“May I inquire about the lady beside you?”
A guy with unnaturally white teeth and a bright smile was looking at me. His hair was the color of ripe wheat, his figure broad-shouldered, and his skin as white as his teeth.
To put it bluntly, he looked like a football captain straight out of some media production—obnoxiously good-looking.
Myungho seemed to be evading the question, appearing somewhat troubled. But this guy was still smiling cheerfully, waiting for an answer. Why didn’t Myungho just ignore him and walk away? After all, he’s a Hero.
“She doesn’t understand speech. And she’s my party member. Also, are you trying to add another wife, Soleo? Your first wife might feel sad.”
“No need to worry about that. I’ve already lain with her a week ago. Besides, my first wife gets along well with the others, so adding more wives will make her happy rather than sad!”
Despite Myungho’s pointed words, the guy responded in a very positive tone. Even after hearing that, Myungho visibly showed his distaste, but the other man continued to grin broadly.
“She doesn’t speak… and is your party member, you say? Hmm, that does seem troublesome. Still, with your abilities, surely you can communicate with her somehow. Could you deliver my message to her, even if only once?”
“…Sigh, Alterra. That guy named Soleo over there is asking if you’d become his wife. What do you think?”
He wants me to become his wife? Irritated, I thumped the ground with my tail. A crack formed on the floor, but there was no way I could stay calm after hearing such nonsense.
“Tell him if he says that again, I’ll split his pretty face in half.”
Or maybe I should peel his skin off. It would also be interesting to see if he can still smile in front of everyone afterward. He looks flashy and over-decorated, but people who carry themselves like that usually turn out to be weak inside.
“…Uh, right. Soleo, she says she’ll kill you. What do you think about that? Judging from your behavior just now, it seems like she really doesn’t like you much.”
“My third wife used to be an assassin who tried to kill me. That’s trivial. Still… alright. If she refuses, it would be rude to pursue her further. As a gentleman before a knight, I shall retreat gracefully. By the way, I’ve learned her name now, hasn’t she? Alterra…was it?”
Why is he so talkative? The more I look at him, the less I like him.
“Sigh. When did you… Yes, now that you know, just leave. Alterra seems to be in a really bad mood. You might survive her wrath, but the city won’t.”
“Oh, is it that serious? Among my wives, there are many strong ones, but none capable of destroying an entire city. This makes her even more intriguing!”
Myungho stopped me from charging forward by grabbing my shoulder, then we left together. That obnoxious guy didn’t follow us.
Who is that guy? Myungho seemed to know him. Moreover, the guy also acted quite familiar with Myungho.
“Who is that guy?”
I didn’t have to wait long. When I asked Myungho about him, he sighed deeply and gave me a rather shocking response.
“…The Hero of the Sun, a guy 100 times more heroic than me. I only saw him once before Akashi and I were kicked out. In terms of ability and character, he’s far superior to me—except for his obsession with women.”
What kind of ability does he have? When I asked, I got an absurd reply.
“He can manipulate sunlight to a small degree. He can wrap it around his sword or release it. Seriously speaking, even you wouldn’t be able to stop him. They say he cuts through steel like butter.”
Then Myungho added that compared to him, this guy was truly worthy of being a protector of all. I understood why he said “compared to him” when I thought about it for a moment.
This guy isn’t exactly what you’d call a strong hero. His abilities aren’t particularly impressive either.
It wasn’t strange for him to feel inferior.
“…Then why were you banished? You’re still a hero, even if slightly weaker.”
Even his mental control powers could be useful in many places. And even if not, keeping someone with such abilities around would be beneficial. So why?
The answer was simple.
“There was no need. The court already has plenty of Dark Magicians who can manipulate minds… Above all, what they needed was a hero with incredible strength like Soleo.”
Then he briefly explained where he had been summoned. It was originally a prosperous fishing village, albeit one with an unusually high number of suspicious Dark Magicians. One day, a massive sea beast appeared in their waters.
“Regardless of size, any ship that set sail was destroyed, and airships were shot down with water cannons, leaving the village completely isolated. In that difficult situation, they called for a hero, and unfortunately, it was me.”
So how did he manage to escape? Did he swim across or ride a sea creature?
