A Very Long Prologue Part 2: A Glimpse of Past Events
Heroes come from nobles family’s with heroic lineage, mages and wizards come with noble families with magic lineage, but the main difference between them and peasants besides being able to legally use magic and skills ,peasants using them is illegal, was the large amounts of training they got throughout their life for free (free in the sense that it wasn't their money they were spending).
I was from peasant lineage but after a lot of research , gained from informally interviewing hero mages and through countless experiments, I had confirmed I was extremely powerful in magic…in fact I had calculated that if I had been given any training I probably could have been stood on equal standing with the greatest of Magnus
But as reality was different, I through trial and error and illegally sneaking into libraries to read books at night just me being able to read was illegal and had learned a few tricks and enough control over my powers so that they didn’t run amuck and destroy me.
I am telling you this to explain how I was able to take the device the pope gave me that was supposed to teleport us back home only after we killed the demon lord…and forced it to become a device that would transport only hero back home along with a magical message that would say that they had better keep their end of the bargain the whole of the bargain and send their best priests and paladins to kill the weakened demon lord when I failed… If that is what they really wanted to do. Once hero safely vanished in a flash of light I rushed the demon lord and attacked with the magic sword.
The demon lord and I have been battling for three days now, and still neither of us tires. On the contrary, in the case of the demon lord, strangely he seemed to be almost growing stronger. Unable to let my attention lax, I utilize in my thinking only the part of my mind that is distanced from the parts that are battling, thinking of strategies and focusing on my powerful survival instinct and sword skills to keep up against this boss level guy.
While I appear basically calm, in that distanced part me I am concerned that soon his steadily growing strength would be enough enough to kill me. Or maybe, I think in that same distanced self…he has hiding his true strength from the beginning and he is toying with me. After mulling over this and various other theories I come to a simple conclusion.
Whether he kills me or not it doesn’t matter, as I was going to die whether he killed me or not…and supposedly I just had to buy enough time that the theoretical army of priests and paladins would be able to make their way here and kill him…I strangely felt guilty about this…I wondered why? After all it is my job…well technically it was my Heroes that I am once again doing in his place, but still under his name, job but that is besides the point…I should have no reason to feel guilty…especially as no matter what happens I will die but he still has a great chance of living, especially since the armies are so incompetent…and once again the whole situation strikes me as really fishy.
Ever since I first heard about this suicide mission, I have had a funny feeling that goes beyond the fact that they black mailed me into this by threatening my family. They also unnecessarily and easily tricked the incredibly stupid Hero into going with the promise of that stupid reward, and still no matter how I look at it there is was no good reason to kill me, or more importantly to them risk him …or possibly seeing how things turned out they do want him more accurately they want us dead. I think back to this not so distant past in order to try and figure it out.
Flashback:
Hero a young dashing and handsome young man with angelic features and a well-muscled body, is casually standing while wearing shining silver suit of armor, a silk blue cloak…as well as his remarkable expensive and rare magic sword, in a fancy sheath at his hip.
Standing beside him is myself, an extremely ordinary or plain young man in tarnished leather and iron armor that is obviously well worn and is in fact only holding together due to my diligent care…by my side is an old dented badly made iron sword, it has no sheath and is held there by a leather string tied to my belt. We are standing in a most beautiful room, with 3 of the four walls having stained glass windows and the 4th wall being mostly a large thick door.
There is a large desk made of a golden beautifully polished wood and behind it sits a fat old man wearing masterful tailored ridiculously expensive cloth of gold and the finest silks its color a blinding white. He is the pope…a person who is slightly higher in influence than anyone but technically the king. Technically, because the king is only at most , merely half as smart as hero and this sly old fellow has been tugging on his leading strings since birth and he has never made a move in his life without this old man’s say so.
The only one who really rules besides him is the carefully chosen queen, but as they control different parts of the government she (the everyday, the cultural, the higher nobility and new legislature), him (the military, the execution of laws and orders, the lower nobility politics). They avoid stepping on each others toes and don't have any problems with each other.
When I look at the man I don't see his power or the richness of his clothing, I just see a man who has done many things that have been to my disadvantage or sometimes even harm. Someone I would hate if I was a person capable of hating others for any length of time at least.
“I have called you here to personally give you an important mission great hero.”
I immediately became suspicious as he had no reason to lay it on thick for hero or even summon him here in the first place…I was the one who decided where we went so for all prior missions I was merely sent a trusted servant or slipped a piece of paper. I waited patiently for him to get to the point.
“ I have had a vision and " he pauses dramatically"in this vision I was told that you, Great Hero are the best choice to defeat the evil demon lord Violent and save this land from his darkness”
“Yes!” Hero did a fist pump.
