Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Banquet - 3
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Impellium merely smiled in response instead of answering.
If things continued like this, he'd gloss over it again.
I changed my question.
"Let's take it one at a time. How many party members did you have in total?"
"Hmm... Four, including me."
"Impellium, Adin, and Serad here. Who was the other one?"
It was just a light question to open the floodgates.
But in that instant, Impellium and Serad's expressions hardened coldly.
Their faces were so menacing that even I flinched.
Serad spoke up.
"Akteon Oscar. Impellium's third party member."
"Serad, that name..."
"What's the big deal? It's all in the past. We just need to keep quiet about what that Akteon did."
"......"
"Got it. I'll drop it."
The atmosphere somehow made me want to stop too.
'I should tuck that name away in my head for now. Akteon Oscar.'
At that moment, perhaps to lighten the mood, Serad spoke in a softer voice.
"Anyway, aren't you going to eat?"
"......"
"There's a limit to what I can tell you. Please don't push too hard."
"I have no intention of doing that. I haven't expressed it, but I'm genuinely grateful for your help so far."
"Hehe. You just did."
Feeling the tension ease, I tossed another question at Impellium.
"Will you tell me this much? Velosian seems to have taken Kaild with him."
"Hmm."
"He looked like he was planning to share his power with Kaild."
"Yeah."
"Why would he do that?"
Impellium chuckled lightly.
"Velosian passed Adin's fame to Kaild, but the gap between him and you is still huge."
"Wait. There's something I don't get about that part either."
I jumped in quickly.
"What do you mean by 'passing fame'? How is that even possible?"
"......"
"No one on the continent praises Kaild anymore, right? Yet his fame exceeds 800,000. How can someone no one welcomes or loves wield that kind of fame?"
"That's the terrifying thing about Velosian."
Impellium's face darkened slightly.
"Velosian didn't deceive humans—he deceived the world itself."
"......"
"No matter how much the continent's people refuse to acknowledge Kaild, the world will still perceive him as the 'acknowledged hero.'"
"......"
"That guy doesn't care one bit how humans see him. What matters is deceiving the world. Most of the falsehoods he created weren't about fooling humanity—they were gained by fooling the world."
A sudden intuition hit me.
Idria, who amassed power by deceiving humans.
Velosian, who gained power by deceiving the world.
This wasn't a matter of comparing raw strength.
Idria could never resist Velosian, no matter the method.
I took a moment to organize my thoughts before returning to the main point.
"Anyway, Velosian is sharing his power with Kaild? To fill in the gaps."
"Gaps... that's not quite the right word. Kaild can't convert fame into power."
Ah. Right, the Eye of Omniscience had said something like that about Velosian too.
Impellium continued firmly.
"Does he seem like the type to give up something precious?"
"Absolutely not."
"Exactly. His fame is literally just fame. Without the resolve like you all have, it's nothing more than a number."
"Then?"
"Velosian has to remake Kaild strong from the ground up. It'll be a boring, grueling task."
He dabbed his mouth with a napkin.
"And as you know, both he and Kaild are in the special realm."
"......"
"By the next special realm, Kaild will probably emerge on par with you. Maybe even stronger."
I shook my head, not understanding.
"Why go that far to help Kaild?"
"To help Idria, probably."
"Fine, let me rephrase. Why is Velosian helping Idria? Don't say it's because he cherishes her like a real daughter."
"As if."
Impellium burst into laughter as if I'd told a great joke.
But he soon turned serious and said,
"Figure that out yourself."
"Again?"
"There's something more important. I mentioned Velosian deceived the world, but you still don't grasp how incredible that is."
Impellium looked at Serad.
His eyes seemed to ask her to explain.
Sure enough, Serad spoke.
"Think about it, Maide. This world was made for humans and turns because of them."
"It doesn't quite click, but sure, that's how it seems."
"Yet he made Kaild's fame exceed 800,000, even though humans don't acknowledge him. Well... Kaild will probably squander it with more idiocy, but right now, it's undeniably massive fame."
"......"
"Don't you get what that means?"
I closed my eyes and pondered.
Fame is bestowed by humans.
But Velosian deceived the world, granting Kaild 800,000 fame regardless of human will.
'Ah, wait. No way?'
A chill ran down my neck.
I shifted in my seat.
"Let me ask it this way. Velosian's 'true authority' isn't just deceiving the world, right?"
"Huh?"
"Deceiving the world is just a byproduct of his authority. His real one is something more fundamental."
"Heh. What is it, then?"
I turned not to Impellium, but to my companions.
And declared to them all,
"Altering the laws of the world. That's Velosian's true authority."
The banquet ended in an unexpectedly pleasant atmosphere.
It had gotten quite serious when we learned about Velosian's true authority, but the delicious food and light conversations eased things.
Of course, the most helpful was Impellium's remark.
"He can't arbitrarily twist every law of the world. He can barely interfere with a few, and it's a struggle."
"......"
"Of course, that was enough to kill me and turn Adin into a celestial god."
"Speaking of which, did you really die? Where does this banquet hall and these dishes even exist?"
"That's..."
"'Grow the Eye of Omniscience and find out yourself,' right?"
"You've got my number now."
Anyway, the banquet came to an end like that.
After polishing off the dessert Serad brought out, my vision suddenly started to blur.
Time to head back, I guess.
"By the way, you seemed to be pondering the order: Kaild, Velosian, or Idria first."
"Yeah."
