I Am Not the Heroine

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Across the Empire, there exist powerful families befitting its stature.

In the west, there’s the Count Alpares family, and in the north, the Duke Stormblast family, just like that.

Therefore, in the east, there’s the Marquis Arnot family, the core family of imperial trade.

Almost uniquely in the Empire, as it’s the only place adjacent to the sea, cultural exchanges and food galore abound, yet we couldn’t visit it.

“Puuuuuu~. Welcome~.”

“·········.”

“·········.”

Kugugu···. Kung. Boom.

It turned out a certain woman was blocking the road with her explosive sounds coming from her mouth along with the mansion.

What was she hiding? Right, it was none other than Tania Astrea.

“······Sister, what are you doing here?”

“What does it look like? I’m welcoming the Hero party.”

I’ve seen various sides of her until now, but today she looked more childish than ever.

Even though I wore a dumbfounded expression, Tania just giggled, playing it off.

I spoke to the group behind me who were awkwardly standing around.

“Aswel, everyone. Did you see that? So, no need to be too tense or self-loathing. It’s just someone like her.”

“Uh, yeah. I guess.”

“Suddenly, I feel foolish for mumbling to myself back in the mansion···.”

“······.”

“Everyone’s being too much~. I’m just putting my all into welcoming the Hero party.”

Tania was prancing around, her cloak fluttering behind her.

I didn’t want to see her any longer, so I stepped behind Aswel.

“Tania, right? Let me formally introduce myself. I’m the Hero Aswel.”

“Hmm······. Your expression has changed. I guess you had a change of heart?”

Her comment made Aswel’s head turn slightly towards me.

“I’ve realized my duty.”

“Hmm, well, in that case, I should introduce myself too. I’m Tania Astrea from the Empire’s Mage Fortress.”

Though still an unfriendly introduction, Aswel successfully took her hand.

“So··· I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned something about separating us. Can you tell us more about that?”

Tania, pondering while resting her chin, pointed to the mansion.

“How about we go inside and talk?”

Thwack.

We didn’t even have to walk in ourselves.

When Tania snapped her fingers, the mansion door swung open, and a strong wind pulled us inside.

Kuruung···.

As we entered, the mansion seemed to come alive around us.

“Whoa.”

“Uuh···!”

It was evident that our party members, unaccustomed to floating or flying, were all tense.

For me, having been on a plane a few times in my past life, it wasn’t strange at all.

“Now, sit here.”

Suddenly, six chairs appeared according to the number of the Hero party.

With Aswel leading, we cautiously sat down, and letters began to emerge from somewhere right in front of us.

Each with different designs and materials.

There was everything from pure white platinum stationery to steel-patterned letters.

“Ugh.”

Rapiere groaned as she looked at the wooden patterned letter in front of her.

‘That’s··· the royal crest of Yggdrasil, I believe.’

“To support the growth of the Hero party, we agreed to cooperate from three places.”

Only then did I realize the nature of the three papers.

“Jertholt Mine, Yggdrasil, Headquarters. The places where the Knight, Archer, and Saint should go.”

Swoosh.

Contents appeared from each of the letters one after another.

Ariya, Serelin, and Rapiere, summoned by Tania, began to read carefully.

“Sister, what about me, Aswel, and Nia?”

“That little fireball is who I will teach.”

“Wha······!”

Nia’s eyes darted between Tania and me, looking as if she was a child in preschool having to part ways with her parents for the first time.

“Uh, sister···!”

“Nia, she might be a bit strange, but··· I’ll ensure your sister’s magic skills will outweigh anyone. She’s still better than me or my master, after all.”

“······!”

“Rui, even better than your master?”

“Ugh, uh, y-you’re right.”

Seeing Aswel looking at me in a hurry, I shyly looked away and nodded.

I was still uneasy making eye contact with Aswel.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you or anything.”

“Kill or···? So, you mean everything else is fair game······?”

Tania looked at me and Aswel while Nia appeared despondent.

“Then what about me? I thought I’d be taught by my sister, leaving Nia to the great witch.”

“That side is quite busy these days. So I had no choice but to take you on. You have to··· go somewhere.”

Tania pulled out a letter from her bosom.

As a golden-patterned letter revealed itself, the entire mansion was illuminated in its light.

“What’s this······.”

“The Emperor. He named you directly.”

“·········.”

The Emperor, chose me?

I was utterly baffled.

I had never met the Emperor, nor did I have any real connections.

The extent of my knowledge was just that my master, Kunder, and Tania had reasonable exchanges with him.

It essentially meant I was a friend of a friend.

‘And it’s the Emperor, no less.’

What business would an ordinary Mage like me have with the ruler of a nation?

“Does His Majesty wish for me and Rui···?”

I caught Aswel muttering beside me.

A quick glance at his face revealed he looked astonishingly handsome.

······ No, rather, he appeared serious.

Could it be that he was worried about me meeting the Emperor?

I found myself smiling unconsciously.

“By the way, the Hero will also be accompanying you.”

“Ehh.”

