EP 16

▷Doubt: It is impossible to hunt the Chaos Dragon. It should have already spent its life and returned to nature by the time the Hero candidate has gathered reliable companions and become sufficiently strong. This cannot be. It is not an achievement made possible by returning in time. Is that not so?

‘Professor Morals, what’s a mere student like me supposed to know?’

I had only come to feast in the EXP of a pushover dragon whelp. I would never have come had I known the current house owner was this Oblivion Dragon King—though I ended up taking it down in the heat of the moment.

And besides that, I had obtained this:

■■□

This mosaic skill was still in an unactivated state, but I faintly understood how to active it.

Now! It was time to scratch the lottery ticket.

▷Startled: Student Kang Han Soo! Please wait! In days of old, it was said to not chase after a dog whose owner you did not know. Would it not be better to leave it until the higher-ups finish looking into it? We will figure it out quickly! Please wait until then!

Professor Morals left in haste and immediately after he did, an irrepressible sneer formed on my lips.

“Pft! An ownerless dog? Being the stiff-minded teacher that he is, he just doesn’t know.”

When a person is told not to do something, it’s only natural they want to do it even more. The frail race of man reached the level of taming fire at the end of their repeated foolery of touching the ‘hot flower’.

Curiosity is what drove humans to progress.

Pandora’s box exists to be opened. If it wasn’t to be opened, then its contents shouldn’t have been placed in a box to begin with.

This ‘box’ came from the teaching staff—I wasn’t to fault in any way.

“Now… Let’s see…”

The way to activate the skill was simple: the Oblivion Dragon King’s heart. A jet-black heart(♥) the size of a tennis ball. Compared to the surreal immensity of the dragon king which resembled that of a mountain, the source of its power, the heart, was much too small and cute.

Squish-squish.

Even its texture was too much! I thought it was a slime painted in black.

Now then, let’s leave these silly sentiments up to here and…

Gulp.

I swallowed the Oblivion Dragon King’s jelly-like soft heart in one mouthful. Killing a dragon would end at gaining a large amount of EXP, but upon consuming its heart you would gain EXP as well as inherit a part of the dragon’s element.

The Oblivion Dragon King’s element was chaos. This heart would be the key to opening the mosaic skill.

Whooosh-!

I felt chaos raging within my body, as if it was being shredded apart by a blender. Those perverted Murim experts and swordmasters would endure the pain like idiots while saying, ‘I’ll take on any pain so long as I can become strong!’, but I triggered a release of endorphin and passed over it like watching a movie.

“… How dreary.”

I felt like I could slightly understand the thoughts of those perverts who enjoyed pain. Right now, it was as if I was quietly waiting for a surgical operation to end with my mind wide awake.

What should I do to burn the time? If only someone sang me a song…

■■□ → ■■F

‘Oh! It’s finished.’

The place where the skill’s name should be was still in mosaic, but the white mosaic had changed to show the rank F—this signified that the skill had activated.

“Hmm. Should I call it Black-Box for now?”

‘Until I find out its real name, that is.’

In truth, what did it matter if a skill was called dog shit or cow shit? It would be a jackpot so long as its effect was good.

I utilized a status ability which I hadn’t used in a long time—to examine something in detail.

▷Type: Skill ▷Name: ■■ ▷Rank: F ▷E: □□□□ □□□. ▷F: You will not forget.

All skills would gain an additional effect or an enhancement of an existing effect when its rank rose. This examine function would cruelly torture you, getting your hopes up by revealing the effect of the next rank. However, even this was hidden by a mosaic for me and so I couldn’t see the E-rank effect.

“‘You will not forget’? Forget what?”

It seemed it would be interesting though—it smelled like a ‘cheat’ to me.

In all honesty, it wouldn’t matter even if it didn’t have an amazing effect. It was good simply because of having baffled the teaching staff who were so great as to send a normal person back in time.

Wasn’t that enough?

I began to make my way back in this joyful mood, to the village where the great being lived.

* *  *

“Hero-nim! Aren’t you too late?”

“I was worried something bad happened to you.”

The two muppets welcomed me the moment I arrived at the village. Perhaps they had eaten a lot of rich food using my money, because their skin was glossy and their complexion bright.

How long was it since they were grumbling about the dead Elf being pitiful? They were living in comfort after selling off her remains.

Turning to look at Lanuvel, I asked, “How many days has it been since we parted?”

“Today makes it exactly 7 days. Hero-nim, what have you been doing in that time?”

“… You guys don’t know?”

How could they not know this?

“Yes. You didn’t tell us your plans, so how would we know? Sigh! Don’t even get me started. While Hero-nim wasn’t here, the Dragon Oblivion King Noebius, who was nowhere to be seen for an entire 500 years, showed up and laid waste to the middle continent. The heroic characters of the continent stepped in, but they all failed and were annihilated.”

“… I see?”

