Chapter 8: Before becoming a hero(3)

Yulis kindly took it upon himself to personally guide them through his castle.

To be precise, it was because there were no butlers or servants available to show them around, so he had no choice but to do it himself.

Of course, there were paladins stationed at the castle, but Yulis thought that would be inappropriate.

Zeke looked around the inside of the castle.

There were no decorations at all.

It wasn’t clear if it was because cleaning wasn’t done properly, but most parts of the castle were covered in dust.

It felt like a very lonely place.

Almost like an abandoned, empty castle where no one lived.

“I apologize for the state of things. I’ve been dealing with something important and haven’t had time to clean.”

“It’s fine. But I don’t see any servants. Has something happened?”

“I don’t hire servants. If there’s cleaning to be done, I do it myself. Though I haven’t had time recently.”

Yulis’s words were quite shocking.

It was extremely rare for a noble to do menial tasks themselves.

Maybe that’s why?

It wasn’t exactly the cleanest place.

After about 15 minutes of walking, Isaac and Zeke finally arrived at the reception room.

There, cold tea, biscuits, and bread were already laid out.

Yulis gave a sheepish smile.

“My apologies. It’s been a while since I’ve had guests, so I prepared everything too early.”

“It’s all right. I’m grateful for the hospitality.”

“Thank you for the meal!”

“Don’t be so tense, child.”

Perhaps it was because this was his first mission, but Zeke’s response was stiff and full of nervous energy.

Isaac, noticing this, gently calmed him and sat down.

Yulis’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“Is he new?”

“Yes, but I guarantee he’ll carry his weight.”

“That’s not why I asked. I was just curious.”

“Curious? What do you mean by that?”

“It’s just that you don’t often see such young ones being brought along.”

There was weight to Yulis’s words.

As Yulis said, in Gideon, to become a hero, one typically handles requests alone.

Sometimes a guild senior might lend a hand, but even that was rare.

Most of the time, they were simply left to fend for themselves.

They would say things like, “If you can’t stand on your own now, you’ll have a harder time later,” but really, it was just a way to keep new members from standing out.

And, at the same time, it was also due to a sense of justice: “I suffered through it, so they shouldn’t have it any easier.”

Isaac took a sip of tea after hearing Yulis’s words.

“It’s the job of the old tree to protect the budding sapling. To keep it from being uprooted by the storm, or scorched by the harsh sun.”

“Someday, that sapling might overtake the tree, don’t you think?”

“I don’t mind. If I can become the foundation of a new era, that’s enough for me.”

As he said this, Isaac patted Zeke’s head.

The still-young Zeke couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of their words.

He just closed his eyes and felt the hand gently stroking his hair.

“You’re quite different from the heroes I’ve met before.”

As a lord and leader of the Paladin Order, Yulis had met many people in his time.

And it wasn’t hard for him to tell if someone’s words were genuine or not.

“So, I trust you more because of it.”

From Yulis’s perspective, Isaac’s actions didn’t seem insincere at all.

He truly believed what he was saying.

Who would’ve thought I’d meet a hero with such beliefs?

‘Barely pulled that off. Next time, signal before you speak up.’

Isaac, on the other hand, was mentally wiping the sweat off his brow.

As much as he liked to stay in character, not every answer was pre-planned.

He used the tea to buy time and managed to come up with a response just in time.

“That’s a relief. I think I can trust you with my daughter.”

“Indeed. Now, tell me more about the request.”

“It’s exactly as written on the parchment. Recently, a certain pest has been approaching my daughter.”

The request was simple.

Whenever his daughter went out in the territory, Isaac and Zeke were to fend off this pest who kept approaching her.

But as Zeke listened to Yulis’s words, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“Uh, so what you mean is, a pest of unknown origin, on par with a demon that crawled up from hell, is targeting your daughter?”

“Exactly right. You’re quite sharp.”

“Then, for her safety, wouldn’t it be better to restrict your daughter’s outings for a while…”

“That is absolutely out of the question.”

Yulis shook his head firmly.

His unyielding attitude startled Zeke slightly, causing him to flinch, but Isaac simply nodded as if he already knew.

Zeke spoke up again.

“Is there a particular reason for that?”

