Chapter 123: A Hero's Return

Infinite Mana in the Apocalypse

The Snowy Peak was much different than it used to be as I could feel the presence of many powerful figures moving around. There were even more Royal Guards surrounding the large manor, many of them being rank S and a few rank As.

My hidden figure walked around the manor, the guards passing by not being able to even spare me a glace as I went towards a large hall in the manor where most people were condensed at.

The hall was full of nobles and ministers that busily moved around. A sense of frustration was in the air as some could be seen sending accusatory and unsavory words to others, with a few having a sense of calm trying to bring everything down.

"The commoners will soon begin rioting if nothing is changed. Hmph, they never were a thankful bunch."

"Tsk, stop with that attitude. You're still holed up in your castle with reserves of grain and food that could last you weeks, you would never understand the feeling of not knowing if you will have something to put in your belly the next day."

Nobles could be seen trading words back and forth as the talks continued.

"What of the heroes that took down the Demon King? If we could just get in contact with them..."

"Hah, those powerful figures were most likely from one of the Mythical Kingdoms, do you really think after doing all that they would still hang around to help your pompous ass?"

It seemed to be more arguments that anything effective actually being done, and frustration was in the air.

At the center of all of this was a Princess surrounded by even larger groups of nobles as it looked they were pleading with her to do something. As I was walking in, the face of the Princess that was impassive with a hint of tiredness lit up. She tried keeping her emotions under control as her clear voice rang out above everyone else in the room.

"Everyone, clear out for a moment."

The voice was low, but resounded all around as it hushed the squabbling nobles who looked at her in a confused manner. When they saw she was being serious, the figures of people quickly scrambled out of the large hall, only taking a few minutes before the huge doors were closed.

I felt multiple Shadow Guards silently appear behind the closed door as a barrier that prevented any prying eyes erected itself around the hall. I found the impassive face of the princess to be showing more emotions than usual as an expression of distress moved to relief when my figure became visible to her.

"You...you!"

The princess seemed to almost be huffing as she stopped talking and breathed in and out, calming herself down before she talked again.

"Esteemed Sir, I...am glad you're back safe and sound, but do you know how many days had passed without a word from you? I was...I was.."

The girl seemed to have a trace of anxiousness as she spoke, and I tried to calm her down by replying with a smile. I had taken a look at the communication medallion on the way here and found some messages from her, so I expected this.

"Something big happened after I took down the pest aiming its fangs towards the kingdom. How many days have passed?"

She looked to be surprised as her expression fully calmed down as if she understood. She seemed to have become her old safe as she said,

"As long as something occurred and there was a reason, then all is well. It has been more than two days since the Kingdom's forces came back from the war against the demon forces. When you weren't with them nor answering through the communication medallion, even with the word that victory was ours I couldn't help but worry."

I looked at the girl that seemed to have gone through a flurry of emotions she would normally never go through and felt apologetic.

"Don't worry, it was my fault. I'll make sure to keep you up to date whenever something like this arises again. I'm curious to know the state of things at the moment though."

Adelaide had fully calmed down as a slight happy expression came on her face, and I found her doing a curtsy once again.

"Let me first thank you for going out of your way to save my father and the people of this kingdom who have yet to know the hero that slew the Demon King. We owe you our lives."

I scratched my nose at the sight of this beautiful girl bowing to me once again as brushed off the thanks and asked to fill me on the current state of affairs. I had to know if any movements were made, even though I was confident that my enemies would not move this fast.

Besides the mourning that was taking place for all those that fell in the war, many were looking for the heroes that appeared to save the day. The gallant Saint that rained down blessings which healed all wounds, The Sword Beast that pulled away the Demon King, and many others who disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared that day.

The Saint they were praising was an unholy poisonous abomination that was now standing guard over a small army of corpses in a Spiritual Land with the other beasts that also made their appearance. As for the large white-furred beast flinging around a cold blade while dishing out spectacular skills, maybe they would see it again soon enough.

A small issue over the appearance of these 'Heroes' arose from the actions of the Holy Blight of raising all the corpses on the battlefield. Adventurers, mercenaries, and other soldiers had people they knew that fell in battle, and they couldn't even reclaim their corpses.

This raised some negative sentiments amongst others, but it was quickly quelled down by the majority positive opinions of the heroes who had saved the Kingdom. This issue made me think a bit about the actions I allowed the Holy Blight to take as I wondered if I should have limited it just a bit.

The other issue besides this was the fact that the Kingdom was experiencing an inflow of many refugees from the surrounding lands as the perpetual winters of the North had become even harder to live in with the invasion of demons. Famine was on the horizon for many people if something wasn't done.

At the mention of this, both the princess and I smiled. It seemed she had already made the plans as we both recalled my actions that caused the instant maturity of the crops on an entire acre of land in an instant some time back.

"I've already put plans into progress to move forward. Whenever you are available and with your permission, I would love to start putting them into action."

The girl had already had people clear out and cultivate many acres and fields of barren lands where produce would normally take quite a while to grow or not grow at all. Modes of transportation, farmers to harvest the products, and many more things that overlooked the entire process of farming and distributing the produce were all ready to be put into place.

I gave Adelaide much deserved recognition for setting everything up so quickly and planning things this early. I even had my own surprise of the [Sacred Rye] that was an extremely fantastical plant that would be ready in just two days.

"No, things like this are the least I can do while you continue to fight for us. After some time, I will go have another talk with my father to see if I can achieve something earlier and be able to move many more pieces. He hasn't been the same since he returned."

A slightly sad expression appeared on her face as she talked about her family. Even with the powerful heals from my Holy Blight, the king that I saved from the clutches of two [Blue Manticores] and a Demon King was still heavily injured. The cause was of course the son that had fallen under the Demon's grasp. I had the sparse memories of Gremory, so I knew a bit more about the story behind all of this. A betrayed father and a stupid son, how would this play out?