Hans was lying quietly on the bed, blinking his eyes. His head hurt like it was going to explode from a hangover. The memories of last night remained in shards. The Vampire Lord had come to this place.
She reached out her hand to him, but strangely, after that, he couldn’t remember anything. Did Lucy do something to him? Thinking that, he looked over his body, but there didn’t seem to be any problems.
However, someone as significant as the Vampire Lord wouldn’t have just come here for no reason—she must have done something. Hans’s suspicions deepened, but he couldn’t find out any more.
Right now, he had to figure out what to do with Helia, who was lying next to him on the bed. Hans shifted his gaze downward and saw Helia clinging to his side.
From Hans’s perspective, having his body occupied by time last night meant he naturally wouldn’t have any memories. However, Helia was different. Of course, she too had her memories erased, but…
The fact that her relationship with her teacher was threatened was engraved in her instincts. Was that why? Helia felt scared, fearing that her teacher might leave her behind.
“Did you have a scary dream?”
“Teacher…!!”
“It’s okay, I’m here.”
For a moment, Helia felt her chest tighten. Her teacher was definitely smiling at her, but for some reason, she couldn’t just gaze back at that smile.
She hadn’t yet learned the emotion called guilt. Hans, who didn’t know anything about Helia’s actions, could only tilt his head in confusion. Why was she acting like this?
Today, she was especially clingy. He thought for a moment like that, but soon Hans raised his hand and gently ruffled Helia’s hair. This was probably only natural.
Helia was still a 13 year old child. In modern times, she would have just started elementary school. Of course, in this world, one becomes an adult at 16, but still, she was young.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Thinking about it, it meant that at such a young age, she had managed to endure and run this far. If he thought that way, sometimes indulging her a bit wouldn’t be so bad.
Perhaps because of her teacher’s words, Helia’s trembling began to ease little by little. Feeling relieved, Helia slowly closed her eyes. Even if it was just a dream, she wanted to stay like this.
After confirming that Helia had fallen asleep, Hans lingered for a moment before getting up. The Commander of the Royal Knights had more to do than he expected. Especially right now.
“Is the Commander here?”
“Yeah.”
“From today, it’s the real start, huh?”
“There’s a lot to prepare.”
Cluna, who had been waiting in the office, smiled and handed over parchments. When he received them, most of the parchments were already prepared and just needed his signature to be finished.
“Didn’t we all rest yesterday?”
“Yes, I rested enough too.”
“Then when in the world did you prepare this?”
“Let’s see, maybe before going to the Orcs?”
“Did you really prepare this beforehand?”
Hans clicked his tongue. Competence should have its limits. No, is this just normal? Cluna was an elf who had lived for hundreds of years. It was natural for her to have far more experience in this area than one could imagine.
“But are you really okay with this?”
“Rather, it’s the right timing because it’s now.”
Hans checked the information written on the parchment. He was constantly checking information just in case, pulling together all his past life’s memories. He was even consulting with advisors now.
All of this was saying only one fact. But one must be cautious. Spending too much time could lead to missing the right timing. But being too hasty was also a problem.
“The Royal Knights… no, it’s the first expedition of the Racial Alliance.”
Until now, the Racial Alliance had only defended against the Demons’ onslaught. They hadn’t had the luxury to go on an expedition. The Royal Knights’ expedition received support from everyone across the continent for a reason.
If the Royal Knights’ expedition succeeded, it would have made history as the first to reclaim land after the Demons’ invasion. Although it ended in failure, it had been an opportunity.
[Is it necessary to go out of our way to do this?]
[That’s right. It won’t be too late to do it after the situation stabilizes.]
[I think the same as Cluna.]
Cluna and Yuren expressed strong concerns over Hans’s plan. The Royal Knights had failed an expedition a year ago, leading to their collapse and the subsequent disaster of the alliance.
If it was not just a Royal Knights expedition but a failure of the Racial Alliance expedition? It would give the Demons a chance. Hans understood what they were worried about.
But Hans had a reason he needed to go on an expedition right now. That was because he knew when the Demons’ power would strengthen. One could tell just by looking at the original story.
[After the collapse of the Royal Knights, the Demons didn’t act immediately. Perhaps because of that, even though the Racial Alliance struggled to stick together, with the threat in front of them gone, they bared their fangs at each other.]
[And three years later, the Demons’ full-scale invasion began, recovering from the damage they took in battle with the Royal Knights. First, the Dwarf Republic fell, and then all Twelve Tribes were eradicated.]
In other words, the Demons would regain all their strength after three years. Right now, the Blood Demons had been repelled, and their injuries had worsened, but it was likely they would recover within four years.
So, if they didn’t strike the Demons and drag them into a quagmire of battle beforehand, there was no choice. At least, they had to decrease the Demon’s power before it regained all strength.
“The problem is that everyone might be thinking the same thing.”
The Demons’ invasion was still ongoing. Unfortunately, too much time had passed. The goal of returning the continent to its original state had vanished. Instead, they thought it would be good to protect what they had.
Hans understood that feeling well. He didn’t really want to go on an adventure. Especially since there were cases of failure after attempting an adventure just a year ago. Persuading them would be quite difficult.
However, if they kept going like this, there would be no future. The barrier of the Vatican Kingdom was weakening increasingly, and in proportion, the Demons’ schemes and powers were becoming far too strong.
Ironically, thanks to the Royal Knights’ expedition a year ago, the gap had been somewhat narrowed. Thus, the Racial Alliance had gained at least a slight advantage. In other words, now was the chance.
How long could they maintain this slight difference? That would determine victory or defeat. Hans may have forgotten the original purpose, but his instincts continued to yearn for the victory of the Racial Alliance.
“Is there any way to persuade them?”
Hans calmly sought advice from Cluna. He didn’t even realize it, but seeking advice this way was similar to displaying the dignity of a Commander.
At least, it was to Cluna. Cluna had seen countless people who, for the sake of maintaining trivial dignity and reputation, had unnecessarily become arrogant and brought about their own self-destruction.
What was the reason? Cluna thought it was probably fear. The moment they relied on someone else, wouldn’t they lose their place? Or would they not be looked down upon?
“If you truly want to do it, I would persuade the Human King.”
“The Human King? That’s an unexpected answer.”
“That man possesses ambitions beyond imagination. Furthermore, he is wise and capable. He must have prepared for this.”
That was the image Cluna had of the Human King. He didn’t simply wish to be the backbone of the Racial Alliance. He had ambitions beyond that—perhaps to restore their old homeland.
Of course, such ideals were meaningless now. They had never reclaimed land held by the Demons until now. But for some reason, they felt like there was a possibility.
That was likely due to the presence of the man right in front of her. In just one year, he had rebuilt the Royal Knights and revived a Racial Alliance that had essentially been scattered.
Furthermore, the Dwarf Republic and the Twelve Tribes, who had received his grace, were essentially standing as his allies and support. That was likely to continue until trust in him faded away.
‘He’s truly similar to him.’
Cluna tried her best to shake it off, but the comparisons kept coming, something even she couldn’t help. She was seeing reflections of the first Hero she had once been with in him.
At first, she didn’t understand why. She didn’t know the reason, but finally, Cluna was beginning to understand. He was similar to the first Hero but also different. The first Hero was somewhat clumsy and lacked in many ways.
On the other hand, the Commander was a superhuman who perfectly executed everything. But their common trait was the same. They didn’t settle for the present and dreamed of a better future. And yet, they didn’t sacrifice anything.
Truly, they were undeniably heroes.
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