I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me

23 – [The Hero and I – 08]

Lilis’s butler, Sebas, had looked after her since she was a child.

There had been talk of her not living long due to her frailty, but thankfully, she had made it to adulthood without issue. However, her father, King Cromwell, seemed curious about whether Lilis was capable of bearing a child.

The function itself was likely fine, but childbirth held some danger for the mother as well, and whether Lilis’s body could withstand that danger was uncertain.

If only they could at least know the nature of her illness, but the nature of the disease was unknown, and she was simply frail.

Even so, she had grown up well and become someone who cared for others in her own way.

As someone who admired the Hero, Olivia Reinhart, the news of her death must have left a deep wound on Lilis’s heart, and it would be best if that didn’t cause her health to worsen.

‘That’s right, I’ll prepare her favorite meal.’

Stroking his beard, he decided to prepare a meal that Lilis would enjoy.

But then.

Suddenly, *KWAANG!* The door burst open roughly.

Who would barge into Princess Lilis’s room with such disrespect? I looked, and it was Lilis herself.

“Lady Lilis?”

“Sebas! Prepare a warp orb right this instant!”

“What? Where are you planning to go?”

“East Port!”

“East Port?”

Lilis’s face was flushed with heat.

I didn’t know who she’d just met, or what had happened with them, but the fury she couldn’t contain on her face… it almost reminded me of the mischievous Lilis from when she was younger.

“The Hero, Olivia Reinhart, might be alive!”

“Uh, yes? …Are we leaving now? What about reporting to His Majesty….”

“No need! Frankly, at this point, I don’t even know if I can trust Father. He’s exceptionally devoted to the kingdom, but that also means he doesn’t value anything *outside* the kingdom. I’m imagining something terrible right now, and if my awful hunch is right, this is a huge problem.”

“…….”

Sebas glanced out the window for a moment.

The weather was bright and clear, the blue sky seemed to stretch on forever.

“What are you doing! Sebas!! Prepare it now!”

“Lady Lilis, um….”

“What is it?”

“Does it have to be me who goes?”

“……Do you *want* to be punished for upsetting the princess?”

There’s no such law.

But if the princess decreed it, they could punish you with something as close as they could get.

“No, I was joking.”

It’s been quite a while since Sebas started his life as a butler.

He can handle most things now without panicking, but dealing with this princess always gave him a headache.

‘That’s where they were attacked by demons… Does she *really* have to go herself? She’s a princess, she should send someone else…’

Ah.

That someone else is me.

Sebas had an epiphany.

*

“Hmm, so you were close with Princess Lilis, then?”

“Well, ‘friends’ is a bit of a stretch. Lilis would talk to me when I was alone at some sort of social gathering. But she did all the talking, I didn’t exactly reciprocate with much enthusiasm.”

“Why not?”

“Look at me, Royce.”

“What?”

“Do you think I could be comfortable at a social gathering? Don’t you see? I’m so tense, trying not to step out of line. I got through countless social events with a plastered smile and a ‘I see.'”

“That’s not something to be proud of.”

More like, he’d been completely seen through.

He’d spent his whole life gripping a sword, it seemed his social intelligence just hadn’t developed at all.

Even early on in the journey, she’d speak informally, not caring about commoners or nobles. Alex even said she’d talked casually to the king.

A beast devoid of even a shred of social grace.

A hero who could only see straight ahead – that was Olivia Reinhart.

“Still, I learned you need to use polite speech to people worthy of it.”

“It’s good you learned, even now.”

“It’s good to do with older people, or people you respect, right? And it seems like it’s good to do with strangers too, but I don’t get why.”

Using it with strangers wasn’t exactly necessary to be fair.

“Try to do it with people of high status too.”

“Not gonna do it to those guys who just happen to be born that way and leach off taxes.”

“You didn’t even do it to the king, right?”

“That old guy… the way he looked down on me, it was weird, uhm… It was like he was desperate to control me.”

“…”

I felt something similar.

I had a chance to meet Cromwell Clifford once, and what I immediately felt was the stench of a person who hated ‘exceptions’.

He didn’t like variables, and felt strongly like a control freak who only found satisfaction in having everything in his grasp.

At least he did have some human affection, for the country, but it seemed like he wanted to control everything that happened within it.

It was the scent of a broken person, you could say.

That’s the kind of scent he had.

“Ms. Livia, your power, anyway, has ascended to the realm of the inhuman, even beyond what the demon lord can manage. Perhaps King Cromwell saw through your potential and wanted to put a leash on you, whatever it took?”

“Guess by now the kingdom’s done somethin’, huh.”

“Why’s that?”

