Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: 12. The Shrewd Fool (6)
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‘Just tell him everything...’
Vivian steeled her resolve.
She would confess honestly what she had planned to do that day and apologize.
Right now, that was the best course.
Recalling that morning when her heart had pounded with both excitement and fear, Vivian parted her lips.
“Actually...”
The moment those words left her mouth.
‘...Wait a second.’
She remembered it vividly.
Yes, that hadn’t been her intention from the start.
It had been pure impulse.
At first, she had simply been curious about Ian’s sleeping face.
At Macdullin Abbey, while gazing at Marie’s sleeping visage, she had wondered.
What did Ian’s sleeping face look like?
‘If that’s the case...’
Vivian continued naturally.
“I was curious about Ian’s sleeping face...”
“...Pardon?”
There was no time to deliberate on what to add next.
She let the words flow as they came, naturally, as if it had always been that way—as if it weren’t an excuse conjured up on the spot.
“You know how it is, right? I’ve never seen Ian sleeping. Even at Macdullin Abbey, you always went to bed later than me and woke up earlier.”
“Well... yeah, that’s true.”
“And here, we have separate rooms from the beginning. So I got curious for no reason. Does Ian sleep? And if he does, how does he look when he’s out?”
“Hmm...”
“Remember when you slept with Marie? You two even look a bit alike.”
“...Honestly, kinda.”
“But Marie’s sleeping face is so different from her usual self. Have you ever seen it?”
“No.”
“It’s really cute and so well-behaved. Like a baby angel, I swear. So I suddenly wondered—what does Ian look like when he sleeps? Does his face change as dramatically as Marie’s?”
“Ahem...”
Ian nodded, seemingly convinced.
A positive sign.
At the same time, his ears began to flush red bit by bit.
Vivian could easily guess what he was imagining.
Suppressing the laughter bubbling up, she pressed on.
“So that morning, when I saw you, that exact thought popped into my head. I got so curious that I stared and watched for a while... but I had no clue you were awake.”
“I see...”
Ian clamped his lips shut tight.
He was trembling with embarrassment.
Fortunately, it wasn’t the wild scenario he had imagined on his own.
Even so, his shame surged to the point where he wanted to bite his tongue.
Watching his ears turn fully red, Vivian felt an urge to tease him.
‘He’s cute...’
Just then, she recalled the conversation between Marie and Ian at Macdullin Abbey.
Marie’s mischievous quip had come first.
Do you even sleep like normal people?
And then Ian had shot back.
“What are you thinking about?”
As if she had never shed a tear, Vivian grinned like a mischievous imp.
Ian chuckled at the sight of her.
“Tell me what’s on your mind?”
“......”
Oh no!
Ian had been bested by Marie back then too.
Now it was Vivian’s turn to feel the embarrassment.
She had thought she was handling it shrewdly, only to come off as a fool.
Seeing her playful antics eased Ian’s mind considerably.
The misunderstanding had been cleared up between them, after all.
“So I was the one jumping to conclusions for no reason.”
“Ah, no... I did the same thing on my own, so... hehe.”
Vivian laughed awkwardly.
Ian let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
Embarrassing as it was, he had hoped it wasn’t true—and now he could count it as fortunate.
‘Dodged a bullet...’
It had ended with nothing more than his own mortifying misunderstanding. Nothing could be more relieving.
*
“I’ve come to see Felix.”
“Your status?”
“Penny, Master of the Managers’ Guild.”
The military police detention guard verified her credentials and granted entry without hesitation.
That was odd in itself.
Even amid the military police’s myriad ghost stories, this detention center was the most unsettling place of all.
To permit access after a mere identity check?
Absurd.
It would be impossible without prior orders to let anyone seeking Felix through.
Ian’s identity as Philip grew ever more certain.
He had specifically requested that Felix receive as much outside news as possible, delivered easily.
All so Felix could wither away slowly inside, hearing of the world beyond.
“This way.”
Penny followed the guard’s lead down the dreary corridor.
One wall featured wooden solitary cell doors spaced far apart; the opposite had guards posted at intervals.
One guard per door, it seemed.
With few doors and cells only on one side, there weren’t many guards.
Penny took brief note of the scene and cleared her mind.
This wasn’t the moment to dwell on it.
She was going to see Felix.
