Reason for Existence

“Fire!”

With the knight’s shout, the soldiers aiming their bows at the sky released their arrows simultaneously.

Their target was a demon fluttering black membrane wings.

However, the arrows not only failed to graze the target but couldn’t even get close.

Just as the knight ground his teeth watching the demon grow distant, a golden flash shot up from the fortress.

The demon instinctively sensing danger tried to quickly turn its body, but the flash was too fast and too powerful.

The flash accurately pierced through its vital point, and the demon that lost its heart plummeted straight to the ground.

“…Thank you for your help.”

The knight bowed his head toward the man holding a pure white great bow.

Though he was a wastrel from a hero’s family, a pathetic human who hadn’t been chosen as a hero due to incurring the goddess’s wrath, gratitude was still gratitude.

While Yuseong was receiving the commander’s thanks, people led by Count Hartmann arrived belatedly.

“A demon? Where is this demon you speak of?”

Hartmann furrowed his brow looking beyond the castle walls.

No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see even a mouse let alone a demon.

Facing Hartmann’s questioning gaze, the knight took a rigid stance and shouted with a trembling voice.

“There, it’s right there!”

When Hartmann turned his head where the knight pointed, he discovered the demon’s corpse sprawled on the ground and asked with a puzzled expression.

“Don’t tell me, that’s all?”

He had rushed here thinking the Demon Lord’s army was attacking when he heard a demon appeared, but it was just one demon.

Before feeling dumbfounded, he felt confused.

While it might make sense for a remote village, one demon charging at a frontline fortress was impossible by common sense.

‘Perhaps a messenger that lost its way?’

After confirming no monsters were around, Count Hartmann gave a signal and the knights behind him opened the castle gate and approached the fallen demon.

Shortly after, the knights returned with a crumpled letter in their hands.

‘I can’t tell what’s written here. Is it some kind of cipher?’

Count Hartmann thought his guess was correct.

At least until he heard the Saintess’s voice.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, may I see that letter for a moment?”

“Do you recognize these characters?”

“……”

El seemed not to hear Count Hartmann’s words and just stared at the letter.

Though she couldn’t read what was written at all, the characteristic round and neat shape of the letters was familiar to her eyes.

She could be certain.

These were definitely the same characters written in the letter that the monster delivered to Han Jae-kyung.

El’s eyes trembled slightly and the letter in her hand was mercilessly crumpled.

However, the surprises weren’t over yet.

“Count! Something terrible has happened!”

The servant who arrived before Count Hartmann through the crowd wore a troubled expression as he looked around.

He seemed unable to speak easily as the content would be problematic if others heard, but if that was the case, he shouldn’t have said something terrible had happened in front of so many people in the first place.

“What matter makes you act this way?”

“T-that is……”

“Speak quickly!”

“T-the hero has killed someone!”

* * *

Murder wasn’t much of an issue in this world.

While killing royalty or nobility would be a big problem, killing those from lower classes like serfs or servants wouldn’t be punished if proper compensation was paid – it was a world where human life was that light.

Moreover, if the perpetrator was a hero, there was nothing more to say.

Not just because of their power, but because they had the justification of being chosen by the goddess.

They didn’t even need a legitimate reason.

If the hero deemed something evil, that was the end of it.

When they couldn’t even question a hero for wiping out an entire noble family, there was no issue with just one servant.

At least, that would be true in normal circumstances.

“So you’re saying that servant was watching you?”

“Yeah. That bastard was stuck right in front of my door!”

“Still, with your skills you could have captured him alive.”

“I tried to capture him. I kicked the door hard to stop him from escaping, but I didn’t expect he would die from that.”

Jenny, who had been seriously listening to Han Jae-kyung’s story, nodded and said.

“He was probably a spy sent by someone. I’ll look into what happened, so rest here.”

“What’s the point of resting when I’m not even hurt? Forget it, let’s go handle what Count Hartmann asked.”

“You don’t need to do that. Count Hartmann said he would entrust it to mercenaries.”

“Wait. Then there’s no reason to stay here anymore, right?”

“Umm……”

“That works out. Then let’s depart for the Kingdom of Halton right away.”

“That won’t do!”

Jenny, who had shouted loudly, cleared her throat seeing Han Jae-kyung staring at her with blank eyes and said.

“Ahem, there might be more spies. It would be troublesome, but please wait until we finish checking.”

“…Well, if that’s the case, I guess it can’t be helped.”

“There’s a servant outside, so ask for anything you need. Then, I’ll be going.”

When Han Jae-kyung seemed to accept with a convinced expression, Jenny let out a relieved sigh and stood up.

And the moment Jenny left the room, Han Jae-kyung’s expression hardened.

Having been ostracized and forced to read the room for so long, he was confident in his ability to read others’ gazes and grasp the atmosphere.

‘They’re watching me warily.’

He had felt it occasionally since first receiving the Demon Lord’s army’s letter, but it had never been this blatant.

If then was suspicion, now it was certainty.

There was something that came to mind.

The letters exchanged with the Demon Lord.

He had clearly said to keep it secret, but it seemed Abel had spilled everything.

“Cowardly bastard.”

Han Jae-kyung who muttered a curse under his breath bit his lip and fell into thought.

He currently had two choices available.

Either continue acting as hero, or take the Demon Lord’s hand.

The problem was both choices carried too much risk.

If he chose to act as hero but the Demon Lord’s words were true?

