The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 66



Causality (2)

“Haah…”

After offering a light apology to Luke, Lily let out a soft sigh, left alone.

Her heart ached sharply. Every time Luke questioned her with a probing tone, she felt a pang of guilt in her conscience.

Of course, Luke had said it partly as a joke… but it wasn’t exactly wrong.

And from Lily’s perspective, it didn’t seem like a joke at all.

Even now, if she closed her eyes, she vividly remembered the cold expression of the hero she had just seen.

‘Did you do that knowing full well?’

The hero’s face as he questioned her with a chilling expression (a memory correction).

‘How much it hurt me back then… even now, just thinking about it makes me shudder.’

The way she expressed her anger with a suppressed tone (also a memory correction), and so on…

It’s true. Just relaying the words wouldn’t erase his wounds. What had been done was done. Perhaps it was merely an act of self-satisfaction.

Thinking about such things still darkened her heart, but… Lily made an effort to steady her mind.

It was fine. From now on, she could do well.

“That aside…”

Lily muttered with a bitter expression.

“The curse is still here…”

She had thought that with her return to the past, such curses would disappear.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Even now, when she approached him, she could feel the negative emotions.

Irritation, depression, fear, doubt, and so on.

‘I believe that a person’s body is like an instrument.’

Sometimes, when it got intense, memories of being tormented by the puppet master would vividly resurface, leaving her pale.

But if she had to pick the most difficult feeling, it would undoubtedly be doubt.

Since wizards are inherently suspicious beings.

When she was near him, such thoughts would naturally arise.

Could it be that everything she had seen was just an illusion?

Among black magic, there are many spells that affect the mind. In short, they can induce a certain degree of mental confusion.

So, what if the hero had shown her an illusion?

What if he fabricated events that never happened to turn things in his favor?

…Grr.

When such thoughts arose unbidden, Lily felt a swell of disgust towards herself.

Towards her own mind that produced doubts even after experiencing such events.

And the sheer malice of the curses that led her to such thoughts made her teeth clench involuntarily.

Of course, she had no intention of believing such ridiculous notions.

Those vivid memories could not merely be conjured by illusion magic.

Lily distrusted her own thoughts, instead turning them into blind faith in the hero.

“Did you have a good talk?”

As she pondered this, she walked for a while.

Before long, Lily found herself in front of Yulris.

She could see the saint looking at her with a warm smile.

“…Yeah.”

“You did well.”

Lily nodded weakly. Yulris seemed satisfied with that and offered her comfort.

Though her consolation was warm… there remained one unresolved question.

How could the hero know all that information about the demon lord’s army?

How could he grasp everything so thoroughly, even against an opponent he was facing for the first time?

How could he recognize all the high-ranking members of the demon lord’s army at once and identify the hidden artifacts of the shrine?

The questions, like a chain, continued to spiral in her mind, impossible to erase. While other doubts might remain just that, this was something he had actually done.

And to be honest… wasn’t it a bit suspicious, the things the hero was doing?

When she voiced such doubts to Yulris, she opened her mouth with a skeptical expression.

“…Actually, there’s one hypothesis I’ve been considering for a while.”

“What, what is it…?”

Lily looked at her with wide, curious eyes, and Yulris continued. It was merely speculation, but there was a strange conviction in her demeanor.

“What if the hero really did acquire information related to the demon lord’s army in advance? Almost to the level of the Four Heavenly Kings or high-ranking officials.”

“But… how? He couldn’t have been one of the Four Heavenly Kings in the past or a hidden spy, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Then how?”

“If he doesn’t have such a history in the past… could it be possible that he gained that knowledge from the future and returned?”

“…!!!”

In that moment, Lily’s eyes widened in shock.

Yulris was claiming that the current hero, Luke, was also a returnee!

“How could that… that makes no sense…!”

Lily raised her voice in confusion for a moment. But that didn’t last long; after thinking it over, she soon came to accept it.

“Does it make sense…?”

When she thought about it, she too was a returnee.

Even if she wanted to argue against the impossibility of time travel, she had already experienced it herself. And in the first place, that return itself had been made possible by the hero’s abilities.

Moreover, if he had obtained information from the future, it would also explain the hero’s suspicious knowledge.

The assumption fit together more neatly than she expected, increasing the credibility of the hero returnee theory.

“Now that I think about it, the hero mentioned how we died before he became the hero, right?”

“That’s true…?”

“Maybe that’s because he had seen those outcomes beforehand…?”

Yulris muttered in a bitter voice.

It wasn’t entirely incorrect. After all, Luke had ruined parties hundreds of times during his life as a hero.

Even if it was just a game.

Lily’s face turned pale.

“Could it be… that the hero might have already gone through all those hardships?”

“Yes. Just how difficult and exhausting it must have been…?”

“Ugh…!”

Yulris’s eyes grew red. Lily’s eyes also became red in sympathy. If her words were true, then the past hero might have had quite a close relationship with them.

At that time, he probably wouldn’t have had any curses on him, so it was assumed that they could have built a normal relationship.

In fact, Luke had maintained quite a good relationship with them when he was without curses. There were many instances where they ended up connected through ‘that kind of’ bond.

Even if it was just a game.

“And yet he chose such a path…?”

“Yes, out of necessity…”

“Ugh…! How could he…!”

Lily, feeling pity for the hero before his return, covered her mouth in sorrow. Yulris also shed a few tears.

Thus, the strangely fitting misunderstanding was gradually solidifying into a common theory between them.

*

Though many things had happened, we were finally finishing up the aftermath of the city raid.

We had won, but a victory without casualties was an incredibly difficult feat. The constant monster waves had half-destroyed the walls, and many soldiers had fallen.

