The Fake Hero Is Too Strong-Chapter 144

I hesitated for a moment.
‘Should I go and take a look?’
[Take a look at what? You think you can find the door where Velosian is hiding when even Grade couldn’t discover it?]
‘Wouldn’t your instincts be enough? You have already proven yourself several times before.’
[Well, if it’s for Lisel, I suppose I could try.]
…Seems like this guy has started to see our party members as comrades, even if he won’t admit it.
At that moment, Lisel looked at me.
“You’re not thinking of flying straight to the Imperial Capital’s underground, are you?”
“I am.”
“Please don’t. What’s urgent right now isn’t me.”
I widened my eyes slightly.
Lisel continued in her gentle voice.
“With Kaeld getting crushed in Havel, Idria is definitely plotting something new.”
“That’s probably true.”
“Then the priority is preparing and responding to that. My situation can wait until after Idria is dead.”
I couldn’t help but feel moved by her selflessness.
Just as I was scratching my head awkwardly.
Thump.
Adwin suddenly kicked my leg.
No, Grade had kicked me.
“What’s that for?”
“Because you’re annoying.”
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous…”
“Shut it. You’re just a servant.”
Lisel let out a soft laugh.
The stiff, awkward atmosphere seemed to melt away as if it had been a lie.
“Hehe. Lord Grade, you’re still as jealous as ever.”
“Hrmm. Not really…”
“Mr. Mide, are you finished speaking?”
I nodded.
Then Lisel went on.
“In that case, Lord Grade, would you step outside with me for a bit?”
“…!”
“There are things I want to tell you. And a lot I want to ask, too.”
Grade, uncharacteristically flustered, nodded after a moment.
That’s when Offense spoke up.
“There’s no need for you to leave.”
“Huh?”
“Mide, why don’t we give them some space? We did the same for you and Neril, remember?”
Neril and I both turned red.
I waved my hand in the air needlessly, then told Lisel:
“Anyway, it’s late. We will head into the inn.”
“Ah, yes. You can go to bed first.”
“I think I will wait up.”
…I’m curious how their talk will go, after all.
Serein grumbled.
“Why is it that lately everything seems to get on my nerves?”
“It’s fine. Someday you will meet someone special too, Serein.”
“That’s not why…”
“Though of course, you would have to fix your personality. A little… no, a lot.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
We climbed down from the carriage.
At the inn, we took a table on the first floor and ordered drinks and a few snacks.
About half an hour later, the door opened.
Lisel walked in with a deeply satisfied look on her face.
I asked,
“Did you have a good talk?”
“Yes. I’m glad I listened to you all. I should have met him sooner.”
“It’s not too late now. What matters is that you have both opened your hearts.”
“Not that I was ever angry, really. I just… didn’t know what to say.”
With a faintly wistful expression, she added:
“Tonight, I think I will have a drink too.”
Sounds good.
I filled Lisel’s cup.
Clink.
That’s when Adwin sat down beside me.
His ears were red all the way to the tips.
He stared blankly up at the ceiling.
“What’s wrong?”
“…When I summon a soul into my body, it’s not like I lose consciousness or anything. I see and hear everything.”
“And?”
“The level of their conversation was… ugh.”
He grabbed at his hair in frustration.
And muttered something strange.
“Why didn’t Mother ever teach me about things like this…”
Idria gazed down at Pirensha, who had fallen asleep with her head in Idria’s lap.
For the past few days, Pirensha had hardly spoken.
On the day they returned from failing in Havel territory, she had broken down in tears.
She had sobbed bitterly, saying she had ruined her mother’s plans.
Idria had been deeply shaken, she had never once seen Pirensha cry like that.
And tonight again, Pirensha hadn’t spoken a word before falling into sleep.
As Idria stroked the hair of her “daughter,” she thought:
‘My chest aches… Is this what a mother’s heart feels like?’
Just then.
“Idria.”
“…Velosian.”
“Call me Father.”
“I refuse.”
