24◇Hero, Deposition (Revised)

---

Alona~, FnBelial here.

If you are curious about my release schedule, please check this >>Link<< before proceeding.

---

After the battle with Sogles, Kousuke didn’t go to capture the labyrinth until the ceremony.

There are several reasons for this, but mainly two.

Firstly, he thought it was time to make a serious effort in accumulating information regarding this world.

Secondly – and actually, this was the main reason – he was stopped from going to the labyrinth by Shiro and Econa.

Shiro, by scolding.

Econa, with tears in her eyes.

Kousuke didn’t remember, but right after activating [Black Escape Night], Kousuke’s ego boundaries had wavered.

The two of them judged it to be true by hearing Taiga’s testimony and the value of “Mental Pollution” in the [Status], and judged that he shouldn’t go to the labyrinth until they found out more details.

Kousuke tried to make some sort of excuse, but eventually gave up.

He didn’t feel like resisting in the face of such strong emotions.

Because they were worried about him, he stopped doing anything reckless, so as to not worry them more.

Now, if you are asking what Kousuke did for the rest of the week, I’ll excerpt some of the main events.

First, the conclusion of the Sogles case.

Taiga was able to regain the body parts of his three companions, but they were a party of five, including him.

It would make sense to report it to the girl named Clara, the other living party member besides him who worked at the [Shizukutei of Life] bar now, as well.  

It seems that all of the workers at [Shizukutei of Life], excluding the master, are women.

Even if visitors are stronger than the average Arkrean, it doesn’t mean that the women will stop being women.

The master is a lifeline for visitors who want to distance themselves from the fighting, such as Vinne who doesn’t like to fight, Clara who has withdrawn from fighting, and Shiro who has chosen a different path from combat.

By the way, [Shizukutei of Life] has no guards.

If a fool starts making trouble in the bar, the other customers will take the initiative to get rid of him/her.

It is a very homely bar.

I thought Clara was in her twenties like Taiga, but she is in her teens.

She has black hair tied up in a side tail.

Perhaps because of her upturned eyes, Kousuke got an unyielding impression from her.

If I were to use a convenient term from my original world, it would be Tsundere.

(TL: Tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a person who is initially cold (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.)

“What were you thinking!? Challenging Sogles on your own? I didn’t even hear a thing! Did you say anything to me? You didn’t! What would I have done if you died? Hey, have you even thought about it? Did you really think for one second that you, a guy who can’t hit a thing, could ever beat Sogles in a fight? Baka janai no?” (TL: Baka janai no? = Are you an Idiot?)

While the words themselves were harsh, it was clear that there were a lot of emotions were packed into them.

Taiga was troubled. Seeing that, Kousuke laughed.

“Huh? What are you laughing for? You must be crazy to take on a guardian on the second day of your visit. Is your mind okay? I know a good psychiatric magician who can help you with that. Shiro and Econa were crying because of you. It’s nice being a man, doing whatever you want…”

Kousuke’s ears ached from her sermons, so he covered them up.

After scolding Kousuke and Taiga, Clara said she was going to visit the grave.

Taiga leaves the shop accordingly.

Three of Sogles’s puppets were Taiga’s friends.

There were twenty-three in all, so there were twenty of them whose names they didn’t even know.

With the help of the people in the tavern, they soon found out the identities of all of them.

Each of their heads is buried in a grave.

The cemetery was at one point crowded with people, although “crowded” would be an inappropriate word.

Not only visitors, but many native people from Arkrea also came to pray.

I wonder if I would someday be buried here when I die too.

Anyway, this is the end of the story about the dead.

The next thing to think about was Sogles’ bounty and magic tool.

Taiga was being noisy while refusing to receive any share, so Kousuke had no choice but to take the full amount.

The reward was about three times the amount of [Cresen Memeus].

He got Taiga’s consent for the magic tool and dedicated it to the country.

When Kosuke said that it would be a hassle, so combine the two ceremonies into one instead, the woman of the [Handan-ya] shop looked troubled. (TL: Handan-ya = Judgement/Identification)

She said that Kousuke was the first person to say such a thing.

