I Am Not the Heroine

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Occasionally, there’s a certain pattern that emerges with the monsters during a game.

Instead of charging in individually the moment they spawn, they huddle together and rush in as a group.

Right now, the magical creatures gathering outside the cave had that exact vibe.

The magical creatures emerging from the cave didn’t sprint straight towards the wall; instead, they paused, waiting for their kin to gather.

Over two hundred of them had converged.

They were all puffing up their bodies and baring their teeth, as if about to attack the wall at any moment.

“Let’s go. We should deal with those things first…”

“Wait a moment, Aswel.”

“Hmm?”

I grabbed Aswel’s sleeve as he tried to stand up and stopped him.

“Let them be.”

“Why? If we stop them, it’ll lessen the burden on the guards, right?”

“Attacking the wall can be the basic goal of their offense.”

“That means….”

“So, if we stop them, that group might just reappear before we manage to attack the wall.”

“Exactly.”

Moreover, we had no idea what kind of enemies or situations might unfold inside, so it was wise to conserve the hero party’s strength as much as possible.

“…Alright, let’s do it that way.”

Aswel said this but wore a troubled expression.

It seemed that the very thought of sending enemies towards our allies weighed heavily on his conscience.

Even though Oplite was around and the guards were getting used to the situation with few casualties, it seemed like his inherently kind nature was getting the better of him.

“Aswel.”

I held his hand and spoke.

“But let’s resolve this quickly. That’s all it takes.”

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

Upon hearing my words, Aswel smiled brightly.

He seemed to feel a bit uplifted and stepped back, but then I sensed someone’s gaze on me.

No, it wasn’t just one person.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

All four of my heroines were looking at me with suspicious eyes.

I felt their gazes and shivered slightly, then raised my hands subtly.

I expressed with my entire being that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and that what they thought was absolutely not the case.

“Hmmm…”

“It has been about time I started feeling something like this.”

With that, the four of them mumbled unknown words and turned back to focus on the movements of the magical creatures.

“…”

Well, it seemed I had managed to navigate the situation.

But speaking of which, for some reason Nia had started acting similarly to the other three.

Not just her affection or actions towards Aswel, but her relationship with the other three was gradually growing closer.

It was a good development, but on the other hand, it left me feeling awkward for just liking it without any reservations.

‘That kind of gaze is new to me.’

Nia’s gaze was normal compared to the other three, but within it lay a feeling of wariness that I couldn’t quite understand.

Why on earth was she wary of me?

“…”

By the way, has Aswel’s shoulder looked bigger lately due to more intense training?

* * *

“Let’s go.”

About thirty minutes later, a thunderous sound echoed as countless magical creatures surged down the mountain.

Carefully and cautiously, we approached the cave entrance, ensuring that the creatures at the back couldn’t notice us.

“Ariya.”

“Yes… I can feel the magic.”

Ariya made a small sign of the cross and sprinkled holy water on our armor and robes.

Just this much would greatly reduce the side effects caused by the magic, so we quietly waited until she completed her prevention process.

Thud.

Whoosh.

“Everyone, put this on. It can go anywhere.”

I handed small magical tools based on light to the others.

They were makeshift lights that included a special magical material, allowing them to adhere to the body without discomfort.

Most stuck them on their foreheads or wrists, but Ariya was different.

“Done…!”

“…”

She affixed it right on her menacing chest.

It looked a bit like the way drinks were placed on someone’s chest that I had seen in a previous life.

Then, finally, Rapirie and Serelin pulled out their auxiliary weapons.

It seemed both of them used weapons that had significant restrictions for fighting in a cave, so they equipped daggers about the size of their forearms as secondary arms.

Nia was pretty much the same.

Unlike me, who used a pen, Nia cast spells bare-handed.

Ariya also wasn’t the type to rely heavily on tools, so there wasn’t any change for her.

The key was Aswel.

Unlike the two who changed to auxiliary arms, Aswel still held the holy sword.

The holy sword, aside from being different from Serelin’s sword, didn’t alleviate the inconvenience in movement or range at all.

However, it was a sacred item that absolutely shouldn’t be put away, even if it meant enduring discomfort.

And since Aswel had trained a lot for combat in cramped spaces while wielding that sword, it didn’t present any major issues.

“Be careful here.”