Which meant soon confirming the link between Ian and Philip.
Her heart raced, her body heating up.
To her, Philip was akin to a god.
She was on her way to verify that god’s very existence.
‘Ian... it’s you, isn’t it?’
She hadn’t even met Felix yet, but Penny already felt as if she had her answer.
In her heart, she had convinced herself that Ian was Philip.
“Here.”
The guiding guard halted before a door.
Passing the corridor earlier, unpleasant mutterings and sobs had emanated from the other cells.
This door was by far the loudest.
Penny focused on the sounds from within.
-Ah, Vivian. Yes, that’s her. The mage I discovered. Truly exceptional talent, wonderful personality—gets along splendidly with her comrades, an outstanding hero. Her abilities are...
It sounded like he was boasting to someone.
Penny’s exhilaration cooled in an instant.
‘...He seems unhinged. Not sure if conversation’s even possible.’
-Bang bang!
“Felix! Visitation!”
The guard knocked, then slid open the eye-level peephole.
Felix appeared, eyes bulging and pressed tight against the bars.
“Ah...! Pe... Penny! Penny! It’s the Master...!”
The guard stepped aside.
“Ah, Penny’s the one who founded our Managers’ Guild. She’s one of the two people I respect most.”
Ecstatic at the sight of her, he suddenly jerked his head unnaturally to the side and muttered.
Penny glanced at the guard, who merely shrugged.
“And the other one? Naturally... ah, that... the name...”
“Felix.”
“My memory’s...”
“Felix?”
“...Yes? Ah, Penny! You’re here?”
“Yes. I just arrived. Are you... all right now?”
“Don’t worry about me. Kind folks are here, listening to my stories. Haha.”
Felix kept twisting his head aside, repeating mutters to himself.
Even when looking at Penny, his gaze lacked focus.
Penny resolved to cut straight to the chase.
“Felix. Have you met Ian?”
“......”
“You have, right? What happened?”
“......”
“Philip... Ian is Philip, isn’t he...?”
Penny’s voice trembled as she asked.
The guard cocked his head at the name Philip, but she had no spare attention for him.
“Ian... Philip... Ian? Philip...?”
Felix murmured the two names in alternation.
“Ian... Ian with Vivian... I, Vivian was my pick, aa, no... He, he chose her. I was just...”
“Felix, please... This is important...”
“Uhaaak-!”
Felix suddenly shrieked.
“Sorry! I’m sorryyy-! I, I...!”
He bashed the back of his head against the wall, wailing.
Even that motion felt unnatural.
He stood rooted in place, merely tilting his head back.
The guard swiftly unlocked the door and tackled him to the floor, restraining him to prevent self-harm.
Penny’s eyes shifted from Felix to the solitary cell he’d been confined in.
It was so cramped that a single person standing inside would fill it completely.
Not a room by any stretch—a coffin, more like.
Opening the door released a stench; the floor was caked in filth.
Even basic bodily functions couldn’t be managed properly here.
Felix’s skin had a sickly yellow tint.
He was emaciated, bones jutting sharply.
Penny stared at him, then at the guard.
She wondered, purely and simply, what on earth had been done to reduce a man to this.
Noticing her gaze, the guard smirked.
“We didn’t do a thing.”
“......”
“Literally. No actions whatsoever.”
Minimal sustenance.
And the updates on Vivian, per Ian’s instructions.
Nothing more had been provided to Felix.
A pitch-black solitary cell, devoid of windows or light.
Only then did Penny realize why the cells had been spaced so far apart on the way here.
To ensure the prisoners couldn’t even stimulate one another.
Penny felt no particular pity for Felix.
She had reviewed reports of his extensive crimes; it didn’t seem unjust.
Even setting Vivian aside, he had trampled countless lives.
Nor was pity in her nature to begin with.
She simply shuddered.
‘Ian’s methods...’
What befalls those who touch his people.
This handling made it sink in to the marrow, with ruthless cruelty.
To mobilize the military police for it implied Philip’s authority...
‘Ah... no wonder the rumors swirl...’
It was only natural that few knew the reality here.
Speaking of what one witnessed upon leaving would be fraught with discomfort.
Beyond just divulging military police matters.
Words couldn’t convey the existence here faithfully.
It would amount to repetitive descriptions of immobility and stolen freedoms.
