HRB 103

Augustine kept his distance from the two of them ever since he returned. He occasionally came to see them, trying to act as he used to, but he was frustrated with himself for not being able to.

But nothing changed. He slowly drifted away from them.

He had lost his memories, so he didn’t know how to fix things. He sighed in frustration and walked out of the prison.

“What are you doing? Augustine! Don’t you trust me?”

Arthur, who had been watching their bickering from inside the prison, shouted in a frantic voice. It sounded like he was afraid of something being exposed, which was worse than keeping silent.

Augustine sighed deeply.

“I can’t trust you anymore.”

“Augustine!”

“Arthur.”

Augustine turned to look at Arthur. His gaze was so cold that Arthur flinched involuntarily.

“There’s no more glory in your future.”

Those words were a cold sentence. Even though he was the Hero who saved the world, what he had done was definitely beyond the pale.

A noble killed another noble in the Imperial Palace, no less. And it was someone who was allowed to carry weapons specifically because he was the Hero.

Normally, he could have been executed immediately without a trial for such a serious crime, but his status as the Hero was taken into consideration, and instead of immediate execution, a trial was scheduled.

Of course, he was outwardly the Hero. A hero who saved the world, a figure respected by all. So, even if he made a big mistake, the fact that he was the Hero would be considered, and he would likely receive a light punishment.

But even though the Hero’s reputation was so great that he could brush aside minor offenses, the other party was none other than Marquis Rodrigo.

A great noble representing the noble faction, even if he was at odds with the Emperor. And he was murdered inside the Imperial Palace. In such a situation, even the Hero could not avoid detention and trial.

Moreover, even if he got out of here safely and received a light sentence in the trial, it was undeniable that his reputation would be severely tarnished.

Thanks to the rumors that he was talking nonsense, blaming the Holy Sword, the story that the Hero had gone mad was already widespread.

As Augustine said, his future would no longer be filled with glory as it once was.

Arthur pounded his chest as if frustrated.

“It wasn’t me, I tell you! Believe me! I was deceived!”

“You’re asking me to believe that bullshit that you, the Hero, couldn’t recognize the Holy Sword?”

Arthur seemed to have already claimed to Augustine that the Holy Sword was fake before Boram arrived, but of course, that didn’t work on Augustine at all.

“I can only look past things so far out of old friendship.”

Augustine turned to Boram and coldly issued an ultimatum.

“Just talk quietly and leave.”

That meant that their relationship could no longer be tied together as comrades. It also meant that the thin thread that had been maintained since their return had been completely severed.

It was the moment when the strong bond that had been forged over years of traveling together and fighting together at the risk of their lives was completely broken.

Augustine walked out. He probably wouldn’t leave this place completely and would be waiting outside, to prevent Boram from daring to do anything foolish to get Arthur out.

“I’m innocent! You know that best!”

As soon as Augustine disappeared, Arthur shouted at Boram. His face, which had become gaunt in just a few days, was enough to evoke sympathy, but Boram felt nothing.

She always thought:

Why did I love someone like you?

What will be our end?

She never had the kind of future-reading intuition that Augustine had, but whenever she had such thoughts, she always saw only negative futures.

Of course, even though they were negative futures, she never imagined that the future would be facing each other across iron bars like this.

How pathetic.

“What do I know best?”

“That I wouldn’t do such a thing!”

Boram paused for a moment to choose her words. Arthur wouldn’t do such a thing. Yes, logically, that was true. There was no way Arthur would do something that would ruin his own future.

But even so, the Magical power that the Holy Sword drew out swallowed Arthur and led him to ruin.

No, in the first place, that’s not the Holy Sword.

“Yes, you know best. That you shouldn’t have gone near that sword.”

At those words, Arthur shut his mouth. The way he avoided her gaze and pressed his lips tightly together showed that he knew it himself.

That it was never the Holy Sword, and that he shouldn’t have gone near it.

But didn’t she also know? How vulnerable Arthur was to temptations right in front of him.

He always tried to touch the Holy Sword, even though he knew he would get hurt, and he wanted to steal the Hero’s position, even though he knew he couldn’t handle it, and he kept the Holy Sword by his side, even though he knew it was fake, because he wanted to be like Ketron no matter what.

The end finally came in this way.

“Marquis Rodrigo gave me that sword! This is a conspiracy!”

“How are you going to prove that?”

Marquis Rodrigo, who needed to open his mouth, was dead.

Perhaps it could be revealed after a long time. That some kind of strange curse was placed on that Holy Sword. Or that it was a sword made that way from the beginning.

But how long would that take? And how harsh would the gaze be towards the Hero who couldn’t recognize the Holy Sword?

Could Arthur handle that?

She didn’t know who was behind it, but it was a method that completely blocked the escape route.

Boram sighed.

“Boram, you know… that I’m innocent.”

“…I know.”

