Episode 236
"Cough... Ugh..."
"H-Hero!?"
Ruby, who had been swaying, began to gasp for breath while bent at the waist.
"What's wrong! Hero!"
"I-it's... ugh..."
"...Hero!"
When she finally lost her balance and collapsed, Vener supported her with a tearful expression.
"Pull yourself together! If the Hero dies here, the Empire has no hope left!"
"Ugh..."
And as Ruby watched Vener crying out with desperate voice while looking down at her dazed form.
'...This is driving me crazy.'
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her entire body twist and contort.
"...She must be in shock from losing too much blood."
"Even without that, she was injured badly enough to lose consciousness at any moment."
"She forced herself to fight even though the Hero's sacred gear hasn't fully awakened..."
The onlookers watched with pity and spoke thus, but the reality was somewhat different.
'What is... this feeling...?'
Since ordinary attacks didn't work on Ruby, she had created fake wounds on her body to make it appear as if she had tried her hardest.
Her plan was to show those wounds, pretend to fight moderately, and then earn everyone's trust with a decisive contribution.
But.
'Is this... what it feels like to have your insides turned inside out...?'
The 'healing' potion Rosewin gave her had become an unexpected variable.
Since it was a potion that granted tremendous healing power only to the 'Hero', it was obvious what would happen when the Demon Lord, who stood on the opposite side, consumed it.
"Urk..."
Thanks to that, Ruby experienced the sensation of her stomach flipping inside out for the first time in her life and began dry-heaving on the floor.
"Ugh..."
With tears welling in her eyes, just like Frey had done moments ago because of her.
"Guard the Hero! If the Hero dies, we're all finished!"
Vener, who didn't know what to do as she watched Ruby, shouted at the top of her lungs, and people began to gather around her.
"Hero, could this also be that damn Frey's scheme? He might have cast an incurable curse when he attacked you earlier!"
"........."
"I will definitely break that bastard's neck. For justice!"
Vener, the Hero's direct guard knight and a knight who worshipped justice.
"...I've summoned shields around the perimeter. They'll hold for several tens of minutes."
"I-I've also... summoned a defensive barrier, but..."
"...Hm."
The paladin with a soulless expression, Ariane with a dazed look, and Aris with a cold expression.
".........."
And Rosewin, who for some reason stood far away with a blank expression, at a loss for words.
"I'll heal you!!! So please grit your teeth!!"
"Ugh...!"
And finally, the saintess of pure white, Perloche.
The Hero's party, humanity's hope, had finally revealed themselves to the world.
'Frey... you bastard... using such tricks...'
Of course, the fact that their central figure, the Hero, was a hypocrite was a problem.
'In that case... I can't just play along half-heartedly either.'
"Cough, cough."
Ruby, receiving holy power treatment from Perloche, raised her body while coughing up blood.
"Khh..."
"Lady Ruby!"
Vener stayed close to her side, supporting her devotedly.
"You're right... Vener."
Ruby, looking at her, whispered in a low voice to all the Hero's party members who were watching her.
"The truth is... this is something Frey did."
"".......!!""
Silence began to circulate around them.
"I had noticed the fact beforehand and tried to persuade Frey... but instead, I was attacked by him."
"...Is that true!"
"Even so, I tried to persuade him until the end... I didn't know things would turn out this way. Truly... I have no face to show you all..."
When Ruby turned her gaze aside and trailed off, Vener began to grit her teeth.
"I will go find and kill Frey."
"N-no, you mustn't. He is still..."
As she said that while gripping her sword tightly, her voice trembling.
"I will take responsibility."
"......."
But when Vener said that, Ruby quietly closed her mouth.
'If it turns out like this, since I didn't directly order murder... the system can't do anything about it either.'
She then smiled inwardly, evaluating her own scheme.
"So we just need to eliminate Frey."
"K-kill him? W-well, I can't... I only know defensive magic..."
"...Please provide rear support. I'll pierce that bastard's throat."
