Chapter 21: Diplomatic request

When I returned to the Special Task Force’s office, the construction work to merge the barracks of the First Order of Knights and the Second Knight Order was underway.

The repeated hammering, combined with the Hero’s unnecessarily keen sense of hearing, made my ears ring.

But I didn’t pay much attention to it.

Trivial matters like the barracks integration weren’t part of the Special Task Force’s duties.

“Huff, haah, huff, haa!”

“Urgh, w-water… I need water.”

“Haa, haa.”

I walked over to the members running hard on the Parade Ground previously used by the Second Knight Order, encouraging them.

“Come on, keep running. You can’t afford to collapse from exhaustion against the Demon Race. You’ll be up against them a lot from now on. If you’re already tired after this little, you’re in trouble.”

“B-but, it’s already been three hours?”

“If we cross into the Realm of Demons someday, you’ll have to fight for over ten hours. Just think of running for ten hours like a stroll—what’s so hard about that?”

The Cat Siblings and the deadly Bakery Maiden stared at me with eyes like they were looking at a monster.

I didn’t say anything wrong, yet this was the unfair response I got.

Since the members were clearly drained, I let them rest for a bit. As I was relaxing, Beatrice came over and poked my waist.

“What is it?”

“You said before that the entire village was watching us, right? Was there really no need to deal with them?”

I recalled having such a conversation with Muffin during the Demon Race attack and replied.

“In the past, I’d have handled it personally, but now I belong to the Kingdom of Lumin. Even if there’s some connection to the Demon Race, if I mess with civilians of the Prasion Kingdom, it could escalate into a civil war among humans.”

“But you handled St. Germain Baronette just fine, didn’t you?”

“That was different—the scale. Prasion Kingdom has pretty solid intelligence; future issues could arise. It’s better not to meddle.”

Honestly, I’d like to wipe them all out.

But national politics always turn out the opposite of what you expect.

After seeing Ryuk always struggle with this, I decided to stay as far from politics as possible.

“Besides, the only reason we went to the neighboring kingdom was to get you, not to wipe out a village connected to the Demon Race.”

I may be a Hero, but I am not an actual hero.

I am neither the blade to defeat the Demon King, nor a Superhuman who can protect everyone.

Some might say that protecting everyone is what makes you a Hero, but all those who fought with such conviction died—leaving only me behind.

I wondered how long we’d been running on the Parade Ground.

Suddenly, I sensed a familiar presence entering the Order of Knights’ compound.

Leaving my subordinates in training behind, I headed to a deserted spot.

“Come out.”

At my words, a neatly dressed middle-aged man appeared like mist.

“It’s been a while.”

It was Toruman Wibeller, the previous Hero.

The current Capital Slums King approached me with a tired look.

“Seems you’ve added another member since I last saw you?”

“Still not enough.”

The total headcount for the Special Task Force, including me, needs to be Five.

We’re still one short.

“Aren’t you going to try recruiting me?”

I frowned and shot back.

“Do you even want to join?”

“……”

No answer—seems I hit the mark.

The nerve of this Hero.

“If you want to see the Cat Siblings, you can drop by anytime. You’re not actually planning to join, so why even bring it up?”

“……Huu. I was just curious how you’d react. Sometimes, you seem even older than I am.”

“That’s not true.”

Even counting my previous life, all my years put together don’t add up to the age of this previous Hero standing before me.

Feeling a strange sense of pride at my youth, I changed the subject.

“Anyway, what brings you here in person instead of just lurking and watching as usual?”

Toruman let out a long sigh.

“I’ll ask you again before we get into that.”

“About what?”

“Is your real objective truly to defeat the Demon King?”

Sensing that he was being serious, I answered immediately.

“Yes.”

“……I see, so you say.”

Toruman took out a piece of paper from inside his clothes.

It was an envelope.

And, seeing the traces of magic on the envelope, I asked,

“You’re not giving that to me, are you?”

Toruman gave a slight grin and nodded.

“That’s right. It’s for you.”

“……They can’t possibly know about me.”

“You’re more suitable than me.”

“……”

I took the letter Toruman offered.

As soon as my hand touched it, the magic on the letter flared and shot up into the sky.

A spell marking receipt of the letter, sent to the sender.

“……Hmm.”

Knowing which race used that kind of magic, I could only open the letter with a meaningful look.

It shouldn’t have been a situation where they needed to ask for outside help yet.

The contents were simple.

[Our kingdom is facing a crisis. Our strength alone is insufficient. We earnestly beg you to send reinforcements.]

Below that, there were details of the crisis facing the kingdom and the number of reinforcements needed.

Just reading it, it seemed like the kind of request that should go straight to a nation’s king for military deployment.

But instead of sending it to the King, they delivered this to a former Hero?

“Since when did the Elves start sending support requests directly to a Hero?”

Toruman frowned and answered.

“It’s been quite a while, actually.”

“Specifically.”

“Seven years.”

My face must have looked utterly dumbfounded.

Clicking my tongue, I asked Toruman again.

“Does the King know?”

