Offense sees me as someone more heroic than Kaeld.

I worked hard to keep the corners of my lips from curling up.

At that moment, Offense opened his mouth.

“But I can’t join your party just yet.”

Neril frowned.

“How do you come to that conclusion from this conversation?”

“To be precise, your leader won’t agree.”

“Huh?” Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs ⓝovelFire.net

“Looks like I have the upper hand when it comes to scheming. What do you think, Mide? Am I right?”

As expected of Offense.

I inwardly admired him as I spoke.

“If Offense doesn’t go back, Kaeld will become even more wary of me. He’ll think Offense was recruited.”

“And then?”

“Then he’ll decide there’s no point in further scouting and try to resolve things by force. In other words, he’ll come looking for me.”

“That’s even better. This is your chance to settle things with him once and for all. If you can’t do it, I’ll kill him for you.”

I shook my head.

Then, putting my hands together calmly, I said:

“If I kill that guy, the reputation he’s built up until now will negatively affect me.”

That’s when Trail spoke in awe, almost shouting:

[Whoa. You were thinking that far ahead?]

I nodded and spoke.

“To the people in the southern continent, Kaeld is an undisputed hero. But from their perspective, if someone named Mide, whom they’ve never even heard of, kills Kaeld, what do you think will happen?”

“……They’ll hate you.”

“It won’t just be dislike. They’ll completely turn their backs on me.”

Kaeld and I are in opposition in every way, but we share one common goal.

–To attain unparalleled, unmatched fame on the continent.

Conquering only the north isn’t enough.

One day, I must make my name known in the south too.

If I take care of Hero Kaeld now, that journey will be stopped from the very start.

Suddenly, Neril asked:

“Doesn’t the same apply to Kaeld? If he kills you, wouldn’t all the northerners turn their backs on him?”

“Yeah. But there’s still a big gap in reputation between me and him. From his perspective, even if he temporarily loses the north’s favour, he can recover over time.”

So for him, it’s a move worth taking.

But I’m not at that level yet.

“In other words, if I’m to face Kaeld, it should be when my fame is at least equal to or greater than his. Otherwise, it’ll be a bad move.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s why we have to send Offense back peacefully right now.”

Offense gave a small laugh.

“Well, I hadn’t thought things through that deeply. I just felt like now wasn’t the time for Mide and Kaeld to clash.”

“Mm.”

“So? What exactly do I need to do?”

“Go back to Kaeld. Tell him Mide wasn’t a big deal. Say you barely managed to prevent a war, but he didn’t make much of an impression on the people of the territory.”

“Will he really buy that? I think he’ll suspect that I’ve betrayed him.”

“Then we need to set something up so he can’t doubt you.”

In fact, I’d already thought of something.

Kaeld is a cautious person, but that caution has a weakness.

He’s many times more suspicious than others, but precisely because of that, once his suspicion is lifted, he tends to over trust his own judgment.

“Tell him you eavesdropped on our conversation. The topic was the Hero’s Sword.”

“What?”

“You know, the Hero’s Sword. It’s probably stored in the tomb of the fourth hero, Padania Brook, right?”

“……”

“Here’s the report: Mide said that in order to become a hero, he absolutely needs the Hero’s Sword, but it’s in Padania’s tomb, so it’s quite troublesome. Since the tomb is in the south, Kaeld will interfere…… something like that.”

“I don’t get it at all. Are you saying that report will really fool Kaeld?”

Of course.

To be recognized as a true hero—or in Trail’s words, to achieve unmatched fame—there are a few required ‘events’.

The most important, naturally, is the oracle.

Not as vital as the oracle, but still crucial, is the Hero’s Sword.

The Hero’s Sword is the sword used by the four past heroes to defeat the Demon King, and the custom is to keep it in the tomb of the last hero.

Naturally, I assumed Kaeld had retrieved it from the tomb of the fourth hero, Padania Brook.

‘But……’

I recalled a conversation from before my regression.

It happened one night before the regression.

While staying at an inn during a quest, I was just about to sleep.

Knock knock.

Even before I heard the knock, I knew from the footsteps outside who had come.

“I’m sleeping. Kaeld.”

“If that’s true, you just had a very bizarre sleep talk.”

“What brings you here in the middle of the night?”

