Is this Hero for Real? - Chapter 37

“You may have already heard about this, but I am Alsus Swordmastar of the Swordmastar Knight Kingdom. Though I am a prince, it is my parents who are great, not me. So please don’t feel too overwhelmed.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

It was normal to feel overwhelmed, but I was as calm as ever thanks to my Blessing.

“Mister Gang Hansue.”

“What?”

‘My name is ‘Kang Hansoo’?’

If he had seen my status window, he would properly know my name. How come he was calling me like that?

“Don’t be shocked. I simply did a bit of research before.”

“Oh, I see.”

I wanted to correct the cherished name my parents gave me, but I let it go since

I figured we’d never meet again.

On top of that, he was a prince.

He was a man of power who could send me to prison for nothing. There was no harm in staying low.

“First of all, thank you for getting rid of the orcs. They were a headache for the country. And thank you for rescuing the nation’s treasures, miss Laysha and miss Julia. It would have been terrible if anything had happened to them.”

“It was just my duty as a resident of Fantasia.”

I felt guilty knowing that I was the cause of the incident, but no one would know as long as the demon kept his mouth shut.

“By the way, how did you get the Hero’s Curse?”

‘His first question, as expected!’

I felt like I was in a university interview with horrible grades.

But it’s not like I didn’t have a plan in mind. I had prepared an explanation for passing the border checkpoints in the future.

“You might not believe me, but I chastised a Hero who was sexually harrassing an innocent fairy. I’ve had this Curse ever since then.”

“Indeed…”

I realized it when ladies A and B let me off the hook, but the fairy’s Blessing was an incredible token of credibility.

The prince nodded his head.

He looked convinced.

“I understand why Mister Gang Hansue got the fairy’s Blessing. My deepest condolences.”

“Not at all. Thank you for taking my word.”

“I don’t mean to sound suspicious, but do you remember what the Hero was wearing?”

“I’m sorry. I hit the Hero’s face first thing…”

“It’s alright. We will be able to find out right away once we investigate a Hero who injured their face to the point it became unrecognizable.”

“I see.”

I felt my blood curdle for a moment.

I didn’t know you could see the truth like that if you were the prince of a nation!

I wasn’t sure if there would be a next time, but I realized I needed to be careful of my every word if I were to talk to someone in power again.

“I’d like to converse with you more, but it would be rude to make these ladies wait for too long. Dinner should be almost ready, shall we continue talking after?”

“Alright.”

‘Of course I should follow your word, you’re the prince of this country.’

I hated everything about the world of Fantasia, but the food the royal family ate was better than my mom’s.

Sorry, mom!

***

Freeze.

The Saintess stopped in front of the door of her room, the safest room in all of Fantasia.

“…Was there someone who came into my room without permission today?”

“There was no one besides the usual surveillant and maid. Is there a problem…?”

“I’m certain there was an intruder. Look at the floor.”

“Oh!”

The room wasn’t messed up as if it had been robbed, but there was mud on the Saintess’ bedroom floor, which was always kept clean enough to eat off of.

That was unacceptable.

There was too much mud for it to be blamed on lazy cleaning.

“…everybody, get out.”

“Saintess! It’s dangerous! An assassin could be hiding…”

“Are you saying there is an assassin that would let me know of their presence by scattering dirt on the floor?”

“That’s… hm…”

“Nobody comes in until I call for them.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

Rustle-

The Saintess’s shadow-like attendants left like a receding wave.

Thud.

Only after checking the door was closed did the Saintess run to her desk.

She let out a scream.

“I-it’s not there?!”

She rubbed her eyes and looked under her desk once again.

“Of all things…!”

It didn’t matter if anything else was stolen—all she had to do was replace it.

But it was the one thing that couldn’t be replaced.

—Kang Hansoo’s backpack.

The one piece of undeniable evidence that her god had lied had completely vanished.

“Anything else?”

The next most important object in the room, the holy sword, was still hanging on the wall.

All of the weapons that were to be given out to the winning heroes of the tournament were safely in place…

The Saintess’ legs gave out and she dropped onto her soft bed.