The fantastic combination of the Hero and Oblivion Dragon King… to slightly exaggerate, our adventure hadn’t left any survivors.

Oblivion Dragon King Noebius was so massive that it could be sighted even from very far away, but being a human, my figure would be hard to make out unless from close up. And even if a witness had good eyesight and saw me, it would be meaningless.

Just how many people recognized the face of the Hero? And said face was even covered in venom at the time, completely darkened. As for me, I was busy harvesting EXP by making use of the dragon king’s dragonbreath, so I didn’t tell anyone I came across that I was the Hero.

In short, nobody was aware of the truth.

‘This situation, it might possibly…’

I swiftly pounded away on my mental calculator.

It wasn’t long before I came to a conclusion.

“You two, don’t be surprised at hearing this—I vanquished Oblivion Dragon King Noebius!”

This was an opportunity to raise both achievement and reputation.

“Hero-nim did?!”

“Gasp! Hero-nim is the one who…!”

“That’s right. The dragon king’s remains turned into EXP and so disappeared, and even its heart, which is the sole evidence of the deed, was eaten by me on the spot, but you can be certain of it. If you can’t believe me then confirm it through informants. There’ll be no more news of the Oblivion Dragon King’s attack, I’ll bet?”

I told the dramatized version of what happened to Lanuvel and Porter, that one thing or another happened leading to the Hero slaying the dragon. Naturally, I omitted the part where the Oblivion Dragon King, who had been quietly spending its last moments in its nest, was woken into a rampage by me.

If this got out, my reputation would eat dirt.

“Wow…! You’re really amazing! Dealing with a Five Disaster by yourself…!”

“I expected no less of you, Hero-nim!”

Perhaps it pricked that they had idling about in the peaceful village, but the two muppets began to praise my feat, spit flying from their mouths all the while.

Their reaction was very nice—they showed no signs of suspecting me.

‘Good! It’s a brilliantly perfect crime!’

In truth, I had been worrying about my reputation all the way until arriving at the village, but these idiotic fantasy natives let themselves be fooled into thinking Oblivion Dragon King Noebius’ appearance was a natural disaster. Thanks to that, there would be no problems.

I would only be remembered as the wonderful Hero who took down the dragon king… though whether people would believe in it remained to be seen.

It was it had only been a mere fifteen days since I was summoned to be a Hero. Going by the standard I had in the 1st Playthrough, in this period of time I should have been struggling with the aversion to taking life until barely reaching Level 10.

Indeed. Level 10!

To a fifteen-day-old fledgling Hero, the Demon King and Oblivion Dragon King were existences of another world far apart. Thinking along these lines, the feat I achieved was impossible even when taking into account the Hero’s perk.

It didn’t seem like the people would believe the truth that I had defeated the dragon king.

“We believe you!”

“That’s right!”

I didn’t dislike Lanuvel and Porter’s flattery. However, they could believe in me unquestioningly because they had witnessed my actions at the Orc settlement. The majority of this world’s natives, who didn’t know of my capabilities, wouldn’t be like them.

Then what was I to do?

“… It’s simple. I just have to take down another one.”

They would believe the truth if I subjugated another powerful foe such as the Oblivion Dragon King Noebius and presented the evidence—this was the ultimate solution that would be an achievement and at the same time raise my fame.

The first time, when my Level was low, would be the hardest. Once you made a start, it would be simple work afterwards. Even when it came to the Five Disasters, only the first subjugation was difficult whereas the rest were relatively easy.

The optimal schedule and course of action became lined up in my mind.

“Hero-nim, what are you going to take down again?” Lanuvel asked, naively tilting her head to the side.

I had been diligently nagging her and so thought she would act cute less, but she returned back to how she was in the short time we were apart. Putting aside correcting her for later, I answered the question.

“I’m gonna catch me another big one.”

A mass of EXP greater than a Five Disaster.

“What?! What about returning to our country? Now there’s only one day left until the promised orientation day with Mr. Alex.”

“Ah…! Alex…!”

I smacked my forehead.

How could I have forgotten that friend of mine?

No matter how blinded you become by fame and reputation, you mustn’t forget about your ‘companions’. I would have simply overlooked this matter had Lanuvel not reminded me of it.

I felt grateful to the point of kissing her chee-… Ah, maybe that’s too much.

“And Hero-nim.”

“Talk. I’m in a good mood right now.”

‘How should I cook Alex so that there’ll be rumors praising me?’

“This is what the Elf undertaker told me, but apparently the Elf whose remains we secured was one of the guardian knights of Elfheim’s queen. And do you know what’s even more surprising that this?”

“It must be that there was one of those knights back at the black market as well.”

“You’re right!”

It wasn’t even particularly surprising.

The average Level of Elves was around 100. Although it was without a doubt that the Elves who had the blessing of anti-aging lived for prolonged periods of time, there were extremely few among their warriors who had reached over Level 200 because they had less opportunities to gather EXP compared to human mercenaries, to say nothing of Level 800. As such, it was only natural that such individuals would be entrusted with the heavy responsibility of protecting the queen.

