The night our party finally became whole for the first time—the night I joined as the final member—Kaeld brought up a suggestion.
“Let’s bury our pasts.”
“Huh?”
It just so happened that I’d made up my mind to ask him who “Bion Kunze” was.
When there are multiple victims shown in the blood-writing I see, there’s a rule to the order they appear. The higher up they are, the harder it is to determine what sin was committed.
In other words, the higher ones are covered in deeper mystery.
To put it simply, that bastard Kaeld committed the most hidden of sins against Bion Kunze—out of over 148 million different sins.
How could I not ask?
As if he’d been expecting it, Kaeld met my eyes squarely and continued.
“Not everyone has lived a life full of glorious deeds, you know.”
“Are you saying that because of me?”
Probably. But before I could say anything, Neril raised an eyebrow and spoke up.
Kaeld shook his head as if the idea was absurd.
“Of course not. This applies to everyone here.”
“……”
“Now that we face the Demon King, our shared enemy, we can’t afford to argue about each other’s pasts. If anyone tries to stir up conflict over that, I’ll expel them from the party in the name of the Hero.”
Ah. That would be bad.
The overwhelming reward I’d be getting after killing the Demon King… With it, I’d planned to spend the rest of my life in luxury.
“Everyone agrees, right?”
“Yes!”
“Good. It’s only natural when you think about it.”
“Truly wise.”
The hero-obsessed idiots of the party agreed without hesitation.
I was the last to nod—reluctantly.
“Fine. But after we kill the Demon King, there’s something I want to ask.”
“……”
“Especially you, Kaeld.”
Kaeld replied with a dazzling smile.
“Ask anything.”
That smile was so bright it could be called blinding, and in that moment, I made up my mind.
One way or another, the Demon King must die.
And only the Hero can kill him.
So for now, I’ll wait. But—
“You… I’ll never trust you to the end.”
My resolve to never trust Kaeld didn’t change, even years after I joined the party.
Not even now, in this final battle against the Demon King.
“Finish it! Kaeld!”
This was probably the first time in my life I’d shouted like that.
Maybe that’s why my blood-soaked teammates—barely clinging to life—looked at me in shock.
What, is it that strange for me to raise my voice?
There are more important things to focus on right now.
Like, say, watching our Hero cut off the Demon King’s head.
At my shout, Kaeld—the god-blessed Hero—calmed his breath and replied.
“It’s rare to hear you yell like that.”
“Quit the nonsense. Just do it.”
“Heh. Very well. This is the end. Demon King of Lies and Deceit, Idria—perish!”
Kaeld’s holy sword flashed so fast it couldn’t be seen by the eye.
“Guh.”
The head of Idria—the one who had driven the world to the brink of darkness—fell to the ground with shocking ease.
“We… we did it.”
“That’s our Hero.”
“It’s finally over… that cursed war.”
“We literally saved the world. Whew.”
Our teammates staggered to their feet.
Kaeld, the Hero, didn’t respond. He just stared down at the Demon King’s fallen head.
I was the only one watching his back.
Everyone else was too preoccupied, too happy over the fact that we had just slain the Demon King of Lies and Deception.
“Serein. Heal me. I’m seriously about to die.”
“Sorry. I’m out of divine power. Anyone got a potion left?”
“No way. We all used every last drop.”
“Yeah, the battle was way too intense. Still, I’m in real danger here…”
They chattered among themselves, then turned to look at me.
I shrugged.
“I used mine too.”
“So nobody has any healing left?”
The voice came from Kaeld.
At last, everyone’s attention turned to him.
He still had his back to us, still staring at the Demon King’s corpse.
And the moment I saw that, a jolt of lightning struck my brain.
No way. No way.
It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. But as always, reason triumphed over emotion.
I swallowed and spoke.
“How long are you gonna stand there with your back turned?”
“……”
“Come to think of it, you didn’t use a single item during the battle, did you? You must have a bunch of potions left. Share some with us.”
Suppressing the pounding of my heart, I forced the words out.
The Hero, Kaeld, slowly turned around.
He pulled a pouch of items from his coat.
Then he began pulling out legendary items—ones said to be able to even resurrect the dead.
Seeing that, Lisel, one of the party members who trusted Kaeld the most, spoke with admiration.
“You really defeated the Demon King without using a single item? As expected of the Hero.”
“The Hero, huh.”
“First, please heal Serein. Then she can take care of the rest of us.”
“The Hero died from the start.”
At Kaeld’s words, everyone fell silent.
Their faces showed that they couldn’t comprehend what they’d just heard.
But I already understood everything.
“You… You don’t mean…”
“Mide Mohan. My final companion. The one who’s known me the shortest but doubted me the most. Of course you’d be the first to figure it out.”
“Grrk.”
“You’ve always been a thorn in my side. Still, I’m glad. You’re always the type to plan for a way out. Did you really just go headfirst into the final battle without one? That’s not like you.”
Whip.
He dropped some of those incredibly rare potions—items only high-ranking nobles could even hope to obtain—onto the ground.
They didn’t break; the enchanted containers kept them intact.
So he crushed them underfoot.
Crunch. Crunch.
Like someone stomping out a wriggling worm, Kaeld ground them meticulously into the dirt.
Exposed to outside contamination, the potions would now be completely useless.
Seeing this, Neril—after me—was the second to understand.
“Wow. Holy shit.”
“……”
“Mide. This is what you figured out, huh? For real?”
Even in this situation, the look of utter disbelief on her face was oddly amusing.
