice to spend the festival with just Iris, but being surrounded by lively kids, laughing and talking, had been more enjoyable than I expected.

Maybe because she could tell I was being sincere, Iris gave me a relieved smile and said, “Then, can I ask for one last favor?”

“What is it?”

She clenched her fists and looked up at me with sparkling eyes. “Could you buy me a chicken skewer too? Like the ones you bought for the kids earlier!”

Now that I thought about it, she didn’t get to eat any earlier. I let out a small laugh and nodded. “As many as you want.”

“Ah! You said ‘as many as you want’! Then I’ll get two! One with sauce and one with salt, okay?”

I chuckled and started walking toward the skewer stall. “Yes, yes. Order to your heart’s content.”

It seemed as if the vendor had been swamped all day, because even as I approached him, he didn’t respond and just sat there slumped over, motionless.

I said, “Excuse me, can I get one chicken skewer, please? Hello?”

Thinking he might’ve dozed off from exhaustion, I gently tapped the vendor’s shoulder. But a strange groan escaped from his lips.

Blood-tinged froth leaked from the corners of his mouth, and his veins twisted grotesquely across his face like gnarled tree roots. His wide, bloodshot eyes glowed with an ominous violet light. “Chi-chicken… chicken skewer… O-order… O-order received, h-here it… is…”

As he lifted his head, his mouth split open unnaturally wide, and his body began to swell grotesquely.

I calmly said, “Ah, sorry! Not one. Make that two, please. One with salt and one with sauce.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep