Chapter 143

143 – The Hero of TV and the Vampire in Front of Me

The Raid Battle is broadcast on TV.

Obviously, they can’t use all the footage that was captured nor all the audio that was recorded.

Footage has to go through a lot of toils before it becomes the product we all consume as Clear videos. It takes a reasonable amount of time.

By the time the audience gets to watch the first stratum Clear, the second stratum Clear is already over.

In that regard, it may be similar to the actors who appear on TV.

Like how there’s a big gap in time between the filming of a drama and when it actually airs.

『Man, that was quite the spectacle!』

On the living room TV was Wraith.

The morning news was having a feature on the first stratum Clear with an appearance of members who actually took part in it, Scathach and Wraith.

Kinda like a talk show.

They each sat in their own studio-prepared chairs.

『Thanks.』

Wraith smiled widely.

『The audience was concerned in the beginning but then you blew away all of their worries. Truly, amazing job! What calm and quick decision-making! Acting as the support for the central party! Using a diverse array of magic! Your actions are like that of a seasoned Adventurer, what’s your secret?』

『Nah, there’s no secret. I guess it’s ’cause I watched a lot of Clear videos?』

『I see! You observed the actions of your predecessors and put them to good use in your own Clears. Is there a party that you particularly referenced?』

『Sure is. The coolest party in the world.』

Altreed’s party, I’m sure.

『Oho…! Could you please tell us?』

『Still don’t get it?』

The pressure emanating from his smile made the host’s face twitch for a second.

『A-apologies. I-it’s the Aerial party, right?』

『Ahaha. Uncle A-…that man’s party is strong. But they aren’t my ideal.』

『Ideal… Oh that’s right, you have said that you won’t use Spirit Magic, right, Sir Wraith? What is the reason?』

『It’s not like I’m against it. It’s just that I’m not someone who thinks that I have to have it. Look at what happened earlier. If I could only use water Spirit Magic, then I wouldn’t have been able to use Wind Magic.』

『Certainly, spirit contractors have a disadvantage when it comes to the breadth of elements that they can use. Since they are tied to one element. However, people commonly think that the blessing you get from Spirit Magic is so huge that it turns that disadvantage into an advantage.』

『Like I said, I’m not against it. I’m just not using it in order to get rid of the idea that a Hero without a Spirit is no Hero at all.』

『I see. You have a strong determination at such a young age. It was truly splendid how the Scathach party was able to keep the casualties to just one person with the help of your support.』

The topic shifted to the Scathach party about said circumstances.

Something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to face the woman sitting across me.

It was Milla.

She’s been acting a little odd, recently. I think it started sometime after the first stratum Clear.

I find her absorbed in her own thoughts a lot.

She usually wakes up before I do and makes sure she’s perfectly groomed before she crawls into bed, but lately, she’s been dozing off and she has some bed hair.

She usually never makes mistakes while cooking, but she’s been burning food, putting too much seasoning, or even putting no seasoning at all, instead. It’s worrying that she seems to have not noticed any of that and just eats it.

Also, her slightly extreme physical contact has been happening less and less.

While this may be good for my poor heart, I can’t leave her alone when she is so clearly troubled about something.

「Milla.」　

「…」

「Milla?」

「Huh? Oh, yes. Whatever is it, Lem? Are you proposing to me? The answer is yes.」

Even her heart-stopping jokes lack a certain punch…

Saying a line at the perfect timing with exceptional destructive force. That’s the Milla I know.

「That plate…looks pretty empty.」

Milla has been stabbing her fork repeatedly into an empty salad plate.

「Huh? O-oh my, so it is. Ufufu, I must have been in a daze.」

「That’s been happening a lot lately.」

「I’m happy that you’re worried about me. But it is no big deal.」

Worries.

I’m more or less aware of it, but I’m probably afraid of personal relationships.

Now that I think about it, I think it started when my Job was identified, and everyone who I thought was my friend, left me.

Only Fenix remained a friend and then I was blessed with my master.

I had excellent allies and there were even veterans like Aerial and Hervor who did not discriminate against Black Sorcerers.

However, this is fundamentally a frowned upon and undesired Job.

Even among my allies.

I believe my life turned around after separating from the Fenix party.

I got to meet Blitz and Cashew from the fruit stall and was able to get a job in the Demon King Castle thanks to Milla.

But it hasn’t even been a year since then.

The ten long years since my Job was identified is more than long enough to gnaw at someone’s heart.

A customer of the fruit stall, a fellow colleague at the Demon King Castle, sometimes a fellow Adventurer when talking with Adventurers.

I’ve always kept an adequate distance when dealing with people.

But when it comes to personal relationships, it becomes much more difficult.

