<h4>Chapter 438</h4>


    The battle was over. The monsters that lookedrge enough to swallow Pialu left piles of corpses as big as themselves and were all defeated. They could no longer pose a threat to Pialu, and the soldiers burst out in joy. They and their families had reached the edge of death’s door ande back alive. There was nothing that could’ve made them happier—they hugged one another and cheered from the bottom of their hearts that their lives hadn’t been cut short. As big as their happiness was, their reverence for one person grew even greater.


    A sword rose above a behemothrge enough to inflict fear with just its size. He was just like the hero they had dreamed of in their youth while ying with tree branches. Perhaps, they were witnessing a great historical scene that would be remembered for generations and generations. People felt a deep sense of awe, and everyone’s eyesnded on Zich as he stood on top of the behemoth’s corpse. No one spared a single nce to the man below gripping his fist tightly with his head lowered.


    * * *


    “Ahahahahah! Karuwiman Holy Knights are really different!” Themander-in-chief’s mouth was open so wide that one could almost see the insides of his throat, and he kept pping his hands on top of Zich’s shoulders.


    “You swept away that immense army of monsters by yourself! You are just like the heroes in legends! No, considering how your deeds would be spread for generations, you are indeed a hero from the legends!” Then, themanderughed heartily again, and the people in their surroundings did the same. The cheering for Zich showed no signs of ending.


    “Can I ask why you haven’t used the strength you showed us today until now?” Themander’s expression or tone wasn’t usatory; it seemed like he had already guessed that Zich must have had his own reasons. However, as amander, he needed to ask the necessary questions.


    “I can only use the strength I just showed after meeting specific conditions. I can’t use it whenever.”


    “As I thought,” themander said and didn’t inquire anymore about the power. He knew he would be going too far to dig into an obvious secret skill. Then, he asked, “Couldn’t you have at least given us a heads up, though? We wouldn’t have gone through such a nerve-wracking experience then.”


    “Would you have believed me?”


    “Well, that’s true.” Although themander sounded a bit disappointed before, he immediately looked understanding after Zich’s response. Even after seeing Zich’s battle with his own eyes, themander still thought itcked believability. If Zich had tried to exin what he was going to do, themander most likely would have lost faith in Zich instead.


    “Also, our battle isn’t really over yet,” Zich said seriously, which didn’t fit the current atmosphere.


    “We have to quickly remove all the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations in the Denest Mountain Range. If we don’t, there could be more monster invasions, maybe not as big as the size we saw today, but another one.”


    Themander hadn’t been able to control his lips from turning upwards even after he stoppedughing, and he also became serious.


    “You are right, Mr. Zich. We can’t say the battle is over yet.” Then, themander beganying down somemands to his subordinates. The soldiers surrounding Zich also stopped their cheering and became serious. Freeing themselves from the fever of excitement and joy, they soon resumed their usual demeanors. Some moved to clean up after the battle and others headed to the Denest Mountain Range holding artifacts to put a final end to this battle. Yet, the faces of these people looked unlike anything they had shown until now. Without a hint of despair on their expressions, their faces sparkled with hope. Like that, therge-scale monster invasions in Pialu came to an end.


    * * *


    Zich and hispanions stayed in a gigantic mansion. Although Zich had received quite the treatment as one of the important forces for Pialu’s cause and as a Karuwiman Holy Knight, he now received a treatment of apletely different caliber. Before, there had been important fighters in Pialu besides Zich, and Glen also had the title of a Karuwiman Holy Knight like him; however, now that Zich had the status as the only hero who saved Pialu, the treatment he received improved.


    The mayor lent Zich and hispanions one of the most luxurious mansions in the city, and they ced many housekeepers and servants in the mansion so that they wouldn’t feel any sort of difort during their stay. Although Zich should have been relieving his stress from the recent battle without any worries thanks to this splendid treatment, he was growing more and more irritated.


    They were all in arge room with a giant bed, elegant furniture, and fancy ornaments—it was thergest room in the mansion that had also been given to Zich. However, Zich wasn’t alone, and all hispanions were gathered with him. On the bed, Zichy on his side with one of his hands supporting his face. He was scowling, which disyed how much difort he was feeling. Nowem was lying face-down on top of the room’s thick carpet. He had increased in size several timesrger than an average person andy prone with his tongue hanging out like an animal shot down by a hunter. Of course, Nowem waspletely fine. Above him, L was standing with Zich’s sword, Windur, in her hands for some reason. She raised Windur towards the ceiling and burst intoughter.


    “Pffft!” She clutched onto her stomach, fell over Nowem’s back, and let out stifledughter. Tears collected at the edge of her eyes.


    “Are you having fun?” Zich said, displeased.


