Chapter 05…
Greed Arc
The Kingdom Conference!
Time goes back―――
“Has Greed’s representative changed again?”
The Kingdom Conference――a meeting held once every five years on the 【Divine Island】, where the kings of the nations gather together in a single building.
The countries of this world are:
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The Kingdom of Greed, skilled in magic research and technology
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The Kingdom of Mikural, skilled in population growth and construction
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The Kingdom of Abare, skilled in wealth and resources
These three nations form the balance of the world.
Each nation, by leveraging its own specialty, has remained evenly matched in power. Hundreds of years ago, they signed a ceasefire agreement, deciding that all disputes would be settled through this Kingdom Conference.
During the conference, each king is permitted only one escort: the Representative Knight of their nation.
“But this time, isn’t Greed’s Representative Knight just a young fledgling? Are you sure your nation is fine with that?”
The speaker was Naomi, the Representative Knight of the Kingdom of Mikural.
Though female, she was heavily muscular, her face bearing a large scar. Her body was almost twice the size of an average adult man, and she wielded a greatsword, making use of her massive frame and strength.
“It’s an honor to receive your concern, Lady Naomi. I too believe this rank is more than I deserve.”
The one who responded courteously to Naomi’s provocation was Keel, the Representative Knight of Greed.
With long white hair, lean muscles, and refined features, he had only recently been chosen as Greed’s Representative Knight and was attending the Kingdom Conference as an escort for the first time.
“Tch… I wasn’t worried in the first place.”
The conference building was a tall, white cylinder on the edge of a cliff, with no windows—only a single entrance.
Beyond that entrance, only kings may enter. Thus, the three Representative Knights naturally stood guard at the door, ready to respond if anything happened.
“Yes, I answered fully aware of that.”
“!! … Maybe I should fight you here, just to show the difference in our strength.”
“That’s an excellent idea… though the one defeated would be you.”
“…What?”
Just because there was no war didn’t mean the Representative Knights got along.
“Hmph. It’s shameful for national Representative Knights to stoop so low. To provoke, and to rise to provocation—both are proof of a lack of composure.”
The one who doused the growing hostility, right as swords were about to be drawn, was Murasame, the Representative Knight of Abare.
He concealed his face with a white mask and hood, and covered his entire body with a black robe that hid even his armor.
His age, weapon, and everything else were unknown—the only hint was his masculine voice, but even that could have been a bluff.
“Silence. You’re the one who looks least like a knight. Isn’t it shameful to dress that way as a Representative Knight?”
“Ah, how troublesome are the simple-minded.”
“What was that?”
Murasame wasn’t taunting. He simply spoke his honest thoughts, which made him all the more irritating.
“Let me teach you something. To constantly display one’s weapon and equipment is the same as saying, ‘Please, take your time to find my weaknesses.’ To me, it looks like you’re showing off how stupid you are.”
“…Is that so? Then I suppose you’ve already found my weakness? Maybe I should let you attack me, then.”
“To get angry when confronted with truth means I struck a nerve. You were such a cute young lady ten years ago.”
“Say another word and I’ll kill you for real.”
“If you can, then try.”
“…”
At the peak of their murderous intent, the door opened.
That meant the meeting had ended.
The three knights, Keel included, immediately knelt before the entrance.
“…Welcome back, King Cabalt.”
The first to emerge was the King of Greed himself… though his complexion was far from healthy.
“Keel, prepare the carriage immediately.”
“At once.”
Keel took out a sheet of 【Demonhide Parchment】, infused it with mana, and a magic circle appeared. Within minutes, a white unicorn with wings descended from the sky, pulling a carriage.
“Please, Your Majesty.”
“Mm…”
Confirming that King Cabalt boarded first, Keel followed. The unicorn neighed, spread its wings, and drew the carriage into the skies.
Inside the Carriage
“…Keel.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The silence ended as the king spoke.
“I must tell you of the Kingdom Conference’s decision ahead of time.”
“Yes.”
“Our nation will summon a Hero.”
“…A Hero, sire?”
Keel didn’t quite understand. To him, a Hero was a figure of myth, a character from old legends and stories.
“The Hero truly existed. With peace, that fact faded away, but among the laws passed down to kings, there is this rule: ‘When summoning a Hero, with the agreement of all nations, each shall summon one within their land.’”
King Cabalt was not a man to make jokes at such a time. Keel concealed his shock that a Hero truly existed and pressed on.
“Then why summon a Hero now?”
“Information has arrived: the seal on the Demon King will soon be undone.”
“…The Demon King.”
If there is a Hero, then surely there is a Demon King. It made sense… but it still felt unreal.
“Indeed. The Demon King is the ruler of monsters created by the Goddess herself.”
“But… we were always told the Hero defeated the Demon King long ago.”
“That was a lie—told so humanity could live without fear. In truth, the Hero failed to kill the Demon King, sealing him instead.”
“…I see. And now the seal is breaking. But surely, instead of summoning a Hero, we could gather our forces as a nation and—”
“――Fool!”
The king cut off Keel’s words.
“Even against newly appeared monsters, we struggle, and many knights have perished. The Demon King alone is said to possess power enough to annihilate us! Do you truly believe we could prevail?”
“Ghh…”
Bitter as it was, it was the truth.
New monsters, large and small, always claimed lives. The king of those monsters… his strength could only be imagined.
“Thus we have no choice. We must summon a Hero, one who wields power equal to or greater than the Demon King, and send them to defeat him!”
“…What would you have me do, then, my king?”
“There are three requirements for summoning a Hero.”
“Yes.”
“First, the summoning magic circle. Every king knows it.”
“Yes.”
If there was a rule for summoning, then the materials must exist—kept in places only kings could access.
“Second, the Divine Stone… which lies in our castle.”
“Yes. The Divine Stone is one of our nation’s top secrets. Even now, scholars are still trying to decipher it.”
“Indeed.”
The Divine Stone was a mysterious, black, translucent, perfectly spherical gem. No force could break it, and its shape was far too flawless to be natural.
It had been unearthed hundreds of years ago by the Kingdom of Greed and studied ever since.
“…So it was meant to be used for summoning a Hero.”
“Yes.”
The king had long known its purpose.
But he had concealed it, likely because he wished to keep the truth of the Hero’s existence hidden.
“And the third requirement is…”
“…?”
The king’s hesitation made Keel uneasy.
“A human sacrifice… one thousand souls.”
“――!?!”
Keel couldn’t hide his shock.
“My king! That is—”
“Calm yourself. We shall use criminals.”
“But still—!”
Ignoring Keel’s protest, the king continued.
“This time, the Kingdom Conference decreed that our nation will also perform the summonings for the other countries.”
“――――――!?!”
“Thus, the number of sacrifices we must prepare is… three thousand.”
Keel stood up in outrage.
“My king! Even with criminals, at most we could gather two thousand! The remaining thousand—we could never manage! Why must it be our kingdom!?”
“Compose yourself, Keel! Remember who you are speaking to!”
“!! …Forgive me. I lost control. But still…”
“Do not worry. I understand your concerns…”
“…?”
“The remaining thousand shall be made up of slaves… and volunteers.”
“Volunteers…?”
“Yes. You know the churches, do you not? The faithful who worship God.”
“Yes.”
“A Hero is, in essence, a child of God. Spread word through the churches in every town and village. Let the faithful gather, and collect the volunteers.”
“…Understood.”
Though Keel’s heart churned with doubts, fears, and anger, his position left him no choice but to obey.
Yet, in time, this very agreement would cost Keel everything.