The paladin speaking in a calm voice around her, Ariane conversing with others, and Aris.
'Frey, the fight begins now.'
Ruby watched them with blurred eyes.
'This is just the beginning. Although the current Hero's party is only at this level... there are plenty who hate you. If I set my mind to it, I can replenish them.'
She smiled to herself and quietly muttered inwardly.
'That's why... your hell starts now.'
"Hero! Please wait here for just a moment! We will capture the culprit Frey and end this situation!"
Vener and the Hero's party members said that and left, leaving Ruby surrounded by all kinds of defensive barriers and guards.
"You're holding up quite well. As expected, losing an arm makes me feel much dead too."
"Even without that, dealing with the likes of you is as easy as eating cold porridge."
And watching the Demon Lord's executives and the Imperial and Church soldiers being pushed outside the main hall due to the fierce battle.
'Well, that's only possible if they survive this place.'
She turned her gaze to the bishops of the Church who were quietly watching the situation from afar.
'Those guys, I never imagined they were planning to betray both the Hero's party and the Imperial family at the same time.'
This Hero verification ceremony was, literally, a crucible of chaos.
Ruby plotted to bring down Frey, Frey's side plotted to humiliate the Imperial family, and the Imperial family plotted to assassinate Frey.
It was literally a situation where schemes and machinations ran rampant, but it was none other than the Church that put the finishing touch on it.
"Are you ready...?"
"...Not yet, please wait a little longer."
They were plotting to bury the Imperial family, Frey's side, and even the Hero's party to seize world hegemony.
"Now is not the time."
The scheme was very simple.
"Not enough energy for the explosion has been gathered yet."
They planned to evacuate the nobles in cooperative relations with them, then blow up this entire building.
'I won't die from an explosion, but... what about you? Frey?'
Ruby, who already knew that situation, lay down on the floor with a pleasant smile despite being in a groggy state thanks to the potion Rosewin gave her.
"Lady Ruby!!"
"...Ugh."
When Perloche, who had been hovering near the bishops, approached her with a bright smile, Ruby quietly frowned.
"You're so genuinely hypocritical today too!! That's the best!!"
"........"
"By the way, do we just need to kill Frey!"
"Ugh..."
Perloche, who once again drove holy power deep into her body, said with a bright look at Ruby who was bleeding from her mouth due to the combination of potion and holy power directly damaging her internal organs.
"Alright, I will definitely! Kill that evil and bad Mr. Frey!"
"......."
Please look forward to it!"
.
"Bad Frey~! Prepare yourself! I'm coming now....."
Rosewin watched blankly as Perloche went out through the door broken by Glare while shouting in high spirits, then turned her gaze to Ruby.
"Ugh... ugh..."
She was still writhing in agony and convulsing on the floor.
"........."
Rosewin watched Ruby blankly, then quietly looked at the system window floating in front of her.
[Judgment Result: Disqualified]
[Countermeasure: Transfer control authority to the person most helpful to the Hero]
No matter how many times she looked, the content floating before her didn't change.
She had just lost the helper authority she had wanted so badly.
In that situation, Rosewin, who had momentarily stopped thinking, only now began to slowly recall her thoughts.
'Potion, I gave a potion... the potion...'
The moment the system window appeared before her eyes, she had lost her reason.
She was buried in the thought that her long-awaited latent ability had awakened at a moment of crisis, filled with joy and delight at the fact that she was finally proven.
The moment she heard of Ruby's crisis, she had grabbed the potion and run.
Thinking that finally she, who hadn't been much help until now, could also be of assistance to the Hero, to get in the good graces of Ruby who had seemed indifferent to her lately.
But the moment Ruby drank the potion and frowned, she received a disqualification judgment.
"Cough, cough..."
Moreover, Ruby who drank the 'recovery' potion was writhing in agony.
'Could it be...'
In that situation, Rosewin, who began to realize that everything was going wrong, turned pale and slowly began to approach Ruby.
