Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: 7. Killing Felix (2)
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“Hello! I’m Amos, a reporter for Superbia Managers’ Monthly!”
Before going to meet Vivian, the first person Amos ran into was Felix.
He had a notorious reputation among people as a dangerous and vicious man, but a reporter like Amos couldn’t care less about that sort of thing.
Unlike simple message boards that only listed names and ratings, the monthly magazine featured a wider variety of more detailed information.
It wasn’t uncommon for exaggerations or distortions that were hard to prove to be edited in to suit the reporter’s taste.
With people like that around, there was no reason to worry about Felix’s bad reputation.
“Could you spare a moment for a quick chat?”
Felix clicked his tongue as he looked at him.
The reason for his visit was obvious.
The unprecedented giant slime that had appeared in the fourth testing ground.
And the white-robed mage who had taken it down single-handedly.
The news had already spread like wildfire inside the guild, so a reporter who lived off rumors had undoubtedly come sniffing around after hearing about it.
“I’m a busy man. Get lost.”
“Even a short comment would do. Don’t you inspect the fourth testing ground in person?”
Amos didn’t back down from Felix’s harsh rejection.
“I have nothing to say.”
“You must have seen the King Slime yourself. Wouldn’t you care to say even a word about it?”
He stuck to Felix like glue.
Felix had no intention of even acknowledging him, but he stopped in his tracks at the next remark.
“Oh, and also, I heard that the white-robed mage Vivian used to train under you a long time ago. Is that true?”
“……”
Felix glared at him through narrowed eyes.
It was a purely innocent expression without a hint of mockery, but you could never trust a reporter.
“I don’t really remember.”
“So there’s a chance it could be true?”
“I didn’t say that.”
As he tried to brush past the man’s sophistry, something occurred to Felix.
“Ah, there is one thing I should mention.”
It was a delightful idea that just might topple Vivian’s newfound status after this incident.
“Oh! Yes, I’m all ears.”
“I don’t remember the details from the deepest part of the dungeon. There might have been a giant slime or something. But the important part is this.”
Felix spoke in a low voice, as if plotting some wicked scheme.
“That mage named Vivian picked up a magic stone and shouted, ‘Sylvia is a low-level hack mage compared to me—!!’”
“Oho…”
“She’s a shameless wretch who committed the atrocious act of insulting the First Hero Party, nurtured by Philip—the greatest hope of humanity and the godfather of the manager world. Don’t you think someone working in the industry he built deserves a public beating?”
Amos grinned slyly, mirroring Felix’s smile.
People were drawn more to stories they could get angry about and curse over than uplifting ones.
Right now, Vivian was in the spotlight for taking down the King Slime alone.
Exposing her disgrace to the world would have people eagerly tearing her apart.
No matter who Felix was or what evil deeds he’d done, Amos didn’t care one bit.
As long as he had a juicy story to serve up to the public.
That was more than enough.
*
The next person Amos met was Marie.
As the manager of one of the parties that had participated in the fourth testing ground, she scanned him up and down with an irritated glare.
“Monthly magazine?”
She wasn’t as powerful as Felix, and she had no notable reputation.
Even so, Amos felt more intimidated by this woman named Marie than by Felix.
“Y-yes… I wanted to ask about the King Slime that appeared in the fourth testing ground and the mage Vivian who took it down…”
“…Ah. That?”
Her expression brightened as if she had plenty to say on the topic.
“Yeah, that’s been hot lately. Makes sense you’d be curious. Where should I start?”
Her poor first impression was already forgotten.
He had a feeling he could extract even better information from her than from Felix.
“Ah, first off, about that boss monster nicknamed the King Slime.”
“Yeah, we decided on that in the internal meeting. Honestly, ‘King’ doesn’t even do it justice… Do you know how big a regular Big Slime is, reporter?”
“Yes, roughly twice the size of an adult man, right?”
Marie nodded and continued.
“Three or four times that. The King Slime I saw was that massive.”
Amos’s mouth fell open.
Just imagining the King Slime made his chest tighten.
“I-is something like that okay to appear in a temporary testing ground?”
“Why are you asking me?”
Amos found himself worrying about the aspirants who’d had to face that monstrosity.
“Anyway, it was huge, and it could split off its body to control dozens of Green Slimes.”
It was information he’d already confirmed, but hearing it from someone who’d been there felt fresh.