Fortunately, the village remained safe thanks to the walls not being breached, but perhaps due to the chaos from the mass suicide, the confusion had yet to dissipate.

We needed to at least get this situation under control.

So, I gathered the party members once more.

There were some members who felt a bit uncomfortable due to our earlier quarrel, but thankfully, after receiving an apology, it didn’t seem particularly awkward.

“Hmm?”

Of course, there was something slightly odd.

“Why are your eyes so red?”

I asked, looking at Yulris and Lily. Strangely, the skin around their eyes was slightly reddened, as if they had just shed a few tears.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Yeah, nothing at all. Just… nothing…”

They stammered, flustered by my question. It was suspicious, but what mattered now wasn’t that, so I had no choice but to ignore it.

“I called you all here, as I mentioned earlier, to clean up the aftermath. I also want to reflect on how this situation escalated…”

“So what do we need to do?”

Camilla asked bluntly, perhaps tired of the lengthy explanations.

I responded immediately.

“Please go around the city and gather the brainwashed individuals. And also collect the one-eyed bugs I scattered. I seem to have lost control over some of them due to the chaos.”

“Seriously, you can’t even control those little creatures properly?”

“Haha, unfortunately, no.”

If the war is over, the first thing to consider is ‘why?’

We need to figure out why the enemy attacked here and what advantages they gain from this place. Only then can we predict their next move.

Why did they raid the city?

First and foremost, it’s obvious that simply attacking brings benefits. Just by striking, they can reduce humanity’s military strength and exacerbate the chaos, potentially breaking the seal on the Demon Lord.

Especially since the puppet master frequently attacks the human realm, I had anticipated an assault at some point.

However, if it were me, I would have used the opportunity to attack more cautiously.

Naturally, their resources are not infinite.

While there are many monsters, they are not endless, and it takes considerable time to brainwash them.

Moreover, this raid would undoubtedly raise the human military’s vigilance.

In short, it has become even more difficult to raid the human realm.

And to speak coldly, the Cloud City only has the advantage of being close to the Demon Realm. Culturally and politically, it isn’t a particularly significant land.

Attacking it wouldn’t yield substantial damage.

However, why did the opponent launch an attack here…?

Thoughts spiral and intertwine.

Even amidst this chaos, the retrieval of the one-eyed insects continued. Although I had lost control over some of the insects, the majority remained under my command.

As I summoned the one-eyed insect back, I examined the footage contained within it, one by one. Various pieces of information flowed into my retina.

First, it seemed there were approximately 460 casualties. As Oleck had said, since we had rescued a few hundred sacrifices in advance, it was fortunate that the toll did not rise higher.

Yet, while we had avoided the worst, tragedy still lingered.

Hearing the wails of those who had lost their families echoing from all directions, I pressed onward.

Perhaps because the city was relatively small, after a while, the retrieval of the one-eyed insects was nearing its end.

And then, quite unexpectedly, I caught sight of one of the puppet master’s schemes.

“Hmm, is Lily still not here?”

“Well, being a sorceress, it seems her pace is a bit slow. That’s why I told her to get some exercise…”

“Hey, Hero! Luke, wait a moment…!”

As I was chatting with Camilla and Adele, who had already finished their assigned area, Lily came rushing in, breathless.

In her hands, she held a one-eyed insect, cradled like a precious artifact. Then, as if to show us, she presented it.

We tilted our heads in curiosity but watched the footage contained within.

And there, the puppet master was revealed.

-Stop, stop! What’s going on?

-Haha, you’re doing a great job.

The cloud city had two gates. One was the human gate leading from the heart of the nation to this place. The other was the demon gate used for reconnaissance into the demon realm.

What the puppet master showed was the location of the human gate. Two guards wielding spears faced off against a strikingly handsome man with flowing blonde hair.

Perhaps because it was located far from the commotion, this place was quiet and peaceful, unlike the chaotic center of the city.

Still, the guards seemed on high alert, as if they had heard news from the other side.

-What’s happening?

-There’s been an incident in the center, and we need to pass through the gate. May we go through for a moment?

-If you want to pass, show us your pass.

The puppet master wore a cheerful smile. He had a charmingly handsome face, but strangely, every time I saw that smile, chills ran down my spine.

-The pass, you say? Unfortunately, I don’t have one.

-Then you cannot pass. The city is in turmoil, so wait until a pass is issued.

-I’m sorry, but that seems difficult.

Finally, the puppet master unleashed his powers. His polite demeanor remained unchanged, but his actions were anything but.

The bodies of the two guards who had followed the procedure began to move on their own.

The spear that had been aimed at the puppet master flipped around, with the blade pointing towards its own neck.

– Wh-what…?!

– What the hell did this guy do…?!

Hearing the panicked voices of the guards, the puppet master replied.

– I have to pass through here.

Then, with a thud! the guards’ necks were pierced. The guards, with large wind holes in their necks, couldn’t even let out a proper scream before they fell lifeless.

As blood spread across the passage, the puppet master walked by with a smile.

The video that was playing ended there.

Everyone who watched it was left speechless.

“This damn… “

“… This is bad.”

The fact that the puppet master had passed through there meant that a path to the Empire, to the heart of the human realm, had been opened. If he were to use his powers near the imperial palace… the faces of the women, imagining the worst-case scenario, hardened seriously.

While everyone was guessing that the situation had gone to hell…

I had a slightly different thought.

‘No, wait a minute…’

The situation where the puppet master had entered the heart of the human realm. It was no different from laying a time bomb in the city, but it could also be viewed from another perspective.

‘Could this be an opportunity instead?’

In a way, hadn’t he walked right into the trap himself?