"Are you sure about that?" a sharp voice interrupted.
"Yeah. Come a little closer," another voice answered, deeper and rougher. "A hero's party came to the city."
Two men were talking in the middle of a tavern. The sharp voice belonged to a pale man, while the deeper one came from someone with a great, bushy beard. Both wore black robes with simple hoods, and they spoke in hushed voices as though they were sharing some great secret.
Eídal, seated behind them, could only thank fate for such valuable information.
The tavern was a gloomy place, steeped in dark browns and muted shades characteristic of old wood. Its only source of light came from the oil lamps hanging from the high ceiling. Behind the counter stood a scrawny barkeep, repeatedly wiping down the mugs with a scrap of cloth.
There were only four people in the tavern: the two men, the barkeep, and Eídal himself. It was that hour of the night when alcohol gave drinkers an involuntary sense of honesty.
Perfect for gathering information, Eídal celebrated inwardly.
He had resolved to carry this mission through to its bitter end. There was no denial, anger, bargaining, or grief left in his mind. All that remained was acceptance of his cruel reality.
"Here? In Cardinal City?" the pale man probed.
"Yes." The bearded man nodded. "Most likely, they're here to buy some minerals or gems. After all, when it comes to trade, this city is the best in the entire Kingdom of Longer."
For several days, Eídal had been coming to this tavern in the hope of hearing some news about the heroes. Today, that wait had finally paid off.
From the bottom of his heart, he offered a prayer to the heavens for those two men and wished that every drink they had for the rest of the night would taste absolutely wonderful.
"Seriously?! Which hero is it?" The pale man sounded eager. "I hope it's the Blade Hero. Come closer. Just between us... I heard she put on quite a display of her power in every city she visited."
"Not her," the bearded man said, calming him down.
"Then is it the Chain Hero? Come closer. Just between us... I heard he's calling himself the Hero of the Dead now. And apparently his bearing and armor are on an entirely different level."
"No, not him either. It's the—"
"I know! One of the magic users, right? Come closer. Just between us... I heard the Attack Hero can be pretty grouchy. And apparently the Defense Hero is a complete weirdo."
"Tsk. Will you let me finish? 'I heard' this, 'I heard' that. Can't you say anything else?!"
"Huh? You don't have to get worked up about it. You're not angry, are you? See?! You are!"
Fed up with his friend, the bearded man took a long drink, slammed his mug onto the table with a dry crack, and fell silent.
This is bad, Eídal thought. Am I going to have to ask him myself? Something like: "Hey, buddy! Long time no see! Why don't you finish what you were saying? Ah-ha-ha-ha..."
Yeah, as if that could ever happen.
Eídal knew it would be incredibly difficult to construct a sentence without an "Uh..." or an "Um..." or some other meaningless filler slipping out. So, beyond being a mere fantasy, speaking to them directly was simply out of the question.
"Go on. It's bad manners to leave gossip unfinished, you know?"
At the pale man's words, Eídal nodded as though he agreed.
The bearded man continued.
"Fine, but buy me a drink first."
"You... That's all you wanted, wasn't it?! Just admit it!"
"Haah. It's none of them. And before you ask, it's not the Monk Hero either. It's the Spear Hero."
Eídal held his breath.
It was true that his master had already informed him that a hero would be arriving. However, details such as the exact date or the hero's identity had been left uncertain.
Without a doubt, coming to the same place for so many days had been the right choice. Buying a drink and idly playing with it while drunks recounted the latest happenings around the city was finally paying off.
"The Spear Hero, huh? From what I've heard, she's an extraordinarily beautiful woman," the pale man added.
A woman?
That was new to Eídal.
A heroine.
"Yes, quite beautiful. It's also said that her strength is beyond comparison with that of heroes from previous generations."
What the bearded man said was true.
Beside the Spear Heroine, Eídal was nothing more than a simple ant. Killing her would be like trying to block out the sun with a single finger: impossible.
Even so, he would not give up merely because something had been labeled impossible. After all, his family's fate depended on his success.
Eídal reached for the box hanging from his neck, trying to draw strength from it.
This box was his trump card.
No. In truth, it was everything he had been given to kill the heroine.
For their first encounter, he would have to use one of the four thorcams inside.
There were two types of magical items in this world, each possessing different kinds of enchantments: thorcams and artifacts.
First were thorcams, objects imbued with enchantments capable of granting abilities far beyond those of ordinary mages or warriors, such as [Create Permanent Water] or [Preserve Food]. Even abilities such as [Mind Control], [Tame Beasts], and [Restore Corpses] were not beyond the capabilities of thorcams.
Thorcams could only be found in nature. Their shapes were irregular, but they all shared one defining characteristic: they were made of wood.
Not carved wood, either, but natural formations created by branches and roots.
Everything depended on the way the tree itself had grown: roots or branches shaped like knives, earrings, rings, and even hands.
Artifacts, on the other hand, were, in simple terms, artificially manufactured thorcams. Unlike true thorcams, artifacts possessed weaker enchantments and were not made of wood.
Eídal remembered hearing some people say, "Artifacts are nothing more than an attempt to recreate thorcams."
To be precise, the abilities of the four thorcams he had been given to face the heroine were: [Suppress Emotions], [Request Objects], [Track Objects], and, finally, [Great Explosion].
That, along with one hundred silver coins, was the entirety of his arsenal.
"But..." The pale man hesitated for a moment. "Come closer. Just between us... I heard—"
"You're still doing that."
Eídal paid closer attention to the conversation behind him.
And, by accident, picked up a lemon that was always served alongside the drinks.
"Let me finish. I heard... that the girl likes women."
"Cough! Cough!"
Eídal choked.
"Are you all right, kid?!" both men asked.
The barkeep merely raised an eyebrow.
Finding himself at the center of everyone's attention, Eídal raised a hand and shook his head as though nothing had happened. The lemon he had bitten into by accident left a sour, acidic sting in his throat.
Ahhh! I shouldn't draw attention to myself.
Trying not to make any more noise, he searched for something to wash away the acidic sensation.
He ended up grabbing the mug from his table.
Meanwhile, the pale man continued.
"They also say that every woman in her party is her concubine."
"Pffft!"
Eídal spat it out.
Not merely because of what the pale man had said, but because what he had been drinking was liquor.
It was his first time trying it. Although it was sweet, he disliked the fermented taste of the fruit.
"Hey, kid! Are you all right?!"
"Huh?! Um... No, no, no. Um... s-sorry."
"Are you sure?"
Seeing the blank stares of the two men, Eídal immediately regretted his foolish response.
Unable to bear the embarrassment, he buried his head in his arms.
Ah! If I used the [Suppress Emotions] thorcam, I could talk like a normal person, Eídal thought.
But after giving his cheeks a few light slaps, he shook his head.
No, no, no. I'll use it when the time comes.
To make sure he made no more mistakes, he pushed both the lemons and the mug of liquor away from his table and returned his attention to the conversation.
She likes women, and the women accompanying her are her concubines? Now that's something I didn't expect.
It was the first time Eídal had ever heard of someone with such tastes.
Could this new information affect the mission?
He couldn't deny that it might.
He needed to think about what to do.
This is going to be difficult, but... I'll be useful this time.
Eídal, having finally accepted his reality, embarked upon a sea of thoughts that night.