Chapter 102

102 – The Shaken Society and the People Who Discovered You

『…and the winner is LEM AND BERITH TEAM…!!』

An old man lets out a sigh at the sound coming from the TV.

「…I see my pupil still hasn’t given up, as usual.」

The red-haired old man seemed to have a thin smile on his face as he muttered that.

「A hero, as a Black Mage, huh…」

The one-horned, former Demon King watches his disciples victory while sitting on a chair.

「Had I surpassed father’s trials, perhaps I would have been able to overcome any and all hardships later in life.」

I am here as a guest…no, that’s not quite right.

Perhaps intruder is more apt.

However the old man…my father, was not surprised by my entrance in the slightest.

「What do you want?」

「Is that the first thing you say to your son who you haven’t seen for more than a decade?」

「This…whaddya call it…Tug Turnamen? Was it your idea?」

Father had taken up residence in Sir Lem’s hometown.

Once I had surmised who his master was, the search area was narrowed down. Although, I thought he would have disappeared again.

There were many letters atop a desk.

When it comes to someone who knows his location and sends letters to him…only Sir Lem comes to mind. I suppose there could be others, but it is impossible that father would even open the letter unless it was someone important.

Is he still here because he believes he wouldn’t be able to receive news of his disciple if he disappears…? Impossible.

「It’s not original. Those martial artists do something like this sometimes too, and some sports even have doubles, right? I made it something like that.」

「I see. You thought up something interesting.」

「Ahaha, this is my first time being praised by you, father.」

I couldn’t help but foolishly feel happy getting praised by my father, despite him disappearing for more than ten years.

But what can I do? He is the greatest Demon King, after all.

「Why…did you give your horn to a Human child?」

「Because he was a bigger idiot than I.」

「…Well, I suppose one cannot call a Black Sorcerer, who declared that he will become a hero during his debut, clever. If anything, I believe him to be a very thoughtful person, however.」

「And that is why. An idiot who doesn’t think can’t be saved. But that boy, he thought it through, and still continued to challenge it all without giving up. He has the heart to not succumb to the ridiculous reality imposed upon him by the world and the people around him. All while he was a ten-year-old brat.」

…

「Father, you didn’t run away.」

My father was simply the strongest and coolest Demon King there was.

A strong hero will be happy, getting nothing but praises.

But a Monster with a talent to wield Black Sorcery is seen as dangerous, simply because he is a Monster.

「It doesn’t matter. I got tired of it all. That place bores me…who’s being the Demon King now?」

「My daughter is. Your granddaughter.」

「Lu, huh?」

「Oho, I’m glad to see that you still remember your granddaughter’s nickname.」

「Hmph.」

「And your faithful pupil is now the Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff.」

「If that is what they decided, I will not interfere.」

「You value him very highly, I see. You did give him your horn after all, so it’s to be expected.」

「What, did you want it?」

「If I did, would you have given it to me? You wouldn’t even let me train.」

「You couldn’t’ve handled it.」

Back in the day, father’s words sounded harsh and cold.

But now, I feel like I can understand the true meaning of his words.

He wasn’t telling me to give up because I had no talent for it, he didn’t let me do it because I would have died.

「But a Human child could?」

「It is not about the body, it is to do with the heart.」

「…Ah, I see.」

I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t like conflict. I like to watch fights, but I don’t want to be on the side where I fight. My heart isn’t cut out for a Job like the Demon King.

My heart couldn’t handle the harsh training. I lacked a goal to strive for to push me through it.

I guess he saw through that.

「So, what do you want?」

Back to the first question.

「I will end all Dungeon Clears.」

「I’m going to erase the perception that Monsters are evil.」

「A wonderful thing.」

「And when that happens, father will only be seen as a powerful Demon King. And so-」

「Foolishness.」

「It is not foolishness…!」

This is revenge.

Against the world that chased my father out. Against this industry.

And it’s a revolution.

「I see.」

In order to clear the future for all the discriminated Monsters, including my father.

「I see.」

「…Doing so would rob your pupil of his reemployment that he worked so hard to finally get, but rest easy. A talented person like him can keep on living in the new world. I don’t hate Adventurers.」

Quite the opposite. I am the ally to all who are misfortunate.

