Dismantling the Myth

The war was over. And while this should be cause for celebration in most cases, Ispron's united squadron did not in fact intend to hold a parade or even a banquet upon their return.

The march back home had felt like a mourning ceremony. Nobody had uttered more than a few words and they'd followed Xenia's orders and direction all the way without a single complaint.
This journey back home had felt quicker than the one from. As for the reason for this mood, which had included even the younger recruits, it laid in the explanation Xenia and I had decided to give them regarding the whole process leading to this raid.

"I know you guys are relieved that you'll be able to go back home in one piece however, if only in honor of our fallen comrades, we ought to give you the whole story." She'd prefaced.

Incidentally, the casualties this time had been three times more severe than during the ambush in Viret. Of the three hundred and fifty soldiers still alive by then, we had lost another one hundred and fifty during the raid in Glursem. None of them having even been made aware of the real reason they had been fighting for before dying. So upon leaving the palace, Xenia and I had vowed to explain the whole situation to the survivors once they would have recovered enough from the fighting.

So one night, feeling the timing was right, we regrouped them and laid out the truth.

Upon learning of the actual scheme that had been going on behind the scenes between Ispron and Glursem, unsurprisingly a lot of the remaining soldiers grew furious.

"Hah, then I guess you two had been in on the secret as well huh ?" One had asked, though convinced of his own interpretation.

"Can you really say that after taking a good look at their faces ?" Another retorted

"They fought even harder than us back there, don't spout out nonsense." 

Thankfully, it'd seemed most of our allies had been paying close enough attention to our behavior along the way to tell we had been as desperate as the situation had called for. It's thanks to them that the frustrated and the indignant had quickly settled down, allowing us to continue our explanation.

From then, I took over and revealed what I had experienced during my deployment at Fort Brighton. Mentioning Cyril and the crucial role he'd played in order to discover Nicholas' machinations. And finally, we revealed the plan we had ultimately come up with, with the other commanders. Confessing the true aim of my duel with Richard while we were at it. Which earned me a lot of appreciation, especially from the older members of the squad who had known Richard for more than ten times as long as I had.

That being said, from the following morning on, and as everyone had had a whole night to contemplate, basically every member of the joint unit had elected to finish the trip in silence.

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"I meant to ask, why did you confirm the mistaken impression of that bastard when he asked if we had slaughtered the people of Viret back there ?" I asked Xenia as we were on our way to the throne room where Nika and Seri were waiting for us.

"You still don't get it ?" She asked in return, taken aback. "Well it's quite simple actually. His intent had never been to simply confirm the report of his scout. What he was looking for was a reason to settle the dispute as quickly as possible and send us back home." She asserted.
"If I had taken the bait and explained in earnest what had happened, he could've simply said something along the lines of: 'I see, that's unfortunate then, but I'm willing to compromise and say we share the blame in this case. So let's keep it at that.' Meaning that any further reproach or threat on our part would have immediately looked greedy or cruel. So I side-stepped it and confirmed we would not back down until we'd touched upon the heart of the matter."

"I see. Then I almost spoiled our chances at infiltrating their base." I admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Well you were uncharacteristically on edge back there, so I don't blame you." She reassured me with a big-sisterly smile. "To be honest your anger was actually what permitted me to remain so calm and avoid falling for his schemes. If not for you, I would have lost my temper before or during the banquet I fear. So to tell you the truth your outburst was a welcome occurrence. You took the fire from my heart and made yours burn for the two of us."

"That's awfully forgiving of you. Because I could have had ignored your attempts at placating me and pounced on him if I truly had wanted to." This was true. As I was now, Xenia was no longer the gigantic wall I took her for when I started training under her. And I knew she understood that.

"But you decided to trust me instead right ?" She had seen right through me. "This is the best honor you could have given me. You see, women have always been part of the army and it's not like there are no precedent of a woman ascending to platoon leader either, but when it comes to wit and making plans or negotiating, there has always been an unspoken belief that men were more apt at the task. As such, your trust in that situation holds a lot of value for me. Thank you Taiyo." She confessed, with a warm smile, the one I had never been able to see directed at me before.

"I-if you say so..." I managed, trying to hide my embarassement and joy as she closed the distance and hugged me delicately.

