Is this Hero for Real?

[Act 12] Remodeling

“Hey, $% pass by. @$ people waiting % #$?”

“We’re sorry!”

As a criminal for the attempted murder of a royal, I was a bit worried about how I would pass the city checkpoint.

But the security guards only watched out for any carriages or people blocking the road.

The security guards weren’t guarding?

“It’s nothing strange. If a city with a large floating population like this was thoroughly inspected, the economy would collapse.”

“Aha!”

For someone who’d lived in a metropolis with a population of 10 million like me, it just looked rural, but it was a relatively big population considering this medieval planet.

That was the power of magic!

Various kinds of magic that permeated into the Fantasia natives’ lives greatly advanced their living standards. Let’s just say magic replaced science!

Furthermore…

Jiggle~

Jiggle jiggle~

That included the hard work of the slimes that kept the city clean and beautiful!

Magic and slimes.

—The existence of those two factors made the fantasy world fantasy-like.

“You may have done something as crazy as attempted murder of a royal family member, but you should be safe this far away. Even if you do get caught, the borders are nearby for us to cross.”

“So you did think everything out, huh?”

“…If i went around without a plan like you did, I’d be dead before marriage.”

“You’re still not married, get over yourself.”

“…”

“Don’t cry.”

I may’ve been getting hunted, but I didn’t let myself down and boldly got a two-person room at the finest inn.

“You spend relentlessly.”

“It’s fine.”

‘You’re telling me this inn that wealthy merchants and nobles usually stay in costs as much as an average peasant’s monthly earnings?’

It was insane, but alright.

Clang!

“…You may have earned a lot of money from the orc slaughtering, but you’re going to run out of it fast if you keep spending like that.”

“That’s okay. I’ll slaughter again.”

“Your attitude of passing on the problem to your future self sure is reckless—like a mercenary.”

“But I am a mercenary?”

“Nonsense, you’re a criminal.”

“…”

‘This demon is hitting too close to home for a law-abiding alien!’

Wanting to escape the awful reality, I lay back on the soft bed.

[A certain god anticipates a bounty.]

[A certain god is delighted with the journey of a true outsider.]

“That’s harsh.”

It would be hard to go in and out of the city like that if I became a runaway with a bounty.

I’d become a legitimate outsider!

It was a little upsetting.

[A certain god twirls in their place and dances.]

[A certain god shakes their shoulders and hums a song.]

The god looked extremely happy that I was then an outsider by law.

Besides that…

“It really was amazing.”

While I was recollecting Prince Alsus’s swordsmanship, the male demon put his hand out.

“I won’t run away for now, so give me my stuff back,” he said.

“Until you get me a slave with the Language Blessing?”

“That’s right.”

There were slaves back on Earth, too.

Capitalism slaves!

But in the fantasy world, the slaves were actual slaves who worked for others without any reward, like livestock.

What a pity! Let’s save them! …instead of feeling that way, I was accepting that it was simply how this world was.

“Send me an old brown bag.”

Poof-

As soon as I ordered the guardian through the holy sword, the demon’s bag popped out.

Did I bother him a bit too much?

The bag came out flying angrily like it was hurled.

“Looks like it’s channeled through that sword.”

“Yep.”

“I don’t think you would have learned magic yourself, is that a magic sword?”

“You could say that!”

“Hm…”

A look of temptation swept over demon Kogmos face.

“Wanna take a look?”

“…You can show off your treasures to another, but passing it over is an extremely careless act. Don’t ever do that next time.”

“Sure.”

‘No offense, but is it okay for a demon to be this kind?’

Of course, I’d only allowed it because I was certain it wouldn’t get stolen.

I’m not that shabby of a human, you know,

“Hm. It looks like an average metal sword from the looks of it- kaagh?1”

Zzap-!

Touching the faulty sword that accepted me as a Hero, the demon rolled on the floor as he cried out.

“Oh! I didn't know it was equipped with anti-theft features.”

The holy swords that didn’t accept me were just heavy, but that didn’t seem to be all there was to them after seeing the demon convulse like that.

“That was a holy sword…?!”

Kogmos, recovered, shouted with a disgusted face.

“Yep.”

I simply agreed.

It may’ve been a beginner’s sword that lacked the power to overthrow the evil goddess, but a holy sword is a holy sword!

Not to mention it was a gate to my warehouse as well.

“You lunatic! How could you tell a demon to touch a holy sword! Damn it! It’s my mistake. I should have noticed when you were acting careless!”

“What happens if you touch it?”

“It’s not too dangerous if I’m only touching it, but a weak demon like me could die from even the smallest cut.”

“Becuase you’re a demon?”

“That’s right. So be careful with me around me from now o… wait, how can you hold a holy sword?1”

“Well, this is a defective one.”

“Is it a holy sword that mixed up the Hero’s Curse as a Blessing? What a big world we live in. I can’t believe a holy sword can be defective…”

“I was lucky.”

* * *

* * *

Kogmos still didn’t seem to think I was a Hero even though he recognized the holy sword right away.

[Hero]

Was it that odd for a Hero to get the ‘Hero’s Curse’?

On edge about the beginner’s holy sword, the male demon spoke.

“Another reason to get away from you as soon as possible. Don’t sprawl yourself on the bed. Follow me. We’re going to buy a slave right away.

“Is that okay? You look tired.”

[Outsider]

I was fine because I had a Blessing that was specialized for ‘living alone’, but that demon had ridden a horse for two days straight without rest.

He looked way too tired!

I managed to show concern, but that demon decided to be mad instead.

“This is all your fault! Do you think a demon will be able to rest in front of a holy sword?!”

“Is there a reason you can’t rest? There wasn’t a problem on the whole way here.”