Our dear hero Kaeld had come to visit me.

“First, how about you open the door?”

“……”

With a light sigh, I opened the door.

He waltzed into my room with his usual confidence and spoke.

“Tomorrow’s a free day with no special plans, right? So I figured we could chat late into the night.”

“Chat all you want—with someone else.”

“No. It’s been a while since you joined the party, but our conversations have always been quite meaningless. Let’s talk seriously for once.”

He sat down with a thud on a chair.

I scratched my head and sighed.

“What kind of serious talk?”

“For example, how about we each share a secret?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t seem to trust me at all.”

“Didn’t you say on the first day I joined the party that we shouldn’t dig into each other’s pasts?”

That’s why I haven’t even asked who Bion Kunze is.

Kaeld shook his head.

“I’m not asking to uncover any deep, dark secrets. But at this rate, I think you’ll become an obstacle to the party’s harmony.”

“Blunt, aren’t you.”

“I figured you’d prefer that. Don’t worry, I’m not saying I’ll kick you out.”

He slid into the seat beside me.

“No matter what you think of me, I acknowledge your skills. You’re definitely the strongest in the party after me.”

“You ever consider I might be stronger than you?”

“That’d be a bit arrogant.”

“Pff, alright then. Let’s each share one secret. You first.”

Kaeld smiled gently and began.

“Well, it’s hardly a secret. It’s something I found out during a quest before you joined, so the other party members probably know already.”

“No one told me.”

“That’s because it’s obvious you don’t trust your comrades. Who’d bother sharing personal stuff with someone like that?”

Hmm. Flawless logic.

Can’t argue with that.

Kaeld said:

“Anyway, would you accept this level of thing as a secret?”

“Sure, I’ll accept it. Now, tell me.”

“This isn’t the Hero’s Sword.”

He casually tapped his sword.

I couldn’t help but open my mouth.

“W-what?”

“There was a quest to retrieve the Hero’s Sword from Padania’s tomb before you joined. We completed it successfully, but quickly realized—this isn’t the real Hero’s Sword.”

“What are you talking about? The custom is to enshrine it in the last hero’s tomb……”

“But it wasn’t there. Seriously, I have no idea how it happened.”

“……”

“So sometime soon, I’ll be going to find the real Hero’s Sword. You’ll be joining me then, so I’m telling you now under the excuse of sharing a secret. That’s enough for you, right?”

A moment of silence passed.

I stared into Kaeld’s seemingly innocent eyes.

Then I had a sudden flash of insight.

Kaeld said:

“Now, it’s your turn to share a secr—”

“Hold on a second. I think I just found out a bigger secret of yours.”

“Hmm?”

“One of the major requirements to become a hero is the Hero’s Sword. But you showed no tension when you said this one’s a fake.”

“……”

“And when you said you’d go find the real one someday, you had a weird sense of certainty. It was like you were saying, ‘I knew from the start the tomb’s sword was fake. And I know where the real one is.’”

Kaeld’s expression hardened.

Leaning back against the chair, I continued speaking.

“Do you have some kind of ability that no one else knows about?”

“…….”

“Like, say, you can see the path to becoming a Hero?”

In that moment—

A terrifying killing intent swept through the room, so intense it made every hair on my body stand on end.

Bang!

The door burst open, and people rushed in.

Our fellow Hero party members.

“Kaeld, that killing intent just now—?”

“What happened? Why are you two acting like this?”

“Mide! I told you to try and get along with Kaeld!”

“It’s nothing big. I’m just gonna head back and sleep.”

Kaeld quickly suppressed his killing intent and addressed everyone.

“Sorry. Just a slight disagreement.”

“If that happens twice, someone’s going to have a heart attack.”

“Haha. Seriously, my bad. Go on now, all of you. We’ve still got more to talk about.”

Too bad, not happening.

I got up from my seat.

“I’m going to sleep. Everyone out.”

“……Mide. We’re not done talking.”

“Oh, right. You mean my secret?”

“…….”

“Keep it to yourself, alright? The truth is…”

I leaned in and whispered into his ear.

“I’ve got a bit of athlete’s foot.”

The way his face contorted in disgust just then—now that was a sight worth remembering.

[Hooh. So that happened.]

