bookbashuk Page 33
Page 33
Duke Moss, you deserve to die!
"Are all the other procedures ready?" Ota could only check with Minister Tus beside him to distract himself.
"Everything is ready, Your Highness Ota. The image-recording magic is also functioning normally—"
At the edge of the training camp, directly opposite the terrace, several royal magicians were busily manipulating image-capturing magic... Such an epic moment required image crystals to be captured from multiple angles and directions!
A projection quickly focused on the group of nobles on the terrace.
Look! The genuine, spirited smiles of these nobles are as if the awakening of a hero is their most precious treasure! What noble character!
The projection on the other end firmly locked onto Prince Ota's figure.
Look! Prince Ota's smile is still as noble as ever, but for some reason, a hint of sadness can be seen. Oh! It must be because he's thinking of his dearest friend, the Mino Warrior. What a touching bond...
As the light from the magic circle intensified, at this unprecedented critical moment, another image was projected onto Dane, who was at the center of the magic circle.
Look! Dane, the candidate—no, soon to be Dane the Hero—smiled too, but his smile was different from usual; it carried a hint of disdain?! Could it be… that he's already starting to plan how to annihilate those despicable demons?!
The court magician trembled with happiness as he busied himself recording these historic moments of joy.
He habitually pointed the camera at a figure, then paused, and finally stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
In the photo, the old man in the black robe now wore a confident smile!
"This...this is unbelievable!" The magician's hands trembled violently...
Even the usually calm, wise, and serious Chief Lac, who was as composed as an iceberg, smiled!
Is humanity's spring finally coming?!
Chapter 44 Goddess, are you one too?!
In later generations, people referred to these images, which were recorded in history, as "smiling for the birth of heroes."
However, the hero's name was only mentioned vaguely, which added a lot of time to the research...
"It's coming!" Inside the magic circle, Dane looked both satisfied and excited.
He could already vaguely sense the goddess's gaze.
I have succeeded as a hero!
“Dain may become a hero.” Outside the magic circle, Lark, who was constantly monitoring the ritual, narrowed his eyes slightly.
"However, it's unlikely that Dane will become a hero."
He began to slightly rotate the magic ring on his middle finger, softly chanting complex and difficult interference magic incantations.
"Reverse the aura—"
"KAI!"
At that moment, only Lark, who was closely monitoring the magic circle, knew that Dane's unique soul aura had been grafted and transferred to Shana.
A burst of light erupted, the magic in the field vanished, the light of the magic circle dissipated inch by inch, and all the magic condensed in the air into a sacred rune, which fell vertically toward the figure bathed in holy light.
"Haha, excuse me, excuse me, haha."
On the palace terrace, Duke Moss had already begun the settlement animation. He, who had bet the most, walked toward the gambling table with an extremely smug gait, beaming with delight.
It was at this time.
Duke Clyde grabbed Moss and pinned him down.
"Huh? Clyde, what's wrong with you? Can't stand seeing others do well?" Moss turned around with displeasure, and suddenly noticed that as the light of the awakening array dissipated, the terrace became eerily quiet.
Where's the cheering? The laughter? Where's the gambling monster's face? What's wrong with these people? Have they gone mad from winning so much money?
Seeing the smiles of the nobles gradually disappear and the deathly pale face on Clyde's face, Moss had a vague feeling that something was wrong. He turned his head to look at the awakening site and his eyes suddenly bulged out!
……
The sacred mark of the hero coalesced and took shape with the magic circle, a sign of the goddess's recognition of the hero.
The mark gently fell, merging into a slender hand bound with bandages.
His bandaged right hand trembled slightly in surprise, clenched tightly, and finally calmed down after a long while.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, the owner of the hand slowly raised it high, and with the other hand, he fluttered the cloak behind him, revealing the hero's mark in the most conspicuous way.
She put on an act—
Silence fell.
Dane's smile froze on his face. As if he hadn't reacted yet, he lowered his head and looked at the back of his bare hand.
Hmm, that's strange. Is there... something here?
Seeing that no one reacted, Shana skillfully changed her posture again.
