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Chapter 109




Chapter 109 – Stagnant Water Puddle (2)
[Oppa, you really are too much.]
“Please be a little bit more patient.  I’ll end things here very soon, and I’ll head towards you guys.”
[You won’t give bait to a fish you’ve already caught.  What a devilish method.]
“Where the hell did you learn such words?”
Artpe accepted the complaints that were being transmitted by Sienna and Regina.  Then he gave them directions.
“If you travel north of Daitan, there is a Ice Continent called Glacia.  It is a place where humans can’t live.  I want you to go to the heart of Glacia before spring…..”
After he ended the call with his party members, he let out a sigh as he raised his head.  Maetel was staring at him.
“What?”
“How lucky.  I want to go to the Ice Continent.”
“It’ll just be cold.”
“I can use the cold as an excuse to stick to Artpe.”
Artpe was dumbfounded, so he gave a retort.
“You are already sticking to me right now.”
“I’m already sticking to you, but I want to stick to you in a more aggressive and intense manner.”
At that point, Artpe wanted give up on rehabilitating the hero.  It seemed Maetel realized the carriage ride was coming to an end, so she wanted to enjoy the current situation as much as possible.  She was glued onto Artpe.  She was in a state of nirvana.  He started his next call as he accepted her feeling.
“Ajumma.”
[Please call me by Mycenae.]
“I want you to supply Sienna’s party for the last time.  They are heading into Glacia.”
[That’ll be fine.  I’m capable of entering into the Dungeons of Glacia.  I’m a high rank Merchant now.]
“Next, I want you to supply Silpennon’s party for the last time.  I want you to give them consumable explosive Artifacts and lock picking tools.  I want them them to be of the highest quality.  We are all going to run amok in Paladia..”
[¡¡¡¡¡¡Arpe-nim, are you sure you are a hero?]
In some ways, Paladia was basically the home of the heroes.  Mycenae’s voice stiffened when he said he would run amok in Paladia.  However, Artpe replied in refreshing manner.
“The hero eliminates evil. However, I’ll tell you this beforehand.  The standard of judgment as to what is evil is subjective.  There is a stench coming from Paladia.  It is the smell of evil.”
Since he retained his memories from his past life, Artpe could say this.  Of course, others didn’t know this, so his words sounded very unreasonable.
[Why don’t you just become the Demon king!]
“Heroes are one step away from being seen as the Demon King, and the Demon king is one step away from being seen as a hero.  Well, I made my request.”
[Wait a moment.  If you think you can always end the call first, you are sorely mistak……..]
He ended the call with Mycenae.  His last call was to Silpennon.
[You want us to infiltrate into the capital of Paladia?]
“Everyone in Lihazeta will be focused on the heroes.  I want you to carry out your task during that time period.  Leseti and Deyus will only be there for support.  You’ve grown your skills as a thief, and I want you to use that skill in earnest this time.”
[Artpe…..  Can you give me more details?  What exactly do you want me to steal?  I think it is time for you to reveal some information.]
Silpennon’s request was reasonable.  Artpe cleared his throat.  He nodded his head as he spoke.
“Lihazeta’s city is subdivided, and it is based on the ranks of the priests.  You already know this, right?”
[Of course.]
“Some regions can be accessed by outsiders, but there is a region accessible only to the holy priestess, pope, several high rank priests and the heroes.  They call this place the Zero Class.”
[I never heard of this Zero Class……]
“I want  you to completely clean out the Zero Class region.  That is what I wanted to ask of you.”
[Dude!  Your words don’t add up!  I’m an outsider, so how am I supposed to get in there!]
Ah.  How long had it been since someone resisted against his plans?  He had missed it!  In recent times, Maetel and Sienna started pushing back against his plans, but on a basic level, they always followed his directions.  This was why he had been a bit disappointed.  However, it was as if Silpennon had broken apart this feeling of frustration felt by Artpe.
However…
“It is as I’ve said.  Heroes can enter into the Zero Class.”
[So what?]
“When I enter into the city, I’ll make a move.  You’ll just have to take advantage of this.  It is like a backdoor.  You should enter at night.  I’ll somehow make it so that you’ll be able to enter that region tonight.”