“And then Vivian burst the King Slime in one shot.”
“Mm-hmm. What? In one shot? Well, she did build that ice tower in the training yard last time, so…”
“Of course. And the way she herded the slimes to wipe them out? It was downright masterful.”
“I heard that mage Vivian trained under Felix before and failed multiple times… What do you think changed her so much?”
Marie’s face soured at the mention of Felix.
That irritated expression from earlier returned.
“Probably because Felix is an incompetent moron.”
“Ah, y-yes… Ahem.”
“Anyway, she’s going places. Definitely.”
There was plenty of information, but nothing particularly sensational.
Was there anything else to ask?
As Amos pondered, Marie tilted her head with a sly grin.
It was a far more sinister smile than the sleazy one he’d seen on Felix earlier—and far scarier.
“But do you know what?”
“W-what?”
“After the test ended, Felix was livid. Vivian shining despite being overshadowed by his incompetence pissed him off. So he suddenly whipped out a dagger and—”
At the whip part, Marie slammed her desk with a bang.
Amos flinched involuntarily.
“—charged at Vivian’s manager.”
“What?! F-Felix did?”
“Who else but that bastard would pull something like that?”
Felix did have rumors like that swirling around him.
But Amos hadn’t quite believed them since he hadn’t seen it himself.
“But thanks to Vivian protecting her manager with some awesome magic, Felix had to scamper off like a loser.”
“Whoa…”
Felix’s outburst.
An unexpected windfall.
But tearing down Vivian would probably be even more stimulating.
“One last question. I heard Vivian cursed ‘Sylvia’ at the end. Is that true?”
“Did that trash Felix spout that crap?”
“…Yes.”
“Tch.”
Marie’s sour expression scanned Amos up and down.
“Don’t touch that.”
“Y-yes?”
“I know you’re planning to spread it around. I’m telling you for your own sake—pretend you don’t know.”
“Um…”
“Do you know who Vivian’s manager is?”
“No, I haven’t met them yet.”
The pass list and news only mentioned Vivian’s details.
Her manager was unknown.
He could find out if he tried, but Amos figured there was no need to bother with a manager’s name.
Marie gave him a chilling smile in response.
“You’ll find out if you meet them.”
“Understood…”
Amos stood up, leaving Marie behind.
*
And now, back to the present.
Amos had just met Vivian and her manager in front of the temporary hero passers’ board.
“Could you spare a moment for a quick chat?”
Both the manager and Vivian looked flustered by his greeting.
The silver-haired woman behind the manager stepped forward.
The maid with the eyepatch blocked the way between the manager and Amos.
“Kati, it’s fine.”
“…Yes.”
Amos looked back and forth between her and the manager in bewilderment.
The manager pulled the maid back and spoke.
“Monthly magazine? What’s that? Never heard of it.”
He was a man with a sour expression, much like Marie.
“It doesn’t have a long history, but we’re a group striving to exert a valid and positive influence.”
“Hmm…”
He seemed to mull it over for a moment before nodding.
“Time’s not an issue. Too many people here—let’s move somewhere else.”
Unlike his looks, the manager was quite accommodating.
Vivian beside him shrank back like she was scared.
These two seemed like easy prey.
The elf fairy on his shoulder and the eyepatched maid gave off a bizarre, unique vibe, but since Vivian was the target, it didn’t matter.
‘How does she see with that eyepatch…? Is she superhuman too? Then why the maid outfit…?’
Vivian stuck close to her manager’s side, while Amos trailed on the opposite.
Amos recalled Marie’s warning.
“What’s your name, sir?”
“Ian.”
“……”
Ian?
Amos repeatedly recalled the all-too-familiar name in his head.
Ian, Ian… No way.
“A-are you… that Ian, the manager of the First Hero Party?”
Manager Ian confirmed it casually.
“Yes.”
He gave a short answer, tired of explaining to everyone who recognized him that he’d been chased off.
Amos pretended to stay calm and swallowed hard.
Anyone interested in the manager ecosystem knew three names.
Philip, Penny.
And Ian.
Unlike the ghostly Philip, Ian was real and known for handling the First Hero Party’s chores.
But as a reporter, Amos knew something more crucial.
One of the many things Ian did publicly was something called “pruning.”
Whenever irreverent rumors or talk about the First Hero Party spread widely, Ian and his hidden assistant always stepped in to clean it up.