It wasn’t like she had come here with any brilliant solution. She had just come to check on him. She was relieved that he was a little gaunt, but he wasn’t hurt or dead.

Even in this situation, she was worried about this man’s health. There was no way to stop the worries that came up involuntarily.

“I’ll think of a way somehow, you just think about staying safe.”

“Yeah, thanks, Boram.”

You only look at me fully in moments like this.

Boram looked at Arthur, who was trapped. His face, which had a slight vitality as if he had caught even a small spark of hope, was still ordinary, and she didn’t feel much charm.

Even so, he was the man she loved.

“When I get out of here, I’ll break things off with Laila.”

“Really?”

It would be more accurate to say that he would be dumped by Saintess Laila rather than breaking things off with her, but Boram didn’t point it out. Would a marriage between Arthur, who had committed a serious crime, and the Saintess even be possible?

“Yeah, I’ll only look at you from now on. I’ll listen to you…”

“As if you would.”

“I’m serious! I’ll come to my senses and listen to you.”

Every time, she was deceived, regretted, repented, reconciled, and deceived again.

She knew that, but she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation at those words. They were really hopeless people. Arthur, and her too.

Now that things had come to this, the best thing to do was to get through this smoothly somehow.

Tell Arthur to testify well so that he can get through the trial safely, and then get through this as quietly as possible.

Before coming here, she had even thought about using force to get Arthur out, but her meeting with Augustine had calmed her excitement.

This wasn’t something that could be solved by getting excited. It seemed like everything had gone wrong, but there would still be a way to survive somehow.

As she was thinking that, she suddenly heard footsteps that didn’t hide their presence, and Boram turned to the side.

She thought it was Augustine, but it wasn’t.

He wasn’t a familiar person. But he was someone who was strongly imprinted in Boram’s mind, and only her memories were clear.

The man who was said to be Marquis Rodrigo’s aide. The man who had given Arthur the Holy Sword.

He felt like a snake, and she remembered him clearly because she felt like she had seen him somewhere.

Marquis Rodrigo had been murdered, and this man was said to have been there as well, so he wasn’t completely unrelated.

But if he was someone with the status to visit a criminal, that wasn’t the case, and Boram was the first to visit Arthur. She had forced her way in, but Augustine, who knew the situation, would have been outside, so he couldn’t have come in without knowing that she was inside.

In the first place, why did Augustine let this man through?

She couldn’t understand. Her head was already complicated, so why did this man suddenly appear here?

Boram swept her hair back in annoyance and said.

“Why are you here? Get out.”

But the man didn’t seem embarrassed to see Boram, who was already inside, nor did he bow his head in obedience to her command.

His eyes, which were subtly smiling, looked back and forth between her and Arthur, and she could see him chuckling.

“I told you.”

“What…”

“You’d regret it.”

What was he talking about? She had seen him from afar, but Boram swore that she had no memory of ever having a conversation with this man.

More than that, regret it? When did he say such a thing?

As she was thinking that, a voice of someone screaming while vomiting blood suddenly came to Boram’s mind.

“You will definitely regret it.”

It was the Demon King’s last words. It was what the being who had lost its existence had said to their entire party at the final moment.

You will regret it.

Other than that, she had no history of hearing such words from anyone. Boram’s eyes trembled.

It couldn’t be, but could it be?

But if it was that being, wouldn’t everything that had happened so far fit together?

But that couldn’t be.

“Who are you―”

At that moment, Boram’s eyes became blurred.

The eyes that had been hostilely looking at the man became dazed, and the expressions disappeared from the face that had been filled with shock.

“Boram?”

Arthur, who had been watching the situation, called Boram’s name in response to the unusual situation, but Boram didn’t respond.

She stood there quietly for a moment, then suddenly brushed past the man and began to leave the prison.

Arthur was genuinely flustered by the sudden situation.

“Boram!”

But Boram didn’t say anything. Just like when she came, she quickly left the place.

As if she would never come back.

“Boram!”

Arthur desperately called Boram’s name, but she didn’t return.

He had a very ominous feeling.

It was as if seeing Boram’s appearance was the last time, such an ominous feeling.

The man, who smiled brightly at Arthur, who was calling Boram’s name at the top of his lungs, approached the prison where Arthur was trapped.

Arthur instinctively moved away from the bars.

The man chuckled at the sight.

“That’s right, you have a strong survival instinct, so you were always good at keeping your distance. You never did the foolish thing of a puppy rushing in without knowing how scary a tiger is. That’s also a great talent.”

“…Who are you?”

Arthur looked at the man with a wary face, as if he knew him well. The situation was turning strange. Arthur remembered this man. Marquis Rodrigo’s aide. The one who handed him the Holy Sword.

Just as the thought that this man was always there at the most important moments suddenly flashed through Arthur’s mind, the man opened his mouth.

“Arthur.”

He asked with a refreshing smile.

“Was playing the Hero fun?”