155 [Shun] – Downfall

Original Translation: APM
Editing: Legit-rikk
Additional thanks goes out to Kubor. Join our discord

Something is strange around here.
I’ve had that feeling for quite some time now. But only recently have I realized that. Before now it was only a subconscious feeling.
Something is definitely wrong.
But what exactly it is, I still don’t understand. While this discomforting feeling is following me, I cannot put my finger on it.

I have to figure out what it is, no matter the cost, otherwise I will regret it.

I have been called to father’s room, which is uncommon. He seems to be busier than ever these days. As it pertains to me, I know about how the rumors of the Hero’s death are spreading from the battlefield among the ordinary people.

We cannot hide the death of Brother Julius.

It seems like the church plans to officially announce the passing of the hero, and to announce a new one at the same time. Which means that I have to finally take the stage as a hero. I guess that is why I have been summoned today.

But why did Sue also get summoned alongside me? Currently we are walking side by side.
I wonder for what reason they called Sue together with me, all the way from the school. It seems Sue wasn’t informed either.

Thus, we arrive at the room clueless. But I guess we are going to know once we are inside. 

I knock on the door.

“It’s Schlain.”
“hm? You may come in.”
“Well then, excuse me.”

I open the door and enter; Sue follows silently.

“What is wrong?” asks Father while writing something on a document. Isn’t that my line?

“Wasn’t it Father who summoned me? What can I do for you?”
“Huh? I didn’t call for you.”

Eh?
By the time I thought that, things were already in motion. Before the sound voicing my doubts could even leave my mouth. Not that they could anyways. Some kind of muting wind magic was placed around me. Constructed and activated so quickly that I couldn’t respond. I only know a few people who could do that, one of them standing right next to me. 

Sue. 

What? 

When I voice my thoughts the air around me drowns out the sound. The tricky part about this magic isn’t that it doesn’t silence you, but instead drowns out your sound with wind. Once it is active, my voice will never get out, unless I cancel it.

As I stand there confused, insult gets added to injury. 

Sue attacks Father.

My eyes widen in surprise.
What?
Why?

Sue uses light magic, the magic I am best at. And Shoots my father in the forehead.

 “Iyaaaaaaaaaa! BIG BROTHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Sue screams at the same time.

I am too confused to get a clear thought. 

Suddenly, Brother Cyrus and an armed knight escort violently open the door , entering the room 

“What is going on!?”
“Big Brother…” exclaims Sue, “He… The king…!”
“Seriously!? You’ve lost your mind Schlain!” 

No it wasn’t me!

I didn’t do it! 

What’s going on? 

I wanted to shout that, but my Voice was drowned out.

“Guards! Schlain attacked his Majesty the King! Apprehend him!”

The armored knight next to him moves right after. He drew his sword and swung it down on me. I was momentarily confused, but thanks to my training I quickly got up and pulled out my own sword to stop it. The armored knight’s sword swiftly splits mine in half.

Impossible. Even though I haven’t reinforced it, there was no way the sword of a Hero would shatter that easily. Yet it got split in half like that.

The constantly changing situation made it hard for me to comprehend what was happening. My hesitation didn’t elude the armored knight however, as he sliced me on the way back up. Thanks to the fact I backpedaled after losing my sword, I wasn’t fatally wounded. Still, the diagonal slash inflicted a serious wound. 

“Yo. You look great right now, my dear lord hero.” Mocks the armored knight. His voice was slightly muffled by the helmet, but I could still clearly make it out.

“You… Hugo!?” I gasped.
“That’s right!” and with that, he takes off his helmet. And standing there is Hugo. The Hugo that should have lost all his skills. That should have lost his position.

Cyrus looks startled. “Hugo, why did you reveal yourself?” Upon hearing that, Hugo  scoffs, “Isn’t it fine? It’s a nice memory to take to the underworld”.
Cyrus just talked as if he knew that the armored knight was Hugo the whole time. Like he knew him prior. But why?

Hugo spots my confused expression. “Oh, so you want to know? Your Esteemed Brother wants the throne. I want revenge on you and Oka. So, we both wanted you out of the way.” 

“But isn’t Cyrus supposed to be the next king anyways?”

“On the contrary. The King that kicked the bucket just now wanted to make you the next king. That way, by announcing your pampered ass as the next king before your announcement as a hero, you wouldn’t have been able to be sent to the battlefield so easily.”

“I will not let such an idiotic action snatch away my throne!” screamed Cyrus bitterly after Hugo’s words. But of course, they also were silenced, so no one but us could hear them. 

I look towards the one who cast that magic.

“Big Brother, its unfortunate, but could you please die?”

Despite sounding like usual, her voice came over like a different person. The complete opposite of her flat but usually passionate voice, she now sounds cold and indifferent, as if she despises me.
“Sue? What’s wrong?”
“Big Brother,” she just answers flatly, “I have discovered true love, and for that reason I am willing to kill you.”

