The Fake Hero Is Too Strong

Chapter 198

All the secrets of the world I saw through the complete Eye of Omniscience.

Truths so vast that calling them science fiction wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Of course, it was too much for my party members to take in all at once.

Sometimes they gathered together in one spot, sometimes they split up, busy discussing the truths they had learned.

I didn’t step in or give advice. I just watched quietly.

[Think they will be okay?]

‘They were joking around even right before the final battle with the Demon King. They will be fine.’

[Hmm.]

‘Still, there’s not much time before I contact Idria again. I hope they can pull themselves together by the end of the day.’

A full day had passed since I shared all the secrets. When I parted with Idria, we agreed to meet again in three days, so that means tomorrow is the day everything ends.

I just hoped everyone would return to their usual selves before then.

That’s when…

Knock knock.

“Mide, are you there?”

It was Neril’s voice.

Instead of answering, I opened the door.

She looked better than I expected, her face was bright.

“What brings you here?”

“You have been locked up in your room all day. I got worried.”

“I was the one worrying about you guys.”

“Heh. Don’t worry, the others are fine now. They are hard-headed.”

“Usually you would call that strong-minded, not hard-headed.”

Neril gave a small laugh.

“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh, come in.”

“Uh… before that, Trail? Sorry, but could you step out for a bit? You can go hang out with Adwin. I already told him.”

Trail sounded flustered.

[Have a pleasant chat.]

We couldn’t see him, but I could tell Trail quietly disappeared.

I gestured for Neril to sit on the bed.

She spoke first.

“About those secrets you told us yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think was the one that shocked me the most?”

“…Probably how this world actually works.”

Infinite heroes and infinite Demon Kings. Infinite battles.

And from those battles, infinite worlds were born.

This world was just one of them.

And also…

“If I had to add one more, maybe the part about me once being the master of this world?”

“No, not that.”

“Not that?”

“Sure, all of it was shocking, but something else caught my attention more.”

What?

I tilted my head.

She went on.

“And it wasn’t just me. The others all said the same. The part that shocked them most was something else.”

“…?”

“That you had met us before.”

I inhaled sharply.

Last night, when I told them all the secrets, I also mentioned that this was my second life.

There was so much overwhelming information that I didn’t think that part would matter much.

But that’s the part they focused on most.

I scratched my head.

“Why is that what you’re all most interested in?”

“What were we like back then?”

“Huh? What do you mean, what were you like? You were the same people, just in a different time.”

“I don’t know. I get the feeling we were very different.”

I stayed silent for a moment.

She was right.

Before I turned back time, Neril had still been the ‘Witch of Carnage.’

Xenia never got along with her, and barely spoke to her unless it was about work.

Adwin looked gloomier back then.

Offense had kept an invisible wall between himself and the rest of us.

Lisel rarely spoke first, and Serein often seemed like she was hiding something.

‘Were they really the same people?’

That’s what I sometimes wondered.

Neril smiled faintly.

“I can tell by your face.”

“Neril.”

“There are two things I wanted to say. First… I’m sorry.”

I blinked.

“Sorry? For what?”

“For not believing in you back then.”

“Wait, hold on. I never said Kaeld was a fake hero back then. I didn’t even have the Eye of Omniscience at that point.”

“…”

“You don’t have to be sorry about that. I was the one who stayed distant from the party back then. If anything, I’m the one who should apologize.”

Why did I act like that back then?

Why did I keep my distance from such good people?

Even without the Eye of Omniscience, even if my fame was low, even if I didn’t know how to turn fame into power, none of that was a good reason.

I hadn’t realized it until now, but in this moment, regret hit me hard.

Then Neril gently held my hand.

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t have the Eye of Omniscience or Trail back then. Of course you would have believed Kaeld was the hero.”

“If you say that, then you don’t need to apologize either.”

“Heh. Okay, then the second thing.”

Her face turned slightly red.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“For not looking for new party members after coming back in time and for coming to find us again.”

“…!”

“For meeting us again in this life, and for building something completely different between us this time. Thank you for that.”

I couldn’t answer right away. I just turned my head a bit.

But that only made me realize she’d notice my ears turning red.

So I looked her straight in the eyes again.

“I only did that because it seemed more efficient.”

“There you go, ruining the mood again.”

“Ahem.”

“Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. Everyone, you can come in now.”

She raised her voice toward the door.

Right away, the door opened and the rest of the party came in, looking like they had been waiting.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

“At this hour? It’s midnight.”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly… wait, what?”

They all looked cheerful.

I sighed.

“You were eavesdropping, weren’t you?”

“Everything Neril said was what all of us wanted to say. But it’s kind of embarrassing to say it out loud, you know.”

“…”

“So we decided she would speak for everyone. And by the way, she volunteered.”

I looked at Neril.

She just shrugged, as if to say, ‘So what?’

I said,

“You’re really not going to ask anything else? We talked about some unbelievable things yesterday.”

“That stuff doesn’t matter much, Mide.”

“…”

“Honestly, my thought is just, ‘Oh, so that’s how it is.’ What’s more important to me is whether our party can stay together.”