In any case…

“Lanuvel. I get it clearly so shut up now.”

My patience was about to be exhausted.

“What?!”

“Bury the rest of what you have to say in your heart. Something like the Elf King’s wife being taken away by a high-class demon and the mission to search for her missing guardian knights isn’t of my concern.”

“…”

“What’s with that uncomfortable look in your eyes?”

The hussy was staring me as if I was ghost.

“Hero-nim. How did you know the truth about that?”

“It’s obvious. Yours truly has ten years of Hero-ing—… scheduled down the road. You can tell this much just by hearing the introduction.”

My sense for troublesome incidents was out of this world, though I couldn’t avoid them because of my damned companions in the 1st Playthrough and had to clean up the aftermath all by myself.

“Then what about that?”

“That?”

“That four-horse carriage rushing towards this village! It seems like its being chased by masked bandits!”

It was as Lanuvel described.

A magnificent carriage, drawn by 4 sturdy white horses. Although it had no flag of identity, I knew about the silver fox symbol branded on the carriage.

It was the mark of the Holy Empire’s first imperial princess.

She belonged to a huge country which reigned over the northern part of the middle continent. The borders of that country was indeed close to this village.

Why an exalted imperial was crossing the border so urgently was obvious—it must be a purge.

‘Strange. There should still be about 5 years until the emperor kicks the bucket… Oh my!’

I recalled late the truth that the Oblivion Dragon King had collapsed the imperial palace. That was why the emperor must have died early, and the family discord between the ordinary crown prince and clever imperial princess had already broken out.

This fight had ended in an overwhelming victory for the crown prince in the 1st Playthrough. It was the result of the high nobles hoping for a pushover emperor rather than a clever empress.

As for the defeated imperial princess?

She curried favor with the Hero’s party using her beauty… until she rose to the seat of empress.

“She was a real devious woman…”

Porter wasn’t here as he had gone to the stables in preparation to leave the village, while the villagers were cooped up in their homes in order to avoid the summer heat. The only ones who had noticed those uninvited guests were me and Lanuvel.

That being the case…

“… Wha-! A latest-model magic staff is flying up there in the east!”

“Really?!”

Lanuvel’s gaze turned toward the opposite direction of the carriage. In that moment, I inhaled, and then quietly exhaled.

“Hoo”

Although it couldn’t be compared to Oblivion Dragon King’s breath, the poisonous gas I produced was blown out of my mouth towards the four-horse carriage.

“Whinny?”

“Whinny~?!”

The horses which had been galloping hard let out death throes as they toppled down. Even the knight who had been busily whipping the horses dropped down from the driver’s seat immediately afterwards.

Crash-!

The four-horse carriage was overturned in the middle of the road.

“Kagh?!”

“Poison…!”

The pursuers from the Holy Empire, who were hiding their identity with masks, weren’t spared by the poison. Having approached the stopped carriage, they lifelessly collapsed one after another. There was no survivor to speak of who escaped from the poison fog.

The scene grew still.

“Hero-nim. I don’t see anything in the sky, let alone a magic staff?”

“Is that so? I must have seen wrong.”

We didn’t see anything.

=========================================== ==

=========================================== ==

Corpses have no owners—it’s finders keepers.

We were able to find a jewelry box in the imperial princess’ carriage. The value contained in the box showed the princess’ strong unwillingness to hand over the seat of emperor so obediently. If I had it my way I would have completely stripped and collected the vintage-style black underwear worn by the imperial princess, but I had to give it up because of the limited baggage we could take.

This was all Lanuvel’s fault.

“How pitiful. Seems there’s a story behind them being chased.”

She was spouting a line that might’ve come from a Hero’s companion… Her words were a bit strange?

In any case…

“Hey, Lanuvel. Do you only feel sorry for this woman and see me as happy? We can’t take along all the loo—ahem! The articles they left behind. What were you doing at the village instead of doing something like learning four-dimensional inventory magic?”

“Eh… I played with Mollang.”

“More like harassed it, I’m sure!”

The great being would wobble in fear whenever it saw Lanuvel. I couldn’t imagine how much she had bothered it with her touches.

Wearing an extremely worried look, Lanuvel asked, “Hero-nim, who do you think this beautiful woman might be?”

“You can tell by looking at the symbol on the carriage.”

“It’s my first time seeing it, though.”

“… Mm?”

There was no family symbol which Archaeologist Lanuvel didn’t recognize. For her to declare ignorance of this symbol, it had to mean this family was established most recently.

I came to a late realization.

‘Ahh, so that’s it. Not much time must have passed since the princess separated from the clan at this time period.’

