Chapter 265

[15th Round] I Finally Found it!

"I was having fun, yes, but not because I'm lazy. That girl lied. Her parents are healthy. If Sieg found out about it, he'd be disappointed, so I told him I couldn't find her. I'm sorry I lied!"

"Lanuvel..."

"Oh! Not all inhabitants of Fantasy are liars! There are many kind and helpful people here!"

Lanuvel's intentions were understandable.

She didn't know that Sieg had already undergone multiple regressions, which was why she treated him as a beginner who had just been called into this world.

She had to cover up the truth since the first local to ask for his help turned out to be a swindler. Though the girl was innocent-looking, she tried to become rich by using her parents as an excuse.

Her actions were closely related to human psychology.

When a person, out of the kindness of his soul, helped someone only to be deceived in the end, they would begin to doubt others and stop rushing to help those in need.

Tourists robbed by petty thieves at the airport they just arrived at would feel the same way. They would start considering their destination to be dangerous.

That was why people often said first impressions lasted.

"Lanuvel, you were so worried about me!"

What was he doing?

Shouldn't this moment be the time to punish her? I had to intervene.

"Hero Sieg, think about it carefully. The girl lied to use you, and Lanuvel lied as well. The reason isn't important. Excuses will always be no more than excuses. There aren't as many good-natured people in the world of Fantasy as she says."

Killing her would be pretty easy, but my goal was to displace her and become the guide of this journey, which in turn would allow him to complete it in peace.

The outcome of this journey had been decided from the very beginning.

Complete failure!

I couldn't lose to someone like Sieg.

My main goal was to separate Lanuvel, God's chief representative, and Sieg, the student.

In doing so, even if he failed to graduate and regressed over and over again, he would no longer accept her as part of his party.

That was exactly what I did starting from the 2nd round.

In the end, I became the Second Demon Lord, opposing God herself.

Likewise, if I wanted to win the students over to my side, I would need to get rid of Lanuvel first.

I couldn't do it myself, however. Instead, I had to indirectly make the Hero realize and understand how terrible her actions were.

'It's finally time, Sieg! Kick Lanuvel's ass with all your might!'

"Lying for the sake of goodness isn't a sin, Marquis. She hid the truth from me for my sake and the world's as well."

It didn't work, huh?

My blood pressure began to rise again.

It didn't matter why she did it. She tried to trick the group leader. In the army, she would've been court-martialed for that.

Still, Sieg was stronger than I thought, just in a different sense.

"Marquis Sosiris, I'm very sorry. I will never lie again!" A victorious smile appeared on Lanuvel's face.

"Hero Sieg, we've already had a snack, so how about we go to an inn and rest?"

"An inn? But what about the money..."

"If we sell the medicinal herbs that we have collected today at a good price, we should have enough."

I emphasized the word "good."

Even Lanuvel, who offered to sell expensive herbs at a low price, remained silent this time.

Her lies had just been exposed, after all.

All she did was have fun in the city while we were gathering herbs in the forest. She didn't have the right to object to what we'd do with them.

Shameless as she might be, she understood.

"Ah! The more we earn, the better!"

Knowing that money would make our lives easier, Sieg agreed with me this time instead of Lanuvel.

However, since it was too predictable, it failed to bring me joy.

Only annoyance and the bitterness of defeat filled my head since I couldn't get rid of her!

Sieg sold the medicinal herbs we collected during the day to the apothecary and the loot we collected from the dungeon to the smithy and haberdashery, amassing a considerable amount of money.

Filling his pockets, Sieg smiled and spoke to himself.

"I'm glad I listened to the Marquis. Although he has a terrible character, he has a head on his shoulders."

I felt no joy in my soul from his praise.

Using the money he got from the herbs that the lower-ranked spirits so eagerly gathered, Sieg renewed his equipment.

He got rid of his school uniform, which had been torn in several places, and bought armor made of sturdy boar leather.

He kept his rusty hunting dagger as his backup weapon and acquired a sharp longsword as his primary weapon.

"What about your helmet and shield, Hero Sieg?"

"Those items will make me look like less of a brave hero, so no."

"I see."

Even if it was inconvenient, he should definitely use a helmet and a shield until he reached level 100 as a precaution against the sudden appearances of powerful and dangerous opponents.

