The Bet, What Was at Stake (2): The Past
It was the first day the hero’s party reached the outpost after crossing Darmes Mountain.
“Any revelations, Hero?”
“Ah. I do.”
Zarco, who had been examining the hero’s spacious private quarters, answered the familiar woman’s voice. When he opened the door, there stood Lilias—the same woman he had seen back in Hero’s Village.
“Lilias…?”
“Just Lilias is fine. You’re the Hero, after all.”
“Haha. Please, come in.”
Lilias stepped inside, closed the door slowly behind her, and let her gaze wander across the room.
“Do you like it? I specifically asked them to make it large.”
“It’s spacious. I like it very much.”
“I’m glad.”
Lilias offered a satisfied smile at the hero’s reply. Without waiting for permission, however, the magician sat down on Zarco’s bed as if it were her own.
“So, how does it feel? Being the Hero?”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Any difficulties? That sort of thing.”
“…Not really.”
Zarco’s expression suggested nothing came to mind. Yet Lilias tilted her head, pressing further.
“Weren’t you nearly killed in the abandoned cathedral?”
“Ah, that’s true. But…”
Thanks to that, I got to take Ceres’s virginity.
He couldn’t possibly say it aloud, so he covered it with a pleasant smile. Still, the magician’s next question made his face stiffen.
“How was it? The Saintess’s body.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I asked what sex with the Saintess was like.”
He frowned deliberately to hide his shock, staring at her, but Lilias only smiled knowingly, as if she had expected the reaction.
“The recovery of one’s authority really is convenient, isn’t it? You can ejaculate, and ejaculate again, yet the moment your bodies touch you’ll be hard once more.”
“Have you been watching me?”
“Of course not. I simply observed the flow of your authority all day.”
The magician raised a hand into the air, waving it to mimic the rippling power.
“It fluctuates like this depending on your emotions and the scale of the circulating force. The moment I saw it, I knew. Ah, he did it.”
“Huu…”
Zarco couldn’t tell what the magician was truly after. He dragged a chair from the desk, planted it in front of the door, and sat with his legs spread wide—making it clear he had no intention of letting her leave until she explained herself. Even so, Lilias’s relaxed demeanor never faltered.
“Why are you here?”
“Exactly what I said. To ask if you’re facing any difficulties. But I want honesty.”
“Honesty?”
“Yes.”
When Lilias crossed her legs, a shockingly pale thigh slipped into view between the folds of her robe.
“A hero must act without hesitation. Eat what you crave, do what you desire. Isn’t that fun? The more you endure, the more you suppress, the weaker your authority grows. You already know this, of course.”
“…Go on.”
“You’d be shocked if you knew how far the kingdom is willing to go to amplify the Hero’s power. The previous hero lost eleven wives to his own hands, yet now it’s barely even a rumor, isn’t it?”
The previous hero. Zarco couldn’t recall the name, but the man had been called the strongest in history.
“And?”
“I am a magician of the kingdom as well. So don’t hold back. If there’s anything you want to do, do it. And if something—or someone—is in your way—”
Her deep black eyes locked onto him without blinking.
“The kingdom and I will help you remove it.”
“Haha.”
Zarco leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. This woman already knew everything. She knew he had desired Ceres just like the others in Hero’s Village, knew he had schemed to claim the spot beside her once he became the Hero. The Lumirod, the training—she knew it all and was simply waiting for him to admit it.
“Ceres.”
“The Saintess.”
“I want her. But the only thing I’ve been able to possess is her body.”
“And her heart?”
He bit his lip before he could stop himself. That bastard—he hated him so much.
“…Dain.”
“Aha.”
Again, pretending ignorance while knowing everything.
“I’ve slept with Ceres countless times. I’ve finished inside her more times than I can count. Watching her body slowly respond to my touch, to my cock… it’s honestly thrilling. I thought that would eventually become love. But…”
“But?”
“I know. Even if we kiss, even if she starts to feel pleasure while we have sex—Dain will always be in her heart.”
“What about Dain? Does he feel the same?”
“Even more so. He’d still love her even if I took her right in front of him.”
“That is quite the problem. Shall we remove Dain?”
“It’s all I think about every day. But.”
“Hmm?”
Killing him or sending him far away would be the simplest, most effective solution. The only thing stopping him was Ceres’s heart. If he did that, Dain’s cherished image would remain in her heart forever. For Zarco, who wanted to completely possess the Saintess, leaving any trace of Dain behind was unacceptable.
“I need to erase him from her heart entirely.”
“Hmm.”
An exaggerated expression, terrible acting. Lilias stood, pretending to ponder, and circled the room before slowly approaching the hero.
“Hero, did you know that demons were once human?”
“What?”
“When an exceptional human falls into utter despair and accepts the Demon King’s power, they become a demon. The offer is simple: I will grant your desires, so become my limbs. That sort of thing.”
“…You’re saying all demons were originally people?”
“Didn’t it seem strange? Researchers, bishops. Why would demons imitate humans?”
“Why was it never revealed?”
“Would the kingdom want to announce that its greatest enemy was once human? Hehe. It’s simply another choice they offer to people they wish to dispose of.”
