“Little is known about the antiquity of the Martial Continent, other than that there was once a great empire here that hunted powerful creatures known as 'dragons' to extinction with a set of weapons of unknown manufacture, operation and current location, and with this same power conquered and controlled this vast expanse of land. Imposing. Brutal. Envied. It was dismembered and devoured alive, from the inside out, by the myriad peoples it subjugated. Its memory, however, continued to live on in the peoples who usurped its position. These peoples are known as 'humans'.”

  Excerpt from the book Comprehensive Guide to the History of álfheim, by Elarico Milemario Saudoso.

  ?

  — W-What?! — commented, shocked, the Hero Veronico, beautiful even when horrified. — A-Are you sure...?!

  — Yes, there is no doubt, my lord Prince Hero, — replied the new master historian, a very old man with a hunchback so large that he needed a cane to walk. Inwardly, he was rejoicing at having finally received the promotion that seemed never to come. Originally, I had in mind perhaps a route of betrayal and poisoning for his ascension, but a certain little rebel derailed that narrative. — There is a new Shadow King, and his name is Haicard of the Wrong Path, and the book reveals that his specialty is ‘Whispers.’

  — A master of whispers... That explains a lot — my champion's right-hand man, Wizard Saulo, commented, adjusting his glasses and frowning, not out of anger, but out of guilt. — He must have killed that Baron and come all the way here just to assassinate the old master historian — he thought out loud, leaving out only the part where he took responsibility for all of that, especially for having even temporarily ceded his house to his enemy.

  I hadn't chosen Veronico as the Hero for nothing, however, and he immediately noticed the storm brewing beneath his friend's facade of plenitude:

  — Hey, I was there and didn't notice anything either. This Shadow King fooled everyone, so don't go taking on blame that doesn't belong to you.

  — Haha. Yeah, you're right.

  — Veronico, you're not going to leave again, are you? Surely, if a new enemy of the elves has arisen, God must have chosen a new champion as well, so... — the crown princess held the cold gauntlet of her husband, already completely covered in blue metal for war, regretfully. She had only recently married the Hero, and she had no desire to find herself alone with her mother once again.

  — Uuh... The artifact contains no information about any Hero other than Veronico, Lady Crown Princess — the new master historian explained, already thinking about how to invest his new powers in his favorite type of research: ancient weapons.

  — Well, you heard me, my wife. That is my sole duty. I must gather my team and set out to fulfill my role as God's champion. — Veronico turned around and sprang into action immediately.

  — Are you going to meet with the Heroicas again? — Criscina whispered behind the closed door of the master historian's chambers, shaken, but even her husband's Perception was blocked by the passage of that room, and he did not notice any of the anguish.

  In fact, while marching through the castle, Veronico felt a flame within him that had not burned for years, since the end of the last sacred war.

  Maybe I needed to put a little more effort into the main girls. As much as I always made sure to make them produce a flood of dopamine, phenylethylamine, oxytocin and adrenaline the first time my champions saw the women I created for them, for some reason it was not uncommon for the Heroes to end up falling in love with everyone other than the Princesses, and I had already used up all my good ideas: the most beautiful girl in the kingdom who unfortunately dated an idiot, the girl who expressed her love through physical and verbal abuse, the girl so emotionally stable that she felt no need for anyone else's presence other than her own...

  Even so, all these stories ended in undesirable ways: the first betrayed her Hero with her last boyfriend, the second made her destined partner's life so miserable that he committed suicide, and the third literally ordered the murder of her husband, fearing the loss of her power. Fortunately, that secret order whose last leader was assassinated by Haicard kept all these rumors stifled.

  What to do? While I didn't get my romantic choices right, I improvised, making the Hero literally incapable of feeling attraction to any other woman besides his destined one, in order to avoid mistakes like the ones that happened with Cruz.

  And as long as Veronico dealt with the little rebel quickly enough, the nature of our contract shouldn't influence any major changes to my favorite toy box.

  — I promised the girls that when we met again it would be at their wedding, but it seems I'm going to have to break that promise. I hope I won't inconvenience them with this untimely visit.

  — Haha, I don't think that'll really be a problem for those two, Sir Hero Prince.