“Even if I look like this, I’m nice to civilians.”

“I was a civilian too.”

“Sorry, a *non-affiliated* civilian.”

“Yeah, yeah… So what?”

“No, the way you’re all on guard like this, more than necessary, it means you’re hiding something, right? Like, something that, if I found out, I’d definitely see the kingdom as the enemy.”

“……”

I fiddled with my chest for a moment.

I had a rough idea how the Hero would react if he found out.

I had a bit of a guess what face he’d make looking at me too, but I couldn’t be sure.

The Hero now, maybe not, but the Hero of the past, if he knew about this, he might’ve turned his back without a second thought and seen the kingdom as an enemy, and brought it to ruin.

For the Hero who was all about justice, there was no sense of guilt.

For the Hero of that time, when he had little to no suffering or worries, being deemed evil might’ve been a terrifying thing.

Even so, it was just too much, though.

“Well, when you’re creating and maintaining a country, there might be things that look evil to a third party who’s completely uninvolved. I’m certainly not praising it.”

“Alex said somethin’ similar.”

“……Is that so?”

Alex, huh.

He’s always been a bit like that, but I believed his core was good.

But the things you did to the Hero went beyond anything that could be described like that, and they were definitely not good.

No matter that it was to protect something, it was clear evil, and I couldn’t accept it.

That you did that kind of thing, either.

But it happened, and there was no going back.

The you in the slums is dead now.

“Looks like we’re almost there.”

“Whoa, so that’s the Eastern Continent!”

“Haven’t you been here before?”

“Didn’t have time to look at the scenery.”

“You’re on borrowed time now, and you have time to look?”

“Somehow, yeah.”

That novice hunter, Black Bear, who made this guy experience fear, was amazing.

He actually did something even the Demon Lord couldn’t.

That bear should be the Demon Lord.

*

“Not having an arm is a pain.”

“You said you like that I feed you every meal.”

“Yeah, but… I’m right-handed. So it feels a little weird using my left hand with a sword.”

Even with the wrong hand, he’s that good?

Ugh, seriously, why a human?

“Sure, it doesn’t really matter since I trained myself to use both hands. But, you know how feelings are? It just *feels* like I grip better with my right hand.”

So, even though he can use both, he still prefers his right.

Guess everyone has those little preferences.

“The Eastern Continent is more beautiful than I thought. Why didn’t I notice it last time?”

“It’d be nice to stroll around leisurely once your treatment is done.”

“Yeah, it’d be perfect if you were by my side.”

“I could introduce you to a few good restaurants I know.”

“Huh? You’ve been to the Eastern Continent?”

I nodded.

“I’ve been here before. Before I joined the Hero party. I know an elf through that connection… though I’m not sure if he’ll help us. He’s surprisingly calculating for an elf, so he’ll probably offer aid based on our terms.”

“So he’s a merchant?”

“Something like that.”

“He doesn’t sound trustworthy…”

“He’s surprisingly meticulous, so you can trust him if he agrees to something.”

“Really?”

“If push comes to shove, just trust me.”

“Okay.”

The Hero nodded as if he understood.

He’d improved from the old days, but he still barely had any social skills or the like. It was necessary to work on that.

But that was something we could handle leisurely after saving his life, so it wasn’t urgent.

“No, maybe Ms. Livia is better off just the way she is.”

“Is that a confession?”

“Maybe she needs to fix that tendency of hers to just go straight forward and never stop.”

“Eeeeh….”

No, but in a way, is that a strength?

If that tendency saved the world, wouldn’t it be a strength?

I’m confused.

“I’m hungry…”

“I’ll grab a place nearby and start preparing a meal.”

“I want to eat some real food soon.”

“Judging by your recovery rate, Ms. Livia, you’ll be fine soon, but just to be safe, please hold off for a few days.”

“Okay.”

At least she listens, that’s a relief, I guess.

“Excuse me!”

“Huh?”

“Hm?”

The hero and I both turned, and there was someone standing behind us.

No, their ears are long.

But shorter than an elf’s.

A half-elf?

“A rare one.”

“Excuse me, on such short acquaintance! Could you possibly hear my story?!”

“…….”

“…….”

That trembling voice, so full of desperate plea, and the way he bowed his head – he truly looked like he needed help.

The hero and I glanced at the half-elf for a moment, then, as if by some unspoken agreement, we looked at each other.

The hero made a subtle chin movement, like he was trying to convey something to me.

Could this guy be someone who saw the hero back on the ship, when we were fighting off the pirates?

“Well, first of all…um, so,”

The hero said, scratching his head.

“Who are you?”

That was definitely a fundamental question.