Shinwa Densetsu no Eiyuu no Isekaitan - Volume 6 - Chapter SS4

Held Rey Schwartz von Grantz

Many days had come and gone since his arrival in Aletia. His memories of his old world, Earth, were growing hazy—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he had ceased to reach for them. Perhaps that went to show that he had adjusted to life here, or perhaps he was just that flighty in his attachments. It was hard to gauge his own feelings on the matter. What he could say for certain, however, was that he was glad to have come to this world.

“We should be able to see it soon.”

Schwartz scanned the rolling plains of the north. A gentle breeze sent waves across the grass, countless green fronds swaying merrily. One hundred and thirty thousand men sent shudders through the ground as they passed by. The nearest ten thousand to Schwartz were clad in armor of uniform black.

“Quite the roads Count Schein has constructed.” The hooded figure of an elderly man—the Venerable Master—rode nearby, keeping pace with the roofless carriage. His eyes were bright as he looked at Hiro, like a kindly grandfather gazing at his grandson.

Hiro flashed him a wry smile and shrugged. “And in such a short time too. They might be the Kingdom of Grantz’s greatest undertaking yet.”

“He envisions them spanning from the royal capital of Paradis to every corner of Soleil, or so I hear. A mind-boggling proposal.”

“They won’t be finished in his time, or in his son’s. I wonder if the kingdom will even last that long. Our enemies won’t take this lying down.”

To the neighboring kingdoms, the roads would be threats. There was a high probability that they would try to intervene, and then the fires of war would rage across Soleil once more. The power of the zlosta might be weakening, but they had tightened their hold on the north and from there still retained control over the east and west.

“And the south isn’t exactly stable either. We’ve liberated it from the zlosta, but the clans have seized too much power, and they still don’t trust us. We might have to go and conquer them again sooner rather than later.”

They had slain a large number of the southern clans in the previous campaign, but the influence of the remainder still clung to the land. Unlike the zlosta, it would not do to rule by sheer force. They would need to dispatch capable statesmen south and search for a different way to the fiendkin.

Schwartz gazed up at the indigo-tinged skies. “We will rule through discourse, not through fear,” he murmured. “That age is over.”

The Venerable Master nodded firmly and grinned, evidently of the same mind. “As you say.”

“More importantly,” a third voice interrupted, “you mustn’t keep Rey waiting.”

Another man emerged from behind the Venerable Master—Roylicht of the Black Hand. In spite of his weaselly features, he was a doughty commander and perhaps even the most loyal of the five.

“It must have been three months since I last saw her. I hope she’ll be doing better by the time we get back.”

Rey was a former member of the Black Hand. In addition to being the figure the people called the archpriestess, the matriarch of the priestesses who served the Spirit King, she was King Artheus’s elder sister and the one responsible for summoning Hiro to Aletia from Earth.

“Is she not yet restored to health?” Roylicht’s face adopted an uncharacteristically worried frown. During their first meeting, Hiro had been convinced the man was constantly plotting something wicked, but after the time they had spent together, he could now read Roylicht’s mood from the slightest twitch of his lips.

“Apparently not. Every time she writes, she assures me that she’s recovering, but Meteia’s letters claim that she can barely walk.”

Rey was a kind soul, he knew. Most likely, she wanted to avoid causing him distress.

I understand, but still...I do wish you could be honest with me.

It was lonely, knowing that she was keeping the truth from him. Then again, if she did tell him, he wasn’t certain that he could bear it—although by the same token, with every letter that arrived, another iron band seemed to fasten itself around his heart.

What good is my strength if I can’t use it to help her?

He had ceased to age at all, while she was plagued by sickness. The heavens could fall and the earth could rupture and Schwartz would still never precede Rey to the grave. She would die, and not once would she resent the world that killed her. She would pass away smiling for all to see.

But I can see the tears in her eyes.

There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even think of any words to offer her. He was powerless. For all the strength he had found, he couldn’t cure one woman’s sickness. She had given him so much, and yet he couldn’t even repay a fraction of the debt he owed.

So I’ll keep striving to bring about the world you wanted.

So that she would not lose the hope that sustained her. Believing all the while that someday, her refusal to give up on life would bear fruit.

I’ll keep on fighting. If I can conquer the world...I’m sure I’ll find a cure.

He would devour everything, endlessly, even if it turned every last person in Aletia against him.

“So if you would, Spirit King... Give her the time to smile as much as she deserves.”

Schwartz raised a hand to the sky, reaching desperately for the heavens that yet eluded his grasp.