The vanguard was Rapirie. With the Elven agility and movements, she found the safe spots for the party members to tread.

During that process, no battles occurred as the magical creatures approached.

It seemed that magical creatures emerged not just from this cave, but also from two other directions.

Just like how the magical creatures gathered in this cave, there must have been a swarm gathering elsewhere.

So, I expected that when the next offensive began, the magical creatures would likely surge back up.

“The concentration of magic is getting denser.”

As Ariya’s warning echoed, everyone became even more cautious in their movements.

Thud.

“Huh?”

A dull sound came from where Rapirie’s foot met the ground.

It signified that the ground they had descended was composed of different material compared to before.

“Looks like we’re getting serious now.”

The floor, made of black material, was flat.

This meant that Rapirie didn’t need to remain in the lead anymore.

At the same time, the space itself began to expand significantly, allowing Rapirie and Serelin to grasp their main weapons again.

“Wow, it’s quite large…”

“Which is why those magical creatures could keep coming out. If it were smaller, they’d end up killing each other out of chaos.”

“Aha.”

In a space that could potentially lead to mutual destruction amidst bodies pressed together, the scale of the offense hardly mattered.

If this space had been smaller, it might have been completely covered in the blood and flesh of magical creatures.

The expansive area could not be illuminated solely by the light from the magical tools I had given everyone.

Thus, right when I was about to pull out another magical tool, I caught sight of Ariya trembling.

“Ariya? Are you okay?”

I reached out to her, and at that exact moment, her warning came out.

“Everyone, move carefully. This place is…”

Gulp.

“It feels like it’s not our world.”

* * *

Not our world?

In an instant, everyone failed to comprehend Ariya’s words.

I too was momentarily bewildered but soon realized the meaning and came to a halt.

“Ariya.”

Then I asked her if my expectation was correct.

“So, this black ground we’re stepping on… it’s not part of the Empire’s territory?”

“…Yes. More precisely, this land itself is filled with magic.”

Ariya’s gaze swept around.

Sharpened rocks that had risen slightly from the ground began to catch her eye.

“All of that, it’s all the same.”

Now that I thought about it, these weren’t mere cave formations.

They resembled sharp spear-like shapes that had been honed a bit further.

In other words, this was terrain that couldn’t normally appear in this world.

‘…I feel like I’ve seen this description in the original work.’

A land filled with magic. And spear-like rocks.

The only place that came to mind was one such location.

“…The Demon Realm.”

“Exactly, we are standing on the land of the Demon Realm for some unknown reason.”

“…!!”

“…!!”

The shocking revelation left everyone in disbelief.

Even Ariya, the one to utter those words, wore an expression reflecting that disbelief.

“I want to consider other possibilities, but… the concentration of magic flowing from inside and the ground we’re stepping on cannot be a phenomenon caused by ordinary magical creatures or the Demon Race.”

It was precisely the reason it was an ‘almost certain’ hypothesis.

What Ariya had studied matched most with the Demon Realm in this situation.

Then, why was it framed as a ‘hypothesis’?

The reason was simple. None of those present had ever been to the Demon Realm, so they wouldn’t know.

“So, we might face more difficulties than expected.”

“…I’ve been thinking about such things since we began our journey.”

Soon, Aswel’s reliable voice could be heard.

Gradually, the heroines, who had been highly tense, began to relax.

‘The Demon Realm…’

Meanwhile, I continued to think about the current situation while recalling elements from the original work.

‘The Demon Realm… it’s not like there weren’t any occurrences like this.’

This wasn’t mentioned in the main storyline.

Similar elements were briefly referenced in side stories, just like Mercadier.

[The Demon Realm almost merged with our world…]

It could be inferred from the Emperor’s line.

I couldn’t help but think this situation might be a precursor.

This cave was both part of the Demon Realm and ours.

Hmm… right, let’s put it another way; maybe ‘erosion’ would be a more fitting term.

Then how did the original work respond to this ‘erosion’?

The answer lay in someone I was very familiar with.

[If it weren’t for the Mage Fortress, I wouldn’t be the Emperor of the Empire, but the Demon King instead.]

The Mage Fortress.

How did she resolve it?

“Hey! I see something!”

Suddenly, I snapped out of my thoughts as everyone’s gaze shifted to where the sound was directed.

There, a large crimson pit was bubbling, exuding thick magic.