“Probably not. I tried to deliver it to him before, but the Nobles always blocked it. Same thing’s likely to happen this time, and if I barge into the royal audience chamber myself, I’d get caught since my skills aren’t enough for that.”

“……True, you’re the type who prefers to do things by the book unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.”

Unlike me, who bulldozes through with brute force, he’d probably get caught right away.

Still, Toruman’s eyes were filled with contempt for the Royal Family and the Nobles working within it.

Whenever Heroes look down on humans with disdain, it’s usually due to political issues.

So this problem I just learned about must also have political roots.

“This is bigger than I thought.”

Exchange between the Kingdom and the Elves has been completely cut off by the mid-tier Nobles.

For seven years.

And the King knows nothing.

‘The bigger problem is that there’s not much he can actually do about it.’

The King has always left royal administration to the Nobles.

Naturally, this includes diplomacy.

However, as diplomatic affairs require the King’s direct involvement, the Nobles couldn’t do anything too brazen, which is at least a relief.

He’s even trying to take back administrative power from the Nobles now, so in due time, the King will handle most affairs and things will stabilize.

‘But that’s not the case yet.’

Unfortunately, the timing for receiving a diplomatic request from the Elves couldn’t be worse.

“How often do the Elves send diplomatic requests?”

“About every three years. For Elves, that’s pretty frequent.”

“So this is the second diplomatic request they’ve sent.”

“That’s right.”

Elves live far longer than humans.

Seven years is nothing to them—just a few days not seeing someone.

Their sense of time is so different that even a seven-year gap in exchange probably hasn’t made them harbor any ill will toward humans.

Still, the fact that their previous diplomatic request went unanswered is extremely rude, so this time, we need to make amends.

“All right. I’ll go myself. But first, there’s something I want to know.”

“Ask.”

I posed the final unresolved question to Toruman.

“Why are you, a former Hero now off the front lines, still receiving diplomatic letters from the Elf Kingdom? Those are supposed to go to a Noble of the Kingdom.”

The Capital Slums King, once the Hero, shrugged.

“I didn’t trust the Royal Nobles, so I had the authority diverted. Whoever holds the authority now, I don’t know, but they haven’t been getting any diplomatic messages from the Elves at all.”

He confessed his crime without the slightest hint of regret on his face.

Looking at his expression, I understood the subtle currents that had existed between Elves and humans in my previous life.

‘So he was the one smoothing over the inter-racial tensions that were heading for disaster.’

It was a day I learned something unexpected.

—

As soon as I received the Elven letter from Toruman, I ran straight to the King’s office.

Then, I recounted everything Toruman told me in as much detail as possible.

“Right now… is this true?”

It was just Deaurus Lumin and me, so he spoke through gritted teeth.

The wrath of the Sword Master was so tangible it spread around him like heat haze.

If a regular person were nearby, they’d be crushed by sheer pressure.

It was a miracle he was restraining it enough that nothing in the room broke.

I showed the King the letter from the Elves and spoke.

“So, I’ll go myself.”

His visible fury slowly calmed.

He must have decided to settle things after this conversation.

“You’re going to resolve the Elf Kingdom’s crisis?”

“Yes. The Kingdom of Lumin already ignored one diplomatic request from the Elf Kingdom. If we want to show we had a reason, it’s better I go than you.”

“And why is that?”

“You’re already working to normalize the Royal Family. If it were any other race, maybe, but the Elves—especially their Elders and the Elf King—have eyes everywhere. Lying to them is a bad idea.”

Deaurus was using his Sword Master body to work all night, striving to stabilize the royal court.

With so much already on his plate, adding diplomatic issues would only slow the process.

Naturally, he’d become even more exhausted.

“The King is the symbol of victory in the Nation of Knights. You can’t afford to tire or fall.”

“That’s right. I set that standard myself.”

“But being a Sword Master doesn’t make you invincible. At the core, both you and I are just humans.”

“Hmm.”

Deaurus groaned in agreement.

He’s still human—he couldn’t pretend not to be tired in front of me.

If he were to push himself to go on this diplomatic mission while exhausted, the Elves would see right through him and he wouldn’t be welcomed.

Elves don’t like that double-faced nature of humans, whether for others or themselves.

“Elven virtue is honesty. While they respect our culture, that doesn’t mean they understand us. Given our previous diplomatic offense, it’s better for me to go this time.”

In the end, Deaurus nodded, permitting the mission.

Unlike the time I illegally entered a foreign country to recruit Beatrice, this time I was planning to go with a lighter heart.

—

“Everyone, focus your mana!”

“Elder, we can’t keep this up much longer!”

“We must hold out—at least until reinforcements arrive!”

KWAANG!

“Damn! The Support Captain is down!”

“Get inside the barrier, now! Hurry!”

And that resolve of mine was shattered by the sight of the Elven forest turned into a sea of flames, and the pandemonium among the Elves defending it.

The cause of the fire soared through the sky, spewing flames.

With a deep sigh, I muttered, giving myself credit for not bringing any Special Task Force members along.

“Why the hell are Dragons, who should be locked up in the Heavenly Palace, rampaging here?”