  — I hope so. Guards! Prepare our pegasus! — my champion ordered.

  — They are ready, Sir Prince Hero!

  Ah, that was a problem.

  The winged horses were a gift I decided to give the Hero and his friends when they were close to facing the Shadow King, a reward and a way to travel more easily, since I no longer had much interest in seeing them killing random monsters around, but felt that they should focus more on their main Mission. However, allowing Veronico and his friends to use the beasts to move around thousands of times faster than their challenger would go against our agreement, it would be me interfering against the little rebel, after all...

  There was no choice, a small temporal readjustment was necessary.

  — I hope so. Guards! Prepare our pegasus! — my champion ordered.

  — P-pardon me, sir Prince Hero, but the beasts have begun their mating ritual and left somewhere in a race through the skies... — replied the guard, head down. — But we still have the fastest horses in the Kingdom in our stables!

  —The pegasus left? — Veronico blinked in surprise.

  — In that case... — Saulo smiled, partly embarrassed by his friend's excitement, partly happy to see him display a wider smile than he had in recent years.

  — Hehe, yes. It's been a while, hasn't it? In a way, I was already missing this — Veronico approached a window in the hallway with his companion, and they both stepped onto its sill. — Ready?

  — Whenever you are!

  And so, just minutes after finding out about the emergence of a new Shadow King, the Hero Veronico and his loyal companion Saulo shot out of the windows of the royal palace to reunite with their other companions, my champion leaping from rooftop to rooftop at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour even while wearing his full blue mithril armor (without the helmet, however, since I liked to make his facial expressions as visible and clear as possible), and Saulo using a Spell to magically propel himself through the air, his green battle gear fluttering in the wind like victory flags, a mix of medieval cloak and modern suit.

  ?

  Eight hours of travel and two breaks for Saulo to rest later, Veronico and his friend arrived at the “home” of the woman who had once fought side by side with them as the Healer of their group.

  — Mariah — Veronico approached the girl who was sleeping peacefully on a bed of flowers, literally: there were no walls or ceiling anywhere, and the place that served as the girl's home was just a circular structure of marble pillars crowning the top of a low flowery hill.

  — Nghnn... — the girl got up slowly, rubbing her sleepy eyes, despite sleeping outside, her yellow silk houppelande outfit without a single wrinkle. Her eyes had fiery yellow irises, her hair was an almost orange-blond and wavy, framing a delicate and beautiful face. One that didn't even seem to belong to the body connected to her neck, which was covered entirely by keloid tissue. — Sir Hero?! What are you doing here? You should be guiding the Kingdom with your... wife — he spoke the first words with visible surprise and excitement, but concluded his sentence with forced politeness.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  — Haha, come on, Mariah, you don’t have to call me “sir”, we don’t need a second Saulo in the group, do we? — the good friends smiled. As suddenly as a thunderclap, however, Veronico put on a serious expression, and the others copied him. — And the Princess has her mother to keep her company. We, on the other hand, have a matter of greater importance to deal with at the moment.

  — What is it, Mr. Veronico? Any Viscount still in active service?

  — I wish, Mariah. No. I bring much worse news. A new Shadow King has emerged and has already claimed a victim in the royal palace, murdering the master historian.

  Meanwhile, however, Saulo couldn't help but wonder if he should tell Mariah a detail that didn't seem very important to Veronico, since the boy wasn't native to that world: the new Demonia champion was an elf. He hesitated to tell her this, not because it was an unprecedented event, but because he wondered how the Healer would react to it, considering her past.

  — I see. This is really out of the ordinary, a historical event, but you can count on me, Hero! — Mariah promised, trying to look as serious as her friends, but while frowning, she was able to look like a nervous little chipmunk at best. I didn't have any plans for any especially tragic arc for that generation. But, after all, maybe it was a mistake not to have given her the ability to express herself in that way, considering the current situation.

  — I knew I could count on you, Mariah! So, let's go after the- — Veronico began to speak, when he felt raindrops start to fall from the sky. That, obviously, was not a problem for the Hero, but he was already holding back to keep up with Saulo's pace, and he knew that the wizard would lose even more speed with his soaked clothes, the cold, and the resistance of the wind from the coming storm. — Sorry for starting to ask you for favors so early, Mariah, but do you think...