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"Taiyo–"

"You ! Don'tcha dare worry me like that again ! I swear, If anything had happened to you I'd have freakin' lost it !" Barked Seri over Nika's exclamation. Tears forming in the corner of her eyes as she welcomed Xenia's return in her own way.
"D-don't– ...S-stop freaking kneeling before me ! Do– ...Don'tcha get– ...Aaahh screw it ! Just stand up straight and stop with the nonsense !"
But as soon as Xenia did what was asked of her, she embraced the third princess. And, after taking a good look at the mess that was the face of the rampaging Seri, she gently kissed her on the lips. Quite litterally putting a lid over the fuming engine that was the third princess whenever she lost her temper.

W-wow... Looking in the direction of the commotion along with Nika, as she herself was hugging me, I found myself blushing over the display.

When my eyes reverted to their original focus however, and to the person who had been waiting for me with her own set of worries, I realized she was also blushing. Probably from witnessing the same thing I did, I thought.

"T-Taiyo..."

Y-you can't be serious... 
Probably under the effect of the atmosphere created by the two lovebirds a few ways away, Nika closed her eyes and made to stand on the tip of her feet, expecting us to share a kiss of our own.

Sorry Nika. Gently planting a kiss on her soft and squishy cheek, I silently apologised in her ear while I caressed her other cheek with my free hand. Once I feel ready to believe again, I'll be the one to initiate I promise. So please wait for me until then. I assured her with bitterness in regards to my own cowardice.

"Chicken." Seri wispered to me as she slapped my butt on her way out of the room.

I know...

"Shall we go then ?" Proposed Nika, having broken away from our embrace. Now sponging her eyes with her sleeve, her back to me.

"Yeah, we've still got a few things to do." I confirmed.

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Now that the war was over, it was time to deal with the aftermath. So as it became the custom, we reunited at the back garden library to discuss how to proceed.

"May I start ?" It was Tokesa, the first prince and Avery's executionner.
"First of all, I want to congratulate the combined forces lead by ser Xenia and our Hero for having successfully managed to invade Glursem and tried to settle this matter with negotiations first."
He commenced.
"With that being said, now, I believe I owe you all an apology. As you all should have learned by now, I was the one who ended sir Avery's life. I was nearsighted, thickheaded even, and, in a misguided attempt at fulfilling my role as senior and head commander of the order of knights, I committed not only the crime of killing one of my own comrades, but also did it without giving him a real chance to explain his motives." He confessed. "For that reason, and because no words of apology could ever suffice to allow me to redeem myself, I have decided to relinquish my position of Supreme General as well as that of Platoon leader of the first division of knights."

It made sense. While it was true that Avery had a special place in everyone's heart within the castle and that his loss meant Ispron was already missing a key asset of its armed force, few people and soliders would feel at ease with Tokesa remaining in his position upon learning of the truth.
Not only that but since we had also conducted this whole plan in order to make sure the kingdom would ideally never return to war, the loss of two generals should not amount to much.
If anything, it would serve to further prove our intent to become pacifists. And there was still Xenia and Richard anyway.

Once Tokesa was done with his address, and seeing nobody had anything to say in reponse, Nika proceeded to the next order of business.

"Thank you Brother." She simply said. "Now, moving on to the main topic for today's gathering, 
I suggest we debate how to deal with the traitors, schemers, and lastly with the former king."

While we were away, a lot had happened. First of all, shortly after our departure Prakia was killed. The culprit, Neil, fellow disciple of the court mage, had quickly been caught and incarcerated. But not before she was able to deal considerable damage to the preparations we had meant to setup back in the castle.
Using the information she had received from Prakia when he'd tried to secure her support, she had destroyed the ritual chamber. And had erased the summoning circle while she was at it, rendering it impossible to recover or replicate now that Prakia was no more.

Then, with the help of Seri and Avery, Nika had managed to take the king, her father, into custody. But while she was able to conduct her deed in secret, one of the clergymen had somehow still managed to catch wind of it and had been on his way to reveal the news to other nobles. Which is when Avery had intervened.
By a stroke of fortune, it'd turned out to have been the same priest from the atrocious records they had found before who was aiming to disclose the capture of the king. As such, Avery found that his goals had aligned perfectly, so it's with little hesitation that he comitted the deed. Leading to the consequences we knew.

