“This is what you're to tell everyone,” Will drilled into Simon back then. “You were backed up against a literal cliff wall, and was about to be killed by the behemoth, when you suddenly felt a sharp burning sensation beneath your chest...”
“In my stomach?” Simon asked his savior.
“Nope! It's beneath your chest!” Will replied, slapping Simon on the rump. “That's your soul flex! Where it hurts most when punched.”
“Oh, you mean the solar plexus?”
“What else do you think I meant?” Another slap.
“Ouch!”
“Anyway, it's a sharp burning pain that feels like your body's breaking from the inside out, and you just want to scream and push it out of your body, and hurl it at the ugly mug of that damn monster...”
“Umm... okay...”
“Remember the feeling! The sharp burning pain! Like your body’s breaking up in the middle!” Will repeated.
“B-but... what if they ask me to do it again?”
“Tell them you're too weak to do anything for now,” Will continued.
“Would they really believe that?” Simon asked doubtfully.
“Of course. First times are always unstable, most times, it's just a fluke. And that's better than keeping the kingdom's hopes up on you. You could simply say that you wasted all your new found magic away in one attack.”
“T-that could actually happen?”
“Of course!”
Simon could hear the confidence in Will's voice.
'Well, if he really is the legendary hero that disappeared twenty years ago, then he must know what he's talking about!'
“But, master Will, why is it that you want to go so far as to lie to the whole kingdom?” he asked next. “Why must you hide the truth and even refuse to accept the fame that rightfully belongs to you?”
Will's gait lost its pace.
“Hmph. Who needs fame and honor?” he spat out. “You just get pilled up with bothersome chores and endless responsibilities, not to mention, a long list of fake comrades who each have a dagger hidden behind their back!”
“S-so... it is true! You are the Lost Hero Lu- ouch!”
“Stop spouting nonsense!” Simon was interrupted by another slap on his back side. “That selfish bastard's probably dead by now... probably lost all his magic in the last war of Liberation, and already drank himself to an early grave... Besides, isn't the mention of that bastard's name taboo for turning traitor against the Imperial family and for leaving the 1st princess in front of the altar on their wedding day?”
Simon decided to keep his mouth shut at this.
He wasn’t even born yet when the Golden Hero disappeared, and they came from such a small and insignificant rural kingdom that the fighting hardly reached them at all. In fact, they weren’t even part of the empire back then.

What he knew were merely tales from his old nanny.

Of how the Golden Hero was able to defeat the last Demon King with the help of the young Emperor Jonas and his sister, the 1st Princess Ann, high mage next to none, but the Golden Hero himself.
The Golden Hero was younger than Simon is now when they started on their journey.

He wielded a bastard sword and was blessed with such strong holy power that he glowed golden as the rays of sun god Solis's light.
He tried to turn and look at the filthy back of the man who was currently carrying him like a sack of potatoes.
'Perhaps he really is a different person...' he thought with a scowl, falling limp on his savior's back. 'Will is definitely nothing like what the stories say about the golden hero... but still...’

“Still, I know what I know, and I have seen what I have seen!” said Simon stubbornly as he lay in bed. “And I have made up my mind to forever follow master Will wherever he goes, may he be the lost hero, or a nameless hunter. He had saved this useless life of mine, and now it rightfully belongs to him.”
These were the last words Prince Simon mumbled in the dark room, as a cool summer breeze blew the thin white curtains that covered the half opened panes of the windows that lined the far wall of his bedroom. His long lashes fluttered as it slowly covered the blue eyes that gave in to sleep.

Soon, he is softly snoring, his body still recovering from the battle it endured the past night.
He did not notice when one of the window panes swung wide open, making not a noise, or how a gloved hand reached in to pull a body clad in black into the room.

The body reached inside its tunic and held out a sharp blade that glinted in the moonlight.

The assassin went towards the bed and looked at the innocent face of the boy lying with his red lips slightly parted. His slim, long neck was as white as parchment, and the thought of tainting it with red blood made the assassin’s heart race with anticipation.
He paused for a while, regretting that he didn’t have time to do more, when he felt strong animosity hit him like a brick wall.
“You sure work fast.”
The assassin tried to turn around to face the speaker, but he couldn't move.

The palpable anger in the air was so terrifying that he couldn't even breath.
“I guess I really can't leave this kid by himself.”
There was a gust of wind, and suddenly, the room was empty once more, aside from the young prince sleeping contently, ignorant of how close he was to losing his life once again.

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Go to Part 10

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