  — Fufu! It's all right, Mr. Hero — the girl smiled, clasped her hands together as if in prayer, and closed her eyes. — Clear Weather — she conjured a sort of powerful hurricane with herself as its center, which rose into the sky and subdued the rising storm, tearing it apart like a wolf with a lost sheep, the remains of black clouds thrown to the four corners.

  This, of course, significantly affected the natural cycles of drought and rain, and whenever such Spells were cast, I would adjust things in order to keep the climate unchanged, but since I had entertained a certain rebellious streak with the idea of ??non-interference, I did nothing this time. Even if the worst were to happen, crops were lost to drought, and villages were flooded, once that Quest I had created on a whim was completed, I could retroactively repair that damage.

  — Just give me a moment, I'll call Pocotó, he must be grazing around here-

  — Oh, actually, the pegasus are in mating season or something, and they've left for somewhere far away. I hope they return soon, but we can't afford to wait, we have to go meet up with Landa and get the old team back together.

  — Hmph! — One corner of Mariah’s mouth fell, and she made no attempt to hide her displeasure. — Maybe we don’t need a Rogue on this Mission?

  — Haha, I think we'll need it? — Moving away from his companion, Ver?nico asked his friend: — Criscina, I understand, but why do Mariah and Landa also get along so badly with each other?

  — Haha, you really are dense, huh? — That wasn't exactly the right term, since I had built my champion's brain to be literally incapable of noticing the clear signs of romantic interest shown by women other than the ones I had made for him. It was good to know that, despite the absence of my little pushes, that detail remained the same, at least for now.

  — What?

  —Nothing, Sir Prince Hero. It's best we leave as soon as possible.

  My champion took off in a race that would have put any horse to shame, Saulo flew enveloped in blue energy, and Mariah's own body began to shine, as if made of sunlight, and she moved like a luminous spectrum side by side with Veronico.

  ?

  A full day of travel later, my champion's team, more than capable of going several days without sleep due to their high Attributes, reached a castle in the heart of a small town.

  — She really cleaned up this place since the last time we were here — Veronico commented, smiling.

  — She... really puts a touch of personality into what belongs to her — Saulo agreed, with an awkward smile.

  — Wow, as expected of Mr. Saulo. You are able to offend people in such a subtle way, I still have a lot to learn from you — Mariah smiled bitterly as she stared at the castle. — A touch of personality. Really. This castle has her face.

  The building the trio were facing was old, square, relatively low, and almost everything about it was exactly how I liked it; it wouldn't look out of place on a hill somewhere in Europe, as would the little houses that surrounded it. Unfortunately, however, its current owner had hung a series of trinkets on the castle walls, chains that ran from merlon to merlon suspending carpets of coins of all kinds, which glittered like horrible 80s mirrored globes; on the walls the woman had placed beautiful assorted statues wearing expensive armor, and on the roofs of the guard towers flew expensive pieces of art like flags.

  I should be more careful in crafting such personalities in the future, at least in constructing their aesthetic sense, so as not to disrupt my carefully constructed world.

  — You gentlemen can go ahead, I'll wait for you outside — Mariah insisted, and knowing that this had nothing to do with the rivalry the woman had with her companion, the two men continued without questioning her.

  After passing through a small army of servants and a dozen rooms and corridors packed with luxuries to the point of being almost impassable, they finally met up with their old friend and companion.

  — Veronico, Saulo! It's been a while! — A woman with very short blond hair greeted them, and while her stature was shorter than usual, her smile was also wider than most, unashamed of the lack of an upper incisor tooth. She hugged her companions awkwardly due to all the extravagant pieces of clothing and jewelry she was wearing. — It's rare for you to visit, especially this unexpectedly. What's wrong, have you finally separated from that Princess and are now looking for a real woman?

  — Haha, no, that's not the case.

  —So, have you come to invite me to some parade or party or some nonsense like that again?

  — Neither.