“Is that true?”

The latter half of his voice rose, as if joy fluttered in him, while the former sunk like a ship.

While I wondered why Aswel was so happy, my curiosity piqued.

“Is it for real?”

“You can find out if you read the letter.”

[Emperor.]

Just one word.

But with that alone, there wasn’t a soul in the Empire daring to question the will of the Emperor.

-Guide Hero Aswel and White Smith Rui to the Imperial Palace.

It was true.

Fake? There wasn’t a flood of suspicion about that.

“Do you have any idea why His Majesty is calling me and Rui?”

“How would I know his intentions?”

“Th-that guy?”

Aswel seemed flustered at the overly familiar title for the Emperor.

But this part was something he had to get used to.

“Anyway, you guys can just go to the headquarters. Now then, everyone, have you read?”

Swish!

The four letters whisked back into Tania’s bosom.

The expressions on Ariya, Serelin, and Rapiere, after checking their letters, were vastly different.

Ariya displayed both nervousness and determination.

Serelin held a fierce resolve and a yearning for strength.

Rapiere’s expression appeared gloomy.

‘Did she hear something bad back home?’

Having rushed out of Yggdrasil, it wouldn’t be surprising.

“From now on, you must all grow stronger. Time isn’t on your side. You need to achieve your goals in a short period.”

“W-what’s the goal···?”

“Little fireball, the goals are not for me to define but for you to decide yourselves. But you already have a rough idea, right?”

I certainly had an inkling.

We would likely all differ in our thoughts.

What would it be for me?

‘Developing Oplite.’

As for what the other party members thought··· I had no idea.

Even the reason why the Emperor decided to take Aswel along was unknown to me.

“······Understood.”

“Now then······.”

I had been steeled since Winter Guard, but was it the reality of parting that made it feel different?

Everyone looked grim.

“Hero! I’ll also do my best. So···!”

“Aswel, let’s keep encouraging each other. And··· let’s get stronger and meet again.”

“······Everyone, it’ll be a short time, but let’s meet again.”

“Huh······.”

Even Nia, who looked close to crying.

“Everyone··· thank you.”

Seeing that made my eyes well up as well.

“Why is everyone like this?”

Creak!

Kukung.

Wwwwwuuuuung.

With Tania’s puzzled expression at the ruckus from the mansion, a tremendous noise started echoing forth.

The mansion slowly began to split and reconstruct, revealing four doors in front of us.

Above those doors······.

[Jertholt Mine]

[Headquarters]

[Yggdrasil]

[Imperial Palace]

Four place names were inscribed.

That was right. The places we needed to go.

“Wha···?”

“You thought I’d let you all scatter just like this? What was the point of inviting you to the east then?”

Now that I thought about it, Serelin’s destination, Jertholt Mine, was the closest from Winter Guard.

That meant···.

“Did you think I foolishly requested cooperation? In order to use spatial magic, their permission is mandatory, so I simply received it.”

Wasn’t it practically the same as commuting?

“And did you think I’d break up the Hero party while expecting trouble? That would do the Demon King a solid.”

“Um···.”

“Uh······.”

In an instant, all eyes, including Nia’s, were glistening.

Then they awkwardly glanced at each other and finally buried their faces.

“······Are you all really idiots?”

“Ugh···!”

“It’s not like I phrased it that way.”

Trying to act calm, I too had thought a little similarly.

And the reality of having to go directly with Aswel to the headquarters sent my heart racing while also troubling me.

Clunk.

As Tania carved a magic circle, the four doors swung open to reveal differing scenery.

“Now, everyone, go. And gather to share your achievements every once in a while.”

If that happens, each of us would be motivated to strive even harder.

Tania Astrea.

Perhaps I had been misunderstanding her all along.

A mad Mage whom even the Emperor couldn’t rein in, that’s what I thought.

But then again, there were more normal parts to her than I had expected.

‘I’m sorry, sister.’

I couldn’t bring myself to directly say it, so I silently apologized as I waved the departing three through their doors.

“Uh, um, so see you later···? Ah, um, anyhow, I’ll see you soon!”

“Hmm······.”

“Ugh···!”

Though it looked more like they were hurriedly fleeing than simply leaving, my three companions exited through the doors.

“Sister, I’ll also do my best!”

“Yeah. Work hard. If that sister gives you a hard time, tell me.”

“What do you mean by that···?”

After reassuring the trembling Nia, I stood next to Aswel by the door.

Just as I was about to cross over to the Imperial Palace, I suddenly paused.

“······Aswel, wait a moment.”

It suddenly hit me that I had a good idea.

Instead of rushing straight to the Imperial Palace, we would move directly to the headquarters instead.

“Sister. Did His Majesty say to hurry?”

“No? Why?”

“I want to check something while heading to the headquarters.”

“Rui?”

“Directly? Hmm······ it should be fine. We wouldn’t meet him right away even if we went now.”

This was the last heroine of this harem party and the person needed to traverse into the Demon Realm.

It was time to meet the Assassin heroine.