My Disciples Think I’m Strong

“It’s giving me a headache this early in the morning.”

I woke up as nonchalantly as possible.
I felt utterly embarrassed and wanted to die, but thanks to the Emotionless Mask skill, I didn’t show any agitation.

“Are you awake?”
“You’re awake?”
“Are you awake?”

The three greeted me with a bow. It felt like I was a noble being greeted by servants.
I looked out the window. The sun was already quite high in the sky.

“…Seems a bit late. Let’s go eat breakfast right away.”

I couldn’t let them fill up on just hard tack.
They were at a growing age, so I should spend some money on them.
Grow up strong, defeat many demons, and strive for world peace and prosperity.

I took the lead, and the children followed me out.

“One more has joined. Are you a race collector?”
“…Your manners seem to grow cruder by the day, innkeeper.”
“Like you’re one to talk.”

After staying for about a week, I could now engage in casual banter with the innkeeper. Was this a sign of familiarity?

In truth, my attitude was as unpleasant as ever, but since I was bringing in revenue, he seemed willing to tolerate me.
Money really was the universal truth, it seemed.

“I’d like some breakfast.”
“One copper coin per person.”

I placed five copper coins on the table. A slight smile appeared on his face.

“Oi! Four breakfasts!”
“Coming right up~!”

I sat down at a suitable round table, and the children sat down as well.

“Lord Praus.”
“Hm.”
“What are our plans for today?”

After brief contemplation, I answered Iris’s question.

“We’ll be leaving the capital tomorrow.”
“Leaving the capital?”

Maria looked surprised.

“Yes.”

If I had my way, I would have left today.
After yesterday’s spectacle, whether the Imperial Knights or the Secret Garden, there was no way they wouldn’t take an interest in me.

Moreover, before participating in the slave auction, I had sold artifacts to an appraiser in the black market.

Not only had I exposed a considerable amount of information, but with the girls who would become heroes, it was best to leave the capital and lay low as soon as possible.

“Then where will we go?”
“I plan to go to the Brihi Forest, where wolf monsters have recently settled.”

The Brihi Forest was located near the city of Aus in the southwestern region of the Empire, within the domain ruled by the Margrave of Aus.
It would take a week’s journey from my village of Secul, but there was no safer place to encounter demons.

“M, Monsters? May I ask why?”

So you can awaken.
They needed to witness demons and muster the will to fight them. Only then could they finally awaken as heroes.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
On the way to Aus, there were two artifacts.

One was the Purification Stone I had already sold once, and the other was a pair of boots with the Swift Movement skill.
As the girls grew, they would eventually surpass human limits, so I would need at least such artifacts to keep up with them.

“The reason I took you in lies there.”
“I, If I may ask, do you intend to have us fight monsters?”
“Precisely.”
“!”
“B, But we aren’t strong like you, Lord Praus.”
“That’s right. We’re at a level where we can’t even beat an E-rank adventurer.”
“Don’t worry. The moment you face the monsters, you’ll feel you must fight them.”

I’ll guide them to have that thought.
Whether they were weak or strong didn’t matter. What was needed was the will.

If I could awaken their desire to kill the demons, they would safely become heroes.

“In any case, to prepare for our long journey, we’ll buy the necessary supplies today before departing. I’ll also hire a coachman. We’ll go to the marketplace, and you can buy whatever you want to eat.”

There was no point in wandering around in our current situation, but leaving the capital as soon as possible was the priority.
If we at least had cloaks, we would attract less attention.

“Can we buy anything?”

I took out three gold coins from my pocket and placed one in front of each of them.

“Anything is fine. Decide what you want, what you want to eat, what you want to buy, within that amount.”

One gold coin could even buy a dress worn by nobles. But I doubted the children would buy something like that.

“Gold coins…”
“I, Is it really okay for us to receive such a large sum?”
“Can you really give this to us?”
“It’s no prob—”
“Food’s ready. Move your heads outta the way.”

The innkeeper’s sudden interruption prompted me to defiantly fold my arms.

“I have no reason to do so.”
“Rude brat.”

Clang!
He roughly set down the plates.
He carelessly placed the other plates in front of the children, but not with the same noise as mine.

“The innkeeper’s personality doesn’t seem suitable for children’s moral education.”
“Like you’re one to talk?”

Listening to the innkeeper’s sarcastic remark, I began my late breakfast.
Although delayed, it seemed it would be a relatively peaceful day.

“Delma.”

I looked at the coachman who had transported me from Secul to Pretium. He was tending to the horses in the stable.
Upon seeing me, the coachman’s expression instantly soured.

“If it isn’t Delma. You damn bastard.”
“So you’re still in Pretium.”

My mouth casually dismissed his words. No matter how familiarly I tried to speak, my mouth spouted words completely contrary to my intentions.

“Why? Have you finished your business in Pretium?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do with that Wolfkin slave you had before?”
“That child will be coming along too.”
“…So you ended up buying her?”
“There are two more besides that child.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a pedo—”
“Shut up. Do I look like someone who gets excited over children?”

It was a misunderstanding, but it was unavoidable.
The game scenario writer had simply set the starting age of the heroes at ten. As the player, I had no control over that.

