If you were to look for information on the incident, you'd come to the to the same hypothesis as the disentangling social rumors, only in more detail.
Deon Hardt, who had a grudge against his family for some reason, wanted the destruction of the Hardt family in exchange for giving up all other interests, and the Emperor, who wanted to give something to the talented person who had appeared after a long time, gave him the title of Honorary Count and money, and half-accepted.
Of course, such an important decision could not be made solely on that basis, so the condition he put forward was to participate in the journey to defeat the Demon King as acompanion of the hero.
'We also postponed recognizing him as an official hero.'
Although it was a meaningless action.
Deon Hardt had already been called a hero for his accomplishments in the Eight Year War. Whether the Emperor acknowledged it or not, he was already a hero.
Nevertheless, the reason he postponed it was because he was the only one among the heroes who did not have the fragments of a hero.
'It's not discrimination, but he probably tried to give it to him only after accumulating more merit to prevent others from objecting by citing that reason.'
Whether the hero succeeded or fails, Deon Hardt would become a hero as long as he returned alive.
Perhaps because he knew the Emperor's intentions, Deon Hardt accepted this and set off again as a hero's companion as soon as he received the title.
It was the result of the Emperor weighing the value of the Hardt family, who had been loyal to the Desert family for generations, and Deon Hardt, who appeared like a comet and left a strong image in a relatively short period of time.
Normally, he would have chosen the former without even thinking about it, but since the current Emperor rose to the position of monarch through rebellion, the nobles assumed he couldn't trust their loyalty. That's why the weights became somewhat the same.
The Emperor's decision would also have changed depending on the outcome of the journey.
Even if he had just come back alive, the Emperor would have cared for him enough, but instead, Deon Hardt performed better than expected by recovering the hero's body, and the Emperor willingly accepted his conditions.
This meant that he used Cruel to gather all kinds of rumors and information. It was a hypothesis that was put together by scraping together scraps of information. The person who watched the process of coming up with that hypothesis from beginning to end was Cruel Hardt.
'What was his expression like at that time?'
Stave Illuster glanced around and saw Deon Hardt sitting on one side and Cruel Hardt approaching him. He turned his head again and smiled at those who were looking at him in silence.
"Still, I hope you watch your mouth here. The main character of this banquet is not anyone else but a member of the Hardt family."
"Yes, yes! Excuse me!"
***
Life was originally meant to be lived alone.
I came alone when I came and I will go alone when I leave, so is there really a need to make connections?
...Okay, actually, all of this is nonsense.
'I want to talk to someone too! But no one is coming!'
Even when I approached someone, they ran away...
At this point, even people who were dense would notice. Now, I was clearly being ignored by everyone.
Oh, it's not like I'm being turned away. As soon as I entered the banquet hall, all eyes were on me. However, they do't come closer and even when I approach them, they just run away.
'Let's eat and see. There are a lot of things that look delicious...'
I sat casually on a nearby chair, rested my chin, and scanned the desserts nearby.
Starting with the most basic cookies, macaron cake pudding... Oh, that pudding looks delicious. Is it strawberry pudding?
The vivid and transparent red color makes you want to try it at least once.
'...Can I eat it?'
It was probably meant to be eaten in the first place.
I slowly got up from my seat and headed towards that direction when I heard a voice calling me from somewhere.
At first glance, it seemed like there was someone calling me 'Count Hardt'... but I guess I was mistaken. It must have been an illusion that the voice sounded familiar.
At least no one approached me here.
"Count Hardt!"
"...Yes?"
It wasn't an illusion! There really was someone calling me!
As I turned my head, holding the pudding in my hand, I made eye contact with a knight walking quickly towards me from the other side.
She came in front of me in an instant with long strides, placed her fist on her chest and politely made a knight's bow.
"Lien Reiner sends greetings to the Count."
"Lord Lien!"
How could the world be so happy!
Sir Lien was the commander of the knights under my command.
