Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Honest Trap - 2
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Just hearing Maide's voice made Kaild feel like he was on the verge of losing his mind.
The inferiority complex he'd felt toward Maide ever since their first encounter.
The envy toward the bastard who'd steadily built his reputation despite all the interference and schemes thrown at him.
Now, an overwhelming gap where he couldn't even compete on reputation anymore.
The long-accumulated rage smoldered in his chest.
'Tch. Calm down.'
First, he needed to figure out where the voice was coming from.
He quickly scanned his surroundings.
Soon, he spotted the communication orb installed next to the village's central fountain.
'It's different from a regular communication orb's audio. So that's it—some kind of magical modification.'
That's how he'd given speeches to people across the continent during that mudslinging contest.
At that moment, Maide's voice came through the orb again.
-As the hero recognized by all of you, I sincerely wish for your peace and tranquility today, just as always.
How could he spout such corny nonsense?
Ptooey.
Kaild spat on the ground.
But the reactions of the people around him couldn't have been more different.
"It's Maide-nim."
"His voice really is something, isn't it?"
"I heard he's ridiculously handsome too."
"Shh. Can't hear. Keep it down."
Maide spoke again.
-Today, I have one major announcement for all of you.
But first, there's something I need to show you.
To explain ahead of time, this is footage of my candid conversation with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, ruler of the Empire.
After stopping the great flood last time, I had an audience with His Majesty.
I reported all the many secrets about the world that I've uncovered up to now.
His Majesty and I agreed that everyone on the continent needs to know these secrets.
The very act of you all learning the truth of the world will deal a massive blow to the Demon King of Lies.
Just like during the great flood, you'll be saving yourselves once again.
"Sniff, sniff."
Already, tears were appearing among the people nearby.
During the great flood, Maide had proclaimed that humanity needed to save itself.
For ordinary folk who'd always been on the receiving end of salvation, those words had struck a deep chord.
Hearing the exact same message again, the tears flowed naturally.
Kaild tensed.
'What the hell is he up to?'
-Now, I'll reveal the world's secrets to you through this footage.
In an instant, Kaild's field of vision shifted.
'Apent View!'
A spell he'd experienced once before, during Tetra's great earthquake.
In the altered view, Maide was holding a conversation with the Emperor.
Nothing surprising up to this point—he'd met with the Emperor himself, after all.
What was truly astonishing was the fact that this magic was being broadcast simultaneously to everyone on the continent.
"Huh? My vision just changed."
"The hero said he had something to show us. This must be it."
"Whoa. Incredible. I thought the same last time—how does he even do this? Can the hero use magic too?"
"Last time it was an illusion. He said this one's real."
"Probably the work of the Saintess of Coercion, right?"
At the last comment, Kaild bit his lip.
Of course it was the Saintess of... no, the Witch of Atrocities, Neril.
'But was that witch capable of something on this level? No way.'
She had to be leveraging reputation as power, just like him.
Why couldn't he do the same?
Kaild shook his head and refocused on the footage.
Maide in the video said,
"Hmm. Where should I even start?"
It wasn't a matter of where.
He laid it all out, from beginning to end.
That Idria had created Kaild Wake as a fake hero to gain power.
That the Heavenly God was actually a human named Adin Press.
That an unknown monster called Velosian lay dormant beneath the imperial palace.
And even...
"So Velosian is trying to raise up Kaild from scratch?"
"Yes. Things have split between Idria and Velosian. Velosian is a Demon King of Lies, just like Idria."
"......"
"To make the distinction, maybe Great Demon King is better. In any case, Velosian plans to use Kaild as a puppet."
At that point, the corner of Maide's mouth twitched.
"He might've been a rival once, but now I can't help pouring in my personal grudges. That guy's an enemy of humanity."
"......"
"How can a fellow human side with demon kings? Twice, no less."
"Hmm."
"It's not just my rough personality—anyone you ask in the world would say the same. He's trash."
The Emperor nodded vigorously in agreement.
"To think I once considered such a man a hero. On behalf of the Empire's citizens, I apologize."
"Please take that back, Your Majesty. It was all a scheme orchestrated by the Demon King of Lies. Falling for it would be the weird part."
"But I'm relieved now. Humanity has a new hope—namely, you, Maide-nim."
"Ahem, ahem."
Kaild staggered.
This footage was dangerous.
Velosian had managed to secure around 800,000 fame by funneling Adin's remnants to him.
But he'd also warned him.
Fame could drop again, so he needed to be careful.
'D-Damn it. So this is how it plays out.'
What now?
Should he kill Maide before it was too late?
By then, the footage had ended.
Maide's voice returned through the communication orb.
-Everyone. Did you see it clearly?
I swear on my name, my honor as a hero, and everything I've built up until now.
Everything I said in that footage is the truth.
Murmur murmur.
The area around him began to buzz.
"We... we heard way too much."
"Don't even know where to start."
"Kaild, obviously! Idria and Velosian aren't human anyway. Kaild is."
"Yeah. A human teaming up with demon kings."
"No way..."
Kaild's stomach churned.
With unsteady steps, he barely made it to a back alley.
"Urp—bleghhh."
There, he vomited up nothing but bile.
His empty stomach yielded nothing solid.
That only made Kaild feel even worse.
Even as his retching continued, Maide's voice droned on.
-Soon, my party and I will face Idria in battle.
Kaild froze in place.
-For that, we'll make our final preparations. We've chosen the 'Starting Line' as the spot.
