Chapter 115
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Heroes (2)
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"Welcome, heroes. I am the Emperor of the Empire..."
Inhyeok watched from a distance as the Emperor introduced himself and the heroes settled into a somewhat solemn atmosphere.
Grandpa sure knows how to drag things out.
They must have already heard everything from the goddess, so they just needed to ask for the power to defeat the Demon King. It felt just like listening to the school principal drone on with their unnecessarily long motivational speech.
"Even after the heroes arrived, Your Grace doesn't look too pleased."
"Is it really okay for a duke of the Empire to chatter like this while His Majesty is speaking?"
"His Majesty is busy talking to the heroes right now, so it's fine. Hehe..."
Well, as His Majesty began speaking, the other dukes had naturally withdrawn from the audience chamber. Iris, the only duke who stayed behind because she was with me, remained.
"Judging by your expression, it seems you don't think much of the heroes?"
"The female hero seems somewhat normal... but the male one is a total lost cause no matter how I look at him. Look at him smirking like that even while listening."
He kept grinning in that irritating way as he listened to the Emperor. At a glance, he was your typical high school outcast thrilled to be in another world—far from the popular type.
Getting excited about something he'd only dreamed of wasn't bad, but something felt off about him carrying on like that.
I let out a deep sigh, and Iris patted me comfortingly from the side. It felt so nice that I playfully squeezed her breast. It was so soft, I could almost swear I heard a faint spurt like milk leaking out.
Celestina kept stealing glances at us, her face flushing red.
Iris's flustered reaction at the thought of milk and Celestina's response were hilarious. I kept watching their reactions while running my hands lewdly over Iris's body.
"...So, heroes blessed by the goddess, lend us your strength to vanquish the Demon King."
"Yes." "Yes!"
"Before you set off on your journey, study the basics of Heaven World—common knowledge and such—as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we'll prepare perfect equipment for you heroes."
Yusia simply replied "Yes" to the Emperor once more, but Min-gun, who clearly hated the idea of studying, responded with a lackluster "....Yes" compared to before.
After the knights led the heroes away, the Emperor dismissed Iris and called for me and Celestina. He began discussing how we should support the heroes and the journey to defeat the Demon King.
"The demon race has already organized under the Demon King as their focal point and begun invading our lands from beyond the border of their territory. One of the Demon King's three famed lieutenants, recorded in history."
The dream demon queen, more famously known as the succubus.
Hill, the queen of the dream demons.
Queen Hill of the dream demons had breached the front lines, and a small kingdom near the border had already fallen under her feet.
But it didn't stop there. To halt Hill's relentless advance, they needed to head to Adrante—a kingdom near the border that had become the dream demons' kingdom—and defeat her.
That was to be the first goal for our hero party.
"The heroes just got summoned and need time to adjust... Isn't this too unfair?"
"Even if you complain to me, since the gods' power is involved, there's nothing I can do about it."
Sigh... Even the Emperor of the Empire couldn't help it. It was a war between the gods—using the Demon King and heroes as their avatars—with demon gods and goddesses above even that monster, the Dragon King, intervening.
I couldn't help snapping at the Emperor out of frustration at the unfair situation. He just gave a faint smile, as if understanding.
"But we've overcome the repeated clashes between heroes and Demon Kings time and again, and we'll win this one too."
The Emperor pointed to the portrait behind his throne depicting the founding Emperor of the Empire, who was also a hero.
"That's the proof that even he defeated the Demon King. In Heaven World's long history, you two are unprecedented heroes, but I believe in you and the Saintess. It's pathetic that an Emperor can only ask this much, but please... Protect this world from the Demon King."
He stepped down from the throne, placed his hands on our shoulders, and spoke with utmost sincerity. How could we refuse a plea from the ruler of such a vast empire called the Empire?
It made me want to lead those worthless heroes somehow and defeat the Demon King.
"We'll definitely defeat the Demon King alongside the heroes."
"Celestina Erendia will also vanquish the Demon King alongside Inhyeok-nim... and the heroes, as a Saintess."
With those words, we left the audience chamber under the Emperor's beaming smile.
