Chapter 374: Another Hero
Chapter 374: Another Hero
“Ah, right. Vanessa.”
After breakfast, I followed Vanessa as she was quietly trying to leave the dining room and called out to her.
“Yes. If it’s about the maid outfit…”
Vanessa immediately brought it up.
For her to have such a reflexive response… Surely she doesn’t see me as some guy who only ever pesters her about the maid outfit, right?
If she does, well, I’d have to say she’s spot on.
“No. That’s not what I wanted to talk about. Though I would appreciate it if you returned the maid outfit soon. You’ve already washed it, haven’t you? Why haven’t you brought it back?”
“…It was because you were always with someone else, Sir Guwon.”
W-well… I guess that might be true.
“A-ahem. Anyway! That’s not what I wanted to discuss right now. We’re having a guest today. I’m telling you in advance.”
“A guest… sir?”
“What’s with that look?”
“No, it is nothing.”
This girl. I’m sure she just had some unflattering thought.
Something like, ‘Sir Guwon has friends he can invite over?’
“Ahem. Anyway, that Hero is coming over today.”
“…May I ask why he is coming?”
“It’s nothing big. I just have something to ask him. He said he’d tell me if I dueled him and won, so I agreed.”
“…I do not believe that is ‘nothing big.’ Are the others aware of this? And do you not remember what Lady Diana said? She told you not to cause any trouble before she left…”
I tried to sound as casual as possible, but Vanessa’s eyes sharpened as she pointed that out.
She had to bring that up. That makes it a little harder for me.
But it couldn’t be helped. This was just my guess, but the fact that Diana wasn’t at the mansion right now was probably one of the reasons that piece of trash so confidently challenged me to a duel.
After all, when Diana left for the dungeon, she rode in a carriage and made no effort to hide her departure.
He’s a noble, for what it’s worth, so he must have figured out that Diana is currently away.
“I told you, it’s fine. It’ll be over in a flash. My skills are proportional to my Charm stat. Even a pretty girl like you couldn’t keep her senses after one hit from my skill, so do you really think that Hero can withstand it?”
“…Hh!”
As I brought up what happened last time, Vanessa let out a small gasp and hastily looked around to see if anyone was nearby.
If you looked closely, her face seemed to have turned a little red.
As I thought, no matter how much she pretends to be stoic and unbothered, she must be embarrassed about what happened that day.
It’s fine. Who else would be here? If anyone, it would be Silvia, who’s always stalking me, but I just finished tormenting her during breakfast, so she’s currently melted onto a chair in the dining room.
Thanks to satisfying her desires yesterday, it seems she no longer gets turned on when I tease her, but the fact that her body still vibrates with the slightest touch hasn’t changed.
I keenly feel the need for some special training.
Well, that’s not what’s important right now.
“Besides, I have you if things go south, Vanessa. If you think my life is in danger during the duel, I need you to jump in and stop him. Anyway, just be aware of that. I’m counting on you.”
Before Vanessa could say anything more, I said just that and quickly left.
Perhaps because she was far more flustered by the talk of that night than I’d expected, Vanessa didn’t even think to stop me, simply standing there and watching me go.
*
“To think you’d actually show up instead of running away! I’ll praise you for that courage, at least! …You haven’t set up any cheap tricks just because this is your mansion, have you? Like borrowing the power of the great Archmage…”
And the trash hero arrived much earlier than I expected.
He showed up with an expression that said his hands were itching to deal with me as soon as possible, once again making such classless remarks.
“I told you, I didn’t. You must know that Diana isn’t here right now. Besides, does Diana seem like the type to do something like that? Don’t you believe in her impartiality? Isn’t that why you challenged me to a duel in the first place? Because you believe that if you hurt me in a fair fight, Diana wouldn’t say a word.”
“Urgh… Th-that’s…!”
The trash hero couldn’t say a word in response and just crumpled.
So that was it. No wonder. The moment he found out I had something to ask, he brought up a duel as if he’d been waiting for the chance.
“So that’s a Hero…”
Sara looked at the trash hero with a somewhat complicated expression.