    “Of course! It’s fun! You of all people have begun to walk the path of a true hero. There’s nothing more joyful and hrious than that. Your pose was perfect then.” Then, she got back up again and raised Windur high in the air. Nowem looked up at her when she sat down, so he lowered his head back down and stuck out his tongue.


    “Pfff!” L burst outughing again. Currently, L was imitating Zich’s actions at the end of the battle, and Nowem was imitating the behemoth and pretending to be dead. Moreover, when L climbed up on top of Nowem and raised Windur high in the air, she looked simr to Zich. Compared to L, who wasughing outrightly, the disciples were gathered together in a corner and covering their mouths with red faces. Nothing much would happen to L if she made fun of Zich like this, but if the disciples burst outughing, they would surely receive serious bacsh.


    “Hero Zich who saved Pialu!” At L’s shout, the disciples were reaching their limit, but they barely managed to suppress theirughter. It was basically torturous to keep theirughter down.


    ‘Damn it!’ Zich moved his gaze away from L and sprawled out on the bed. ‘I shouldn’t have copied that bastard.’ Even though he said he was going to act like a hero, this was not an easy task for Zich who lived the opposite life of a hero. When he first regressed, he even asked Lube what he should do to live a kind life.


    To Zich, his strongest impression and idea of a hero came from Glen Zenard. The pose he made at the end was merely a pose that he copied from Glen. Moreover, he had received a very good reaction; there was even talk of building a statue of Zich in that pose. However, the problem was that all of this was an excellent subject matter for L to use to tease him. Even though Zich was unfazed by people’s mockery or teasing as long as he was not embarrassed, he felt intense disgust toward heroes. So he was more than just annoyed at L’s teasing. While Zich’spanions were enjoying their long-awaited leisure (except for Zich who was having an awful time), a sound came from the door.


    Knock! Knock! They heard someone knock on the door.


    “What’s the matter?” L got off Nowem’s back and shouted towards the door.


    The person who knocked on the door was one of the staff members. “There’s someone who is looking for Mr. Hans. Would you like to meet them?”


    “Me?” Hans got up from his seat after working hard to suppress hisughter in the corner. He wondered who would be looking for him, and one person came to mind. Yet, he still asked, “Who is it?”


    “She introduced herself as Ms. Lara Browning.”


    Hans quickly headed towards the door.


    * * *


    Lara felt ufortable in this situation. Even though she had met everyone in this room before, they were basically strangers. Moreover, even though she had conversed with some of the people here before, it was closer to a verbal fight rather than a conversation. However, Lara thought it was fortunate that Hans was at least sitting in front of her.


    Hans was the only person that she feltfortable talking to in this room—no, she felt mostfortable with him in this whole city. The staff ced a teacup in front of her. Lara expressed her thanks and took a sip of tea. It was an expensive tea that fully satisfied even Lara’s taste buds who grew up as a noble. After taking a couple of more sips, she felt as if her heart felt a bit more rxed.


    Hans asked, “Ms. Browning, for what reason have youe here?”


    Lara made a bitter smile at his business-like tone. Punch! L kicked Hans’ shin. Even though she was a mage, L was strong enough to beat up a knight apprentice with her bare fists and no mana. Hans rubbed his shin in pain.


    L said to Lara, “Please speakfortably and excuse this guy. He’s a bit crude.”


    “Thank you.” Lara slightly bowed towards L. “It’s all right. I know Mr. Hans doesn’t mean it in a bad way.”


    “Is that so? Then, that’s fortunate.” L looked at Hans with a surprised expression. She knew that Hans had been hanging out with Lara, but it seemed as if they had gotten closer than she expected. ‘She might really separate from Glen Zenard like Zich wanted.’


    When she slightly nced towards the bed where Zich was, he was looking at Hans and Lara with a pleased expression.


    “Shall we leave if you want to talk to him privately?”


    Lara shook her head at L’s suggestion. “No. I can’t burden you with that much when I’m an uninvited guest. I didn’te here to say anything that important. I just wanted to say my farewells before I leave this city. Since I received a lot of help from Mr. Hans, I wanted to also thank him as well.”


    “Oh my, are you already leaving? I’m sure that the city is also nning to give a big reward to Mr. Zenard’s party.”


    Everyone knew that Zich made the biggest achievement in this incident, but this didn’t mean that other people’s achievements were less notable. The number of achievements that Glen and his party came right below Zich’s achievements. Of course, even then, the difference in their achievements was as big as the space between the sky and the earth.


    However, Lara slowly shook her head. She made a bitter smile and said, “Glen, Widne, and Acous are going to stay in the city.”


    “What? Then, will you be the only one leaving, Ms. Browning. Ah, perhaps…”


    Lara nodded as L looked surprised. “Yes, I left Glen’s party.”


    Zich’s eyes gleamed.