27 – The Hero

I said I wanted to hear the conditions first, but the truth was, there wasn’t much I could get from the Saintess.

‘Money?’

Damien was the youngest son of the prestigious Carsaril family, who had amassed immense wealth.

Of course, it was difficult to say that the family’s wealth belonged to Damien.

If I wanted, I could receive tremendous financial support, so it wasn’t really necessary.

‘Honor or power?’

Considering the honor and power the Saintess held in the original story, it wasn’t too bad…

But these things weren’t worth clinging to the Saintess for, as I could easily obtain them by leveraging the Carsaril family’s influence, and furthermore.

‘The honor and power the Saintess grants are built on awe and piety, so they come with great responsibility.’

The moment I accepted them, I would be bound by all sorts of shackles, which could backfire.

Therefore, what I wanted to get from the Saintess weren’t these trivial things, but a firm commitment to act as my comrade from now on.

So, as I was pondering how to coax and proceed with the conversation, Lwuen calmly opened her mouth.

“… Is there perhaps anything you desire? Since I’ve lived in the convent for so long, I don’t really have a good sense of what people want.”

Would it be better to speak directly, or indirectly skirt around it?

Both had clear advantages and disadvantages, so I hesitated, but suddenly I wanted to confirm Lwuen’s sincerity, so I didn’t weigh things and gave a straightforward answer.

“You desire a comrade,” I stated.

“…A comrade, you say. A rather romantic notion.”

Upon hearing my reply, Lhiewen offered a subtly bitter expression, gazing at me before speaking with a slightly awkward smile.

“While I cannot be certain what Master Damian means precisely by ‘comrade,’ if it signifies a relationship of cooperation, devoid of betrayal, then I would sooner plead with *you* for such an accord.”

This alone suffices.

Whether Lhiewen would truly become a comrade in the truest sense, I couldn’t say.

Bound by contract, it would grow difficult for Daile to become a comrade, so it wasn’t a bad transaction.

‘Moreover, I should be able to continuously glean information from Riana.’

This alone made it quite a desirable trade.

Content, I nodded, and the Saintess slowly released my hand, saying, “Then let us continue the rest of our discussion at a later time. It was truly a pleasure meeting you, Master Damian… no, Damian.”

Dropping the honorific; a gesture, it seemed, of budding familiarity.

I acknowledged this with a curt nod. “The pleasure was mine as well, Lhiewen.”

With a light smile, Lhiewen then departed.

Silently, I watched the place where Lhiewen had stood, when Riana approached slowly and addressed me.

“A favorable bargain, it seems.”

At this, I chuckled. “A favorable bargain, yes, but I don’t know why you speak of it as if it’s concluded.”

Riana propped her chin on her hand, regarding me with a knowing smile. “Isn’t that why I’m sitting here?”

Realizing the time had come to receive the ‘payment’ for aiding Lhiewen, I began.

*

There were three questions I intended to ask Riana.

Firstly, the whereabouts of the impotency cure needed to lure out Daile.

Secondly, the mystery of how she knew so much about me.

And thirdly, the reason Lhiewen had specifically chosen me.

Deciding to ask these things one by one, I initiated the conversation, to which Riana responded lightly.

“The impotency cure does exist. However, the method of its creation has been lost, rendering immediate production impossible.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. There are concoctions that can make it better, temporarily, but it is, as the word suggests… temporary.”

The word ‘temporary’ brought a sense of unexpected relief, and I spoke to Liana.

“Then, can you tell me about it?”

“Ah, come on. I’m an information broker, you know? You keep trying to squeeze me dry like this… Even if we’re allies now, isn’t this a bit much?”

It seemed she had decided that becoming closer was a good thing, now that we were companions. The aloofness she had initially displayed had vanished without a trace, replaced by a playful demeanor.

I met her words with playful retort.

“Should I pay you, then?”

“…I’d be grateful if you did! But I’d get scolded by the Saintess, so I’ll just tell you. Besides, it’s not like the information is entirely unrelated to the Order.”

I nodded, and Liana added calmly.

“I’ll write down the relevant recipe and send it to you separately.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. So, what’s your next question?”

“How do you know so much about me?”

According to the original story, Liana had the ability to place magical installations all over the world, which acted as her eyes and ears, allowing her to gather information. Of course, it was such a powerful ability that it came with significant side effects. But even considering that, it couldn’t be denied that the ability was overwhelmingly advantageous in the area of information gathering.

So, understanding how she knew my information was somewhat easy.

What I didn’t understand was why she knew so much about the youngest, good-for-nothing young master of the Carsaril family, instead of a more famous person. I asked her, curious.

“Actually, I found out because of Sir Lorein. Whether or not Sir Lorein would reach Sword Master status is an incredibly important matter, you see.”

As I was considering the implications of becoming a Sword Master and thinking that I was beginning to understand, Lorein, who was beside me, spoke to Liana with a wronged expression.

