What Kind of Place is Dilbart?
The hero pushed the saint away, clearly signaling his refusal. "Yes... I understand, Ian-nim..." The saint trudged off into the distance, shoulders slumped.
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I felt sorry for the saint, but there was no helping it. As the hero, I had to apologize to Seria no matter what.
"If you want to kill me, I'll do my best to run away."
"Hah. So the hero cares about his life after all?"
"No. It's not just about my own life."
"What do you mean?" Seria demanded, staring at the hero.
The hero met her gaze calmly. "My life isn't mine alone. I was summoned to the empire as the hero, chosen by the gods to slay the Demon King and bring peace to humanity."
"Hah. So you can't die for the sake of humans?"
"That's right. Though it's not that I can't die at all. I must exist as humanity's hope. So at the very least, I can't die 'right now.' However, once the Demon King is defeated and peace returns to humanity, you can take my life whenever you want."
Seria frowned. "You're telling me to wait until then?"
"If you want to kill me, then yes."
Seeing the hero's unwavering resolve, Seria made a disgusted face. "Fine. It was just something I said on a whim anyway. I never planned on getting revenge on humans in the first place."
After all, the one who deserved to pay had already been dealt with by my own hands.
"Besides, I have to find the golden-haired demon who killed my parents. That's why I became a demon hunter."
The golden-haired demon with bronze skin who killed my parents and cursed me with solitude. Finding him, making him suffer the same pain, and killing him—that was my life's goal.
"Haaam. Are you two done talking?" The clueless dragon woke up from her nap.
"I didn't catch everything, but the important part is that you're only two hundred years old, right? You're still a kid."
Crack. I could've sworn I heard something snap.
"Yeah, that's right, monster dragon. I'm two hundred and twenty-three. But you must be at least a thousand, right? Being an ancient dragon and all, you old fossil."
"Huh? What did you just say? Want to repeat that, kid?"
"Must be nice being so old. Fossil dragon."
Angelica's expression vanished. "I'm only seven hundred and twelve, you know? In dragon years, that's basically adolescence. A-do-les-cence."
Seria let out a mocking laugh. "Pfft. What are you talking about? Didn't you polymorph? Since you're in human form, we should count your age as a human. Idiot dragon."
Cracks began forming in Angelica's blank expression. Her cheek twitched as she shouted at Seria, "Then that makes you a grandma too, doesn't it? You grandma hunter. And didn't anyone teach you not to pry into a lady's age? Age-reversed grandma hunter?"
"Ha? What did you say? You're the one who started with the age talk, you delinquent dragon."
"Haa..." The hero clutched his head and sighed. This was no different from children bickering. He couldn't believe these two were beings who had lived dozens of times longer than him.
"You braindead dragon!"
"Moron hunter."
"That's enough! Both of you, stop. Dawn will break soon. Sirmiia should have recovered by now, so we need to head back to the merchant caravan."
At the hero's words, Angelica and Seria stopped fighting, though they continued glaring at each other.
'At least they have some sense of propriety. That's a relief.'
Thwack. Angelica smacked the back of Seria's head.
"You damn dragon!"
Seria lunged at Angelica in fury.
'Or maybe not?'
The hero was genuinely worried about whether it was safe to go hunt demons like this.
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"Huuu... I'm drained."
"Just hang in there a little longer, Sirmiia."
Sirmiia sprawled across the carriage seat, sighing repeatedly. We were currently waiting in line for inspection to enter Dilbart. The only problem was that the line was ridiculously long.
"Can't we just use the saint or hero's authority to cut through?"
"I'm sorry, Sirmiia. I don't think it's right for me to skip the line just because I'm the hero while everyone else is waiting honestly..."
The hero bowed his head and apologized.
'Now I feel like the bad guy here.'
Though technically, as a demon, I was the bad one from the hero's perspective. Almost said that out loud. Was he really joking around in such a time-sensitive situation?
"Damn it. Not this 'model hero' nonsense again?"
After more than two hours of waiting, I finally lost my temper. This crazy hero. There was a limit to everything.
"Every previous hero except you used their authority just fine. Don't you know time is life for a hero's party? We need to resupply here and head out tomorrow to save Julius, you insane hero."
The hero took critical damage from my swearing and instantly deflated, mumbling that he understood before stepping out of the carriage.
"I'll go speak to the soldiers at the checkpoint... Please wait just a moment."
When he said "just a moment," I caught him glancing nervously at me. Was that my imagination?
"Sirmiia... I'll run there and back quickly. Please wait just a moment..."
Yeah. Definitely not my imagination.
"Ian-nim! I'm fine, so take your time!"
