Having finished his audience with the king, Jerome strolled leisurely down the palace corridor.
The woman who had reported the news of victory to King Pettiman followed behind him.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Do I look that way?”
Jerome said, stroking his smiling face.
“Yes. You look genuinely happy. Isn’t this just a small victory to you?”
“It is. To me, it’s only a minor victory.”
Although he had presented this victory to King Pettiman as a monumental achievement, from Jerome’s perspective, it was nothing more than a trivial win.
A hero was a being with enough military might to turn the tide of a battlefield single-handedly.
And Jerome Cadium was the Guild Master of Justice, a guild to which such heroes belonged.
He was the leader of the great heroes who were reshaping and guiding the world.
Berin, the Royal Palace Mage of the Kingdom of Pettiman, couldn’t understand why Jerome, a man with such power and influence, was so pleased by such a small victory.
“However, this victory was achieved not by our power, but by Pettiman’s power. Even if it is a minor victory by my standards, its value to the Kingdom of Pettiman is worth a thousand pieces of gold.”
“Ah.”
Berin gasped and clasped her hands together.
“Sir Jerome. How could you think of such a thing...?”
Compared to a hero, she might be no more than a firefly in the night sky, but being a Royal Palace Mage was by no means a low position.
She, too, had met various heroes through the Magic Association.
However, most of the heroes she had encountered were arrogant.
But Jerome was different.
Despite being the head of Justice, he was humble and considerate of others.
He was, quite literally, the very image of a hero of justice.
Every word he spoke seemed to be sincerely for the good of this country.
“Do not worry, Royal Palace Mage Berin.”
Jerome extended his hand with a gentle smile.
“As long as Justice is with you, the Kingdom of Pettiman will know nothing but victory. Trust in us.”
“Yes! Sir Jerome! In the name of justice! We will vanquish evil!”
Seeing Jerome’s saint-like smile, Berin knelt and lowered her head.
The gesture was almost like worshiping a god.
A short while later, after returning to his room, Jerome spoke with an expressionless face.
“Situation?”
“Everything is proceeding smoothly, Master. The Kingdom of Carnel’s forces are being nearly annihilated on every front.”
“Isn’t that only natural when they carry the name of Justice on their backs?”
“That may be true, but they are still only Hero Candidates.”
“Hero Candidates. What a nostalgic title.”
Jerome, who had been smiling faintly, shifted his posture.
“But our guild brats don’t like being called that, do they? The executives, I mean.”
Jerome looked at the executives seated on one side of the room and smiled faintly.
“They do not.”
“It seems they want to be called Reserve Heroes.”
“Then let’s change it. From now on, call them Reserve Heroes.”
Jerome chuckled as he spoke.
“Honestly, what does a title matter? Anyone can become a hero as long as they possess the karma befitting the status of a hero.”
“Your karma theory. How much credibility does it actually have?”
One of Justice’s executives asked with a puzzled look.
At the question, Jerome smiled and rose from his seat.
“Only those chosen by God can have their names recorded in the Hero Record. In other words, they are, in a sense, God’s agents.”
Jerome spread his arms.
“People believe that only those with power close to that of a god, noble goals, and great achievements can become heroes. That is what the common people believe.”
“That’s certainly true.”
“Yes. But we, who have already become heroes, know better.”
Jerome’s lips curled up as he looked at the executives.
“A weakling you would never imagine becoming a hero. A piece of trash with a rotten personality. Even a hypocrite with a vile nature can become a hero.”
“That’s certainly true, Master Jerome. After all, even someone like you became a hero.”
At the Vice Guild Master Chain’s words, Jerome grinned.
“There are no qualifications for becoming a hero. There are only standards. And I...”
Jerome looked down at his palm.
“I became a hero on the battlefield.”
On the battlefield, the one who brings victory is the hero.
The process does not matter.
No matter how many enemies you kill.
No matter how many allies you sacrifice.
Or how many meaningless lives you snuff out.
Regardless of the process, leading that war to victory is the only great deed.
“Is this war some kind of testing ground for that karma theory?”
One of the executives propped his chin on his hand and clicked his tongue.
“That’s right.”
