SHK CH 362 (Patreon)

When Sol finally walked out of the Tower of Babel, he could faintly feel like a huge and oppressing weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Right here, with no one in sight but Isis and Sheherazade, he did not have to keep his pretense of strength or maturity any longer.

Out of all his women, Isis was perhaps the only one to whom he could show his more childish side toward. She was the most normal amongst them, after all, and had a deep understanding of his mindset.

“So, where should we go?”

The Tower of Babel was at the very center of Lustburg's capital. But there was not much in sight…yet.

“The Black Knight covers the tower's entire perimeters. They are our most elite troops.”

He pointed toward the distance, where shadows could be seen walking as they took guard.

“Elite…?”

Isis’s eyebrows rose up slightly as she gazed at those soldiers.

She could indeed see the discipline and the fervent expression of abiding by their duties etched on their faces. But, elite? Really?

She could feel the presence of those so-called elites, as Sol had described them, and no matter how she thought about it they didn’t seem that great.

Sol understood the expression of disbelief she was throwing at him as she glanced toward the Black Knights and he couldn’t help but laugh, “Don’t use the standards of the Astral Realm to judge the people here. In the Mortal Realm being a Duke automatically puts you in the top 100 or 200 in the world.”

Isis was quite surprised by this piece of information. A single Divine Beast territory would have more than a hundred Dukes in their armies and a few more that were not directly affiliated with them.

In the first place, on the battlefield, Dukes were just captains of small dispatch groups or to put it simply, glorified cannon fodders.

A duke could never change the direction of a battlefield…Well. A ‘normal’ Duke could never do so that is.

Isis knew enough to understand that people like her or Sol or even those at the level of Nidhogg and Kaiser were exceptions to that rule. They were the special bunch who could fight above their realms and cause unprecedented havoc on the battlefield. A thought for another time…

“So, you still didn’t answer. Where should we go?”

Sol coughed to hide his embarrassment. He couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t know where to go now, can he? He had only visited the city two times throughout his life, after all.

It was then, that a maid approached one of the guards. Even though the distance was quite far, it was possible for them to hear what they were saying,

“How are you guys doing? I thought up about bringing you some food.”

“Ohh. Thanks miss!”

“Haha, do not worry. Today is pretty calm. The ones busy are those out currently to keep everything  in check for the festival.”

“Heh, indeed. This is the festival made to welcome the coming of the prince in good health, after all. It is bound to be hectic.”

“Thanks the goddesses.”

“The south district should be particularly active, right?”

“Indeed. It has always been the place that welcomed the most amount of tourists and is also the wealthiest. I heard Duchess Milaris even used her own coffers to help in the organization.”

“She is truly a woman favored by the goddesses.”

The men lowered their heads slightly as they gave their prayer of gratitude to the goddesses and the generous Milaris while the maid left as quietly as they came.

Once this episode went past, Sheherazade and Isis both looked at Sol with sparkling eyes.

To which he could only laugh awkwardly as he spoke in a soft tone, “No need to look at me like you want to devour me. We can go take a look.”

““Yessss!””

Sol chuckled as he watched the pair of girls jump with joy before giving a meaningful look in the direction of the maid that left.

He remembered her as one of the maids who had shared his bed in the past. All the maids who did so were generally Milia's closest confidantes. Girls who passed all her tests and she deemed worthy of her trust. So much worthy that she allowed her to cater to his needs.

Why would such a maid come out at this time?

‘Haha, it seems like I need to give some reward to Milia later on.’

“Well, let’s go to the south. I wonder what Milaris prepared for the festival.”

———

The moment they left the zone protected by the Black Knights, Sol found himself facing the sculpture of his father holding a sword while riding a dragon, in the central plaza.

He remembered taking a look at this when he went out during his date with Lilith. Though the date had been a failure when all things considered.

At the very least, Sol didn’t consider a date that ended up in a graveyard to be a good date or any sort of date at all. Alas, fate had it that the date was set up for failure from the get-go.

“Ohhh! Are they your parents?”

“Yeah. My father is considered to be a hero in this kingdom.”

“Heh, father was right then, most heroes end up dead.”

She said so then her expression changed when she realized what she had said, “I-I am sorry! I didn’t mean to insult your parents.”

“Heh, don’t worry. I am not the most respectful son either.”

Sol advanced toward the monument and looked up at his parents. It was really a work of art. He wondered if Milaris was the one who prepared the sculpture. This wouldn’t surprise him, after all, she had a talent so high in this domain that the goddesses themselves rewarded. Plus that raving woman was batshit crazy about his father.

