A New Hero?

Three days had passed since Lin Ling got drunk.

In the capital—

“Lord Ichikawa, Lord Karl is looking for you.”

A sister stood outside the door, knocking gently.

Then, she pushed open a door covered in defensive and alarm magic.

The dense runes on the door panel lit up one by one.

It seemed the Holy See's protection of this Hero had reached an extremely thorough level.

A man with long yellow hair stood in the room.

He was standing by the window.

At a glance, one could see his melancholic eyes quietly gazing at the scenery outside.

“Mmh...”

Ichikawa responded to the sister in an extremely low voice, but he continued to look out the window, showing no intention of turning around.

The sister stood at the door and waited for a moment.

...

In the end, she could only look at Ichikawa's back and sigh.

This sort of thing had not been uncommon over the past three days.

Every time she came to call this Hero, Ichikawa, she would encounter this situation.

Every time she asked him something, he would remain silent for a long time.

And in the end, he would answer in a barely audible voice.

“Then I shall take my leave.”

The sister spoke softly and left the room. As the door closed again, the defensive runes on it lit up once more.

When the sister turned around, she happened to see Karl walking over.

“Lord Karl...”

She quickly bowed in greeting.

“Ah, no need to be so formal.”

“Just call me Karl.”

Karl waved his hand.

With that, he glanced at the door behind the sister.

“Is the Hero still hiding in his room?”

Seeing the sister sighing outside the door, Karl had pretty much guessed what had happened.

“Yes.”

The sister nodded gently.

“This Lord Hero hasn't even spoken a complete sentence in these three days.”

“Every time he's asked a question, he only answers in a tiny whisper, and then there's no follow-up.”

The sister thought of the Hero in the room; every time she asked him something, there would be a period of silence.

Only after she drew closer could she hear a very quiet reply.

Dealing with that felt even more difficult than facing a hot-tempered Hero.

At least a hot-tempered person would express their thoughts.

But this Hero Ichikawa... remained silent the entire time, leaving her with absolutely no idea what he was thinking.

Thinking of the Hero's demeanor, the sister instantly became distressed.

“Alright, thank you for your hard work.”

Karl's tone softened a bit as he looked at the sister's tired face.

“Go and rest first.”

“Yes.”

Only after the sister's footsteps faded into the distance did Karl walk up to Ichikawa's door.

“Lord Hero, it's me, Karl.”

While waiting for Ichikawa to open the door, Karl looked at the defensive runes on it and couldn't help but marvel.

“It has to be Furni.”

“To deploy so many defensive spells in such a short amount of time.”

Even Karl had to admit it.

In this regard, Furni was indeed extremely reliable.

Even though that dragon was usually lazy, greedy for money, and loved to sleep in.

But when she actually needed to take action, her abilities never disappointed.

At this thought, Karl couldn't help but recall the Hero summoned last time.

That Hero had vanished without even taking the ten copper coins prepared by the Holy See.

To this day, there was still no news of her.

Karl could only feel a pang of sorrow.

That Hero had probably met with some misfortune.

After all, this world was not very gentle to those who had just been summoned.

Just then, the door in front of him opened.

Ichikawa stood at the doorway with a gloomy expression.

His yellow hair hung somewhat disheveled down the sides of his face, making him look even more solemn.

Just standing there, he exuded an intense sense of pressure.

“Ahem.”

Karl coughed lightly, a smile on his face.

“Lord Hero, surely your expression doesn't need to be so grim.”

Karl saw Ichikawa shift slightly to the side, realizing the Hero was inviting him in to talk.

“Then, excuse me.”

Karl entered the room.

A brief silence fell between the two.

In the end, Karl was the first to speak.

“The capital is currently going through some very troublesome times.”

Karl weighed his words carefully.

“We, uh... need a major event to divert people's attention.”

Saying this, Karl raised his head to look at Ichikawa.

“So, you understand, right?”

After hearing this, Ichikawa's face seemed to grow even gloomier.

His eyes were cast down, and he was quiet to a frightening degree.

Looking at him like this, Karl couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

Could this Lord Hero be dissatisfied with this arrangement?

Just as Karl was considering whether to phrase it differently,

Ichikawa nodded his head with extreme slowness.

If one didn't look closely, they might have thought it was just a slight sway from his breathing.

“That's wonderful. I am deeply grateful.”

Having received a response, Karl bowed his head to express his gratitude to the Hero for agreeing.

But after he finished speaking, the two of them just sat there in silence.

Karl could feel that Ichikawa's entire body was trembling slightly.

His shoulders were tense, and his fingers gently clutched the hem of his clothes as if suppressing something.

Coupled with that gloomy expression,

no matter how one looked at it, he seemed rather impatient, didn't he?

Did he feel that his solitude had been disturbed?

“Alright, then I shall head off to handle some official business.”

“Once you are ready, Lord Hero, please seek out Bishop Furni.”

Seeing that this Hero was not suited for verbal communication, Karl decided to hand him over to Furni directly.

After all, when it came to dealing with such a taciturn person, it was probably better to let that ancient dragon handle it.

With that, Karl hurriedly left the room.

Just then—

“Heave-ho, Hero-boy~

Give me a hand~”

The moment Karl closed the door, a hand reached up from outside the window.

Ichikawa: “...”

He stared at the hand that had suddenly reached in from the window.

Seeing that no one had come to help her after waiting for so long, Furni poked her head up from the window.

Her long blue hair draped down from outside, completely obscuring her eyes.

“You're really mean, Hero-boy~

To not even come and help me.”

“Ah, ow, ow, ow!”

Before Furni could even finish her sentence, her momentum carried her forward, and she tumbled straight through the window into Ichikawa's room.

Thud.

She crashed heavily onto the floor.

Her voluminous bishop robes splayed out across the ground.

And her long blue hair was scattered in a messy heap all over.

If it weren't daytime, and if this weren't the Holy See, she would have looked exactly like a vengeful spirit straight out of a horror movie.

“This way is much easier after all.”

After falling in, Furni simply lay on the floor, showing absolutely no intention of getting up right away.

She even rolled over quite naturally, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position.

It was as if falling through a window into a room was just one of her usual methods of transportation.

Once Furni had finally lain there long enough, she slowly crawled up from the floor.

...

Furni blinked.

She looked at Ichikawa, who was also lying on the floor as if asleep.

Furni squatted beside the “sleeping” Ichikawa, extending a finger to gently poke his cheek.

“Hmm...”

Furni tilted her head.

“This Hero is really a heavy sleeper. Did he actually fall asleep on the floor?”

She poked him again.

Ichikawa still showed no response.

Seeing his lack of reaction, Furni's tail slid out from beneath her bishop robes.

The tip of her tail tapped the floor in discontent.

“In that case...

I want to lie down for a bit longer too~”

Staring at Ichikawa, who seemed to be enjoying an excellent quality of sleep on the floor, Furni fell silent for a moment.

Then, she lay down right next to him.

The cold floor pressing against her body felt surprisingly comfortable.

No matter how you looked at it, this environment was perfect for slacking off.

“If anyone asks, we can just say we've been talking all this time.”

Lying on the floor, Furni nodded very seriously.

With that thought, Furni's tail tapped the floor happily a few times before going limp.

Furni closed her eyes, and her breathing instantly grew steady. Had she—fallen asleep?!