“Getting involved in a war under the guild’s name would cause trouble, so we have to disguise the guild members as though they belong to the kingdom. But it’s an experiment worth going that far for, isn’t it?”
“Why did you even include Lumene’s dropouts in the experiment?”
Another executive who had been listening asked.
“Guild Master, weren’t you the one who despised dropouts? Weren’t you the one insisting that only graduates of the Hero Academy were qualified to become heroes?”
“I’ve had a change of heart. In reality, there are many who reached the status of hero without graduating from Lumene, aren’t there? I realized it wasn’t right to deny them. Excessive elitism does no good.”
Jerome crossed his arms.
“Besides, they’re my hubae, aren’t they? Isn’t it only natural for a sunbae to give his desperate hubae a chance?”
Jerome turned and looked out the window.
“For my goal, I need more heroes.”
“What is your goal?”
“Haven’t I told you? To create a just world led by chosen heroes.”
Jerome smiled brightly.
“And for that, we need to find the treasure vault sleeping within Tamuss’s Tomb, somewhere in this land, where the Nether Knight lies dormant.”
The Nether Knight had buried countless treasures within his tomb.
Among them were the artifacts of the subordinates who had followed him.
“Tarim’s Legacy will be a great help in ushering in the birth of a new generation of heroes. Our Justice Guild will take the lead in bringing forth heroes by helping Lumene.”
“Do you intend to create a new Hero Academy?”
“Is there any need? We already have a perfect Hero Academy called Lumene.”
Jerome shrugged.
Watching him, Chain raised his hand.
“A hubae from that alma mater you love so much might stand in your way, you know?”
A magic circle appeared on the forehead of the closed-eyed Chain.
“Thousand-Mile Vision?”
The Vice Guild Master of the Justice Guild.
It was Chain Litna’s Original Magic.
Jerome, who had been looking puzzled, marveled at the distant scene Chain was showing him.
There, a boy with white hair and red eyes was facing a Pettiman knight.
A strange light glimmered in Jerome’s eyes.
There was no one here who did not know this boy.
An All-Class, just like Kyle, the Hero of Beginning.
And the one who had recently helped Brave Arron, who had reappeared in the modern era, subdue a Fragment of Erebos and attain the status of hero.
“Leo Plov.”
Jerome’s lips curled up.
“My heart is pounding. I’ve always wanted to have a conversation with Leo Plov.”
“Why? Because he’s famous?”
“No, because he is chosen among the chosen.”
Jerome smiled benevolently.
“I’m curious what kind of sense of justice he has. I would love to have him join our guild.”
“But Leo Plov has rejected every guild invitation.”
“I know.”
At Chain’s words, Jerome sat back down and sank into thought.
“Leo Plov is certainly a fine hero. A true gem who reached that position at a young age through his own strength, without anyone’s help. But he’s still young. He hasn’t yet reached his full brilliance.”
“Do you want to polish him further?”
“Yes.”
Jerome nodded.
“This is exactly the age when it wouldn’t be a bad thing for him to learn just how vast the world is. Trials only make heroes stronger, after all.”
“And by that, you mean?”
At Chain’s question, Jerome grinned.
“Leo Plov needs a baptism.”
===
That night.
Guided by Viscount Eshimon, Leo was taken to the Kingdom of Carnel’s army encampment.
As students of Lumene, Leo and Lily were treated with the utmost hospitality.
“It seems the Kingdom of Carnel wants us to direct this war for them.”
Lily said, chewing firmly on the beef jerky that had been served with their meal.
They were doing their best to treat Leo and Lily well, but this was still the middle of a battlefield.
The meal served was extremely crude.
Dried beef jerky, hard rye bread, and warm soup.
There was even wine.
'Being served warm soup in a battlefield camp this late at night is probably the height of hospitality. It seems the Kingdom of Carnel itself is in no good condition either.'
“You eat well.”
Leo said, watching Lily eat with disciplined movements.
“A soldier has to eat well whenever they can. Hmm, it might not suit your palate, Leo.”
Lily looked at Leo with slight concern.
It was like she was looking at the young master of some noble family.
There was no contempt in it.
It was simply pure concern for her hubae.