Something is strange. Thinking that there is something wrong with her, I activate appraisal. [Hypnosis], [Brainwashing], and [Charmed] were all displayed there.
“HUGO! Did you do that??”
“Oh, you noticed? You see it now? That’s right. I did that. How does it feel? How does it feel to be robbed? Are you frustrated? I know exactly what you are going through right now! Hehehe.”
“Turn Sue back to normal right now!”
“You really think I’m going to turn her back just because you asked? Are you an idiot?”
My eyes slowly redden. My body does not respond like I want It to.
Hugo raises his sword. “The guards will be here soon. I guess it’s time for you to ‘take your leave’ now.” 

“I WON’T LET YOU!” Suddenly, a small elven body inserts itself between us, and blows him away with a shockwave of wind; leaving me shocked.

“OOOKA?!?” Hugo reacts a second later.
“Let’s run.” Without sparing Hugo a glance, teacher runs off. Someone is carrying me. 

“Hyrince!” I exclaim in shock. “Hey, I’m confused too, but let’s just think about surviving right now, ok?”

I cast healing magic to mend my wounds, while teacher’s magic blows away the approaching guards. On the way here and there, I could see fellow soldiers fighting each other. “What is going on?” 

“Mutiny” answers Oka. “Mutiny?” “Indeed, led by the first prince Cyrus and Hugo. They probably intend to pin the blame on you shun, as if they were the ones to quell the rebellion.”

Teachers’ explanation leaves me lost for words. 

“Right now, Leston is fighting. We escape while he buys us time.” Saying that, we finally escape the castle and head for a single house.

“We will rendezvous with Leston there, and then we are going to flee the country.” Teacher then states calmly.
“Wait a second Teacher! We have to do something about Hugo and Sue!”
“We won’t.”
“But teacher, if we deal with him right now, we can resolve this whole mess. I know I lost before, but my wounds are healed now, and if we go back to the castle to get him…”
“No.” The same statement as before.
“Teacher! Please!”
“The church has already announced a new Hero. And his name is Hugo von Renxandt”
“eh?”
“That means that even the church is in on this.”

I stumble involuntarily. Luckily Hyrince catches my shoulder, before asking cautiously, “Miss elf, do you have any idea on why the church is involved in this nonsense?”
“It’s reasonable to assume that Hugo’s Brainwashing has penetrated deep into the church.”
“That’s impossible! Such brainwashing usually wears off nearly instantaneous. It should not be able to lead to such a situation.”
“Yes, generally that should be the case.” Oka elaborates, “But there is one exception.”
“Exception?”
“The Top level Skill series, ‘Seven Sins’: ‘Lust’. The Brainwashing effect of it is unmatched by any other skill. I have no doubt that Hugo possesses this skill.”

‘Seven Sins’? Are there skills like that? There was no such skill among the ones I’ve checked, does that mean that it is a Skill that can’t be acquired even with 100,000 Skill points?
“With that being clear, I have no idea how far Hugo’s reach is, but it is safe to say this whole country is already a lost cause.” Hearing that, I can only let out a faint “Oh no…”. 

Right during my dilemma, Brother Leston and two more familiar faces entered the house together. Instantly he shouts “Shun! Are you all right?”. The first one, Anna greets me with “It’s been a long time, your highness” and the other, Klevea adds “You have grown up splendidly, your highness”. These were the two maids that once worked as our personal chambermaids. Compared to the still young looking Half-elf Anna, Klevea looks older than before. Still, she came to my aid in my time of need nonetheless. Suddenly I became desperate.
“Anna? Not you too!”
“Yes?”
“You too, you are also under Hugo’s control!” Anna’s status clearly states [Hypnosis], [Brainwashing], and [Charmed] after appraising it. At the same time I was shouting, Anna suddenly squints her eyes and begins to construct magic. I intercept her and knock her out with my hand, now that my sword is gone. Immediately, I try to cleanse her status with healing magic. However, the letters didn’t disappear from Anna’s status.
“Shit! They even got Anna”, Brother Leston clenches his fists in frustration. 

“This is bad! We’re surrounded!” After hearing Mr. Hyrince’s words, I looked outside the house and see numerous soldiers standing all around us.

“Let’s break through by force!” at teacher’s proposal, we all nod. Then Leston hands me his sword.
“What is that?” I ask, confused. “It is a divine sword of the royal family. This is better suited to be wielded by the hero Shun, rather than by me, who has no combat experience.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.” I answer, before following Mr. Hyrince as he leads the way into the encirclement. At the same time, Brother Leston’s troops launch a surprise attack from their hiding spot. “Now!”, on teacher’s command we break through the encirclement. But there is another unit ahead of us.

And the one leading them is…

“Shun! You are not going to get away with this!”
“Katia…”

My best friend from my previous life stands in front of me.

***************************************************

“Hugo, You bastard, you let him go on purpose, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t act senile now! You know what kind of trouble he is going to cause if he stays alive!”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“Bastard.”
“The fuck is wrong with you shithead?”
“huh?”
“Why are you telling me what to do, bastard? You’re just another pawn.”
“What are you saying?”
“I can kill you anytime I want. You should know that.”
“You…”
“It’s not like I am satisfied with only this much. They are going to have to suffer much more…”