The Fake Hero Is Too Strong-Chapter 133

“Lets sleep.”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
Serein asked,
“Sleep? In this situation?”
“It’s late, isn’t it? We left our carriage back in Tetra Territory, so it will be a bit of an uncomfortable night.”
“No, but we were just talking about something serious, then suddenly this?”
“The idea of retrieving Agril from the starting point isn’t bad in itself. But if we are going up against the Celestial God, we will need advice.”
Neril’s eyebrow twitched.
“You said that Impelium gave you advice in a dream last time, right?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m saying we should sleep. He might show up again.”
“I guess… that’s the only way.”
Neril nodded, but added,
“I still don’t like that guy. I’m not even sure if he is actually a person.”
“Why?”
“Something about Impelium… it feels like he is going to take you far away.”
What is she talking about?
I tilted my head, but the others looked a bit more serious.
Neril shook her head.
“No, never mind. It’s probably just my imagination. Forget it.”
“That’s the kind of thing you can’t just say and expect me to forget.”
“When you get older, you just tend to worry more, that’s all.”
“…! Did you just admit that yourself? Are you sick or something?”
“Oh, for crying out loud.”
Anyway, we laid out our things and got ready to camp.
When I lit the fire, Lisel took out ingredients from her pack.
“Thanks, as always. For taking care of our meals.”
“…”
“Lisel?”
“Ah! Yes.”
Lisel suddenly flinched, dropping the bread she was holding.
Did I say something weird?
Serein picked up the bread, dusted it off, and handed it to Offense.
“Here.”
“You offer it to me like it’s natural.”
“I still cleaned it off for you, didn’t I?”
“Am I supposed to be thankful for that?”
“Anyway, Lisel, what’s wrong? You don’t look too good.”
Lisel hesitated, then gave a bright smile.
But to someone like me, who prides myself on being sensitive to those things, it looked like a forced smile.
“I think… I was scared of heights, just like Adwin. My body feel’s weak.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You’re all hungry, right? I will get dinner ready, so just wait a little.”
She slipped away as if avoiding us, probably to fetch water from the stream.
…Strange.
Neril whispered to me.
“Talk to Lisel later.”
“Huh?”
“I think something is bothering her. She probably won’t talk easily… but she might with you.”
She lowered her voice even further.
“You’re good at that sort of thing.”
Unfortunately, Impelium didn’t appear in my dreams.
Not the next day, nor the day after that.
Some suggested we just head to the starting point without advice, but I shook my head.
“We can’t just face someone who nearly killed us all with one step without a plan.”
“That’s true, but still…”
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
As I said that, I glanced at Lisel.
She flinched and averted her eyes.
I kept asking her if there was something she wanted to say, but she only shook her head.
[Hoo. Guess it’s time for me to step in.]
‘No. Stay out of it.’
[…]
‘The Eye of Omniscience needs a target, right? Whose secrets are you going to see to understand her heart?
[Well, I suppose that’s true.]
And even if I could use it somehow, I wouldn’t.
It was the same with Neril and May Erenica’s secret, and with Serein’s story about her parents.
Some secrets will only make a person shut themselves off if you force them out without consent.
‘My gut tells me this is one of those times.’
[Sheesh. Is your real skill fortune-telling or something?]
‘Hmm…’
[Kidding. Don’t take it seriously.]
Anyway, time continued to pass like that.
But we still hadn’t come up with any way to deal with Idria’s speed attack strategy.
Meanwhile, Kaeld was happily making a name for himself all across the continent.
<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 307,200>
<Kaeld Wake / Total Fame: 420,830>
<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 296,600>
<Kaeld Wake / Total Fame: 430,430>
<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 285,900>
<Kaeld Wake / Total Fame: 440,270>
Ughhh.
My mouth was dry.
All that fame I managed to recover back in Gabriel was basically meaningless now.
“Water, please.”
“Lately every time you ask for water, you bring bad news. Here.”
Sharp as ever.
I took a drink and said,
“Kaeld’s fame went up again.”
