MEANWHILE, in the Ishtobal Kingdom in the central eastern region of the continent…
“Hero Abel, I would ask you not to take any rash actions.”
In a meeting room in the royal palace, Crown Prince Abel Lionhart reclined in an armchair as opulent as a throne in front of a gathering of leaders from allied countries. He was a princely looking young man with gentle waves of green hair and emerald eyes.
He gave a sneering smile and said, “Who in the world do you think you’re speaking to? Do you think I don’t know what all of you are really after? Just keep your mouths shut and do as I say.”
He was disrespectful toward them, as if he were some sort of emperor. The leaders were frustrated, and their guards couldn’t conceal their animosity. Even so, they went along with what he said so they could use him, the hero.
“Abel Lionhart, I bestow upon thee the power of the hero.”
That remark had come along with his awakening as the hero three months ago. The voice, claiming to be God, suddenly reverberated in his mind when he received heroic strength.
It was the first birth of a hero seen in 300 years. The Church spread news of the event throughout the world in the blink of an eye, claiming it to be a proclamation from God. At the same time, the revival of a demon king had been announced by Guardial, a demon country.
Half of the world was demon territory, land controlled by monster-like people. Humans and demons viewed each other as enemies and had fought for a long time. That fighting was paused 300 years ago by the hero who defeated the demon king.
After the demon king’s death, the demons remained in their territory. Humans and demons have clashed on and off since then, but it certainly never developed into an all-out species-against-species war.
But a new hero had been born, and the demon king had been revived, meaning the two peoples were looking to reignite the fight.
“Defeat the demon king and save the world? Rich, hearing that, seeing as I have zero intention of doing so,” scoffed Abel after the leaders of his allies had left, having no regard for who overheard.
“Now, my hero, perhaps it would be best not to speak like that. You never know who is listening,” said a woman, speaking soothingly with an accent. She was one of the five people standing beside him, with white hair and gold eyes. Her facial features were rather cute, like a small animal, and she wasn’t even five feet tall.
She was Alisa Kusunoki, the second-in-command of the hero’s party, and the chief of staff for Ishtobal’s military.
“The demon king has the power to destroy all of humanity, and the hero will defeat them,” she continued. “You need a cause to encourage people to act. Even if it’s not quite true, it will be true once you win.”
When Abel awakened as the hero, several countries announced they would join the war to defeat the demon king. The thing was, they didn’t honestly think of the demon king as a serious threat. Their real goal was all the valuable resources lying in wait inside demon territory.
Three hundred years ago, the hero defeated the demon king, but only just—both had died from the fight, essentially taking each other out. The Heroes Alliance, which had taken part in the battle, also suffered severe losses and was easily expelled from the demons’ territory.
When the soldiers of the Alliance returned to their homelands, they brought faerie silver and natural magic crystals with them, both valuable resources. While these were valuable to humans, the demons didn’t have much interest in them. These valuable resources were just lying around in demon territory.
Having learned of these resources, several people plotted to break into demon territory under the guise of eliminating the “enemies of humanity.” However, the demons foiled each of these attempts.
To these people, the birth of a new hero was the perfect opportunity to reclaim the valuable resources taken by the demons.
“My hero, you already intend to defeat the demon king, do you not?” Alisa asked. “If so, you should use these allied countries to your benefit. The hero’s battle against the demon king 300 years ago was a difficult one. You should use what tools you have available.”
“I know,” responded Abel, “but I have no intention of dancing for money-grubbing fools. My aim is to demonstrate my heroic strength by defeating the demon king so I may rule the entire world.”
Abel didn’t intend to use his power to save the world or even to make money. He was going to use it for his own ambition: world domination.
The vast font of mana rushing through his body… He had become drunk on his own omnipotence since awakening as the hero. Abel had clearly grown arrogant, but he wasn’t aware of that.
Inwardly, Alisa smiled coldly as she soothingly said, “In order to accomplish your goals as well, you must first defeat the demon king. I will handle all negotiations. You needn’t bother yourself with it.”
“Well, if you’re offering, then I’ll allow you to take care of it. We still have time before our allies are ready to attack. How long do they intend to make me wait?”
“It can’t be helped, my hero. It takes time and money to move soldiers. Shall we also gather more forces while we have the time? The hero’s power is incredible, but it is a double-edged sword after all. We should increase our forces, and they can be your tools in battle.”
Alisa had already reached out to the people she had influence over, though she intended them to be her tools, not Abel’s.
“You may be right, Alisa. If we’re going to increase our forces, we should select only the strongest, those worthy of fighting with me, the hero.”
Alisa worried about what sudden turn this was going to take.
“There are only ten SSS-rank adventurers in the world,” Abel continued. “Don’t you think they would be appropriate followers for me?”
Abel stated it as if it were the obvious solution, and Alisa felt exasperated. SSS-rank adventurers were at the peak of the adventuring world and existed outside any national bounds. They had earned all the money and fame they could want, so they had no reason to want to do what the hero said.
“Perhaps you are not aware, as you are not an adventurer yourself, my hero. But SSS-rank adventurers are a group of eccentric individuals. You can never know what they’re thinking. They do only what they want and will only get in the way. I suggest you give up on that route,” she offered, coming up with a random excuse.
“My hero, if you want SSS-rank adventurers, I’ll bring them to you!” claimed one of the other members of the hero’s party who had been silent up until then. He had vibrant turquoise hair, eyes the color of blood, and wore a gaudy gold, full plate armor. He was Chris Brad and had a wicked grin.
“Alisa says it would be best not to, but you say you’ll bring me SSS-rank adventurers,” Abel mused.
“I can do this, my hero, but I have one condition. Can you agree that I can bring them dead or alive?”
Abel looked astonished by this offer. It defeated the point.
“There’s an SSS-rank adventurer I can’t stand,” explained Chris. “I plan to bring him here, by force if I need to, and there’s a chance I could kill him by accident if he resists. But if that happens, it’s proof I’m stronger than an SSS-rank adventurer, and you want only the strongest by your side. Seems fine to me.”
“I see… Very well. I’ll let you handle the SSS-rank adventurers.”
Abel didn’t have high hopes for Chris, but this could at least amuse him while he boredly waited for his allies. He had grown so arrogant that he didn’t care much about gathering forces anyway.
Alisa watched the two of them with a cold smile.
✦ ✦ ✦
AS a reward for handling the cleaners who attacked us in the dungeon, my father, Darius, agreed to let me take time off from classes as long as I earned enough credits to graduate. Since trying to take on an extreme-difficulty dungeon on my own, the biggest thing holding me back was a lack of time. Now, I was taking off either Monday or Friday and spending my three-day weekend in the dungeon. During the four weekdays, I also only went to class in the morning, ate lunch in the cafeteria, and then went straight to the dungeon.
The Academy’s classes emphasized grades. If your grades were good enough, you got the credit. That meant I’d have no trouble graduating even if I barely attended class. I couldn’t really say I was attending class if I skipped any more than this, though, so I did have to rein myself in a bit.
Now that I had the time, I started focusing way too much on the dungeon. I used Teleport to go right back to my dorm room so no one would know if I wasn’t back by curfew. Even on weekdays, I was in the dungeon until nearly midnight.
When my father gave his permission, it was in exchange for my making the occasional public appearance. The only days I left the dungeon early were when I had a social gathering to go to.
One morning, I finished my daily training routine, then went to Prince Eric’s salon an hour before classes started. He and I had an agreement to share information once a week.
Just as I was about to go into the room, another student came out. He had short, bright-colored hair and was probably just under six feet tall. His tie was red, meaning he was a third-year student.