"Hero! Hero!"
"Yeah! Harals the Hero!"
Cheers echoed through the town square.
Harals frowned.
"Why are they such fools…" he muttered. "Who are they calling a hero?"
Reas looked at him calmly.
"You, of course."
Harals's expression darkened.
"I hate being called a hero."
"It hurts."
Friea turned toward him in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
That night
Reas spoke quietly while the group sat around a small table in the inn.
"Friea, it was foolish of you to recruit someone who has no mana."
Friea crossed her arms.
"Maybe. But he isn't here because of his abilities."
She looked toward Harals.
"He's here because we trust him."
Harals froze.
Trust me?
Friea continued.
"He's smart. He gives us hope."
She smiled.
"He's… perfect."
Harals's eyes widened.
Perfect?
No…
I'm definitely not perfect.
And I don't even want to be.
Friea suddenly leaned closer to him and whispered.
"Relax. I'm only saying that so Reas lets you stay in the alliance."
Reas stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"…After what I witnessed in the forest, I trust his capabilities."
Friea jumped up excitedly.
"Yes!"
Harals looked at them quietly.
"You guys… thanks."
Thorkel shrugged.
"No problem."
Friea grinned.
"Of course."
One week later
The alliance gathered inside a large wooden hall.
Reas stood in front of everyone.
"Alright… let's see how many we have."
He scanned the room.
"Five… ten… fifteen…"
He nodded.
"Twenty-three members."
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
"You are all welcome here," Reas continued. "Strong or weak. Every single one of you matters."
He gestured toward Friea.
"First, Friea will explain what happened in the forest a week ago."
Friea stepped forward confidently.
"Greetings, everyone. I'm Friea from the Eastern Lands."
She paused before continuing.
"My party arrived here first. When we reached Moss Town, Mr. Reas was already investigating something in the nearby forest."
"Apparently, an unusually strong demon had been spotted there."
"He was far stronger than the mages of this town."
"So we decided to investigate."
Her voice became serious.
"And that's when we discovered… the demon was the Sword Demon."
The room exploded with noise.
"The Sword Demon?!"
"One of the Eight Commanders?!"
"How are you still alive?!"
"If you defeated him you must be insanely strong!"
Friea raised her hand.
"Yes… he was one of the Demon King's Eight Commanders."
"And yes… we are insanely strong but."
She paused.
"But…"
The crowd leaned forward.
"Buuuut?"
Friea sighed.
"We didn't defeat him."
"That's basically impossible."
The room fell silent.
"But we survived," she continued.
"And the reason we're standing here today…"
She pointed behind her.
"…is Harals."
Everyone turned toward him.
A man stepped forward.
"Wait a second."
"My name is Norm."
Two people stood behind him.
"This is my party — Rio and Lisa."
"We come from a small village in the Eastern Lands."
His expression darkened.
"Our village was destroyed by the Water Demon."
Murmurs spread again.
"We know how powerful the Eight Commanders are," Norm continued.
"They can destroy entire cities with a single attack."
He pointed directly at Harals.
"And you expect us to believe that this guy with no magic defeated the Sword Demon in a sword fight?"
Rio stepped forward.
"I want to duel him."
"I want to test his strength."
Reas raised his hand.
"We don't know the full truth ourselves."
"The Sword Demon wasn't using magic during that fight."
He looked around the room.
"But that isn't today's problem."
"Our first objective is the City of Swords."
"The Sword Demon's territory."
Everyone became serious.
"Tomorrow morning," Reas continued, "I will explain the plan."
That night, the alliance members relaxed.
They shared stories about their homes, their losses, and their reasons for fighting.
But Harals spent the entire evening with Reas.
They sat alone with a map spread across the table.
Harals tapped the map.
"I don't think we should rush in."
Reas nodded. "Go on."
"We should send spies first."
Reas shook his head.
"Too risky. Demons can easily distinguish humans."
Harals thought for a moment.
Then he smiled slightly.
"…What if we do it like this?"
He leaned closer and explained his idea.
Reas listened carefully.
After a moment, he nodded slowly.
"…It's still risky."
"But it might work."
To be continued…