Lastly, once Tokesa had recovered, or rather had been kicked in the back by Nika, they had safely proceeded to arrest all the nobles and lowlives poluting the backstage of this farce. Sending Seri away from the castle around the same time to have her act as messenger. 
So now the question was, "what do we do with these pests." One course of action, the most pacific one, would be to conduct a mass exile. Another, more brutal while still deserved, would be to kill them all. Either publicly at the gillotine or behind the scenes. And lastly, as kind of an in-between, they could be made into slaves and, or, sent to work the crops.

Needless to say, Seri and Richard immediately voted for the public execution. Nobody blaming them. Nika instead voted for the third option. She stated that she refused to allow them even an inch of freedom, which was understandable but also refused to give them the easy way out.
And so she offered something; to make them work the crops as indicated in the third option, but to make it so they would do it wearing shackles for the rest of their lives.

"If we assign people to monitor them closely to make sure they wouldn't try to slack off or commit suicide, I believe that would make for a harsher and more satisfying punishment for the likes of them." She ultimately suggested. Earning the approval of everyone in one fell swoop.
Not the kind of person you want as your enemy, that's for sure. I marveled, impressed.

"Perfect, so if we are all in agreement then let's proceed to the last order of business for the day" Nika continued. "It's about you Taiyo. Now that the war is over and you have successfully fulfilled your role, there is effectively nothing tying you to this place anymore. So what will you do ?"

Actually, this aspect of reality had not slipped past my mind. In fact, I had been pondering that very question all the way back from Glursem. And to be honest, It had been a very difficult decision to make, but I had ultimately made one.

"To tell you the truth, I have been thinking about the after ever since we completed our raid in Glursem." I started. "And on the one hand, rebuilding the kingdom and staying around surrounded by people I can trust is extremely appealing. However, now devoid of a means to return to my world, I am assailed by a desire to start over." I revealed. "When I consider I might have to live the rest of my life here in Ecliptica, I think to myself, 'I need to learn more about this world.' As such, I've ultimately decided to go on a journey." I concluded.

Sensing both the distress and the resolve in my eyes, all present either nodded in resignation or hung their head in mild disappointment or sorrow. All but Seri, who looked at everyone's expression curiously.

"Nah don't pay too much attention to these guys." She assured me. "They're growing sensitive with age, I tell you. If you feel like you need to see more of the world, just go and leave your luggage behind. They'll hold on to it until you eventually return." She said, glancing meaningfully in Nika's direction. "I could even take ya under my wing if you want to. This'll probably get a little rowdy now that Tokesa and Nia will be joining me, but the more the merier I guess." She finished with a shrug.

"Thanks, I'll think about it." I answered with a smile. I'm glad to have met these people, I thought from the bottom of my heart.

"Hm, Seri, I don't remember agree–" Tokesa started, earning him a kick from his younger sister.

"Ya're not bound by duty anymore, right ? Then stop thinking about others for once and move your ass for your own sake to change."

Despite her rough manners and straightforward –borderline rude– way of speaking, Seri had been the one who had ultimately managed to keep everyone together and help see this whole situation to its rightful conclusion. We all knew it and it was the reason why we accepted her beyond the image she tended to project. 

With that being said however, there was one last thing I intended to do before I left this country. Which would actually require everyone's help one last time.

"Guys, there's actually one last matter I would need your help with before I leave if possible."

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Three days later around lunchtime, all of us were standing atop the parvis in front of the local church in the castle-town.

"...which lead us to raid the neighboring fiefdom of Glursem, our sworn enemy, and the place where, using cowardly means, the corrupt king has managed to orchestrate the fall of our hero !"

This speech was the result of my last request. Before leaving the territory, I wanted to convey one last message to the people of this kingdom, of this world. I wanted them to realize something about me; about the hero they had made out of me. 

"This traitor here," continued Xenia, shoving a tied up soldier on the stage before the crowd,
"...this dog, at the beck and call of the former king Faluxis Ispron, has committed the most heinous crime of all. He has killed the hero !"

At her proclamation, my body, or rather the body of a man with similar golden-colored hair dressed in my costume, was being carried onto the stage by none other than Richard. 

