Chapter 105 – It isn’t Going as Planned (2)

They were on the road back from the Forest of Eternity, and they were headed towards Tiata..  Their walk refreshed their mood, but they soon got sick of walking.  Regina was capable of Flight magic, and Artpe was able to use Float magic.  Artpe carried Sienna and Maetel in each arm.  It took them only an hour to exit the forest.

“Flying is fun!”

“Actually, I was thinking about acquire a flying pet.”

[Nyaa?? Nyaa nyaa?]

“No, this is fine.  I like it the way it is!”

Roa was nervous about a competitor showing up.  Maetel liked being in Artpe’s arms while they were  flying.  When he saw their reaction, he firmly shook his head.

“No, this is already a settled matter.”

“You are too much!”

[Nyaaaaaaaaaaah!]

The hero’s party did stunts in the air as they flew over Tiata.  When they looked down from the sky, it looked as if Tiata was maintaining their peace.  At the very least, it looked like that on the surface. He had worried Tiata would resist against the combined forces of Daitan and Aedia.  Fortunately, the king of Daitain had handled the situation in an appropriate manner.

“The king of Daitan…..  Ah.  It seems he is in Aedia.  I guess it is understandable.  It is more important to stabilize Aedia right now.”

“So how are you going to raise awareness in regards to the threat posed by the Demon king’s army?”

“I’m going to receive help from Aedia’s magicians and the Dungeon merchants affiliated with merchant companies.  I’m sure the king of Daitan will welcome this. It is the same concept as the king of Daitan invading Aedia to divert the attention of his populace.  He’ll want to direct the confusion and anger felt by the people of Aedia and Tiata elsewhere.  That is why he’ll most likely promote my actions extensively.”

“Artpe, how many threads of thoughts do you have going on at one time?”

Maetel’s eyes were excessively bright.  That was why Artpe decided to cancel his ‘Chatter Away while Bluffing’ skill.

Soon, they returned to see the striking sight of the destruction caused to the palace of Tiata.  The corridors were destroyed in its entirety.  They arrived at the Warp Gate where the magicians and knights from Aedia and Daitan were performing a strict watch.

“Huht!  Hero!”

“What happened to Elves within the forest…..  Huhk!  She’s the magician from last time!”

“My name is Regina”

“No, it’s alright.  You don’t have to introduce yourself.”

Artpe once again warned them about the Forest of Eternity.  Then he injected his Mana into the Gate to activate it.  They passed through it, and of course, magicians and knights were also on guard on the other side.

“Huht!  Hero!!”

“What happened to Elves within the forest…..  Huhk!  She’s the magician from last time!”

“My name is Regin…..”

“Did you guys practice these lines from some script?”

The king of Daitan wasn’t at the palace.  When Artpe asked a knight about it, he was told that the king had taken the initiative by leading the knights and magicians outside to clean the capital, which was covered in filth.  Artpe thought for a brief moment, then he nodded his head.  He turned to look at Sienna and Regina.

“I think I’ll have to stay here for couple days with Maetel.  Everything will go more smoothly if the heroes steps forward.”

“What about Regina and me?”

“I want you guys to go and empty all the Dungeons in Aedia.  I want you to raise Regina’s level, so I’ll plot out a course that will be very hard.”

“······.”

Artpe took out a map of Aedia, and he started marking the location of the Dungeons and the ruins.  When they saw this, the eyes of Sienna and Regina turned white.  As if she was very unsatisfied with what he was proposing, Regina kept hitting Artpe’s midsection.  However, Artpe was tempered by Maetel’s body tackles, so her attacks didn’t even itch.

“It’s done.  I want you to give all the Unique spell  that comes out from these place to Regina.  I want her to learn it all.”

“Why me?”

“There are Unique skills that can only be used by heroes.  Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t learn other spells.  However, if I monopolize all the spells, your power will become relatively weak.

“I’m plenty strong.”

“If we go to the Demon world, there are plenty Demons that will be as strong as you.  If you are satisfied with your current power, you’ll suffer in the future.”