This time, she stretched out her right hand into the sunlight, quietly gazing at the warrior's mark that appeared on the back of her hand, and exhaled deeply with a solemn expression:
"I see, I'm gradually understanding everything—"
"Goddess, are you also a follower of darkness...?"
"That's absurd!!!"
The next moment, Dane, with a ferocious expression, threw the Hero Candidate Certificate to the ground!
"Why? There must be some mistake!" Dane stammered.
"Whether it's becoming a hero candidate or getting the highest score among all members, I... I was here first!!!"
"Why did it turn out like this?!"
On the palace terrace, Prince Ota, witnessing this scene, suddenly bent over, a strange flush rising on his pale face. He felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet.
Minister Tus rushed forward to support Ota, deeply shocked. Had even a composed king like His Highness Ota lost his composure like this?!
“One…” Ota’s lips trembled weakly, and only Minister Tus, who was nearby, could hear his faint voice.
"Your Highness, what did you say, Your Highness?"
"One, one to one hundred."
Ota coughed violently twice, then his hands trembled, and his eyes shone with surprise: "One to one hundred!"
"Huh?!" Tus exclaimed in shock.
Shana became the hero? And I bet ten gold coins, so suddenly I have a thousand gold coins more?!
Otta was overwhelmed by the sudden happiness and burst into tears.
came back! They're all back!
All the losses from the figurines and comics have been recovered!!!
Praise the goddess!
The nobles present were shocked to see the weak Prince Ota suddenly become energetic and vibrant, as if he had taken an aphrodisiac, as if he had been given a second spring!
What's going on? I heard that Princess Kalia recently recovered as if through a genetic mutation, and now Prince Ota, you're doing it too? Is it common for your Kur family to suddenly become superhuman?!
Compared to Prince Ota's well-being, Duke Moss was not so healthy. In the blink of an eye, he seemed to have lost his soul, as if a Tonk had died.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
The next moment, Duke Moss let out a pig-like wail: "How could that crazy little girl possibly become a hero!"
"My money!!!"
The nobles, who had initially looked very grim, gradually calmed down after hearing Duke Moss's wailing and nodded in self-consolation.
They only lost a few dozen or a few hundred gold coins, but Duke Moss lost several times their income.
As expected of Duke Moss, he's a gambling addict, loves to go all-in, likes to pretend, loves to break down defenses, and always runs into bad luck... They all adore him.
"Alright, get ready to go down." Ota stood up from his seat, adopting a kingly smile.
"Now, let's offer a salute to the birth of a new hero!"
boom!
Bang, bang!
The prepared fireworks magic rose into the sky at that moment, and the news of the hero's birth spread rapidly throughout the kingdom with an exhilarating speed.
……
Inside the training field, Dane, who was completely out of it, was still in a daze and looked up at the training ground.
Huh? What's that noise?
Fireworks... For whom, the hero? Who is that...?
Huh? What's that noise...? Fireworks...
The outage continued until Ota and the others arrived, and Dane finally woke up. He instinctively grabbed onto the last straw and rushed to Ota's side.
"Your Highness! Your Highness Ota, something must have gone wrong with the ceremony!"
"This shouldn't be the case!"
Ota remained silent, but Minister Tus behind him intervened, saying, "Dane, according to procedure, the goddess has chosen the hero Shana."
"Please don't worry about it. Even if you don't become heroes, you hero candidates are still an important force in the kingdom."
"How could I not care?!" Dane blurted out.
"I'm the one most suitable to be the hero, aren't I? You should know that I got full marks in every evaluation at the training camp! Even the Mino Hero back then couldn't do that!"
"Can you really accept making a mentally unstable little girl a hero? That would be a laughing stock of the kingdom!"
Dane, no longer caring about manners, uttered some careless words, completely unaware that Prince Ota and the group of nobles had darkened their faces.
Do you think we want this...? But now that the ceremony is over and the goddess's mark has been placed on Shana, what's the use of you offering your hindsight advice?
“I said Dane is a ‘reserve’, and I’m not saying that.”
The sarcastic words came from Duke Moss, whose mood was already extremely bad. He emphasized the word "candidate" heavily, which was like a knife to Dane's heart.
Duke Moss said sarcastically:
"Why are you so convinced by your rating?!"