That's right—the place that pathetic human Adin, masquerading as the Heavenly God, had declared forbidden.
You could call the Starting Line the birthplace of all the lies that have deceived you until now.
If someone asked for the spot thickest with deceit in the world, it'd top the list for sure.
We plan to steel our resolve against Idria there.
Once our resolve is set, the battle with Idria will begin.
I'll show it all to you.
Let's watch the demon king fall together.
I make this earnest plea to you once more.
This isn't about trusting me.
Trust in yourselves.
Let no more lies shake you.
Do that, and I'll deliver victory to humanity.
Thank you all. Have a good day.
Click.
Finally, that shithead Maide's voice cut off.
Kaild wiped his mouth.
Bile smeared his hand, but he didn't care.
'M-My reputation? Is my reputation still safe?'
Unlike Maide, he couldn't check his reputation stats.
But he knew intuitively.
It was plummeting at a perilous speed right now.
'What if I kill Maide now? He said he'd be staying at the Starting Line, right?'
Kaild wasn't a complete idiot.
He saw right through Maide's speech—it was bait to draw him out.
A trap. An blatantly obvious one.
'But...'
What if killing Maide could turn this around?
......
It could!
'Velosian handed me Adin's reputation after killing him.'
Same principle, right?
If he killed Maide, Velosian could hand over Maide's reputation too, couldn't he?
Still, Velosian had explicitly told him to stay hidden.
What should he do?
Thud.
He slumped down in the alley.
Clutching his head, he writhed in torment.
"Damn it. Shit! What the hell am I supposed to do?!"
We'd dug the trap under the guise of a speech, then headed straight for the Starting Line.
By the time we arrived, night had fallen.
We disembarked from the Agril and set up camp.
Once we'd lit the bonfire and gathered around it, Neril said,
"Somehow, it feels fresh coming back here."
"What does?"
"Every other time, we were on super high alert."
True—whether ripping an oracle from Adin or coming to reclaim Agril, we'd always staked our lives on it.
Risel fiddled idly with her trumpet and said,
"Hehe. Should I play? I actually handle instruments pretty decently."
"Huh?"
"My mom actually..."
Serein cut in sharply.
"If it's more bragging, pass."
"It's just a plain fact."
"Still, I'd love to hear it. It's too quiet otherwise."
Everyone turned to me.
Well, Adin's dead now anyway.
I nodded, and Risel brought the trumpet to her lips.
-Pabam. Paaaah.
The tone she produced was faintly pitiful, yet deeply emotive.
I'd only ever heard trumpets in army marches or parade fanfares, but it could make sounds this heartrending too.
We kept chatting, using Risel's music as our accompaniment.
Adwin asked,
"You think Kaild will actually show?"
"He will. No doubt."
"Because his reputation's getting chipped away in real time by your speech, right? I get that much..."
He scratched his head.
"But even a moron like Kaild would've spotted it too easily. That this is a trap."
"Hmm. Yeah, we were pretty blatant about it. Even spelled out the exact spot we'd be waiting."
"Even pumped up with power from Velosian and full of confidence, after getting wrecked by you so many times—doesn't he have any learning curve?"
I chuckled.
"I'd love to say no... but honestly, he probably won't come that easily."
"Huh?"
"But he'll latch onto some faint glimmer of hope."
His reputation dropping in real time.
Sure, he couldn't check the numbers himself, but wandering any territory would make it skin-crawlingly obvious.
That he was being endlessly outpaced by me.
A guy backed into a corner clings to whatever hope he can find.
"Killing me. That's Kaild's hope."
"Huh? Oh!"
"Right. Velosian offed Adin and shoveled the leftover scraps of reputation to Kaild. You can't transfer reputation from someone who's still alive."
"......"
"The more his reputation tanks, the more he'll have no choice but to come crawling to me. He'll try to kill me and steal my reputation. That sliver will be his last hope."
Hope is a terrifying thing.
Rationally, you'd never step into an obvious trap, but hope numbs that logic.
Offense picked up the thread.
"It's not just you he's after."
"Huh?"
"We've got reputations of our own, you know. Speaking of which, how are ours looking?"
Jenia chimed in with a teasing lilt.
"Our reliable original hero. Care to check?"
[Argh, seriously. The original hero was Imperium from the start.]
"How's Trail taking it?"
"Says it sounds good, wants to hear it more."
"Pfft."
Trail fumed that I'd put words in his mouth.
But he soon pulled up the display.
[Maide Mohan Cumulative Reputation: 1,220,900]
[Neril Slaine Cumulative Reputation: 727,160]
[Jenia Side Cumulative Reputation: 714,390]
[Adwin Ain Cumulative Reputation: 708,500]
[Offense Deik Cumulative Reputation: 690,970]
[Risel Vaint Cumulative Reputation: 689,400]
[Serein Magnus Cumulative Reputation: 676,880]
I read off the numbers, and Offense nodded firmly.
"See?"
"What're you getting at?"
"If the bait in our trap was just you, Maide Mohan, Kaild might hesitate. But look—six people here, each packing around 700k reputation."
My expression hardened.
"You hadn't considered that?"
"Uh, ahem."
"He won't just want you—he'll want all of us dead. Then beg to funnel every scrap of our reputation to himself. How much would that be...? Whew, too big to math out."
I was crunching the numbers myself when Serein tallied it on her fingers and spoke up.
"Over 5.4 million. Exactly 5,428,200."
A staggeringly astronomical figure that could drive you mad.