I know how she feels. To think that a guy like that shares the same special job and race as her. And though she thinks it’s unlikely, the thought that they might even be related by blood… of course she’d have mixed feelings.
“H-he’s a much more… unique individual than I expected.”
Leia, too, had a subtle look on her face.
What an angel. How does she manage to phrase things so beautifully?
She could have just been honest and said he was much uglier and more pathetic than she’d thought.
“But Sir Guwon, are you really going to be okay? That man, he’s strong, isn’t he?”
Leia then looked at me with a worried expression.
After talking with Vanessa, I had told Leia that I would be dueling the Hero.
Since I still hadn’t revealed that Sara was a Hero, I left out the part about him being one and just said I had something to find out about a race called the Main.
“Of course. Don’t worry. Ah, but just in case, could you have some healing magic ready?”
“I’ll do that, of course… But please try not to get hurt, okay? I’ll be sad.”
“Oh no, that’s serious. My angel will be sad. I absolutely can’t get hurt, then.”
“Really… I’m not joking, you know?”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Grrr! You bastard! How long are you going to make me wait?! Get ready already! And who are all those beautiful women anyway?!”
As Leia and I were talking, the guy yelled in a fit of anger.
Tsk. What a jealous punk. Well, I guess it’s only natural for a man to be jealous.
After all, I was surrounded by Sara, Leia, Silvia, Matilda, and Vanessa for good measure.
“They’re my women.”
“Kuaaaargh!”
The guy’s eyes turned bloodshot, and his body trembled as if he wanted to kill me on the spot.
It was strangely funny how he was too scared of Matilda to actually charge at me.
“A man showing jealousy. It’s pathetic, dude.”
“Sh-shut up!”
He doesn’t deny being jealous, though.
This guy, he may be pathetic, but he’s surprisingly honest.
Like how he’s openly afraid of people with higher status, he’s the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
Anyway, I led the guy to a large room in the basement.
Diana said this was where she practiced and tested new magic.
Because of that, she apparently poured all her magic into it during her prime to make it incredibly durable.
She said that no matter how much that trash and I rampaged, we wouldn’t even be able to leave a scratch on the walls. That says it all.
“Alright. Shall we get started? The duel. What should the rules be? It’s over when one person surrenders or is rendered unable to fight. How about that?”
“…No problem. You’d better remember your promise to grant me anything I want if I win, right?”
Did I say that? I don’t really remember. Well, it doesn’t matter since I’m going to win anyway.
“Yeah. And you’d better not forget your promise to answer my questions if I win.”
“To think you still believe you can beat me. Is this the arrogance that comes from the ignorance of an outsider who has never witnessed the dignity of a Hero? It seems the women around you didn’t warn you properly either. Seeing that, I guess those women you call yours don’t like you as much as you think…”
“Hey. I’ve been thinking this for a while.”
“What is it?”
“You must have raised your level through combat, right? Doesn’t that mean you’ve been to the dungeon?”
“Hmph, you know your stuff. Come to think of it, I heard you’ve been to the dungeon too. I don’t know how far you got on your own, but I am a powerhouse who reached the 5th Layer by myself. How about it? Getting scared now? If you get on your knees and beg, I might just consider this my win and forgive you…”
“When was the last time you went to the guild?”
“Grrr! Two years ago! What about it?!”
Annoyed that I kept cutting him off, the guy ground his teeth as he answered.
Two years ago, huh. Does this mean he really has no idea what I’ve been doing in the dungeon?
“Nothing. Let’s just start.”
I said, pulling Silvia’s sword from my inventory.
“The sword of the Barbet family… Surely you don’t think you can beat me by relying on equipment like that? Fine, whatever.”
He muttered upon seeing my sword, then drew one of the two swords at his waist.
The sword, which emitted a brilliant light, was clearly a masterpiece at a single glance.
It was an item that truly suited the title of a Hero’s sword.
But the guy held the sword in a reverse grip and was about to slam it into the floor…
“Hngh! Ugh!”
Is this guy an idiot?
I just said Diana made this room strong enough to withstand her own magic.
Did he really think a punk like him could stick it in the floor just by trying hard?
“Heh heh.”
He eventually gave up and put the sword back in its sheath, this time drawing the other one.