“You know, I never liked my father and never found what was so admirable about him.”

As a reincarnator, Sol had no particular feelings for his parents in this world. This might have changed if they had been alive and raised him for a few years though. Sadly, this wasn’t the case.

Because of this, all his life he had to live as the Son of the Hero King. Not Sol, the Crown Prince.

His worth and his own talents were always overshadowed by his father as everyone always compared him to a dead man and expected him to surpass his father one day or die trying.

It wasn’t easy. The pressure that was on his back when he was young was already insane. Living up to the expectations that people had of him seemed like an impossibility, to say the least.

So Sol resented Mars from the depths of his heart. He resented the fact that a stupid naive fool like his father could garner so much love and respect from the masses. He resented that he was forced to live to the standard that his father dictated for no apparent reason.

“I wondered what people would do if I didn’t reach a level similar to him. Would they give up on me? What is my worth? Hah…”

Isis and even Sheherazade calmly listened to what he spoke before speaking the question that they had since the start of this speech, “What about now?”

His hazy and lost expression vanished as pride and confidence filled his eyes.

“In the past, while I could say that I was not my father and could refuse being compared, it was mostly out of a feeling of inferiority as I thought there was no way that I could surpass that monster. But now?

“Hahah, now I can say with absolute confidence and without a shred of doubt that… I am me. I am not father and I am not just the Son of the Hero king.”

A boyish smile formed on his face as he pulled Isis by the hand and began to walk away from the monument,

“When the last page of my story is written, I will have created my own legacy. One that will surpass everything before me.”

Isis was dazzled by this smile of his. It was a smile she rarely saw on the face of the ever-polite Sol.

One pulled with pure joy and anticipation for the future.

His future was his own and he would be the author of his story.

He would never let anyone else dictate who or what he would become.

At the end of the day, he could not change his Ancestry. He would always be the Son of the Hero King.

But his legacy will overshadow his past.

Of that he was sure.

It was his absolution…

“Heh, then what will you be called in the future?”

Sol stopped. He still didn’t know what title he should choose for himself.

“Oh! Oh! I know! I know; What about the Supreme King?”

Isis chortled at the funny title Sheherazade suggested for Sol.

“Not good? Then Omega King?”

“Nope.”

“Super King?”

“Never.”

“Harem king?”

“Over my dead body.”

“Pfft! Hahaha!”

“Phoenix’s robber?”

“Oh, I might like this one.”

“Hey!?”

Just like this, the three of them walked away from the monument. Isis laughed at the stupid nicknames Sheherazade suggested and Sol swore in his heart to never let Sheherazade have influence high enough to affect his future title.

The future held many secrets and no one knew really how things would end. But at the very least, right here, right now, they were as happy as they could be.

(AN 1: I have super big news. A few months ago I talked about Amazon and it’s finally happening. If nothing goes wrong at least. Normally in around 3 days max, Son of the Hero King should be available on amazon as an e-book for 5.99$. Around 400 pages. The book is a fusion of Vol 1 to Vol 3 of the Web novel. I didn’t change much yet. But if Book 1 Part 1 sells well, the second one will go from Vol 4-Vol 5 (Duke visit arc and WoF attack arc) and will be edited and partially rewritten to change some little parts that were boring and other parts. Basically enhancing every aspect of it.

Anyways, whether you are reading this on WN, Pa treon, or a Pirate site, I would be really happy if you could support my book when it’s out. 5.99$ is honestly a pretty fair price I believe. Not even the price of a good burger. The better SHK does on amazon the more I can invest in editors and illustrators in the future and I might even get an audiobook and comic adaptation at one point.

Even if you don’t plan to buy it. Please leave some reviews on Amazon once it’s out. As you know the first volume was pretty heavy on smut and this could push away some readers. Having good reviews would help tremendously.

This is a very long AN but I don’t have any other way to warn you guys. I will officially announce this on discord when the Book is really out. But I wanted to give an early warning.)

(AN 2: Second news… I decided to make the illustration category on my Pa treon free and accessible to the public. Those who want to see some of the characters just have to search the <<Illustration>> tags. All pictures should be accessible to the Public now. If some aren’t then you can ping me on Discord. Some of the old pictures were commissioned but the newest ones were made using AI. Since I don’t spend much other than the monthly subscription for them I decided to make them free and accessible for everyone. Once again they are free and visible to everyone. I hope you enjoy them and picture the characters as I picture them in my heart.

https://www.p@treon.com/HikaruGenji (Replace the @ with a for those who don’t know about the site))