‘Please don’t interrupt my memories.’

[Being able to see the path to becoming a Hero… now that’s interesting.]

‘It’s not certain. Just my speculation.’

But thinking back on Kaeld’s reaction—his killing intent—it’s not the absolute answer, but it’s damn close.

‘If you look at it differently, it’s actually obvious. The guy killed the real Hero, Bion Kunze, and deceived the entire continent, posing as a Hero from start to finish. That’s not something a normal person could pull off.’

[Hmm. That’s no joke.]

Trail’s voice took on a serious tone.

But I didn’t see it that way.

‘Nothing to worry about. Maybe I was clueless before regression, but now I have the overwhelming advantage.’

[How can you be so relaxed when your enemy might see the path to becoming a Hero?]

‘Because I have… Never mind.’

I cut myself off.

But Trail hit the nail on the head.

[Ahahaha! Yeah, you’ve got me by your side. Finally appreciating my worth, huh?]

‘Why is this the only time your instincts are sharp?’

[I’m always sharp. Especially when it comes to sniffing out overtime work.]

‘Right, sure.’

Well, he’s not wrong.

‘…I’m only saying this once.’

I scratched my head.

‘I’m genuinely grateful for a lot of things.’

[Huh?]

‘Thanks, seriously. Fuck.’

[Pick one—gratitude or swearing.]

‘Fuck.’

[Go with gratitude.]

I let out a small chuckle and looked at Offense.

He was still looking at me, clearly wanting an explanation.

“Kaeld has some strange ability. He can see the path to becoming a Hero. It’s just a guess, of course.”

“……!”

“I don’t know exactly how it works. But… how else do you explain it? A nobody who suddenly gets hailed as the Southern Hero in just a few years?”

“Hearing that from the Northern Hero makes it a lot more convincing.”

I shrugged.

“Anyway, that means he probably already knows—the Hero’s Sword in the Tomb of Padania is a fake.”

This time, everyone looked shocked.

Xenia slammed her hands on the table.

“You’re saying it’s fake? The Hero’s Sword—and the tombs of the past Heroes—are among the Empire’s most heavily guarded sites!”

“I don’t know the details either.”

“Mide, you sure know a lot of things but also not a lot of things.”

“That’s what makes us human—our imperfections.”

“Wow, going philosophical all of a sudden?”

Xenia leaned back, calming down a little.

Neril spoke up.

“I get it now. I see what you’re aiming for.”

“Huh?”

“Kaeld knows the sword in the Tomb of Padania is fake. But you—you’re going to make him believe that you don’t know it’s fake. That’s the plan, right?”

As expected, Neril caught on quick.

I nodded, and Offense chimed in.

“So when someone he’s suspicious of seems clearly beneath him, he’ll let his guard down.”

“Exactly. Kaeld’s cautious and quick to doubt, but once he drops suspicion, he won’t pay attention to me for a while. That’s when I’ll make my move and rise up.”

“You’ve really got his personality figured out—even from this far away.”

“Well, I am pretty great.”

I brought my hands together and spoke earnestly.

“Offense. Think you can help me out?”

He gave a shrug.

“You haven’t even said what you want me to do.”

“You already know, don’t you?”

“…….”

“Take this.”

I handed him a communication orb.

“It connects directly to us.”

“Oho. You want me to be your spy?”

“Only to the extent that Kaeld doesn’t notice. Nothing too risky.”

“Hmm.”

“It’d be great if you could report on his weaknesses, secrets, or his next move. And if possible…”

If possible, find out who Bion Kunze really is.

I almost said it—but held back.

That’s Kaelid’s core secret.

Even before and after regression, I never figured it out. There’s no way Offense could.

And I can’t have him put himself at risk trying.

“If possible?”

“Never mind. Forget it.”

“You’re making me curious.”

“I said forget it. Let’s just eat.”

At that, Xenia responded.

She pushed the plate she had pulled toward herself earlier back across the table.

“Since we’re allies now, I’ll give you this.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“I trust you understand what a big gesture of trust this is.”

Offense tilted his head.

“…Pheasant meat?”

TL : Genuinely, who is Trail? Is he a god or a system? Maybe he is the guide for Mide’s path to becoming a hero? Similar to how Kaeld has power to see the path of hero.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep