CH 104

Chapter 104 – Written as “Hero”, read as “Puppet”

Side: ???

(???)「How is it?」

(???)「It’s bad, there’s a Demon King and the Big Four here. 」

(???)「No way!?」

(???)「…… I don’t want to say it, but the inhabitants and the Kings are being deceived. 」

(???)「….. I understand. That’s why they said they wouldn’t support anyone with weapons. 」

(???)「What about it?」

(???)「That must mean that the Demon King is trying to constrict and destroy the fighting prowess of all the countries. Of course, they will also try to restrain the Hero, Taiki-sama. Since it would be hard for me to defend the country against an invasion from the middle of a country like that without the Hero. However, it seems that the Demon King doesn’t know that we’re here yet. 」

(???)「Yes, that’s our only saving grace. This power of the Heroes. If we defeat the Demon King with it here, everyone will come to their senses. 」1)

My surroundings are having fun with this Dungeon so i feel sorry for them… But, I made the decision to rescue those who live in Rankus.

(???)「I’ll do it! I’ll defeat the Demon King and save the world!!」

(???)「As one would expect of the Hero. 」

I swore and strongly hugged the Princess next to me. 2)

Side: Yuki

(Yuki)「…… Ah, what is this?」

(Seraria)「Stupid. 」

I am watching a certain person with the Dungeon Monitor.

(Seraria)「So, King Galtz?」

(King Galtz)「…..Haa. Annoying, I didn’t think they would take such measures….. 」

Seraria stares.

King Galtz sighs, both his hands are covering his face.

(Yuki)「But, a Hero huh. 」

I open his status screen so that everyone can see it.

Name: Taiki Nakasato

Tribe : Human

Status: Hero of Rankus3).

Lv. 168

HP: 7020

MP: 4200

STR（Strength）: 1740

DEF（Defense）: 1200

INT（Wisdom）: 2530

AGI (Dexterity): 2032

LUK（Luck）: 2104)

Skills

Unique skill

Hero’s Sense (Can detect Demon Kings and their subordinates. )

Hero’s Ambition（Offensive and Defensive powers up x3 when fighting with monsters）

Hero’s Charm（Popular with women. Weak women tend to fall easily. ）

Hero’s Willpower（Automatic Recovery skill）

Other skills

In great number and for all purposes.

(Delille)「Oou, that one hath a bad affinity with Mineself….. 」

Delille grimaces seeing the Hero’s status.

(Seraria)「That’s true, if it’s about raw status, Delille barely stands her ground….5) 」

(King Galtz)「Stop him. That Hero will start a war using his position. 」

The King of Galtz stepped in.

Oh, by the way, I had already notified the Kings that Delille is a Demon King.

There was no particular reaction in each country. Actually, they already knew that the Blood-eating Princess is a Demon King, they also knew the fact that she has stopped many conflicts.

Thankfully, they stopped any requests for subjugation or similar since they knew what she was doing.

It is that kind of tacit understanding. 6)

Well, annihilation would have been the inevitable outcome had they sortied against her anyways though.

The King of Galtz thanked Delille and respected the fact that she is the last survivor of her dynasty. He even said that if she doesn’t mind, she could live at his place.

(Delille)『Mine shall pass. As thou know this one hath finally seized My husband. Mine eyes are looking to the future now. 』

Saying so, she politely refused King Galtz’s proposal.

(Yuki)「He’s a weapon in his own way. Well then, Delille, could you please step aside this time? It’d be tough if you receive an injury. 」

(Delille)「Yuki….. 」

Delille’s face reddens. 7)

Well, it’s a problem now since Delille won’t be able to take care of it.

Incidentally, this Hero came from a country behind Galtz called Rankus.

When I talked about founding this nation, I asked about the places behind the three countries that have disputes and I managed to obtain a certain degree of representation although I couldn’t manage to address their higher-ups yet.

This is because I wanted to use this to event to advertise trade using the Dungeon.

Among them, one of the countries actually brought a Hero.

That country was Rankus.

(Yuki)「Now, King Galtz, Why do you think this Princess saw the need to summon Hero-sama from another world? If he were to act violently and unskillfully here what do you think the reason for it would be?」

(King Galtz)「Umu. Perhaps this might be the aim but….. Even if Delille stops calling herself the Blood-eating Princess, she wouldn’t be able to shake the title of Demon King. In this case the Princess of Rankus might have said that a Demon King is here to rile him up. After that she might say that it’s another Demon King strategie to sweep away the influential people gathered in this place now. If this all goes through unhindered then hey would receive the support from other foreign countries. 」

(Lulu)「……I can guarantee that those plans would collapse right from the start. 」

Lulu says, disgusted.

With each country having a tacit understanding about Delille, they are certain to dislike a move that intentionally goes against it.

Well, since the 3 countries know the truth about Delille, there’s no way they would give their support and if they don’t then the chances that the smaller countries would drops significantly.

(Seraria)「Then, who would support Rankus in the first place?」

(King Galtz)「…… That is. 」

(Sharl)「Let me explain please. 」

Sharl, who also handles Galtz’s diplomacy, spoke up.

