I Am Not the Heroine

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The Truth of the Empire.

The pinnacle of all magic.

Mage Fortress. Tania Astrea.

She holds countless titles at the peak, but few know her true identity.

It’s no wonder.

Because she is a mage secretly nurtured by the former Emperor, affiliated with the imperial family.

The Empire is home to numerous mages and magic towers loyal to the imperial family.

However, the former Emperor was not satisfied with that and sought to create a devoted mage by instilling the imperial vision.

And she was the chosen one.

“I’m not sure about the loyalty…”

I once saw her talking with the Emperor, and it seemed far from loyal.

But considering the Emperor didn’t throw her into prison for that, I suppose it makes sense.

Anyway, why is she here?

“Hmm? Didn’t you miss your sister?”

“I didn’t miss you at all.”

She suddenly pulled me in for a hug.

Rubbing her chin against my head, she made an absurdly cute voice.

“That’s just cruel, Rui. Even though you sneaked away, you could at least miss me.”

“Not at all. So, why are you here?”

“Such a cold attitude… *sniff*, I’m so hurt.”

Suddenly, Tania started to shed tears.

But I know. Those tears are made from magic.

“I should have seen this coming.”

Back in the days when I didn’t know her true identity as a Mage Fortress, I had softened a few times because of those tears.

So from then on, I approached Tania with a basic level of wariness.

“I’m not falling for that.”

“……Hmph. Rui has grown colder.”

She said, having wiped away her tears with a small magic circle.

“Is it because of the Hero party, I wonder?”

“……”

In the place where the tears had vanished, Tania’s brilliant black eyes sparkled.

I found myself trembling slightly and instinctively distanced myself from her.

I sensed an enormous amount of mana radiating from her.

But I was the only one close enough to feel it.

No one else in the mansion could detect it.

Because she was controlling her mana that way.

“Are you picking a fight?”

“……Heh. Why would I do that? Why would I fight Rui?”

In an instant, the glimmer in her eyes faded, and the mana that pressed down on me disappeared.

Her mana control is still remarkable.

“I just wanted to play a little prank.”

“……I guess.”

“Come on~ Cheer up~.”

With a bright smile, she patted my head.

“So, are you curious why I came?”

“Of course. This place has nothing to do with you.”

“Rui, it’s because of you.”

“……”

“You understand causality now, right?”

*Snap.*

As Tania snapped her fingers, elemental mana coalesced into a single form.

It was a stone inscribed with prophecies that I had previously seen through my master.

“I’ve cut off contact with El Stormblast. Well, that means I’m fully aware of the situation.”

“……So? Are you here to take me away?”

I readied myself to pull out the Master Key just in case.

‘Unlike my master, Tania…’

Even if I pull out the Master Key, it would be impossible to win or escape.

Unlike my master, who merely puts a hand on me, Tania is a person of conviction.

And that conviction doesn’t change, no matter how much affection she shows.

One could even say her nature is merciless and cold.

But it’s precisely that part of her that earned her the title of Mage Fortress.

“Umm. No. So just set aside the thoughts of fighting.”

“……!!”

Before I knew it, my hand was covered in dirt.

Turning to look at Tania, a small magic circle was appearing near her eye.

“I’ll let you go if you promise not to bring out the Master Key or pen.”

“I won’t take them out. If you wanted to stop me, you would have done it already.”

“Ugh. So now you’re rebelling? You’ve really grown up, Rui.”

With just a slight nod, Tania dispelled the earth magic once more.

Then she fluffed the blanket and said,

“Well, I was going to say it right away, but this isn’t a pressing matter. For now, let’s just sleep together again!”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?!”

“Because you have a terrible sleeping habit.”

It was when I first met Tania, staying under her care.

Unable to find a place to sleep, Tania took me home, and we slept together, but it was a real hassle.

I prefer to sleep comfortably, but she kept clinging on, making it uncomfortable.

After being treated almost like a doll or a pillow several times, I eventually became reluctant to sleep together with Tania.

“But there’s nowhere to sleep!”

“I’ll lend you my workshop.”

*Clop.*

She conjured a door in thin air and took my hand to lead me through it.

“Ugh~ I don’t want to~. Let’s sleep together~.”

“Ugh.”

In the end, I couldn’t resist Tania’s strength and fell onto the bed.

In the blink of an eye, I was pulled into her embrace, and I decided to give up and relax.

“Yes, this is just the right feeling… Thanks to you, I can sleep comfortably…”

As expected, she was treating me like a pillow.

‘Why did she even come here?’

Suddenly coming out of nowhere and asking to sleep together, it was truly an incomprehensible situation, so I gave up thinking and tried to sleep.

And the next day.

“Wake up, Rui. Take me to the Hero.”

Tania asked me with sparkling eyes.

* * *

How could I refuse the request—or rather, the command—from the Mage Fortress?

After all, she probably knows where Aswel is.

Wouldn’t she know the location of Aswel, who is also within the same mansion, better than I do, and perhaps even better than my master?

There’s no way she wouldn’t.

She could merely be acting out of curiosity, or perhaps it’s consideration for me.