“How could this…”

That room was designed to prevent intrusion from even the Demon King.

Did it realistically make sense that no one would have noticed an intruder?

Possibly, if it was a forced breakthrough… but it was impossible for even the Saintess, who knew the structure of the Temple and her room very well, to sneak in.

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence asks what you’re fussing so much about.]

“…I was robbed.”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence is at a loss for words.]

“Somebody trespassed into my room and took Kang Hansoo’s backpack. It’s a secret nobody knows. They didn’t make the room a mess and left with only that one thing.”

The thief trespassed while knowing the backpack was in there…

Otherwise, she couldn’t explain why they wouldn’t litter the room or lay a hand on any of the other treasures.

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence scolds you, saying you should have destroyed it sooner.]

“Dear god, please don’t test my faith.”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence is extremely uncomfortable.]

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence asks what you’re going to do now.]

“All I can do now is leave it to fate.”

She’d try her best to keep it a secret.

And if that didn’t work?

She’d halfway given up on herself, having made up her mind that it was only rational to let it go if it could not be held in by force.

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence cries out to find him immediately.]

“There isn’t even a way to find… oh?”

While dealing with the provider of her headache, the Saintess’s eyes widened.

She’d noticed the pillows on her bed were ever-so-slightly rumpled, she thought nothing had been touched besides Kang Hansoo’s backpack.

‘…could it be?’

The Saintess realized the refined book hidden under her pillow had completely changed directions.

It was horizontal, not vertical.

—It wasn’t how she’d normally hide it.

“N-no…!”

* * *

* * *

Red-faced, the Saintess gave up trying to conform to fate.

She had to find the thief who’d stolen Kang Hansoo’s backpack by any means necessary!

She had to capture that bastard and completely get rid of him before the world knew of her desires!

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence asks if you have a way to find him.]

“Instead of just asking, why don’t you go look for yourself?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence is extremely uncomfortable.]

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence leaves with an irritated face.]

“…A way. There’s a way if you look for it.”

Just as the Saintess holds the miracle of reviving the dead back to life, there were various miracles in the world of Fantasia.

Usually, she preferred to make others indebted to her…

But that time, she had no choice to be indebted.

“Kang Hansoo is already a headache by himself, just who is it now…?”

What went through the thief’s mind when they noticed the Saintess—who they thought was perfect—had such inclinations?

The mere thought of it scared her.

Tidying up her disheveled clothes, the Saintess called over her attendant using a crystal ball for external communications.

(It is a relief you are safe! May we come in now?)

“Yes. Also, send a message to the Fairy Kingdom. I must meet with Councilwoman Celebless. I need her friend’s help.”

***

I’m not sure if it was the facade of a hypocrite, but I found Prince Alsus to be a rather pleasant person to talk to.

—It wasn’t just because we spoke the same language.

I couldn’t have a conversation with demon Kogmos because he would cry or get angry whenever I said something.

“That is truly a fascinating Blessing. You don’t feel full no matter how much you eat? I am a bit envious.”

[A certain god is gleeful about the genuine compliment.]

[A certain god scolds you to be more like the prince.]

“…I feel like I ate too much, my apologies.”

“Haha! Not at all. It’s much better than having leftovers. The Swordmastar Knight Kingdom is not an impoverished nation with food shortages. In fact, food is quite abundant.”

“What a nice country for a guy like me.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you…”

The food was extremely satisfactory, and I had an even better time because ladies A and B didn’t disturb me thanks to the handsome prince!

It would have been perfect if it weren’t for the troublesome table manners.

Anyways, I was happy with it.

“The reason I called you, Gang Hansue, is because you recently hunted the greatest number of orcs.”

“Did I do something wrong?’

“Hm… Not exactly. You got rid of a nuisance in the nation, how could that be something wrong? Please just think of it as a light-hearted investigation of the cause.”

“The cause…?”

“All those orcs that were in the plains disappeared like magic. There have been occasional orc sightings, but they’re basically extinct.”

“I… I see.”

No matter how I looked at it, it looked like the cause was ‘me’!