“I prefer women with big breasts.”
“…Hmph, I don’t care about your tastes.”
“If you don’t care, then don’t bring it up.”
“You impudent brat! Can’t you shut your trap for once? Tch! So where are you headed this time?”
“I was thinking of going to the Brihi Forest next to Aus, but will you go that far?”
“The Brihi Forest? I heard it’s been shady lately, so the Empire has been warning people not to go there?”

Hm? Had the information about wolf monsters settling there not spread yet at this point?
I should probe a bit more.

“Shady? What do you mean?”
“From what I’ve heard, there have been many cases of people going missing after entering that forest to gather medicinal herbs. The mages sensed mana, so a notice was posted warning people to stay away from the area.”

So there was still no specific information about the type of monster.
In that case, should I not have mentioned monsters to the children? They might interrogate me about how I knew such information.

“The Margrave of Aus has requested an investigation into the Brihi Forest, so it should settle down soon, but the S-rank adventurers are busy after all. Those people must be fighting at the demon realm border.”

One of those S-rank adventurers is right here, by the way.
Of course, in Inkuro’s case, he had returned to the capital for recuperation after fighting demons until a few days ago.
He was fulfilling his duties as an S-rank adventurer. That’s probably why he was carrying the large sum of 3,000 gold.

“In any case, do you still plan to go?”
“For that distance, I should at least receive three silver plates.”
“Three plates, huh. Alright.”

“How will you handle the escort?”

Since we were traveling a long distance, we could encounter bandits. His concern was understandable.

‘But this time, I’ll have to reluctantly refuse.’
“…It’s not needed.”
“What?”

He was taken aback.
The reason for going to the Brihi Forest this time was not only to find artifacts but also to awaken the heroes. I needed to minimize prying eyes as much as possible.

At least until the girls gained the strength to kill demons, it was better to keep them hidden from the public.

“Don’t worry. If something happens, I’ll handle it.”
“What? You’re the official weakling of Secul Village, aren’t you?”

…Really?
I was the weakling Praus? Everyone was cowering from my Intimidation, so I thought they considered me strong.

“You’re joking. Why would I be a weakling?”
“Well…”

He looked me over, as if telling me to look at my body.

“I’ve never seen you train, let alone fight. Your arms are thin too.”
“You don’t know about compressed muscle?”
“…? How can muscle be compressed?”

After I spoke, I realized it was a term only occasionally used in the modern era.
While everyone had misunderstood and assumed I was strong, Delma was the only one viewing me normally, leading to cognitive dissonance and impaired reasoning on my part.

“Anyway, I—”
“Over there.”
“…?”

I turned around at the sudden male voice.

There stood a man concealing his entire body with a robe. His striking green eyes peeked out from between the hood and his black hair, and his features looked vaguely familiar.

Moreover, judging by the black attire visible through the robe, I could roughly guess his affiliation.

“…Dex, isn’t it?”
“!”

Startled by my words, he flinched and kept his distance.
He likely didn’t expect me to recognize his identity so quickly.

“H, How did you know?”

He gaped at me, unable to even conceal his emotions.

‘How did I know? I already figured out the appearances of the NPC illustrations a long time ago.’
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Yet another absurd filtering turned it into a provocation.

‘Insane!’

The moment his name was mentioned, Dex couldn’t help but panic.

He had intended to secretly gather information on Praus under the pretext of being hired as an escort, but his plan was thrown into disarray the moment he was recognized.
Having been struck a critical blow, Dex swallowed dryly.

“Does that mean… you knew but let me be?”
“A few pesky flies buzzing around are no issue.”

‘So he had been aware of me observing him from the rooftop and followed me here. An absolute confidence that he wouldn’t be caught off guard no matter when or where I struck! A mindset only an S-rank adventurer could possess…! Moreover…’

Since Dex had been following Praus from the inn, he overheard a surprising piece of information.

It was that the reason mana was being sensed in the Brihi Forest was due to ‘wolf’ monsters.

This was information not yet known throughout the Empire, which even the top information guild, the Secret Garden, had failed to obtain.
Yet Praus was aware of it. Witnessing this, Dex thought:

‘Behind this person is an information guild far more capable than our Secret Garden! Just where is it? What organization is this person affiliated with that even such an information guild answers to them?’

In reality, there was no such thing, and Praus was simply utilizing memories from playing the game.
Unaware of this fact, Dex could only assume Praus was the ‘leader’ of some unknown group.

“Ah, Delma. Come to think of it, you did mention needing an escort, didn’t you? Use this guy.”
“Huh? W, Wait a moment.”
Dex stared at Praus’s finger pointing directly at him.

‘Is he intending to use me to conceal his own strength?!’

“By revealing yourself before me, wasn’t that your intention?”
“Th, That’s… Well, yes, but still.”

‘Just what doesn’t this person know…? How many steps ahead is he thinking?’

‘As the leader of the Secret Garden guild, his ability is undoubtedly formidable. Moreover, after the fight with Inkuro last night, the Secret Garden’s attention is now unavoidable. In that case, I might as well manage it from my side.’

“I won’t pay you. Any objections?”
“…You are quite something.”

‘Realizing that information will inevitably leak just by being in his company, and using that as a bargaining chip. Not only combat prowess, but his eloquence is also exceptional.’

“I understand. I’ll accept your escort proposal.”

Dex resolved to uncover the secrets and the group hidden behind Praus during this journey.
In reality, there was nothing of the sort.