【The Old Man of the Expelled Inn Unwittingly Dominates Today Too】Although I Want to Lead a Slow Life, for Some Reason the Strongest Beauties Who Hold Important Positions in the Country, and Were Once My Disciples, Gather Around Me Asking to Be Hired – Even Though I Only Taught Them a Little～ - Chapter 53: The Old Man's Origin

◇PoV of the King of Natol◇

I was buried under a mountain of documents in the royal castle’s treasury, none of which seemed directly related to Baldo.

“Hmm, where could it have been…”

While sifting through the materials, I encountered a startling revelation.

Baldo, I had thought he had always been in the capital of Fridania… but that wasn’t the case. He only started an inn in the capital about 20 years ago.

Baldo is nearly 40 years of age.

From his childhood, he had been assisting in his parents’ inn. I had assumed it was a family business in Fridania for generations… but I was mistaken.

And then…

For 20 years, Baldo’s presence in Fridania vanished without a trace… Despite extensive searches, nothing surfaced.

―――So, where was he running an inn during his childhood?

And then there’s the 【Fighting Spirit】 he uses.

Such a thing I have never seen before. I, too, was once a celebrated figure on the battlefield. But I have never encountered anyone who used 【Fighting Spirit】.

That’s when I remembered something.

―――A hero.

A legendary figure from ancient times said to have defeated the Demon Lord.

The hero used a special power to defeat the Demon Lord, though what that power was is unclear.

Was it a formidable physique? Or powerful magic?

Perhaps…

―――Was it 【Fighting Spirit】?

The 【Fighting Spirit】 Baldo wields is extraordinary. It wouldn’t be surprising if it were called the power of a hero.

And then another thing.

There’s said to be a place called “Hero’s Village.”

Whether it truly exists is unknown.

Nowadays, the common belief is that there is only one hero, but there’s another theory.

The term “hero” refers collectively to a clan that wields 【Fighting Spirit】.

Those who trained in 【Fighting Spirit】 in that village defeated the Demon Lord.

Considering that…

Could his hometown be this “Hero’s Village”?

According to one theory, it’s in a remote, hidden place swarming with SSS-class monsters.

If facing such monsters was an everyday occurrence…

Wouldn’t one become indifferent to even dragons?

Like Baldo.

And he often says that 【Fighting Spirit】 is something a decent number of people can use.

Imagine if all those around him wielded powers comparable to a hero’s, and to him, this was the norm…

Could the inn from Baldo’s childhood have been in “Hero’s Village”?

In other words―――Could Baldo be a descendant of a hero?

My sole clue lies in his family name, “Dalsis.”

Hmm, I recall there being a hefty iron book…

It was said to contain writings on the Hero’s Village.  Where could it have vanished to?

In the end, the book was not found.

I commanded the treasures pulled from the treasury to be returned and sat down on the throne.

“Phew, it was a futile effort after all.”

Perhaps I’ve let my imagination run too wild. The tales of the hero are, after all, mere conjecture without any solid evidence.

Could it be that Baldo-sama is merely a common elder?

The King of Natol Kingdom was once again holding his head in his hands.

It would not be until much later that it was revealed the king himself had repurposed the book as a pot stand.

◇Imperial PoV◇

In a conference room of the Tomekia Empire, the largest nation on the continent,

“To think they prevented the Mega Stampede of massive monsters…”

“The Saint of Fridania seems to have deployed a 【Barrier】 over all of Natol and Fridania. Moreover, there’s information that she was dismissed just before.”

“To dismiss the Saint… Why would she still help Fridania?”

“That, I do not know. But, the Prince Genus who dismissed her has fled in the face of the stampede and is now missing.”

“Fleeing… So he was a foolish prince, after all. Regardless, the internal state of Fridania must be in chaos.”

“No, on the contrary, it seems the First Princess Mariessia is somehow managing to hold things together as a proxy.”

“I see the princess, huh? We would have preferred the foolish prince to remain in charge.”

“Furthermore, there are reports that the Saint’s 【Barrier】 expanded at an incredible speed along with a loud ‘Sei!’ Our Yamata no Shinryu, prepared as a trap this time, seems to have been blown away by that 【Barrier】.”

“Yamata no Shinryu is an SSS-ranked monster… What kind of 【Barrier】 is that… And ‘Sei!’ sounds a bit different from the usual chant. Could it be that old man is involved?”

“Regarding that old man, we still don’t have any beneficial information… But?”

“But? What is it?”

“According to information from a spy who has been infiltrating Fridania for a long time, about 20 years ago, a man from the Hero’s Village came to Fridania.”

“Wait, hold on. The Hero’s Village? That’s nothing but an old tale. Not something worth reporting.”

“No… The village does exist.”

“What! That’s news to me! Even I didn’t know such information!”

“This is top-secret information of utmost importance within the empire, but a village where the descendants of the hero who defeated the Demon Lord live does exist. Or… did exist.”

“Such a revelation poses a potential threat to the empire itself! Could it be conceivable that the demon-like elder is indeed a scion of the hero?”

“It’s very likely, considering his absurd strength. Long ago, the empire decided not to meddle with the Hero’s Village. They were harmless as long as they quietly stayed in their remote, hidden village.”

“Indeed… Provoking a village full of such demons, who knows what might happen. But why do you speak in the past tense?”

“Twenty years ago, the village vanished from existence.”

“Disappeared…!?”

“They went out into the outside world searching for something, scattering far and wide.”

“What kind of monsters would seek something in the outside world?”

“Well, in a closed-off world, ordinary things from the outside world could be shocking.”

“That’s not impossible… So, what was this ‘something’?”

“According to the report…”

“Um, according to?”

—It seems it was Anpan.