He didn’t kill them.
He’d kidnap sleeping targets and tie them naked in busy public squares.
Or document their dirty secrets and scatter them everywhere.
That was usually the extent of it.
But if it was severe, they’d end up unable to speak or write for life.
Ian was the one handling that retribution.
Many had accused Ian of it, but he ignored attacks on himself.
But if they targeted the First Hero Party or their allies…
He punished without hesitation.
It was Ian’s scheme to protect the First Hero Party.
So no one would dare mess with them.
Naturally, Ian never told the party members about it.
He wanted them to only know the good parts.
‘Honestly, I was more worried about their tempers exploding after seeing what they were like in the second round.’
Amos didn’t know why Ian was managing Vivian here.
But one thing was certain: he absolutely could not badmouth Vivian.
Ian’s arrangements were affecting even Amos now.
Amos erased every smear campaign against Vivian he’d been plotting.
As if it had never existed.
‘R-right. Good news can go viral too. Of course…’
She escaped her former manager Felix, grew, reunited, and succeeded spectacularly.
A mage on par with Sylvia who soloed the first-ever discovered King Slime.
Amos’s mind raced to connect the dots in the most flattering way for Vivian.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ He’d brought the reporter Amos along to near the training grounds.
There was a makeshift outdoor tavern, so they sat there.
Apparently, the imperial family had decided bulletin boards weren’t enough to spread the heroes’ fame.
The result was professional media groups, one of which was Superbia Managers’ Monthly.
It was new, so it was only known within Superbia for now.
It was a managers’ monthly, not heroes’, because of their collaboration with the Managers’ Guild.
Hm. Not bad?
If warp portals were invented this year, this media’s influence would spread fast, helping promote my party’s name too.
“Ah, um, th-then, questions for, uh, Ms. Vivian…”
He’d approached with a brazen, confident grin at first.
Now he was tense, breaking a sweat.
When I asked if something was wrong, he insisted no.
It was weird, but he was being super friendly to Vivian and me, so I couldn’t complain.
Vivian answered Amos’s questions sincerely.
“F-finally, your thoughts on passing the test, one word…”
Vivian replied immediately, as if she’d always had it ready.
“It’s a bit late, but I feel like I can bring hope to people now as a hero. Above all, I’m most grateful to Ian for leading me here and believing in me.”
“Ah, ahaha, as expected, a once-in-a-generation talent…!”
Amos jotted it down, lavishing exaggerated praise.
I’m starting to worry he’ll dehydrate at this rate…
“Amos?”
I called him back as he turned to leave.
“Y-yes? Yes!”
“Leave my name out of the article. No point in spreading a name like mine.”
“Ah, yes…! Of course! I-I’ll do that, yes!”
Hmm, what’s with him…
Way nicer than the reporter image I knew.
Anyway, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy, so all good.
*
Back at the lodging, Vivian trained on her own.
I supervised her stamina training and let her handle magic practice solo.
Meanwhile, I looked into McDurin Abbey’s location and the route there.
Night had deepened by then.
I let Mercy and Vivian sleep first.
Mercy had gotten close to Vivian lately, to the point she could sleep with just her, no Kati needed.
Before, Kati absent meant I had to stay by her side, so this was good.
Anyway, I called Kati to my room since she had separate business.
“I have a task for you.”
“Yes.”
“Something Marie said is bothering me.”
‘Last time he dragged in some non-superhuman kid, made a fool of himself, and quit, but now he’s really coming into his own, huh?’
It was what Marie spat at Felix.
No matter how I chewed on it, it connected to Arke Village.
The village chief had reacted the same when he first saw me.
Asking if I was from the Managers’ Guild.
And relieved when I said no.
“Looks like there’s some connection between Arke Village and Felix. Maybe not, but.”
Kati listened silently.
“Your job is simple. Shake down Felix. Anything suspicious, bring it back, whatever it is.”
One of the First Hero Party’s former scouts, using the Ring of Subjugation and Shadow Meld.
She’d handled solo scouting without a team.
She’d even solo-explored A-rank-plus dungeons that didn’t trigger Memory Correction.
For her, tailing and shaking down one Felix here was child’s play.
“Yes.”
“Don’t kill him. Report if anything comes up.”
That’s why I hadn’t taken her ring yet.
Kati nodded without hesitation.
“As you command.”