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“It’s been… not quite a while. But I’m glad to see you’re all doing well.”
“Magna… I’m really sorry we were distant for so long. And for the unnecessary burden we caused the country for lacking strength.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea of everything that happened. But first, sit down. This isn’t something we can talk about while standing around.”

We were all in Prince Magna’s room. He glanced at us for a bit and spoke, only showing a mild reaction. A maid served cups of tea for each one of us, and then she left with the guards and knights. Only the five of us and Prince Magna were in the room now.

“Alright, where should we start…”

There was a bit of noise as he took a sip of tea, and then his eyes focused squarely on me.

“Lapis, is it really true that you are the hero Brave?”
“!”

Straight to the point. I already knew that everyone in the country was told about my identity, but I still froze and stuttered when asked so directly. His gaze was so stern I knew he would not allow any lies or deception. Luvias stood up and held her arm in front of me, as if protecting me before I could say anything, but I gently pushed her arm down.

“…It is true. I’m Brave. The hero that defeated the Demon King three centuries ago.”
“I see… so it was true after all.”

Magna had his arms crossed as he took a deep breath and frowned slightly. He had not been fully convinced until now. But that went for everyone, it was hard to believe that someone born more than three centuries before was still walking and breathing.

“I always noticed you had unnatural strength, but as Brave that makes sense. And that’s how you fended off an entire knight unit on your own.”
“…”
“But at the same time…”

I gulped, not knowing what he would say next.

“We really owe you our apology. We were too lazy to upkeep the peace you fought so hard for in the past. You have my apologies, as one of the humans responsible for that.”

He bowed after he said that. Everyone there looked flustered seeing that. Luvias was so shocked she could not form any words, while Karin and the rest gasped loudly. I had never expected to see Prince Magna, who always had a proud and somewhat cold demeanor, apologize for something so out of his control.

“It’s fine… that’s not something you should apologize for. It was no one’s fault this happened.”
“But still, the rulers of a country are responsible for the people’s future. That’s what being royalty means.”

That made a bit more sense, he still felt like his bloodline had been at fault, becoming complacent in the peaceful times they lived. Bordaule did not exist three centuries ago, and such a large kingdom could not not just appear out of nowhere, so there had to be a lengthy history behind who was chosen as royalty and how the country grew. The fact that Prince Magna regretted how things happened in the past showed just how seriously he took his position. At least he was still being aware of his responsibilities, and I felt like he had matured a bit compared to how he was during the civil war.

“…Alright, I’ll accept your apology not as Lapis, but as the hero Brave.”
“Thank you.”

So far I always took him as stubborn and hard to approach, but somehow hearing him say that made me like him more. But not in a romantic way, just a friendly way of liking. Someone dedicated enough to apologize for his ancestor’s mistakes would definitely make a good ruler.

“Anyway, next topic.”

He barely waited for me to process what he said before moving on. He wanted to know where we had been. His spies had given him a rough outline of what happened, but he still wanted to ask us directly. Luvias explained as best as she could, and he remained silent until she was done. Then he sighed loudly.

“That was too extreme. Both the fact that you tried to take down the enemy’s stronghold with such a small group, and that you tried killing the emperor directly. But the worst part is that you failed.”
“But Magna, she was just trying to-”
“There’s no point to it if the plan fails, Luvias. I’m sure you’re aware of that much.”
“…”

I felt like he was mostly telling us to consult something like that with him first. And his words were not meant only for Luvias, but mostly for me as well. Even if I was Brave, I could not get overconfident and make mistakes like that. Somehow I started to feel bad for rushing things like that, and he was done complaining, so after another deep breath, he changed his voice into a slightly brighter tone.

“Well, no use regretting it now. At least you succeeded in taking out a large portion of Leble’s forces. Still, they managed to conquer Lumielle successfully. To put it simply, it’s the worst situation possible. Leble is cooperating with demons, and they keep gathering troops from who knows where. Even Bordaule would struggle trying to fight back. Is that much clear?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. Not everything is doom and gloom though. Lumielle might have fallen, but their hero Freya is still alive, and she’s working hard to reclaim Lumielle. And now we also have the legendary hero Brave on our side.”

Everyone there turned to look at me. Somehow feeling that much attention on me made me uncomfortable, so I started shifting on my seat.

“Lapis, I understand your position and how you feel, but I’d really like it if you could stand in the front stage once again. Gather the heroes of all countries and lead the fight against the demons, as a true hero.”