Most wouldn’t grasp why it terrified more than execution in certain ways.
‘Felix is scum, but this is lavish cruelty even for locking away his kind...’
In the end, it left only the conclusion: Ian, who could confine such a man here, was Philip.
Some might argue it was possible because he was the former 1st Hero Party manager.
But Penny was certain.
Because he’s Philip.
The fact that she alone knew Philip’s hidden side brought a smile creeping across her face.
One lingering question remained, however.
If Ian had done this, it would have leaked to the public somehow.
Yet Felix’s confinement here remained unannounced.
Penny knew only because of reports as Managers’ Guild Master.
“Mr. Philip... ah, no, Mr. Ian...! Sorry, I was wrong... I’m sorry...”
“Felix. Is Ian Philip? For sure?”
Penny asked in a quavering voice.
She had convinced herself, yet craved confirmation from Felix’s lips.
“Guhk... Penny? Ah, when did you get here...”
Felix’s gaze finally focused on her.
Thanks to being sprawled on the wide passage floor, freed from the cell.
“Ian...”
Felix mulled the name once more, then laughed through tears.
“He... is Philip...”
Thud.
Penny heard her own heart plummet.
“Ian... was Philip... The reason you founded the Managers’ Guild. The one all managers rightfully idolize. The savior come to this world...”
“God...”
A term she often used when extolling Philip.
The deity descended to save the world.
“That’s him...”
“Pr-proof...? Any proof?”
Penny’s voice trembled on the verge of scattering.
Felix’s vacant stare roamed the empty air.
“......”
He was recalling the three symbols Ian had presented back then.
But he couldn’t voice them aloud.
Even the memory choked the breath from him.
No answer came.
Yet from those eyes, obsessively scrutinizing specks of dust, Penny read the truth.
“Huh...!”
Penny gasped despite herself.
She felt on the brink of fainting.
What had Felix witnessed?
What had proven the bond between Philip and Ian?
Over the tapestry of her solitary imaginings, Felix’s hazy voice layered in.
With a face laughing amid tears, he spoke.
“An imperial decree certifying status equal to nobility... A Holy Flame Church apostle’s gold coin... And a magic seal authenticated by the Emperor and Pontiff... Who—which manager—carries three such items?”
Penny, who had listened silently, now breathed raggedly.
“Hah... haa...”
“Penny... I heard you seized the 1st Hero Party manager position...”
“......”
“What have you done...”
“......”
“If you hadn’t... I... aa, aaa-! No! It’s me—I was unworthy, ahk...!”
Penny rose wordlessly.
“Finished?”
“...Yes.”
She answered curtly and turned away.
The guard handed Felix off to others and caught up.
“Rules bar questioning outsiders’ talks. But just one: Philip... the Philip I know?”
“...What Philip do you know?”
“The manager who made the current 1st Hero Party possible, obviously?”
“......”
Penny halted abruptly and turned slowly.
Tears streamed from her narrowed eyes.
“No.”
Penny laughed through her tears.
“He is a god.”
At that fanatic declaration, the guard couldn’t press further.
*
Penny walked slowly.
Her destination: the training grounds.
If there had been friction with Felix, Ian was likely there.
Nothing registered in her vision.
Who passed by, what they said.
Her senses brimmed with Ian; no other thoughts could form.
Her secretary and coachman waited near the detention center, but she spared them no mind.
It would take half a day on foot to the training grounds, yet she pressed on.
She simply walked faithfully.
Toward the place where he would be.
Having left the detention center that evening, she didn’t reach the training grounds until noon the next day.
She hadn’t paused a single step until then.
Her mind was blank.
Only Ian and Philip filled her hazy consciousness.
Standing at the training grounds’ entrance, the vast field came into view.
“Ah...”
Very slowly.
Penny’s eyes widened.
Like beholding the world’s light and colors for the first time, her red pupils devoured the scene voraciously.
“Aaa...”
Far off at the field’s edge.
Mercy and Kati stood there.
Two women with red and orange hair were visible too.
And between them... Ian.
“Ahhuaa...”
Penny exhaled in rapture and sank to the ground.
Ian’s two heroes.
Vivian and Helena ran laps along the perimeter.
Many others ran alongside them.
Imitators of Ian’s training methods had surged in number.
All followed Ian.
Ian’s influence moved them all.
