The Prona Kingdom.
One of the kingdoms featured in the game Hero's Party, it possessed vast granaries and was relatively peaceful, as its monsters were uniformly weak.
Because of this peace, its soldiers had little experience, their levels were low, and its national power was weak. As a result, it was always walking on eggshells around other kingdoms, its hard-earned crops stolen under the guise of "gifts of friendship."
For that reason, the Prona Kingdom had high hopes for this generation's Hero.
If the Prona Kingdom's Hero proved more capable than those of other nations, they would no longer be able to look down on them.
But then...
"Hero. What has become of the companions who set out on this journey with you?"
"You already know, do you not?"
"...I wish to hear it from your own lips."
"They joined another party."
"You say that so lightly..."
"What can I do? They said they preferred another Hero over me."
The officials began to murmur amongst themselves.
King William of the Prona Kingdom raised a hand to quiet them before raising his voice to scold Cloud.
"You should not have let them go. Every single one of your party members was a crucial talent for the Prona Kingdom!"
Eri was the second daughter of the Oller Ducal Family, a house with powerful influence in the kingdom, and an outstanding wizard.
Neria was a promising young knight whose talent had been recognized by the kingdom's Knight Commander, and as for Ophelia, a Saint Candidate, her importance went without saying.
All of them were assets, treasures of the Prona Kingdom.
For them to have joined another party was no different from them falling into the hands of another kingdom.
Faced with the king's fury, Cloud showed no sign of fear or intimidation as he met his gaze and continued speaking.
"I understand your concerns. However, I would like to tell you not to worry about that."
"What?"
"As you know, Eri is of the Oller Ducal Family's bloodline. Blood is thicker than water. If the Oller family summons her, she will answer."
He was right.
If the Oller Ducal Family, her blood relatives, called for Eri, other kingdoms would have no grounds to hold her back.
"And Neria and Ophelia?"
"Doesn't the Prona Kingdom have plenty of knights on Neria's level? There are even more skilled ones, are there not?"
This, too, was irrefutable.
While it was true that Neria possessed great talent, she was not the kingdom's finest knight.
Besides, to affirm otherwise would be to slight their own knights.
"As for Ophelia, you need not even think about it. No matter how much of a lecher Hero Gis is, would he truly venerate a woman from another country as a Saintess? Even if he tried, his patrons would oppose it. And an Ophelia who is not a Saintess is merely a slightly talented nun. She holds no symbolic value whatsoever."
The power of a religion comes from its followers.
That is why symbols are so important in religion; they strengthen the believers' faith.
A hundred priests with outstanding divine power are worth less than a single commoner who has received a call from a god.
The faithful would follow that commoner, not the priests.
As Cloud spoke so calmly, not only King William but all the other officials fell silent.
It wasn't so much that they were surprised by the logic of his words, but rather...
'Was Hero Cloud always like this?'
They were flustered by Cloud's sudden change in demeanor.
Cloud, who had been a commoner, was originally unable to even look the king—a man far above his station—in the eye.
The same went for his speech.
Before, whenever the king spoke to him, he would only manage a slightly trembling reply.
But now, he was expressing his opinions to the king without the slightest hesitation.
He didn't even stutter!
Silence fell over the audience chamber.
The king spoke again.
"...After the incident with the Imperial cult, your whereabouts were unknown for three months. What exactly were you doing during that time, going so far as to hide your identity?"
This time, there was no immediate answer.
After a brief pause, as if he were contemplating, the reply came.
"...I spent the time in contemplation."
It was a lie.
He might have done so for the last month, but for the first two, he had done nothing but eat and play. However, there was no way for the king or the other officials to know that.
"...Is that so. Very well. You must be tired from your journey here. You may retire and rest. Head Chamberlain, provide him with a place to stay."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Head Chamberlain bowed and led Cloud out of the audience chamber. As soon as he was gone, the officials who had been holding their tongues began to speak one by one.
"Your Majesty, it seems the Hero has changed a great deal. In a positive direction, of course."
"You felt that as well, Administrator?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. It seems that parting with those three was a significant turning point for him."
"I, too, think so."
The Knight Commander chimed in after the administrator.
"Honestly, the last time I saw him, he seemed quite naive. But the Hero I saw today showed no trace of that. He looked more like a mature warrior."
"To think the Knight Commander would go that far."
The Knight Commander had always looked down on Cloud. Seeing his changed attitude, William and the other officials couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle.
It was, of course, a chuckle of approval.
"To think the Hero would come to his senses after losing three of the kingdom's talents. My, my... I don't know whether to call this a good thing or a bad thing."
"It is a good thing, of course, Your Majesty. If you are amenable, I would like to offer the Hero my teachings once more."
"If the Knight Commander is willing, I would be most reassured."
"In the meantime, I will look for new companions to join the Hero."
"You too, Administrator. With you all working so hard, the kingdom's future seems very bright indeed."
The atmosphere in the audience chamber became cheerful.
The next day, news that the Hero had slipped out of the royal palace reached the audience chamber.
