Chapter 369: Another Hero
Chapter 369: Another Hero
The words almost escaped my lips, but I managed to bite them back with every ounce of my patience.
At the end of the day, this punk might have some important information.
It’d be better to maintain a friendly attitude if I wanted to get any information out of him.
So, I decided to start with what I’d already planned to say.
“Fuhaha. Then prepare yoursel—”
“Hold on. I have something to say first.”
“What is it? You’re not getting scared now, are you?”
Wait, no. I only agreed to talk to you one-on-one. I never said anything about a duel.
Why does he keep spouting that nonsense? Is he under some kind of delusion?
“You’ve been hostile toward me since the moment we met. After giving it some thought, I’ve concluded it must be about the princess. I heard you’re a Hero, and surely a Hero wouldn’t be so pathetic as to act hostile just out of simple jealousy.”
“O-Of course not!”
…His reaction is suspicious.
Don’t tell me he’s really just picking a fight out of jealousy?
“That’s why I wanted to tell you—if that’s what this is about, you have no reason to be hostile toward me.”
“W-What are you talking about now?!”
“It’s true. I’m not interested in the princess. If you have eyes, you can see for yourself that I was forced into it by her in the first place. I have no plans to go to the castle, and I won’t have anything to do with the princess from now on. So don’t mind me, and just go for it with the princess.”
I told him exactly what I had planned to say.
Of course, I didn’t go so far as to mention whether he could satisfy a succubus-like princess with that tiny thing of his. Why am I such a kind person?
“Y-Y-Y-You bastarrrrrrrd!”
But despite my kindness, the trash’s face crumpled even more, turned bright red, and he screamed.
“Are you mocking meeeeeee!”
“W-What’s this, all of a sudden?”
“Did you think that I, of all people, wouldn’t know that you told the princess—Princess Felicia—that you would take her if she didn’t sleep with anyone until you met again?!”
……Huh?
At his furious shout, my brain just short-circuited for a second.
“B-B-Because of you, I… I’veeeeeee!”
He screamed, something close to a shriek, his voice trembling as if he were about to die from the injustice.
Seeing him like this, I almost feel a little sorry for him…
No. Is this something I should be sorry for?
Sorry. Until you mentioned it, I’d completely forgotten I even said that to the princess.
If I say this out loud, it’ll just provoke him, right?
No. Wait a minute. The fact that this guy is screaming like this here means…
“Wait. You’re saying the princess told you that? No, more importantly, she’s actually keeping that promise?”
He didn’t answer, just glared at me with eyes full of rage.
That alone was as good as an answer.
No way. That sex-crazed princess is actually abstaining from sex?
Just how long has it been since I last saw her!
Princess Felicia. Just how badly are you dying to do it with me?
I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.
“But if you were to disappear, the princess would no longer need to keep her promise…”
And he muttered this in a chilling voice.
Looking at him now, his eyes were completely crazed with rage.
I pretty much grasped the situation.
Those are the eyes of a male starved for sex.
No. If he’s that starved, he should just go screw a servant. He’s a noble, so he must have a maid or two at home, right?
It’s not like he can only have sex with the princess… No. Come to think of it, it was strange.
Judging by his looks and the size of his dick, this guy is definitely not the type to be good at sex.
And yet, that hedonistic princess is having sex with him. And not just once.
Is there some reason I don’t know about?
Anyway, I decided to calm him down first.
If I left him alone, he looked ready to charge at me any second.
“Hey. Calm down. Who do you think I am? I’m the man Diana loves so much she calls me ‘darling’ over and over. You must have heard the rumors in the castle, right? And you’re still going to attack me? You, the guy who couldn’t even attack properly because you were afraid of damaging Diana’s carriage? Do you really think Diana would just stand by and do nothing?”
“Ugh…! Hiding behind a woman, you despicable coward…!”
Just as I thought. No matter how angry he gets, it seems his fear of Diana doesn’t change.
In a way, he was consistent.
“No. It’s not cowardly, I’m just stating a fact. And I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’m a messenger of the Goddess, semi-officially recognized by the church. I’ve even spoken directly with the Pope. Why do you think a Cardinal is sticking with me? If you mess with me, the church won’t sit idly by either.”
“Grrrgh…”
He gritted his teeth and glared at me as if I were his parents’ murderer.
I gave up on trying to get on his good side.
Without knowing the details of his situation, there was nothing more I could do.
Silvia, who was right next to me, probably knew what was going on, but I couldn’t just ask her right in front of him.
Can’t be helped. Since it’s come to this… I guess I’ll have to solve it with force.
“Anyway, I had business with you too. As the Goddess’s messenger, it’s an important matter related to the fate of the world. As the Saint, I request your cooperation, Hero.”
“…What? Cooperation?”
“Yes. There’s something I want to ask…”
“Khuhuhahahahat!”
Has this guy finally lost his mind?
“Good! Great! So there’s something you want me to tell you, is that it?!”
“Yes. As the Goddess’s messenger…”
“That stuff doesn’t… well, it’s not that it doesn’t matter, but I trust that someone who calls himself the Goddess’s messenger wouldn’t force my mouth open, right? I trust you won’t do something so crude as to use the church to pressure me.”
Just say it doesn’t matter, you pathetic loser.
Well, then again, in a world like this, it’s obvious what would happen if you said something related to the Goddess didn’t matter.
Still, isn’t that a bit too pathetic for a so-called Hero?
“Anyway, since it’s come to this, a duel!”
“…What?”