The emperor of the Holy Empire was a cool-headed and wise individual. Having foreseen that the empire would be fragmented by the future fight over succession rights of his two children, he chose to take a hard approach by proclaiming his ordinary son as successor early on and expelling his clever daughter from the imperial family in order to curb her ambition. And then he granted his daughter the rank of marquess.

However, the clever imperial princess didn’t give up but instead steadily expanded her influence. Naturally, her family symbol, which had nothing but a pretty appearance, also became renown in that process.

But the imperial princess who still failed to achieve her goal in the end curried favor with the Hero’s party, and her tears and social ability lead to overthrowing the country.

It was the start of a tragedy.

“Lanuvel. Burn all the corpses here with magic.”

“What?! But…”

“Or you can leave it if you want to see this stripped woman being used as a flag, a skewer thrust in her butthole.”

“Eek?!”

The Holy Empire, which had been swiftly regaining stability by the united efforts of the ordinary emperor and the nobles, would be dealt a serious blow by the attack of the barbaric Hero’s party.

To describe it simply, a rock was smashed using an egg. The majority rule was broken, the few massacring the many. As a result, the holy empire which became nothing but an empty shell of a country ended up walking the path to ruin. The Hero’s party, drunk on victory, spouted bullshit, saying things like “the clever empress will rule the country well!”.

The country became impoverished because of the rebellion. Its entire military forces which had been reduced as well as public security which had crumbled weren’t things that were automatically solved because the ruler had a high IQ.

It wasn’t about managing a small city. It was a large-scale national undertaking which required a great amount of time and capital. And how to get that capital?

Taxes.

The ones to suffer from the taxes which naturally rose were the citizens. I had never seen a tax-raising ruler doing a good job before.

The previous emperor’s worries became reality in the worst manner possible.

Fwwwrsh!

After taking all the precious metals, we put all the corpses including the imperial princess’ into the huge carriage and set it alight.

This was my atonement for what I did in the 1st Playthrough. Never had I been cursed as much as back then in my entire life.

“May the holy empire be peaceful this time around.”

I prayed sincerely.

Half of the empire’s lands were already contaminated by the Oblivion Dragon King’s venom, so wouldn’t they be too pitiful if a fight over succession were added on top of that?

* *  *

We returned to our kingdom over the course of two days. Although it was a day past the promised ten days to return, the Dumpling King magnanimously forgave me the moment I gave him a rotten smile.

And at last…

“Haha! Hero, welcome to the palace training grounds! Seeing how your skin doesn’t have a single scar like a pansy’s, it seems you’ve never received proper training before. But worry not. The number one sword of the kingdom is going to raise you into an excellent Hero! And in no time at that, heheheh.”

Alex’s orientation began.

The palace knights, who had surrounded me and Alex in a wide circle as if to trap us in, looked on with interest.

They weren’t the only audience.

In a shaded spot outside the dirt-filled training grounds, royals and nobles, clergy, maids, magicians and so on were gathered in a crowd, ready to spectate. It felt like I had come to a village wrestling match.

But this atmosphere wasn’t unfamiliar to me. Powerful experiences weren’t easily forgotten, after all—in the 1st Playthrough, I dropped into an unfamiliar world and without even the chance for my homesickness to fade, I had no choice but to suffer inhumane abuse all day long.

Beating, healing, beating healing, beating…

I could only be beaten truly like a dog on the first day. Whenever I fainted, I would receive healing from the clergyman waiting in the back and then be beaten again. The justification for all this was somewhat convincing on the outside.

“In no time, huh…”

“That’s right. In no time. It’s an emergency situation where we don’t know when the revived Demon King will attack, after all. I will have you undergo intensive training. Have you heard of live combat training? It’s extremely effective in raising skill proficiency.”

Alex shook his fist hard. It seemed he was itching to give my head a good knock.

“What if I die in the process?”

“You won’t. You think I can’t adjust my strength against a beginner? Don’t worry if it hurts or you get injured. The clergyman and magicians over there will heal you right away. Ah! And you have no right to refuse. The fate of humanity hangs on this matter, so no complaints accepted.”

“I think it’ll hurt a lot, though.”

“You should endure that much. Others wait in lines to receive live training from me. Consider yourself lucky.”

“You’re okay being resented by the Hero?”

“That must mean you’re just narrow-minded.”

A detailed self-introduction was skipped. In the 1st Playthrough, there was time for introduction, albeit short, but 2nd Playthrough Alex summarized the orientation because he wanted to hit me.

It was shown clearly on his status window as well.

▷Race: Human ▷Level: 292 ▷Job: Swordsman(Stamina=Swordsmanship↑) ▷Skills: Swordsmanship(S) Stamina(A) Iron Wall(B) Resistance(B) Fortitude(C)… ▷Status: Anticipant, Malice

‘Malice status. I don’t think I saw this in the 1st Playthrough?’

A small smile escaped my lips.

“Alex. Shouldn’t you be the one being trained instead of me? Who can you teach with a mere Level of 292?”

