Chapter 34 _ The Four Heroes Passed Down, and a Mother’s Tears
The God Wolf’s den.
Night winds traced the peak of the massive mountain, causing the campfire flames to sway and crackle unpredictably.
Having obtained the only ray of hope to save Frey—the Substitute Orb—
I could barely contain my excitement as I spoke to Roger, who was quietly tending the firewood.
“Hey, Roger…
are there no people in this world called ‘Heroes’?”
“Heroes?” he scoffed.
“What is that, a bedtime story sung by drunken bards?”
“No, I mean…
someone born with the destiny to defeat the Demon King.
A prodigy with both sword and magic.”
“…You mean heroes,” Roger replied flatly.
“They’re lying around everywhere.”
He jerked his chin toward the opposite side of the fire.
There, curled up against the massive body of the God Wolf,
a single cat slept soundly—
her small head resting against one of the divine beast’s great ears.
“…Frey-sama,” Roger continued quietly.
“She alone is a living legend of this age.”
“…Yeah. Frey is amazing,” I admitted.
“But… I was wondering if there’s someone who could truly end the Demon King for good.”
“The Demon King is immortal,” Roger said bluntly.
“If there were a proven way to kill him,
Frey-sama would’ve done it two hundred years ago.”
My gaze drifted to Frey, pressed tightly against her mother’s warmth—
like a child seeking reassurance in a parent’s body.
Perhaps because of what the God Wolf had called mana exhaustion,
she had fallen into a deep, unguarded sleep.
“…Heroes,” I murmured.
“The country’s currency—Fanan—that name comes from one, right?”
“Fanan was the supreme knight who laid this nation’s foundation,” Roger replied.
“But if you turn the pages of world history,
four names are carved at its summit.”
His voice echoed low through the night.
“Seidu Muamba.
Fanan.
Hughry.
And Frey.”
“…But the only one still alive today,” he added grimly,
“is Seidu—the hopeless recluse.”
“…He’s alive!?” I blurted out.
“Then if we could get Seidu Muamba on our side—!”
“Impossible.”
Roger spat the word and turned his back.
“…I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
Shut out completely, I puffed out my cheeks in frustration—
when, from the far side of the fire, Hans approached gracefully.
“Now, now, don’t blame Fred,” she said softly.
“He’s never been good at talking about heavy history.
…I’ll tell you instead.”
She sat beside me, eyes reflecting the dancing flames.
“Seidu Muamba,” Hans began.
“A black hero who lived a thousand years ago,
in an age steeped in cruelty and discrimination.”
“He was a prodigy of necromancy and curses,
born with the rare ability to touch the laws of life and death.
And he became the only human to ever obtain eternity—
an Immortal.”
The firelight flickered in her eyes.
“He defeated the Demon King alone.
But that was the beginning of the tragedy.”
“When defeat became inevitable,
the Demon King proposed a bargain:
‘Accept the seal, and grant me eternal life.’”
“Seidu believed that as long as he lived,
he could always reseal the Demon King.
He overestimated his own power.”
“…That was his one mistake,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Hans nodded.
“Within the darkness of the seal,
the Demon King continued to feed—
on the hatred that filled this world.”
“After a thousand years,
the Demon King amassed power that surpassed even Seidu.”
“When the seal was broken,
Seidu was defeated.”
“Ashamed of his own naivety,
he vanished from the stage of history.”
A silence as dry as thirst settled over us.
Even the strongest hero had failed.
“…So in the end,” I said quietly,
“Frey’s time-stopping spell was the only path left.”
“Yes,” Hans replied.
“Without her self-sacrifice,
this world would already be reduced to ash by hatred.”
It was a hopeless story.
Yet strangely, my heart did not darken.
“The Substitute Orb… and Seidu Muamba,” I murmured.
“…Looks like I’ve got more people I’ll need to meet someday.”
“Oh?” Hans smiled in surprise.
“Mario… why do you look happy?”
“…Because,” I answered slowly,
“I’ve been taught what it means to face hardship and overcome it.”
“I couldn’t do it alone.
But Roger is here.
You’re here, Hans.
Iris is here.
And Frey is here.”
“…Someday—
I want to save Frey.”
At my words,
Hans looked at me with a gaze filled with quiet affection.
And then—
When I happened to look up at the massive face of the God Wolf behind us,
I froze.
From her closed eyes,
a single drop slid silently downward.
It caught the moonlight,
sparkling like a diamond as it soaked into her silver fur.
The legendary divine beast had been listening all along—
pretending to sleep.
A mother’s tears,
entrusting her daughter’s future
to a nameless visitor from another world.
I straightened my back.
To answer those tears,
I fixed my gaze on the harsh fate that awaited beyond the night sky.