“I don’t want to stop my daughter from doing what she wishes. I intend to let her do everything she desires as much as possible.”

‘…Why?’

It was surely the kind of thing a loving father would say.

‘So why does he look so… lonely?’

Like a fallen autumn leaf that could drop at any moment.

Zeke listened as Yulis explained the details of the request.

Isaac was there as well, but he kept silent, merely observing, allowing Zeke to handle as much of the request as possible on his own.

After the conversation in the reception room ended, Yulis told them where his daughter’s room was located.

Zeke found it strange.

Why would he not visit his precious daughter’s room himself?

[Apologies, I’m… quite busy.]

By this point, Zeke could tell.

Yulis was hiding something.

But it wasn’t fear he sensed.

What could it be?

Zeke pondered this deeply.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Master, it’s just… I feel like Lord Yulis is hiding something…”

“Hiding something? Like what?”

“I’m not sure yet. But… his words and actions don’t seem to align.”

On the surface, he appeared to be a doting father who cherished his daughter.

But he avoided meeting her directly.

There had to be an unknown cause linking these two contradictions.

“Being cautious is good, but overthinking can become a poison.”

“Sorry? What do you mean?”

“It means it’s not too late to think after you’ve seen and heard everything.”

It was true.

If he jumped to conclusions based on his initial feelings alone, it would be difficult to make objective judgments.

Thanks to Isaac, Zeke realized this.

Isaac and Zeke headed to the room Yulis had directed them to.

It was located on the third floor, in the sunniest part of the castle.

Unlike other places, this room’s door was beautifully decorated.

As Zeke moved to barge in, Isaac stopped him and knocked on the door.

Moments later, the door opened, and a girl appeared.

She was a beautiful girl with white hair, almost shining in its purity.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Yulina Fragrah, the eldest honor of the Fragrah family.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Isaac Silvert.”

“And we have an adorable little guest! Please feel free to call me whatever you like.”

“Uh, I-I’m Zeke! S-sis…”

“Sis?”

“No, not sis.”

Yulina tilted her head slightly at the word “sis,” but soon she clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. And where her sparkling gaze landed was right on Isaac.

“You’re the heroes my father talked about, aren’t you?!”

“You could say that.”

“Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve never seen a hero in my entire life!!”

Yulina had never left Sallen, not even once. Naturally, since this was where the Holy Knights were stationed, heroes had no reason to visit. The two sides didn’t get along, after all.

The Holy Knights dismissed heroes as mercenaries only interested in money, while heroes viewed the Holy Knights as pretentious. So, having only stayed here, it was no wonder that she had never seen a hero before.

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me your stories?”

“It’s not hard, but… will we have time?”

“Oh, look at the time. It’s already time for my inspection!”

“Inspection?”

Still too young to understand the meaning of the word, Zeke tilted his head, a question mark almost visible above him. Yulina smiled, bent down on one knee, and met Zeke’s eyes.

“It means going around the domain to see how the people are living, if they’re doing well, and to check if there are any problems. The lord has to look at everything during an inspection.”

“I-I see. Thank you for telling me.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

Her kind voice held not a trace of unease or worry. Zeke, who had been thinking about how kind and lovely she was, quickly shifted his gaze to Isaac.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-no, it’s nothing!”

‘Why do I feel relieved…?’

Zeke let out a sigh of relief as he looked at Isaac, who, as usual, remained expressionless and silent. He suddenly questioned his own actions. There was no reason for him to be feeling this way.

“Please wait just a moment! I’ll be ready soon!”

Yulina hurriedly shut the door and went back inside. As she prepared, Isaac and Zeke stood in front of the door like statues, waiting patiently for her.

“Kid, what do you think?”

“I’m not sure. When I look at Yulina… she doesn’t seem to have any problems.”

“Keep watching. You’ll find the answer eventually.”

Naturally, Isaac already knew everything about this request. To be precise, it wasn’t the main story, but a side story. However, as an avid fan, there was no way he hadn’t read it.

And yet.

The reason he kept his mouth shut.

‘Spoilers are a sin.’

But Zeke interpreted it differently.

‘This is my request. I can’t just rely on someone else’s help. Master must be telling me that.’

Well, whatever it was, it seemed like a good thing.