The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 67



Imperial Expedition (1)

The demon realm and the human realm are distinctly separated.

It’s not that there is a peace treaty between monsters and humans.

The balance of power between the two groups has just reached equilibrium at this very moment.

The human realm wants to conquer the demon realm but cannot approach due to the monsters.

Similarly, the monsters are also unable to invade easily thanks to the thorough security system of the human realm.

Thus, the boundary between the demon realm and the human realm has never been easily breached.

While the balance of power between the two groups is an important factor, there is one more decisive factor in maintaining the current state.

That is the difference in mana between the demon realm and the human realm.

The magical energy that drifts in those two areas has distinct characteristics.

Moreover, the mana that drifts in each region negatively affects the other group.

In the demon realm, the influence of the Demon King affects mana, while in the human realm, the influence of the gods does the same.

Because of this, the supreme mana can have adverse effects on the body the longer it is inhaled. From mild dizziness to vomiting and headaches. If one is not careful, it could even lead to a breakdown in some part of the body.

It was an added burden that each individual had a poor absorption rate of mana.

Considering the power disparity between the groups, the reason humanity has not been annihilated, despite being clearly outmatched, lies here.

Before they can even fight humans, they tire from the environment first, so there is no reason for them to invade first.

Only the hero blessed by the gods and his party members are free from this flow of mana…

It’s not without reason that expectations for the hero are so high.

Only we can be the ones to take the Demon King’s head in the demon realm. Thus, the hero must be a guaranteed success.

Anyway, for that reason.

His entry into this realm could actually be advantageous for us.

He too is affected by the mana of the human realm.

Of course, compared to other lesser beings, his influence would be minuscule… but still, it was important that he was in an unfavorable environment.

Of course, if we hadn’t discovered him, the situation would be different… but here we are, having found him, right?

I explained this reasoning to reassure them.

“Everyone, please calm down. We knew he had entered, didn’t we? It’s not such a bad situation, so let’s think of a countermeasure first.”

“Haah… right.”

“That makes sense.”

Camilla sighed and began to ask questions.

Perhaps because she was a knight with strong mental fortitude, it didn’t take her long to regain her composure.

“First, the question we need to resolve is this: how did he get in here? No matter how disoriented he was, he shouldn’t have failed to recognize the Four Heavenly Kings’ faces…”

“There are many ways he could have entered. He could have brainwashed a soldier to open the gates, slipped in through the underground waterways, or even transformed into someone else and walked in casually. He has polymorph magic, after all.”

That was one of his most troublesome traits.

He knew how to use polymorph magic. Having lived for hundreds of years, he was adept in various forms of magic.

Thus, no one could know whether he currently appeared as a man, a woman, or even a child.

“If it’s polymorph magic, that’s even worse. Not only do we not know where he is, but we also can’t even identify his appearance.”

“The bigger issue is his abilities… If he uses his powers in the city center, what kind of tragedy could unfold…?”

Adel and Lily spoke in turn.

Especially Lily, perhaps having conjured some unpleasant imagery, turned pale.

Indeed, as they said, it was a serious matter. But there were countermeasures.

“Adel and Lily, you both excel at investigating things. Even with polymorph, it’s not like there’s no way to find him. If we search, we might not be able to pinpoint him exactly, but we should be able to notice something.”

“Then what about that guy’s abilities? While he’s inside, he’ll keep brainwashing them. That’s something that can’t even be found with magic…”

“Still, at least we can heal with divine power, so that’s a relief. As for how to find out… we might need to get a large-scale support of clergy from the temple.”

It was a suggestion to solve the problem with numbers since there was no other way.

Of course, if he underwent professional brainwashing, it wouldn’t be easy to break free, even for a saintess.

But he probably wouldn’t brainwash them too deeply.

After wrapping up the meeting to some extent, we set out to find the saintess.

While we were conducting our investigation, the saintess was helping the victims recover.

Therefore, it was necessary to relay the information we had just discussed to her.

“Y-Yes?!”

Upon hearing the news, she was taken aback. It was certainly shocking information. It was indeed something to be surprised about.

Having finished our tasks, we had no time to rest and had to head back to the Empire immediately.

*

“I sent a messenger.”

A few days later, upon arriving in another city, Camilla conveyed this.

As soon as we arrived in the city, she seemed to be in a hurry, and it appeared she had been drafting a letter to the king.

“I informed him that a puppet organization has infiltrated the kingdom and that it is currently heading towards the center of the human realm. So, I asked for the church’s cooperation to support the wizards and clergy.”

Having connections with high-ranking nobles made things quite convenient.