Of course, there weren’t that many that were on Regina’s level.  She was in the top 10 percent.  However, the top 10% of the Demons meant that there were over tens of thousands of them.

“Maetel and I fall within the top five percent.  Of course, our abilities are basically a cheat, so we can content with the top three percent.  However, that still means at least 10 thousand Demons are stronger than us.  There is only one thing that we are better at than them.  It is our growth speed.  We have to utilize this fact to the fullest.”

“You are a cheat.”

“You are unnecessarily handsome.”

Artpe once again flicked Regina and Sienna’s forehead.  As an afterthought, he handed over the map with the Dungeons marked.

“I want you to come back in one month.  I want Sienna to target an increase of 10 levels.  Regina should target 20 levels.   ”

“Our levels will rise that fast?”

At that point, Artpe took a peek at Maetel.  When he saw Maetel slightly nod her head, Artpe let out a bright smile as he gave an affirmation.

“Yes, you will grow fast.”

“······I sensed some kind of emotional exchange.  I demand an explanation.”

“So let’s meet after a month.”

“I demand an explanation.”

Artpe took out Pipi, and he handed it over to Regina.

“I’m letting you borrow it.  Normally, the Demite only follows its contractor.  However, you are also a Demite, so I think there is enough familiarity between the two of you.”

“······thank you.”

She received Pipi.  She hugged it as she gently stroked it.  It was as if the Demite wasn’t an Artifact that helped one’s use of magic.  She looked as if she was handling a pet or a doll.

He didn’t mind it, so he turned away.  He had smoothly changed the subject, so he had achieved his goal.

“Wow.  There’s five Dungeons and a ruin. Let’s hurry up and go, Regina.”

“Pipi made me stronger.  Fast flight.”

This was how Regina and Sienna left.  When Maetel was left alone with him, she was about to die from happiness.  She tried to link arms with him, but Artpe let out a heavy sigh.

“We’ll have to go out into the streets to clean it up.”

“Artpe is the one that made the mess.”

“Humans are beings that always act first and regret later.  I knew that this burden would fall on my shoulders later on, but I couldn’t help it.  I did it to feel that momentary sensation of pleasure.  Hue hue.  This will be hard…..”

“When you resign yourself to your fate, there is a slight taste of hopelessness that comes off you.  I really like it.”

“I’m starting to get scared when you give a detailed account of what you enjoy.”

Artpe and Maetel immediately started cleaning up the capital.  Maetel couldn’t use magic, so she used Record Divide to share her Mana with Artpe.  It was enough to accelerate his progress in doing this job.

“Huht!  That guy is…!”

“He’s the magician that dirtied the capital!”

“I heard a rumor that he is a hero······.”

“Hero?  That makes no sense!  No way!”

Artpe had already given up on cleaning up his image!  He had given up on the idea of cooperating with the humans to fight the Demon King.  He had done so when he escaped Diaz’s evil influence.  In terms of other nations, he just wanted them to strengthen their defense against the Demon King’s army.

“Clean! Clean! Cl—ean!”

“Amazing.  The smell is gone!  I don’t even smell any dust or fungus!”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t have have to make such a detailed commentary.  Clean!”

Artpe’s Clean spell was on a different level compared to the other magician in terms of range and efficacy.  Hundred magicians had sweated as they cleaned for an hour.  They were only able clean one street.  A single round of spells from Artpe had completely cleaned an entire block.

“Aht!  Magici….  Hero!  You are back!”

“Let’s talk later!  Clean!”

“······is he really a hero?  Or is he a janitor?”

Artpe walked past the sweating party led by the king.  He used his Clean spell at random.  When he walked past through a street, not a speck of dust was left behind!  In the beginning, the civilians had resented Artpe as they worked hard to clean their city.  Now they just wanted Artpe to come to their homes as soon as possible.

It didn’t matter if it was the shopping district, personal homes or government buildings.  He cleaned them all in a fair manner.  He didn’t eat or sleep for four days as he cleaned everything.  Suddenly, he realized he had restored the capital to a pristine state.

“The capital is clean again!”

“He even fixed the sewer system.  What an incredible ability······.”