"Hmm. That's entirely up to you all, but here's one hint."
"......"
"Boosting Kaild's power will take Velosian at least three months. Well... he can grant the power quickly, but it'll exhaust him greatly. Recovery will take those three months."
It was decent info, but I grumbled to pry more.
"Even so, he can send his body out of the special realm."
"No. Not this time. Sharing a demon king's power with a human means altering laws. It's completely different from sharing with Idria, another False King of Lies."
"......!"
"Get what that means? For the next three months, he'll be stuck in the special realm recovering, blind to everything outside."
His smile as he said that was quite meaningful.
Like, 'You'd understand the implication, right?'
Before I could respond, Impellium continued.
"Well, in exchange, you won't be able to learn what's happening inside the special realm either. Even at S-rank, the Eye of Omniscience can't pierce a place that special."
"And yours?"
"I can see, but I won't tell."
"Stingy."
"I do have that side."
It's probably not stinginess.
From experience, he only reveals what my current Eye of Omniscience level can handle.
Maybe he can't reveal more, not that he won't.
I chuckled.
Then, peering through my blurring vision at Serad,
"The food was truly excellent."
"Hehe. Thank you. Worth the effort."
"If it's not too much trouble, could you teach Risel the recipes?"
Risel nodded vigorously.
Serad said,
"Sure. As a reward if you save the world."
Easy condition.
I was going to do it anyway.
The next morning,
We headed for the Emperor.
Once aboard the top-class carriage courteously sent from Alcahad, Jenia said,
"I'm hungry."
"You're always like that."
"Yes. Exactly."
"Not even hiding it anymore?"
"You know what I mean. That banquet we enjoyed yesterday."
Jenia had requested refills five times at the banquet.
Honestly, when she went for the sixth, I swear I saw a vein bulge on Serad's forehead.
Jenia must have noticed and held back.
"So, none of that food is left in your stomach?"
"Yes. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Impellium's residence isn't physically somewhere we traveled to."
"Where the hell is that place?"
No one knew, so we all just groaned.
Then Serein changed the subject.
"What do we do now?"
"Meet the Emperor."
"And after? Velosian is powering up Kaild."
"......"
"We were debating order last night, but how about storming the special realm and taking them both out? Honestly, Idria feels like small fry now."
"......"
"Wouldn't it be better to handle the immediate threat of Velosian over Idria, who we can deal with anytime?"
Facing a being like Velosian made Idria's name feel lighter by comparison.
But I shook my head.
"We don't even know if we can beat Velosian yet."
"Our fame is that high now. Not just you, Maide, but all of us."
"Velosian inside the special realm is the guy who even killed Impellium."
"Ah. Right."
"Yeah. We go for Idria first."
Silence filled the carriage.
Come to think of it, our journey began to kill the False Demon King Idria.
With it so close, emotions were running high.
Then,
Neril said something meaningful.
"Maide, you're plotting something, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"That's exactly the face you're making."
"You're amazing."
"It's not like I see you once every blue moon. What's the scheme?"
I gazed out the window.
The imperial palace was in sight.
"Maybe we can use Idria. To deal with the one under that palace."
"Use the Demon King?"
"Yeah."
"Won't work. Velosian is helping her. Sure, you drove a wedge between them last time, but..."
Neril crossed her arms and continued.
"Fundamentally, she'll know Velosian is on her side. You're the one trying to kill her."
"Hmm."
"From her perspective, it's obvious who she'd ally with."
I smirked.
"Then how did my wedge work?"
"That's..."
"I'm going to create a situation where she has no choice but to cooperate, even knowing she's being used. I have something in mind."
Everyone looked like they wanted to ask what.
But the carriage slowed, so we postponed.
The Emperor received us literally with open arms.
High officials knelt almost to pave the way.
At the end stood the Emperor.
Instead of his throne, he bowed deeply and said,
"Hero. Champions. It's an honor that you've come."
Who in the world could receive such deferential honorifics from an Emperor?
As history records, even the first three heroes didn't get this level.
Moreover, this same Emperor had used half-honorifics just days ago.
Flustered, I said,
"Your Majesty. Please, no need."
"No, this is necessary."
"......"
"You've surpassed even Kaild Wake, chosen by the Celestial God. In other words, you transcend divine authority."
"......"
"Beings greater than gods. Even 'hero' feels insufficient to describe you now."
I felt it yesterday too—was this the majesty of 1.2 million fame?
Of course, like yesterday, it wasn't particularly pleasant.
I responded businesslike.
"Thank you for the kind words. But I'd prefer to discuss practical matters now, if possible just with Your Majesty."
"Let's move. This way."
We headed to the garden the Emperor led us to.
No sign of the guardian soldiers from before.
The Emperor settled into position, ready to listen.
I said,
"Your Majesty invited us here today. What business brings this?"
"If it's not too much, I'd like the full details of this incident."
"......"
"All the Empire's priests are in an uproar. How mere human faith in you could avert the Celestial God's punishment."
Makes sense.
I pondered briefly.
My mind raced.
Soon, I said to Neril,
"Prepare Apent View. Velosian is holed up in the special realm, so he can't erase the footage this time."
"Huh? What footage?"
"The interview between me and His Majesty starting now."
Neril nodded and formed hand seals.
I turned to the Emperor.
"I'll tell you the truth. With my current fame, whatever comes from my mouth will be accepted without issue."
The time had come to reveal the truth to the world.