[¡¡¡¡¡¡.]
These were words that shouldn’t be uttered by someone that was called the hero.  He was about to enter into the capital of the holy nation of Paladia.  He would be escorted by priests and holy knights as he headed into heart of Lihazeta.  This was something that shouldn’t be spoke by someone like him!  While Silpennon was silent from the dismay he felt, Artpe continued to speak.
“There are many suspicious things going on in Paladia.  You already know this.  I want you to bring out all the details.  I want you to show the world the true nature of the temples.  That is my plan.”
[All right.  Let us say that the temples are hiding something, and I miraculously find out this secret.  How are you going to spread this truths to the continent?]
“That is a really good question!  In truth, I will use a magic technique developed by Aedia.  I brought several Video Transmission devices.”
[You evil bastard!]
It felt as if Artpe was playing atop of Silpennon’s head.  Silpennon couldn’t nitick any of Artpe’s actions.  It felt as if Artpe was even prepared for a pestilence that would sweep over the continent in several hundred years!
[Understood.  I’ll try to infiltrate them…   Truthfully, I’m not confident I can do it.]
“Don’t trust in yourself.  Trust in your Artifacts.  You emptied out Diaz’s entire past to arm yourself.  You can do it!”
[Even if you have to lie to me, I would like you to cheer me up!  You really are the worst!]
“Hang in there, Silpennon!”
[You have no talent in cheering other people up!  Hmmph.  You hang in there too!]
Silpennon grumbled as he ended the call.  He was now done with contacting those that were on the outside.   It would be practically be impossible to contact anyone outside for the near future.  He just had to put faith in everyone that they could work well in concert with each other.
Artpe put away his communication device then he raised his head with a refreshed expression on his face.  However, Maetel was glaring at him with a sulking expression on her face.
“Artpe, why do you like Silpennon so much?  Do you perhaps like men better than women?  Is that it?”
“He’s the only intellectually honest comrade I have.  You don’t have to worry too much about it.”
“Your words are making me worry more!?”
Before Maetel’s interrogation could start in earnest, someone knocked on the door to the carriage.
“We’ve arrived.  We are hoping to show the esteemed faces of the heroes to the people of Paladia.  It’ll be a parade where everyone will celebrate…..”
“It’s another parade?”
“This is what happens when you become a hero.  Still, you should be thankful that you didn’t have to go through from a young age.”
“That…..  Yes, please forgive us.”
The priest didn’t know what to say when confronted with Maetel’s complaints and Artpe’s weirdly philosophical view of this situation.  The priest asked for their forgiveness.  Artpe and Maetel immediately exited the carriage.  There were countless people gathered there.
“Wa-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“They are the heroes that were born in this generation!”
“They look exactly like their description.  However…..”
“There really are two of them.  Both of them are heroes?”
The people were tilting their head in puzzlement.  It was understandable.  Even after being named a hero, Artpe had a headache trying to reconcile the idea of two heroes.
“Please come this way.  We’ll travel once around the outskirts of the city then we will head into the great temple.  You’ll be blessed there, then we’ll head into the inner city.  That is our schedule.”
“All right.”
Artpe dragged along Maetel, who hated all of this.  They moved towards a new mode of transportation.  There were holy knights in shining armor waiting for them.  They surrounded the vehicle as escorts.
“This vehicle was made with magic.”
“That’s right.  The previous hero cooperated with the temple in creating this treasure.”
Artpe and Maetel ignored the priest, who had spoken with a bit of pride in his voice.  They moved into the raised seats, so they could greet the people.
It was a parade vehicle infused with the previous hero’s magic.  It was impossible for the passengers to lose balance on the vehicle, and it could rise into the air,.  It could reach an altitude of several dozen meters.  When they were floating in the air, they were able to see the design of the city.  This city was built as the very last line of defense.  It was the final stronghold in the fight against the Demon King’s army.  This was why the entire city of Lihazeta was acting as a defensive magic circle.  They caught sight of the capital of the holy nation Paladia.
“Wow.  The city looks like it was made from toys…….”
