Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (WN)

The Hero Sets Out

—Before the doors of the Imperial Palace of the Aster Kingdom, Camelia. Here, surrounded by soldiers standing in formation, musicians, and higher-ranked knights, Reiji, Mizuki, and Titania rode a dazzling chariot.

Outside the palace gates, the residents of the royal capital of Mehter had gathered to send them off.

As part of their first step toward the eventual goal of defeating the Maou, the King had organized this public parade for Reiji and the others. Suimei, feeling slightly regretful, said, "Finally, this day has come."

And indeed, as Suimei had said, the day of their journey had finally come. As the parade drew to a close, the Maou suppression force – Reiji and the others, accompanied by a vast number of knights – would thus finally begin their journey. A feeling of sadness at their parting was inevitable.

Reiji, on the other hand, wore a look of clear excitement on his face. Whether this was because he looked forward to the road ahead, or had simply chosen to wear such an expression to hide the anxiety he felt was unclear. Just as Suimei had settled his feelings and prepared to speak, Reiji, optimism still shining bright, spoke up first.

"Well, we're taking off."

"You sure say that lightly."

Suimei's sincere sorrow was replaced with irritation. Responding, Reiji's expression sobered greatly.

"It's not like that. I've put a lot of thought into this, you know? My answer at that time was definitely the right one."

"No, it was definitely wrong. No matter how I look at it, I can only say that it's wrong."

Staring off into the distance, the feelings gripping his heart wouldn't let go. Titania, same as always, her hands clutched before her chest, stepped in.

"Suimei-sama..."

She was the princess of the Aster Kingdom. Her feelings towards Suimei's words were, of course, quite complicated. On the one hand, her certainty of the necessity of the Maou suppression force had never wavered, though she, like her father, felt a terrible sense of guilt that would not be extinguished.

As if to dispel the worry in her eyes, Reiji patted her lightly on the shoulder and, approaching Suimei, spoke, his words full of resolve.

"No, that's not how it is, Suimei. Setting aside whether or not I go, the Maou's forces will never stop their attacks on human lands. Seeing as we have no way to go home, then it's not like there's anywhere for us to run either. In other words, the day will inevitably come when we will have to fight the Maou. Although nothing's for certain, but when it comes to confronting the enemy, the sooner, the better. That is, of course, providing that this is all with the goal of taking down the Maou."

Speaking at length, Reiji bared his feelings on the matter. Sure enough, he had put a great deal of thought into something as ridiculous as wanting to participate in the war. As he'd considered things, the realization that war with the Maou would be inevitable at some point. He'd come to the understanding that their actions now were their best chance of a counteroffensive.

Being that as it may, Suimei was unrelenting, and continued to press the point.

"Reiji, do you really think that just by not backing down, there will eventually be a day when you can overthrow the Maou?"

"I don't have the ability to make that sort of judgment. To be honest, I think that if worst comes to worst, there's about an 80% chance that we'll die."

These were not words blinded by optimism, but rather words grounded in reality.

Nonetheless—

"Seriously, you're always like this, never losing hope until all is lost."