'...Ugh.'
Then, as always, her heart began to ache.
- Thump.
Until now, she had thought it was excitement.
She thought that her reaction was proof that she was a helper, being the sole heir of the Hero's long-standing helper family and responding to the Hero.
- Thump, thump.
"Hic..."
But, why was it.
The image of Ruby hacked to pieces and the flowers she received from her, seen in the earlier nightmare she had dismissed as just stress and nervous breakdown, came to mind.
And what was this massive fear and dread washing over her.
The reason she felt like she had committed something irreversible, that her soul was being torn to shreds...
"Haa... haa..."
Thinking such thoughts, Rosewin arrived right in front of Ruby.
She was still in pain.
Even though she had drunk a potion that was supposed to grant perfect healing to the 'Hero' according to the shop's description.
※Warning: Serious side effects may occur if consumed by someone other than the Hero.
"...L-Lady Ruby."
Rosewin, who had been looking down at her, turned her gaze to the precaution written on the potion in the shop that had been open until then.
"U-um..."
She tried to ask with a trembling voice.
"You are..."
"Th-thank you... Miss Rosewin."
But Ruby, who suddenly grabbed her hand, began to speak with a smile.
"Thanks to you, I lived..."
"...Yes?"
"Actually, I... as the rumors say, had a terminal illness..."
Rosewin's eyes began to waver at those words.
"I couldn't mention that fact carelessly so I was keeping it secret, but... after taking Miss Rosewin's medicine, it seems the disease has completely healed."
"........."
"This is the healing process. Since it was such a virulent disease... haha."
Ruby said that.
"After this incident ends, I will announce you as the Hero's party's top contributor."
"Ah, oh..."
"So please leave this place for now. Since you are a useful... no, a person of such value."
She said, pushing Rosewin toward the exit.
"For now, join up with the Hero's party chasing Frey. You'll be safe with them."
"Ah..."
Then Rosewin, with a dazed expression, began to head toward the exit.
"...Lady Ruby."
But she stopped in her tracks.
"I-I have a... question..."
She asked, her face pale blue.
"B-by any chance... the name Ruby..."
"Yes?"
"Is i-it... a fake name? An alias...?"
"Hmm?"
Ruby tilted her head at the abrupt question.
"My name is Ruby, now and always."
She answered in a bright voice.
"Ah, ah ah ah... I-I see..."
Rosewin, hearing that answer, began to tremble violently.
"........"
Ruby, watching her with narrowed eyes.
"...Miss Rosewin."
"Y-yes?"
"What are you looking at?"
She asked Rosewin, whose eyes had been constantly darting to the empty air and wavering wildly.
"Ah, ah, it's nothing..."
Answering in a low voice to Ruby, Rosewin slowly moved her feet.
"Haa... haa..."
She began to look up at the empty air, filled with fear.
[System Alert!]
[Achievement Unlocked: First Step]
- Pledge to help the Hero.
Intelligence + 1, Courage + 1
For some reason, the system alert that had appeared while she was conversing with Ruby was floating in the empty air, but Rosewin's gaze wasn't fixed there.
[Helper System]
> Hero's True Identity
- The Hero's true identity is, as you well know....... [ㅍ ]
[...5% restoration complete]
The error at the very top of the system was slightly corrected, revealing the first letter of the broken text.
[ㅍ ]
"............."
An indescribably massive fear began to wash over Rosewin as she looked at it.
.
Meanwhile at that time.
"We've arrived!"
"Why did you leave me behind... I was just thinking about tearing apart the Hero's party's necks for my master..."
Lulu, with a sulky expression, began to mutter in a low voice as she got off the carriage.
"...Huh?"
Then, seeing an unusual sight, she froze.
- Gooooo...
The building where the Hero's inauguration ceremony was being held, seen through her magic eye, was emitting a serious level of demonic energy.
"...Grrr."
Lulu began to growl, baring her teeth.