I didn't try to convince him, though, since the moment one learned they would be resurrected upon death, they'd start losing their appreciation for their lives.

The same went for me.

After gaining the "Legendary" racial trait, in particular, I stopped worrying about protection.

"Sieg, let's head to the inn already. I'm exhausted!"

"You've done nothing but rest all day, Lanuvel."

"I can't hear anything~ I can't hear anything~"

I wanted to punish Lanuvel myself for trying to extricate herself from every situation by pretending to be cute, but I turned a blind eye to it instead. I just wanted to rest right now.

I was too mentally worn out today.

"Your friend is incredible. I've never seen you show fatigue even when up against my dad, yet he's already squeezed everything out of you after a few days—"

"Shut up."

Sieg got himself a single room, of which there weren't so many in the inn. The rest of us took double rooms, one for Lanuvel and Sylvia and another for Ssosia and me.

Because of Sylvia's earlier refusal, I wanted to call Boris, but my indecisive wife suddenly changed her mind, causing the whole plan to be canceled.

"Hey, aren't you ashamed in front of Boris?"

"I'm sleeping with you, not because of my lack of free will but because I'm worried about you. You might get too frustrated and destroy this world— Hey?! Be gentle!"

"Just give up."

I wouldn't allow anyone to sleep tonight. Not even the knocks on the walls could stop me.

The inn's walls were thick to protect their customers' privacy, but it couldn't do anything against the banging noise coming from the strikes of a level 41 hero who had given in to his emotions.

"Marquis Sosiris! Let me sleep! Please!"

It was kind of noisy outside. Was a dog barking?

I tortured my cowardly wife.

... Until the rooster crowed.

***

The sun was shining brightly. A perfect morning greeted us to start the 3rd stressful day of Sieg's journey.

Instead of shabby bedrooms provided by the Dumpling Kingdom in the royal palace, we were able to relax in high-class hotel rooms, allowing us to rid ourselves of our accumulated fatigue.

"Good morning, Marquis Sosiris, Marchioness Sophia!" Lanuvel greeted, waving her arms. She seemed to be the first to go down to the dining room.

"Yeah... Good morning."

Immediately having to look at her face this early in the day annoyed me, but my mood improved a little when a guy and a girl came down from the second floor like a zombie.

"Oh..."

"Ooohhh..."

Sieg and Sylvia made their way towards us with their eyes half-open. They were nodding off so much their faces almost fell right onto the corn soup the innkeeper prepared for us.

It was unusual to see Sylvia behaving that way, considering her skills weren't low, but the sight of her gave me pleasure.

It was evident from their faces that they wanted to get more sleep after breakfast. However, they knew that wouldn't be possible due to Lanuvel, who had been happily exclaiming about the continuation of our journey all day.

There was one more piece of good news.

"Sorry, Sir Hero Sieg. Sir Alex urged me to help you, but I have changed my mind after observing how happy Marchioness Sophia is. I simply must find myself a groom."

Elf Princess Sylvia announced her desire to leave the group.

She had quite a compelling reason, too!

Anyone who'd look at Ssosia would immediately notice how happy she was due to her MAX-Class husband, which she got thanks to her father's machinations. As a consequence, such thoughts would inevitably arise within them.

"Did you just say I look happy...?" My cowardly little wife didn't agree with Sylvia's statement, but two of the strongest transcendental beings of this world recognized me as a good husband.

"The Drug Hero is an incredible husband. Heehee!"

"I am. She just doesn't seem to realize how happy she truly is."

It didn't matter if she admitted it or not. Sylvia knew the truth because of what happened yesterday evening, which became precisely the reason behind her decision.

She decided to get married as soon as possible.

"How so..."

Sieg, who decided to aim for Saintess A after failing to court Sylvia, fell into despair.

"Oh no... We only spent a day with you, but I will pray for your happiness."

Damn! Sylvia would most likely never be able to get married now because of Lanuvel's curse!

"Thank you, Miss Lanuvel."

Unaware that she was cursed, Sylvia thanked Lanuvel and, as if challenged, turned to Ssosia.

"You just wait! I'll make sure to marry a nobler man and spend sweet nights with him!"

"Uh... Okay... I hope it won't be as difficult as you make it sound," Ssosia shrugged and wished her luck.

"So that's the unshakable confidence of a winner, huh?! Hmph! You'll soon see for yourself!"