To be honest, I don’t want to introduce her to Aswel.

It’s not that I worry she might use her Mage Fortress identity to control the Hero.

It’s just… just…

“……”

“Hey? Why are you looking at me like that?”

It’s because of Tania’s appearance, which contrasts sharply with mine.

Her figure has curves in all the right places.

And she carries an air of calmness and icy beauty.

‘No way… it can’t be.’

Compared to that of Ariya, Serelin, and Rapirie, she might be smaller, but she’s pretty much on par with Niabella.

So… if Tania catches the Hero’s eye…

Ugh.

‘It can’t be.’

I believe in Aswel.

In the end, I led the singing Tania to the dining hall.

“Hey, Rui. Did you not oversleep today…?”

“Lord Rui, who is that…?”

The party members, who were having breakfast, looked at Tania and me with puzzled eyes.

“Hello~ everyone.”

“Who… is she?”

Aswel slowly got up and asked Tania.

Had he been eating soup? He had a little bit on the corner of his mouth.

“First, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me who you are…”

“Aswel, just a moment.”

I approached Aswel and wiped his mouth with my sleeve.

“Oh, th-thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

…Oh.

That’s when I realized why Aswel was so flustered.

Rushing to turn around and look at Tania, she was wearing a peculiar smile.

“Hmm… so that was it.”

What does she mean by that?

To quickly change the mood, I introduced them to each other.

“This is my sister, Aswel, the Hero.”

“Sister…?”

“Aswel, this is Tania… she’s a mage.”

“Just a mage? Rui, your explanation is too harsh.”

Just when Tania was faking feeling neglected, Aswel’s expression darkened with suspicion.

“Rui.”

“Yes?”

“If she’s your sister… is she by any chance from the Stormblast side?”

Ah, could he have misunderstood and thought that she came to take me away like Kunder?

Well, considering that I just said “sister,” it’s understandable.

I shook my head and said.

“No, I doubt it.”

“‘Doubt it’…?”

I can’t provide clearer explanations since I still don’t fully understand why Tania came here.

But, if Tania wanted to take me away, she had plenty of chances to do it last night.

Reflecting on the fact that she even slept with me makes it clear that was not her goal.

“Right, I didn’t come for that. Of course, I wanted to see Rui, but… my primary purpose lies with you all.”

Tania said, extending her hand toward Aswel.

“Tania Astrea. Mage Fortress of the imperial family. Just know that much.”

“The imperial family…?”

Serelin’s voice slipped out, laced with confusion.

It seemed like such an unexpected word had come up.

But soon Serelin’s face turned tense with worry.

It made sense, since mentioning the imperial family directly in the Empire implies having direct influence.

Who in this land could dare to mention the imperial family?

Thus, the expressions of the three—aside from Rapirie, who hails from Yggdrasil, and Nia, who knows little about the world—changed drastically.

“……Aswel here.”

Aswel grasped Tania’s hand.

At that moment, Tania’s eyes sparkled.

*Boom!*

“What!”

“What is this! The Hero’s mana feels like this. I completely see it.”

In an instant, there was a clash of two mana.

To be precise, Tania’s mana collided unilaterally with Aswel’s mana.

Aswel quickly stepped back, trying to regain his stance, but Tania turned her head away as if she’d already lost interest.

“You’re too slow.”

“……What?”

“If I were a Demon Race, you’d already be dead. There’s no way you’d even step foot in the Demon Realm, let alone fight a Demon King.”

Tania snapped her fingers, and opened one of the dining hall windows.

Beyond it lay a colossal wall.

“Hero, and Hero party members. You all are far too weak.”

It was a startling statement, and yet no one could refute or respond.

Indeed, ever since earlier, an enormous amount of mana had been radiating from Tania’s body.

“The well of magic that emerged from Winter Guard. Why have you been holding onto it for so long?”

*Snap!*

As Tania snapped her fingers, dozens of small magic circles appeared and vanished above her.

Simultaneously, the mana that had been spilling from her body surged through the mansion and disappeared into thin air.

“I could handle two wells in about a week. If either a Hero or a Saint transcends their level, it would take no longer than two days.”

*Thunder…*

“El Stormblast. Why did she try to take Rui away from the Hero party? The answer is simple—because you all are too weak compared to Rui.”

*Boom… Crack!!*

A lightning strike came crashing down from afar.

The direction was somewhere in the Eastern Mountain Range, where one last offensive was occurring.

*Crash!*

After the first bolt of lightning, a second one fell, then another, and another.

Dozens, no, hundreds of bolts of lightning concentrated on a single spot.

When I turned my gaze towards the place where the lightning originated, there was a gigantic magic circle.

All gazes naturally turned towards one person.

‘So in the original work, they eliminated it that way.’

It’s a method that could only be described as foolish.

The way to eliminate a well filled with magic is to pour in an overwhelming amount of mana in the form of lightning.

“So that’s why I’m here. To separate you.”

The current Hero party is truly too weak.

The decree of the Empire’s Mage Fortress had descended upon the entire Hero party.