The Hero Who Returned From The War Has Changed.

”I can believe my 4-year plan has finally paid off. ” The Hero said as he sighed in relief.

Yes. I have been preparing this scenario ever since I was summoned to this medieval fantasy world called Hortana.

Achieve a situation where you can poison all the aristocrats at the same time. Its something I can only do perfectly by having everyone gathered in the same place and off guard.

In addition to having to destroy the elites of the enemy powers to avoid a violent response from them while the kingdom is weakened…

To put it bluntly, it was not an easy job.

It all started 4 years ago.

As soon as I arrived in this world, I was tasked with defeating ”demons ” on behalf of humanity. Of course, I refused at first and asked them to return to my world.

I mean, Im just a 24-year-old who just finished college…

You don expect me to fight life-and-death battles against an army of demons on behalf of a kingdom Ive never known before, do you?

Whats more… You won tell me now that all the suffering, blood, pain, and tears that I shed to finish university ended up being for nothing!!!

If I had known that studying hard was going to be useless, I would have at least tried to get a girlfriend or something!

Or maybe something more realistic.

Unfortunately…

”Sorry Hero but its impossible to perform the summoning magic again. This time it could only be given the power lent by the Goddess. Much less a reverse summon. ” The priest who was in charge of the summoning ritual said.

”… ” Franz looked dumbfounded.

Back then I still thought that if I managed to kill the Demon King and his minions I would somehow be able to return home as is well known in fantasy novel clichés.

Sadly I had to soon face the reality.

Coming back to reality…

”Hero, Hero, Hero! I already did what we agreed! ” The princess said happily while waving my right arm.

”Its time for you to fulfill your part of the bargain~ hehe. ”

Oh.

I almost forgot about Isabella.

The most terrifying member of the Herssian royal family and ironically my greatest ally in this operation.

”Of course, I have not forgotten princess, I am a man who always keeps his word. ”

Except when I deliberately lie.

But this is not the situation.

”Fufufu~ I know you will keep your promise Hero. ”

”Because if you don comply, you would have to die~ ”

What she said may sound like a meaningless threat considering our difference in power…

But actually, she is right.

About 2 years ago, to convince the princess to help me, I had to sign a soul contract with her.

The contract stipulated that in exchange for the princesss help in the murder of the kingdoms aristocrats, I would have to comply with a certain imposed condition or otherwise face punishment.

In this case my death.

Why use such a risky and deadly method?

Tell me your other safe way to gain the trust of a member not only of the nobility but also of the royal family to perform this operation.

To begin with, I needed someone in a high social position to start a toast with the poisoned wine…

And who is better than the third royal princess?

”For now princess it will be better to start the act as we prepared it. ” I told the princess while listening intently to the noise of the knights and royal guards arriving at the ballroom.

”Yes, ” the princess affirms without disappearing the smile from her face.

***

”Th-this can be true. ”

”How could this happen to the royal family! ”

”N-not just them… weren all the leaders and heirs of every noble house gathered at this party? ”

”… ”

While the knights and royal guards show their disbelief at the scene, the Captain of the royal knights Ethan Malkovich investigates the bodies that lie on the ground while listening to the explanation of the only survivor.

The third royal princess.

”Sob, sob, sob, u-uhhh sob sob ” The princess sobs.

”Her Highness the Third Princess… I know this must be difficult for you, but could you calm down to explain the situation from your perspective? ”

”From what I can see for myself, the bodies show no injuries… so it must be some kind of poison or curse magic, ” Captain Ethan said with visible anxiety.

”Th-they were fine, dancing and chatting happily but suddenly they started coughing up blood and collapsed on the floor! ” The princess exclaims as she sobs.

”I don understand who could or would want to do this harm to my family and the other nobles of our great kingdom… sob uhh sob. ”

As the Captain listens to the princess, a forensic doctor who had arrived on the scene approaches them.

”C-captain… I have been able to confirm that the cause of death is poison… by checking the symptoms on the corpses I can verify… that it is due to the poison of Silent Death. ”

Everyone in the room is silent.

Poison of Silent Death.

It is an incredibly deadly poison. It is said to be capable of killing even a dragon at its peak…

But not only for this reason it is incredibly dangerous, but also because it can be transmitted orally without smelling or affecting its victims with visible secondary symptoms while they are alive.

However,

After death, purple spots appear around the body, so it is not difficult to identify them.

But thanks to this discovery the situation becomes more complicated because…

”This is the characteristic poison used by the Jacinto royal family. ” Captain Ethan said as he covered his mouth with his right hand.

Of course, such a lethal and effective poison would not be in the public domain. This particular one is known as one of the deadliest weapons created by the Jacinto royal family after countless years of research and development.

Of course, its production and distribution are incredibly small. Due to how easy it is to identify its symptoms and the possible political conflicts that would appear if it were used in other territories. So it is only used by the royal family for emergencies as a trap card.

But now again this poison has been used in this world. Taking the lives of the aristocrats who rule the Kingdom of Herssian.

”This doesn make sense… Why would the Jacinto kingdom make such a reckless attack against us? Aren we allied countries in this great war against evil? ” Captain Ethan said with clear dismay in his voice.

