CHAPTER 85: CHAPTER 85: THE HERO LOVES THIS WORLD [5]

"Pftt! You? You’re about to die? What kind of joke is that?!"

Kaelus tried to laugh.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t.

"..."

Dix looked extremely serious.

Moreover, he was a hero, so he really never lied.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Quietly, Dix nodded.

Kaelus put down his teacup, then gave a bitter smile.

"Why does everyone always leave before me? Veyra, Sunny, Amon, Tharok, Ragnar, and now you, Dix."

"...I’m sorry."

"This isn’t your fault. No one can resist death."

"..."

"Then, is the reason you called me here this time to say goodbye?"

"Partly. There’s another reason."

"And what is that?"

Kaelus tilted his head.

"Always love this world, and protect it, okay?"

"Huh?"

Kaelus’s eyes widened.

Then, he curled his lips.

"Of course, I’m one of the seven heroes, after all!"

Kaelus pointed at himself, smiling arrogantly.

***

Kael immediately opened his eyes.

This time, he was able to regain control of his body.

This was definitely his body.

But...

"Where am I?"

Currently, he was in a room, quite similar to the study of a king, a ruler.

It was quite tidy, without any dust.

But the strange thing was that even though it had no windows, nor a light bulb, Kael could somehow see everything inside very clearly.

This was definitely not reality.

Because right now, he was sleeping on a carriage.

If so, then where was he?

From the bookshelf, Kael randomly picked out a few books that looked quite heavy.

But when he opened them, he couldn’t see any words.

They were just a pile of blank paper.

"..."

And just as Kael was about to try to hurt himself to see if it would help, a voice made him stop.

"Hey, we meet again."

The voice was so familiar that Kael couldn’t possibly mistake it.

"...Erza? What are you doing here?"

The prince smiled, gently walked towards the desk in the middle of the room, and sat down.

Not on the chair, but on the table.

"So, was it interesting after watching that footage?"

Kael frowned.

"You are the owner of that ring?"

Erza nodded gently.

"Why?"

The prince looked up at the ceiling, still smiling gently as always.

"If I said that I was the reincarnation of one of the Seven Heroes, Kaelus, would you believe it?"

The way he said it was as if it were a very normal thing.

Everyone would think it was a joke, but Kael was different.

"Yes, I believe it."

Hans Varun was allowed to regress, so there was no reason Kaelus couldn’t too.

Furthermore, what Kael had experienced further reinforced the prince’s words.

First, the perspective he experienced was from the perspective of the hero Kaelus.

Second, Kael picked up that ring while visiting the tomb of the Seven Heroes with Erza.

If there was only one coincidence, it would be accidental.

But, if there were two coincidences, it would be intentional.

"Oh. How interesting."

Erza seemed surprised.

He wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Kael:

"Why did you give that ring to me and not someone else?"

"Hmm..."

The prince rubbed his chin, trying to think of the most satisfactory answer.

And then, his eyes lit up.

"Because you’re special, you’re completely different from the rest."

"Different in what way?"

Erza smiled.

"You want to stop the war, right?"

Kael was quite surprised by the prince’s judgment.

"Yes."

"And from the moment we first met, when I didn’t know anything about you, and you didn’t know anything about me, you still decided to follow me. Strange, isn’t it?"

He was indeed a genius.

"You trust me that much?"

"Yes. But I can’t explain to you why."

"I guess you would say that."

The prince sighed.

"So, do you want to hear my plan?"

Kael immediately pinched his calves, forcing himself not to laugh out loud.

The thing he needed the most was now right in front of him.

The fish had taken the bait!

With a determined gaze, he opened his mouth:

"Please."

***

Just like that, Kaelus explained each step of his plan in detail.

Or rather, the intention, because they needed something especially important for the plan to be feasible.

And the closer it got to the final stage, Kael’s expression became darker and darker.

"That’s your plan?"

He asked carefully.

"That’s right. What do you think about it?"

Kael took a deep breath.

This was not the time to lie.

"To be honest, it’s a perfect plan, even genius, if we could find that thing. But... at the same time, it’s also an extremely inhumane plan."

Realizing something, he suddenly stopped.

His sapphire eyes were fixed on Erza’s meaningful smile.

"So that’s why you chose me?"

The prince nodded.

"Hans is too gentle, so he wouldn’t agree to it. Alaric is too mysterious and hard to control, so he’s also a bad choice. And do I need to say anything about Kaede?"

Was this a compliment?

Why did Kael feel as if he had just been insulted?

"So, are you going to cooperate with me?"

"..."

Although it was an inhumane plan, if Kael looked at it from other perspectives, it was the best choice.

The most ideal one.

’Game developers, you guys are really geniuses.’

He walked towards Erza with ease, and took his outstretched hand.

"What other choice do I have?"

The prince smiled.

"It’s nice to talk to someone smart."

***

Kael woke up, returning to reality.

And the first thing he did was check his middle finger.

"..."

Sure enough, the ring had disappeared, taking with it the stories of the Seven Heroes’ past.

"Awake?"

Erza approached, and sat down next to Kael.

He didn’t answer his question, but asked him another one:

"Where should we find that book?"

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary book.

It was an indispensable part of Erza’s plan.

The prince replied indifferently:

"World Library."

It was an unfamiliar name to him.

But, Kael could hear the unusualness in that name.

"And where is it?"

From inside the carriage, Erza pointed to a tower that was taller than the clouds not far away.

"That’s the World Library."