Isis, why did you hide your identity?
Clearly, if you revealed that you were the Hero, many things would have become far easier.
Even for Lifa, becoming the disciple of her idol was completely different from being taught by some adventurer of unknown origin.
Ron knew the reason.
The answer lay in Isis’s surname.
[Knamening]
Just like Rosalyn’s prestigious [Enid] family name.
Knamening was likewise a noble house that possessed its own territory, city-state, and people.
Even Isis’s father’s title, in that kingdom that had already perished, was Grand Duke, second only to the King.
And that was the root of tragedy and sin.
That vanished kingdom was located in the western part of the continent, bordering the lands of the demon race.
The Knamening Duke’s domain stood on the front line, a border fortress that served as the kingdom’s sturdy wall.
The Duke governed Knamening Territory in perfect order.
He was beloved politically by his people, and in military power and personal strength, even when a Great Demon Race commander of the seventh rank personally led the disaster-like Demon Army, they had repeatedly been crushed there.
The treacherous Great Demon Race was furious over this.
But soon, he devised a despicable conspiracy.
Strong fortresses are often broken from within.
The Knamening Duke’s prestige and authority grew by the day, which already made the foolish King wary and hostile.
Moreover, to support Knamening Territory’s resistance, the King had to keep draining the royal treasury, along with vast resources and troops from other cities.
The Great Demon Race saw this clearly and secretly dispatched a Special Envoy led by a Succubus Lord.
Very soon, the Succubus Lord disguised herself as a human and was presented to the King.
Very soon after that, the King executed the former Queen and the upright, loyal ministers.
Then the other demons in the envoy secretly met with the King, who was drowning in the succubus’s tenderness, and proposed a perfect peace plan.
-The Demon Army would redirect its attacks toward other human nations.
-The King only needed to pay a tiny, insignificant price. Why refuse…?
“I’ve been to Lambda.”
“Of course, back then it was called Knamening.”
Ron quietly observed Isis’s reaction beside her.
Seeing the Brave Lady remain silent, he continued.
His words were not a lie.
Ron really had visited Lambda more than ten years ago.
His purpose had been to buy Isis and take her away.
At that time, the Duke of Knamening was already dead.
No one knew how that hero, who possessed seventh rank strength, had died.
People only spoke of him with contempt and disdain, always adding one sentence at the end.
-“That damned, hypocritical human traitor.”
Under the King’s overwhelming propaganda, the lies that the Knamening family had colluded with demons and plotted rebellion became accepted truth.
All adult men and women of the direct bloodline were executed.
All troops and retainers loyal to the Duke were exterminated by the King.
And Isis, as the Duke’s daughter, together with many branch family members and vassals of Knamening, was sold to Slave Traders by the King to display his ‘magnanimity.’
From then on, Isis was no longer a hero’s daughter.
No longer a duke’s noble child.
Anyone could mock her as the daughter of sinners, the descendant of a human traitor.
Even other slaves living in the same darkness scoffed at her defense.
While bullying the girl, they trampled the honor of [Knamening], which she desperately protected.
“Mm.”
At last, Isis responded.
She merely nodded expressionlessly.
As for what she was thinking, Ron could not tell from those narrowed crimson eyes.
Ron had imagined many reactions from Isis.
But this cold indifference, this look of not caring at all, truly made it hard for him to continue.
In the end, she was no longer that little slave girl who was cold outside and warm inside, unable to hide her feelings.
“Mm.”
Feeling emotional, Ron was not in a hurry.
He gave the same response and simply stood shoulder to shoulder with Isis by the lakeside.
This was clearly the dangerous magic beast forest.
Yet now, as the sun set, the lake that served as the forest’s water source shimmered beneath warm golden light.
It made people feel especially relaxed and at ease.
If one stared too long, even their vision and thoughts would grow drowsy and blurred.
Ron thought back from the time he bought Isis until now.
Those dozen years of save file time had only been a few days in reality.
Yet now, it all felt strangely distant.
In the earliest days, the still-young Isis had always suffered over her identity as one with a sinner’s bloodline.
She could never let it go.
If there had been anything supporting Isis before Ron appeared, it was hatred for the demon race and the King.
And her determination to prove her father innocent and restore Knamening’s honor.
Later, it was only because of Ron’s guidance and companionship that the gradually growing, stronger Isis did not walk the road of obsession and extremism.
But afterward, that fallen King was destroyed together with his kingdom by the demon race.
Even the Great Demon Race whom Isis wished to kill in revenge was devoured by the stronger Ashen Demon King Casalima.
For a time, Isis lost her goal.
She no longer had any chance to prove her father’s innocence or restore Knamening’s honor.
Instead, after years of repetition, the entire western continent gradually came to treat the four words Knamening as synonyms for [demon spy], [human traitor], and [criminal].
The girl Isis, who had long pretended to be mature and coldly proud, could bear it no longer.
She threw herself into endless sword training, trying to ease her confusion and helplessness.
But in the end, it was the master she now relied on with all her heart who gave her a new answer.
[Become the Hero, Isis.]
[I will stand with you.]
[For you, for your father, for your family, I will clear your names.]
[With the head and blood of the Ashen Demon King.]
“When did you recognize me?”
“From the beginning, or later?”
Silence always has an end.
Having already lost the rhythm of the conversation, Isis chose to speak first.
“At first, you just looked familiar.”
“I had seen your portrait.”
“Later, I confirmed it from your swordsmanship.”
Ron felt his exhaustion was probably also due to spending magic power.
But facing Isis, even if the first question seemed relatively unimportant, he still forced himself to focus.
“Is that so?”
Isis asked back once.
But before Ron could answer, she continued on her own.
“I remember Lifa started to say something before you interrupted her.”
“Now it seems…”
Isis turned around and faced Ron.
“Heh.”
“That’s right.”
“I am Hero Isis.”
“But what about you?”
“Even if you were once a veteran adventurer of the seventh rank, now you’re only an ordinary man who has lost his strength.”
Isis stepped forward one pace.
Her forceful yet cold posture silently questioned Ron.
‘You know now, so what do you intend to do?’
“Heh heh.”
Ron laughed.
It was not forced laughter pretending to be relaxed.
It was relief at seeing Isis react exactly as expected.
Honor.
Aside from her feelings for Ron’s past identity, the thing Isis treasured second most was the honor of being the Hero.
To her, the Hero’s honor was the symbol that washed away the accusation that her father and family had colluded with demons.
At the same time, it was something precious that the one she loved had sacrificed his life to win and leave behind for her.
She absolutely could not let that honor be destroyed together with her own fall.
That would make the surname Knamening a disgrace once more.
It would betray her master’s wish and love.
“Miss Isis, don’t forget that you still owe me one thing.”
Ron spread both hands before himself, signaling for Isis to stay calm and keep some distance.
“A promise to do anything.”