“Watch your insolence. If you want less beatings, that is,” growled Alex, a vein popping on his forehead.

“I’m warning you sincerely. I believe I’ve let it known that I wiped out an orc settlement and subjugated the Oblivion Dragon King?”

Lanuvel had reported this instead of me in the king’s audience chamber; though, no one listened to it including the Dumpling King.

“Hah! Who would believe in a lie like that? Look here, Hero. You should come up with something more realistic if you want to excuse yourself from training.”

“Keke!”

“Pft!”

Giggle!

The palace knights, who had been listening to our conversation, followed Alex in laughing vulgarly, shoulders shaking.

I recalled the memories from the 1st Playthrough one after another. They had looked at me with such gazes back then as well, looking down at me as if I was pathetic as I tried somehow to get away from Alex, strenuously crawling about the dirt.

No one had taken my side.

“Shut your traps, you government dogs. Does it look fun? Would you laugh like that if your wife and children were beaten? Should I hold them by the neck and thrash them all day long?”

“…”

“…”

The mirth disappeared from the palace knights’ faces at my words and, one after another, they stepped backwards slowly, breaking away from the audience. Not all of them had gone away, however.

“What’s with you lot?”

The ones being questioned by me avoided my gaze as they replied.

“I don’t have a wife and children.”

“I had no opportunities to meet a woman.”

“My wife passed away last year.”

The melancholic hearts of the palace knights who replied shook me down to my very soul.

These people had the right to keep watching.

“Okay! You guys can stay there! I approve! This Hero here is always on the side of singles, after all. Laugh all you want!”

‘Because this is gonna be a fun show.’

▷Race: Chaos Human ▷Level: 999+ ▷Job: Hero(EXP 500%) ▷Skills: Resistance(SS) Physical Strength(SS) Deadly Venom(S) Endurance(S) Five Senses(S)… ▷Status: Good

Alex’s status abilities couldn’t even compare. Even if a million-strong army comprised of Alex clones were to come at me, I had the confidence to massacre them all.

What happened to the Black-Box skill, you might ask?

It was a F-rank Skill and so according to priority, it was pushed to the end of the list. It couldn’t be seen unless the list expand function was activated. As for the usage of the Skill, that was still a mystery…

“Hero! You don’t notify the opponent when you attack in a real fight. You have to always be careful of unexpected surprise attacks! Like right now!”

Alex said the same thing as he had in the 1st Playthrough even as he charged at me.

The body part he was aiming for this time was entirely different, though.

“Really now…”

I had intended on showing him the capability of Endurance(S) had he attacked my abdomen, but as for the part he was aiming for now, I was disinclined to take the hit on purpose because my mood might be ruined. Even so, I didn’t defend.

I chose to give this hateful man a kick first in return.

Smack-!

“Kagh-?!”

Alex, whose right knee joint was twisted in an abnormal direction, tumbled about the ground with a scream.

“…”

“…”

The jaws of the spectating crowd dropped at this strange situation.

It was a reaction to my liking.

“Alex. Stop making a fuss and get up will you. Your opponent won’t kind-heartedly wait for you in a real fight.”

“You bastard…!”

Still, he lived up to being the future Sword King.

Alex, whose eyes had become bloodshot from my light taunt, pushed off the ground with both hands and nimbly got up.

But that was all.

His right leg completely ruined, it was all Alex could do to stand on the spot, focusing the balance of his weight on his left leg.

Of course, that wasn’t of my concern.

“Aargh?!”

I swiftly moved behind Alex and gave an upward kick to his tailbone, which gave rise to a powerful bout of opera singing, as I had expected.

He wasn’t yet the Sword King, no more than a mere palace knight captain of the kingdom. He was a weakling that would immediately be overwhelmed if one or two low-class demons came attacking.

Someone like this teaching others?

“Look here, Alex. For starters, you’re the one with scant live combat experience, so who are you claiming to teach?”

“Eugh..”

“Don’t judge others by appearance and common sense, because those with prudence act while hiding their real skills. Listen well. There’s a fixed 50% chance of victory in all fights. You die if you can’t win. High-spirited idiots like you ignore this rule and end up dying early.”

“You little…! Kugh!”

Having fallen on his face, Alex didn’t manage to get up immediately. He had crossed the limits of what could be endured through willpower—his body was on the brink of breaking down.

I heard the shout of the clergy who had been waiting in the back.

“Hero-nim! Captain Alex will die at this rate!”

“Naturally. It’s common to die in real combat.”

I had no thoughts of immediately ceasing this live combat training. I pushed ahead, just as Alex had done to me in the 1st Playthrough.

Though of course, I didn’t have the intention to drag it on for long.

“Next lesson. Winning by fighting well is the worst policy. Winning without fighting is the best policy. A real fight doesn’t mean you have to see your opponent bleed, though it might be hard to understand for a savage like you.”

