Chapter Twenty: Hero Faction, Imperial Faction, and the Neutral Faction

When Ren and the Clausel knights entered Roy’s room, Roy greeted them from his bed.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Mireille was beside him, and both of them looked unusually grave.

“Something troublesome happened without us knowing, didn’t it?” Roy asked.

The knights who had accompanied Ren lowered their heads apologetically.

“Forgive us. It was not a matter that could be made public, so we were unable to tell you sooner.”

“That’s what I thought. And Viscount Given is involved, isn’t he?”

“…He is.”

Ren and the knights sat on the sofa. There was some distance between them and the bed, but Roy could hear them without difficulty.

Roy exchanged a glance with Mireille.

“Ren, first read the letter those men left behind. We’ll hear the knights’ explanation after that.”

Mireille handed Ren the opened envelope. He unfolded the parchment inside.

The letter was not long, but its contents were substantial.

Viscount Given claimed to be deeply concerned about the village’s poverty and the recent disturbances. He regretted that the many demands within his own territory had prevented him from offering assistance sooner. To remedy that, he proposed two things.

First, Ren’s village would be incorporated into Viscount Given’s territory, and several knights would be permanently stationed there to compensate for its supposed lack of military strength.

Second, Ren Ashton would enter Viscount Given’s service and receive generous compensation.

That was the essence of the offer.

It was an aggressive proposal, though the transfer of an impoverished border village from one noble’s territory to another was not unheard of in the empire.

When Roy saw that Ren had finished reading, he released a long breath.

“Damn it. The Thief Wolfen was an abnormal case. Set that aside, and there has never been any proof that this village lacked enough strength while House Ashton guarded it.”

“In other words, Baron Clausel did not make a mistake in his governance?” one knight asked.

“Exactly. A D-rank monster appeared once before Ren was born, too.”

“I heard that you defeated it yourself, Lord Roy.”

“I did. And however high its rank, it was easier than fighting the Thief Wolfen. It wasn’t a Unique Monster, and it wasn’t nearly as fast. This village has never been defenseless.”

Roy repeated that Baron Clausel had not failed in his duty.

“Now tell me the real issue.”

His eyes sharpened like a drawn blade as he faced the Clausel knight.

“The waves of the factional struggle have finally reached this region. Is that it?”

“…You are correct.”

“I knew it. That explains why the viscount reached out to us.”

“Many nobles have long wished to draw House Clausel into their camp. Our lord, however, has refused to belong to either major faction. He has continued to respect both the imperial family and the Seven Great Houses. We deeply regret that matters have now come to this.”

Ren nodded to himself.

(The factions of the Leomel Empire…)

There were three, and every noble house belonged to one of them.

The first was the Imperial Faction.

Its members revered the imperial family and, beyond them, the Lion King who had founded the nation. They believed that the imperial family should continue to guide Leomel in the future.

The second was the Hero Faction.

It was led by the Seven Great Houses, the noble lines descended from the Seven Heroes. In Legend of the Seven Heroes, this was the faction to which the protagonists belonged.

They did not seek to seize the throne. Rather, they argued that the Leomel Empire should become freer and more representative.

Their position arose partly from the problems created by Leomel’s size and wealth. Poor villages like Ren’s continued to increase, while some individuals possessed enough money to rescue dozens of such villages by themselves. Many nobles within the Hero Faction believed the imperial family’s authority should be restrained so that those inequalities could be corrected.

The third group was the Neutral Faction.

Its members belonged to neither of the two great camps. Some respected both the imperial family and the Seven Great Houses. Some disliked radical change. Others were pacifists who believed the nobility should not divide itself over ideology.

They believed the empire ought to unite rather than fight—just as it had when the Demon King appeared.

Baron Clausel belonged to the Neutral Faction.

Viscount Given belonged to the Hero Faction.

That was why the wider political struggle had reached this poor village.

“I understand why you found it difficult to discuss,” Roy said. “This isn’t the sort of matter nobles publicize, especially to a knight from a tiny village on the frontier.”

“Dear. Your phrasing.”

“Ah—sorry! I wasn’t trying to insult anyone. I meant it as a matter of common sense!”

Mireille pinched Roy’s cheek and apologized to the knight. The tension in the room eased slightly.

“So why has the factional struggle reached a place like this?” Roy asked.

“You may already know this, Lord Roy, but around the time Ren was born, legitimate heirs were born to the Seven Great Houses in remarkably close succession.”

Roy stared at him.

“Dad, you never told me that.”

“Because I never heard it. How would news like that reach this village? We’re a small knightly household that receives no invitations to noble gatherings. The only time we’ve left the village was to pay our respects to the previous baron.”