The saint tried to comfort him, but it had zero effect. The hero couldn't hide his sulky expression as he dashed toward the city gate. A few minutes later, we entered Dilbart at a speed that put express lanes to shame.
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Dilbart was a city where culture and industry flourished. Every corner of the city had a beautiful appearance, and the clothing of passersby was distinctly different.
"This place has developed quite a bit as well..." the hero muttered in admiration.
It had already been decades since the cultures of Earth had taken root in the Adelan Empire and other cities thanks to previous heroes. There was nothing particularly surprising about it now. Of course, coming from the demon realm, I was quite amazed by Dilbart.
"Whoa. Angelica, what's that?"
"That's a mana-powered electric dil—"
"...I see."
I shouldn't have asked. I had no idea why something like that was proudly displayed in a showcase, but I decided not to dwell on it. There were plenty of other things to see in Dilbart besides that.
Game rooms using electric-attribute mana, various restaurants and street stalls referencing Earth's recipes. Seeing all this made me realize just how boring the demon realm was compared to the human world.
Our sightseeing in Dilbart was brief. Upon arriving in the city, we eventually parted ways with the merchant caravan.
"Thank you so much for everything. This is your payment for escorting us this far."
"No, how could I possibly accept money from the hero? If anything, I'd be grateful if you remember the Leveto Caravan in the future. And if you have time after your journey ends, please visit us. We deal in various perfumes, so if you have a lady you're seeing, it could help create wonderful memories."
"How could I forget someone who helped me in my time of need? Don't worry. I'll definitely stop by."
The caravan leader bid us farewell with impeccable politeness until the very end.
'Mister...'
As expected of someone leading an entire caravan, he was sharp. If he'd accepted money, the hero would have forgotten about the Leveto Caravan in no time. But instead, he valued connections and trust over payment. Given the hero's personality, he would surely visit the caravan at least once after defeating the Demon King. It had been a win-win relationship where he'd simply used us as escorts, but with a single remark, he'd left the hero with a sense of debt while also polishing his caravan's image. He was quite the businessman. And that was exactly why I disliked merchants. They never performed good deeds without expecting something in return, and every action was calculated.
After parting with the caravan, we headed straight for the finest luxury inn in Dilbart to secure lodging. However, we hesitated at the entrance for a while.
-Dystopia Hotel.
"What kind of hotel name is Dystopia? Damn it."
"I find it rather unsettling as well."
Both Angelica and I were extremely reluctant to stay at Dystopia.
"If Sirmiia doesn't like it... we can find somewhere else..."
The hero answered me in his dejected mode. Was he still acting like this just because I scolded him earlier? How pathetic.
"Haa... Let's look at other inns first."
I led the group on a thorough search of Dilbart.
-Rap* Hotel
-Pregnancy Hotel
-NTR Hotel
"Hmm... Sirmiia. It's a bit awkward to say this, but the previous hotel seems better."
"Why NTR Hotel? Let's go there. I heard the previous hero even built it."
The hero's expression darkened further.
"This has an even worse meaning than Dystopia..."
What did he mean?
"It says the meaning below the hotel sign. Network Timing Reference? What does that mean?"
I read the text written beneath the sign. Since I didn't understand what it meant, I asked the hero.
"It's just nonsense. That's not what it means. Sirmiia, please... I'm begging you. I absolutely do not want to stay here."
Seeing the hero's expression rotting in real time, I reluctantly decided to stay at Dystopia Hotel.
"Hang in there, hero oppa."
Even after entering the lodging, the hero sat on the sofa with his shoulders slumped for a long time. Unable to watch any longer, Seria tried to comfort him. But even her words couldn't lift his drooping shoulders.
I ate snacks from the table while gazing out at the city through the window. Dilbart viewed from the twenty-first floor through the massive glass windows was even more beautiful than from below. The tourist brochure we'd received at the city entrance had mentioned how lovely Dilbart was under the moonlight—I definitely had to see it. And once we rescued Julius, we absolutely had to come back and enjoy ourselves. Dilbart exploration had been added to my bucket list.
"Uuuu..."
I stretched and opened the door to enter the bedroom. We were staying on the twenty-first floor, the highest and best floor in Dystopia. Moreover, unlike other rooms, we had an entire floor to ourselves, so it was incredibly spacious, and there was a lounge right next to it, perfect for viewing the city. Most importantly, there were multiple bedrooms attached, allowing everyone to rest comfortably in their own rooms.
The moment I stepped into the room, Angelica, who had been preparing dinner in the kitchen, gave me a cold command.
"Sirmiia. Take a shower first before coming in."
I froze in the doorway, unable to move. Hiding my pounding heart and the cold sweat running down my back, I answered Angelica as usual.
"Y-yes...!"