“You bastard…”

Collapsed in the dirt, Alex glared up at me.

I gave a hard kick to that face of his.

“And the most important point to keep in mind—actual battles are cruel. When harming others, you need to be prepared to suffer in return as well. The moment you forget that, you’ll be putting your comrades and subordinates in danger.”

This was extremely important, because I had suffered the most from this.

Having been kicked this way and that, Alex lay spread out on the dirt ground like a rotten squid, not even twitching a finger.

“I, I, to the likes of you…”

Alex was busy trying to deny reality, which was why he didn’t even try to listen to my lesson at all.

“Tsk-tsk. Denying reality. A common symptom exhibited when a retard who’s faced nothing but weaklings suffers defeat for the first time.”

“…”

“Well! Now then, I’ll skip the middle part of my lesson and teach you the last thing on the list. Do you know what’s most important in a real fight?”

Our eyes just happened to meet.

“You can’t be…?”

Alex, who had realized what it was the moment he saw the look in my eyes, opened his mouth wide, seemingly wanting to say something to all the others.

But I was faster.

Crack.

I stomped down between Alex’s 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae and broke his neck. The EXP was much too meager, but it was still better than not receiving a tuition fee at all, right?

I revealed the answer to my question:

“To not leave future troubles.”

I didn’t need something bothersome like going over live combat training again.

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▷Bewildered: You murdered the imperial princess and the Sword King. It is said that you must take off your hat before the past, and take off your outerwear before the future. One must not ignore past mistakes, but let them go for the future. As someone who has failed before, would you not have been able to lead the both of them to a better future?

‘Oh! Professor Morals. You’ve come back quick.

‘I don’t know about a good future, but don’t worry about me slipping up. After all, no one should’ve caught on to the truth that I assassinated the imperial princess!’

It was no problem at all to my reputation. The innocent citizens of the Holy Empire didn’t have to experience the sufferings of a struggle for power either.

Cleanly killing the power-lusting imperial princess rather than changing her for the better was the safest and most guaranteed method. And it was easy to boot, yes?

As for Alex, he wasn’t even worth talking about.

▷Headache: The greatest victory is to win against your own heart. I meant for you to put down the resentments of the 1st Playthrough… A sage who rages is no longer a sage. Should not a foolish human be given the chance to repent? Magnanimity is an important virtue that a Hero must have.

‘Professor’s nagging a lot today. He’s going to tell me to be generous with the Demon King at this rate.’

▷Negative: That would be contradicting the Hero’s reason for existence.

‘We’ll see about that~’

A startled clergyman and magician came rushing over. After checking Alex’s pulse, their faces turned ghostly pale.

“He, he’s dead…”

“The greatest swordsman of the kingdom, gone in such an absurd…”

“My god…”

It seemed Alex’s death came as a shock. I could somewhat understand them trembling from uneasiness, however, since the man who had protected the royal family and the kingdom had passed away to become a cold dead body.

I could also feel the weight of what I did.

Even now I still thought of Alex as a son of a bitch—were I given the chance to kill him again, I would do so without hesitation. And I was going to honorably shoulder the responsibility for the action I took.

“Don’t worry! Just leave it to yours truly, the Hero?”

I gave a smile meant to instill a sense of security in the powerless masses.

I was quite confident in this area.

“Gasp!”

“Eek?!”

“Hic!”

… These guys were so scared because they weren’t part of the powerless masses. They were sure to have committed wrongs in secret.

‘I should remember their faces.’

“Palace knights! All assemble! Or don’t, if you don’t want to live.”

“Gasp?!”

“A-assemble-!”

There was no palace knight who objected to my command. They promptly gathered before me and stood in rows.

They had imposing demeanors the very picture of military discipline. One of the sights which had bothered me, when I had begun the 2nd Playthrough, had just disappeared. The palace knights were looking at me with eyes of admiration.

It was just what I wanted to see.

‘That’s right! You should at least do this much for a normal man who’s been sent back in time!’

In this 2nd playthrough, I had shortened to 10 days what had taken 10 years to achieve in the 1st Playthrough. With the current level of unity, with these people all gathered under the Hero’s wings, the problems all over the kingdom could be solved quickly.

That was what we were going to do starting now.

“Gentlemen. As you can see, Captain Alex died in the middle of live combat training. It’s something that often happens during such training. The most important ability in live training isn’t violence, but insight. If you ignore that and run wild, then you end up kicking the bucket like Alex. Are there any would-be-suiciders who failed to understand?”

“…”

“…”

There were no retorts.

It seemed every one of them had accepted my teaching.

“Good. I’ll end my orientation here, and from now on we will be swiftly removing the problems eating away at this kingdom. Mm? I see you guys look like you don’t understand? Then I’ll be taking questions with your hands on the line. Any knights who have something to ask, raise the hand you want cut off up high.”

“…”

“…”

It seemed their curiosity had cleanly vanished.