“Do you know anything about this, by any chance?”

“It seems I hunted too many orcs.”

“Haha! If it was possible for an individual to get rid of those orcs, the commander of the knig—I mean, I would have done it already.”

“Of course.”

Prince Alsus was undoubtedly right.

There was no way someone like me could make the fantasy pigs go extinct—except for the fact that I had.

‘Ah, how embarrassing!’

‘I really have to fix this way of thinking like a moody teenager.’

“Enough talking about something so boring. This next question is out of my personal curiosity.”

“Curiosity toward me?”

“Yes. I would like to see your swordsmanship that Miss Julia, with extraordinary talent as a knight, spoke so highly of.”

“Uh… alright.”

I never learned proper swordsmanship?

But since I was fed a meal, I’d do whatever Prince Alsus told me to. An alien with no support had no other choice.

We left the house and stood facing each other in a vacant lot in the garden.

“I was originally going to wrap it up with a tribute of grace for you rescuing Miss Laysha and Miss Julia, but after seeing for myself that you are indeed level 1, I changed my mind.”

“Kang Hansoo #! $# ^#!”

“$ #! Prince Alsus!”

‘So those ladies are the cause of this bothersome situation, huh?’

They looked excited for me to get beaten up by that handsome prince.

Those wicked women with the masks of innocent angels…!

“Please just watch.”

I didn’t take out the beginner’s holy sword.

It would be awkward if the Prince said he wanted to collect it like the holy sword that was in the noble lady’s bedroom, wouldn’t it?

So I took out the blue dagger from the inner pocket of my overcoat.

“The sword of the fairies…”

‘Huh? Was this the wrong move, too?’

Prince Alsus held his breath while looking at the blue dagger.

It was a wonder that my blade worked fine even after slashing tens of thousands of gnolls and orcs, but it must have been the finest blade a fairy could make.

‘Then this one’s out, too.’

I put it away quickly before the Prince could ask me to sell it.

“Ahem! I was only going to show you, but I think a weapon is doing too much. So…”

Flare~!

I created a bright red blade from the edge of my right hand.

It was a fiery force.

I’d neatly chopped up the Orc Guardian with it.

“With that much ease, barehanded… It’s not that I didn’t believe Miss Julia, but it truly is shocking.”

Zzing-!

The prince created a blue dagger from his bare hands while praising me.

“Wow…”

Reminiscent of a lightning bolt, I was in pure awe of Prince Alsus’s power.

One could say there was a certain depth to it.

It was like a fantasy completed after studying fantasies using fantasy during a fantasy-like time.

Hearing my exclamation, Prince Alsus smiled with pride.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous technique. I injured my right hand alone countless times to master it. Once, I almost lost my entire arm and was scolded all day by my mother, the Queen.”

“I also almost died numerous times to master it.”

[A certain god scolds that lying is bad.]

‘Sh! Be quiet. This is called having social skills.’

Zzz…

Retracting the blade on his hand, Prince Alsus handed me the sword that was at his side.

“This is a spare sword I always carry around in case mine breaks. I’ll give this to you as a gift.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

‘I don’t say no to free things.’

“Instead, will you engage in a duel of swords with me? It would be a shame to just let you go when you have such skills despite being at level 1.”

“Oh, alright.”

So it wasn’t free!

Sling-

“Come,” the prince told me as he drew a sword identical to mine.

“Then I won’t decline…”

The young man in front of me was the prince—the third-strongest in the nation.

He was a strong opponent I wouldn’t be able to win against no matter what.

—Meaning he was an extremely sturdy sandbag.

‘There wouldn’t be any problem even if I gave it my all, right?’

[Outsider]

[Fairy]

My lethal move that I’d been honing while vowing to someday split open the skull of the evil goddess.

Wooosh~

I gathered the rage of an honorable, cultured civilian to the blade that I held high in a defenseless position.

“…Urm? Gang Hansue, what is tha—”

“Here I go!”

Thinking of the mighty prince as the goddess, I went down relentlessly.

Flash-

Baaam!

On that day, I escaped the city without looking back once.