Upon coming to terms with the reality we had forced onto them, the crowds of people gathered from all over the kingdom thanks to the notice I had Nika send to the surrounding villages and towns; all at once they started cursing, crying, and screaming.

"That's right, this despicable king has arranged the murder of the same Hero he had himself summoned !" She insisted, now gesturing towards the guillotine, a tool meant for beheading, on which the former king was imprisoned with shackles and a binding to cover his mouth.

With deft manipulation, Xenia successfully conveyed that the true enemy and traitor had in fact not been the poor knight –who might have been blackmailed or worse into committing a crime– but the wretched king who had abused his authority for his own gains.
As a result, the crowd almost entirely forgot about the knight (the poor Cyril in this case), and started throwing whatever they had on hand to the defenseless former monarch.

"Now, before we move on to the execution I want you to give me your attention one last time." She interrupted. And once the crowd had settled down, she continued.
"The following are the words of our former hero, from Taiyo-sama. Words he entrusted us with in case something happened to him." She asserted, which it was partly true. Then she produced a sheet of paper from her back pocket and started reading its content, my will, out loud.

"'A Hero is not invincible, nor is he not almighty. Like any of us, he is a mortal." It prefaced.
"Cheers give him strength and bolster his confidence, while scorn wounds his heart. I used to be an ordinary man like many of you. But then, circumstances beyond my control led me to inherit a power beyond my own understanding. After living for about a year with this newfound power, and among similarly powerful people, I came to a conclusion.

"Power in the hands of the strong is one of many assets; power in the hands of the clever is a bonus; but power in the hands of the cunning is poison, and in the hands of the wicked it is a nightmare. And I, who was summoned to serve this country, was clever, but I met the wicked.

Fairy tales teach you that Heroes are living legends, the embodiment of hope. But in my opinion, those are merely shackles preventing them from being able to live the life they want. Your cheers weigh on them as much as they help keep them going. And your scorn saddens them as much as it removes some of that weight from their shoulders.'"

"Then what should we do ?!" A male voice screamed.

 "They were born different, why wouldn't they use their gift for the good of the less fortunate?!" Questioned a woman holding her newborn in her arms.

 "Nobody threatened them to wear that cape !" Threw a young man.

"'So I will ask you this." Xenia roared, indicating she would not answer any of the shouts until she was done reading the memorial left by the hero.
"If there ever is a next time, if a hero is ever born again in this nation. Please treat them as peers. Show your gratitude by inviting them to eat out, recommend them your favorite resting spot, your favorite wine; give them a promotion on your merchandise as thanks for their services, sing for them, write for them ! But do not worship them."

There she paused again, and finished.

"Do not put your life in their hands if you can help it. Do not redirect your complaints, your hate, and your problems to them. For they already have their hands full with theirs. And if you do not approve of their title, simply ignore them. Do not fight your neighbor to prove that you are right to believe in a hero, or conversely to prove why they should not.

An opinion is just that, a personal belief, and it will never mirror reality enough that it'll justifiy fighting toe and nail to uphold any of it. Put your efforts and energy into what's important for you and for your loved ones. Promote peace, and banish war.'" She concluded. And with that, my will had successfully been passed on to the people I most wanted to tell. 

What they they would think about it, what choice that lead them to make in the future; none of that mattered to me. I did not intend to tell them to stop believing in chivalrous ideals or to distrust the teachings and dreams they found in fiction and fantasy, only, I wanted them to treat the object of their admiration with respect. On equal footing.
I who became a hero only after a serie of crazy circumstances, was originally born an ordinary boy. I was born powerless, like any of them. The paths we chose or were lead to pursue have been different but that reality should not have implied that I was to stand above them in my quality of Hero. I was still a human-being after all. One of them.

Once the address was over, Xenia, Richard, Nika, Tokesa, and Seri all bowed to the audience and proceeded with the beheading of the former king.
Incidentally, Felmera and Felvis Ispron, the remaining children of the previous king and the future Queen and King, were still in the process of recovering from learning about everything that had happened. So I was keeping them company somewhere in the crowd as they still needed to bear witness to the proceedings.

With that, I thought, at along last I would hopefully be able to enjoy some freedom again.
With having effectively killed the hero they had made of me, I was now delievered from those shackles and could begin to consider what and, or, who to become in this faraway world.