How nice to make quick progress.

“I’ll be splitting you all into two teams starting now. The half of you lot lead by Lanuvel will go to the queen’s villa and open a purple closet, which will reveal a secret passage. You’ll find an assembly room upon reaching the end of that passage, where you’ll wipe out the demon worshipers there and seize all the related evidence. As for the queen? It’s fine to kill her if she whines too much—she’ll be going to the gallows anyhow. The rest of you will be cleaning the inside of the kingdom with me.”

This should originally have been a premium service, but I had a debt to pay and responsibility to fulfil due to killing Alex. Even without the likes of that barbarian Sword King, I was going to cleanse this Kingdom until peace and public order could be maintained—cleanse it so properly that no one could nitpick about it later!

I was going to exhibit the skills that I had trained while being cursed by the Holy Empire citizens.

▷Surprised: Student Kang Han Soo. What change of heart is this?

‘Ah! You were still here?

‘Professor Morals. Watch and give me some good marks in reputation. I’ll work really hard.’

* *  *

Abducted to a savage fantasy world, I had solved countless incidents over the course of 10 years for almost free of charge. It would be a lie to say that I had solved them all perfectly, but I was confident that I knew very well regarding the origins and solutions to the problems plaguing this kingdom which summoned me. It was no different than serving a young dragon whelp on a platter.

It took exactly 5 days.

In the central plaza which lead to the main entrance of the royal palace. Here, an event which involved killing all the vermin of the kingdom took place. Although these vermins were currently still bound and captured, they would soon be dealt with.

The organizer of this event was naturally me; however, the protagonist of today wasn’t.

“Porter. You ready?”

“Yes, Hero-nim.”

There was no water tank that remained clean forever. The water would turn dirty unless you cleaned it periodically.

The public safety of this kingdom was no different. In order to maintain the purity of 1st class water, a second Alex was absolutely necessary. And a smart one that was loyal to me at that.

That’s why I picked Porter.

“You know just how much I value EXP, right?”

“Yes, Hero-nim! I know extremely well!”

Porter, who was gripping an impressive spear instead of heavy baggage, replied valiantly. It was worth sitting him down and educating his mentality for an entire day.

Our surroundings was simply swarming with lumps of EXP. They were the criminals who had been tied up like dried corvinas, row after row, and gathered here all neat for the sake of today’s event.

They were originally scheduled to be buried at sea, but such plans were always bound to be changed.

The occupations and personalities of the criminals varied as well.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please save me! The Hero has gone mad!”

There was still one pal among them who hadn’t given up. It was truly regrettable seeing how that tenacity of his was used from a young age to kidnap people, and rape and torture them. His status abilities were quite excellent as well.

▷Race: Human ▷Level: 116 ▷Job: Noble(Pedigree=Elegance↑) ▷Skills: Elegance(C) Murder(D) Tactics(D) Business Management(D) Politics(E)… ▷Status: Dislocation, Minor Injury, Fear

Nobles raised their Level through various methods in order to live a long and healthy life. Elixirs that could be bought with money were the most popular, but because of their rarity and formidable prices, EXP hunting was preferred as the main method.

However, there was no rule saying you should only kill monsters—people gave EXP too.

Those of military backgrounds who frequently took part in wars between humans or subjugation of monsters were still better off as they had many opportunities to gain EXP.

The problem was those of poor lineage. They desired to retain youth and live long and healthy, but were reluctant to spend on elixirs or had no money to do so, and neither did they wish to venture into battlefields or hunting grounds where they might be hurt or die. They didn’t want to spend any effort to get what they wanted.

And this naturally leads to murder.

No noble becomes a serial killer right off the bat. Even if they do kill, they start with criminals or slaves who have no connection to anything. It wouldn’t become a problem if they stop at this point, but it becomes serious if they lay a hand on innocent commoners.

It’s the death penalty without question.

“Kill them.”

“Yes.”

Porter’s spear pierced through the chest of a noble.

“Whooo!”

“Hero-nim! Hurrah!”

“Serves you right!”

The citizens who had come to spectate cheered. They were rejoicing in the deaths of these wicked nobles who had kidnapped their family members and neighbors, and turned them into EXP. This was nothing but an appetizer, though.

The main dish was going to be served next.

“Oh my beloved! How aggrieving this is! Your Majesty~!”

A haggard beauty was tied to a wooden pillar by herself, in contrast to the event-use dried corvinas, who cried out pleadingly while gazing towards the royal palace.

It was truly difficult inviting her here.

▷Race: Human ▷Level: 36 ▷Job: Queen(Favor=Devilishness↑) ▷Skills: Charm(B) Elegance(C) Devilishness(D) Evil Miasma(E) Sociability(E)… ▷Status: Inner Turmoil, Fear, Breakdown

She was the Dumpling King’s pretty wife.