And in truth, for Lumene students, it wasn’t uncommon for a meal like this not to suit their tastes.
“I’m not particularly picky about food.”
Leo dipped his rye bread into the soup and fell into thought.
“Is it okay for us to intervene in this war or report it to Lumene?”
At Leo’s question, Lily let out a deep sigh.
Then she poured wine into a cup and drank it down like water.
Even after downing such strong wine as if it were water, she showed no sign of being drunk.
It was enough to make her seem almost manly.
'Wow, what a man.'
Kirran exclaimed in admiration, his voice audible only to Leo.
“There probably won’t be any room for us to intervene.”
“Why not?”
“It’s probably true that the Justice Guild is operating covertly in the war in the northeastern region. I heard about it from my family during summer break.”
Lily sighed deeply.
“Just as Lumene students are not allowed to recklessly intervene in another country’s war, guilds are also not allowed to intervene in wars. But even if we suspect something, it will be difficult to find concrete evidence.”
“Hmm.”
“On top of that, from our perspective, Justice is not an enemy, but an ally.”
Lily frowned.
“I don’t know what they’re after by operating in the northeastern region, but they wouldn’t do anything that harms their allies. So it’s difficult to investigate the Justice Guild recklessly.”
“You don’t seem very happy about that.”
“Of course not! Leo! I hate politics! And this is the domain of politics!”
Lily scowled, which was a rare sight.
For someone as upright and righteous as Lily, politics was bound to be an unwelcome thing.
That was only natural, since politics was a world where it was difficult to call what was wrong, wrong.
'I don’t like it either. It’s a headache of a field. Politics is Lysinas and Dweno’s area of expertise, after all.'
“What do you think Justice is after?”
“I can’t say. The Guild Master of Justice is an inscrutable person.”
“What kind of person is he?”
“Jerome Cadium. He’s one of the three great heroes regarded as the ones who will lead the era after Sword Saint Kalian.”
“There are three candidates to succeed the former headmaster?”
“Leo, you really don’t read the newspaper, do you?”
“No.”
Seeing Leo answer with a blank look, Lily gave him a disbelieving smile and drank more wine.
“He’s a hero with the epithet Light Seeker. A man as fair and just as a saint, whose goal is to establish justice.”
“Justice?”
“Yes. A man whose life goal is justice. He’s famous for not hesitating to use any means necessary to punish evil for the sake of justice.”
At those words, Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Somehow, that sounds incredibly shady.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never met a decent person who goes around shouting about justice.”
“I’m not exactly a fan of him either. He may be popular with the public, but... among the great deeds he’s accomplished, there are definitely some inhumane parts. Though all of them were forgiven in the name of justice.”
Lily let out a deep sigh and drank more wine.
Now she wasn’t even bothering to pour it into a cup and was drinking straight from the bottle.
'I hope she doesn’t have bad drinking habits. At least on the surface, she seems fine.'
Of course, just because someone looked fine on the outside didn’t mean they weren’t drunk.
If they started doing things they wouldn’t normally do after drinking, that meant they were drunk.
Leo, who had been watching Lily for a moment, looked up at the ceiling of the barracks.
Lily, who had been drinking, also froze mid-motion and lowered the bottle from her lips.
Leo stood up and clicked his tongue.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
“W-What was that?”
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
The sudden explosion threw the Kingdom of Carnel’s army into chaos.
“Sir Leo! Lady Lily!”
Just as Viscount Eshimon, who had come rushing over after seeing the barracks where Leo and Lily were staying go up in flames, called out urgently to them.
Whooosh!
The flames twisted and gathered into one place.
The fire converged in Lily’s free hand, the one not holding the wine bottle.
Lily looked up at the sky and said,
“An impressive surprise attack. I didn’t notice it at all.”
“Indeed. As expected of Lumene’s student council president and third-year representative. I couldn’t even land a single scratch.”
A robed mage hovered in the air, openly voicing his admiration.
Around him were four others.
“Who are you?”
At Leo’s question, the mage who had launched the attack answered.
“We are the Executors.”
“Executors?”
“That’s right.”
The mage stirred his Magic Power.
“We have come to execute justice.”
***
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