I didn’t even have to move, and information was being spread like this.

“They said they rode the fastest horse… so it should all be conveyed in a few days.”

“Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude to her briefly. With this, we had received the necessary support. The lord of this place, who received the news first, was already strengthening the defenses.

From noble mtl dot com

I could see guards patrolling the city in various places. They seemed to be on high alert, watching for any suspicious behavior with keen eyes.

While it was good that security was tightened, the sudden tense atmosphere was visibly making the citizens anxious.

I could hear the chatter of citizens from all around.

“Why is the atmosphere so tense all of a sudden?”

“Is something going on?”

Other news was also being relayed.

Naturally, there were messengers in the Cloud City as well.

This meant that the fact that the city had been attacked had already spread the previous evening.

While we were diligently conducting the siege, that news had already reached this city.

“Did you hear that?”

“They say the cloud city next door was attacked…”

“Good grief. What on earth is happening to the world…?”

“These days, the world is in chaos because of the Demon King’s army.”

I saw that as a bad sign. As I mentioned before, feelings of unease become the very essence of the Demon King.

Simply put, the more anxiety rises, the weaker the seal on the Demon King becomes.

As if to prove that statement, a terrifying alarm appeared before me.

[WARNING! WARNING!]

[The seal on the Demon King has weakened further!]

“Shit.”

I blurted out a curse without thinking. I never expected to see the WARNING! sign like this.

I wanted to prevent it if possible, but that was something happening at the edge of the demon realm, so I couldn’t stop it.

I was caught off guard, eyes wide open, feeling like I had been hit from behind.

‘Those puppet b*stards…’

I lightly cursed them in my mind and steeled my resolve. This time, I would stop them as quickly as possible.

“Why, why are you suddenly like this? Is something wrong?”

As I was lost in thought, Lily called out to me from the side.

It seemed she was quite surprised by my sudden outburst of curses. Her slightly softened face was a mix of confusion and concern.

I figured anyone would be startled if someone suddenly started cursing.

I tried to brush it off with a light joke.

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing serious. I’m just feeling a bit mentally and physically drained these days.”

“M-Mentally and physically drained? Are you really okay…?”

Her face twisted even more with worry. It seemed the phrase “mentally and physically drained” struck a chord.

“If there’s something tough, just… just tell me… I’ll help as much as I can…”

“……”

I really didn’t understand why she was acting like this lately.

It was quite strange to see her genuinely worried while trying to offer comfort, something she wasn’t very good at.

Even during the few days I had been in this city, she had mostly been like this—either watching me closely or glancing at me while deep in thought…

To be honest, it was quite burdensome.

So, I decided to ask her directly this time.

“Yes. There is one difficult thing. It’s you. Just act like you usually do. Why are you constantly watching my every move? It’s a bit burdensome.”

“Uh, well… that is…”

“Let’s be honest. What are you thinking? Let’s hear why you’re suddenly acting this way.”

“Th-that is…”

She hesitated.

She kept inhaling as if to speak, then stopping repeatedly.

After a while, she showed a hint of regret and expressed her refusal.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do it right now. Later… when the time is right, I’ll tell you.”

So something is going on. It’s a bit frustrating, but at least I know that much. Seeing her hesitate, I felt that with just a little more pressure, she might open up, but for now, I decided to hold back.

After all, we were still quite awkward with each other.

“My attitude was burdensome, huh… Okay, I understand. I’ll try to change it little by little…”

“…Huh.”

I was really losing it. That crumpled demeanor made me feel like I was looking at a battered woman. Wasn’t there a limit to character breakdowns?

Feeling scared to continue the conversation, I hurriedly wrapped it up.

“Alright, let’s start the investigation quickly.”

“…Yeah.”

And so we began our investigation.

Lily and Adele started searching for disguises while investigating the echoes of magic and power.

The saint collaborated with the church to place clergy members throughout the city.

Camilla commanded the local troops and diligently patrolled the city.

I, too, laid down a single-eyed bug to explore the shadows where they couldn’t see well. Mainly in back alleys, red-light districts, and sewers.

[Completion: 6.8%]

Even amidst all this, I focused on the Second Solitude summoning technique.

It must be because it’s a high-level summoning technique. Despite infusing magic power every single day without fail, it wasn’t progressing well.

Sometimes, I even sacrificed my own assets to inject magic power with ‘Authority of Sacrifice.’

Well, this is why it took the King of the North so long to summon.

After two days of investigation…

“Nothing.”

“Looks like they might have already slipped away.”

I realized that there were no more puppet masters in this city. They were certainly quick on their feet.

We moved straight to the next city.