The Demon race army is on the move.
I heard the report just this morning.
It came from a spy who had infiltrated Demon race territory.
"So it's finally happening."
"Yeah. I would've preferred they didn't come, but..."
"
"That's true. The previous Hero had already passed, and the Demon race had been getting more active since then. I'd say we held out pretty well, all things considered."
Yana the Saint, Jisukan the former adventurer, and
Just as my companions said, the Demon race had been growing increasingly active ever since the previous Hero died.
That it hadn't escalated into a full-scale war until now, settling for nothing more than minor skirmishes—maybe we really had held out remarkably well.
"So, when will the Demon race army arrive here?"
"Heilins is out confirming that right now. He should be back any moment now—ah, there he is."
At Yana's words, I turned around. Walking toward us was Heilins, my childhood friend whom I'd known since we were small, and the second son of House Quort.
"Heilins. What's the situation?"
"Based on their marching speed, they're predicted to reach this fortress by tomorrow."
"Is that so. Here we go at last."
War.
Ever since I became the Hero, I had lived my days in the midst of battle.
But a conflict on this scale was a first for me.
And not just for me.
The previous Hero's era had seen no large-scale wars.
The only people who truly knew a war of this magnitude were the generation that had known the Hero before the last one—and most of them were no longer alive.
By that generation, unless you belonged to a long-lived race, the survivors were likely too old to fight.
In other words, none of the Humans participating in this war had ever experienced anything close to this scale.
The Demon race, on the other hand, outlived Humans by a wide margin.
There could easily be Demon race members from the same generation as the Hero before the last—or even older.
How would that difference in experience play out?
And it wasn't just experience. The Demon race possessed superior combat ability in pure terms as well.
Physical abilities that surpassed those of Humans. Magical power that surpassed those of Humans.
And an intelligence no different from that of Humans.
The reason the lower-Status Humans could fight against the higher-Status Monsters was largely thanks to the power of Skills and the power of wisdom.
But that wouldn't work against the Demon race.
Because the Demon race wielded the same Skills and the same wisdom that Humans did.
Honestly speaking, it was terrifying.
But as the Hero, I couldn't afford to show my anxiety.
I was the hope of the Human race. If I faltered, everyone else would start to worry too.
I tightened my grip on the muffler wrapped around my neck, as if hiding my unease.
"I've been wondering about that for a while—what is that neck wrap of yours? You wear it even when it's hot."
"This? It's a memento from my mother."
A pure white neck wrap, with no adornments whatsoever.
"My mother knitted this for me before she died giving birth to Shun."
My mother passed away shortly after giving birth to Shun, her health deteriorating almost immediately.
It happened to coincide with the Demon race growing more active—around the same time I became the Hero.
Father bore the grief of losing Mother, yet still worked tirelessly as King.
Because of that, he'd grown distant from Shun and
I believed that with time, they would be able to interact normally as a family again. For now, though, the two of them were presumably at the academy.
Until they graduated, Father would just have to endure.
Once those two finished at the academy, I was sure things would change dramatically.
"I see. So that's how it was."
Yana's voice trailed off.
Oops.
She probably thought she'd asked something she shouldn't have.
"Don't worry about it, Yana. I've already made peace with it."
"But—"
"Exactly! No need to fuss over it. If anything, you should tell him he's a total mama's boy and be done with it."
"Heilins, that's a bit much, don't you think?"
I laughed at Heilins's joking tone.
I heard suppressed giggles from those around us.
That was better.
A dark atmosphere didn't suit the Hero's circle.
I was grateful to Heilins for stepping in like that.
When it came down to it, the thing worth having was a friend who truly understood you.
"Hey, do you know what this neck wrap is made of?"
Heilins asked Yana.
Ah—maybe I shouldn't have told him that.
"It doesn't seem like ordinary cloth. You wear it every single day, yet there's not a single mark on it."
"That's right. This one's made from a pretty special material—so rare that they say it's impossible to obtain these days."
"Huh? It's that precious?"
Perhaps the former thief in him was showing, but Hawkin's eyes lit up.
"Mm-hm. The correct answer is—Spider Silk!"
"S-Spider—!?"
Oh no.
Yana tumbled right off her chair.
Yana was terrible with bugs of all kinds.
And of all bugs, spiders were her absolute worst, which was exactly why I'd kept quiet about it all this time.
"Hm? Wait—is that Spider Silk from the Great Ello Dungeon?"
The one who latched onto the topic was, surprisingly, Jisukan.
"Yeah, it is. You know about it?"
"I do. It's pretty well-known among adventurers."
"Oh! The phantom spider of the Great Ello Dungeon! I remember now! Ho ho—so that's what that Spider Silk was, huh?"
Wow.
So it was actually pretty famous.
"Eh? What's this story about?"
Yana asked with a timid, wide-eyed look.
"Well, it was back when I was still a kid. An adventurer party in the Great Ello Dungeon burned down the nest of a spider-type Monster called a Taratect. This Monster is weak in a straight fight, but very rarely it builds a nest. Those nests were a real pain to deal with, so the unspoken rule among adventurers was to burn them on sight. Well, when they cleared out that particular nest, they found a massive amount of silk deep inside. To their surprise, it had incredible magical conductivity and physical durability—far beyond any ordinary magical thread. The silk they brought back was sold for an outrageous sum, and the adventurer who carried it out made a fortune overnight. It's become quite a legendary tale among adventurers."
"After that, capturing Taratects became a bit of a fad, I hear. But in the end, they never found another individual that could produce the same silk, so it's been called the 'phantom spider' ever since."
"Oh, wow."
The silk my mother had used was definitely from that batch.
From what I'd heard, a keen-eyed merchant had bought it from the adventurer first thing, intending to present it as a tribute to the royal family.
While the rest of my companions continued buzzing about the topic, Heilins sent me a thought transmission.
[Julius, something about this Demon race movement feels off.]
[Off how?]
[The enemy appears to be splitting their forces to charge into Human territory all at once. But I don't understand the logic behind spreading themselves thin.]
[You think they have some kind of plan?]
[Yeah. Concentrating everything at one point would be far more effective, yet they're deliberately dispersing their forces. I think we should assume there's something more to this.]
[Do you have any idea what it might be?]
[Not a clue. Even I can't figure that one out. But it'd be wise not to let our guard down.]
[Understood. Thanks.]
A restless, unpleasant feeling settled over me.
It was as if I'd already been caught in some massive trap without even realizing it.
But as the Hero, running away from this was not an option.
I tightened my grip once more on the neck wrap made of Spider Silk.