Playing Hard to Get

She's got expensive tastes.

Kill the Hero?

As a rule, NPCs in the game treated Heroes like visiting royalty. A Hero was an icon of hope in the war against the Demon King, heir to a prestige built by every Hero who had come before. They were the ones who had stood between humanity and annihilation in every hour of crisis. You only had to look at the Gilbert family — swollen with pride as descendants of a Hero — to understand the weight that name carried.

But even among the Allied Forces, not everyone was an unconditional champion of the Heroes. There were always those who put their own interests first.

Minions.

They were the ones who struck secret pacts with the Demon King's army and worked to sabotage the Heroes from within. Day to day, they played the part of loyal allies — supportive, cooperative, all smiles. But the moment personal gain entered the picture, or the Demon King's whispers grew too sweet to resist, they turned traitor without a second thought.

I'd learned that the hard way. Back when I first started playing, clueless as they come, a minion stabbed me in the back and I paid for it. I still remember how the game's difficulty spiked after getting betrayed at the worst possible moment.

Some players just wanted a casual run, so you could toggle minions off in the difficulty settings and they'd never appear. I never bothered changing it. It was just a game, I figured. Might as well enjoy the full content. Now that it had become reality and I was living it, I was starting to regret not turning them off.

I checked the information of the girl standing in front of me.

Rebecca.

She was a relative of mine. We'd met a long time ago. Second cousins, maybe? Thinking back, it must have been six or seven years since I'd last seen her face.

That aside, checking her info confirmed what I'd expected — she was a minion of the Demon King. The proof was sitting right there in the open: the Black Magic skill. Even minions didn't usually learn black magic that blatantly. She was bold, I'd give her that.

Rebecca must have felt my gaze, because she turned her head and our eyes met. I'd been staring too long.

I didn't want her getting the wrong idea, so I decided to greet her first.

"Hey. Long time no see."

"Alvin? You've changed so much I barely recognized you. You used to have more of a cute look about you."

"I almost didn't recognize you either, Rebecca. You've got a real lady's air about you now."

Black hair with a faint bluish sheen, and eyes to match — the hallmark of the Rupert family. In my memory she'd been a complete little kid, but the woman standing in front of me now had the look of a cold, world-weary office worker.

"Have you been to see Father?"

"That's right. I was just on my way back from delivering a letter from my father, along with our thanks for receiving us as guests."

"From Duke Rupert?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I'm going to go rest — we only just arrived. I'll see you later."

With that, Rebecca turned and went back to her room.

"So that was Lady Rebecca."

Faran had kept her head bowed until Rebecca and her attendant were completely out of sight. That was her question.

"Yeah. It's been a really long time since I last saw her face. I didn't even recognize her at first."

"I see."

Faran stared for a long moment in the direction Rebecca had gone, then followed me into Father's study. Maybe she'd sensed something from Rebecca as well.

"Father, I've just returned."

"Ah. Well done, Alvin. You've worked hard."

Father, who'd been seated at his desk attending to work, looked up and welcomed me in. It looked like he'd just been reading Duke Rupert's letter.

"How was the dungeon?"

"Thanks to the adventurers, we made it back safely. We were lucky enough to come away with quite a bit of treasure, too."

Faran stepped forward and handed Father a report detailing the results of the expedition.

"Oh-ho."

Father studied the report carefully, then let out a small sound of admiration.

"Alvin, I never imagined you'd accomplish this much. What you told me before wasn't just empty boasting."

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought I heard the sound of Relation Points being earned from Father. If he'd been a target of the skill, our relationship level probably would have gone up.

The son he'd known as nothing more than a wastrel had changed overnight and was now producing result after result. Of course, he'd started looking at me more favorably after I'd gone on that subjugation with the knights. But he hadn't ruled out the possibility that I'd slip back into my old ways. He'd been watching me. If someone I knew suddenly became a completely different person overnight, I wouldn't find it easy to believe either.