”…We have to conduct an investigation first to clarify the details about how they were poisoned and who are the possible culprits behind it. ”

It would not be a good idea to jump straight to a conclusion without doing proper research first.

”For now, keep this information from leaving the castle! ” Captain Ethan yelled at everyone present..

”We will spend the rest of the night investigating what happened… Unfortunately, since so many important people will not return to their homes… by tomorrow at noon the truth will be discovered… ”

To put it bluntly, it will be a disaster.

How will responsibility for this event be taken and how will the guilty be punished?

Nope.

The biggest issue here is how the Herssian Kingdom will be governed from now on. Not only the King and Queen but the crown prince and other relatives are dead…

Luckily the third royal princess remains alive as the last member of royal blood to inherit the throne…

But will the beloved princess Isabella be able to properly rule the Kingdom?

Despite being famous for her beauty and kindness… Won it be too difficult for this innocent princess to lead this kingdom?

While the captain thought.

”I-if only Hero Franz were here Im sure he could have done something to prevent all of this! ” The princess said with teary eyes.

Faced with this comment, those present open their eyes to the idea that they had not considered.

”Princess, even if the Hero were present, he wouldn be able to prevent this situation… ”

”Also, he is fighting valiantly on the other continent with the Demons right now. ”

It is no secret that the Hero is in the middle of the war fighting on the other continent.

But thanks to this comment another thought comes to those present.

”Its true… if its the Hero Franz… Im sure he can help Princess Isabella to be able to lead this kingdom properly… ” Several of those present murmured.

”Anyway, your Majesty the Princess, we will escort you to your room. Early in the morning we will have the results of the investigation and make a public announcement that we will discuss with you. ”

In this way, the princess leaves the place while the others move hastily to finish the investigation as quickly as possible.

No one notices that a certain hero is watching the situation from the sky above the royal palace.

With this, the blame will fall on the royal family of Jacinto.

Yes. This method of assassination was intended from the beginning to frame Jacintos royal family.

The reason behind this is…

To fulfill the contract with the princess.

Princess Isabella had demanded from me the extermination of the royal family of Jacinto in 5 years.

What is the reason for asking for that at the cost of the lives of the other members of her family and the other nobles?

The true? I don have any idea.

No. I really don know.

I asked the princess why she wanted that but she evaded giving me an answer.

At first, I tried to convince her by explaining why the existence of the other members of the royal family would only bring ruin to the kingdom and in general to the rest of the people in this world.

Considering her reputation as a kind princess, coupled with the poor relationship she is known to have with the rest of the royal family, I thought I would be able to convince her by appealing.

But… she didn even show interest for the reasons I gave her.

Well, whatever the reason, making enemies of Jacinta was already one of my goals but now I have to rush everything at maximum speed.

While I was thinking this, I saw the crying princess leave the room accompanied by her escorts.

But seriously, the princess is scary.

Its good that our goals coincide.

And with that, the figure of the hero disappears from the sky.

***

The next morning it is revealed that the cause of the poisoning was the wine served at the party. According to the investigation, it was the popular wine ”Red Queen ”…

Which is coincidentally produced and imported from the kingdom of Jacinto.

Considering so much incriminating evidence, the authorities make a public statement reporting the mass murder in the royal palace and its main suspect.

The reactions were massive and boisterous.

Various criminal acts took place, formed not only by a part of the citizenry but by the few remaining members of the noble houses who did not attend the royal palace party. After all, their noble houses were on the brink of extinction.

”Give me all the money now!!!! ”

”Loot everything from that store! ”

In the center of the capital is the main shopping area. Hundreds of workers and customers pass through this area every day to support their lives. But today many people are robbing and burning stores of all kinds.

”S-Sister whats going on? ” A girl who doesn look more than 14 years old said.

”We have to get out of here fast Hally. ” The older sister replied.

I can believe this just happened the day I decided to take Hally shopping with me.

Who would have thought that mass murder would happen in the royal palace and that chaos would spread so fast in the capital?

But no matter what happens to me I won let anything bad happen to Hally.

The sister duo runs through the streets at full speed.

Unfortunately…

”Where do you think young girls as pretty as you go? ”

”Why don you keep this old man company for a while? ”

A middle-aged man stands in front of the sisters.

Running away from someone like that might not have been so difficult if not for a group of men quickly surrounding them.

Trying to reason with a group of people like that doesn seem feasible… The older sister thinks as she grits her teeth.

”Before you think something funny like trying to escape… ”

The old man extends a cane with his right arm.

”High Level Magic – Unbreakable Chain ”

Out of nowhere black chains hold the legs of the pair of sisters.

Unbreakable Chains is a powerful magical spell that only affects those with less mana than the caster of the spell.

The effect of this magic is simple.

It makes it impossible for the victim to move freely. Also, the chains are impossible to break unless the caster of the spell decides to cancel the spell or dies.

I-it can be… u-unbreakable chain is a high-level spell that only a few in the kingdom are capable of performing!

Is it possible that a magician of such a high level is in the middle of the capital trying to kidnap 2 random women?

Impossible.

That only leaves one possibility.

They know who we are.