[Vol. 9] Chapter 7: The Hero’s Mentor is Her?
Of course, everyone who was qualified to be called here was no fool. If the royal family truly had no way to deal with the [Lost Domain], they would never openly share this kind of information on such an occasion. Many people also noticed something unusual, the princess had said that the [Lost Domain] only appears when the followers of the [Lord of Restraint]s show up, yet the one who just pulled them into this foggy place was Bowen Bernard.
The Hero of Mankind, chosen personally by the Goddess Church, could not possibly be a servant of the [Lord of Restraint]. That meant he had likely mastered some special method to interfere with the [Lost Domain]. And sharing this method was probably one of the main purposes of this gathering.
When any being feels their own life or interests are threatened, that moment will always become the most urgent. The atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed. Many who had previously looked down on the Hero and only acted polite out of respect for the royal family now quickly turned enthusiastic, bowing and flattering him after their earlier arrogance. The change was so sudden it was almost laughable.
All of this was, of course, within the princess’s expectations. She gave Bowen a look, and as he was already prepared, he immediately understood and spoke out loudly to calm the crowd.
“Everyone, there is no need to be so anxious. As I said before, we are guided here by the will of the supreme Goddess, to bring peace and end disaster in this world. The [Lost Domain] is indeed a troublesome kind of space, but the all-knowing and all-powerful Primordial Light had already foreseen this invasion and gave us a way to counter it.”
He spread his arms wide, and the holy cross on his chest shone brightly, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
“This is the divine artifact, the [Saint’s Cross], a gift from Her Divineness the Goddess. It can break through all falsehoods and evil spirits, help the bearer keep a clear mind, and walk freely between the realms of light and shadow. As long as you remain within its protection, the [Lost Domain] cannot affect you in any way. It is a natural enemy of these monsters!”
“Of course, there is only one artifact. It is impossible for it to protect the countless people across the kingdom at the same time. Therefore, with the power of the [Saint’s Cross] and the help of holy energy, I created special protective charms. As long as you wear them close to your body, they will greatly reduce the effects of the [Lost Domain] on you.”
As soon as his words ended, Menna waved her hand. The servers, who had been waiting with trays for a long while, stepped forward and handed out small pendants made of light-element magic crystals, engraved with special magic patterns.
They were not particularly beautiful, but if they were truly useful, no one would care about the appearance. Clearly, the royal family had prepared enough in advance, every single person present received one. While everyone curiously examined the charms, though still half-skeptical, Bowen gave no further explanation. The protective glow of the [Saint’s Cross] suddenly pulled back, retreating into the artifact itself in the blink of an eye.
The moment the light vanished, the mist outside immediately rolled in, wrapping around them. At the same time, the plain-looking charms in their hands glowed faintly. Though the light was far weaker than the artifact itself, it was still strong enough to protect a decent area around each of them.
Someone, not fully convinced, tried putting the charm into their storage space. But right away they stumbled, their face turning pale. In a panic, they pulled it back out and gripped it tightly in their hand, still shaken. It was obvious that Bowen’s words earlier had not been lies.
“What a treasure! Truly a treasure!”
“Haha, not bad, not bad! With this in our hands, those creatures from another world will be like losing both arms. If we face them again, who knows who will win or lose!”
“This time it’s really all thanks to the Hero!”
“That’s right, worthy of being the savior chosen by the Goddess!”
“Phew…”
The biggest problem had been solved. For a moment, everyone kept praising and showing their gratitude. Feeling the recognition at last, the Hero and his companions looked at each other and finally showed relaxed smiles.
A God-chosen Hero was not like ordinary people. Because he had the protection of the [Saint’s Cross], Bowen could easily sense the presence of the [Lost Domain], and could even take people in or out of it at will. Ever since the great change in the world, on their journey to the Courage City, his team had already encountered several such incidents. Through repeated battles, they had only barely learned about the terrifying mastermind behind it all, the [Lord of Restraint].
Later, when they reached the royal capital as planned, Bowen finally met the person he had been waiting for, the Hero’s Mentor, personally arranged for him by the Goddess, known as the great prophet, the [Revelator].
It was only then that the Hero was shocked to discover that this legendary, mysterious wise one, whose existence only very few knew about, was none other than the current Human United Kingdom’s Princess, the Queen’s only younger sister, a sixteen-year-old girl in her youth!
At first, Bowen and his teammates doubted whether they had the wrong person. But Princess Menna’s almost all-knowing wisdom quickly convinced them. Though she seemed young, she had already become the person Bowen respected the most after the Goddess herself. It was under her guidance that he quickly mastered many uses of the [Saint’s Cross] and learned how to make protective charms from it, which allowed them to face the kingdom’s urgent crisis.
In Bowen’s heart, this girl at least ten years younger than him had already become a true mentor. Everyone knew the Princess and the Hero were close, but their true relationship was something only they and the Queen herself really knew.
This gathering today was also a plan designed personally by the Hero’s Mentor, with Bowen’s cooperation. The royal family not only wanted to share the truth and distribute charms to strengthen the kingdom’s warriors, but also aimed to build a new organization centered around the people here, to fight against the increasingly wild invasions of otherworld creatures. Bowen would take part in this too.
After all, this was the mission of the God-chosen Hero.
Now that the main task was complete, according to the plan, he was supposed to send everyone back to the real world. The rest would be internal matters of the kingdom, in which Bowen had neither the position nor the intention to get involved. Once the organization was set up, the Princess would naturally put his name on it. As for the Hero, his duty was to sharpen and improve himself as quickly as possible, to become the pillar standing against disasters.
But just as Bowen was about to activate the [Saint’s Cross] again to send everyone back to the tavern, a clear but somewhat discordant voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
“Wait a minute! Sir Hero, haven’t you forgotten something?”