When I came to my senses, Impelium was standing before me.

“……”

“……”

We just stared blankly at each other for a moment.

But soon the memory of just before I fell asleep returned.

With my hair standing on end, I spoke.

“Am I asleep right now?”

“Yes.”

The answer didn’t come from Impelium.

At my side, Trail was suddenly standing there.

He scratched his head.

“Didn’t expect him to call me in too.”

“You didn’t have much else to do over there.”

“Well, that’s true… but thanks to this, I got some pretty nasty looks.”

Impelium gave a small laugh as he looked at me.

I let out a long sigh.

“Hoo…”

“Sorry.”

“No. I know what was on your mind, and theirs too.”

Ssshhk.

At my reply, Impelium shifted his stance.

Then, in a voice that sounded almost like he was interrogating me, he asked:

“You’re giving up more easily than I thought.”

“What?”

“You went all the way to the underworld itself to save Serein.”

“……”

“And not only that. To stop Velosian from slaughtering your companions, you even gave up your most precious retirement.”

There was something stern in his voice.

He kept speaking while staring straight into my eyes.

“For someone who cared for his comrades that much, this time you seem to be giving up far too easily.”

“……”

“Is it because you think it’s already too late? If you want, I could wake you up right now.”

“……”

“If you get up this instant, there will still be time. Time to stop Neril.”

I sank into thought at his question.

But soon I shook my head.

“No. It’s fine.”

“Hmm. Can I hear your reason?”

“When it was about Serein, or when we fought Velosian, it was about protecting my party from the enemy’s tricks and force. But this time… it’s a party member choosing to sacrifice herself for me.”

“……”

“How could I, by what right, try to stop that?”

I couldn’t stop it.

No, I shouldn’t stop it.

I understood Neril’s heart.

“She has said it more than once, even if only in passing, that she doesn’t want to be a burden on me.”

“……”

“Neril is giving up her most cherished wish for my sake. For me to speak against it now would be to insult her resolve.”

“Mide.”

“All I can hope is that her wish isn’t too great a price.”

I said that and pressed my hand against my eyes.

It felt like they were starting to burn.

That was when Impelium gave a small laugh.

“Guess I was just probing.”

“…What?”

“Sorry if I unsettled you.”

“Ha. You were testing me?”

“Yes. Unless you had a better plan, to dismiss your comrade’s resolve with no measure at all wouldn’t be fitting for a hero.”

He continued, slowly.

“This incident, anyone can see it’s a turning point. If it goes well, you and your party will gain unprecedented fame. But if you fail…”

“We will sink straight to the bottom.”

“Mm. And your failure would mean the end of the world itself. I worried you might make a purely emotional choice even while knowing that, but… it seems I was mistaken.”

I retorted a bit curtly.

“Feels like this has happened before.”

“Did it?”

“Why do you keep sneaking in these little tests?”

“If I offended you, I apologize. But in exchange… well, not really in exchange, but let me tell you something that should catch your ears.”

I gave a short laugh.

At this point, what could possibly make my ears perk up?

But what he said next had me springing to my feet.

“Neril doesn’t have to give up her wish.”

“Wh-what?”

“Care to see for yourself?”

Snap.

Impelium snapped his fingers.

A massive screen unfolded, large enough to fill a wall.

It was far bigger than Trail’s Eye of Omniscience, and there were no notices about grades or anything like that.

“This is…”

“Be grateful. You’re looking at the highest grade of the Eye of Omniscience. It can show secrets more hidden than even the S-grade, the true ‘Eye of Omniscience.’”

“…!”

“Well, the secret we are seeing this time is only about B-grade, but still. Just watch closely.”

I focused so hard on the screen that blood seemed ready to burst in my eyes.

Neril was holding something familiar in her hands.

‘The Branch of Corruption!’

The Third Demon King’s core, which could alter the nature of any magic or sorcery.

Neril had crafted it so Xenia and Serein could perform the Grand Purification spell without paying its usual cost.

Crack.

She snapped the branch with all her strength.

“Wait, is that how she will do it? Using it to harness fame without giving anything up?”

Creeeak.

Impelium leaned back into his chair.

“That branch has been refined again and again. Even when it was first made, it was already well-crafted, but in this last week, Neril and the other party members poured everything they had into researching it.”