“If you beat me, I’ll tell you this information you want! But if I win…!”
“Ah. Fine. Whatever. I’ll grant you whatever you want. So when do you want to do it? Right now?”
“…Huh? Wait. Really? You don’t seem to understand, but I am the one and only Hero in this world. Even the leader of the Arachne Clan, said to be the strongest adventurer, defers to me when it comes to combat…”
“I get it, so let’s just do it. When?”
When I immediately agreed, he became visibly flustered and started listing his credentials.
Miriel’s level is estimated to be 250, so it was a little surprising that this guy, at a mere level 198, could beat her. No, thinking about Sara, I guess it’s understandable.
In any case, the thought of losing to this guy never even crossed my mind.
“H-Hey! Silvia Barbet! A-Aren’t you going to stop him?!”
“Hyaa? Hah. Ahem. I believe in you, Guwon-niiiiim…”
Silvia snapped out of it for a moment at his shout and put on a blank expression, but when I tightened the arm I had around her waist, her expression softened again.
Yes. Yes. Silvia is so cute.
“What’s the matter? You’re the one who suggested it. Don’t tell me you’re getting scared now?”
“W-Who’s scared…! Let me be clear, what I proposed is a fair and square one-on-one duel. No interruptions from anyone, a contest purely between your abilities and mine.”
“You sure talk a lot. Hey. I may be from another world, but I know that much. I get it, so when are we doing this? Right now… no. Wait. I can’t right now. I have a date. Let’s do it tomorrow. Tomorrow. It’s not like you have anything better to do, right?”
“I-I’ll have you know I’m a very busy man! But fine. You said tomorrow. The place?”
“Come to my place anytime tomorrow. You know where it is, right?”
“Hah! I knew it. You want me to walk right into your den, is that it?!”
He looked at me as if to say, ‘I should have known you’d pull something like this.’
No. I’m just too lazy to go out.
“Ah. Then you pick the place. Where’s good?”
“…Umm… The castle… No, the princess is there… Uuuuuhm… Th-Then let’s do it at my mansion…”
“See, you’re doing the same thing. I don’t know where your mansion is. So you should just come to me. Or what? Don’t tell me you think our Diana would set up traps in the mansion? Are you insulting our Diana right now?”
“Grk! F-Fine. The supreme Archmage would never resort to such despicable means. You said tomorrow. You’d better wash your neck and wait.”
“Unlike you, I have a lot to do with women, so I’m always clean. Don’t worry. Only a guy like you with nothing to do with women would neglect his hygiene like that.”
Now that he’s promised to give me information if I win the duel, I could provoke this punk as much as I wanted without any problems.
I decided to let out all the things I’d been holding back.
“I-I wash properly too!”
“Oh, that was you after washing? Sorry. You looked so grimy I thought you hadn’t. I guess you just look like that naturally.”
“Y-You bastard! You’ll only be able to run that mouth of yours until today!”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it, so just go already. I have a date with my Silvia.”
“M-My Silvi… Ah, augh…”
“Grrrrrrrgh! I’ll k-kill…”
“I get it. Do it tomorrow and go. Don’t you have anything to do?”
It felt like dealing with him any longer would be pointless, so I left it at that and started heading back to the shopping district with Silvia.
Even for trash like him, it seemed he had no intention of attacking me from behind now that we’d agreed to a duel. He just stood there, trembling with rage.
Anyway, one way or another, things worked out well.
By tomorrow, I should be able to get information about the Demonoids.
It was great for me, but one question remained.
What kind of nerve does that guy have to challenge me to a duel?
If my guess is correct, that guy probably frequents the Dungeon.
Judging by his looks and his ‘thing,’ I can’t imagine he leveled up through sex. He probably used the Hero’s unique trait of leveling up quickly through combat.
And in this city, the best way to level up through combat is, without a doubt, to go to the Dungeon.
In other words, he definitely goes to the Dungeon.
If that’s the case, he must have heard the rumors about me.
After all, the hottest topic heating up the Guild lately is the discovery of the secret passage via monster penis.
It was hard to believe he hadn’t heard the rumors about me at all.
Unless he hasn’t been to the Dungeon at all recently.
Does he have some kind of countermeasure?
No. That’s hard to imagine, too.
Even Diana hasn’t figured out the exact mechanics of my skills yet.
And that guy has a countermeasure for my skills?
No way.
But if not, then what is it?
With a face like that, if he gets hit by my skill, I don’t think it’ll end with him just cumming.
Honestly, my biggest worry about tomorrow’s duel wasn’t anything else, but having to be careful not to make him die from sex.
Even with the level difference, his Charm stat was in the teens at best. No. Considering that appearance was after level-up corrections, it might even be in the single digits.
Though I have no idea how that’s possible for a Hero, whose stats all increase with every level up.
A mistaken Saint’s Touch… No, maybe even the weakest skill, Holy Ground Proclamation, could be dangerous for him.
…No. It probably won’t go that far. He’s a guy who didn’t die from sex even after doing it with the princess.
It’ll probably be fine somehow.
What’s important to me right now isn’t thinking about how to keep that trash alive.
“Uuuuungh!”
“…Silvia. Don’t tell me you just came?”
“Ah, haah, hau… N-No, I didn’t!”
Her speech was slurred and her legs had gone weak.
Seriously? We weren’t even doing anything lewd, but she’s reaching climax just from the mental pleasure of walking down the street alone with me?
At this rate, we had a long way to go.
Will we even be able to finish this date properly?