"I wanna hear the rest of the story!" Nell insisted with a cute pout, that his two companions couldn't help but sigh in surrender.
"Well then, listen well..." said lady June.
The Golden Hero who fought in the War of Liberation and actually defeated the Demon King 20 years ago, was a 12-year-old farmer's son clad in mismatched armor he picked up in the battlefield.
That was the truth.
He fought, swinging an over sized bastard sword in his left hand as if it was merely a twig. He also wielded powerful magic that no one can surpass.
It took him five years to defeat the Demon King and his minions with the help of his six companions which included a holy knight, a barbarian, a witch and a healer.
When the fighting was over, the holy knight became Emperor, the barbarian became a Beast Master, the witch became the Grand Meister, the healer, a Saintess, and the warrior, the Golden Hero of legend.
The emperor wanted his companions to stay by his side, so he married the Saintess whom he had fallen in love with as a consort and asked the Golden Hero to marry his sister, the Grand Meister.
But the Golden Hero decided to leave the capital in search of more adventures and refused to be tied down by friends, family, and most of all, by politics...
"Bullshit!" Nell shouted at June. "Just where in hell did you get all that crap from?"
"Like I said, my family has access to actual journals and chronicles from twenty years ago. Records that were banned and hidden by the royal family themselves!"
"And why would they hide such things?" Nell points an accusing finger at her. "Why would the Hero Emperor fake the records when so many people had actually seen him and his heroic deeds? The only thing that's right in your story is that the emperor married the saintess! They say the party lasted for seven day and seven nights!"
"That's correct," June nodded in reply, "but he married her as a consort. The saintess was a commoner, after all. He needed a royal princess to keep the bloodline pure and solidify his position as a king."
"What the hell are you babblin' about?" Nell's almost transparent brows knitted, his eyes filling with tears. "That's bullshit! Why would the emperor take the saintess as a side chick?!"
"Nell, royal blood is essential to keep the throne, it means that he needs an empress from an influential noble family to get the support of all the rest of the nobles," explained Simon. "Only by joining forces with other powerful families can you gain the loyalty of others."
"But we're talkin' `bout the Golden Hero and the Saintess here!" Nell said stubbornly. "Besides, wasn't the last emperor a demon? What's so royal about him?!"
"He wasn't really a demon, he was just viewed as one!" said June, her voice rising with irritation.
"And how many times must we tell you, that the current emperor is not the real Golden Hero?!" she snapped.
"So, are you saying that the current emperor is a liar?" Nell asked them both. "That he took all the glory for himself and erased the real Hero's existence?!"
"He didn't really need to," June replied. "All he did was remove the real Hero's name from all the history books. The people did the rest. They naturally thought that the new emperor was the Golden hero. The emperor also had golden hair, after all, but his eyes were blue like his sister's."
"I guess you could say, he let the rumors spread that he was the Golden Hero and didn't bother correct them," Simon said thoughtfully.
"Exactly," June replied. "Since the real Hero declined Imperial Princess Ann Maralict's hand in marriage, he declared him as an ingrate and banished him from the kingdom."
"So..." Nell looked seriously at June. "Where is the real hero now?"
June looked at him just as seriously.
"Who knows?" came her reply, causing Nell to curse once more.
"One thing is for sure, though," June went on, "there can only be one hero in existence at a time."
The two looked at Simon who was stifling a yawn.
"That's why I'm positive that the real Golden Hero is just hiding somewhere the emperor cannot find him," continued June.
Simon felt his face redden.
"I think so, too!" Nell agreed. "But how do you know if the Hero is still alive or dead?
"Through manifestations, of course!" said June. "A new hero would suddenly appear from the populace as soon as the old one expires."
Again, the two looked doubtfully at Simon.
"Anyway, the same goes with the Saintess and the Beast Master. That's why the second saintess was ordained when the royal consort died ten years ago. These are the three sacred titles of legend. They are the ones who keep the balance of peace in the empire."
"Wow, this is the first time I heard about 'sacred titles'..." said Simon who listened to June with renewed interest.
"I read about them in an ancient book from my family's collection!" June said proudly. "The three are there to guide the rulers of the magic tower and the royal palace and to keep them in check."
"You mean, the Emperor and the Grand Meister?" asked Simon.
"Exactly."
"So, there's the knight, the barbarian, the saintess, and the magician..." Nell mumbled, "but didn't you say that the Hero had six companions?"
"I read about that too," said Simon.
"Well, they say that they had a thief in their company, but no one had ever actually seen them, nor knew what happened to them."
"That makes five!"
"That's right," June said with a nod. "The sixth companion was a traitor who died the day they defeated the demon king."
The inside of the carriage went silent as the information sank in.
"So... they didn't know that they were with a traitor all along?" Nell asked wide eyed, making him look even younger.
"Yes, and according to records, the Hero had to kill the traitor himself."
Silence reigned once again until Simon stifled another yawn.
"Well, it's getting late, would you two like some more beef jerky before we turn in for the night?"
"I want to hear more stories!" Nell insisted.
"Look for someone else to tell them to you, then," said June who pulled her blanket up to her chin as she lay on the seat she was previously hiding in.
"We'll tell you more stories tomorrow, Nell," Simon assured him, "as soon as we find out where we currently are."
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Go to Part 57
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