“…No wonder she looked so worn out.”

“With a once in a century genius studying a Demon King’s core, the results were astounding. Just now, Neril tricked the laws of the world with that branch.”

“……”

“But even so, there are limits. The Branch of Corruption can’t fool the world forever.”

He closed his eyes briefly, as if doing some calculation.

Soon, he gave a precise figure.

“About a month.”

“A month?”

“In a month, if Neril wants to once again turn fame into power at full force, she will have to break another branch.”

It was a little disappointing, but I didn’t show it.

A month alone was enough to be grateful for.

Impelium asked:

“So, do you feel at ease now?”

“Yeah. Now that I do, I’m curious, what was it that Neril was going to give up?”

“That’s not for me to answer. Ask her later. You look like you already have some guesses anyway.”

“……”

“And right now, there’s something else you should be more curious about.”

He jerked his chin at the screen.

My companions were moving.

With the Eye of Omniscience, time should have stopped.

Which meant, in reality, things had already progressed beyond this point.

That thought alone eased me even more.

I leaned back in my chair, copying Impelium.

On the screen, Offense stepped forward.

He used his peculiar sorcery.

And then, in my own voice, he spoke:

—Everyone, this is Mide Mohan.

I know well what’s in your hearts right now.

You must be tired of holding on to hope in me.

Through many channels, I have come to understand the dire straits you all are in.

I know you have not only lost any chance at a peaceful life, but are having your very lives threatened.

In that state, for me to ask you to keep believing in me, it would be too much to ask.

Hmm.

Up to this point, I understood.

But what exactly was he planning to do?

Then it happened.

Ssshhk.

Neril drew a magic book from her robes.

She formed hand seals, then tapped the book’s cover.

The pages rifled until they stopped at one.

She gave a signal to Offense with her eyes.

It must have meant she was ready.

Offense nodded, then continued.

—I have been thinking the wrong way.

A hero is meant to protect humanity.

But I was too caught up in a mud-slinging fight with Kaeld.

That was wrong.

The very first thing I should have done was stop this rain.

What he said was right enough, but without diminishing the Celestial God’s power, it should be impossible.

As though he knew what I was thinking, Offense pressed on.

—There’s only one reason I couldn’t. My power is too lacking.

But even with my lacking power, I can show you an illusion.

The rain stopping, and a rainbow rising.

If you believe in me, that illusion will soon become reality.

Please enjoy the vision, if only for a moment.

And then, make that vision real.

With your strength.

That was when I saw Neril’s lips begin to move.

She was whispering the incantation so her voice wouldn’t carry through the communication orb.

“Dor Ascané.”

Dor Ascané?

—Now. Let’s watch together.

The sight of the endless rain stopping, the dark clouds dispersing!

Whiiiir.

The magic book glowed.

A lightning bolt brushed past my head.

“Trail. Was that Neril’s trump card?”

“Yeah. Dor Ascané.”

“That spell is…”

“Right. It’s the spell we used back when the black sun rose over the capital, to lure Patrick into letting us extract the gem from his eye.”

Indeed.

Just as Neril had explained, it wasn’t some run of the mill illusion spell.

It was perfect reality.

Anyone caught in the spell perceives the vision Dor Ascané shows them as absolute reality.

Even while their body is getting drenched in the downpour, they accept a clear sky and fine weather as real.

“If… if it’s really that spell… No, but this time the target isn’t one person, it’s the entire continent.”

“That’s exactly why Neril resolved herself. To wield her fame as power.”

“You mean she spread that spell over the whole continent? No matter how famous Neril is, can that even be done?”

Trail didn’t answer, but instead jerked his chin toward the screen.

On her back clung Xenia and Serein.

Just like when we fought Adin before, she was draining all their holy power and converting it into mana.

Impelium stroked his chin with interest.

“Neril’s fame is the highest among your party. If you add those two’s divine power on top of that, it might just barely work.”

“…”

“For Neril, it must have been quite a gamble. She couldn’t have known just how much strength her fame could manifest. And yet she dared to try…”

He gave a short laugh.

“She must have really wanted to make you into a Hero.”

My face turned red all of a sudden.

Impelium snapped his fingers again.

“Huh?”

Countless screens sprang up, filling the walls of the room.

Multiple Eyes of Omniscience?

