Heroes and Machine Girls Looking at Profiles

7 – I am truly grateful.

“The Hero Party and… Princess has returned?”

“Oh… The heroes who saved the world!!”

Over the few days I’ve become a regular at this street stall, those words reached my ears as I was tearing into a skewer of seasoned meat.

The girls who had left the Demon King’s castle had finally seemed to return.

It took about a week, so they probably rode at full speed in a carriage.

From the entrance of the city walls, I could already hear cheers.

Instinctively, I pulled my hood further down and moved towards the entrance.

“Long live Princess!”

“Long live the Hero Party!”

Amidst the cheers of the citizens, a carriage was passing through.

It was a carriage that’s very familiar, as I’ve travelled in it for a long time myself.

While the citizens were cheering, the window of the moving carriage suddenly opened.

And from the window, Princess Anise showed herself.

“Wowww!!”

“Long live the Princess!!”

The cheers echoed with the appearance of the Princess.

Anise waved with a bright and benevolent smile.

Inside the carriage, besides Anise, the faces of Cierra and Alesa were visible too.

They all displayed incredibly bright and happy faces.

“……”

Watching this, I quelled the boiling rage within me.

I had to endure.

If I killed them here, I wouldn’t achieve perfect revenge.

Just killing them would be too weak.

Those women have to die in pain after suffering in despair and regret.

With that thought, I forced down my rage and left the place.

That evening.

As always avoiding the drunkards, I entered a quiet bar with few people this time.

Like a modern bar, I sat alone or with a few others at a table, drinking liquor.

After a long time, I drank wine instead of mead or beer here.

It was better to drink alone this way, and I wanted to indulge in a little luxury too.

The shop owner looked at me strangely while I took a drink under my hood, but after the first time, he didn’t pay much attention.

Well, most of the people who came here also showed a lot of uncanny behaviors.

In the midst of that, a man sitting far away called the shop owner.

“Hey Matis, one more drink!”

“Jekt, your pockets seem to be deeper today?”

At the owner’s tease, the man called Jekt grinned.

“No, I’ve got a pretty good deal lined up for tomorrow.”

“Oh ho, are you going to build a grand mansion or something?”

Zekt chuckled heartily.

“Why, hasn’t the party of heroes returned today?”

“Yes, the city was quite noisy.”

“We’re preparing for a parade to honor the achievements of the hero party tomorrow! I’ve been put in charge of the preparation!”

“hehehe, a request straight from the royal palace!! The reward must be ample then!!”

A parade…

In fact, I was planning to leave Rethium as soon as I confirmed their return.

Continuing to enjoy the peace in this village was a small guilt creeping inside me.

But if there’s a parade, I felt like I had to stay for another day.

I was slightly interested in what the parade commemorating those women could entail.

Emptied the remaining wine in the glass, I paid the innkeeper.

“Landlord, here’s the charge for the wine.”

“Hmm? Sir, this is a bit too much! You should take the change.”

“Consider it as buying booze for the guest next to me.”

“Even with that, it’s too much. But, it’s not a loss for me, so whatever…”

I hoped he would consider it as pay for the information about the parade.

I left the bar and returned to the hotel where I was staying.

The next day.

The news of the parade had already spread throughout the city, and the city was festive.

There were even unusual stands you usually don’t see, and carpenters were busy preparing for the parade on the roads where it would pass.

I mingled among the townspeople, my hood covering my face.

“Wow, to see the heroes of peace with my own eyes!”

“I saw them by chance during the departure ceremony, and they were all incredibly beautiful and amazing!”

The voices of the townspeople.

At their conversation, I couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

Yes, they were beautiful on the outside.

But inside, they were like maggots filled with ugliness and desire.

“Hey, everyone! It seems the parade procession has started from the royal palace!!”

A young man shouted after emerging from an upper-class district.

And after a short wait, we began to hear the faint sound of music from afar.

“Princess Anies!”

“Is the person next to her Saintess Siella?”

“Royale Allesa… You’re so cool!!”

They were extremely popular.

Well, admittedly they truly were splendid in terms of appearance.

Anies was, first of all, a beautiful blonde princess.

Furthermore, she had the proper manners of a princess, and her glamorous figure was breathtaking too.

Honestly, I can’t count how many times I almost embraced her without thinking.

Siella was a beautiful girl with silver hair, black eyes, and literally had a clear complexion.

Her figure was somewhat… slender compared to the others, but her weak appearance still evoked a protective instinct.

