Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 101

The Clan of Heroes is the shield of the Empire, a shield given by the gods.

 

From the time he was very small, Aire grew up wearing clothes made for duty and hats made for responsibility, things too heavy for a child to carry, but his mission as a Hero made it all worthwhile.

 

“You look just like Regia!”

 

That’s what the people at the temple said whenever he showed accomplishment. But whenever he heard of the fame of his great-grandmother, whom he had never met, he found it irreverently tiresome.

 

He was tired of the days and nights of theological study and swordsmanship lessons, tired of the bloody slayings of demons, and creeped out by the worshippers who prostrated themselves before him and made wishes.

 

‘I’m a hero, and I’m thinking, “Am I weird?”’

 

Something didn’t feel right, but he was surrounded by people in the temple who had blind faith in the clan of heroes. At the age of 10, he expressed similar thoughts to a priest he was close to, but after a 100-day penance to the goddess, he kept quiet about the question.

 

‘I’ll train harder, become a perfect hero, and then this boredom will go away.’

 

The scolded child immersed himself even more in the hero’s life to rationalize his reality.

 

But whenever he looked at the streets on his way to kill, and saw children his own age playing in them, he couldn’t help but gasp.

 

“Mom, look, that candy I bought earlier had syrup in it!”

 

“Oh really, that sounds delicious. Are we only supposed to eat one a day?”

 

“Yes!”

 

He wondered what the difference was between that kid and himself. He wondered what that candy with syrup tastes like.

 

‘Oh, I’m sick of it.’

 

All the envy, resentment, and anger he’d been hiding from himself reared their ugly heads. These were heavy emotions that a hero shouldn’t have. Even as he sliced through the demon’s body in the ensuing slaughter, he thought of the syrupy candy.

 

To create the perfect hero, the temple’s meals consisted of a carefully selected diet. It was an idealized diet of the finest meats, vegetables, and seafood, but there was no syrupy candy.

 

“Would you like to try this, Aire? I hear it’s the most popular candy among children these days!”

 

One day, Carlo, noticing that Aire was staring at the sweets in the children’s hands, handed him a bag of candy. It was very sweet and fragrant, but soon afterward, Carlo was sent to a remote temple.

 

He knew it wasn’t because he had given him candy. But it was injustice, and young Aire couldn’t understand why he should have to earn even this small candy, and why the giver should be able to take it away so easily. The first syrupy candy he tasted was very sweet, and once he recognized the taste, he craved more.

 

By the time he was 19, he had grown up with a thirst. Unable to resist any longer, he decided to make his first deviation.

 

 

***

 

 

There wasn’t much he could do about it, having lived his entire life as a hero. On his way back to the temple after his slaughter, he slipped into the streets after the priest who was accompanying him.

 

“Where are they selling candy?” he asked.

 

But it was his first time out on the streets alone, and he didn’t have time to enjoy his newfound freedom. There were strangers everywhere.

 

With his hair carefully covered by a bandana and his eyes shielded by a thin cloth, Aire looked very suspicious, but he was so far removed from reality that he didn’t feel out of place.

 

“Hey, look at him.”

 

“Shh! Don’t look at him!”

 

It was market day, and the place was crowded. Unaware that the crowds were sneaking past him, he walked for a long time until he finally found a stall selling sweets.

 

“Syrup candy!”

 

The corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile, and he covered his mouth with his hand as he realized the crowd around him.

 

“It must seem strange to be eighteen and excited to find a candy store.”

 

Actually, the strangest thing about him was his color, but no one bothered to point that out. With excited steps, he approached the stall and ordered a mix of sweets.

 

“Here’s the bill, please.”

 

“Huh!”

 

The vendor’s eyes widened as he pulled out a shiny gold coin.

 

“This is too much!”

 

“What?”

 

Gold coins, commemorative coins issued by the temple. The merchant broke out in a cold sweat as he watched the strange young man hand over the coins that would be left over after buying all the candies on the cart.

 

“This must be some nobleman’s drink, and if I get mixed up in it, I’ll be in trouble. I can’t just accept commemorative coins!”

 

The merchant’s panicked expression caused Aire to panic as well. He had simply brought back a gold coin that had been rolling around the temple, but it was worth more than he thought.

 

The two men looked at each other, confused.

 

A woman’s pure white hand reached out between them. Aire’s eyes widened, and the merchant, seeing a way out of the situation, happily took the money and handed over the bag of candy.

