Episode 133
"Playing the hero... you say?"
Aish asked with a trembling voice upon hearing my words.
"Yes, playing the hero."
When I answered her once more, she began to wear a bewildered expression.
"By the way, what do you mean by cabinet..."
"I already know that you've prepared an escape magic on that cabinet to help the royals escape."
As I showed off my knowledge to her, who was trying to change the subject, Aish's face began to turn pale.
"W-what are you? How do you know such things..."
"Is my identity important, or is your family important?"
"...Ugh."
But she couldn't bring herself to refute my words.
As expected of her, someone who was about to reveal her demon form that she had loathed for so long, all to protect her family.
"...How can I trust you?"
After hesitating for a while, Aish asked with a timid expression.
"You'll have to trust me. After all, you just purchased a bunch of useless demons—will you believe me now?"
"W-well..."
"If you really need it, we can form a magical contract."
Trying to reassure her, I took out a scroll I had prepared beforehand from my bosom.
"Please check it."
"...Huh?"
She took it with wary eyes and examined it this way and that, then began to make an absurd expression.
"This isn't... tampered with, is it?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Why do I ask? The contract terms are too favorable to me, and too unfavorable to you!"
After pointing that out, Aish quietly began to cast a detection magic on the hand holding the scroll.
"...I-it's real?"
She soon discovered it was genuine without difficulty and muttered in a flustered voice.
"What in the world...?"
Aish, who was hesitating across from me with an expression that said she couldn't understand this situation, looked quite pitiful today.
Then again, the contracts she had seen or made until now were nothing but unequal treaties with other nations.
For someone in a superior position to offer contract terms unfavorable to themselves was, in a way, probably a fresh shock to her.
"Really, you'll get the royals out of here just by lending me the cabinet?"
"That's right."
"What benefit do you get from this?"
"...That's not for you to know."
Hearing those words, Aish stared at me blankly, then cautiously asked.
"W-what are you going to do with the cabinet? Do you have someone you need to smuggle out too?"
"I'm going to free all the slaves."
"...Excuse me!?"
At the bombshell statement that came from my mouth, she began to raise her voice without realizing it.
"What do you mean by..."
"I need the magic you've prepared to do that."
"Wait, just wait a moment!"
When I spoke to her in a low voice, Aish hastily began to speak.
"That magic isn't complete yet. So even if you use it, it won't..."
"That's not a problem. I can solve it."
"...!?"
But when I answered calmly, Aish began to wear a dumbfounded expression once more.
'Actually, I'm not the one solving it...'
In the previous cycle, her royal family rescue operation had ended in failure.
Because she ultimately couldn't complete the spatial transfer magic she had placed on the cabinet.
So instead of using the cabinet, she ended up raiding the slave market in her demon form, and the incident that occurred then became the trigger for her corruption.
'...Irina is the one solving it.'
But now it's different.
Irina, who possesses genius talent in the operation and analysis of magic, would definitely complete the instant transfer magic through the cabinet to the outside.
Of course, Demirkan, the second-in-command of the Demon King's army and an authority on spatial magic, can also use teleportation... but he has a separate role in this operation.
Therefore, we're applying the magic that Aish, who can implement crude spatial magic though inferior to Demirkan, had prepared.
"Just what... what is going on..."
While I was thinking that, Aish muttered with a dazed expression and began to sign the contract.
"Hmm, good. Thank you."
Watching her, I snatched the contract as soon as the signature was complete and stood up from my seat.
"Then I'll be going now, as I have a mountain of things to do..."
"Wait, I still have questions!"
I, who was about to leave the room with Aish behind me, slightly turned my head at her urgent cry.
"What's your reason for doing something like this?"
"That question again?"
"I need to know. Only then can I help you with peace of mind."
After saying that, Aish looked at me with still suspicious eyes, and I smiled slightly and began to offer the excuse I had prepared.
"The first reason is that I want to engage in trade with your kingdom."
"Trade?"
Hearing my words, Aish tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
"I heard that the royals of Cloud Kingdom, excluding the king, all have equal authority to prevent power struggles."
"Yes, you're well informed."
"Then... you must have certain authority as well. I suspect that 'exclusive trade intermediary rights' are included in that."
When I spoke as if I knew, Aish, who quietly nodded, soon spoke with a dark expression.
"If you want that... I can throw that in with the cabinet. But our kingdom is very poor, so trade would actually result in losses..."
"Can you add that to the contract right now? With the Princess's own hand, directly."
When I spoke directly, cutting off her words, Aish, who was tilting her head, soon sighed and placed her hand on the contract.
"I warned you. Something other than exclusive trade rights would be better compensation..."
"I don't need it."
Watching Aish add the contract terms with her own hand, I answered and smiled quietly, thinking.
