Only the Party Members Returned, Not the Hero - Chapter 49



49. Commoner’s Achievement (3)

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49.

The hallway of the Errantera Temple.

The third elder, Sanctum, let out a long sigh as he headed towards the Pope’s chambers.

“… People called elders.”

It was unpleasant to see the sixth elder’s true intentions.

He remembered the first time he had been noticed by Pope Febro and promoted to the position of elder.

At that time, most people really had the will to benefit the world through the power of the goddess.

“Because I was so stained before I knew it….”

I’m tired of the secular world before I know it.

Have you become people who only want to take care of their own interests?

Not everyone was like that,

In the eyes of the naive Sanctum, most of them looked like that.

It was the same with the stationery in his hand.

The sender is Flavor Heartpone.

You could have thought it was an ordinary confession.

The content seems to accuse the hero of his disrespect,

I couldn’t leave the thought that someone might have conveyed it with intention.

I couldn’t even ask Flavor why he sent it.

Because all elders have a duty of confidentiality.

All religious statements coming to the elders must be kept confidential.

The corruption of high-ranking officials.

The embezzlement of market traders.

Even the murderer’s plan to kill.

If you come to the elder in the name of confession, you are not to disclose it to anyone except the clergy of the same or higher rank.

Standing, tall.

Standing in front of the Pope’s room, Sanctum is lost in thought.

Is it right to tell this story to the pope, or should he himself ask and pass by.

Saintham remembered the face of a warrior he had only seen once.

It was not difficult to recall the face of the hero’s father.

The face of the good man who had to be branded as an apostate without knowing why or why.

He stared blankly at the door to the Pope’s chamber and opened his mouth.

“Pope, this is the third elder.”

The answer didn’t take long.

“Please come in.”

Kik-Tak.

A thick door that opens and closes slowly again.

Entering the Pope’s room, Sanctum bowed deeply at the doorway and bowed to the Pope.

“May the blessings of the goddess be with you.”

“May the blessings of the goddess be with you.”

Similarly, the pope bowed his head and accepted it.

With their heads bowed side by side, there is a moment of silence.

It was the pope’s laughter that broke the silence.

“Heh heh heh.”

“What are you laughing at?”

“I just smile because your face is funny.”

The Pope chuckled and pointed to the sofa in front of him, telling Sanctum to have a seat.

Sanctum sighed as he sat down on her sofa as he slowly walked over with a displeased look on his face.

Sanctum was far younger than Pope Phevro, but he was a rare man who was brought directly to the temple by the pope and walked the path of the clergy.

So naive and strict, the pope wanted the sanctum to act and think more flexibly.

“So, what brought you here? The third elder.”

“Just call me Sanctum.”

“I definitely have a position, but I can’t. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“A drink, please.”

The Pope poured fragrant black tea from the teapot that was prepared and held it out in front of Sanctum. After taking a sip of tea, Sanctum put the note he had brought on the table and pushed it in front of the Pope.

“It doesn’t look like an ordinary letter.”

“Yes. I don’t know why you came to my office, but it’s impossible to ask because of confidentiality obligations…. I have come to ask the Pope.”

“I should have shown it to the other elders before coming.”

“How did you know?”

Saintham looked genuinely surprised, but it was only natural for Febro, who had seen him for nearly forty years. The pope looked at the sanctum with his head slightly lowered and his forehead wrinkled, his eyes wide open, and smiled benevolently.

“Of course it is. Aren’t you a hard worker?”

“… Effort, I am too old for that now.”

“A guy less than fifty.”

“The Pope is too old.”

The Sanctum did not know the Pope’s exact age.

He only vaguely knew that he had lived a very long time.

Speaking back, tsk tsk. The pope, who clicked his tongue, took the letter and began to read it slowly.

After reading the contents, the pope was silent for a moment, then folded the letter finely and placed it on the table.

“You confided your feelings unbecoming a hero.”

“Do you really think that is the hero’s heart?”

“The inner mind must be the inner mind. A hero is not someone who lies as if he were eating.”

“Then, how….”

“Should I punish you?”

The Pope, who matched Sanctum’s afterwords as if he had penetrated his stomach, stared blankly at Sanctum with his back leaning against the back of the sofa.

“That’s not what you think.”

Saintham smiled awkwardly.

I’ve been watching for decades, but the Pope’s insight is sharp enough to be mind reading.

“Then I ask what you think, Sanctum. What would you like to do?”

The pope’s gaze.

Saintham put down the teacup and answered seriously.

“I think we need to support more warriors.”

“Oh, why?”

“Look, Pope. The hero’s father is an apostate, and the hero is an unprecedented commoner’s hero. Even in such adverse conditions, the hero eventually overcomes and tries to act.”

The more people start from a lower place.

You must have more willpower and effort than others to rise to the surface.

“Can’t a warrior who has been discriminated against and suffered so much say something like that? What is your religion? Religion is what humans believe in, and humans are imperfect.”

The hero was about to rise to the surface, and Sanctum appreciated his efforts.

“If discipline is to be given with a single word, it is correct to punish the citizens who do not follow the doctrine. But not in the temple. Because it understands the human mind.”

“Yes. Religion has meaning only for humans after all.”

“That’s right. But I think there are people on the inside who use the religion of the jaggeum for themselves, not for human beings. To the extent that it even brought out the warrior’s personal sadism.”

“So I talked to another elder first.”

“It’s embarrassing, but it is.”

Saintham was confident.

There is someone inside the temple who wants to use the name of the goddess.

And there are those who agree with that will.

The Pope nods slowly.

He lifted the cup, took a sip, and set it down again.

“Look, Sanctum.”

I hear the benevolent voice of the pope.

“Do you know why all the former warriors were sons of nobles?”

“… Isn’t that how it happened?”

“Yes, the result was unfortunate, but it was clearly a judgment that involved human will.”

The goddess only chose the hero, but there was no limit to the criteria for becoming a hero.

I just gave the mark of a goddess to those who had the will and the qualifications.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. A hero is the last and best means to protect humans from demons…. About why there are always beings who are hostile to the hero. I’m not just talking about today’s warriors. It has happened in the past.”

If you are a common sense person.

You couldn’t throw stones at someone who was fighting for you.

The Pope thought so.

However, the hero was always tormented by the same people.

There were many people whose hearts were broken by the same human beings, regardless of whether they were warriors or candidates.

The hero always won the fight against the demon, but the hero’s words were not always happy.

In the end, it was the same people’s fault.

“I felt that humans do not value the cause more than I thought.”

Humans have always abandoned their warriors.

“With greed, with sloth, with arrogance, with jealousy….”

It’s just a difference in when.

“Take care of today’s pride more than tomorrow’s survival, take possession of your property in case tomorrow 99 out of a hundred die, fearing that I will be the one who survives, and do not see the lineage, family, and established power shake, so I will lay a sword on the back of a warrior. Those who put them in.”

The pope said with a sigh.

“… I didn’t expect it to be that many.”

When your immediate life is at stake, you hold up a hero like the sky.

When the immediate danger is resolved, they said in unison.

It wasn’t like that.

***

“Not quite like that.”

I can’t remember the exact time frame.

I can only guess that it was a long time ago, because there were no wrinkles on Febro’s face at that time.

Due to the great war between the Demon God and the Hero, many cities on the continent were left in ruins.

The hero of Gearko was able to slay the demons and promise peace until the next era, but humans also suffered a lot of damage.

The hero’s name is Annelis.

Since he was a commoner, he has no last name.

A man limped up to the podium in the plaza, raised his hands and shouted loudly. One of his arms, which seemed to be scorched, was covered with reddish blisters, as if it had been burned.

“We acknowledge the sacrifices of the Annelis warriors and the expedition. However, there are still mountains of work to be done right now.”

People passing by stopped with a murmur and looked up at the man.

All of them were citizens who lost their livelihood, family, friends, and loved ones for different reasons.

“There are tens of thousands of citizens who have not yet escaped the ravages of war, thousands of children who have lost their mothers, and hundreds of widows who have lost their husbands.”

The man took off his rag-like jacket and exposed his upper body.

His ribs were skinny from not eating for a long time.

“Is it right to spend so many priests and taxes now on the warriors, or on the suffering citizens?”

A person who stopped and listened to the speech said.

He was carrying two saucepans on his shoulders to draw dirty water.

“But I heard that the hero sacrificed his lover in order to defeat the demon, and the hero was also crippled?”

The eyes of passers-by were focused on the person drawing water.

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“As long as the warrior’s last wish is to perform the resurrection ceremony before it’s too late, how about guaranteeing that much? Isn’t it true that we are alive thanks to the hero?”

The man on the podium said, striking his bony chest in frustration.

“Listen. A hero is one who was born to catch demons. Since he defeated the Demon God, he has completed his mission. Of course, aren’t you prepared to accept that sacrifice?”

The man pointed with his burnt hand to the royal palace where the resurrection ceremony was taking place. His dry fingers contrasted with the well-groomed rituals of the palace.

“Until now, the expedition has been sponsored with the kingdom’s taxes, and if so, it’s as if the citizens sponsored the expedition, until when do we have to take care of it? Thousands of citizens can be made comfortable with money and manpower for one resurrection ceremony. What do you think is the cause?

Citizens at the lectern shouted.

“My child is starving. My old mother is sick and cannot get up.”

He beat his chest and cried.

“You don’t know when the order of rations will come back, and robbers and thieves run rampant, and dozens of people are dying even in broad daylight. Tell me! Let those who have learned a lot and are better than me speak. Whom should I live for right now? Warrior? Or, my child?”

He raised his hand again and howled.

Stop the resurrection ritual and take care of the citizens.

Five people shouted along.

Stop the resurrection ritual and take care of the citizens.

Fifty people shouted along.

Stop the resurrection ritual and take care of the citizens.

Hundreds.

Tens of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands.

Amidst the cries for the sacrifice of a loved one.

Little Febro saw the indomitable warrior with whom he walked the pilgrimage, who seemed invincible, crumble.

It was the first time I saw how a person’s eyes can become so empty.

People who got caught up in the flow were not just the poor who suffered damage.

In the mouths of those in power who sell citizens, sell post-war restoration, and sell the poor, a warrior who has done his job is broken.

It didn’t matter how much the warriors and expedition corps sacrificed and what they sacrificed.

The moment the demon was dealt with, all of that was someone else’s business, and it became a burden to be patronized and helped.

A few days later, the hero Annelis disappeared.

I never showed up again.