“A pity. Your underlings call you Mother, and yet you can’t understand my feelings?”
Idria sneered.
“I created these children. I have every right to be called Mother.”
“…”
“Surely you’re not trying to say you created me?”
“Hmph. Never mind. That’s not what I came to argue about.”
Velosian sat down across from her.
Idria frowned.
“Talk all you want, but keep your voice down. Pirensha just fell asleep.”
“What about the others?”
“They left because she was sobbing so loudly.”
“Good. I meant to discuss secrets anyway.”
“Secrets?”
Velosian smiled faintly.
“As you have noticed, Mide or more precisely, Bion inside him has the ability to see secrets.”
“…”
“But when it comes to matters concerning me, even he cannot pry. So we can scheme in peace.”
“…Before that, I want to ask you something.”
Idria gently laid Pirensha’s head off her lap.
Then she stepped closer to Velosian and spoke in a cold tone.
“What do you want from me?”
“Hm?”
“You have no reason to help me… unless there is something you want in return.”
“What I want… is for you to disappear.”
For a moment, Idria’s eyes wavered.
Velosian went on.
“Hurry up and achieve your goal. Create the fake world. And then… leave this one.”
“…! H-how do you even know what my goal is?”
“That is what I want from you. You are nothing but a byproduct of this world’s laws… let’s call it residue. Troublesome residue that can’t be killed, endlessly resurrecting no matter what.”
Idria felt insulted.
But at the same time, she also felt intrigued.
“The laws of the world created me?”
“Yes. In truth, it’s the same for the other Demon Kings as well. The law that dictates how the negative energies born from humans summon Demon Kings into being.”
“Mide seems capable of granting me a true death, ensuring I never revive again. If I really am useless residue, wouldn’t it be better for you to help Mide destroy me?”
“That man won’t do.”
Velosian scratched his head and added casually:
“He is… troublesome in too many ways.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Anyway, I will apologize for calling you residue. I shouldn’t have spoken without regard for your feelings.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have never once expected anything from this convenient little world of humans anyway.”
“Good. Then shall we get back to the main point?”
Idria took a seat across from him.
“Speak. You said you wanted to scheme, didn’t you?”
“Right. From what I have observed so far, if Mide and Kaeld clash head-on, Kaeld is guaranteed to lose. Their abilities and intellect are on entirely different levels, so different that even a child could tell.”
“Anyone could see that.”
“Then don’t let them meet.”
Idria let out a dry laugh.
“You think I don’t know that? Mide has gained the speed to pursue him anywhere across the continent the moment a gate opens.”
“Then target his weakness.”
“Hm?”
“Use that girl.”
Velosian tilted his chin toward Pirensha.
At first Idria didn’t understand what he meant.
But then her hair stood on end.
“Do you have a death wish?”
“Calm yourself.”
“How do you even know about that? Not even Pirensha herself is aware of it.”
“Honestly, this is a strategy you should have thought of first. I’m curious why it never occurred to you until now.”
Idria glared at Velosian.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Now I understand why I refuse to call you Father.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The very fact you so casually suggest using Pirensha makes it impossible for me to ever acknowledge you as Father.”
“Heh.”
Velosian shook his head.
Then he stood, brushing off his clothes.
“Seems you’re not desperate enough yet… I will come back another time. By then, you will probably have changed your mind.”
“That will never happen.”
“Who knows. Either way, stay well until we meet again. Eat properly.”
“Get lost.”
Velosian left the cave.
Idria glared at the spot where he had disappeared.
Because of that, she didn’t notice.
‘Mom.’
Pirensha, whom she thought asleep, had woken at some point and overheard their conversation.
She struggled desperately to keep up the act of sleeping, so Idria wouldn’t notice, while thinking:
‘What method? What can I even do?’
She wanted to ask Idria immediately.
But she couldn’t.
The moment she asked, a ‘secret’ would be created between her and Idria.
And this was something only Mide, who could not see Velosian’s secrets, needed to uncover.