He probably didn’t even really understand most what the pope said but the words “best choice” and “defeat the evil” are the kind of things he thinks are cool…so he was unconcerned with anything else…but I was of course a different matter
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“Wait a second” I said
“…demon lord Valiant that makes no sense! He hasn’t done anything evil against us since his arrival and ascension into lordship few hundred years ago…in fact from what I have heard without him being our neighbor after the demon wars ended the other demon lords would have killed us all or enslaved this kingdom a long time ago…”
“Heroes companion I insist that you use the demon lords church sanctioned name of “Violent” when you refer to him, besides even a child knows that all demon lords are evil and thus legally need no other reason than their continued existence for them to be vanquished” the pope smirks at me
“Yeah Peasant even a child knows that” the hero also smirks but with his beautiful face it comes out as a dignified sneer. “
“Besides it is not a companion’s job to worry about minor things like that, it is your job to follow orders, now as an incentive for doing such a great and noble deed, I have been granted power by the king to make the necessary accommodations to fulfill one favor you ask for”
“Oh! Oh! I know what I want! I know just what I want!” Hero calls out excitedly bouncing a bit “So I have been wanting to hire that famous sculptor that is so popular these days to build a golden statue of myself to share my beauty with the public…but that guy is really pricy and when I asked my father he said his hands are tied right now as he is building our new and doesn’t have much extra gold so I didn’t have enough saved from my missions. So I want my favor to be that the church builds me a statue showing my greatness!”
The pope hides a strange giggle behind a palm that completely doesn’t match his image then says
“Done and I think it is time for you to prepare for your journey”
“Nah, Peasant will take care of it he always does…and besides I dropped my latest girl because she started to get clingy and I haven’t had time to get a new one yet so I have no one to say goodbye to”
The pope gives up on trying giving hints and shouts
“will you please leave!”
Hero shrugs and leaves the room. The pope waits until he shuts the door then smiles evilly at me, his eyes looking very knowing
“Peasant we have yet to hear your favor…might I make a suggestion?”
“You will do so whether I give you permission or not so why do you bother asking my permission?”
The pope looks annoyed for a moment then shrugs it off
“I hear you still visit your family…have they been well”
I freeze, to the point that I temporarily stop breathing
“I suggest that if you want your family to continue to do well…that you ask for that as a favor”
Although I am still a peasant being a hero’s companion makes me a higher status then my family…so there has been much awkwardness between us the past few years but even so I love my family and they are the only thing besides my dream that I care about…whenever I get the chance I go to visit them…I shudder at the thought of what an organization like the church could do to them with all its power and connections and say desperately.
“why do you want me to do this suicide mission so badly, even if it the way of it made sense it is impossible for a useless hero and a peasant companion dressed as a guard to defeat a high level demon lord”
Knowing that he has me beat the pope makes a wide smile, and with a fanatical gleam in his eye he answers me
“It doesn’t make sense you say? It makes perfect sense, in my vision a “god” asked me to arrange to kill the demon lord Valiant and in return I would be granted the right to ask for one wish…oh the many things I can ask for from a god…great riches? Kingdoms? Even my cherished dream Eternal youth? So many wonderful options…
Now about the solution to this problem…I do know that, although thanks to you, your hero has the highest mission success rate that you are indeed admittedly no match against a demon lord …which is why I am going to sacrifice the dearest treasure of my family in order to give you
a chance…in defeating him but you are right in thinking that it is a suicide mission.”
He reaches into his robes and hands me a silver bottle.
“This is what’s known as ‘heroic water’ ah you have heard of it? It grants great power, a match for even the demon lord…unfortunately it does this by taking all the years you have left to live…and concentrating them in a single month, but it only works correctly so long as you are fighting. As soon as you stop to rest for more than a few moments you will die an extremely painful death. The plan is you hold off the demon lord for a month and after that month I will send an army of priests and paladins to kill the demon lord off while he is in his weakened state. “
“This makes no sense! You said so yourself that I have the highest success rate, why would you sacrifice me like this?”
“Calm down and doesn’t worry like I said think of your family’s welfare? This isn’t my first choice…either it is a last resort, this is in case you with your great brains and talent in war fare can’t think of a way to kill the demon lord…you can take as much time as you want figuring out a way to do it…besides think about it won’t the demon lord be angry if you attempt to kill him and fail angry enough to lash out against your family and the rest of this nation after to killing you? It is assurance in many ways besides the demon lord’s death. Now take this”
He hands me a strange device
“That device has been magic to teleport you back here but only after you succeed in killing the demon lord, and it won’t work otherwise only if you somehow succeed it will be activated…whether or not you decide to drink the heroic water, I will round up the army and send them after you in a month or so and they should be enough to kill the demon lord…but as they are valuable tools I rather not have some of them die in a useless fight just like you feel your family is valuable and you would rather not fight or put them in danger…a blessing on your soul Peasant and may the gods smile upon you"
Suddenly the sly old man has a most holy and benign expression on his face, this masterful display of acting skill gives me a great hint as to how he became the pope…I leave cursing my fate wishing things could be different.
Flashback end