There was one knightly order under my command, but in fact, it cannot be called a knightly order. It's just a gathering of mad dogs.
'The conclusion is strange?'
...My consciousness went to a strange place, but in any case, under my command there exists an order of knights whose name is even a beggar, the Lofty Knights.
It's an order of knights, but it was originally promoted to an order of knights in recognition of the merits of the vanguard that fought with me during the Eight Year War, so it's difficult to imagine them looking as straight as an ordinary order of knights.
Would you understand if they were previously called a 'murder squad'?
In fact, they were still called the 'Murderous Demon Knights' instead of the 'Lofty Knights by most, so it was just an official title.
Anyway, why did I welcome Sir Lien so much?
'Because she's a rock!'[1]
In other words, it means that she was a very normal person, different from those guys who laughed like crazy while tearing their enemies apart during the Eight Year War.
But I guess it was strange for me to greet her so warmly.
Sir Lien tilted her head and spoke in a more cautious tone.
"You don't look good. Are you unwell?"
"...No."
What was my expression like?
"Don't do that, just sit over here. It would be difficult if you fell down."
There was no way to refuse since she even kindly pulled out a chair for me.
I gently put down the spoon and strawberry pudding on the table and sat down on the chair.
And with the intention of changing the subject, I spoke to Sir Lien, who was still examining my complexion.
"But why is there a banquet all of a sudden?"
"Yes? Are you pretending not to know?"
"...?"
"You're kidding, right? Hahaha, that was a great denial of reality."
Sir Lien, who was smiling and clapping, looked at my face, which was still filled with doubts, and her expression gradually hardened.
"You really... didn't know?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
She hesitated, looking at my eyes, and eventually spoke slowly with a sigh as if there was nothing she could do.
"To celebrate the birth and debut of a new hero..."
"Deon."
Sir Lien was interrupted and a cool voice came in.
A voice that was unfamiliar yet terribly familiar.
I felt so bad that I turned my head and made eye contact with cold, hard green eyes.
...Ha.
The situation had been assessed. I was able to get an understanding of what Sir Lien said without having to listen to it all the way through.
The knight, who was always confident, was openly looking at me, and the unpleasant man in front of me was proudly showing off that he was the star of the banquet.
How could I not know?
I frowned and slowly stroked my hair in an attempt to hide my expression and suppress the rapidly rising emotions. There was probably a murderous intent in my eyes right now that I could't hide.
I had no intention of revealing my dangerously shining eyes here, so I closed them and smiled brightly as if to show off.
"It's been a while, brother."
Green eyes and black hair that were different from mine.
A symbol of the Hardt family that I thought I would never see again.
Indeed, the face I saw for the first time in a long time did not change at all from the one in my memory.
Cruel's face stiffened for a moment as if he was taken aback by the unexpected bright smile, but then he slowly nodded.
"Yes. It's been a while."
"You became a hero."
"I was lucky. I got the hero's fragment."
"I remember you were skilled with a sword before. Even if you did not have a fragment of a hero, you would have become a hero someday. Congratulations."
"...I once faced the Commander of Corps 0 on the battlefield."
Even though I flinched for a moment, a smile appeared on my lips again.
That's not because I was truly praising him, I was just spouting words. The pretentious praise and laughter were disgusting. Or maybe it was something that bothered me when they praised my sword skills.
"So?"
"It was more difficult because of the low morale of the soldiers rather than the problem itself."
"Well. But, it was resolved well, right?"
Otherwise, he wouldn't be here and this banquet wouldn't have been held in the first place.
"I heard that you are also good at dealing with morale. If you were there..."
"Ahahaha, brother!"
Cruel closed his mouth.
I could tell what he was trying to say without even having to listen.
I'm sure he was trying to say things like, if I had been there, he wouldn't have suffered so much.
Damn.
"There is no need to make that assumption. There's no way I could fight with you, right?"
I don't know if he would pretend to fight together and then try to kill me.