“As expected... you...”
Penny didn’t even blink.
Even as the wind threatened to dry her eyes, she didn’t notice.
In that moment, a sheet of paper fluttered before her.
📰 Superbia Managers' Monthly [Former 1st Hero Party Manager Ian Returns to Superbia, Forms New Party? No Details Yet on Ties to 1st Hero Party...] [First Hero, Mage Vivian. Star of the King Slime Subjugation Months Ago, Abused by Manager Felix...] [Second Hero. Helena, 30th in Macdullin Abbey Public Exam. He Spotted Her Value Early, Connected. Post-Meeting with Ian, She Climbed from 30th to 1st in Miraculous Exam Finish...] [Party Secures Artifacts and Holy Relics in First Official Dungeon Clear.] [Ex-Manager Felix, Who Abused Headline Mage Vivian. Confirmed Detained in Military Police Holding Center...] [Ian, The Next Philip? All Eyes Watch Closely...] “......”
Penny clutched the article so tightly it threatened to tear.
“Ah, aaa, ahhuek...!”
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Right before her eyes.
Upon this land.
In the flawed paradise of imperfect mortals.
Far off.
A god had manifested.
“Ahaeu...”
Having beheld the divine, Penny bowed her head.
She yearned to touch, to love—it was perfection itself.
And thus.
‘I wanted to shatter it...’
Utterly flawless, she wanted to mar it like gold, this being squarely in her sight.
‘You, how can you be... so dazzling...’
Penny drank in Ian—no, Philip—once more with her eyes.
His tale evoked a pearl of flawless spherical perfection, as if the very concept of flawlessness had been molded into human form.
‘Ah...’
Merely beholding sanctified her.
Imagining his ruin overwhelmed with emotion.
Penny wept endlessly.
She envisioned transplanting that act from fantasy to reality.
In the end, it was all imagination.
She had once idolized him, and that idolatry birthed the desire to destroy—only to realize far too late.
That he was forever beyond reach.
‘What have I been doing...’
Her answer to the guard echoed in her mind.
God.
The architect of the current hero system.
The one who directly helmed the 1st Hero Party—the epic of humanity’s finest heroes. Who else could claim the title of god?
And she had dared reach for that god, now painfully confronting her hubris.
Kicked from the heroes he had nurtured, he remained utterly lofty.
Penny, who had claimed his seat, had achieved nothing.
Not even maintenance was feasible.
There had been ennui from the opacity of his trail.
But it was impossible for her.
She could neither replace nor destroy him.
Her deeds lingered as petty faults.
The faltering 1st Hero Party came to mind.
With Ian—their sole binding force—gone, it was inevitable.
‘What have I done...’
Perhaps.
Truly, perhaps.
Without her, Ian might have remained unchanged.
Yet simultaneously, it was because of her that Ian now shone even more loftily.
A bizarre whirlwind of regret and ecstasy.
“Ahhueuu...”
In her tear-blurred vision, Philip’s form grew hazy.
Even so, Penny could precisely locate him in her sight.
‘Just the thought of reaching you has made me...’
Solely to behold Philip.
To destroy Philip.
To trample the perfection he had built—she had lived from that day a year ago until now for that.
All rightfully praised, shining alone—what hue would his face bear in downfall?
The mere fancy dizzied her.
That desire had driven Penny.
‘An illusion...’
All of it, mere vain delusion, she now realized.
Nothing but immature sabotage of Ian.
Penny’s memories rewound to roughly one year prior.
Rescued by the 1st Hero Party.
The origin point where she began chasing Philip’s footsteps.
*
“Eek...!”
A man clad in expensive armor vomited blood and collapsed.
His face, etched with shock, slowly turned backward.
There stood his mage comrade: short blonde hair, eyes narrowed.
“Pe, Penny...? What now... kuhk-!”
Another wave of organ-shredding agony surged.
The man, bleeding profusely, couldn’t finish and slumped dead.
Penny gazed down at him through half-lidded eyes and exhaled faintly.
“Huu. How dull. Humans—how can they be so incomplete and foolish?”
She despised human imperfection.
And thus, inevitably craved perfection.
‘I wonder when I’ll find it...’
And that day, she had encountered it.
Someone she thought might be a fragment of perfection.
“What, another dungeon stray?”
Her first meeting: Beatrice.