The Fake Hero Is Too Strong Chapter 22

Xenia hesitated for a long mont before finally speaking.

“…If I try to imprison this witch, you’ll stop , won’t you?”

Neril cut in.

“Could you even imprison ?”

“I was asking Mr. Mide. But if I had to answer… I think it’s possible.”

“Hmph.”

Neril only let out her usual nasal scoff, surprisingly not angry.

I said,

“Neril is already my companion. And if you spend more ti with us, you’ll realize she’s not as vicious as the rumors say.”

“But still…”

“There are so truths behind the horrors attributed to Neril that you don’t know, Xenia. If we stay together, you’ll find out eventually.”

It’s still not the ti to reveal Da’s corruption.

There’s also the matter of Neril’s ‘item’, but more than that—saying outright that Da is a villain without any evidence might only distance Xenia, who deeply respects her father.

After a brief pause, Xenia spoke.

“…Witch—no, Miss Neril. Let ask you one thing.”

“Ask away.”

“Did you kill Ophelia?”

Before answering, Neril glanced at .

I considered how best to respond, then gave a small nod—my way of expressing that I trusted her judgnt completely.

After a mont of thought, Neril answered.

“I didn’t kill her.”

“…! Then she’s alive?”

“No. I just said I didn’t kill her.”

“What is that supposed to an?”

She turned to and asked,

“Is she telling the truth?”

“She just said it herself—why ask ? I haven’t even been traveling with Neril that long.”

“I want your judgnt. You, who claim to be a Hero.”

I didn’t know what she ant by that.

But still, I put on a serious expression and spoke clearly, word by word.

“Yes. I believe it’s true.”

I saw it clearly—Xenia’s expression softened in that instant.

A face that said: ‘At least I’m not traveling with soone who murdered my friend.’

In other words, she was placing her trust in my judgnt.

Xenia murmured,

“Co to think of it… I never actually witnessed the scene myself. I only received a report that the witch’s residue had been left behind.”

“……”

“It could have been a misunderstanding… or maybe soone’s deliberate interference.”

Her last words were surprisingly close to the truth, and I couldn’t help being startled.

Though she likely hasn’t yet considered that the “soone” could be her own father.

“To verify that… I need to stay close and observe the witch’s character firsthand. From now on, I’ll be joining you. As a form of surveillance.”

“Thank you.”

“I said surveillance.”

“Yes, you’re free to call it whatever you like if it helps you save face.”

“Ugh, you’re so irritating!”

And just like that, Xenia beca a mber of my party.

With this, I had successfully recruited two heroes.

If I could bring in one more, I’d have three party mbers just like Kaeld.

My heart pounded for no reason.

That’s when Neril said to ,

“Mide. Now that we’re traveling together, let’s make one thing clear.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you speak informally to but use honorifics with her?”

“……”

“Aren’t you older than Xenia?”

Xenia’s brow twitched.

“There’s nothing wrong with using honorifics when we respect each other’s character, is there?”

“Respecting character? You called Mide calculating not long ago.”

“I ant he’s a balance of brains and brawn.”

“That’s what I said.”

“I agree with it, that’s all.”

“You never let anything slide, you brat.”

“Hmph. My apologies, granny.”

“G-granny…?”

Calling Neril “granny”—when she freaks out even at being called “auntie”—had a trendous effect!

I clapped my hands lightly and said,

“Let explain. Even when I worked as a rcenary, I always spoke casually with comrades I trusted.”

“……”

“So, Xenia, I’d like to drop the formal speech with you too. Is that alright?”

To that, Trail let out a dry laugh.

[Seriously?]

‘No. I worked alone, rember?’

[Now every ti you open your mouth it’s a lie. Even Idria would weep.]

I was about to retort when Xenia, looking slightly surprised, said,

“You think of as a comrade you trust? Even though we’ve only known each other for a few days?”

“We faced the Martial King together, didn’t we? I believe I can entrust my back to you without worry.”

“…Alright. Then, go ahead. Speak comfortably.”

“I will. Let’s get along, Xenia.”

Xenia nodded firmly.

That’s when Neril’s voice chid in.

“Hmph. Maybe it’s better if we do use honorifics? If we respect each other’s character, we should, right?”

