Flillian, I want to live.

In a messy room, the old butler leaned against the bookshelf behind him. With his dying breath, he raised his head and saw a sharp sword hanging above his head. The owner of the sword, the purple-haired man whom he had always called a bastard, was looking at him with indifference.

"Oh, how ridiculous! I thought I was the hunter."

The old butler coughed up a mouthful of blood from his throat, grinned, and laughed somewhat self-deprecatingly.

"Phelan, where is that child?"

The purple-haired man seemed to have no interest in chatting with the old butler in front of him. He placed the tip of his sword, which was shining with cold light, against the other's soft throat, threatening him with death to tell him the answer to the question he cared about most.

"Are you still thinking about usurping power and plotting rebellion? You're truly hopeless," the old butler said mockingly, "Do you think you've done it perfectly? You colluded with the demons and provoked civil war. The evidence of your crimes has long been discovered by the master and sent to the capital."

"so what?"

The man was not shaken by what the old butler said, but calmly asked the other party.

"So? Your conspiracy has been exposed. Even if you kill me, the master, and Philen, you will gain nothing. I advise you to escape now," the old butler said, turning to look at the man next to him, "Take that bastard like you with you."

"How can you say that? Sister Karl is an important family member of mine. If it weren't for her, I might have been the one to fall there."

The man smiled, a rare occurrence. He turned his head and looked to his side.

Standing there was a girl with short black hair and a pair of curved pointed horns on both sides of her head. Although she looked to be about the same age as Philen, those horrific corpses lying on the ground and turned into a paste were all her masterpieces.

"How are you, Lord Vaher?"

The demon girl opened her mouth and called out the old butler's name, greeting him like an old friend who hadn't seen him for many years.

"You're still the same, Carl."

The old butler glared at the demon girl in front of him with a hint of unwillingness in his eyes.

"If I say I'm sorry, will you forgive me?"

Carl looked at the angry old butler, and for some reason he remembered John's expression and repeated his answer.

"No way~"

A somewhat mischievous voice sounded from the side.

"too late……"

As if he had expected it, the old butler turned his head and looked at the window beside him.

Gutel, who was soaked all over, was sitting there with her hands holding down her sun hat which was swaying from side to side in the wind. Next to her, an old man in a black holy robe climbed in with difficulty by climbing the window sill in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

"Please consider my old bones..."

The old man brought by Gutel first smoothed his silver hair that was messed up by the wind with his hands, and then wiped his glasses that were blurred by the rain with his clothes.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Haita..."

As if the obsession in his heart had been fulfilled, after calling out the old man's name, the old butler finally took the breath he had been holding on to.

Chapter 20 Making the best use of things is a virtue

"Ugh……"

Looking at the old butler who closed his eyes peacefully, the purple-haired man sighed and put down the sword that was across the other's neck.

He tilted his head, and his hair, which was messy because of the battle, fell down, covering his face, making it impossible to see his current expression.

"When we last met, you were still a child," Haita looked at the man in front of him calmly, with a hint of regret on his face. "Time flies, little John."

“Hahaha~hahahaha——”

After hearing Haita's greeting, the man suddenly raised his head and laughed crazily.

"Haita, did that old fellow invite you over in the end? Do you, who have one foot halfway through your deathbed, have some sort of old people's mutual aid association?"

The man turned around slowly, raised his head, and observed the smiling old man in front of him through the gaps between his hair.

The other party's existence itself is a legend.

Haita, that is the hero who served as a monk in the brave team and accomplished the great feat of defeating the Demon King together with the brave. To this day, his statue is still erected in the most conspicuous place in the Royal Capital Square together with his three companions, for everyone who comes there to admire.

Men once wanted to be heroes too.

"Look, Mom! There's a statue of Lord Sinmel here too!"

Little John grew up without a father. His mother was the top prostitute in a brothel, but she was kicked out by the madam after she became pregnant with him. After John was born, his mother raised him by traveling and selling homemade handicrafts.

Despite the hardship and poverty of life, little John did not feel it was hard. He depended on his mother and traveled around the southern countries together, and he enjoyed it.

Although his father is not around, there is another person who has replaced his father as the object of John's admiration.

The Brave Sinmer.

Although he had never met the other person in person, Little John would always see the other person's statue every time he traveled to a new town.

The stories about Xinmeier's adventures that his mother told him every bedtime made him a complete fan of the other.

"When I grow up, I want to become a brave warrior like Xin Meier and defeat those evil demons!"

While camping on the lawn, little John watched the meteor shower dancing in the sky and told his mother his wish.

"well……"

His mother stroked his hair gently and coaxed him to sleep.

"this is……"

"It's your birthday present~"

On little John's tenth birthday, he received a gift from his mother.

It was a sword, the sword of the brave.

Of course, it is not the one in the hands of the brave Xinmeier. It is just a fake bought at the market. It is a mass-produced product that is obviously fake.

Even so, it was enough to excite Little John. He ran to the bronze statue of Sinmel with his sword in hand and struck the same pose as the other.

Even if passers-by laughed at his childishness, he didn't care at all, because he heard his mother say that when Xinmei said he wanted to defeat the Demon King, he was also laughed at by those self-righteous people.

