The 163,417,413th Soulslike Hero

Episode 27: Another Senior

“The war ultimately ended in victory, but… my lord lost everything.”

At this point, Leira’s expression darkened dramatically.

To match the mood, I began thinking of the saddest thought in the world.

“Among the soldiers and knights under my lord’s command who were caught up in the war, many died. What few serfs remained were wiped out during the conflict. The castle became a ruin, and the wind carried the scent of blood.”

“A victory that left only scars, I see.”

“Yes, and Guin… he lost everything too. Friends. Comrades. And even his good name. All he gained were the disgraceful words of betrayal, heard from the dying warriors.”

“……”

“Afterwards, Guin changed. Yes, he changed.”

Leira nodded repeatedly as she stared into the distance, seemingly reminiscing.

A glimmer of fear was evident in her expression.

“One day, the summoning of heroes that had been happening periodically suddenly stopped for no reason.”

From her words, I roughly pieced together what happened afterward. The next part was clear as day. Leira recounted the scenario I had anticipated.

“Every time the summoning cycle came around, Guin would disappear somewhere and only return later. And each time, he would sit alone, muttering incoherently to himself as if possessed. Occasionally, he would self-harm or scream uncontrollably, not even recognizing me.”

According to Leira, the madman Guin didn’t start showing signs of insanity immediately after the war. His descent into madness was gradual.

This suggests that he was quietly committing some horrific act that slowly drove him insane.

“… So. What did you, who seemed like his girlfriend, do about it?”

“As this kept repeating, I decided to follow him. I was worried.”

“And you witnessed him massacring the summoned warriors?”

The correct answer escaped my lips, and for a moment, Leira fell silent. She stared at me with wide eyes before letting out a sickly laugh.

“Yes. That’s right. Without exception, every last one of them was killed. He would then pile them up at the southern end of the sewer.”

“Oy.”

“Yes. Just like what I do now.”

Leira glared at me, her eyes wide, as she spoke. She was probably trying to intimidate me. But I’d seen all of this in my previous life, so I wasn’t fazed by it at all.

With my lack of reaction, Leira’s interest seemed to wane, and she sighed. Then, she continued.

“Guin gradually, but surely, went mad. He lost control of himself more and more. In the end, he imprisoned himself. And after that, his sustenance… was me.”

With that, Leira fell silent. A heavy silence settled over us.

The story was over. That was the truth behind the heroes’ plight in this castle.

“Ah, I understand everything now.”

The reason Guin was branded with epithets like “the executioner” or “the betrayer.”

The appearance of this castle where only three people are alive.

And most importantly, why this woman had been so hostile towards me, the newly summoned hero.

I understood everything.

However, after hearing her story, I realized there was one part that didn’t quite add up.

‘If this story is true, the person who suffered the most as a result of the heroes was Lord Halsenberg himself.’

He lost the few remaining serfs.

He lost the commandos who had pledged their lives to him.

And he lost his wife, whom he cherished more than his own life.

I clearly remember the Lord tenderly caressing his deceased wife’s rotting and worm-infested hand. Leira’s words likely rang true.

‘Yet, how is it that Guin treated me so kindly when I’m a hero?’

There had to be more to it.

Even after learning this, it was hard to believe that Lord Halsenberg’s kindness was purely genuine. The overwhelming sense of dignity I had felt from the Lord suddenly seemed ominous.

From tomorrow’s Demon Hunting mission onward, I would no longer be able to let my guard down. I sighed in thought, already feeling the weight of more toils ahead.

While lost in such thoughts, I was walking when suddenly…

“… Food.”

I heard a voice. Walking absent-mindedly, I abruptly felt my heart racing because the voice came from somewhere it shouldn’t have.

*

“… Food.”

Without thinking, I stopped. I was close to the stairway that led aboveground.

‘Was it a hallucination?’

I snapped my head around, but all I saw were the prison bars swallowed by darkness.

It must have been a mood swing, I repeated to myself, then pursued Leira, who had walked ahead.

Or rather, I tried to pursue.

They say curiosity kills, right?

I’ve got a feeling I’ll take a beating someday because of my curiosity. It’s a pretty reliable prophecy.

“Hey! Leira!”

I called out to Leira at the controversial bars.

Leira turned and looked at me. Fixing her eyes on where I stood, her expression hardened. At that reaction, I was certain about it.

Something was hidden here. Something she wasn’t telling me.

I pointed at the nearby prison bars.

“Who’s in here?”

Leira relaxed her expression, smirked, and shrugged nonchalantly.

“It’s the same thing. Just another undead. What’s the issue?”

“Well, the other undead don’t behave the same way. This one doesn’t even go berserk when it sees us.”

“…”

That was the first anomaly that caught my attention.

The other bars are currently covered with undead trying to grab us, flailing wildly. The sound of them clawing the wooden walls echoes incessantly.

But the bars next to me are eerily silent.

Even the typical groans of undead are absent.

The smile vanished instantly from Leira’s face. The abrupt change in her expression sent a chill down my spine.