Unlike the previous sword, this one was a plain iron sword that looked completely unremarkable.
“As you can see, I could face you with a legendary sword, but I’ll go easy on you. Because I am a fair and square Hero. I will face you with this iron sword.”
It’s too late to try and look cool now, you bastard.
Besides.
“I don’t think challenging someone with a much lower level than you is ‘fair and square’ to begin with.”
“G-graaaah! Shut up! Here I come!”
Finally realizing he couldn’t beat me with words, he charged straight at me.
He was fast. Honestly, because of his pathetic attitude, I had been underestimating his abilities.
But as expected, a Hero was a Hero.
He rushed toward me at a speed that was hard to follow with my eyes.
It seemed Miriel, the leader of Arachne, wasn’t just spouting empty words when she said she’d give him the upper hand.
Even though his level was surely lower than Miriel’s, his movements felt even faster than Miriel’s when I saw her on the 5th Layer.
The only reason I could react at all was because he was carelessly charging at me in a straight line.
Startled, I immediately shot a Saint’s Wave at him.
And I regretted it instantly.
Crap, I didn’t control my power! What if this bastard dies from sex?!
But there was no need for such worries.
To my surprise, he blocked my Saint’s Wave with his sword.
He seemed flustered by the Saint’s Wave himself, as he leaped back to retreat for a moment.
“Wh-what is this strange energy? I see. You learned a trick or two from the great Archmage. You have a right to be confident. But I am a Hero! I have no intention of losing in combat to someone with a lower level than me!”
It seemed he thought it was just some kind of magic, but regardless, it was utterly astonishing.
To think he could read the Saint’s Wave.
Even Diana had marveled at the skill, saying she wouldn’t have even known it was coming if she hadn’t been sensing my mana.
Then again, when I showed it to Diana, we were in the middle of the act, so she wasn’t fully focused, and she was also a lower level than me at the time.
In any case, I had to admit that the piece of trash before me was more formidable than I thought.
Come to think of it, this guy raised his level purely through combat.
Just as my Saint level rises every time I level up through sex, his Hero level and his base level must be the same.
On top of that, he had a wealth of combat experience.
This fight might be tougher than I expected.
Well, fortunately, I had a countermeasure prepared.
“You look flustered. Was that stealthy magic your secret weapon? Now that I’ve seen it once, it won’t work again. This is the end!”
He shouted and charged at me once more.
Fast.
I fired another Saint’s Wave, but he dodged it with ease and closed the distance, swinging his sword.
I raised my own sword and managed to parry his attack once, but that was all.
Unable to withstand his strength, my sword arm was pushed back, and he seized the opening to slash at my body.
Thanks to my armor, which was reinforced with materials from the 5th Layer, and my durability, which was much higher than my level would suggest, I avoided any fatal wounds, but blood burst from all over my body.
I coated my free hand with Saint’s Touch and swung it, but he dodged the attack with ease and leaped back again.
“Guwooooon!”
“Kyaaa! Sir Guwon!”
“Tch!”
I could hear worried voices from afar.
Vanessa, whom I had specifically asked to intervene if I was in danger, looked ready to jump in at any moment, but I raised a hand to stop her.
“I showed you mercy and avoided your vitals. I’m still willing to forgive you if you cry and beg right now, you know?”
He said with a vile smile, as if he were doing me a huge favor.
Mercy, my ass. It’s obvious he just wants to toy with me by torturing me slowly.
“I’m willing to forgive you if you beg right now.”
“Heh heh. Still got a sharp tongue, I see. Then how about I tear that mouth of yours apart this time?”
“Just because you’re ugly and I’m handsome, trying to scar my face… that kind of jealousy just makes you look pathetic.”
“Y-you bastard, still!”
Just as he fell for the taunt and was about to charge at me again, I threw the sword in my hand to the floor.
“…What’s that for? Are you going to surrender so disgracefully now?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? I simply thought that I don’t even need a sword to deal with a punk like you.”
“Heheheh. Oh, is that so.”
He let out a laugh, but his face was contorted like a demon’s. Looking truly enraged, he threw his own sword to the floor.
“Then I’ll face you on the same terms.”