It takes a lot of enthusiasm on my part for this mere Lem to get involved with someone.

Not in order to buy something, not because of a job, and not because we have the same occupation.

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I have to personally want to, in order to do it.

This is why I need courage.

Just now, Milla drew a line by saying that I don’t have to worry about it.

That is a line that I must cross by taking one step forward.

It’s different from helping someone who is being assaulted by a violent drunkard. Not overlooking someone in danger is different from doing something someone didn’t ask you to do.

But…

「MIlla…」

「Yes?」

「You’re always helping me. I am truly grateful for it.」

「Uh…is-is something the matter?」

「If you hadn’t found me, I don’t know what would have become of me. At the very least, I wouldn’t have been able to be blessed with such amazing allies, find a new goal…or seriously fight Fenix and other amazing Adventurers.」

Even in that case, Aerial would have invited me, but I would have turned him down.

Without finding someone to enter the Tag Tournament with, being invited by Wraith later in the future would not have happened.

「L-Lem?」

Despite showing her bewilderment, her cheeks were blushing out of embarrassment.

「I don’t know if I could ever repay the kindness that you have given me in one lifetime. Even so, if you’re troubled about something, I would like to help you. If I can help you in any way, I will. So please…」

I took that one step.

「If it’s not something that you absolutely do not wish to talk about, then I would like to hear it.」

Milla’s mouth was agape.

My face started getting hot as if it was burning up.

「Well, y-y’know, ’cause we’re, like, personal friends…right? Ahaha…」

The mumbling, the averting of gaze, the attempt to cover it up with an affectionate smile, it was all lame and caused a tremendous amount of self-loathing.

Until recently, the only person I could call a friend was Fenix, who I met when we were of an age that you could count on one hand. There’s no way I could listen to the worries of a friend…

「Fufu.」

Milla laughed.

Of course, she isn’t the type to laugh at someone.

A reserved but happy-sounding laugh slipped from the corners of her mouth.

「Thank you very much, Lem.」

Her eyes looked a little teary.

「Did I…cause you to worry that much?」

「Ah, y-yeah. I suppose so. You looked like you were worried.」

「Ufufu, my apologies. Despite not wanting to appear so deplorable to you, here I am, delighted that you are worried about me. Strange, aren’t I?」

Milla covers her mouth with her right hand, smiling happily.

Having returned to reality from the mires of her thoughts, she truly is charming and beautiful.

「I…I don’t think so…」

Is it a sign of my lack of experience that I am unable to say something clever back?

「Can I ask you a question?」

I immediately responded to that. That I can do.

「Of course.」

After a few moments of silence, she seemed to have made up her mind and opened her mouth. And then…

「I…I wish to stand by your side.」

She said.

「Stand…by my side…」

「You were already a wonderful Black Sorcerer from the start. However, ever since you took office as the Chief of Staff, you have demonstrated your boundless ingenuity and have contributed greatly to the success of the Demon King Army. Also, you proved in the Fenix party battle and in the Tag Tournament that Black Magic isn’t just for support, and used it to enable yourself to fight your own way.」

「U-uhm…thanks?」

She has always appreciated me so much, so I don’t think that’s strange. Still makes me feel shy, though.

「On the other hand, I am yet to be as successful.」

「Not at all. You have repelled excellent parties who have reached the third stratum with your Vampire Domain, right?」

「No, it is not enough. I do not think of myself as incompetent, but we are so far apart. Lem, you are so far away.」

「That’s not-」

「So, do you think I am able to defeat Fenix by myself?」

Looking at Milla’s serious expression, I swallow my words of encouragement.

「…No, I don’t. With Milla’s abilities, you wouldn’t beat that guy even if you went ten thousand rounds with him.」

Milla nodded at my words.

「Correct. However, Lem… Lord Lemegeton won. That is the distance that I feel between us.」

Even I’m not arrogant enough to think that I can win every time.

But I guess what she’s saying is whether or not she can see a chance to win in the first place.

A Hero…especially the Flame Hero, is abnormal.

The fact that you can’t beat him does not prove that that person is weak.

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But that doesn’t matter.

It isn’t about how strong someone is, it’s about how…frustrating it is to not be able to win against someone as strong as Fenix.

「I respect you, Lem. From the bottom of my heart, I am delighted that you were able to find a place that acknowledges you not only as Lemegeton, but as Lem as well. Yet I remain unchanged. From the time I used to stare at you through the screen at your videos till now, unchanged.」

She grips both her hands tightly on the tabletop.

「I don’t want to just be a fan. As a Monster directly under her Highness, I don’t want to be a weakling with an inferiority complex to you. Unless I can achieve results without bringing shame to the Big Four name, and show my true strength, I…I cannot allow myself to stand by your side.」