I was immediately summoned to the Baron's office after the chaos that occured at the training area. Of course, Baron Heldrick has left for the capital, so the one on his seat now was Nolan, his eldest son.
Nolan Muro is at his 30s, so he looked more mature and ragged than Nero. He's tall and probably standing at 195cm. If that doesn't make him already intimidating to look at, he also inherited his father's buff physics. Even so, he's still a good-looking man.
I heard from Nero that his eldest brother was the same as him. They're both womanizers, and Nolan, even though he already has a wife and multiple mistresses, still sleeps around with other women. The only difference he has with Nero is he keeps things discrete and secretive.
"I appreciate what you've done for our knights. Many of them died previously, even more would have died if you haven't come. Not to mention the healing you did for those with missing body parts. They're important companions to me and my father, so I'm truly happy to see them return to their previous selves," he said, his arms crossed in a sign of superiority.
I could feel the incenserity in his manners. It's not difficult to tell that he doesn't actually mean what he says. Most likely, he doesn't even care about the recovery of his knights.
"It's the obvious thing to do if your friends are in trouble," I couldn't care less in his empty words, so I just gave him a generic reply.
"Friends?" he raised his brow and repeated the word. "I see... For an elf, you easily get attached to people," he remarked.
Elves are mostly introverted, that's why it's difficult for us to make connections and relationships with other races. However, there are cowardly and modest individuals even in the dragonic race. Extroverted elves would definitely be rare, but not to a surprisingly low amount, which Nolan seems to be mistaking.
"Can I call you by just your name?" he asked, somehow sounding polite for the first time.
"That's fine, I don't have a last name nor do I need any honorifics."
"Good," he nodded. "Now, Eria, let's get to the matter at hand. You actually save me the trouble of personally inviting you here. I wanted to talk about the recent events at the borders. I won't sugarcoat it, I want you to lend us your strength," he asked with a firm and confident voice.
"You don't need to ask, I'll be participating," I quickly answered.
I'm currently the highest ranking adventurer in the guild. Not many adventurers know it yet - they're just not curious enough to actually try to figure it out. Together with Log and Erika's party, only a small amount of people in the guild have an idea I'm A rank. Even those who pay close attention and knew of my accomplishments could only guess I'm B rank. They just wouldn't logically accept that a feable elf like me would be any stronger.
As the highest ranking adventurer in the guild, I have the responsibility to handle the most difficult quests. With that same logic, I have to participate in the upcoming excursion against the Dark army. Of course, it's not like I will be participating only because I'm compelled to.
My presence there would ensure our side's victory. It would also lessen the casualties we might receive from battling such strong monsters. It might sound arrogant coming from me, but only a few can actually match my offensive and defensive prowess. Not to mention, I also have many support spells which I can use to boost the strengths of my companions.
The only downside in my participation would be that I would need to reveal my true power to everyone. I might not have the same peaceful and quiet life I want if the public begins to flock around me and treats me like a hero. When that happens, I would need to once again move to a different town.
I can't help but sigh... All of this is troublesome, but I cannot exactly defy my nature. My nature is to help the people within my reach, even if that causes me a bit of inconvenience. It's with that nature and my antics that I gained my title of Elf Heroine.
"I see... Kahahaha!" Nolan suddenly bursted out laughing.
"Eh? Huh?" taken aback, I stepped back a little.
"Even if it's against the Dark Army, you did not hesitate to answer! As expected of you! It's no wonder they call you Eria the brave or Eria the goddess."
"What are you talking about...?"
As far as I'm concerned, I've only been called by those names in the past. Nolan, nor anyone in this town for that matter, should know about them.
As I was thinking that, Nolan begins to list out more of my previous names and titles.
"Perhaps the most fitting title would be Eria the saintess, while the more interesting name would be Eria Lilith. Still, the most famous one would undoubtedly be Eria, the elf Heroine."
"You know about me...?" I cautiously asked.
"Of course! I know many things about you, and what happened today just solidified all of them," he quickly replied, still heartfully chuckling.
It would be stupid of me to assume that nobody would realize, I still display my powers from time to time after all. Today, I even casted a spell on the scale that only appears in legends, so there's no doubt that someone would eventually get suspicious. That's why I didn't act particularly surprised when Nolan revealed to me that he knew I was the elf heroine in the legends. I was somewhat expecting it to come.
Him knowing the legends around me should be fine. It's not like I'm hiding it, I just thought it would be more convenient for me to travel the world the lesser the masses knew about me. I simply don't want to become a celebrity who gets stopped on the street every time I went outside.
"I even know you're sleeping with my younger brother," Nolan continued.
"Wha-what!? How did you...!?" I almost choked my words out.
"So that's what gets you, huh?" he remarked.
While I'm stunned, he suddenly backed away from his seat and stood up. He then moved closer towards me with a confident gait. I tried to move away, but he wrapped one of his arms around my waist and locked me in place.
"To frequently sleep with a woman like you?Humph! Quite frankly, I'm jealous of Nero. Say, I'm a much better man than that bastard, I can make you feel better than he ever could," and so he says.