One day, I will become a hero like Sinmel. That night, little John fell asleep happily, holding the sword of bravery given to him by his mother.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

When little John was woken up by the noise around him, he saw a burning town, panicked people, and his mother being dragged into the woods by grinning soldiers.

"mom!"

The neighboring army burned the town, slaughtered the residents, and left with the loot.

Little John, with lifeless eyes, holding the brave sword given to him by his mother, sat in the square like a walking corpse.

There are many orphans like him who were born because of the war and are here, waiting for help from the church.

"What is your name, child?"

The old man in the robe stopped in front of little John. He looked at the purple-haired boy in front of him. Unlike other children who kept crying, John seemed very quiet.

Hearing someone asking him, little John slowly raised his head and looked at the other person. He had no intention of paying attention to the other person, but when he saw the old man's face clearly, he jumped up excitedly.

"Mr. Haita! Are you Mr. Haita? The companion of the brave man Sinmeier!?"

Although the old man in front of him was very old, he was 90% similar to Haita, whom Little John had seen in a bronze statue. The only difference was that the other person's light green hair had turned silver over the years.

"Ah."

Haita looked at the excited boy in front of him and nodded with a smile.

"You, and Lord Xinmeier, will you help my mother avenge her?"

Little John took the big hand that Haita offered to him and looked at him with eager eyes.

He had heard too many stories about the brave Xin Meier and his crew who upheld justice and upheld justice.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't the demons who killed your mother, but the army of a neighboring country..." However, Haita's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured on the excited little John's head, "Even the brave man cannot interfere in the war between countries, and he would not draw his sword against ordinary soldiers..."

The man took a deep breath.

"There are no heroes in this world. Didn't you teach me that, Mr. Haita?"

More than ten years have passed, and he is no longer the child who had difficulty lifting a sword.

"In that case, why do you still keep this sword?"

Haita looked at the sword in the man's hand pointing at him. He was very familiar with the shape of the sword because his old friend, the brave Xinmeier, used the same sword to defeat the demon king together with him.

"Do it, Carl."

The man did not answer Haita, but raised the sword in his hand and gave orders to the demon girl behind him.

"clear."

In an instant, the girl's body turned into countless black feathers, covering her like a gust of wind. The high-speed spinning black feathers were like sharp blades, which would cut deep wounds if touched.

"It's a bit trickier than what Old John said."

Haita looked at the black feathers sweeping towards him, with a slightly complaining expression on his face.

A thin layer of golden light emerged from Haita's body, knocking down all the attacking black feathers. However, Haita knew very well that all this was just a feint by the opponent.

The next moment, the sword light of the brave sword pierced out from between the black feathers.

"It would be troublesome if I got stabbed..."

Haita said, reaching out to the side.

"Eh? Wait a minute, what are you doing~ Ouch..."

Gutel, who was watching the show on the side, was caught off guard and lifted up by Haita's collar. He used his body as a shield to help the other party block the sword attacking from the black feather whirlwind.

Chapter 21: Fighting Like a Rogue

"Well, you've grown up."

At the moment when he pierced Gutel's chest with the sword, Haita caught a glimpse of little John who paused for a moment in shock under the cover of Heiyu. Seeing that the boy who had burst into tears while holding the fake Sword of the Brave had grown up to be able to stand on his own today, Haita said with some satisfaction.

Next, countless golden beams of light shot out from behind Haita, like dense tentacles, indiscriminately bombarding every corner of the room.

Following a violent explosion, dazzling light scattered out from the window of the room, illuminating the dark rainy night as bright as day.

“My eyes, my eyes—I’m going blind…”

Gutel, who was used and discarded by Haita, fell to the ground, rolling and howling. She was a little overwhelmed by the previous attack, let alone the two people who were attacking her directly.

"Is this the power of the legendary hero?"

The man was half-kneeling on the ground, only relying on his hands to tightly grasp the sword of the brave in front of him to prevent himself from falling. Behind him, Carl, who was beaten back to his original form, was lying on the ground with bruises all over his body, dying.

Although he still had a lucky mentality before, after only one round of fighting, the man realized the huge gap between him and the old man in front of him. Facing such a powerful opponent like Haita, he is now more powerless than the boy who lost his mother.

"Come with me and surrender yourself to His Majesty, my child."

Haita bent down and stretched out his hand to the man who was half-kneeling on the ground, just as he had stretched out a helping hand to the boy who had lost his mother.

"Oh, what a self-righteous, high-handed hero you are... Mr. Haita."

Even though he was almost unconscious from the pain all over his body, the man still gritted his teeth and slowly stood up with his willpower.

"I'm also very sorry about what happened to your mother..."

Haita saw disappointment in the man's eyes. He lowered his head and spoke to the man with some shame.

"If apologies were effective, why didn't Father forgive Sister Carl? If apologies alone are enough to turn a blind eye to the evil deeds of others, then what's the difference between heroes and demons?"

The man brandished the brave sword in his hand and rushed towards Haita with red eyes.

Accompanied by a dazzling beam of light, the man was blasted away by Haita again.

"Sure enough."

However, the man stood up again, holding the sword. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Mr. Haita, it seems that you have no intention of killing me."

The man raised his sword and spoke to Haita in a provocative tone.

"It's just not necessary."

Haita raised his eyebrows, then made an indifferent expression and shrugged at the other party.

"is it?"