“It really is an incredible ability.  It almost makes me accept the fact that he is a hero……”

How could humans be so simple!  They knew Artpe had made this mess, yet they were cheering for him.  The number of people cheering for Artpe was growing rapidly after they saw the clean city!

“As expected, humans are simple.  If I do a little bit more here, they’ll sing my praises.”

“They really are idiots!”

“······.”

Artpe stared at Maetel.  She tilted her head in puzzlement, and she asked him a question with a bright expression on her face.

“What is it, Artpe?  Is there something on my face?”

“No, it’s nothing..”

Artpe took his idiot towards the kingdom as fast as possible.  The king of Daitan had already changed his clothes, and he had been waiting for Artpe.

“Thank you, hero.  I never expected you to help in the cleanup.”

“We just want to move this along as fast as possible.  Let’s get into the main topic.”

The knights of Daitan and the magicians of Daitan were lined up along the sides.  They were on standby.  It seemed the king of Daitan had been successful in securing the magicians of Aedia.   Half of their resentment was headed towards Artpe, and the other half was directed towards the king of Daitan.  Still, the king of Daitan was pretty skilled in finessing the situation.

“Are you plannig on establishing your empire?”

“I still want to keep the two kingdoms…  Since there are three kingdoms including Tiata, I need to repair each kingdom.  I was thinking about pushing the establishment of the empire to a later date…..”

“Don’t do that..  You have to bind the unsettled hearts of the people into one.  You probably already know how to do this.”

In his past life, the Demon king’s army had invaded the human realm in earnest when the hero was over 20 years old.  Several plans had been percolating underneath the surface, and they ad all bubbled up to the surface at the same time.  The hero had been disillusioned by humanity, but she methodically blew up these plans with the help of her party members.

Of course, the current heroes were only 15 years old.  However, the heroes weren’t the only ones that had changed from their previous life.  It was the same for the Demon king’s army.  There was a group of Demons that moved independently from the Demon king’s army.  They didn’t follow the Demon King’s orders.  He knew more changes would continue to occur in the future.

“Will you allow me to sell the name of the hero?”

“From the moment I searched you out, that was my aim.  Basically, I thought you would be aligned the most with me amongst the three nations.”

“I’m starting to see what you are trying to do, hero.”

“It took you long enough.”

They exchanged evil smiles with each other.  It was a crime if one used someone else without their knowledge.  However, if both sides agreed to it, it was a deal being made.  The phrase, ‘If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.’, was quite apt.

“What do we have to do?”

“You’ll have to declare the establishment of your empire.  Then we’ll borrow the power of the magicians of Aedia and the merchant organizations.  We’ll unite Daitan, Aedia and Tiata.  Then we’ll create a Mana Transmission route between them.  When you announce the formation of your empire, you’ll notify everyone of the existence of the heroes, You’ll explain the implications of the Demon King’s army showing up.  Ah.  I want everyone to see us, so it is imperative that we’ll be able to transmit images.  What do you think?  Easy, right?”

“Easy, my ass!”

One of the magicians let out a shout of dismay, but his voice didn’t reach anyone.  The king of Daitan….no, the man that would become an emperor of an empire was firmly shaking hands with Artpe.  The contract was satisfactorily concluded.

It took them two weeks to expand Aedia’s Mana Transmission route to Daitan and Tiata.  Immediately, Angelo Zard was crowned first emperor of the Zard empire.  When he constructed the united empire, their most important mission was revealed.

“The king of Aedia and the duke of Tiata was in league to destroy the peace of the human realm.  They had been creating an evil magic!  I had been playing in the palm of their hands unknowingly, but two people helped me break apart this conspiracy.  These two people are none other than the heroes.    ”

The existence of the heroes was made public to the three nations…no, the empire of Zard…no, it was announced to the entire continent.

“That’s right.  Oh, my people!  We don’t have time to hate each other!  The Demon King has appeared!  The fight between humans are over.  Our enemy…..is the Demon race!”

It was the moment when the human realm were made aware of the existence of the Demon King’s army.

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