Chapter 78: Hero (2)

Hero.

The human spear sent by the goddess to fight the Demon King. The adversary of the Demon King.

In this world where the Demon King exists, the hero is a very special being. This is especially true since the only being who can kill the Demon King is the hero who has received the power of the goddess.

In the distant past, the world was on the verge of destruction by the Demon King, and since then, the hero has gained power that surpasses that of most nobles.

Rachel buried her face in Emily’s bed and waited for her. But no matter how long she waited, she didn’t come.

“When is she coming?”

An hour has already passed.

If it was a simple story, she would have avoided the situation by saying they would talk about it later, so it seems to be an important story.

But no matter how important the story is, does she have anything to talk about for so long with Emily, whom she is meeting for the first time today?

If he needed the power of the Muelia, it would be faster to talk to Delkarmen.

Delkarmen knows the current situation of the Demon King’s territory, that is, the Demon Realm, better than Emily.

‘As a doting father, he wouldn’t want to tell her about what’s happening in the Demon Realm.’

It is depicted quite horribly in the original work.

Anyway.

“What are they talking about that it’s taking so long? Sigh.”

She’s getting tired.

If she stays here a little longer, she might fall asleep.

“Should I go find her?”

Rachel raised her torso and looked towards the door.

While she was pondering, the door opened and Emily, wearing a white cardigan, entered.

“Emily!”

“Rachel? Were you waiting for me?”

Nodding here would be embarrassing, so Rachel quietly averted her gaze. But Emily had already figured out her intentions, and Rachel’s cheeks only got redder.

Emily raised the corners of her mouth.

‘Should I tease her a little?’

A fun idea came to mind.

“I wanted to see you, Rachel. I guess it’s just me.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll go out again.”

“No, no. Wait a minute.”

Rachel was flustered by the unexpected development and stammered. Emily made a genuinely disappointed expression.

Rachel had no choice but to mutter.

“I, I was waiting,”

Her gaze trembling from side to side. Her face now redder than a tomato.

Emily found that look so cute.

It was a different feeling from simply looking at her younger sister, Yona.

Yona is so cute that you want to bite her, while Emily feels like she wants to hug her and stay in her arms all day.

“By the way, how was the hero? It’s the first time you met him, right?”

“Yes. It’s the first time I met him, but what about the hero?”

“Yes. Lower nobles like me don’t get to see the hero often.”

Emily was going to answer simply, but a good idea came to mind.

‘Ah. Should I check that while I’m at it?’

Clearly, Rachel said that she likes women, borrowing the intoxication.

She doesn’t know if she likes someone now, but Emily knows Rachel’s life well.

The women she meets while staying at the duke’s house are four in total.

Archmage Armil

Knight Aris

Alchemist Liella

Merchant Guild Leader Janna

Excluding herself, these four are all. And the people who spend the most time with Rachel are Yona and herself.

If she likes someone now, it must be one of the five, including herself.

‘If Rachel likes me, she will definitely be jealous.’

She quietly tested the waters.

“Objectively speaking, he’s handsome. Unlike Prince Heimer, he’s kind, and we can communicate well. I feel like he takes good care of me. And…”

“And?”

“He’s a hero. A great human chosen by the goddess. It’s so cool how he fights the Demon King with a human body.”

While saying that, she carefully examined Rachel’s expression.

“I-Is that so?”

Rachel was flustered and made an awkward expression. Unfortunately, she can’t infer whether she likes her or not from that expression.

‘Should I go a little stronger?’

Emily got competitive.

If Rachel had said she liked men, she would have given up without hesitation, but she said she liked women.

She went boldly, thinking that she had enough hope.

Emily sat in front of Rachel, who was sitting on the bed.

“If I like the hero, and if we go out, what do you think it would be like?”

“You’re going out with the hero?”

“Yes.”

Rachel’s expression sank.

It’s not a positive feeling, nor is it a negative one.

Rachel thought.

‘Why? Why can’t I like it?’

The hero who appears in the original work is a really good person. Apart from his masculine charm, he is a good person himself.

As a hero, it’s natural for him to be considerate of others, and he’s kind.

In the original work, when the two were dating, his charm stood out in various depictions and productions.