The city was built with a plan in mind.  Of course, the various building inside the city was neat and pretty.  When she looked down at the city, Maetel’s eyes shone.  Artpe nodded his head as he gave her an explanation.
“It looks really neat, right?  Of course, it’ll all be destroyed once the Demon King’s army invades this place.  Actually, there is a more horrifying magic built into this place.  It’ll activate once this place is destroyed.  Aren’t you reassured thinking about it?”
“Arpte is a master of breaking apart a person’s dream.”
In some ways, this city was similar to the capital of Aedia.  However, the city of Lays’ magic circle merely functioned as an underground sewer system.  Lihazeta’s magic circle had the ability to reduce the power of the Demon king’s army.  Its function was completely different from Aedia’s magic circle.
Depending on the situation, the magic circle was unspecialized, so several types of magic could be activated at the same time.  If one focused on the power of one type of magic, it turned into a amplification type magic circle….
“My head!  My head hurts so much, Artpe!  Ooh-goo-ahhhhhhh!”
“All right.  I won’t explain it any more……”
If he was to simplify his explanation, the previous hero’s had a hand in constructing this place.  He wondered if he’ll be able to find out the identity of the high and mighty sunbae-nim.  Artpe was looking forward to it a little bit.
Rather than making something new with his own hands, it was more enjoyable to use something someone else had already built!
It had been awhile, but Artpe became engrossed in thoughts that was befitting the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings.  While he was having such thoughts, the parade finally started.
“Maetel-nim!  You grew up to be very beautiful!”
“Artpe-nim, please look over here?  He’s exquisite?”
“Oo-ook.  There are too many gazes.”
“Cheer up, Artpe.”
They had already experienced being in a parade in Aedia.  However, they had shared the spotlight with the emperor.  This time the spotlight was solely on the two of them.  The burden and the heat of their attention was twice as strong.
“Artpe-nim is too cool!”
“Maetel-nim!”
“Artpe-nim!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaahk!  Artpe-nim looked this way!”
······it was quite strange.  There were more instances of people calling out for Artpe rather than Maetel.  It felt weird.  He turned to look at Maetel, and as expected, he caught sight of Maetel’s twisted smile.
“Hey, you are in front of people!  Keep your face together!  Control your expression!”
“But those people…  How dare they say that to my Artpe…….”
“Is that why you are angry!?”
Despite his warning, Maetel’s rage meter filled up everytime she heard women scream Artpe’s name.  Artpe was careful in not antagonizing Maetel.  This was why he was very timid in his hand waving.
“I think the male is the true hero?  Look!  Look!  The girl keeps scowling.”
“However, the priests said they will be guiding both of them onto the road of the heroes.  The priests are those that deliver the messages from the gods.  We dare not doubt their words.”
“Everything will become clear when they meet the pope.”
Artpe smirked when he heard the conversation going on between the throng of people.  Maetel didn’t know why he was laughing, so she poked at his thigh.  Then she whispered in a voice that could only be heard by Artpe.
“When we return, I’ll kiss you 100 times.”
“······if you are punishing me, kissing doesn’t sound like a great punishment.”
“I’m not giving Artpe a punishment.  It is a reward you are going to give me for being patient..”
“Don’t I have to agree to it!  Hey!”
The parade through Lihazeta was moving at a much slower pace than the parade they had participated in Aedia.  It made the two heroes tired.  Moreover, they had to move through the outer city and the inner city to get the holy ground.  When they arrived at the great temple, they were allowed to rest.
“Do you feel any gazes on us?”
“I feel none.”
When the two of them left behind the crowd, they let out a sigh of relief.  Maetel and Artpe leaned against each other.  The priests and holy knights let out a bitter laugh when they saw this.
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It happened at that moment….
“I’ve been waiting for you, hero-nim”
Maetel’s body tensed when she suddenly heard a woman’s clear voice.  Artpe and Maetel turned around at the same time.
“My name is Vadinet Kuareu Paladia.  Please call me by Vadinet.”
There was a black haired girl that looked to be of similar age as the two heroes.  She really was a innocent and beautiful looking girl.  She looked as if she had grown up eating only dew.