"You can talk normally, huh?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"No, what are you doing? That's what I mean. You speak perfectly fine without that weird crap, so why keep talking like that?"
I'd assumed her odd speech—like ending sentences with "desu" because it was a habit from childhood she couldn't shake—but turns out this Saintess just switched it up based on her mood?
"I know manners too! I know I shouldn't speak like this to the Emperor!"
"Could you show me some manners too...?"
"Inhyeok-nim is a comrade in the same party! I'll be polite, but I want to be comfortable!"
"Fuck... Do whatever."
"What does 'fuck' mean?"
As Celestina and I bantered nonsense while walking through the palace, we spotted Yusia—one of the heroes who'd left with the knights earlier—heading somewhere.
"Where are you off to, Hero Yusia?"
"Ah... Inhyeok-nim. I just felt like getting some fresh air, so I'm heading outside."
She must be feeling anxious and unsettled after suddenly arriving in another world. To get friendly, I asked if she wasn't studying, and was surprised when she said she'd already learned most of Heaven World's knowledge.
Even if they only taught basics, finishing already? So had that guy Min-gun not finished studying?
"What about the hero named Min-gun?"
"Min-gun... um... He said he wanted to train with the sword right away instead of studying this world, so he went straight to the training grounds with a knight. I don't know after that."
"......"
Wanting to get stronger is good. If he powers up fast, beats the Demon King quick, and goes back happy to his wives, all's well. But skipping even basic knowledge to suddenly swing a sword... what was he thinking?
At least if the more sensible female hero takes good care of him, training to get strong might not be so bad. Don't think of him as worthless—try to see the positive side.
From his excited look, he seemed like the type who'd devoured isekai manga. If so, he'd adapt on his own.
"Then, Hero Yusia, you too..."
"Feel free to call me just Yusia."
"Alright, Yusia. Shall we head to the training grounds? I'm curious about the heroes' powers... I'd like to see them."
Yusia nodded at my words, and we followed her with Celestina toward the training grounds where we figured Min-gun would be.
Fuck.
The word slipped out the moment we arrived at the training grounds. Ignoring Yusia's startled look at my curse, I stared at Min-gun in the center with a knight.
Flop, flail. No word captured that movement better. For a regular student new to swords and exercise, even holding one was impressive.
But.
He's a hero.
"You can't use the sword like that, Hero."
"Why not?"
"Sigh... I've told you many times, but swinging like that won't cut through demon flesh and muscle."
"But the goddess made me stronger, and your stance feels uncomfortable?"
"It may feel off at first, but it's the proper way to strike true, and it'll adapt to your style over time."
Min-gun sullenly gripped his sword, mimicking the knight. Even with the knight's utmost patience, he kept veering off into his own way—like a total brat.
Wasn't he 18? Kids these days had no sense, but seeing him so stubbornly clueless, I couldn't imagine him the same age as Yusia beside me.
If he'd grown up close to Yusia without things like Bitcoin getting in the way, Woo Min-gun might've turned out with a personality like hers and become a decent hero. But looking at him now, warped by a messed-up adolescence, that was impossible to picture.
"Ah, Yusia!"
Min-gun waved happily, spotting us. Unlike his excitement, the knight looked utterly dead inside.
Why the long face?
The hero punk's pissing you off, right? Fucking rice thief...
We exchanged eye contact like a silent conversation of pity with the poor knight before heading down to the grounds. When I gestured for him to step back, he nodded gratefully and left.
Just like at the altar, now it was only the hero party left.
He knew jack about swords but was clumsily teaching Yusia the basics he'd half-learned from the knight. It was pretty funny.
Anyone could see Woo Min-gun had a crush on Yusia. Sadly, she seemed not just disinterested but slightly repulsed. Oblivious as ever.
Not just Yusia—even the pretty Saintess caught his sneaky glances. With two beauties in the party, did he think he was the protagonist building a harem?
Grinning sleazily like that.
Harem or whatever, fine. Just get strong fast, beat the Demon King, and go back to your wives—that's all I want.
"Heroes, could you show us a bit of the power you received from the goddess?"
As I spoke, eyes turned to me, and Woo Min-gun grinned.
"Status window!"