“Hoo…”
Neril sighed and canceled her flight magic.
As soon as we landed, Adwin hopped off Offense’s back.
“Thanks, mister. Not that I was scared or anything.”
“You were trembling the whole time. Thought there was an earthquake in the sky.”
“
Ahem
. Anyway, Hyung, isn’t it getting really dangerous? We need to make a decision.”
I had to agree.
Were we really going to face the Celestial God without any plan?
Maybe I should go alone… but then Idria might target the rest of the party.
Then…
“Ahem.”
“…?”
“Ahem-hem.”
“…??”
“Ah! I just remembered! How could I forget this?”
It was Lisel.
She was acting with such painfully awkward exaggeration that it was almost sad.
“Silly me. How clumsy of me to forget something so important.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a way we can fly faster.”
“What? What way?”
“Wind spirits.”
Neril tilted her head.
“But you have been using wind spirits to support us already, haven’t you?”
“Those were just normal spirits.”
“What do you mean by ‘normal’? Spirits have ranks or something?”
“Yes, of course.”
Lisel folded her hands together.
“You already know this, but my other name, Magna Neros, means ‘king’ in the spirit language. The fact that there’s a king means there’s a hierarchy, right?”
“I guess… but last time, you didn’t seem like you were being treated like a king.”
Back when the second earthquake hit the Tetra Territory, Lisel had been attacked by spirits, even lost her eyesight, all because she had been thinking about Grade while talking to them.
Lisel’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“I’m not a complete spirit king yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“My goal is to become human. So I have been ignoring the spirits’ desperate wish to crown me as their king.”
“…I see.”
“So not only am I a king who refuses to rule, but I was also distracted thinking about Lord Grade, no wonder they got angry. Don’t be too hard on them.”
To defend the spirit that had gouged out her own eye, that kindness is already worthy of being called “king.”
Offense asked,
“Anyway, so what’s the point?”
“There are many ranks among spirits… Let me put it in terms you can easily understand: baron, viscount, count, marquis, duke… and then king.”
“…”
“The higher you go, the fewer there are. And excluding the king, there’s only one of the most powerful ‘duke spirits.’ And as it happens, that one is the spirit of wind.”
I thought I knew what she was getting at.
“You’re saying if we get help from the duke spirit, we can fly faster?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“How much faster?”
“Fast enough that next time, no matter where we are on the continent, we could arrive at a territory before Kaeld.”
That meant faster than Agril.
That’s incredible.
But instead of excitement, I felt puzzled.
In a speed match against Idria, the most important thing, of course, is speed. And she is only now mentioning a trump card that could boost it to such an incredible level?
Apparently Neril had the same doubt, because she spoke up.
“Why are you only telling us now?”
“W-well, I forgot…”
“Really?”
“Of course! It’s not like I was hiding it on purpose or anything.”
“I’m not saying you hid it. I’m saying I think there are things you’re still not telling us.”
Lisel’s face twitched.
Adwin spoke cautiously.
“There’s some kind of penalty, isn’t there?”
“….”
“Even Hyung gets wrecked every time he uses the ‘Ultimate Ashen Sword’ technique. Don’t you have some kind of penalty too?”
Was that supposed to be his name for Time-lock slash? Classic Adwin naming.
Lisel shook her head vigorously.
“No! That’s not it!”
“This isn’t suspicion anymore, it’s certainty. Because right now, Lord Grade is poking your side again.”
“…!”
“I will call him over. Don’t run away….. she is already gone.”
In an instant, Lisel spirit-formed and vanished.
I shrugged.
“Call him.”
“Okay, just a moment.”
Soon, Adwin’s eyes changed.
It was Grade.
Instead of a greeting, he shouted:
“Lisel! I know you’re listening!”
“…”
“Don’t you dare summon that so-called ‘duke spirit.’ That one is off-limits!”
Of course, there was no reply from spirit-formed Lisel.
I calmed the fuming Grade.
“Rest assured, I have no intention of putting Lisel in danger.”
“Whew. Right. I may have come off a bit harsh.”