The amount and freshness of information depended on how many people came and went. In Ren’s village, that number was extremely small. News arrived far later than it did in towns and cities.

“The births of those heirs united the Hero Faction more strongly than ever,” the knight continued. “Some claim the children are the reincarnations of the Seven Heroes.”

“Ridiculous,” Roy scoffed.

Ren did not agree.

In Legend of the Seven Heroes, the protagonists were eventually hailed as the second coming of the heroes who had defeated the Demon King. As their achievements became known throughout the empire and beyond, the claim grew ever louder.

“Strictly speaking, there are only six Great Houses now,” Roy said. “Hero Loren’s bloodline died out more than a century ago. Calling six children the reincarnation of all Seven Heroes is disrespectful.”

Loren had been the strongest of the Seven Heroes and the man who dealt the final blow to the Demon King.

His descendants, however, had gradually lost the ability to produce heirs. The problem worsened with every generation until the line finally died without a legitimate successor. In the present day, people called it the Demon King’s curse.

“But Father,” Ren said, “what if Loren’s blood survived somewhere outside the recognized line?”

“Ren?”

“Six heirs were born at almost the same time. If people believe they’re the reincarnations of the Seven Heroes, then they would also expect someone carrying Loren’s blood to exist. They could call it the will of Main God Elfen. It wouldn’t be strange for nobles in the Hero Faction to think that way—or to act on it.”

And they were not entirely wrong.

The boy who carried Hero Loren’s blood was already living in a remote village. That truth formed one of the central threads of Legend of the Seven Heroes.

“Remarkable,” the Clausel knight said. “The Hero Faction is moving exactly as you described, Ren. More than a few nobles share that belief.”

“Ren, you’re so clever,” Mireille said.

“Of course he is. I can’t wait to see what he becomes,” Roy added.

“Dad, Mom, this isn’t the time for compliments.”

Ren sighed, embarrassed by their praise and troubled by how the game’s politics looked from his new position.

In the game, the protagonists overcame repeated opposition from both the Imperial and Neutral factions. Their rivals sometimes said or did things that seemed unforgivable from the heroes’ perspective.

Now Ren stood on the other side of that conflict, and Viscount Given’s behavior made the Hero Faction look considerably less admirable.

“Something still bothers me,” Ren said.

“What is it?” Roy asked.

“The births happened nearly eight years ago. Why is the struggle only reaching this village now?”

The room fell silent.

After thinking for several minutes, Ren looked at his father.

“Dad, how long ago did you defeat that D-rank monster?”

“About a year before you were born. So… roughly eight years ago.”

“Then the factional struggle may have affected this region even then.”

The Clausel knight looked impressed.

“You are exceptionally perceptive. Our lord reached the same conclusion. Viscount Given may have been watching this region since that time.”

“Do you also think the Thief Wolfen incident is connected?” Ren asked.

It was an obvious possibility. As Roy had said, the Thief Wolfen’s appearance was anything but normal.

“That is what we have been told. Apparently—”

“This time, the Hero Faction may be anxious because House Clausel received new territory near the imperial capital,” Ren said.

The knight froze. Roy and Mireille stared at Ren as well.

Weiss had told Ren that House Clausel obtained the new territory only the previous year.

That could have made the Hero Faction wary. The emperor had granted land near the capital to a capable neutral noble whose daughter was a saint. They might fear that House Clausel intended to abandon neutrality and join the Imperial Faction.

Ren organized the pattern in his mind.

The first disturbance had occurred eight years earlier, when the nearly simultaneous births within the Seven Great Houses energized the Hero Faction.

The second had followed House Clausel’s acquisition of territory near the capital.

Licia’s growing influence as a saint would only make the family more valuable. Bringing Baron Clausel and all his lands into the Hero Faction would be a major success.

Viscount Given’s conduct therefore demanded caution.

There was no evidence that he had caused either monster incident. Nevertheless, his forceful approach immediately after the Thief Wolfen attack was difficult to dismiss as coincidence.

A lord decided how many soldiers to station throughout his territory. Yet repeated failures of judgment could lead to punishment. If villages under House Clausel suffered severe damage, political enemies might accuse Baron Clausel of mismanagement.

The Hero Faction could then defend the baron at the decisive moment and demand his allegiance in return.

Or it could allow House Clausel to be crushed and divide its territory among allied nobles.

All of this depended on the unproven assumption that Viscount Given or another member of the Hero Faction had caused the disturbances.

It remained only a theory.

Even so, it was a theory they could not afford to ignore.

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