Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 231

The night Choi Hyun-seok left for the Demon Realm.

Abelson Marriott, who was working late into the night, received an urgent report.

“An investigation team from the Deus Church…?”

Another large-scale investigation team from the Deus Church was being dispatched to the kingdom.

The charge was collusion with the undead.

It was clear that Sarah Dunphy was the target.

Abelson immediately met with Sarah Dunphy to discuss the matter.

“It’s simple.”

Sarah Dunphy, after hearing the story, spoke as if there was nothing particularly difficult about it.

“I can just leave this kingdom, can’t I?”

“Yes…?”

“I know how the situation on the continent is unfolding. Even though we’ve made peace with the demons, it’s not good for the kingdom to be associated with demons, especially the undead.”

The war was over.

A peace treaty had been signed with the demons.

However, this did not mean an alliance with the demons.

It would take a long time for the wounds of the centuries-long war to heal.

Especially in the case of the undead, the wounds were even deeper.

The war with the demons took place near the Demon Realm, so the victims were mostly soldiers.

On the other hand, the recent undead incidents occurred within the human realm.

Naturally, the scale of the damage was overwhelmingly greater.

Even now, uncontrolled undead hordes are rampaging in various places.

In other words, public hatred towards the undead was ongoing.

In this situation, if the Marriott Kingdom became involved with the undead, it could be branded as a public enemy of the continent.

“Don’t tell Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah. Considering their fiery tempers, they might ruin things.”

Sarah Dunphy seemed to have already made up her mind and stood up.

“Just a moment!”

Abelson grabbed Sarah Dunphy’s sleeve.

Sarah Dunphy looked back at her with a questioning gaze.

“What is it?”

“Are you just going to leave like this?”
“The answer is already clear. There’s no need to think about it further. Deeply contemplating things isn’t always the right thing to do.”

“That’s not the issue! If you leave like this, you’ll definitely be caught by the Holy Empire!”

Abelson knew well what kind of people the Gatrens were [referring to the soldiers and officials of the Holy Empire].

No matter how strong Sarah Dunphy was, it would be difficult to shake off the Gatrens’ pursuit.

She was an existence with powerful magical energy.

Unless she fled to the Demon Realm, she would inevitably be caught someday.

No, even if she went to the Demon Realm, Gatren would find her.

“Even if you run away, you’ll eventually be caught… Let’s stay here and fight together…”

Sarah Dunphy shook her head.

She placed her hand on Abelson’s shoulder and said.

“Abelson Marriott, you are the queen. You shouldn’t say such things when you have to take responsibility for all your people.”

“But, I can’t abandon my comrade…”

“Abandon me. You can’t protect me anyway.”

Sarah Dunphy said in a firm tone.

“If I stay here, all that awaits is destruction. The moment I’m discovered, the justification will be given to them. The surrounding countries will all turn their backs on you, and your people will be mercilessly killed. Is that the ending you want?”

Abelson Marriott lowered her head.

She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Sarah Dunphy was right.

Abelson didn’t have the power to protect Sarah Dunphy.

She had too much to protect.

Letting Sarah Dunphy go was the best option.

Abelson felt disgusted with herself, wondering if even this thought was just self-rationalization.

“Ah, can you tell Park Hyun-ah to be careful? She can’t fight yet. But considering her personality, she won’t stay still. She might rage and charge into the Holy Empire.”

Sarah Dunphy gave a faint smile.

“So, Abelson, I hope you can hold her back.”

“I…”

“I should go now. I’m glad I could say goodbye to you like this.”

Sarah Dunphy hugged Abelson and patted her on the back.

Abelson was overwhelmed with various emotions and tears flowed without her knowing.

“Sarah…?”

When Abelson came to her senses.

Sarah Dunphy had already disappeared.

And the next day.

Abelson told Park Hyun-ah that Sarah Dunphy had left.

As expected, Park Hyun-ah widened her eyes and shouted.