「If that’s what you want, then go ahead and do it. There is no need to ask me.」

「I want you to come back as the strongest Demon King.」

「That…is for me to decide. And right now, I have no intention of doing so.」

「What would it take to change your mind?」

「…Perhaps…if an opponent worthy enough to use the horn against ever appeared…」

Whispered my father, but soon after, he said「It’s nothing, forget about it…now leave!」, waving his hand to shoo me away.

He turned his face to his disciple on the screen, rather than me.

…Are you expecting that much out of him? From Sir Lem?

「…I’ll write you letters.」

「Don’t expect a reply.」

Then I left my father’s house.

He harbors a new goal within his chest, to nurture an enemy worthy enough to fight.

Fortunately, there are many candidates.

◇

「Wow, this guy’s good.」

「…Strong?」

「Yeah. He’s a Black Sorcerer, but his movements are well trained. I can’t tell by watching, but I bet his Black Magic is awesome too.」

「But I heard that Black Sorcerers aren’t popular.」

「Who cares. He looks like someone who will win no matter what. And he actually did win. That’s it, I’ll invite him together with this Insect-Human into the party.」

「It’s hard to make an Adventurer out of a Monster-like Demi-Human.」

Maybe it won’t work.

But I’m sure this Lem guy has been looking for a job ever since he got kicked out of his old party. That’s probably why he chose to appear on center stage as an Adventurer.

「Again, who cares. I said I want him, so I’ll get him.」

That young boy just turned ten and just confirmed his Job.

The same goes for me, the one talking to him.

He’s a Hero. He came back from the Spirit Shrine the other day, so I should probably call him that.

The third person in this era to form a contract with one of the Four Great Spirits, the first person in sixty years to be chosen by the Water Spirit…the modern-day Water Hero.

If I were to rank him among Spirits, he’s on the same level as the Storm Hero Aerial, and the Flame Hero Fenix.

「Lem, was it? Let’s go meet this guy. What was that guy’s name again?」

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「Fellow…I think.」

「Yeah, yeah, him. He can arrange things for me, right? I don’t care about things like common sense. I’m going to win with my friends and tell the world that what Adventurers need is strength. Right?」

「…Yeah, you’re right.」

We met Lem not long after this.

◇

「Nico, what you and…Sir Lem wanted to say was…that there are ways to show「discrepancies」, right?」

After the tournament, the discussion was started up again.

Everyone is here for the discussion this time as well, but the focus doesn’t seem to be to point out my mistakes like last time.

「Y-yeah.」

It seems that it was conveyed properly after all.

My answer.

The popularity I established as the Silver Prince is very valuable.

Popularity that was held up by the fans who liked it from the very start. That much I know.

I also know the feeling that we cannot neglect them.

On top of that, I was worried over my aspirations from long ago that I couldn’t throw away.

「Eh, isn’t that super good? While I do love the princely Nicola, I was invited by the original Nicola and became an Adventurer. If you can accept it, that’s for the best.」

The Thief Leila was enthusiastic.

We’re adding elements, not changing course.

Like finding out that a cool guy who can do anything is actually afraid of bugs.

Of course, people might say that this breaks the illusion. When there are a lot of people, it’s natural to have varying opinions.

But most「fans」would just say that it’s「cute」.

I mean, I’ve seen a lot of examples of that.

On the contrary, a person who was selling themselves as a careless character got work on a cooking show where it was discovered that the only thing that person was a professional at was cooking.

People like surprises.

The calm and stylish Silver Prince. But hidden deep in her chest burns the heart of a wild animal…is how we’ll present it.

This part is the style that I once failed with, and the thing that Phil didn’t take notice of in the first place.

But in this tournament, in the semi-finals, the crowd was excited for not just my fight, but Phil’s fight as well.

And Phil, who studies the Adventurer business more than anything else, cannot ignore that.

「I’ll be honest, it’s worth a shot.」

I was surprised at how easily my brother said that.