Still, Darltra was fast at work, so she would be able to handle it.

After that, he did what he wanted to do.

Of course, except for the labyrinth capture.

Daltra is a nation open to the vast plains in the middle of the Arkrea continent.

It has a stable climate and lush green land, including a lot of grazing land and farmland.

That’s why there is no famine, and the people never complain about it.

The royal capital, Giltias, is said to be the starting point of the founding of the country.

The center of the country.

The five-tiered castle walls are, in other words, the history of the city’s expansion in response to its growing population.

There was a royal castle, and the first wall was built to distinguish it from the rest of the city.

Beyond it, the subjects lived, and another wall was built to protect them from enemies.

Over the years, Daltra has been blessed with many heroes and thus continued to prosper.

Before long, the heroes changed their names to aristocrats, and as the number of walls grew, the aristocratic districts were built.　

Of course, it is safer to be hiding further inside the city when the enemy attacks.

Therefore, the closer you get to the interior, the higher the cost of land will be.

No matter how much money you have, you can’t live in the first outer perimeter, where the mansions of the nobles are lined up, or the second outer perimeter, which is called the aristocratic town.

Nevertheless, these distinctions do not cause much dissatisfaction because the nobles are firmly fulfilling their responsibilities.

After all, Giltias hasn’t been attacked in more than a hundred years.

Some may think that the flatlands are vulnerable to attack, but there is magic in this world.

There are visitors.

Protected in this way, Daltra, which has spent a long time building up a huge regular army, was a powerful nation.

They are currently at war with Giborne in the North, but they have the upper hand.

Because Daltra is a landlocked country, there isn’t much of a fish-eating culture.

I’ve heard that even if you search for them, there are only restaurants that serve river fish as a high-class dish.

However, if you look around, you can find imported fish frozen by “Ice” magic, but they are expensive.

Incidentally, the roads are well maintained, so trade by land is thriving.

Kousuke had mixed feelings when I heard this, but there are two main reasons for humanity in this world to fight.

Securing the [Sanctuaries], [Akuryo], and the temples.

To satisfy its people, the country takes the labyrinths with magic tools and the hero-bearing temples from other countries.

Humans are engaged in such useless conflicts.

Every nation may think somewhere in their hearts that they have been chosen by God.

In particular, Daltra has its own, non-visitor, conqueror. Quinty, the White Hero, and the ancestors of those who are now nobles, or visitors, who supported the prosperity of the kingdom.　

Maybe they are proud of themselves.

The pride that they are undeniably superior.

Abundant and friendly to many people.

And yet, there is a side to them that accepts slavery and war.

It’s a two-sidedness that is not very pleasant.

But maybe that’s what a nation is all about in the first place.

At the very least, Kousuke can’t do anything even if he kept thinking about it.

It’s more productive to worry about the things you can do.

For example, “Black” magic.

Kousuke asked various people.

The Church.

He talked to the priest, but it only made him sleepy.

He didn’t find out anything more than what Gil had told him.

Historian.

It was a heavy parade of jargon that made his head hurt, but as he patiently kept up with him, he found some new information.

Once, there were twenty-seven people who were called heroes.

Among them, those called the seven heroes are said to be famous for their many descriptions.

“Black Hero”,

“White Hero”,

“Crimson Hero”,

“Blue Hero”,

“Green Hero”,

“Light Hero”,

“Dark Hero”,

Of these, the “Black Hero” and the “Dark Hero” are sometimes identified as the same person by historians.

Such disputes were not uncommon, as he often saw them even in the world he was from.

So why do some consider them to be different heroes?

It is said that the “Black Hero” was initially a young man who believed in justice.

He defeated demons and even ate some of the Evil Gods for the sake of his people.

However, at some point, “Righteous Youth” stops being mentioned in history.

And “Merciless Youth” appears as if it were replacing the “Righteous Youth”.

“Black” gains the characteristics and magic of those it preys on

That means that the range of tactics becomes broader and broader.

And infinitely at that.

The “Black Hero” probably preyed on a part of the Evil God.

And the spell that devoured the Evil God was probably [Black Night].