But I'd been consistent this whole time. Father had watched me keep every promise I'd made, and it seemed he'd finally decided to believe in me for real.

"You are the proud eldest son of the Gilbert family."

Father came over and embraced me. Even searching my memories, this was the first time he'd ever shown affection like this. He seemed like someone who loved his family more deeply than most. I couldn't even imagine how much it must have hurt him, watching the old Alvin all that time.

"I see the Rupert Ducal House has come to visit."

"It seems they intend to participate in the upcoming Hero Summoning Ritual."

Father paused mid-sentence, looking troubled. Then he picked up the letter from his desk and handed it to me.

"The Hero's Relic that the Rupert Ducal House was supposed to bring... has been destroyed."

"The relic?"

The Hero's Relics were the weapons once wielded by Heroes of the past. Six relics in total had been passed down through their descendants. The Rupert family, as descendants of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Hero themselves, had been safeguarding one of them — and now someone had destroyed it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This was classified information of the highest order. If word got out, it would be a stain on the Rupert family's honor. No wonder Father had hesitated to show me. Of course, it would come to light before the summoning ritual anyway, but beyond the family's reputation, it was bound to cause immediate chaos.

The Hero Summoning Ritual required the relic as a medium. Which meant it was an absolutely essential item for this ceremony — and it had been destroyed.

"How is it even possible for a relic to be destroyed?"

The Hero's Relics — those weapons — could only be used by Heroes. They were precious artifacts said to have been bestowed by the gods. Even in the game, they were the only items with indestructible durability.

Something wasn't right.

"Well, that's what they said, so they told us to be careful. They've sent people they trust — including their own daughter — to help. We'll need to stay on guard until the summoning ritual."

I'd thought there were an awful lot of Rupert knights around for a simple visit. They'd been sent to reinforce security.

"But Alvin, I'd like you to take charge of security. As you can see, I'll have to leave the house frequently to prepare for the summoning ritual, and you're the only one I can trust. I'll speak to Sir Emond myself."

I guess he really did believe that blood was the only thing you could trust. The truth was, I already had a pretty good idea who'd caused this. I didn't hesitate long. I accepted the assignment and left the study.

"Faran, I need you to look into Rebecca."

"Understood."

Faran nodded. She didn't ask a single question. She simply vanished.

Evening.

I'd finally come home after a long time away, and with the visit from Mother's relatives — the Rupert family — we all sat down to dinner together. A lavish spread awaited us, same as always: the kind of food that crossed your mind at least once when you'd been living away from home. I'd missed this.

Mother was the smiling type even on ordinary days, but seeing her own family seemed to make her even brighter. We exchanged greetings and caught up on each other's news, and then—

"Alvin, are you planning to apply for the Hero's companion recruitment this time as well?"

Rebecca asked me. I'd been eating quietly until then.

"I am. I assume you are too, Rebecca?"

The Rupert family, like the Gilberts, carried a deep pride as descendants of a Hero. Because of that, Rebecca had grown up under the same heavy expectations I had. The old Alvin had crumbled under those expectations and become a wastrel.

"It's my duty as a member of this family. You could say I've lived my entire life for this, couldn't you?"

With that, Rebecca looked down at the wine glass in her hand. A deep crimson wine filled the glass.

"I can't wait to meet the Hero. Let's both do our best, Alvin."

And with that, our conversation ended.

After dinner, we each retired to our rooms. Something about Rebecca's demeanor when she'd talked about the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hero hadn't sat right with me. I needed to check what she was really thinking, one more time. I decided to go find her room and talk to her.

The hallway outside the room she was using. A maidservant came hurrying out of her door. I was about to call out to the maid to have her fetch Rebecca, but she was in such a rush that she was gone before I could say a word. I decided to knock myself.

I stepped up to the door — and that's when I heard her voice.

"Haa... That fucking bitch Rachel is playing so damn hard to get."

Rachel? That had to be one of Rebecca's maids.

"I'm gonna fuck that bitch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sooner or later."

I think I just heard something I really wasn't supposed to hear.