「Y-yeah…! Th-thank-」

「Don’t get me wrong. We haven’t decided on a broadcast yet. First, we’ll test it out by diving into a Dungeon. And I’ll validate your discrepancy or whatever with our allies through the camera lens. If everyone thinks it’s acceptable, we’ll adopt it. If it’s rejected, you’re paying for that Dungeon Clear.」

Phil said it quickly, avoiding eye contact. He’s embarrassed.

But I think it’s a realistic compromise.

We’ll test it out, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll stop. We’re doing it because I want to, so it’s my responsibility.

「Huh, well, I’m fine if Phil is fine with it. Personally, I want to see Diamond Phil. I’d like to see Phil go wild.」

Said the Fairy Wizard Ruri, while sitting on my brother’s shoulder and swinging her feet.

「…I’ll think about it. In my case, the world already saw me. It depends on the response.」

「I can’t wait~」

「…If Nicola is going to be on the front lines, then we have to rethink our battle formation.」

Said the Holy Paladin Mark, calmly.

「So let’s discuss about that.」

And so the party continues their discussion.

It was decided that the first Dungeon that we’ll challenge is the one that we already want payback for.

I wonder if he’s still there now.

◇

After the tournament.

I feel like I stood out too much at the award ceremony because Aerial had his arms around my shoulders, shouting praises, but I managed to get through it.

I must also thank my colleagues, such as Cashew and Milla, who cheered until their voices were hoarse in the cheering seats.

When we returned to our real bodies in the waiting room, I was about to ask Beri-no, Nicola, about heading home, but then we had a visitor.

Just when I wondered who it could be, it was Fenix.

「Congratulations on winning.」

「Thanks.」

「You too, Miss Nicola. That was a magnificent fight.」

「Tha-thank you…so mush…」

「But didn’t you put too much burden on the Black Sorcerer Lem? If I were you I’d-mmm」

I cover his mouth.

「It’s fine. It was my plan, anyway.」

「Gmrh…mrgh.」

I let go.

「It wasn’t about that. I’m talking about showing you how to fight better.」

「Y-yeah…due to my inadequacy, he really helped me out a lot.」

「Not at all, it’s thanks to you that we were able to win, Nicola.」

「Yeah, he’s right. I apologize, I just got a little jealous at seeing how good the cooperation was between you and my best friend. 」

「No-no way…! I-I’m so happy.」

「You getting jealous is creeping me out, man.」

「Harsh, dude.」

「Fufu…Lem is only saying that because he cares about Fen-gmph?!?」

「Ni-Nicola, I’m sure you’re tired, so why don’t we head off?」

She’s probably talking about the bet I made with Philip, but Fenix doesn’t need to know about that kinda thing.

Knock-knock, went the door.

「Sir Lem. It’s Philip. Are you still here?」

「Geh.」

Now?!?

「I’m coming in. …If it isn’t Fenix, a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Philip.」

「Ah, that was a splendid fight.」

「Thank you very much. But this is…」

「Oh~no! This guy found out that we were training together.」

I said. Philip had a complicated look on his face, but then he gave a small nod.

「I suppose I should say that that is impressive of you, Flame Hero. But I doubt that I have the right to say that.」

「…?」

Fenix was curious.

Wait a minute, Philip. Please stop there.

But then he bowed his head.

「I am sorry about the other day. Blinded by my inexperience, I insulted your best friend, a person who is ranked 4th in the world and many times my senior. I stand corrected, along with my apologies.」

…

……

And then Philip explained the situation to Fenix and apologized to him as well.

「No please, I don’t mind. It is true that I don’t think about how exactly to survive in this industry. Even if you were to point out those shortcomings, I don’t have a reply. But…I see.」

Fenix smiles unnaturally.

「So that’s it, Lem. You got angry for my sake. Thank you. You’re as kind as you used to be.」

「Uwaaaaaah! Dammit…! Stop it! You’re creeping me out!」

My whole body was hot from embarrassment. My face was red hot.

Philip not only kept his promise, but apologized to the person in question, which isn’t bad at all, but I am so embarrassed.

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「I’m so happy.」

「Shut up! You…you…idiot!」

「Ahaha.」

「Don’t laugh!」

The siblings looked on in bewilderment at our exchange.