NOVEL WEB Chapter 5
“God is dead.”
Why is no one coming to rescue me?
Everyone must know I’m stuck here.
They even drew a carrot on the last page.
Someone, please get me out!
I would even take a kidnapping!
-Clang!
“What the heck!”
Did someone really come to kidnap me?!
I was so startled that I toppled over with my chair.
As I lay there, I turned my head to see where the sound came from, and a woman in a robe was invading through the terrace.
“You may be surprised, but come with me for a bit—”
“Of course, my princess on the white horse!”
“W-What?”
It was about time I got tired of the old story where a handsome prince saves a beautiful princess.
The trend nowadays is a princess looking for a writer.
I quickly got up and approached her.
“Where are we going? Anywhere is fine, just as long as it’s far away.”
“Well, that is…”
As she fumbled, a knight in golden armor kicked the door open and rushed in.
“We’re under attack!”
As expected of the Imperial Guard, their response was quick.
But this princess who suddenly appeared was no lightweight either.
“Let’s get out of here.”
She grabbed my wrist and jumped straight off the terrace.
“Huh?! I can’t survive a fall—”
-Thump!
Just as I thought I was about to hit the ground, a translucent shield surrounded me.
-Thud!
Even after hitting the ground, I was unharmed and perfectly fine.
“Oh.”
“You should be safe now with the shield, so we’ll run at full speed from now on.”
“You have a lot of abilities!”
Before I could finish my sentence, she took off running, and I was hilariously dragged along behind her.
***
Zech has been kidnapped by an unidentified invader.
It was only natural that the Imperial Palace was thrown into chaos, and all but the First Princess, who was visiting the neighboring kingdom, attended the meeting, including the First and Second Princes and the Second Princess.
“Commander of the Imperial Guard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I believe I am aware of how strong you and your team are.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor rested his chin on his hand, gazing down at the commander of the Imperial Guard with apathetic eyes.
“The security at the place where the Check Writer stayed couldn’t have been any weaker, so it’s clear that it’s not your fault but rather that the opponent was extraordinary, correct?”
“…I can only be grateful for your high evaluation of this sinner.”
“High evaluation? I’m just stating the objective facts.”
The Emperor uncrossed his arms after resting on the armrest.
“So, what about the opponent?”
“According to the testimony of Deputy Commander RiHawk, who discovered the invader first, the intruder moved so fast that even RiHawk couldn’t catch up, possessing a monstrous body that easily dodged even aura-infused sword strikes.”
“So even the deputy commander couldn’t reach them.”
“That’s correct.”
“Based on what you’re saying, they sound like a ‘Hero’ level opponent.”
“Yes. However, the last Hero appeared a staggering 300 years ago. But the intruder was described as a young woman.”
“…Is there a possibility they could be an elf?”
“Since she was wearing a robe, it’s not impossible.”
“Sigh…”
With a sigh over the troublesome matters that could arise from elven involvement, the First Prince Leon showed a fierce smile.
“Your Majesty, please leave it to me. I, Leon, will definitely rescue the Check Writer from that scoundrel.”
“Leon… Well, if you have some expertise, I can trust you with it.”
As the Emperor responded positively, Leon turned to Rian next to him and spoke.
“Heh, let’s just say I’m different from someone who can’t even handle basic swordsmanship.”
…
Even with Leon’s provocation, the powerless Second Prince couldn’t utter a word.
As the atmosphere grew slightly awkward, the Emperor cleared his throat and immediately issued his orders.
“First, I will entrust the task of finding the Check Writer to the First Prince, Leon. Commander Reinhardt, you will cooperate with Leon to bring the one who kidnapped the Check Writer before me.”
““We shall follow your command, Your Majesty.””
***
Sigh…
After the meeting ended, Second Prince Rian returned to his room with a sigh.
“Leon, that damn guy…”
“Heh, let’s just say I’m different from someone who can’t even handle basic swordsmanship!”
It frustrated him.
Even though Leon said he wasn’t interested in the throne, he couldn’t help but feel riled up by his brother’s snide remarks.
Because it was true.
Since Rian was born, Leon had already been recognized for his outstanding swordsmanship.
Young Rian thought his brother was so cool that he picked up a sword, only to sadly realize he had no talent.
But he didn’t give up and trained with the sword. He wanted to be acknowledged by the brother he admired so much.
But Leon would just scoff at him.
“Not even able to master the basics? What a disgrace to the royal family!”
Rian, who had still believed in his brother when he was younger, thought that was his way of motivating him.
But when he turned 12…
“Damn it, damn it! Just because you were born a bit earlier! I’ll definitely surpass you with skill soon!”
In the training ground after everyone had left, he realized why he was behaving badly.
Inferiority complex.
Just as Leon was recognized for his outstanding swordsmanship since Rian was born, when Leon was born, the First Princess Riss was famously known for her overwhelming prowess.
Leon couldn’t be satisfied with just recognition through swordsmanship.
Because he was weaker than Riss.
Even though Riss had never done anything to Leon, he would continue to torment Rian out of inferiority complex.
“Sigh… Check Writer, please tell me the right answer.”
That’s why, to him who was always looked down upon by his brother, the new work by the Check Writer resonated even more than his first piece, the Betrayer Hero.
The scene of being ignored no matter how hard he tried and ultimately being expelled reminded him of his younger days when he tried desperately to show Leon, only to be ignored and told to get out of his room.
“But… in any case, Leon is going to find the Check Writer and get all cocky again.”
Just like Leon said, he was capable and Rian was not.
Feeling down, he stood in front of the bookshelf to read Support Disbandment when someone knocked on the door.
-Knock knock.
-Rian, it’s me.
“…Eve? Come in.”
In order to greet the suddenly appearing Eve, he pushed back the Support Disbandment he had half-taken out.
“Eve, what’s going on…? Why do you look like that?”
“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
Welcoming Eve without much thought, he was momentarily startled by her expression, which was not her usual gentle smile but more like a dragon that had lost its treasure.
“No, your expression looks like…”
Wanting to point out what the problem was, he gestured to his face with a finger.
“It’s like the expression of a dragon pondering whether to breathe fire for three seconds after having its treasure stolen.”
“…Really?”
Eve touched her cheeks with her hands and changed the subject, saying it was no big deal.
“Rian, that’s not what’s important. The important thing is Zech.”
“I know that, but…”
Suddenly, Leon’s confident face popped into his mind, and he felt a wave of depression hit him.
“Don’t lose heart. Anyway, we need to find Zech before that guy Leon does.”
“W-What do you mean all of a sudden?”
“Well, I overheard something the last time I was passing by…”
Eve seriously told Rian about Leon’s wicked plan, and upon hearing her story, Rian exclaimed in shock.
“No, what a horrible thing! How could a human think of that?!”
His fists trembled with rage as he surpassed his threshold.
Because Leon’s wicked plan was none other than…
“How dare he make the Hero write about taking women while being petrified!”
It was NTR material.
That too, close to being a forbidden book.
***
As we escaped the Imperial Palace and ran for a while, a very, very big problem arose.
“Damn…”
Just moments ago, everything seemed fine.
I had even learned her name was Rate and that she was a fan of mine.
The problem arose when she was about to reveal her identity.
“I learned many lessons from your book. I am… Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.”
“Check Writer, my name is Rate. And my profession is….”
“…Who are you?”
“What the hell.”
This person suddenly had their memory wiped clean.