It may be because the genre itself is romance fantasy, but if you date someone like that, you should definitely like it as a friend.

If she wasn’t on good terms with Emily, she might be jealous.

But that’s not the case either.

‘I sincerely want Emily to be happy and smile. And it’s not like I like men.’

But why can’t she be happy?

Rachel couldn’t figure out the reason no matter how much she thought about it.

“Hmm? Rachel?”

For now, she answered rationally.

Emily smiled as she watched her reaction.

“I’m kidding, I just didn’t feel anything. It was the first meeting, but we didn’t talk that long.”

“Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm. We didn’t talk about anything special.”

Rachel’s eyes sparkled with question marks. It’s a look that’s obviously curious.

Emily chuckled and laid Rachel down. Then, holding her hand, she quietly brought up the story she had with the hero earlier.

“Do you know where the Demon Realm is?”

“I know. It’s an area where humans can’t live due to the influence of the Demon King, right?”

The Demon King uses a special power called dark magic. Because of that, all of the Demon King’s subordinates also use the power of dark magic.

However, since dark magic is the opposite of life, humans cannot live in areas where the Demon King’s power is present.

That’s why it’s hard to defeat the Demon King.

Unless you’re a priest with divine power, you can’t break through that dark magic and reach the Demon King’s castle.

“The hero said that the Demon Realm has become strange. He said that black tentacles suddenly popped out of the ground and attacked the paladins, and the ferocity of the monsters is getting worse.”

“Black tentacles?”

Rachel muttered.

She asked to hear the hero’s story out of personal curiosity.

When she read the original work, the hero was the sub-male lead, so she enjoyed reading the Demon King subjugation episode quite a bit.

But black tentacles?

‘Clearly, the part where the black tentacles appear was in the very early middle part.’

The reason Rachel was surprised is that not long after these black tentacles appear, the Demon King’s army launches an attack.

To be precise, the time when the 5th Human-Demon Great War breaks out is right now.

Those tentacles are so strongly imbued with the Demon King’s power that just touching them is fatal enough for ordinary people to begin to be eroded by dark magic.

Of course, even if you are eroded by dark magic, you don’t die, but it means that it becomes more difficult to enter the Demon Realm.

‘After this invasion, human life will become more and more difficult. It will turn into a dystopia.’

Rachel hurriedly recalled the memories of the original work.

The streets are filled with screams, a resistance is formed inside the empire, and a disaster in which countless humans will die is imminent.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“W-Wait a minute. I need to go to the bathroom.”

Rachel hurriedly got up and headed to the bathroom. She closed the door and looked at the window.

‘Why did I forget this?’

The order of events in the original work is as follows.

The Muelia family is annihilated by the machinations of the imperial family, and soon after, the hero’s party and the paladins retreat after being defeated in the Demon Realm.

After that, the Demon King starts to attack the human territories directly.

From then on, human life quickly becomes difficult.

Although it is not described in detail in the original work, it was a disaster itself in which about 1/3 of the population disappeared.

Rachel was dazed for a moment.

What was the first thing she thought about when she was first possessed by this novel?

‘I stuck to Emily’s side to survive somehow. But I was so defenseless? Why was I like that?’

Of course, Emily and herself won’t suffer any damage.

Only the low-income commoners and soldiers die. The morning spent in the Muelia will always be the same when the disaster starts and ends.

Still, tens of thousands of people will die, and more people will shed tears.

‘What should I do?’

It’s impossible to completely prevent the disaster. But you can reduce the damage or do something.

‘Should I tell Emily?’

Rachel shook her head.

Even if Emily is the successor to the duke’s family, she is not the duke. Rather, it is better to tell Delkarmen or the hero directly about this matter.

Knock, knock.

“Rachel?”

“Huh? Oh, I’ll be out.”

When she opened the door, she saw Emily approaching with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“No. It’s not that. Actually, I was thinking about those tentacles.”

“Black tentacles?”

“Yes.”

Rachel tried to keep her words short.

She was worried that her friend would be worried about her getting involved in dangerous things. But the moment she saw her face, that thought flew away.

She felt it at the banquet the other day.

If you hide your intentions from each other, only sadness will remain in the end.

So Rachel roughly told the contents of the original work, turning it around to the current situation.