Serein swung her legs from her chair.

Xenia nodded in agreement.

“Besides, it’s not really practical. Right now, the priority is figuring out how to deal with Idria.”

“Right, Hyung.”

“So what’s the plan for our movements?”

“The plan is important, but what really matters is how we present it.”

I quietly closed my eyes.

A faint, ticklish smile lingered at the corners of my lips.

Swish.

Trail, who had returned to me, spoke.

[Your party members never cease to amaze me with their courage.]

‘Yeah. You’re right.’

As if they were already used to things like this.

Clap.

I clapped lightly and said,

“Let’s finish this quickly. We should get some rest for tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“Good. First, the map.”

Rustle.

Neril unfolded the map.

We gathered close together and began the final preparations for our play with Idria.

Yeah. The secrets of the world don’t matter.

The world can just keep turning as it always has.

The only thing that matters is removing the foreign object stuck in its gears.

Let’s do this.

Not for the world, nor for humankind, but for the future these people will live in.

The next day.

I contacted Idria.

We agreed to meet at the Koskarth Mountains, as planned.

Whoosh.

With Agril and Mime’s help, we reached the meeting spot in about two hours.

“There.”

Xenia pointed.

Sure enough, Idria was standing still, looking up at us.

Next to her were Sobius, Pirensha, and Sabach.

The absence of Batore, who should have been there, was noticeable.

We descended and landed on the ground.

“……”

“……”

For a moment, no one said anything.

I noticed that their faces didn’t look good.

I spoke first.

“You all look exhausted.”

“Not exactly a day for smiling, is it?”

Idria’s voice was rough.

“Just three days ago, I lost my child. And today, I stand on the edge of my downfall.”

“……”

“Even if this play ends well and you kill Velosian, all it means for me is that one threat is gone.”

Idria had two threats.

One was, of course, Velosian.

The other was me.

I replied dryly.

“Don’t tell me you have had a change of heart now.”

“I won’t say that.”

“Good. You received the script and the stage plan last night, right? Had enough time to practice?”

Idria and her followers gave me looks that could sour milk.

I decided to take those expressions as a yes.

Neril counted on her fingers before stopping.

“It’s getting late, Mide.”

“Yeah. Let’s get started.”

I looked back at Idria.

“One last check before we begin.”

“……Alright.”

“First, I will start with a long speech. Then…”

I calmly continued my explanation.

Before the regression, Idria had slaughtered all of us.

Now, the final battle against the Demon King of Lies was about to begin.

Count Drucker’s daughter, Rena Meckri, had been incredibly busy lately.

She was being trained directly by her father, the head of the merchant guild.

When Mide saved her from bandits, she had been just a young girl, but now she was old enough to take charge of business whenever her father was away.

The spoiled child who once ran away from a picnic after a fight with her father was long gone.

“Sigh.”

She stretched, putting down her pen after working nonstop.

Whenever she took short breaks like this, a name always came to mind.

‘Lord Mide.’

The Sword master of No Killing who saved her that day turned out to be a true Hero.

No, beyond a hero, now a giant who had even overthrown a celestial god.

That truth filled Rena with pride.

At first, she had even felt jealous of the Saint who was said to be Mide’s lover, but now she couldn’t even feel that anymore. Mide had become someone from another world entirely.

Thinking of those childish days, Rena’s cheeks flushed red.

Then…

Swish.

Her vision suddenly changed.

It was a feeling she had experienced several times since the Great Flood.

‘Lord Mide!’

In her changed view, Mide and his companions were climbing a mountain path.

Mide spoke.

—Everyone. The day has finally come.

My comrades and I are on our way to face Idria, the Demon King of Lies.

Forgive me for taking your precious time from your busy lives.

But I need your strength.

Your support.

Please be with us in the moment we defeat the Demon King.

‘Of course!’

Rena clasped her hands tightly.

—There they are. Idria and her followers.

Though she didn’t need to turn her head, Rena instinctively shifted her posture.

There stood a woman with violet hair and golden eyes.

The Demon King.

Beside her stood her loyal servants.

‘Those fiends!’

So these were the ones who had deceived and manipulated humankind from the shadows.

Mide spoke again.

—Neril, Xenia. You two take on Sobius.

—Got it.

—Yes, leave it to us.

Mide turned his head.

—Adwin and Offense, handle Sabach.

—Understood.

—You too, be careful.

—Serein and Lisel, deal with Pirensha.

—Yes. We will finish quickly and regroup.

—May you all return safely.

Mide’s presence was powerful, but the other heroes were just as worthy of humanity’s hope.

Warmth in Neril. Steadiness in Xenia.

Discipline in Offense. Humility in Adwin.

Wisdom in Lisel. Nobility in Serein.

They seemed like living embodiments of those words.

‘They truly are humanity’s hope.’

Out of habit, Rena almost offered a prayer to the celestial god, then stopped herself.

‘What am I doing?’

The celestial god was nothing but trash.

She had the wrong being in mind.

So she prayed earnestly.

‘My Lord Hero, brave champions… please, save humankind.’

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