“So, that’s why you knew I was reading romance novels…”

“Correct. It’s a cute hobby, so why try to hide it so much? It’s not a particularly shameful hobby, either.”

“……”

Lorein didn’t even want to talk about it, and simply shut his mouth.

Seeing this, I thought it best to change the subject and immediately moved on to the final question.

“So, why did Lewin choose me?”

“That’s simple. A capable young master of the Carsaril family, who’s at odds with both the Order and the black mages. I think that explains everything.”

We shared the same enemies to be dealt with.

Beyond that, I was someone who could prove their worth,

and from a family that neither the Order nor dark mages could easily touch.

Hearing this, I finally understood why Lianna had approached me with such sudden ‘affection’ during our first encounter.

From the start, she came to draw me in, revealing every bit of charm she possessed.

I thought I had, perhaps, made a rather interesting move, and gazed at Lianna.

* * *

After our conversation, I returned directly to our lodgings.

It was already late in the evening, and Ciel seemed utterly drained and silent; I thought it best to let her rest.

So, no sooner had I arrived at our rooms, ready to collapse onto the bed to dispel the heavy fatigue, than…

“Um, Damian? I have something to say.”

Ciel, with Daisy perched atop her head, approached me hesitantly.

“What is it?”

“I want to be helpful, too.”

“You’re already helping enough…”

“No. I didn’t do anything today.”

It seemed she felt guilty for not offering any opinions or helpful words, unlike Lorraine.

I ruffled Ciel’s hair, meaning to reassure her, but she only seemed to shrink further, her expression crestfallen.

I was wondering what to say when Lorraine, with a calm voice, provided the answer.

“Then how about striving for magical growth? If Ciel becomes a great mage, wouldn’t that be a tremendous help to our little master?”

At those words, Ciel’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

“Yes… I’ll try harder. And I’ll make sure no one can touch Damian.”

I was about to thank her, but then,

Ciel, displaying a newfound resolve, declared,

“Let’s go, Daisy. We’re going to become the greatest mage ever.”

“Myaong, myaong!”

With those words, Ciel, Daisy still nestled on her head, disappeared somewhere.

I wondered why on earth she was taking Daisy with her, and looked at Lorraine.

But Lorraine seemed just as perplexed, and simply shook her head.

*

Just as Siren had, I needed to become stronger.

Until now, only manageable enemies had appeared, so dealing with them hadn’t been too difficult.

But, as Elysia said, if Dale, the original protagonist, started desperately trying to kill me, my current abilities wouldn’t be enough to cope.

So, it would be best to build up strength to the point where Dale couldn’t kill me, no matter what state I was in…

As I continued this train of thought, a strange thing occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it, was Dale’s character originally this consumed by vengeance?’

Of course, being hit with a mace by a stranger couldn’t have left him in a good state.

It was only natural for him to be greatly angered and hateful.

But, funnily enough, this natural progression was, in a way, proof that he *wasn’t* being Dale-like.

‘How should I put it… his way of thinking is kind of ordinary.’

In the original story, he was definitely a character madly in love with the human spirit, steadfastly believing in the goodness of humanity.

The fact that he felt more like a normal person than like Dale made me feel inexplicably puzzled.

I pondered this strange feeling for a moment, then shook my head.

‘What’s important now isn’t Dale’s identity, but how to counterattack.’

I decided to start by figuring out what kind of plan would be best, and closed my eyes.

*

The next morning at dawn, I heard something tapping at the window of my lodgings and opened it.

“Cheep-cheep.”

A bird carrying a basket in its beak caught my eye.

It didn’t seem like an ordinary bird; it seemed stronger than a typical bird. I looked inside the basket and noticed a letter.

‘Probably the recipe for the impotence cure.’

I picked it up, then was about to send the bird back, but felt a little bad sending it off empty-handed, so I gave it a few fruit seeds to eat.

Then, to express my gratitude to Liana, I poured the tea I had prepared for Lorraine into a glass bottle and placed it in the basket.

‘Of course, if I send it like this, they won’t know what it is.’

I didn’t forget to write a note saying that I had put tea inside and that they should drink it.

Feeling that this was enough, I sent the bird away and examined the letter Liana had sent.

[Potion Ingredients:

Moonlit Blue Leaves – 2 leaves

Conteroil Blood – 30ml

Starlight Moss – 3 leaves

:

:

“Combine 400ml of purified water with starlight moss, then heat over a mana-infused flame.”

“Remember, when heating, the flame must not be too intense…”

:

]

As expected, it was a potion-making recipe.

Seeing as even if I looked, I couldn’t replicate it, I glanced over the instructions roughly before intending to tuck them away.

Just then, I spotted writing too significant to ignore.

[Movements detected within the Order to appoint Dale as a Hero.]