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–––Lapis’ viewpoint

“Lapis! Where should we go first?”
“To Bordaule! Whether we have to deal with Leble or fight demons, we need more allies!”

We shouted at each other as we flew at high speeds. Ciel had grown so powerful that she could fly just as fast as me. The scenery below quickly scrolled past and we soon reached the cityscape we knew so well. With me and Ciel carrying them, we all reached Bordaule in no time at all.

We went to the capital and landed in front of the palace’s gates. The guards there obviously surrounded us, looking extremely wary, but some of them recognized us and we were quickly released.

“I’m sorry for that, we hadn’t heard anything from you for so long and we weren’t expecting your arrival.”
“We should be apologizing for that, a lot happened.”

I could hear Luvias and the guard guiding us talk with each other. I looked around, thinking just how much time had passed since we tried to attack Leble, but then I noticed that the soldiers and maids in the hallways looked at me with shock, and recoiled slightly frightened.

“Is something wrong? I feel like everyone is reacting oddly…”
“You’re right. Before everyone looked at you because of how cute you are, but this feels different.”

It did not feel malicious, but it was almost like they were looking at some extremely rare animal, and it quickly started to make me feel uncomfortable. Why were they reacting that way? Before long the guard scratched his head and spoke with an apologetic voice.

“I don’t think there’s much they can do to avoid that. It really is strange to know that the hero Brave is alive in the body of a girl after all.”
“””HUH?!”””

We all shouted wildly in shock. Brave… how did they figure out my identity?!

“Wh-what do you mean?! Where did you hear something so..!”
“Please calm down, Your Highness! I’ll explain as best as I can!”

The guard desperately tried to calm down Luvias, who had grabbed him by the collar and lifted into the air. It was a bit comical seeing him be lifted so easily by just one of Luvias’ hands, but what he told us made me want to bash my head against a wall.

Just after we stormed Leble’s capital a rumor of me being Brave spread not just here, but all over the world. Just a rumor would have only reached people who liked to gossip, but it was a bit more serious. Leble also branded me as the assailant that destroyed their palace, claiming I was in cahoots with demons. That story spread like wildfire, causing confusion in various countries.

First everyone doubted that, how could Brave still be alive? Even if he survived, he would just be a decrepit old man, not a pretty young girl. So that seemed dubious, but then they started to think that maybe Brave’s power would allow him to make such a transformation possible. He must have been hiding and waiting for a time when the threat of demons grew again. But then why would he hide in the first place? Had he not defeated the Demon King three centuries ago? Or was it all a ruse and they were cooperating since back then, and the Demon King’s death was staged?

The theories and suggestions went on and on, the rumors running out of control. In the end there were two main conclusions. One side claimed that if Brave was alive, they needed to cooperate to defeat the demons. The other side believed Brave had betrayed humanity and needed to be killed.

The guard did not know what had happened in other countries, but here in Bordaule the outcries of the populace kept getting louder. But it was also them who put an end to the discussions.

“The people of Surfour, as well as the soldiers and knights that fought alongside her in the civil war, kept advocating for Lapis. They mentioned how she risked her life many times to protect them, so there’s no way she would be working with demons… Instead they claimed Leble was far more suspicious for trying to blame her so much. That side began to grow, while the ones still doubting her shrank, until everything cleared up when Prince Magna gave a public speech.”

Magna gathered the public to officially address all the rumors and stories. He also explained why I changed my appearance and who the real enemy was.

According to Prince Magna, Brave had lived in seclusion after defeating the Demon King, his power being feared everywhere. But now that the Demon King had returned, he had come out to fight again. The only problem was that people would end up relying on him too much if he openly mentioned being Brave, refusing to fight themselves. Understanding that problem, he changed his name and appearance to support humanity from the backlines. That was why the rest of the people also had to stand up and fight, instead of offloading everything to the hero. It was time to stand up against Leble, who had decided to join hands with demons to take over the world.

“…”

I was shocked by how close that described the reason why I had been hiding for so long… and it also felt weird being described in such a positive way. I was not such a perfect person, I did like helping people when I saw they were in trouble, but I did not really care about the future of humanity or global peace or something like that. I just wanted a place to live in.

“Well, at least that doesn’t sound too bad.”
“I’m sure this is all thanks to all the people you helped so far.”
“I… guess. Yeah, this is alright.”

I started thinking of all the people in Surfour that I had not seen in so long. How were everyone from the guild doing? There were people that helped me in the capital too. It felt nice knowing they all had taken my side. Maybe it was worth it leaving the mountains and living together with Ciel and Karin.

“Then everyone already knows that Lapis…”
“Yes, I believe everyone in the country is aware of that now.”

That explained the strange looks I got. They all knew that I was actually the hero Brave.

“I’m sure Prince Magna will want to talk about that and other matters with you.”

We hurried to Prince Magna’s room, there were a lot of things to talk about. Our return, the attack on Leble, my identity…