Any woman would wish to become as beautiful as a flower. If they were already beautiful, they would want to keep that beauty for a long time. The most common way to achieve this was to obtain EXP and raise their Level, but women who found this difficult would find their answer in Skills: Charm, Devilishness, Eternal Youth, Blessing, martial arts, magic… But these were far harder to improve compared to Levels.

This was because of Skill proficiency.

The queen, who nevertheless still wanted to easily retain her beauty and youth, found the solution to her dilemma in a cult which had been eating away at the kingdom—she made a contract with a demon and borrowed the ‘power of a demon’. The Skill ‘Evil Miasma’ was proof.

She had betrayed her husband and sold her country and people to a demon for the sake of her own beauty. And yet she didn’t know what she had done wrong.

So, the verdict?

“Kill this bitch too.”

“… Hero-nim. Isn’t there leeway for rehabilitation?”

“Looks like this damned porter still hasn’t been educated enough. If you let someone off for being pretty, or for being the queen, then who among the people would believe in the Hero and the country? You wanna die in her stead?”

“I, I understand.”

Stab-!

The body of the queen who wished to live long and pretty fell limp.

She became good EXP.

The queen was caught red-handed on the scene of the crime and the evidence was also clear, so there had been no loophole for her escape through. Despite that, though, the Dumpling King had wanted to quietly hide her away.

It was because of the matter of choosing a successor.

Imagine an ‘ill-omened creature’ born of a demon worshiper becoming the next king of your country—none among the populace would accept this quietly. That was why the Dumpling King had wanted to cover up his wife’s regrettable crime by confining her to the underground prison, and pass off the matter by saying the queen was murdered during a demon raid.

But I didn’t feel the need to that.

Because—

“Mother…!”

“Queen mother…!”

—the two princes fighting over the seat of successor would soon be taking their leave as well.

It was disturbing enough that brothers who shared the same blood were trying to kill each other, but they had even stooped to all sorts of filthy corruption and shady dealings in order to procure funds for their activities: monopolizing market stock, loansharking, gambling, contract killing, political marriage, blackmailing…

These guys had no leeway for rehabilitation.

“If you brothers go to hell, then don’t fight among yourselves but be filial instead. With twice the sincerity. End of verdict, kill them.”

“Yes!”

Stab! Stab!

The two princes whose Levels were around 200 were stabbed to death by Porter’s spear. The spectating citizens, while surprised, didn’t appear too shocked. They accepted this situation as a matter of course. This wasn’t something that could happen normally; after all, royalty were existences that were like the clouds in the sky in a fantasy world.

And that was why I dragged these people down to earth. I mitigated the shock by having the queen killed after declaring her a demon worshiper, and executing the princes she gave birth to in following.

This was the answer to this matter. No one raised an objection to my verdict, and with this the atmosphere had become just how I wanted it to be like.

“Porter. Quickly take out the rest of the garbage.”

“Garage? Ah! Yes! Hero-nim!”

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab…

The citizens now merely looked on, taking things in stride. In this situation where even the royals were executed, would they care for the death of nobles and celebrities? The matter quickly came to a close without complicated trials.

The more wicked a noble was, the higher their Level. Thanks to that, Porter’s Level shot up as well.

▷Race: Human ▷Level: 325 ▷Job: Adjudicator(Criminal→Judgement↑) ▷Skills: Judgement(A) Tenacity(B) Survivability(C) Spearmanship(C) Courage(D)… ▷Status: Tense

Just half a month back he had been a Level 286 slave; however, having swiftly developed with the help and encouragement of the brilliant Sir Hero who had 10 years of experience under his belt, Porter had transformed into the great manly man he was now. Even his Job had changed from a cheap Mercenary to Adjudicator, and his Skill set was truly of quality too.

“Let’s see… Right. Now all you need is a fine woman by your side and you’d be the picture of a hero!”

There was a very suitable woman for that position—the princess of the kingdom. To think that after having investigated her down to the very last detail, nothing came up except for teddy bear underwear… Tsk!

She was a character beloved by the people, so an unknown man of mercenary background wouldn’t have been able to even dare dream of associating, but an opportunity had arrived due to the queen causing trouble.

You only live once.

“Hero-nim? No matter what, that’s a bit…”

“Why?”

“I murdered the family of the princess…?”

‘Aha! And I thought it was something else.’

This porter was a hulking chicken as usual.

“Get it right. It’s not murder, but execution. Somebody would have had to do it. The queen and princes will live forever eternal in your heart… as EXP. We’re already one family!

Even if nothing but teddy bear underwear turned up in the princess’ closet, she would never be able to escape from the disgrace and suspicion from being the ‘daughter of a demon worshiper’—her value as a princess had taken a nosedive.

“And so someone like you is more than a match for her. Be confident!”

“I might be poisoned to death on our first wedding night…”

“I say! Just trust in this great Hero~”

‘I’ll raise you up till you’re king!’