“It’s fine. This isn’t the first time.”
“You really don’t have a grain of respect for me, do you?”
“I don’t respect you, but I do admire you. Just like I admire all the other heroes.”
Except for Padania Brook, of course.
Grade smirked, looking a bit better.
“To hear that from the hero who had the hardest era, it’s an honor.”
“Not at all. But about that…”
“Yes, the duke spirit.”
His expression darkened.
“I have met it before.”
“What? But spirits are invisible.”
“I never said I saw it. Just that I met it.”
“What do you mean…?”
“About ten years after I killed the Demon King and founded the Empire, an enormous typhoon struck the capital.”
According to Grade, it was a disaster so great it destroyed the imperial palace.
The palace, which must have been magically reinforced far more than any building, blown away…
“Then the civilian homes must have been…”
“It was a complete wasteland.”
“…”
“As I have said before, after killing the Demon King, I personally researched the Forgotten Era. So I recognized that the typhoon was the work of a spirit.”
Ah. During that research period, he had also met Velosian.
Come to think of it, I still needed to get info about Velosian from him…
“So I asked Lisel to calm the spirit down.”
“…”
“To be honest, I was puzzled. She should have realized it was a spirit’s doing before I did, and it would be natural for her to calm it down before I even asked.”
“That’s true.”
“She made an excuse about forgetting, and hurried to calm the spirit. The typhoon stopped soon after.”
She forgot?
Serein put her hand to her forehead.
“Lisel… you haven’t improved in 1,500 years. At least not in acting skills.”
“Consistency is Lisel’s strength.”
“I didn’t know it could be spun like that.”
“I watched her calm the spirit from closer than anyone else. She was speaking in spirit tongue I couldn’t understand, but she looked… sad.”
Sad?
Why?
“And when the typhoon stopped, Lisel disappeared.”
“What?”
“No one in the capital, not even I could find her. She had gained some ‘ability’ that even the senses of a hero couldn’t detect.”
I knew exactly what that was. The same ability Lisel was using right now.
Neril murmured with a groan.
“Spirit form…”
“Yes. Lisel learned the ability called spirit form as the price for calming the typhoon.”
“She couldn’t spirit-form before that?”
“That’s right. And stop talking down to me. Even your lover uses honorifics.”
Neril ignored him completely. Still holding a grudge about treating me like a servant, maybe.
Xenia asked:
“But how is that a price? If anything, spirit form is a good thing.”
“You think an ability that can fool even a hero’s senses is just good?”
“Then…”
“Exactly. Spirit form means becoming a spirit. It’s taking a step away from humanity and toward being a spirit.”
A chill ran down my spine. I think I understand now.
“Lisel reappeared a week later, saying she was happy to have gained spirit form.”
“…”
“But as you just saw, her acting is terrible.”
“…”
“She was crying. Pretending to smile, but crying.”
Lisel, who wanted to remain human, must have realized that if she became a spirit, she would one day part ways with Grade.
But looking at the capital being destroyed by the typhoon, she had no choice but to compromise.
Even if it meant becoming a spirit, she couldn’t let the people die.
“That typhoon in the capital, that was surely the work of the duke spirit she mentioned.”
“…”
“For some reason, the duke spirit wants to make Lisel a ‘complete spirit.’ The typhoon 1,500 years ago was half a success.”
“…”
“If we borrow its power one more time, Lisel will never be human again.”
Silence fell.
After a long while, Offense spoke cautiously.
“I don’t know how this will sound, but… isn’t Lisel already a spirit? That’s how she’s lived 1,500 years, right?”
“No. She’s a half-spirit. True, her lifespan is like a spirit’s.”
“…”
“But aside from lifespan, everything else is human.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Do you really not get it?”
Grade’s voice rose.
“She can talk with you. She eats with you. She laughs and cries and chatters with you!”
“…!”
“All because she is still half human.”
“Y-you mean…?”
“Yes.”
Grade let out a deep sigh.
“If Lisel becomes a complete spirit, you will never see or hear her again. She will vanish from your lives forever.”
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