My Disciples Know That I Am Strong

Episode 2. Hero Awakening (2)

“My head is ringing since morning.”

I got up as calmly as possible.

I felt like I was going to die from embarrassment, but thanks to the facial expression management skill, I was able to stay calm.

“Are you awake?”

“Are you awake?”

“Are you awake?”

Three people bow and greet. It was like being a noble being greeted by people who entered as an attendant.

I looked out the window. The sun was rising quite high.

“…… It seems a bit late. Let’s go get breakfast right away.”

I couldn’t let my breakfast be filled with beef jerky.

I’m in my prime, so I need to spend some money.

Grow up strong, defeat many demons, and work hard for peace and well-being in the world.

I will take the lead. The kids follow.

“There is one more person. Are you a race collector?”

“…… The host’s horse is getting dirty day by day.”

“Are you the only one?”

After staying for about a week, it was now possible to play tiki-taka with the owner. I wonder if it is affectionate to the extent of hatred?

Actually, the disapproval of my attitude is the same as before, but since he raised his profits, he seemed to accept it.

As expected, money is always the truth.

“I would like some breakfast.”

“One fairy tale per person.”

I put up five fairy tales. A slight smile creeps across his face.

“Hey! Four breakfasts!”

“Okay~!”

When I sit in front of a suitable cylinder table, the children also sit.

“Mrs. Prause.”

“Uh.”

“How is your schedule today?”

After thinking about Iris’s question for a while, he opened his mouth.

“We will leave the capital tomorrow.”

“Are you leaving the capital?”

Maria looked at her unexpectedly.

“Yes.”

I wanted to leave even today.

I did that yesterday, but whether it was the Imperial Knights or the Secret Garden, there was no way I wouldn’t be interested in this.

Besides, before participating in the slave auction, I had a record of selling artifacts to a taster on the black market.

It wasn’t enough that they had exposed quite a lot of information, and since there were girls who would become heroes in the future, it was better to leave the capital as soon as possible and go into hiding.

“Then where are you going?”

“I’m thinking of going to Brich Forest, where the wolf monster has recently settled.”

Brich Forest is close to the city of Aus, located in the southwest of the empire, and was in the territory ruled by the Duke of Aus.

It was a place I could reach by taking a week from Sekul Village, where I live, but there was no way to meet demons as safely as there.

“To the place where demons are…… ? May I ask why?”

Because you have to go there to awaken.

They could awaken only when they had the will to fight while watching the demons.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

There were two artifacts on the way to Aus.

One was a stone of purification that had already been sold once, and the other was a pair of shoes with the 「High Speed Movement」 Skill.

In the future, as they grow up, they will gradually deviate from human standards, but in order to follow them, you must at least wear these artifacts.

“That’s the reason I took you in.”

“Hey, just in case, do you plan on having us fight monsters?”

“Yes.”

“!”

“Well, we are not as strong as Prause.”

“Right. We’re at a level where we can’t win even if we fight E-class adventurers right now.”

“Don’t worry. The moment you face a monster, you will feel that you have to fight on your own.”

I will induce you to think that way.

It doesn’t matter whether you are weak or strong. What was needed was will.

As long as they have the will to kill demons, they will safely become heroes.

“Anyway, in preparation for a long trip, today I plan to buy the necessary items before leaving. I’ll get the coachman too. Let’s go to the market and buy whatever you want to eat.”

There is nothing good to do around the current situation, but it was to open the capital as soon as possible.

If you prepare a robe and walk around, it will be less noticeable.

“Anything is fine?”

I took three gold coins out of my pocket. Then, he set them down one by one in front of the seats where they were sitting.

“Anything is fine. Decide what you want to do, what you want to eat, what you want to buy, within that money.”

You can even buy a dress worn by aristocrats with a gold coin. I hope the kids will buy it.

“Gold coins… ….”

“Is it okay to receive such a large amount of money?”

“Can you give this to us?”

“No problem—”

“The meal was served. Try clearing your head.”

At the sudden interruption of the owner’s voice, I confidently crossed my arms.

“I see no reason why I should.”

“A bastard who is not cheap.”

Bang!

He sets the plate down roughly.

I put it down in front of other children. But it didn’t sound like it was placed in front of me.

“I don’t think the owner’s personality is very good for the children’s mental education.”

“What are you saying?”

We started breakfast while listening to the owner’s criticism.

It was a bit late in the morning, but it looked like it would be a fairly peaceful day.

* * *

“Delmar.”

I looked at the coachman who transported me from Sekul to Pretium. He was taking care of the horses in the stable.

The coachman’s expression when he saw me quickly turned rotten.

“This is Thelma. You damn bastard.”

“You were still in Pretium.”

My snout lightly ignored his words. Even if I thought about talking in a more friendly way, the muzzle spat out words that had nothing to do with my intentions, so there was no answer.

“Why? Are you done with your business in Pretium now?”

“Yes.”

“How did you deal with that prisoner slave you saw before?”

“The child will go too.”

“…… Did you buy it after all?”

“There are two more besides him.”

“Certainly you are a pedophile—”

“Shut up. Do I look like someone who gets horny with a kid or something?”

It may be misunderstood, but it was force majeure.

The writer who wrote the game scenario only set the hero’s starting age as 10 years old. That was something I, as a player, couldn’t do.

“I like women with big breasts.”

“…… Huh, I’m not interested in your tastes.”