There would be no way in the first place that the Emperor, who knew our relationship well, would let us fight together.
"..."
Even during this time, those solid green eyes showed no signs of breaking.
Not only did it not break, but it didn't even shake, so I smacked my lips inwardly and tried to scoop up the pudding on the table with a spoon, scooping up a large spoonful.
If I've done this, I'll be fine.
It's normal for both of us to get offended when we see each other's faces, so I hope he goes away quickly.
In fact, I'm already in a bad mood, but I can't make a fuss here. I have no choice but to eat pudding and stuff my stomach instead.
"...I heard you went on a monster-slaying mission."
I don't know why I kept saying there's some benefit to this.
I tilted my spoon and dropped the pudding on top onto the plate, nodding with an annoyed expression.
Then Cruel looked me up and down slowly.
"Are there any injuries?"
"...Sigh."
Oh my. This is ridiculous, so stop.
Whenever you pushed me into a battlefield, you had no concern for me, yet you pretend to be worried now. Do you have any belated regrets?
It was ridiculous. Who was the person who pushed me into the battlefield when I was only 14 years old? Who was it that sent me, a weak person, to the battlefield, leaving behind an older brother who was three years older than me, not only in good health, but also an excellent swordsman?
And who was the one who just stood by and watched me like that?
Cruel Hardt.
My older brother, whom I once loved dearly.
It's him.
"What are you asking again? I know how to take good care of my body. There's no need to pretend you care now. At least in front of you, you will be completely fine."
Even if I get hurt in front of him, I won't show it.
Because you can't do something stupid that exposes your weakness to the enemy.
Cruel's expression darkened, as if he had roughly grasped the meaning of what I said, although not entirely.
That was quite pleasant, so I smiled and added.
"So, brother, as always, I would appreciate it if you could just watch."
Just as he stood by and watched when I was taken to the battlefield. like that.
"..."
"..."
There was no answer.
In the uncomfortable silence, Cruel looked at me with an unknown expression, and I also did not give up and glared into his eyes.
People nearby noticed the unusual atmosphere and immediately distanced themselves.
Only Sir Lien, who unintentionally witnessed her superior's family fight, could not avoid the situation or stop it, and just looked at me and Cruel in turns.
...What are you doing, Sir Lien?
'My eyes hurt so bad I'm dying.'
I couldn't avoid it because of my pride, but my eyes felt stinging as if I'm already at my limit.
The moment I looked to Sir Lien once again, Cruel's eyes turned to look over my shoulder.
The face returned to its original expressionless expression, as if he had seen something.
Sir Lien also had her eyes set on something and had a very stiff expression. Now that I think about it, the eyes of everyone else around me were all focused in the same direction.
'...What?'
The curiosity quickly disappeared.
I don't know what it was, but it probably had nothing to do with me. If it was related to me, it would have seen me and there would be no need to look somewhere else.
I roughly turned off my nerves and took advantage of the distractions of those around me to shove a large spoonful of pudding into my mouth.
'Oh, it wasn't strawberry, it was cherry. I thought the color was a bit too red for strawberry.'
The sour taste and aroma in my mouth was not particularly bad.
I was moving my mouth to swallow the pudding, but from somewhere... I heard an unfamiliar voice coming from where people were looking.
"That's an impressive friendship."
"...?"
The first thing I saw was purple hair tied loosely on one side. An unusual color for hair. Which family was purple the symbol of?
Ah, it was the Duke of Illuster.
...Huh? Duke?
"...?!"
He's a real peacock, right? Duke Stave Illuster!
I was so startled that I got up from my seat.
I pushed the pudding away and tried to hurriedly say hello...
'I haven't swallowed the pudding yet!'
I couldn't speak.
It was impossible to openly mumble in front of the Duke and show that I was eating something, and it was too big of a bite to just swallow. Cold sweat broke out on my back.
'What do I do...?'
[1] The original text here said "Because she is a parachute!", which I assume is a weird translation error... So I did the best I could to make this make sense.