(Sharl)「Rankus’ Princess most likely aims to receive support from the other countries. They will claim it is to defeat the Demon King. In this way they can demand resources to fuel their war effort. The reason for her visit this time is the Dungeon you opened in Galtz. Since we can easily do trade, they demanded a large amount of supplies from us. We declined and they are retaliating. 」

(Seraria)「……No, but to say that they are going as far as retaliating, shouldn’t they start by asking Galtz about how the trade with the other countries fares etc. first or attempt to negotiate with us? They haven’t actually taken any damage yet after all. 」

(Sharl)「Yes. There they have taken no physical damage. But there was damage for Rankus image. Now others can turn around and say; Why don’t they support your efforts against the Demon King? We won’t either then. But this is all their outward facade and method of gathering supplies; Their real purpose is to use the Hero’s status to gather supplies and then use said supplies to fuel their war-machine to attack the other countries. A violent country. 」

(Seraria)「Indeed, that matches up with their previous actions. 」

Since there is a Hero in Rankus, it’s easy for them to gather goods using the Demon King as an excuse. However, now that these three great countries have joined hands and trade is being simplified, the only remaining reason to send Rankus supplies is to improve their Hero. After all when it comes to soldiers, previously Rankus was a good neutral place to gather forces easily, however now that the major powers are friendly with one another and well connected they will just prepare the soldiers themselves.

The three countries are better off in terms of quality and quantity of soldiers as well.

Considering Rochelle’s and Galtz’s previous war, which was publically enacted by the Demon Kings machinations, they must have been drooling over the future supplies and are now enraged since they are getting less, not more.

(Sharl)「If Rochelle was still in a state of war now, then their request for supplies for the Hero of Rankus’ cause would have probably been answered by many…… 」

(Seraria)「It’s no longer required though, is it?」

(Sharl)「Yes, besides the support given to the individual the Hero of Rankus, since there is no more reason to support the country Rankus most should be canceling their support. In our case they said we promised to give them support so we had to keep it until the end. 」

(Seraria)「So, that’s how Rankus is using the Hero, then?」

(Sharl)「Yes」

(Seraria)「The Hero from another world doesn’t seem to know the situation of this continent at all and has no way of knowing the real truth……. What about such a situation?」

(Sharl)「I’m afraid to say that he fully believes in Rankus. He is completely charmed by their Princess. Is that surprising at his age?」

(Seraria)「It is troubling though. Still, he is an outstanding Hero from a different world. It’s a shameless ploy to kidnap him and use him for the interests of a single country!!」8)

Seraria strikes the table.

(Sharl)「That’s right. Seraria-sama. It is just as you said. In the first place, our trade with Rankus wasn’t working out well, so they used the Hero and managed to get supplies with him as a pretext. It was just absurd. They even tried to make us sell our highest quality wheat at a lower price than normal wheat sells for even though it’s Galtz’s most prized, top quality product.」

(Seraria)「Are they stupid? Oh, I have already heard about the Heroes from Rumel, but where is this one from?」

(Sharl)「It seems that Rankus was hiding him until he grew more powerful. Well, that’s natural though, because he could easily be pulled away by the other countries if it was known he was there. And even though he is a Hero from another world, he still started at Level 1. He would need to just hide in a hole until he grows to a minimal extent. 」

(Yuki)「…… So, that Hero from Rankus, what do we know about his background?」

To be frank, I’m irritated by this talk.

The Hero is a complete puppet.

A convenient tool.

The Heroes from Rumel left the country to see the world a little under the pretense of training.

However, the Hero from Rankus is alone and isolated.

However until we know more, it’d be cruel to condemn the Hero because of just that……

He probably didn’t come from Japan. 9)

(Sharl)「Rankus used the Hero well in their conflict with their 3 neighboring countries. Of course, Galtz and other allied countries had to send supplies. They also neutralized two Dungeons at the same time. I think that the Hero is solid. Since Rankus itself absorbed 3 nations, they profited a lot from those events and is now a fairly strong country. Recently, I heard that their territory has spread too far and they are having trouble controlling it. Their supplies are also running out. 」

(Seraria)「That’s why they asked Galtz for trade, in the name of support against Demons. 」

(Sharl)「Yes, but we wonderfully declined after what they pulled against their neighbors. Fast forward in time a little and it’s the independence festival of Weed where a Hero from that country has come. They must have come to speak, display, or prove Rankus’ righteousness. 」

(Seraria)「I understand now….. What do we do about them, my Dear?」

Seraria faces me.

Now that my wife has called out to me, I can’t stay silent any longer.

(Yuki)「There are several methods, so which one would you like?」

Now then, Young boy who puts on the airs of a Hero. Whether or not you took control of those three countries without thinking about anything, I will be sure to obtain the truth.

==========

Afterword of the author

Now, the appearance of another hero.

Unlike Tanaka, he is a hero from a template.

It’s a good swing. He doesn’t doubt in his own beliefs of justice.

And instead of the story. Do you know how any interesting MMO?

I’m getting bored with Gundam online.

Do you know about any MMO that you could bring at my home with various furnitures?

Since I live alone I feel lonely, so I would be glad to be together with someone.