“… Probably because it’s an undead with its legs cut off.”

There was no tone, no trace of doubt. She was strongly urging me to just move on with that assumption.

Damn. Lord Halsenberg, my strong backer, give me courage and strength!

I reached out my unyielding hand.

“Give me the lantern for a moment. I need to confirm it.”

“Hey, junior.”

“What?”

“You’re supposed to know when to stop pushing. Are you unaware of the consequences of forcing the knowledge of something better left unknown?”

She’s outright threatening me now.

The oppressive aura from her as she approaches is intense. One thing became clear: There is something in here that is not a true undead.

Just as the gap between Leira and I closed further…

“Food… give… me…”

I clearly heard it.

A clearly female voice, though heavily cracked from disuse.

It’s not the sound of undead scratching wood.

I stared at Leira with wide eyes. Her gaze was directed somewhere into the darkness beyond the bars. She clicked her tongue, annoyed.

“Boy, is it stubborn. Surviving without food for 3 years. What kind of hero is this? It’s just a monster pretending to be human.”

I was shocked by her response. A hunch about the identity of the person inside began forming in my mind.

With a trembling voice, I hesitantly asked:

“Let me ask you, just in case…”

“Yes?”

“Is the one in there one of the heroes that were summoned earlier?”

Leira glanced at me with her usual semi-closed eyes. Then, with a light nod and a smirk, she confirmed my suspicion.

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

I was left speechless.

Her attitude was too bold and confident, making it hard for me to frame a decent rebuttal. My mind went blank. However, if it truly is the hero trapped inside, then my action is obvious.

I abruptly reached out my hand.

“Lantern. And the keys.”

“What for me?”

“Lantern. Keys. Quickly.”

“Don’t delude yourself, junior.”

I heard her scoff in derisive laughter.

In an instant, Leira was standing before me. Before I could recover, her iron grip tightened around my neck.

Crunch. The ominous sound of my neck being twisted echoed around me.

“Kh… Huhk!”

Her icy voice pierced through my thoughts.

“Am I your servant? Do you even think I’ll follow you? I’m barely holding back killing you because of my Lord.”

“… Guhkh… Kh… Kh!”

“Perhaps I should kill you now? You pathetic excuses for heroes who dare to fool me and step foot in this castle… honestly, the thought makes it hard for me to sleep.”

Struggling, I moved my weakening hand into my pocket. I quickly pulled out an item and placed it in front of Leira.

“What… is this?”

Leira gasped in shock. Instantly, her grip around my neck loosened.

“Let… go… of me!”

What I thrust in her face was none other than the emblem of this Halsenberg Fortress.

It was personally handed to me by the Lord, a token signifying that I’m his companion in hunting demons. Leira must understand its meaning too.

If she kills me, she will effectively be killing the Lord’s hunting partner.

She cannot kill me.

“Annoying hero.”

Leira spat out a word full of disdain before tossing me aside.

Thud. After rolling countless times, I barely managed to get up. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

“Kheeee….”

Jangle. In front of my stumbling form, the lantern and the keys rolled onto the ground.

When I stared at Leira blankly, she scowled fiercely before stomping off towards the stairs.

“Your skills guarantee your demise during tomorrow’s hunt, junior. So, by all means, do whatever while you can. I’m going upstairs now. The sight of you disgusts me too much.”

Just as Leira was about to ascend the stairs and leave, she glanced at me picking up the lantern and keys and muttered one last thing:

“Perhaps Lord Guin intended to bring you to the hunt for just this purpose. Hahaha.”

The tone of her voice suggested a wishful “I hope so.”

As I glared at her resentfully, she shrugged and began ascending the stairs. Her footsteps faded and soon disappeared entirely.

I sighed in relief and fiddled with the keys, attempting to match each key to the iron bars one by one.

“Phew… I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing…”

Secretly, I hoped that whatever I was about to confront would be worth the risk I took by openly opposing Leira.

At that moment, the metallic sound of keys locking into place echoed, and the correct key turned the lock.

I slowly opened the door to the cell and stepped inside. Taking a deep breath, I held the lantern high. The damp interior was illuminated. In the center of the cell lay a figure.

It was a woman, half-naked.

“Food… give… please…”

It was the voice I had heard outside the cage. A woman reached out towards me.

Her matted black hair and unfocused black eyes left an impression of extreme eastern beauty, though her emaciated body resembled a skeleton covered in stretched skin.

“Th-This is crazy!”

Seeing her pathetic state, any logical consideration in my mind vanished entirely.

Who could look at her and not feel sympathy?

I rushed to the woman and carefully helped her to her feet.

“Hey! You okay? Can you hear me?”

“…Ah.”

The woman slowly looked at me in the lantern’s light before fainting. Perhaps she fainted from relief.

I quickly picked her up. She was shockingly light.

“I’ll get you a good doctor! Just hold on a bit!”

Cautiously holding her fragile form, I began hurrying up the stairs at top speed.

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