Chapter 137 - Retry

"W-What was that just now?"

"Did she get attacked? But there's no wound or anything..."

As the helmet of the 'self-proclaimed hero' who had been overwhelming the Demon King's executive with brute force shattered into pieces, the crowd began to murmur.

"...Huh? Something's off."

"I can't see well... it's all blurry."

But that only lasted a moment before confusion spread among them.

The hero's face, hidden beneath the helmet, appeared blurry to their eyes for some inexplicable reason.

"...Damn it."

As the atmosphere around them descended into chaos, Ruby suddenly clutched her face with her hands and bolted off somewhere.

"H-Hero? Where are you— Kyaa!?"

"W-Wait! That monster..."

Ignoring the panicked shouts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the crowd, Ruby reached the slave market's exit in an instant.

- BOOM!!

She smashed through the pillars that had collapsed in the pandemonium, blocking the way, with a single strike and swiftly escaped outside.

""........""

"Grrr..."

For a while, only the guttural cry of the monsterized Miho echoed quietly through the market.

Until Drimirkan, panting with his right arm severed, suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Uhaha, uhahaha! Uahahahahaha!!"

"As expected, as expected of you... I never imagined you'd have a scheme like this prepared..."

Though all eyes turned to him, Drimirkan muttered nonchalantly.

"To pinpoint the hero's identity like this—I truly never saw it coming. Impressive."

"D-Dr. Drimirkan. We need to escape this place now..."

"Remerno, at this point, even you must admit it."

Remerno, who had been trying to help him up and stop him, frowned at Drimirkan's words, as if his severed arm meant nothing.

"Just as that person said, the hero really is a woman."

"...D-Did you see her face?"

"Just a fleeting glimpse, but I was focused, so I caught the rough outline... Yes, definitely a woman."

"No, wait. Even if that's true, just because she's a woman..."

As Remerno started to protest, Drimirkan let out a hearty laugh and continued.

"Of course, that's not all. She overwhelmed me like this, and she has the Hero's Armament too. Without a doubt, that one is the hero."

"T-Then..."

"Yes. From now on, we need to track down an orphaned girl with ruby-colored eyes. I have a rough idea of her build, and I glimpsed her facial structure, so we might find her quickly."

As Drimirkan spoke with excitement, Remerno sighed.

"Sorry to ruin the mood, but... something still feels off."

"Pardon?"

"Well, if this was all part of the plan, it's weird that person didn't mention it... The hero's armament suddenly breaking is suspicious too, and..."

"D-Don't move!!"

Remerno, gauging Drimirkan's darkening expression and forcing out her opinions, quietly sighed as a shout rang out right in front of her.

"Let's get out of here first and talk."

"...Understood. All troops, retreat."

Drimirkan nodded and issued the retreat order to the Demon King's forces.

"H-Halt, or we'll attack... Whoa!!"

Then, he and Remerno vanished into thin air in an instant.

"...W-What?"

"Man, talk about seeing it all."

"At least they ran. I was worried they'd charge."

The imperial knights, who had approached the two in high tension, breathed sighs of relief.

"Don't let your guard down yet. The enemy is still here."

Clana, who had been glaring at Miho until then, spoke to them in a sharp voice.

""Yes, ma'am!""

"...Haa."

Clana glared briefly at the imperial knights, who finally gripped their weapons again, then turned to Irina, who had approached her side.

"Are all the slaves out?"

"Yeah, including the young slaves the combat executives left behind as they withdrew—they're all in the cabinets in each section."

"Phew... We've cleared the first hurdle. The real trouble starts now."

"Right. What to do with the escaped slaves at the evacuation point, and..."

Irina trailed off, glancing at Miho, who was still drooling, and finished.

"...what to do with that one."

Silence fell between them for a moment.

"...That's a spirit beast, right?"

"Yeah, and it's in a berserk, monsterized state. Plus, like Frey said, it has the ability to drain people's life force... One wrong move, and everyone here could be in danger."

Clana clenched her fists, about to say something.

"You haven't recovered your mana yet, so stay back. I'll handle..."

- Don't worry, girls.

"".......!!!""

As Frey's voice echoed in their minds, their eyes widened, and they cried out inwardly.

Frey! We were worried sick!

Where are you? Why haven't you been in touch?

With Irina joining in, Frey's reply came soon after.

- I'll explain later. For now, I need you to fight the kid in front of you.

Huh?

What?

Stunned by Frey's sudden statement, the two tilted their heads.

- Look up at the second floor.

The voice rang in their minds again.

""...Ah.""

They looked up simultaneously and understood as Frey waved something in his hand.

- No idea why, but she's monsterized right now. So I can control her with this.

What Frey was waving was none other than the Domination Stone.

The stone he had once risked his life to obtain was finally proving its true worth.

- That intruder earlier stole your thunder, right? Time to make an impression on everyone.

As Frey stroked the stone, Miho slowly raised her head and stared at the two.

- Mix in some flashy techniques, put on a show, then subdue her. And don't hand her over to anyone—transport her yourselves.

Got it.

...We'll do our best.

