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“No unusual activity spotted ahead, sir!”

Was it thanks to the capability of the Marquis’ knights? Our journey through the canyon was uneventful.

There were no signs of ambushes, even along the cliffs above us. This was because as we ventured further, the sky slowly tapered and eventually disappeared from sight.

“I suppose that’s why he came up with such a bold plan to hold this place alone.”

I muttered quietly and glanced to my side.

“Go ahead and continue what you were saying earlier.”

“Huh?”

Narakas, who had now fully joined the group without hesitation, tilted his head in confusion.

I had already uncovered the full story and resolved the Mask of Night’s internal issues.

Now, I figured I could trust him to some extent.

“Tell me everything you know about the Five Heroes of the East, including the Swordsman of Illusions.”

“……!”

Even Marquis Foltiane and Milon, who had been pretending not to listen, perked their ears.

“Hm……”

Narakas glanced at the two briefly and then nodded.

“……Alright. I suppose it’s okay to tell you now.”

“It’s not about being okay. If you hadn’t told me this time, I would’ve beaten you first.”

He stubbornly avoided eye contact with me.

“Start with Bastion Arkets—the reason you and I are even connected, and the one we found traces of here in the Hart Kingdom.”

“The Iron Wall Swordsman……”

Narakas’ expression quickly darkened.

“……After his last sighting here, he vanished without a trace. No one has discovered anything about his whereabouts to this day.”

“……”

That statement could only mean one of two things. He’s either no longer of this world, or……

“……He’s trapped in the Abyss?”

In this context, the ‘Abyss’ wasn’t a literal deep pit. It referred to the deepest section of the Empire’s underground prison—said to be more horrific than hell itself.

To date, no one who entered had ever returned alive, making them disappear from the world altogether.

“……What about Raven?”

“Raven, the Poison Master. He willingly became the Emperor’s slave.”

“……!”

I involuntarily shuddered.

“A slave?”

“That’s the best way to describe it. He became the Emperor’s loyal dog. It’s no exaggeration to say he knows every poison in existence. Meaning, there’s likely no poison in the world that he can’t neutralize.”

He was right. After all, poison and medicine were two sides of the same coin.

“To the Emperor, he must have been the most desirable talent among the Great Hero’s subordinates.”

I could only nod in agreement.

Of course. The higher one’s status, the more reason they had to fear poison.

“……But he wasn’t the type to create poison for someone else so willingly.”

I wasn’t under any illusion that he had some undying loyalty toward me. I didn’t even deserve that. But based on his personality……

‘He’d rather bite his tongue and die than serve anyone loyally.’

Narakas soon cleared up my doubts.

“It’s because of his daughter.”

“Daughter? Are you talking about the Great Hero’s daughter?”

Narakas gave a bitter nod.

“As you already know, the current Emperor isn’t one to let future threats live.”

He was right.

Like father, like son.

After all, those same people had mercilessly killed Andy, who was still a child, right before my eyes.

“……Heh heh heh.”

I instinctively covered my eyes with my hand.

“Continue.”

“In exchange for sparing the Great Hero’s daughter and her family, Raven became the Emperor’s slave. For a full ten years.”

“……And then?”

“The Emperor gladly accepted the deal. Though it was only ten years, it included training a new generation of students. Thus, the Poison Palace, the pride of the Imperial Palace, was born. It’s practically a collection of all of Raven’s knowledge.”

I unconsciously clenched my teeth.

“So, what happened to Raven after that?”

“……I can’t say I know everything about him. Even in the Empire, information about the Five Heroes is classified. But……”

“Cut the excuses. Do you know or not?”

“……One year after he escaped his slave duties, Poison Master Raven came to see my father with the young child. He asked him to take care of her, since she was of the Great Hero’s bloodline.”

Come to think of it, Raven had connections with the Mask of Night in my past life, too. In his quest for rare poisons, information was as valuable as any substance.

“We gave him information, and in return, he provided us with poisons and antidotes for various missions. His skills were indispensable to our work.”

“Now I understand. That’s how Raven ended up connected with your father?”

“Yes. For each other, they became one of the few people who they could speak truly openly with. Age, nationality, and circumstances didn’t matter. It was like……”

Narakas glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

“……Like how Marquis Milon and you are now.”

As we both turned to look at him, Milon flinched. I ignored him and turned back to Narakas.

“So your father looked after the Great Hero’s child, and you became interested in her, didn’t you?”

“Th-That’s……!”

“Enough. Let’s move on. Next, tell me about Zion.”

Narakas’ face flushed red but quickly turned serious.

“……Zion, the Swordsman of Mana. After the Great Hero’s death, he was the first to return home.”

“Return home?”

“He gave up wealth, power, and all his achievements, and returned to the rural estate where he was born. He said he no longer wished to serve the nation.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Even if he gave up everything, the Emperor wouldn’t have just let him go.”

“He didn’t have the justification to kill him.”

I see.