“If you’re not interested, don’t say that.”

“You no-nonsense bastard! Not a single word! Tsk! So, where are you going this time?”

“I’m thinking of going to the Brich Forest next to Aus. Are you going there?”

“Brich Forest? I think the Empire told me not to go there recently because it’s been a mess?”

Hmm? Didn’t the information spread that the wolf monster had settled down at this time?

I’ll take a look.

“Confused? What do you mean?”

“I heard that there are many cases where people who go to the forest to gather herbs go missing. There was an official notice saying to be careful not to go near the wizards because they can feel the magic.”

Are you saying that there is no information about a specific monster yet?

I shouldn’t have told the kids about monsters like this. If you don’t, you might be able to ask how I knew that information.

“Since Duke Aus said that he had commissioned an investigation of Brihi Forest, it will soon subside, but S-class adventurers must be busy. Because they are fighting in the middle of the demon world border.”

One of those S-class adventurers is here right now.

Of course, in the case of Incuro, he returned to the capital for recuperation after fighting the demons a few days ago.

I was doing well with my duties as an S-class adventurer. So he must be carrying around 3,000 gold in his hand.

“Are you going anyway?”

“At that distance, I should get at least three silver coins.”

“Chapter 3? I get it.”

“How are you going to escort me?”

You may encounter bandits as long as you travel a long distance. His concerns were justified.

‘But this time, I have no choice but to be a bit reluctant.’

“…… Not required.”

“What?”

He freaked out.

I am going to Brich Forest this time not only to find artifacts, but also to awaken the warriors. I had to keep my eyes closed as much as possible.

It was better to hide it from the public, at least until they gained enough power to kill demons.

“Don’t worry. Whatever I do, I can do it.”

“What? You bastard, Praus, are the official weaklings of Sekul Village.”

…… Are you real?

Was Prause a weakling? Everyone was afraid to live, so I thought you would think I was a strong person.

“You are laughing. Why am I a weakling?”

“Yeah… ….”

As if to look at your body, it scans your entire body.

“It’s because I’ve never seen you train, let alone fight. My forearms are also thin.”

“Don’t you know the actual compression muscles?”

“…… ? How do muscles compress?”

After I said it, I realized that it is a word that is used occasionally even in modern times.

Everyone mistakenly thought I was strong, but only Thelma was looking at me normally, so the cognitive dissonance that came from that led to a decrease in thinking ability.

“Anyway, I—”

“Over there.”

“…… ?”

I turned around at the sudden male voice.

Standing there was a man with a robe covering his body. The green eyes that can be seen between the hood and black hair are impressive. His features were also somewhat familiar.

Besides, seeing the black attire visible through the robes, I could roughly guess where he belonged.

“…… Is it Dex?”

“!”

He was startled by my words and hesitated.

He distances himself from me as if he didn’t think he would know his identity right away.

“Oh, how did you know?”

He had his mouth wide open as if he had no time to hide his emotions.

‘How do you know? I’ve already figured out what the illustrated NPCs look like.’

“You think I didn’t know?”

Also, thanks to the f*cking filtering, it becomes a fight.

* * *

‘Crazy!’

The moment his name was mentioned, Dex couldn’t help but panic.

Hearing that he needed an escort, he tried to hide Prause’s information, but was discovered from the beginning and all plans were shaken.

Dex, who got hit properly, swallows dry spit.

“That means…… Does that mean you left me alone?”

“It doesn’t matter if one or two flying flies get caught.”

‘As expected, he knew that he had been following me ever since I observed from the roof. Absolute confidence that you won’t be attacked anytime, anywhere! It’s a mindset you can’t have unless you’re an S-class adventurer…… ! Furthermore… ….’

Dex had been following Prause from the inn, and he overheard a startling piece of information.

It was the information that the reason Magi felt in Brich Forest was because of the ‘wolf’ monster.

This information was still unknown to the entire empire. Even the secret garden, the highest rank of the information guild, was not obtained.

But Prause knew that. Seeing that fact, Dex thought.

‘Behind this person’s back is an information guild far more capable than our Secret Garden! Where the hell are you? Where the hell does this person belong to, and even such an information guild follows?’

Actually, there was no such thing, and Prause was just using the memories he acquired while playing the game.

With no way of knowing that fact, Dex couldn’t help but think that Prause was the ‘head’ of a group he didn’t even know about.

“Ah, Thelma. Come to think of it, you said you needed an escort, right? Use this guy.”

“Yes? Now wait.”

Dex looked at Prause’s fingertips, which were pointing at him.

‘Are you using me to hide your power!?’

“Wasn’t that the intention of appearing in front of me?”

“That, that…… Well, ma, that’s right, that’s right.”

‘What the hell does this person not know… …. How many moves are they looking ahead?’

As long as he is the guild leader of the Secret Garden, there is nothing to say about his skills. Besides, since he started getting attention last night while fighting Incuro, he can’t escape the attention of the Secret Garden. If that’s the case, I’d rather take care of it myself.’

“I won’t give you any money. Do you have any objections?”

“…… That’s great. Who you are.”

‘To know that information will inevitably leak just by being together, and to use that as a tool for negotiations. He is excellent not only in force, but also in speech.’

“Okay. I will accept that escort offer.”

Dex vowed to find out the group and secrets behind Prauss through this trip.

Actually, there is nothing like that.