They nodded at Frey's instructions and quietly began gathering mana in their bodies.

"...Kania."

"Yes, Young Master."

Frey, who had been watching them quietly, spoke to Kania with a calm expression.

"You saw it too?"

"The ruby-colored eyes?"

"Yeah, ruby-colored eyes."

Frey nodded, and Kania replied with a dark expression.

"Given that she was wearing the same Hero's Armament as the one who fought the secret young lord... she's undoubtedly the same person, right?"

"Yes."

"I'll look into it. With a similar build and ruby eyes, it might not take long..."

"It's the Demon King."

"Pardon?"

Kania, supporting the limp Frey with a worried look, widened her eyes at his gritted words and asked again.

"What do you mean?"

"That Demon King bitch... is posing as the hero."

".....!"

As Frey confirmed it again, Kania's face filled with shock.

"How... how do you know...?"

"I saw it in the second Trial—the Demon King's ruby eyes."

"I-Is that so...? But just that alone..."

"Plus, she crushed Drimirkan overwhelmingly. That's proof enough. No idea what her game is, but the Demon King is impersonating the hero."

Kania bit her lip, lost in thought.

"...Speaking of which, we should stop by the orphanage we set up soon."

"The orphanage?"

"Yeah."

Frey stared at her quietly before murmuring in a low voice, then smirked faintly.

"There's someone very suspicious there."

- BOOM!!

And at that moment, a massive explosion roared from below.

"GRROOOOAAARRR!!!"

"Everyone, fall back! We'll handle this!"

"Back off if you don't wanna die! Hurry!"

The clash between Miho, controlled by Frey, and the two girls had begun.

- Shrrr...

- BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Brilliant golden mana, and fireballs fiercer than ever despite their insufficient quantity.

The two attacks wove flames through the air, signaling the end of the third main quest.

"Oh, right—thanks, Kania."

Frey, feeling a swell of emotion, suddenly smiled and thanked her.

"Pardon?"

"It was your idea to use the Domination Stone to control Miho. And you returned the life force she drained from me right back to me."

As Frey grinned, Kania looked troubled.

"N-No, that's not..."

"What?"

"I did barge in out of spite, open the door, and use the Domination Stone to restore your life force... but I wasn't the first to use it."

Frey tilted his head at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her words, then his expression froze.

"Then, the one who first subdued Miho... Wait. Why was Miho monsterized in the first place?"

"...Come to think of it, I vaguely heard an arrogant voice right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before losing consciousness."

"Before losing consciousness...?"

Frey murmured quietly at Kania's words.

"Right..."

He recalled Perloché, whom he'd seen just before blacking out, and paled as he muttered.

"...We need to find Perloché."

.

.

.

.

"...Hoo."

As the third main quest wrapped up.

"Heh, hehehe..."

Perloché Astellade sat alone in the dark basement of the slave market.

"Ehehehehehe..."

Letting out a chilling laugh.

"Success? Is it success? Did I finally succeed?"

It was a laugh creepy enough to make anyone break into cold sweat just from hearing it.

"Finally, finally... I can save him...?"

But the tears streaming from her eyes—eyes that weren't smiling at all—made the laugh go beyond chilling into grotesque.

"Who is he? Who am I supposed to protect? Why can't I remember? Do I need to remember? Was that it?"

After clawing at her head for a while, alternating between laughter and sobs, Perloché—

- Creeeak...

"Hello! Frey!!"

—beamed widely and shouted as the basement door opened.

"...It's me, Serena."

"Huh?"

But the one who entered wasn't the Frey she'd expected—it was Serena.

"I got here as fast as I could and skimmed the situation, but it was already over. So I came to where I thought you might be..."

"Who are you?"

Serena, speaking calmly, froze as Perloché asked in bewilderment.

"...Serena. Serena Luna Moonlight."

"Aah~!"

Serena stood there blankly for a moment before murmuring softly, and Perloché clapped her hands.

"Sorry! I forgot!"

Her tone was the usual airheaded one, but Serena couldn't smile.

"You..."

"Yes?"

"...How many times is this?"

Perloché tilted her head at Serena's baffling question.

"What do you mean?"

"How many times have you repeated to create this situation?"

With that, Serena flipped open the last three pages of the diary she'd been holding.

- Thud!

"I've never gotten this far under these conditions before."

Serena closed the diary after reading the last part and spoke softly to Perloché, whose eyes had returned to their decadent gaze.

"'I don't care if my legs hurt or my arms hurt.' 'We had a meeting.' 'I'll think about it later.'"

"...Ha."

"Regression."

"Hahaha, hahahahaha!!"

Perloché burst into laughter at those words, and Serena asked in a trembling voice.

"...So, how many times?"

"I forgot."

Perloché replied with a hollow laugh.

"How could anyone remember all that?"

"......."

"So, I'm starting the count over from now."

".....!"

"Forgot to grab the diary, so no choice."

Perloché gazed at Serena, who stared wide-eyed and tried to speak, and murmured softly.

"...Retry."

And the world flipped.

"This time... can I atone to you?"

Along with her true voice—not the usual airheaded one, but filled with sorrow and regret.