“I have set up about forty.”

“Forty… that’s…”

“The number of territories across the continent. Let’s see for ourselves whether Neril’s gamble paid off.”

“We could just compare Adin’s fame with mine and settle it.”

“If you get into the habit of confirming things only through numbers, that’s dangerous. Numbers show only the result, not the process that led there.”

It felt like a seasoned teacher sharing life lessons with a student.

I accepted his words and focused on the screens on the wall.

They all had one thing in common.

Every single citizen was lifting their hands toward the sky and cheering.

“Ohhh! The rain finally stopped!”

“I’m not seeing things, right? You see it too?”

“Thank you, Lord Mide, thank you so much!”

“Calm down. They said it’s just an illusion.”

“But the rain really did stop!”

“Wait. Then does that mean Lord Mide is above the Celestial God?”

“W-well, I dunno.”

“To us, he is! Better Mide than some god who threatens to destroy the world if we don’t obey.”

“H-hey. Watch your mouth. That will get you killed.”

That was the general mood.

But turning to other places, there were also voices like these:

“This is nice, but…”

“Yeah. Isn’t it dangerous? What if the Celestial God really gets angry?”

“He rained water on us, next time it will be fire.”

“You think Lord Mide could protect us even then?”

“Damn it… I really don’t know anymore.”

“They said from the start it’s just an illusion. Even the Hero can’t actually fight the Celestial God.”

Of course.

Even if I blocked the flood, it only applied to this particular ‘heavenly punishment.’

If the Celestial God truly rolled up his sleeves and descended, how much could Hero Mide resist?

Since their very lives were on the line, it was natural they would worry about that.

Besides, Offense outright declared in his speech that it was just an illusion.

No wonder the people of the continent trembled in fear.

That’s when Trail spoke up cautiously.

“When we were drafting that speech, there was a bit of debate.”

“Hm?”

“About whether there was any need to admit the clear sky was an illusion. After all, the spell imprints total reality on its targets.”

“…”

“The idea was, we could just declare that Mide Mohan dispelled the storm, and everyone would believe it.”

I looked at Trail.

He scratched his cheek and continued.

“But in the end, after much discussion, we agreed it was better to be honest.”

“Why?”

“Hmm. Just… that it would be better. Hard to explain clearly. You could say it was a gut feeling.”

“You did very well.”

I would have done the same.

As Trail said, this was a golden chance to proclaim that the Hero had dispersed the storm.

But swallowing that tempting bait felt like it would bring disaster.

I pointed at the screens.

“See? Doesn’t it look bad?”

“What do you mean? They are all praising your name.”

“Yeah. While their bodies are still soaked to the bone in the rain.”

“…”

“I have pulled a lot of cons up until now, but this one feels a bit different.”

Then it happened.

Clap, clap.

Impelium applauded.

Trail and I both turned to him.

He stopped clapping and asked,

“Were those words you just spoke unthinking?”

“What?”

“I mean, did you say them not from calculation, but instinct?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Then you really do have the qualifications.”

He smiled faintly.

“As you said, you have spread countless lies. But none of them gave Idria power.”

“Why not?”

“Because the laws of the world approved of those lies.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They were lies that, overall, guided humanity in a better direction. The laws always operate on the standard of what benefits mankind.”

I couldn’t make sense of his words.

Impelium didn’t seem to expect me to understand anyway, and went on like he was talking to himself.

“This time is different. For people to cry your name while still soaked through, insisting the rain has stopped… what a tremendous deception.”

“Even if it’s deception, if it stops the storm, isn’t that still guiding humanity forward?”

“Maybe in the short term. But in the long term, the world judged it as regression for mankind.”

“You talk like you heard that straight from the world itself.”

He chuckled.

“In any case, if they hadn’t spoken the truth in that speech, Idria would have reaped an immense power. For you to sense that instinctively, impressive.”

Hah.

I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

But Impelium kept praising, sounding genuinely impressed.

“And the fact your comrades all grasped the same point without being taught, that’s remarkable. You have got fine companions. I envy you.”

“…”

“So then. What should you do now? I would like to hear your thoughts.”

He wasn’t mocking.

His expression was earnest curiosity.

I sank into thought for a moment, then asked Trail,

“How do Adin’s fame and mine compare right now?”

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