Zarco knew he was a vile man—greedy beyond his abilities. Even so, he couldn’t be certain whether the answer Lilias waited for matched the thought forming in his mind. Why bring up demons now, of all things? No matter how twisted he was, that kind of idea was—
“If Dain is an obstacle.”
It seemed he had guessed correctly.
“We can turn him into a demon. Drive him into despair.”
Haha. This crazy bitch.
Zarco lifted his head and exhaled. Was this woman truly a magician of the kingdom? Of course he still wanted Ceres. He wanted to own that beauty, and the only obstacle in his path was Dain.
“For the Saintess’s heart to grow cold, she’ll need to see him broken and hideous, won’t she?”
“But if Dain becomes a demon, won’t he grow even stronger? He’s no ordinary man.”
“So?”
Lilias’s exaggerated expression froze into something icy.
“Then there will be no lingering attachment. In the end, one strike of your authority’s sword qi will suffice.”
Sword qi had never failed against a demon. It had wavered when he witnessed Dain and Ceres’s tender moment in the alleys of Hargon, but after he understood the link between his desire and his authority, that concern had vanished.
“Ah.”
“Did something occur to you?”
His desire. In the abandoned cathedral he hadn’t stopped at touching the Saintess’s breasts—he had shown her to the soldiers. On Darmes Mountain he had summoned the men secretly watching them have sex and let them see Ceres’s most private places. He wanted to share her.
“…It’s nothing.”
One look at Lilias’s face told him everything. Once again, she wore the expression of someone who already knew exactly what he was thinking.
She had planted eyes and ears. She had cast spells. She had observed his every move, seen straight through him—right down to his ugliest sexual fantasies.
Yet Zarco still feared speaking it aloud. Or rather, he felt it would be a waste.
Ceres was far too beautiful to be called a Saintess. Her body could drive any man insane. Far from growing tired of her, Zarco found himself addicted. While he weighed the reluctance of giving her up against the thrill he would feel when he finally did, two thoughts swirled in his mind: Dain’s despair and his own desire. An idea that satisfied both rose clearly before him, and before he realized it, the corners of the hero’s mouth had curved upward.
You said I could do whatever I want?
How many men would it take to break him? Which men would break him?
“Please tell me anything at all.”
The magician clearly knew everything.
“I will help you.”
Even as she spoke, she simply smiled along with the hero’s twisted grin.
Perhaps because two new members had joined the party, Zarco remained surprisingly well-behaved during their travels—at least in Dain’s eyes. It made sense. No matter how sinister the man was, he had to maintain the appearance of a good person in front of others.
Even while his duty was to protect the Hero, Dain kept cursing Zarco inside his head. He tried his best to clear his mind.
Today’s destination was Sarsana, a fairly large village near the border. As they rode, the dirt path gave way to a well-maintained road, and they arrived just in time for dinner.
“Only two rooms?”
“Yes, I’m terribly sorry. The kingdom has been gathering mercenaries at the border, so we’ve been fully booked lately.”
The largest inn in Sarsana was packed with armed mercenaries from the lobby onward.
“Mr. Dolan contacted us in advance, so we did reserve two rooms, but…”
The innkeeper, who already knew Zarco was the Hero, rubbed his hands together awkwardly.
“What should we do?”
“There’s another inn not far from here. The situation will be similar, but it’s older, so there might still be vacancies…”
“Shall we split three men and two women?”
“Unfortunately I cannot share a room with anyone.”
It was Zarco.
“I’ll take one room, and Ceres and Rillen can share the other. I’ll have a room to myself, and the two ladies can take the second.”
“I’m perfectly fine with that,” Rillen answered cheerfully.
When the Hero then looked at the Saintess, Ceres glanced briefly at Dain before nodding.
“I’m fine too.”
The arrangement was decided without regard for his wishes.
“Then we’ll find somewhere else,” Yujin said, grabbing Dain’s arm with a bright smile. “The two of us can easily share one room. Right, brother?”
“Y-yeah.”
“We should hurry before it gets too late.”
“Ah…”
Yujin tugged Dain’s arm, pulling him along. He didn’t want to be separated from her. Especially not when Ceres would be under the same roof as Zarco.
Yet the Saintess’s face, smiling gently with a trace of regret, eased his heart a little. Beside her, Rillen linked arms with Ceres and grinned. If she was with her, nothing bad would happen.
“W-well then. See you tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah.”
With the Saintess’s smile as their farewell, they left the noisy inn. Fortunately, the nearby inn still had rooms. It was narrow and shabby, but for a single room it was acceptable.
After checking his gear and lying down on the hard bed, his stomach growled.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten yet. It was rather late—would they still serve dinner?
“Yujin? You in there? Let’s get some food.”
He knocked, but there was no answer from Yujin’s room. Maybe he had already gone down alone?
Dain descended to the first floor, but only the raucous drinking of mercenaries greeted him. No sign of Yujin.
He had been stuck in the barracks for so long; it made sense that he would want to explore a proper town. While Dain waited, a bowl of cold stew and a slab of hard bread arrived.
Did that guy even eat?
Though they were only a year apart in age, Yujin felt like a younger brother to him. Dain couldn’t help but worry.