He would be discarded the moment he defeated the Demon Lord.

If he took the Demon Lord’s hand but they were lying?

It would be like walking into a trap with his own feet.

He couldn’t make a decision easily when his life was at stake.

Meanwhile, others were also struggling with their own concerns.

“Did the hero really say that?”

“He clearly said he attacked because the servant was watching him. He said he killed him by accident, but that’s nonsense.”

“Isn’t something strange? He could have claimed the servant tried to ambush him, or said he found the body already dead, so why would he voluntarily admit something disadvantageous to himself?”

“Maybe he’s not smart enough to think of such excuses. You know how stupid he is, right?”

Three women were conversing in a dark secret room.

Jenny’s role was answering the other two’s questions, El’s role was defending Han Jae-kyung, and Sasha’s role was refuting El’s claims.

“It seems to add up if we say Abel discovered and dealt with the demon carrying the hero’s letter, and Abel killed the servant who witnessed the deal with demons. What do you think?”

Though it was somewhat of a forced deduction, no one raised objections.

Because they had already reached their conclusion before starting the conversation.

After a brief moment, El muttered in a dejected voice.

“Though it’s hard to believe, it really seems the hero is colluding with the Demon Lord’s army.”

When the hero first received the letter, she thought the Demon Lord’s army was using a crude trick.

When Abel testified that the hero and Demon Lord’s army were exchanging letters, she thought it couldn’t be.

And now with clear physical evidence of the letter, she had no choice but to accept the reality that the hero had betrayed them.

The moment El finished speaking, the air in the room grew heavy.

The Saintess was a being who represented the goddess’s will.

El’s words carried weight of a different dimension compared to Jenny the warrior or Sasha the mage.

“…So what should we do now?”

Those who cooperated with the Demon Lord’s army must be punished regardless of reason, but they had no idea how to deal with a hero who had power rivaling a nation alone.

Fortunately, El had a solution.

“There’s no need to worry. If it’s certain the hero has betrayed humanity, we can handle him with just the forces here – no, with just our power alone.”

“Handle him with just our power? How is that possible?”

El didn’t answer immediately and hesitated for a moment.

What she was about to say was a secret that must never be revealed to the world.

It was extremely classified information that only the Pope and cardinals, dragons who lived for thousands of years, and some members of the Andrei family that had produced heroes for generations would know.

But it was something that would be revealed anyway.

“What I’m about to say is secret. Please promise you won’t tell anyone else.”

“I promise.”

“Just hurry up and tell us already. What is it that makes you hesitate so much?”

El only opened her mouth after letting out a long sigh.

“We’ll have the goddess revoke Hero- no, Han Jae-kyung’s hero qualification.”

* * *

-Common knowledge says those chosen as heroes don’t lose their power until death, but that’s not true. The hero’s power is granted by the goddess. Of course the hero loses power if the goddess revokes their hero qualification. But such a thing rarely happens.

A hero’s reason for existence is solely to defeat the Demon Lord.

In other words, it meant that ultimately they could do anything as long as they defeated the Demon Lord.

Whether they used their power to correct society’s injustices and make the world better, or pursued personal greed and caused chaos in the world was fine.

To put it extremely, even if a hero destroyed a country, the goddess wouldn’t revoke their hero qualification.

However, there was one exception.

-That’s when the hero denies their reason for existence.

Long ago, there was a hero who surrendered to the Demon Lord.

Whether they feared fighting or fell for sweet temptation was unknown, but anyway the hero surrendered to the Demon Lord.

The problem came after.

The hero who surrendered to the Demon Lord lost their power and became an ordinary person.

Thinking about it, it was natural.

The hero’s power was granted to fight the Demon Lord.

There was no reason to let them keep the hero’s power when they said they wouldn’t fight the Demon Lord.

-In the end, the 8th generation ancestor who surrendered to the Demon Lord met their end at the hands of the 9th generation ancestor who became the next hero.

Though a terrifyingly dark family history was casually revealed, neither Abel nor Yuseong paid it any mind.

“That’s too vague. They don’t lose the hero qualification just from thinking in their heart that they can’t defeat the Demon Lord or that they should surrender, right?”

-Anyone can have weak thoughts. If hero qualification was lost just from that much, dozens of heroes would be born and disappear every day. Though we can’t be certain since there’s only been one case, it’s presumed the hero qualification is lost when they directly deny their reason for existence, whether through words or actions.

“Must directly deny their reason for existence, huh.”

It was either easy or difficult.

No matter what tricks were used, ultimately the quest’s success or failure depended on Han Jae-kyung’s whims.

Even if he used all sorts of sweet talk to make him trust the Demon Lord, if Han Jae-kyung didn’t express that outwardly, the quest would go on endlessly.

“Yaaawn.”

Yuseong who had been watching Han Jae-kyung’s room yawned and stretched widely.

Perhaps from constantly turning his mind, though his body wasn’t tired, his mind was exhausted.

As Yuseong was about to return to his room after finishing surveillance, familiar figures entered his view.

Jenny, El, Sasha.

Though it wasn’t unusual for them to stick close to Han Jae-kyung, something felt off.

‘…Fully armed?’

Feeling something ominous was about to happen, Yuseong stared intently at Han Jae-kyung’s room.

About the time it would take to drink a cup of tea.

Just when he was starting to think his feeling might have been wrong, an anomaly occurred.

Swoosh!

Along with a chilling cutting sound, the building began to collapse.