‘I really don’t like this, but…’
She resolved to wait for Velosian’s next visit.
Two weeks passed.
In that time, Idria launched two more monster invasions using her spatial authority.
And just moments ago, she had sent out a third wave.
She tried to hide the target place from Kaeld and her underlings, so I wouldn’t learn of it, but Offense had no trouble acquiring the information from the assassins’ guild.
We were now flying toward the third territory.
Of course, Mime was pushing us along from behind again, giving us incredible speed.
Mime grumbled.
“Does this beast Agril even bathes? It reeks.”
“What nonsense! He is extremely clean, I will have you know.”
“Not by my standards.”
“Spirits shouldn’t even be smelling things. That breaks common sense.”
Leaving the noisy bickering behind me, I sank into thought.
Idria was simply repeating the same strategy.
‘That’s not like her. It feels like a desperate stopgap.’
[Maybe she hasn’t found another way.]
‘Likely. After all, no new secrets have appeared.’
Over the past two weeks, I had examined Idria and her minion’s secrets whenever I had a chance. Kaeld’s as well.
But no new secrets had appeared.
The only thing nagging at me was the secret that had formed between Idria and Velosian two weeks ago.
‘Feels like Velosian whispered something into her ear.’
[Yeah. Suspicious, but since we can’t see secrets involving him, that’s a dead end.]
‘At the very least, it’s clear this has nothing to do with the monster invasions. Her patterns haven’t changed at all.’
Indeed, the pattern of the past two weeks was the same as before:
Idria sent monsters to a territory.
Kaeld and I arrived.
Then Idria withdrew the monsters.
To onlookers, it seemed like the monsters fled before the heroes, increasing both Kaeld’s and my fame.
But between him and me, there was now a decisive difference.
‘Let’s see the chart.’
[You have been checking it a lot lately.]
‘Feels like when you first get a gold coin, you keep taking it out of your pocket to look at it.’
[What kind of comparison is that…]
Trail grumbled but pulled up the display.
Click.
<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 420,400>
<Kaeld Wake / Total Fame: 373,850>
I hadn’t just caught up, I had surpassed him.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
Just then, Xenia spoke.
“We are here.”
“The monsters?”
“Still in smoke form. You said it takes five days for them to fully transform, right?”
“Yeah. Looks like she will pull them back again.”
“Then it will be your victory once more, Mr. Mide.”
Indeed.
The past two monster invasions had seen Kaeld and me perform equally.
But my fame had risen far more than his.
I had been slightly behind before, but now I was well ahead.
Lisel spoke up.
“Why does your fame rise more than Kaeld’s when you’re doing the same things?”
“Personality? Looks?”
“Neril… you have been awfully biased toward Mr. Mide lately.”
“So what? His rival is Kaeld.”
“Fair point.”
I cut in with a chuckle.
“It’s probably thanks to what happened in Havel territory.”
“Ah.”
“There, Kaeld was exposed beyond all doubt as the Demon King’s lackey. Well, I made sure it was obvious.”
Before the people of Havel, Kaeld had been ‘retrieved’ by Idria.
The lord immediately issued a public statement, declaring himself and his citizens as witnesses.
Witnesses to the fact that Kaeld was a fake hero.
Offense said:
“I thought Kaeld would crash and burn entirely after that. But surprisingly, he has been stubborn in pursuing you.”
“It’s too much to expect the entire continent to believe the statement without seeing it first hand. Especially when the question is ‘Who is the true hero?’ That’s not something people will accept without utmost caution.”
“True.”
“But the statement did its work. That’s why, even though our performances in the last two battles were the same, I gained much more fame.”
And that was enough for me.
Compared to the despair I felt when the oracle first descended, this was a blessing.
A man must know when to be content.
[That’s the least fitting thing for you to say.]
I ignored the jab and asked Xenia:
“Is Kaeld here?”
“Mm. One moment… ah, found him.”
Through shared sight, Xenia quickly located Kaeld.
“This time, he is with Sabach. Looks like Pirensha didn’t come.”
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