At that moment, Lisel shouted again.
“Cough. Kaeld, what on earth! Without that, we…!”
“You really are clueless to the end, Lisel.”
“…What?”
“In short, Mide was right. He was the only one who saw the bottom of who I truly am.”
Kaeld grinned slyly and continued speaking.
“I told you earlier. The Hero died from the very beginning.”
“…”
“To be precise, I killed him.”
“What are you even saying?! I don’t understand a thing. You are the Hero! Ugh…”
Perhaps due to exerting too much strength while already dying, Lisel began coughing up blood.
Kaeld paid it no mind and went on.
“Everyone was completely fooled. All of you, the Emperor and the nobles waiting for our return, and the entire world.”
“…”
“Everyone except for Mide.”
Kaeld turned his gaze to me with a strangely kind expression that didn’t suit the situation.
“Mide, can you tell me before you die? Why did you suspect me? My performance should have been flawless.”
I gave a dry chuckle.
Now I understood.
How he could commit crimes against 148 million people—nearly the entire continent.
He had deceived them all.
He had committed the sin of falsehood.
I finally spoke the name I had wanted to ask from the very beginning.
“Bion Kunze.”
“…!”
“So now I understand. That’s the name of the real Hero you killed, isn’t it?”
Kaeld’s face twisted in a way I’d never seen before.
“H-How… how do you know that name?”
He shouted, his composure breaking.
“Answer me! Mide!”
“You answer me. Only a Hero can kill the Demon King. That’s an unchanging truth etched into history.”
“…”
“In other words, the Demon King isn’t dead. Because you’re not the Hero.”
“…”
“If you get complacent just because you lopped off his head, you’re going to regret it. I don’t know what your grand ambition is, but you should deal with him properly first before worrying about anything else.”
Kaeld glared at me, then shook his head.
Then, in a voice that sounded disturbingly sly, he said,
“Kill the Demon King? Such a cruel thing to say.”
“…What?”
He turned around and reached toward the Demon King’s corpse.
A deep wound—clearly Kaeld’s doing—was visible on the Demon King’s chest.
As if pulling something from a bag, Kaeld plunged his hand into the wound.
Rustle, rustle.
What he pulled out was the Demon King’s heart.
The Demon King’s core.
“As you said, only a true Hero can destroy this core. But let me ask instead—why should I destroy it?”
“…”
“With this core, I can control all the monsters on the continent. I intend to put it to better use.”
“Better use…?”
“Listen, Mide. A Hero needs a crisis.”
A twisted smile spread across his face.
“If the Demon King is dead and peace arrives, the world will no longer need a Hero.”
“…”
“We’ll be forgotten from people’s memories, their gratitude will fade. In a few generations, our names will just be bedtime stories for children.”
“…”
“That can’t happen. The continent! The Empire! They must always be in crisis. That’s the only way they’ll keep needing me. My power. The power of a Hero.”
I understood now.
He planned to use the core to periodically unleash monsters and threaten the continent.
Then, as the ‘Hero,’ he would appear to resolve each crisis.
So he could be worshipped forever.
So he could be loved forever.
Without ever considering how much blood would have to be shed for that.
“I’ve watched you all for a long time, and I realized—none of my party members understand my deeper intentions.”
“Of course not, you lunatic.”
“That’s why, unfortunately, this is goodbye. If you won’t answer my question, that’s fine. Once you’re all dead, everything will be buried in darkness anyway.”
I slowly reached into my cloak.
It really was the right decision not to trust him until the end.
I’d prepared for this.
I spoke.
“Fine. I won’t answer. But you will.”
“…What?”
“What do you think this is?”
In my hand was a communication orb.
A long-distance communication device developed in the past by the Archmage Iori Otix.
The so-called Hero’s eyes went wide.
“I never trusted you, not even once. So I made preparations of my own.”
“Y-You…”
“This orb is directly connected to various guilds across the continent, every major noble, and even the Emperor. Your confession just now? They all heard it loud and clear.”
“Mide! You bastard!”
“You said the continent needs a crisis? Well, now you are the crisis. If we catch you, we might just be generous enough to only chop off your limbs.”
With that, I quickly pulled out spare potions.
Saying all the items were gone earlier was a lie.
I just wanted to see how Kaeld would act, so I kept it hidden.
“Everyone, drink this.”
“M-Mide…”
“Drink and get up. Surely none of you are dumb enough to still be hoping Kaeld will save the day, right?”
Everyone’s eyes filled with fury.
They hurriedly downed the golden potions and rose to their feet.
It was a complete reversal of the situation.
No matter how strong Kaeld was—even if he used to be a ‘Hero’—thinking he could take on all of us now was just arrogant.
“Grrr… Mide! Mide!!”
“What?”
“If it weren’t for you… if only you didn’t exist, everything would’ve gone perfectly. I’ll kill you with my own hands!”
At that, my party members—now recovered—stepped in front of me like they had agreed to it in advance.
They didn’t look back at me.
They couldn’t, probably because they had always disapproved of my suspicion toward Kaelid.
Without turning their heads, they spoke.
“If you want to kill Mide, you’ll have to go through me first.”
“Not that it’ll happen.”
“Ugh. I can’t believe we followed this guy around thinking he was a Hero.”
“From this moment forward, it’s judgment time.”
Kaeld flinched.
Neril turned to me with a smug expression.
“In the end, you were right. You really live up to your name.”
Well, that’s how it turned out.
It was a wild ride, but I’m glad it ended well.
And then—
Leave a Reply