“As long as I know your weapon is a holy sword, even being near it is bad for my mental health.”

“Aha!”

“Laugh if you will. That’s how I, a weak demon, can survive in Fantasia…”

“Yeah. what a life.”

“…”

“Don’t cry.”

After talking a bit, we headed to the biggest slave market on the western continent of Fantasia!

***

“This is a big deal. I can’t believe the orcs of the plains were annihilated.”

The Saintess let out a big sigh after getting Prince Alsus’s report.

It wasn’t bad news.

If the seemingly unending number of orcs disappeared, that meant the large, neglected plains could be utilized.

Pasturing, farming, new towns, training…

But that was good news only to the Swordmastar Knight Kingdom. In consideration of the rest of humanity, the news was frustrating. It meant Heroes, humanity’s hope, had less means of gaining experience points.

Her plan had gone completely wrong.

“Last time, there was a sudden decrease in forest gnolls—now orcs? This could mean a new predator in the food chain. Saintess. Is this why you have come to see me?”

“Ah! Councilwoman Celebless. Not exactly. I would ask for advice if I could establish a cause, but… I wanted to ask if you could help me find my stolen things and the culprit.”

Walking next to the fairy, the Saintess smiled.

After recovering her tortured body, Councilwoman Celebless had regained her beauty. Some parts of her were still withered, but that was because of her species.

“Hm. I won’t be looking for it, but I will ask a friend to cooperate as much as possible.”

wigglewiggle~

The slime that was in the Councilwoman’s arms happily jiggled.

Unable to erase her doubts, the Saintess asked, “…excuse my very rude question, but does that friend really have the ability?”

She was talking about the slime!

She had heard plenty about its excellence, but at the time, she didn’t think more of it other than ‘what an interesting slime.’

Because she was directly asking for help, it was a fact that it was odd.

“Don’t worry. Mollang is a special slime. Would you like to touch it? This fellow isn’t jiggly like other slimes, it wiggles.”

Wigglewiggle!

The rainbow slime wiggled as if to agree.

“…I’m sorry. I can’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

“Haha! I understand. Everyone has trouble seeing Mollang’s true value at first. But soon you’ll be surprised, too, Saintess.”

“I hope so.”

The Saintess desperately prayed to be surprised like the councilwoman boasted.

Not to the unhelpful god, but to her own pure luck.

She’d hurriedly gone to the Fairy Kingdom for the matter.

It took two days, even though she rushed.

The two days were devastating at such a crucial time.

Thanks to her absence, the Heroes who died dumbfounding deaths from hunting gnolls had been neglected in the base floors for two days.

Besides that, there were a mountain of things that had been pushed back.

“How exciting. Maybe it’s because my cousin lamented that he couldn’t enter your room…”

“If you mean the Fairy King, then that is very clear. He is a man. Men are prohibited from the sacred ground that is the pure Saintess’s bedroom.”

“Is that really all?”

“…Of course, there is the more common reason that I don’t want strangers in my personal space with a lot of secrets.”

“How nice it is to be young.”

With the face of a youthful girl, Councilwoman Celebless wasn’t like an adult at all.

“I see you know how to make mischievous jokes.”

The Saintess was secretly wondering something.

She looked nothing like a fairy who had gone through something awful so recently. Was that the maturity of someone who had lived throughout an eternity?

The councilwoman shook her head.

“I may have lived longer than others, but I am an ordinary fairy. A weakling with a lower level than the average soldier.”

“That is why you are so respected, Councilwoman Celebless.”

She was a level 12 despite having lived for thousands of years.

Normally, she would have been called unskilled or lazy, but that fairy was different.

—She was an unwavering believer of nonviolence.

In a cold world where people’s worth was decided by levels, giving up hunting when you had the skills to do so was extremely hard to do.

“It is shameful. I reflected and learned a lot through the incident. I am going to be diligent with leveling up from now on.”

“I can’t imagine you, someone who loves life, murdering anything.”

“Hunting is still too much for me. I am planning to go to an academy as a professor of a new subject.”

“Ah!”

You didn’t need to hunt to earn experience points at an academy.

It was less efficient than hunting, but nobles who prioritized safety preferred academies, whether they were students or professors.

If only they could survive in their own competitive world, there was no better ‘hunting ground’.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

It was a flawless room, well-fitting for the Saintess, ‘the perfect woman’.

If it wasn’t for its reputation as the safest room in the world, it could be believable as the King’s office.

The only flaw…

“I see there are no windows.”

“Yes. that way, intruders can only enter through the door. We even warped the grid so they go straight to prison if they try teleportation.”

“This place also looks like a prison in my eyes. I feel like it would be incredibly suffocating.”

“It’s a place fitting for my current self.”

“Oh dear! I’ve misspoken.”

“No, it’s alright. Can you and the…”

“Mollang.”

“Yes. Master Mollang. Please come over here. This is where the stolen objects were.”

Wiggle~

There is no such thing as a miracle.

Things are only categorized as ‘miracles’ because even the person directly involved doesn’t know the method or principles of it.

Wiggle? Wiggle!

“This slime… Master Mollang. What is it saying?”

[Language]

The slimes had a special language that even a Blessing from a god couldn’t translate.

But the owner of the slime understood with ease.

“According to Mollang’s explanation, it says the thief ran away through the holy sword on the wall.”

“The holy sword…? Ah!” the Saintess exclaimed as she noticed something.

“It looks like you have already figured out who the culprit is, Saintess.”

“It’s something like that.”

The culprit was in there!

And it was a ‘Hero’.

‘…This is the worst-case scenario!’

The Saintess decided to advance the tournament dates to track the culprit.

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