I felt sorry for Sylvia, but it would be impossible to find a man better than me in this world.

1) Job: Demon Lord

2) Experience: MAX-Class Hero with 100 years of experience

3) Combat power: GGG-rank

4) Property: The entire southern part of the Central Continent

5) Appearance: Cute

6) Personality: Simply wonderful!

...

It was impossible to enumerate all of my amazing traits. However, it should be noted that half of what made the skills of Fantasy's creatures were Dark Energy, which I provided this world with.

I was a real deity!

Hence, in this world, there simply couldn't be any man better than me.

"One's soul is much more important than their combat power, despicable husband."

"Souls can't protect the happiness of the family."

We were at Fantasy, a fairly dangerous world.

Young and beautiful wives were often stolen from weaker men here.

Even if men treated the women in their lives well, the moment savages broke into their house or some hooligan tried to harass their wives in the street, the connection they created would disappear like a mirage.

Such a scene was common in the slave market.

In novels, women were more expensive than men, but it was actually the opposite.

After all, beauties here weren't bought but conquered.

For example, Merchant A and Merchant B had the same amount of capital, and Merchant A bought Beauty A in the slave market while Merchant B bought Warrior B. In novels, Merchant A would be described as the one who made the right choice.

However, in reality, Merchant B would simply order Warrior B to kill Merchant A and take Beauty A away from him.

"How much would I be, my cowardly husband?"

Women of extraordinary beauty were exceptions, considering their charming smiles had much more power and influence than a hundred pumped-up warriors.

On the other hand, if it were impossible to control a powerful soldier, whose cooperation could dictate a nation's victory or defeat when it came to warfare, then there would be no deal at all.

"Why are we even talking about this?"

It was because my cowardly wife declared that a person's soul was more important than their combat abilities.

She sounded like she had read too many romance novels.

Only after experiencing being dragged away by a savage or a monster would she realize that women should choose their husbands based on their strength.

"Ah... I don't like this development," Sieg said as he watched Sylvia leave to search for love.

There was no limit to human greed.

"Sieg, don't be so upset that Sylvia left. Meetings are followed by partings. Our journey isn't just all about leveling up and searching for treasures. Finding new friends and companions to defeat the Demon Lord with is part of the adventure. I'll also always be here to help you, so don't worry too much about it!"

"Ah... I want to start all over again..."

Sieg seemed to be treating this world as an RPG game.

"He does not value his life at all," The Creator-Goddess Fantasy expressed her dissatisfaction about having her world treated like some kind of entertaining computer game.

With both hands, she soon began to knead Master Mollan, who was sitting on her lap, like dough.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing with the greatest creation to ever exist?! May heaven punish you!"

"Don't get so worked up. I'm only making small changes to the world."

"Mollan! Mollan! Mollan!"

Ssosia's words were strange.

How could she change the world by touching Master Mollan?

"..."

"..."

"I can't see any changes."

Sieg, staring at Lanuvel's ass as she walked in front of everyone to show the way to the Holy Kingdom, also looked the same.

"Naturally. The process will start only after his death."

"His death?"

"Yes."

Looking at the back of Sieg's head, I smiled.

After parting with stupid Sylvia, he wanted to start all over again. I, his Max-Class senior, should grant him his wish without fail.

It was easy to kill a hero who wasn't even level 50 yet.

I was a little worried about his Male Strength Z since it made him stronger if there was a woman nearby who would support him, but there should be no problem if I dealt with Lanuvel simultaneously.

I didn't have to worry about repeating the same steps, too.

After all, Sieg would choose a path where he wouldn't meet Ssosia or me.

There was nothing that could get in my way.

The Demon Lord would kill him, so he shouldn't have any regrets.

Even if he applied for admission to two universities, didn't being rejected by a first-class university sound better than being rejected by a third-rate one?

I began to accumulate power, transferring it to my clone weakened by the Demon Lord's job penalty. It was difficult and tedious, but there was nothing I could do about it.

It was all to destroy Sieg with one blow.

He didn't have to understand how he died at all.

However, as I was about to strike him...

▶ Appearance: Ah! Yes! I finally found you! You have so many clones that doing so took me so long, cadet Kang Han Soo.

Beautiful in body and soul, Trainee Teacher greeted me with joy.