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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
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‘Wow…’
The splendid armor was placed before my eyes by the hands of the attendants.
As I examined it, a deep admiration began to bloom into a smile at the corners of my mouth.
It was made from some unknown rare metal, and it was a black armor embedded with various high-level magic spells.
Gems were studded throughout, and with its elegant yet delicate patterns, it exuded a dignity reminiscent of a finely crafted artwork.
And… a gigantic great sword that formed a set with the black armor.
With a black blade, it emitted a strong purple aura even at this moment, clearly demonstrating that the power contained within this weapon was no joke.
Thus, with this formidable armor and weapon that possessed an extraordinary power at a glance,
I began to feel as if all the frustrations of coming this far with only shabby equipment were being washed away.
‘This is the weapon that the Demon King has bestowed upon me? Truly… it feels completely different from the second-hand weapons I used during my days as a hero.’
In the original story, the hero had to arm himself with weapons obtained by slaying monsters.
Of course, one could say that these were armed with drop items, as is commonly referred to in games, but from the perspective of someone who has actually used those weapons in reality, I couldn’t say it was very good.
Fortunately, the hero’s basic specs were outstanding, but fighting while wearing swords and armor with various chipped or broken marks left me with a rather uneasy feeling.
For me, who was in such a situation, the current strongest demonic weapons given to me by the Demon King brought me the joy of being presented with a new car…
A luxury foreign car, no less, after having been driving a used one.
‘Since so much has been invested in me, I have to make sure to repay it properly. Just you wait, Demon King, I will definitely complete this mission successfully.’
Thinking such, I carefully examined the weapons as if I were handling a precious item.
At that moment, a light curiosity about a fact I had forgotten for a while suddenly floated into my mind.
‘Investment… speaking of which. Those damn women… they were lavishly spending the funds they received during the journey, weren’t they? While I was saving money and making do with second-hand weapons, they were wasting everything they could and were too busy catering to that porter’s whims.’
The hero party had received significant funds under the pretense of investment to defeat the Demon King.
In the original story, the naïve hero didn’t even know the exact amount of investment he had received, but most of it flowed directly into the mouths of Torare and his companions through the hands of the priestess Aileen, who was in charge of fund management.
Of course, in the process of borrowing money, promoting the Demon King’s name was a bonus.
‘In the original, the hero became a wealthy man after getting his debts cleared by slaying the Demon King and stealing the treasures in the Demon King’s castle. But now that has all failed…’
As I thought that, a smile began to form on my lips.
Automatically, scenes of the hardships those women would experience began to flash through my mind like a kaleidoscope.
‘Hmm… I’m really curious about how things will unfold from here. If I could, I’d want to watch it happen.’
Thinking such, I slowly picked up the black great sword placed before me.
Despite its immense size, it felt almost as light as a feather to me.
The moment I held it, I felt a slight thrilling sensation, indicating that this weapon resonated with me and amplified the user’s power.
With the weapon I would use for the upcoming mission firmly in my grip,
I slowly began to show a cold smile at the corners of my mouth.
‘No matter what, just stay alive for now. At least until I can sweep you away with my own hands…’
Although it wasn’t my main goal, at that moment, I had no intention of giving up on the thrill of revenge.
If you owe a debt, it’s only natural to repay it several times over.
For that reason… I sincerely hoped that those bastards would either die buried in debt that they would become utterly ruined before I had to lay a finger on them.
Especially regarding the porter who succeeded in luring those women into this situation…
‘Just wait a little longer, I’m coming for you.’
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“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
“W-we’ve made it this far… Let’s take a moment to relax…”
The women, gasping for breath, sank to the ground.
Aileen, Amelda, Shude, and Terra…
Just a few hours ago, these warriors of the hero party had charged into the Demon King’s castle, declaring they would defeat him.
But at this moment, only a deep sense of fear resided in their hearts, completely erasing the earlier bravado.
“I can’t believe Elron was defeated so easily…”
“It’s hard to believe… Elron is as strong as the combined strength of all four of us… so how strong could the Demon King be?”
“I don’t know, but it seems like we would barely have a chance even if we combined all our powers with Elron’s…”
“The Demon King… is terrifying…”
Thus, the four women, seated for a while, shuddered at the overwhelming power of the Demon King, which was far beyond what they had imagined.
And shortly after…
As time passed and they finally managed to suppress the fear that had been squirming within them, they began to be engulfed by worries about their future.
“Um… what should we do now? Originally, Elron was supposed to kill the Demon King, and we were meant to claim all the credit with Sir Torare.”
“Yes… that was the plan, and I thought it was quite perfect… but I never imagined it would fail like this.”
“It’s not our fault. The hero was weaker than we thought, and the Demon King was stronger than expected.”
“Maybe… but anyway, we’ve completely failed.”
“…”
“Ugh…”
Terra, the beast warrior, hit the nail on the head with her brief words.
As she said, when evaluating the current situation of the hero party, the term complete failure was just right.
The strongest force, the hero Elron, was defeated by the Demon King, and the remaining party members fled, abandoning him.
In such a situation, it was obvious what had happened to Elron,
and for them to go back to defeat the Demon King after losing the strongest being was practically a suicide mission.
In conclusion, defeating the Demon King had now become a realistically impossible goal.
However, even if they acknowledged this impossible reality, they couldn’t just quietly give up on their adventure and return.
They had come this far under the banner of defeating the Demon King as a hero party.
In that process, the support they received from the allied races and various cities was immense, and a considerable amount of that included significant debts.
They had borrowed money, thinking that once they defeated the Demon King, they would be able to pay it all back.
It hadn’t crossed their minds at all until the battle against the Demon King, which they had expected to win, failed.
But now, after the failure of the Demon King hunt, that “debt” clearly stood before them as a harsh reality.
‘Damn… if I had known this would happen, I would have listened to Elron and saved some money…’
‘That was a mistake… I thought I was only investing to win Sir Torare’s favor…’
‘No, wait a minute… is this seriously dangerous? Honestly, I thought we could pay it all back just by killing the Demon King, so I ignored the hero’s advice. If things are going to unfold like this…’
‘Sir Torare has been spending money too recklessly. We’ve been spending money too recklessly…’
In short, they had gone from being a hero party aiming to save the world to becoming malicious debtors overnight.
As they finally realized they were trapped in a situation where they couldn’t move forward or backward, the four warrior women began to be engulfed by deep anxiety.
“Um… for now, let’s go to Sir Torare and discuss it. Surely, there must be something good we can do.”
“That sounds good. At this point, it seems we have no other option.”
He was their practical “master” and the person who had devised the plan to defeat the hero.
The four began to head towards the place where Torare was, thinking that he might have some way to overcome this crisis.
That guy must have a seduction skill or something like that