“What are you talking about!? The undead left!?”

Park Hyun-ah’s voice involuntarily rose.

That’s how shocked she was.

“Why did someone who was perfectly fine yesterday suddenly leave?”

“It couldn’t be helped. It was Sarah Dunphy’s own decision.”

Abelson sighed as she sat in her chair.

“So, why did she make such a decision!?”

“The Holy Empire is after Sarah Dunphy.”

“Gatren…?”

“To explain it accurately, the Deus Church is saying they will dispatch an investigation team to our Marriott Kingdom, on the grounds that they suspect collusion with the undead.”

“What does that have to do with anything!? The war with the demons is over anyway!?”

Park Hyun-ah didn’t understand.

Yes. Having a close relationship with demons might not look good to others.

But wasn’t the war already over?

Even in the Cherushi Kingdom, the Demon King appeared and even signed a peace treaty directly with the king.

“In this situation, is being in league with those demons that big of a deal?”

“To be exact, it’s not with demons, but with the undead. That’s why it’s more of a problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who has been harmed more recently on the continent, by demons or by the undead?”

“That’s…”

Of course, the damage caused by the undead would be overwhelmingly greater.

“I know what you mean. But aren’t demons and undead ultimately the same thing?”

Park Hyun-ah was doubtful.

In the end, the undead are a product of demons.

So what does it mean to divide and distinguish the two?

“It’s because we’ve made peace with the demons, as you said. It would have been burdensome for Gatren, whose reputation isn’t good anyway, to bring up the demons again.”

“But the undead are different?”

“Yes. The undead are purely objects of hatred. The image of the undead that the public paints is just bloodthirsty corpses.”

“But demons made that anyway. Then they should hate the demons.”

“That’s right. It’s a contradiction. But what can we do? That’s what people actually think. Gatren used that public sentiment.”

Suddenly, Park Hyun-ah screamed and ruffled her hair.

“Ugh! Forget it all! In the end, Gatren is just finding an excuse to invade!”

“To put it simply, that’s right.”

“Then why does Sarah Dunphy have to leave here!? We should fight back! We should have protected her! At least she should have talked to me before leaving!?”

The first meeting wasn’t good.

She was undead.

Park Hyun-ah, along with Choi Hyun-seok, was a hero who came to subjugate that undead.

But as time passed, Sarah Dunphy changed.

She developed a way to suppress the desire for slaughter that undead inevitably have and was able to lead a normal life.

Since then, they had been comrades for a long time.

She had actually saved Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah’s lives several times.

Gradually, she acknowledged Sarah Dunphy as a comrade in her heart.

After Ultimum Fes collapsed [referring to a fallen organization or group].

Because everyone she knew had died.

She wanted to be with the comrades she had now until the end.

“Everything is Sarah’s will…”

“Are you calling that an excuse!?”

“I didn’t want this either!!!”

Suddenly, Abelson’s voice grew louder.

Then, realizing her mistake, she clenched her fists tightly and lowered her head.

“I didn’t want this ending either… But what can I do…? There’s nothing I can do…”

Abelson trembled.

She was also truly sad.

She wanted to hold onto Sarah Dunphy, who was leaving.

But she couldn’t.

The weight she carried was pressing down on her, preventing her from moving rashly.

“Haa… Damn it!”

Park Hyun-ah cursed and left the room.

In fact, she also knew.

From the beginning, this was a problem that Abelson had no choice in.

Abelson was not at fault.

‘This is really awful.’

The reason Park Hyun-ah was angry was simply because she was ashamed of herself for not being able to do anything in this situation.

She was just angry at her own patheticness for scolding Abelson even though she knew that.

***

At the same time.

Choi Hyun-seok was meeting with Sidriel and talking.

Sidriel, wearing a gothic dress, was sitting on an antique chair with her legs crossed, looking quite seductive.

Choi Hyun-seok blankly stared at Sidriel.

“You know that the humans retreated after the war.”