'...Now I don't need to worry about money anymore.'
Before long, a massive magicite mine will be discovered beneath the Cloud Kingdom.
Not just any magicite mine, but a large-scale mine where rare magicites are gathered.
Because of that, Cloud Kingdom, which was the poorest nation in the Western Continent, would instantly rise to become a powerful nation that dominates the Western Continent.
Therefore, if I use the 'exclusive trade rights' to conduct business regarding the magicite mine... I won't have any troubles due to lack of money until the moment of the final battle arrives.
Of course, my intervention will be needed to stop the riffraff who will target the magicite mine... so from the kingdom's perspective, it's a win-win.
"...Well, if you want it that much, it can't be helped. So, is that all the reasons?"
"I said it was the first reason, so of course there's a next reason."
Answering like that, I quietly picked up the coffee on the table and continued while smelling its aroma.
"The second reason is that I have a personal grudge against the Empire and Frey."
Hearing those words, Aish's eyes began to shine.
"If I ruin this slave market, which is clearly involved with the Imperial family and the Church, both powers will certainly suffer significant losses. Isn't that just deserts?"
"Yes, it is."
"And Frey too, because I purchased all the slaves at once, must have suffered some kind of damage."
After badmouthing the Empire and myself to her, I continued with slightly mixed feelings.
"As a result, a foundation is laid where my financial power will come to dominate the Empire."
"...You're a scarier person than I thought."
After finishing those words, Aish, who was looking at me with eyes much less suspicious than before, soon asked with an expression full of curiosity.
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, exactly what kind of grudge...?"
"I think we'll be important cooperative partners in the future, so let's talk about it slowly then."
"...I understand."
Since time was tight, I passed over the question appropriately, and she quietly nodded and opened her mouth with a meaningful expression.
"Anyway, it's certain that you have a grudge against Frey, right?"
"That's correct."
"Then, would you like me to help?"
"What?"
When I was flustered by the sudden unexpected statement, she spoke with a cold expression.
"Right now, I've temporarily transferred my 'Frozen Heart' curse to him."
"......Ah."
Frowning slightly as I looked at Aish, I finally understood what she was trying to say.
"Frozen Heart is a curse where the heart slowly freezes. The only way to lift it is to transfer the curse to someone else."
"...How terrible."
"I've been under that curse since I was very young. So I know very well how terrifying the curse is."
Aish, who said that, smiled coldly.
"It's not a curse that a pathetic person like Frey can withstand."
"...I see."
"Probably, if a little more time passes, abnormalities will appear in his body. It may have already happened."
Quietly stroking her chest with her hand, Aish whispered in a low voice.
"If you really do as you just contracted, I'll include you when I later use that curse to threaten Frey."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I have to repay those who reach out when I'm having a hard time."
Having finished speaking, Aish quietly picked up the coffee cup on the desk.
"Of course, if you let go of the hand you were holding... the curse might turn toward you."
"...How scary."
"It's a joke, a joke."
At my reaction, she burst into laughter and waved her hand.
"That said, don't betray me. I don't know who you are, but we've shared various secrets... and it seems we're already in the same boat."
Then she spoke with a stern expression.
"Oh right, there's a third and final reason."
"...Yes?"
I, who was staring blankly at her.
"...I pitied you."
"What?"
"I also felt regretful."
Speaking in a low voice, I fell into thought.
'...I'm sick and tired of tragedies.'
The 'Frozen Heart curse' she possesses cannot be retrieved once transferred to another person.
In the original work, not knowing that fact, she suffered fatal wounds at the slave market while fleeing with the royals, and with their consent, she ended up sharing the rampaging curse with everyone.
Only then did she realize that the curse couldn't be retrieved.
As a result, she became the sole heir to the Cloud Kingdom's throne and lived sunk in despair, self-hatred, and guilt.
How pitiful and unreasonable is this.
"So, I decided to save you."
".....?"
So I decided.
To transfer her curse to no one other than myself.
"...Just because."
Well, my heart will become a bit cold before long.
Anyway, if I die and resurrect, it will disappear, so there's no problem.
"Then..."
But what if I can't resurrect?
"...Goodbye."
Such thoughts, I should try not to have them as much as possible from now on.
.
"Hmm..."
Meanwhile, at that time.
"...For a slave, the exterior is too intact."
Ruby was heading inside while looking around the humans' slave market with a curious expression.
[Main Quest: Fake Hero Descent]
This main quest is for you to announce to the whole world that you are the hero.
[The reward is an increase in main body awakening level.]
[The failure penalty is reduction of life force and lifespan.]
"...It's about time I became the hero."
Looking at the system window floating in her own space.
"...You're the hero?"
For some reason, Ruby.
"Liar."
She had not yet noticed Glare, who was still following behind her, surrounding her with faint light.