 

Caught off guard by the bag of candy in his arms, Aire turned to the woman and said quickly.

 

“I’m sorry and thank you. I can send you the payment…”

 

“It’s okay, I like candy here too.”

 

Saying that made him smile. Watching her clear blue eyes roll back in a daze, Aire asked,

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, may I know your name?”

 

It was a question that might have come across as somewhat rude by not giving her name, but she still smiled.

 

“I’m Cordelia.”

 

“Cordelia…”

 

That was their first meeting.

 

 

***

 

 

The first thing Aire felt for Cordelia was a sense of identification.

 

Cordelia was dressed in the finest clothes and attended Verotanis, the Empire’s premier educational institution, but she always wanted to go somewhere, and Aire was sitting in the most honorable seat in the Empire, but he always wanted to fly out of the temple.

 

“Cordelia, are you sure you’re, okay?”

 

“Yes. It’s just that I’m very weak, but everything is fine.”

 

For the first few months, Aire took on the pseudonym ‘El’. He didn’t want to be recognized by anyone but Cordelia, who met him outside the temple. And he’s sure Cordelia felt the same way. Whenever he saw her, Cordelia wore a weary face, but she never told him what she was going through.

 

He felt it was polite not to ask at the time, so he didn’t ask her anything, just offered her his own comfort, telling her that she could always tell him if she was struggling.

 

And it came back to haunt him in his deepest regrets.

 

“El, are you by any chance Aire?”

 

It was something Cordelia had grown accustomed to by now, after a few more aberrations. A momentary lapse in concentration caught him removing the hood and eye patch that covered his head. In the entire empire, only the Hero’s Clan had shining silver hair and golden eyes.

 

Aire felt a pang of disillusionment as his heart sank.

 

“I wonder if Cordelia will turn like the others.”

 

As he nodded slowly, visions of the people who worshiped him and considered him a god flashed through his mind. But her answer was completely different from what he expected.

 

“I see, I finally know your real name.”

 

The girl was still smiling. She still looked tired, but her demeanor toward him hadn’t changed in the slightest. The tightness in his chest loosened.

 

His chest heated up like a spring sunrise. The first bite was sweet and sugary, like syrup in candy.

 

“Thank you for saying that.”

 

He didn’t tell Cordelia, but when he returned to the temple that day, he cried for a long time. It felt so good to have someone who saw him as a person, not a hero. It was like being born again.

 

He didn’t see her often because he didn’t want her to be seen in the temple, but that was okay. Her presence was enough to make him breathe.

 

“Let’s go see the sea together.”

 

And when he promised her that, he decided that he would take care of Cordelia’s pain as well. He hoped her eyes would light up as much as his own had.

 

What he heard after a long talk with her was horrifying.

 

“Lucian, that man… and the Matriarch.”

 

Aire was furious, disgusted with those around her for causing her misery, and hated himself for only now seeing her pain.

 

“It’s okay these days, I’ve found it easier when I give up everything.”

 

Cordelia’s face was blank as she said that, and it made Aire’s heart ache even more. How can he keep his promise to go see the ocean, how can he fill that void?

 

Raised in seclusion in the temple, he was unskilled in the world. But he could see clearly enough that Cordelia’s soul would be shattered if he didn’t fix the relationship that surrounded her.

 

“I’ll-I’ll see what I can do.”

 

At his words, Cordelia smiled. It was still a hollow smile.

 

Impatiently, Aire sought out Lucian that evening, needing to know with his own eyes who the man was and what he could be so vicious about.

 

“Alas, it must be you, Cordelia’s latest playmate.”

 

Lucian, dressed in a black coat, leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarette, and turned to look at Aire.

 

“Playmate?”

 

“Yes. The playmate of my precious doll.”

 

Aire’s hand tightened. Lucian looked at the rough, sinewy hand with amusement.

 

“Why, you don’t like the title, do you? But it’s the doll I’ve spent the most time preparing.”

 

“Shut that mouth.”

 

An impatient Aire stalked toward Lucian, who stood in front of him.

 

“You!”

 

As if sensing something, Aire moved in a flash, grabbed Lucian by the throat, and lifted him up.

 

The cigarette that had fallen from Lucian’s mouth clattered to the floor. Aire’s eyes widened like a beast’s.

 

“A demon, or a human mixed with a demon.”