“Uh, yeah? That’s right.”

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be concentrating.”

“No, I’m listening. Keep talking.”

Sidriel tilted her head and looked at him.

Choi Hyun-seok was a little embarrassed and stepped back.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was wondering if there was a problem. Seems like you’re fine.”

Sidriel continued.

“Anyway, Doritugs moved at that point. When the threat of war disappeared, he began to gather his forces.”

“And then he immediately declared independence?”

“He didn’t exactly declare independence. At the point when he had completely consolidated his power, he made a proposal to me.”

“What proposal?”

Suddenly, Sidriel’s expression darkened.

“He told me to hand over the position of Demon King peacefully if I didn’t want the demons to split up like this. Otherwise, he said he would become independent and create a new kingdom.”

“Hmm… Is that possible? You officially became the new Demon King.”

Choi Hyun-seok was doubtful.

Sidriel was elected Demon King by a vote of the Demon Council.

From a human perspective, the justification lies with Sidriel.

He didn’t think the situation would be any different just because they were demons.

“That’s right. I am the Demon King. In this situation, it’s normal to kill Doritugs and quell the unrest. But I… unfortunately, I lack the strength. I became stronger than before when I rose to the position of Demon King, but even so, I don’t know if I can beat Doritugs.”

Sidriel lowered her head.

Her face was flushed, as if she was angry or embarrassed.

Maybe it was both.

“Can’t you ask the other guys for help?”

“Then it could potentially turn into a civil war.”

“Civil war… How big is the scale of the forces that follow him?”

“About 20% of the total demon force. Moreover, that force is absolutely loyal to him. On the other hand, I…”

Sidriel sighed deeply.

“Although I’m the Demon King, I have no one on my side. I have no trustworthy subordinates.”

Sidriel suddenly appeared like a comet [referring to her sudden rise to power].

She has no relationship with the council members who can be said to have vested interests within the demon race.

The legion commanders also do not completely follow her.

She was still young and on trial.

“Even in this situation, there are many people who are dissatisfied with the peace treaty I led. If I ask for help because of this, even those who followed me will doubt my qualifications as Demon King. So…”

Sidriel bit her lip and looked at Choi Hyun-seok.

“It’s shameless, but Choi Hyun-seok, I had no choice but to ask you for help again.”

“Ugh…”

Choi Hyun-seok leaned back deeply into his chair.

‘This is a more complicated situation than I thought.’

He naturally recalled Doritugs, whom he had met at the Demon Council at the time.

A handsome appearance and a large physique like any high-ranking demon.

The magical energy he possessed was also very high.

He could tell at once that he possessed the most overwhelming power in that place, except for Hemis.

‘Even if Sidriel has become stronger, it doesn’t mean her combat experience has increased. It will be difficult to win by fighting.’

Sidriel’s biggest problem is her lack of practical experience.

She, who has only trained alone, was no different from a hothouse flower compared to Doritugs, who has fought in wars for hundreds of years.

“I’m sorry. It’s because I’m lacking that I’m making things difficult for you.”

Suddenly, Sidriel stood up from her seat.

“If you can’t think of any other way, you can leave as is. I’m grateful just for you coming all the way here and listening to my story.”

“No, wait a minute.”

Choi Hyun-seok grabbed Sidriel, who was about to leave.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll have to meet him separately and see who wins. The one who survives becomes the next Demon King.”

“There’s no chance of winning.”

“But I have no choice.”

“No. Wait. I have a good idea.”

There’s no other way now that it’s come to this.

Choi Hyun-seok decided to use the greatest advantage of humans.

“Sidriel, demons can’t beat beings stronger than themselves, but humans can beat beings stronger than themselves. Do you know why?”

Sidriel blinked.

She had an expression that said she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Why is that?”

Suddenly, an evil smile appeared on Choi Hyun-seok’s lips.

He pointed to his head with his finger.

“Because humans are cunning.”

A human-like plan began to form in the legendary hero’s mind.