  — Hmm. So it's because of trouble — the Rogue quickly understood the situation. Due to the life she had lived before becoming a Hero, she had a different kind of intelligence than her companions. — I'm sure we've already hunted down all the big shots in the Shadow Army, so what's wrong? Is some criminal organization causing trouble? Do they need someone silenced behind the scenes?

  As I said, different intelligence than that of Saulo and the Hero, but necessary. In fact, I thought the little rebel would try to recruit her to his cause, but apparently that was not the case.

  — Eh? — Veronico maintained the smile with which he had initially entered the castle, but the happiness behind it had already dissipated.

  — N-No, that's not the case, Landa. In fact... — Saulo explained everything to the small, generic-looking, yet attractive elf woman.

  — Wow. This Shadow King is really a nerve, he entered the royal castle and killed the master historian? Unbelievable — The Rogue sat on an overly decorated throne thrown in a corner of her room and scratched the back of her neck. Despite her calm appearance, she had a bad feeling about the whole thing. In fact, despite her Potential: Very High, I had taken just enough care not to let her die before her time, and had purposely allowed her a relatively normal life experience until she met the Hero, so the woman had a more acute sense of awareness than her companions when things went off the rails. — Has a new Hero been chosen to kill this Master of Whispers?

  — No. It's us again, probably the ones tasked with defeating two Demonia champions in succession.

  — Hahaha! Well, we don’t really have a choice then, do we? If we don’t fight, it’s the end of elven rule over this continent — Landa laughed loudly. But inside-

  I was surprised to read the woman's thoughts. She seemed certain that this adventure would end in tragedy.

  And I almost decided to peek into what would happen in the future, to skip to the last pages of that unexpected adventure. I was strangely tempted, even though none of it had developed ideally. I restrained myself, however, and forced my consciousness to remain firmly in the present.

  — Anyway, it’s going to be nightfall, and you must have been traveling nonstop for days, right? Stay here for today. I’ll order my servants to prepare a feast, and warm beds and baths for you. The Healer is here too, isn’t she?

  — Yes, we stopped to pick up Mariah first, since she lives closer.

  — There must be some floor cloth around that she can use as a blanket, and some troughs for the horses to eat and drink water from, too. But you can stay in my room, Veronico. In fact, in my bed! IN FACT, in fact, you can stay inside m—

  “BOOM!” a loud bang echoed from the floors below.

  — Haha, looks like Mariah finally got tired of waiting — Saulo laughed.

  — Landa, let's eat this feast outside — Veronico asked. And his friend sighed before agreeing.

  — Okay, okay. I'll talk to the chef and his assistants to set the table outside — Landa raised her hands, surrendered. — Intangible — and activating a Skill, she simply crossed the floor of her room in the highest tower of the castle, and the floor of all the lower floors, until she reached the kitchen, where she gave orders to her servants.

  ?

  Being notified by a “message received” note, Veronico sat on his bed. That was the result of a Spell inferior to the Telepathy he himself had, but it was the best Criscina could do, and by the way, it was already impressive enough for someone of Level: 1.

  “My beloved husband, under the midday sun, I pray to God every day that you return home safe and sound. Your pathetic wife feels lonely without you by her side. I spent so many years imagining what our reign together would be like, while you fought your first campaign, and now fate is cruel to us once more and separates us so soon after our marriage. We have done so little together. We will sail the entire coast of álfheim when you return victorious.”

  Veronico read the message with a neutral expression. While normally, whether I wanted to or not, I would make his heart beat at least a little faster when I read the words of the woman I prepared for him.

  He prepared a brief response out of sheer duty, wondering if he would be lucky enough to cross paths with a sea monster when the boring sailing trip took place.

  ?

  The next day, and after a brief rest, the Hero and his group set out at full speed to gather information about their new opponent.

  Unfortunately, however, the little rebel in question found himself free of my bonds by the nature of our agreement, so the traditional methods that this party was accustomed to for obtaining information about their opponents, the adventurers' guild, the church, tavern rumors, and many amusing Quests, would not be of any use to him this time, and my champion and his Heroics grew increasingly frustrated as they faced new difficulties.

  On the other hand, the little rebel didn't seem to be doing too badly, to my surprise.