As for Alesa, well… her face was averagely beautiful compared to the other two, but her seductive body was unparalleled.

…To be honest, she had nothing to envy even when compared to Luli, the queen of the succubi.

…Regardless, they were all pitiful creatures underneath, like black cockroaches.

It was sad to think of the citizens who were deceived by their superficial beauty.

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“Eh…? But where is the hero?”

“Didn’t you hear the rumors? The Hero died in the final battle with the Demon King.”

Ah, that was my story.

I thought I was completely forgotten, but thankfully, if nothing else, I wasn’t.

“Is that so… That’s truly regrettable.”

“Huh, what’s regretful? I heard he wasn’t much help as a hero anyway.”

…What?

“What are you talking about?”

“Rumor has it, the Hero was scared and terrified of battle, his comrades had to drag him along.”

“Ha, what a joke… unbelievable.”

The joke’s on me.

Who is the coward here, scared of fighting?

“But he must have done something right to defeat the Demon King”

“Well, I suppose the princess will explain about that.”

Feeling rotten, I watched the parade pass by. Then the music stopped, and so did the parade.

And then, Princess Anies, who stood at the front of the parade waving her hand, stepped forward.

“Everyone, I am elated to celebrate this wonderful day with you all.”

Anies’ voice, amplified by magic, echoed around.

“At last, the Demon King who terrorized our world for so long is dead. We regained our peace and tranquility. To everyone who threw themselves into the battle with the Demon King’s army, I want to give my respect.”

The citizens applauded generously at the Princess’s words.

The sight of them genuinely rejoicing.

But for some reason, I could not genuinely be happy for them.

“And now, I would like to appreciate the hero who lost his life in the battle with the Demon King. There seem to be some strange rumors about him, but I want to clarify beforehand that none of these rumors have any base.”

And then, the princess drew a sword from her scabbard.

…It was the fake holy sword I crafted.

“Before he died, the hero apologized to us and wished for our happiness. He was concerned about our future without him, our beloved hero.”

What an utter bullsh*t.

“With this holy sword left by our hero, Reinforce, I swear. Peace and tranquility forever in our kingdom, in our continent!”

With the citizens’ applause, the parade resumed.

I looked at the whole scene and then blended back into the crowd.

Even though the princess refuted the rumors about the hero in the parade, it only fueled the rumors further.

“He was a coward but violent and would even beat the maiden.”

“I heard he tried to force himself on the princess.”

“He was such trash, wasn’t he?”

“I wonder why the princess is covering up for him…”

Strangely enough, baseless rumours about me were spreading.

Like all rumours, they were bizarrely nonsensical to absurd degrees.

“I heard he fled and died in the fight against the Dark Lord.”

“In the end, wasn’t it the princess who defeated the Dark Lord?”

“Huh, so the supposed hero wasn’t of much help after all.”

I dug into the source of these rumours, to their roots, and the roots of the roots.

Because I was curious who was spreading them and for what purpose.

Finally, I was successful in tracing them back.

The Royal Guard.

Those who patrol and guard the entire royal road.

In a way, they could be seen as the perfect ones to spread rumours within the Royal Road.

And the ones who commanded them to spread these rumours…

“…The royal family.”

I snuck into the guards’ outpost, read their orders and stared blankly at the castle within Retium.

Though it was true I hadn’t fought the Dark Lord, even if I had fought honestly, defeated her, and had been betrayed and died, they would’ve acted the same way.

Treating even the dead with such thorough contempt.

Princess Anyaes did deny the rumours once, but afterward, she made no mention of them at all.

A new rumour spread that that was simply Princess Anyaes’ nature, protecting the ‘hero’ for no particular reason.

And within Retium, the hero’s reputation was frankly in shambles.

“Ha, come if you dare, Hero!!”

“Please spare my life!!”

“I, Princess Anyaes, will face the Dark Lord in place of the cowardly hero!”

Seeing these children play, despite their innocent appearances, their words were enough to stir dry emotions.

I didn’t want to be in this city anymore.

Everywhere I turned, there were slurs, insults, and ridicule about the ‘hero,’ followed by praises for Princess Anyaes, who overcame the ‘hero’ and was celebrated.

“I hope you enjoyed your time in Retium!!”

As I was leaving the city, the guard at the gate cheerfully bid me farewell.

Thanks a lot, Princess Anyaes.

Thanks to you, my minute leftover guilt about the kingdom, has vanished completely.

Whether they lose their peace isn’t my problem anymore.

I look forward to seeing what will happen to them in a year, and how they’ll react when they learn the truth.