“…Are you saying you swam across that sea? Or did you write a note asking a sea creature to be your vessel?”
“Oh. Both sea routes and sky routes were blocked, but I could still teleport. So I teleported alongside the regular trade goods during land-based transactions.”
For a hero, that treatment seems rather pitiful. A hero treated like cargo. Listening to his story, it felt like he was truly abandoned because they didn’t need him…
Well, anyway. Thanks to Myungho being weak, I can wander around freely like this. I decided to think positively about it.
“Don’t be too sad. Because you’re weak, you met me, right? And because I’m weak, I could come into this world. Let’s think positively. There’s no end to negative thoughts.”
Knowing that focusing on the negatives leads to endless negativity, I shifted the conversation to encourage positivity. It seemed to work as his expression brightened slightly.
“That’s true… Anyway, there’s no point in getting entangled with our homeland anymore. Now I can just travel wherever I want… It turned out well.”
That’s right. By the way, since something had been following us since earlier, I growled lightly in its direction.
Realizing it had been caught, the stalker emerged from the shadows.
If Akashi had been a girl, she might have looked like this young girl. She crossed her arms behind her back and approached us with quick steps.
“So everything I said was true? You really are a Half-Dragon! Even old me telling the truth feels weird…”
“Uh, excuse me. Who are you? Are we acquainted?”
“Huh? Oh, right, this is our first meeting in this form, isn’t it? Forgot for a moment. Cough cough. I am the greatest blessing sent from the heavens to the earth and the unparalleled genius, Master Akashi… Well, technically it’s a bit different, but according to your standards, it’s the same.”
—
Is this girl Akashi?
Well, it’s not entirely surprising. I already knew there were multiple Akashis. Still, this appearance was unexpected.
“No way, you didn’t know there would be someone like me later? I must’ve forgotten to mention it. Hmm, strange!”
‘Akashi’ playfully poked Alterra’s tail until she forcefully slammed it on the ground, causing her to raise both hands above her head and step back.
“You’re really as described, wild animal-like! Hmm… Almost forgot again! Young bodies make lots of mistakes. Sorry for sneaking around! I just wanted to try it out.”
It made sense, so it was definitely Akashi.
“…Who’s that woman?”
“It’s Akashi. Not a transformed version of the Akashi we know, though. The Akashi currently resting at the inn is still there. But this girl is also Akashi. Confusing, right? I get it.”
Alterra seemed overwhelmed, alternating her gaze between me and Akashi.
“Well, my identity doesn’t matter much for this story. Let’s move on! The reason I’m here is… to make a proposal!”
“A proposal?”
Anyone else might be fine, but a proposal from Akashi sounds unsettling. Though technically, this is a different person… Complicated.
“Yes. I’m dissatisfied with the Dalocos egg just rotting away. If processed, it could become an amazing invisible cloak! But my master won’t let me handle such advanced materials because I’m too young. Give me the chance to process it, will you?”
“That sounds more like a request than a proposal, doesn’t it?”
She does seem younger, slightly clumsier than the party member Akashi. Most importantly, her eyes lacked any trace of malice or madness.
“Oh, right. If you let me process it, I’ll give you the invisible cloak for free. Isn’t that a great deal? It’s worth ten gold pieces!”
It’s undoubtedly a large sum.
But the recipient is Alterra, who carries enough money to consider ten gold pieces trivial.
“Alterra, this little Akashi wants to work on the Dalocos egg you have. What do you think?”
“That spider egg? What do you plan to use it for?”
“She says she’ll make an invisible cloak for you, but don’t trust her too much. She may look innocent, but she’s still Akashi.”
“Hey! I can hear everything you’re saying!”
After pondering for a moment, Alterra glanced at Akashi and replied.
“Alright. But there’s a condition. If you ruin it, I’ll break your wrist.”
“Wouldn’t you kill her if she failed? Is that okay?”
It wasn’t exactly what she said, but given that it’s Akashi, I distorted the message slightly for safety.
“Hmph, who do you think I am? Grand Magician, Akashi! That’s child’s play!”
Akashi confidently declared, gestured for us to follow, and disappeared into an alleyway.
Should we take the risk and follow her?