"That bastard Hero... no, that son of a bitch, drag him back here now!"
"Your Majesty, your dignity..."
"Shut up and bring him back!!"
William finally clutched the back of his neck in frustration.
*
Damn, those old geezers talk a lot.
I'm busy enough as it is; I certainly don't have time to listen to their lectures.
'Shouldn't have entered the capital if I knew this would happen.'
I never imagined I'd be caught right at the main gate. I didn't think a low-ranking guard would recognize my face.
'I should avoid the capital of the Prona Kingdom from now on.'
The king will probably try to offer me all sorts of support, but I have no intention of accepting it.
It would be nice in the short term, I guess.
I'd get money for travel, find some decent companions, and receive various other conveniences.
But I'd have to pay it all back later anyway.
Is there such a thing as a free lunch in this world?
Later, once I've grown stronger and built up a decent force, they'll try to put a leash on me using the support they gave me in the past as leverage.
If I get pissed off and break the leash, from that day on I'll be the ungrateful bastard who doesn't know the meaning of grace.
So it's better not to accept anyone's support.
I'll earn my own travel expenses and buy my own food.
I pay my own way.
You could say this is one of the basic rules for surviving in this harsh fantasy world.
-Grrrrr...!
A wolf larger than most men bared its teeth and snarled fiercely.
It wasn't very threatening.
Blood was still dripping from its severed front paw.
-Grrr... Woof!
Realizing that time was not on its side, the beast opened its maw wide and lunged at me.
Its teeth were still sharp, but its leap was not. I slid to the side to dodge and swung my sword.
Wolf Slayer.
A large gash appeared on the side of the wolf's neck. I wasn't sure if it was due to the game's system, but this skill made it easy to slice through an animal's hide.
Thanks to that, even large wolves were easy to hunt.
In any case, it was a skill worth its 1000 Gold price.
-Whimmmper...
The wolf collapsed onto its side, letting out a pained whine, unable to even breathe properly.
"Hurts, doesn't it? I'll make it quick."
I eased its suffering by plunging my sword into the center of its neck. Taking out a dagger, I slit open the wolf's belly and plunged my hand inside to rummage around.
After pushing aside large organs a few times, I felt a small, bead-like object. I pulled it out. When I washed the blood-soaked bead with water, it revealed a yellow glow.
Core of the Giant Blue Wolf.
A core that has a chance to drop from a level 22 Giant Blue Wolf, it increases the Agility stat by 2.
Without hesitation, I swallowed it whole and headed deeper into the cave. The dungeon wasn't over yet.
After that, I continued forward, fighting off the Giant Blue Wolves that kept appearing, until I reached the deepest part of the cave.
In the back of the final chamber stood three pots in a row.
Logically, it was strange for a wolf's den to have pots, but...
This is a fantasy world, right?
Best to just go with it.
I swung my sword and shattered all three pots. Amidst the shards, I saw something glinting.
The sparkling object was a silver ring, and I knew what it was.
The reason I came to this cave was for this very ring.
Blue Wolf's Ring.
A ring that increases the wearer's Agility by 20%.
'With this, I think I've gathered most of the early-game items.'
Starting from the capital of the Prona Kingdom, I had followed the game's route to collect the rings. A few were missing, probably because the previous Cloud had already taken them, so I could only obtain the ones he'd left behind.
Here is the list of rings I acquired:
Bandit's Grimy Ring.
- Increases poison damage by 20%.
Ring of a Farming Family, Passed Down Through Generations.
- Increases the effect of recovery items by 30%.
Madman's Ring.
- Increases attack power by 50%, decreases durability by 50%.
Lost Ring of a Certain Family.
- Increases durability by 50.
Nameless Knight's Red Ring.
- Increases attack power by 10%.
And the Blue Wolf's Ring I just obtained.
In total, I had collected six rings.
There should have been about five more, but it seemed the original Cloud and his party had acquired them during their travels.
'For a guy who did all that, he didn't have a single ring on him.'
Did he really give them all to those three?
That seemed like the most probable scenario.
What do you expect from a guy on the netorare masochist route? He'd give them his heart and soul, everything he had.
It's a relief he didn't take the most important one, the 'Nameless Knight's Red Ring'.
The Nameless Knight's Ring has mediocre stats right now, but it becomes extremely useful when upgraded in the late game.
'Now that I've grabbed everything I need from the Prona Kingdom, I should head to the Alitia Kingdom next.'
I need to move quickly.
There's a place I have to stop by first.
*
A small, rural village in the southern part of the Prona Kingdom.
In that tiny, nameless village, there was a boy.
A seemingly ordinary boy with blond hair and blue eyes, the kind you could find anywhere.
The boy was on a hill in the village, swinging a wooden sword by himself.
'Found him.'
I grinned as I watched the boy.
His name was Mars.
The ill-fated knight who would one day sacrifice his life to protect a city from the forces of the Four Heavenly Kings, only to have all his fame stolen by an NTR perpetrator.
He was the protagonist of Hero's Party's sequel, The Adulterous Knight's Tale.