He probably was unable to escape from mental pollution.

As he continued to use the power of the Evil God to kill his enemies, he was regarded as another “Dark Hero”.

And about that “Dark Hero”, there are no books that record where he died.

A chilling sensation ran down Kousuke’s spine.

Taiga said it was a consequence of his actions, but realistically, it was just good luck on Kousuke’s part.

If Taiga hadn’t happened to mention Shiro and Econa’s names, he might have disappeared by now.

Kousuke thanked the old historian and left the place.

He headed later to the “good psychiatric magician” that Clara had mentioned.

She may have been joking, but to Kousuke it was a place that could be a clue to solving the mental pollution issue.

A psychiatric magician is a doctor who treats patients with magic.

She was a female doctor named Elifinafe, and she was a very glamorous woman.

She was wearing a white coat over a highly revealing outfit.

They said you can call her Elfie, so I’ll call her that.

Kosuke divulges all the information he knows.

Elfie squints through her glasses and puts her pen on her sexy lips.

“Ummm…. There are similarities with “Confusion” and “Delirium”, but their natures still differ from your case, right?”

“As in?”

Elfie took out a piece of paper; she also took out a pencil from the case in addition to the pen.

The paper-making technique is unknown, but there are no signs of roughness in the construction, so they may have managed to do something with magic.

“For example, “Confusion” and “Delirium” are like this.”

Elfie drew two stick figures on a piece of paper – a pencil on one head and a pen on the other – making a strange mark.

“They look the same, don’t they? Oh, and by the way, one of them is set up to be a “confused” or “delirium” patient and the other one is set up to be a “mental pollution” patient.”

“Ok.”

“So, what if I were to cast the same tuning spell on these two to cure them?”

Saying that, Elfie rubbed something that looked like a lump of sand, perhaps an eraser, against the paper.

Only the mark written in pencil disappears.

“That’s what happens. Can you guess which one is “mental pollution”?”

“…I get it. You’re saying that even if the superficial symptoms are the same, you can’t expect to treat them the same way because the root cause is different.”

“Correct, Well done~.”

She smiled, as if complimenting a child.

Then she continued.

Dutifully, a languid expression instantly appeared on her face.

“But there must be an entirely different treatment for this. I mean, the symptoms got better after you interacted with the girls, right?”

“The way you said it is misleading.”

Elfi stood up and put her arms around Kousuke’s neck.

Let’s call it an adult scent, perhaps a perfume, but it smells stronger and more arousal-inducing.

“Hey, what do you think?”

“You’re more than attractive enough, but like I said, it’s not the contact with the woman that matters here.”

“Ara, too bad.”

Elfie retreated with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

“Happiness, was it?”

“Yeah.”

“Just in case, okay? The magic that tunes your brain to somehow make you feel very happy”

Probably the kind of magic that causes a euphoric neurotransmitter to be released.

“No, I don’t know. Is that sort of thing even possible?”

“In any case, let’s play a game that makes our brains and bodies happy. Want to try it out? There’s a woman right here and a bed, too.”

Glancing over, Elfie turned her gaze to the bed.

“Well, I’ve never met you before.”

“I’m interested. I have experience with regular visitors, but not with heroes.”

She licked her lips.

“……..Well, you sure have an intellectual curiosity.”

“Oh, so you’re not interested, then?”

“Is this about me? Or is it about you?”

“Bo~th.”

Elfie locked up the examination room.

“What do you want to do? Hero-sama?”

……………………...

Well, I gathered a lot of information, but I didn’t get any numerical results or clear improvements.

As if to ridicule it, my mental pollution went down to 0.358 in my interactions with the new friends I made and my contact with Shiro and Econa.

In other words, does this mean that “Black” isn’t usable even within a reasonable range?

Or maybe the only problem is the activation of the skill “Semi-Psychopath” when using [Black Night]?

Of course, one must not be careless, but Kousuke desired to go and conquer the labyrinth again after a while.

Will they forgive me?

I don’t know…

In the meantime.

The day of the ceremony came.

---

Previous chapter – Table of Content – Next chapter