“The Emperor was someone who turned the one he despised for being a threat to his power into a ‘Great Hero’……”

“Exactly. He couldn’t ignore the accomplishments of the hero’s closest companions. If he treated the nation’s war heroes poorly, it would harm the Emperor’s authority in the future.”

“So, that’s likely why Raven was also let go.”

Narakas nodded.

“However, unlike Raven, the Poison Master, whose personal strength wasn’t much to speak of, Zion was an absolute force who dominated his era.”

“So, they must’ve had eyes on him. And then?”

“After returning home, the Swordsman of Mana never once left his homeland. Even now, after 20 years. By now, even the palace likely doesn’t pay attention to him anymore. They say all he does is drink all day, every day.”

“……What about Urha? What happened to him?”

Narakas hesitated for the first time.

“……The Swordsman of the Waves. His end was the most tragic.”

“What do you mean?”

“After the Great Hero’s death, he was the first target the Emperor dealt with. The Swordsman of the Waves had a sharp insight and knew the truth from the beginning. The Emperor demanded his silence and loyalty, but he refused without a second’s hesitation. As a result……”

Narakas sighed deeply before continuing.

“……His entire family was enslaved, and he, the man who once shone brightest, was reduced to crawling on all fours through the capital like a dog, a collar around his neck.”

“……!”

“The Swordsman of the Waves was upright and fiercely loyal to the Great Hero, so naturally, he became a thorn in the side of the higher-ups.”

Unable to bear hearing any more, I quietly closed my eyes.

“……How could that even happen?”

“Huh?”

“You said earlier that the Emperor wouldn’t treat war heroes like that, even if it was to maintain his own reputation.”

“……He used the conflict with the Swordsman of Illusions at the end of that road as an excuse.”

The conversation shifted to Trevor, the Swordsman of Illusions.

“The Great Hero, who had never lost a battle, was defeated once during the unification wars. That was when information leaked from within, endangering the entire army.”

“……I’ve heard about that.”

“Of course, the Great Hero kept it quiet at the time. Finding the spy was important, but he knew better than anyone that mistrusting his allies in the middle of a war could lead to self-destruction, before the battle even began.”

I remembered it clearly. Honestly, I didn’t want to doubt my subordinates at the time, especially the five men who followed me.

Back then, I believed I could trust them with my life.

“The Swordsman of Illusions accused the Swordsman of the Waves of being the spy who leaked the information.”

“……So they used that as an excuse?”

“Exactly. Unlike the other four, the Swordsman of Illusions was the first to swear loyalty to the Emperor. He continued to serve and eventually rose from a mere baron to a marquis, showing just how much the Emperor favored him.”

As the story went on, my face grew hard.

“So at first, I thought the Swordsman of Illusions was the traitor.”

“……You don’t think so now? Because he’s a criminal that committed treason?”

“I understand what you’re thinking. You assume he was loyal and then discarded, like the Great Hero. That wouldn’t be an unreasonable conclusion, but……”

Narakas continued, gazing at the end of the canyon.

“Given the circumstances, it seems more likely that he was only pretending to be loyal from the start.”

“And why is that?”

“One of his subordinates broke under torture and confessed. The rebellion had been planned since the very day the Great Hero died.”

I raised my hand slightly.

“Wait. There’s a contradiction in the story. If he was a traitor, why did he betray his comrade, the Swordsman of the Waves?”

“……We’re almost at the end of the canyon.”

At his words, I turned my gaze forward. Sure enough, there seemed to be light shining in the distance.

“Ask him yourself. It would be more accurate to hear it from the man himself.”

I recalled the Trevor of my past life. He was once considered the most ‘beautiful’ man on the continent.

That was how mesmerizing his swordsmanship and movements were. In particular, he wielded the rare dual swords with skill and finesse……

‘……What if he’s not there?’

It’d taken me so much to come this far. Even I was at the end of my patience. But my worry was unfounded.

“……!”

My eyes widened. In the distance, a figure stood tall and proud.

Thump!

As soon as I saw him, my heart began to race wildly. And before I knew it, my body moved on its own.

Swoosh!

“H-Hey!”

From behind, a startled Milon shouted. Still, I didn’t stop as I dashed forward.

“Wha-!”

“Wh-What the!?”

I passed the scouts at the front, running with all my might. The distance between us shrank considerably, enough that I could clearly see his face.

“Trevor!”

I found myself shouting without even realizing it.

It was him.

It really was him.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the wind from the canyon whipped Trevor’s clothes, making them flutter. And then—

I halted in my tracks.

“……You……?”

It was definitely Trevor, the Trevor I knew, but……

His appearance was far too different from the man I once knew.

“You…… bastard……”

A curse slipped out of my mouth without me realizing it. Was it because he was a traitor?

No.

Trevor, the Swordsman of Illusions. The man who once moved with a beauty like no other, whose swordsmanship was like a dream—

“……Child, do you know who I am?”

—Now stood before me, missing an arm and a leg.

***