What do you want from ?

I turned to Xenia.

“By the way, you need to report to your father, right?”

“To the Captain.”

“Sa thing.”

“…Anyway, yes. I do. Why?”

“Slip my na into the report, would you? ntion that I’m being hailed as a Hero in the territory of Lior.”

Xenia tilted her head.

“I was going to anyway. But why specifically ntion that?”

I grinned.

“Just laying a little groundwork.”

Da buried his head in his hands after reading Xenia’s report.

‘What on earth is she talking about? Why would she want to travel with the Witch of Carnage?’

There was also the matter of Ophelia Mace, but beyond that—his daughter’s nature was fundantally incompatible with that witch.

Unless there were so exceptional diator.

‘Ah. That’s right. She did ntion a diator.’

Xenia had nad that diator: “Hero” Mide Mohan.

To be precise, she hadn’t called him a Hero herself—she’d said that the people of Lior territory hailed him as one.

Da laughed in disbelief.

Then sneered,

“A re rcenary, called a Hero?”

But Xenia’s unexpected reply was icy.

“Could a re rcenary really defeat the Martial King?”

“……”

“Mr. Mide didn’t just win—he toyed with him. He’s strong. Maybe even… no, without a doubt—”

Xenia swallowed the words: “Stronger than you, Father.”

Thankfully, Da failed to catch the implication.

Regardless, his focus shifted elsewhere.

“Neril is at least keeping her promise. Well, she would have no choice but to, wouldn’t she?”

If that was the case, then he could afford to wait a little longer.

After all, he had never managed to win an argunt against Xenia once she started being stubborn like that.

And to be honest, he wasn’t really in a position to keep thinking things over any further.

There was a guest waiting outside.

Soone with such overwhelming fa that even the captain of the Holy Knight of Light felt uneasy about making them wait any longer.

He called for his assistant and said,

“Let him in.”

“Understood.”

A mont later, the door opened, and a man stepped in.

He had his red hair tied back tightly. His features were rugged but gave a kind impression.

The man sat down across from Da and spoke.

“It’s an honor to et you. My na is Kaeld Wake.”

“You’ve co a long way. I heard you accomplished a great feat in the Takiar Territory.”

“I’m embarrassed. I didn’t expect soone as renowned as you, Captain Da, to request a eting over sothing so small.”

“No need to be modest. The unexplained epidemic in the Takiar Territory had even the capital worried. Of course I had to et the man who resolved it in a month.”

Da looked quietly at Kaeld, the so-called Hero of the South.

Naturally, the report from his daughter flashed through his mind.

‘Mide… They say he’s being called a hero in the Lior Territory. If I were to compare him with Kaeld…’

You could call him the Hero of the North.

And just then—

Kaeld suddenly opened his mouth with a strange expression.

“Are you thinking about soone nad Mide?”

“……!”

Da was so shocked he shot up from his seat.

“What? How do you know that na?”

“I apologize. I overheard the na while waiting outside.”

“What? Impossible.”

This room was thoroughly soundproofed.

Not just in the physical sense—materials blocking noise and so on.

As the captain’s office, directly connected to the Empire’s central intelligence, it was protected by various layers of magical soundproofing.

The magic circles, designed by so of the Empire’s most renowned mages, were embedded throughout the room.

And he heard the conversation from outside?

But unlike the flustered Da, Kaeld simply scratched his head.

He looked like nothing more than a innocent young man.

“I spoke out of turn.”

“If you know it was inappropriate, then tell honestly—how did you hear it?”

“As I said. Magic doesn’t really work on . Ha ha.”

“……”

“In any case, you’re saying there’s soone nad Mide in the northern continent, right? Seems like he’s been doing so amazing things too.”

Da sat back down in his chair.

And replied in a cautious voice.

“He defeated the Martial King, so yes, you could say it’s amazing. He also exposed the foul deeds that Martial King committed behind the scenes. Still, he hasn’t achieved as much as you have.”

“Hmm. So your daughter was assigned to keep an eye on Mide.”

“You know my daughter too?”

“Ha ha. She’s just as famous as you are, Captain. Lady Xenia, after all.”

Kaeld left sothing unsaid.

‘She was originally the one I intended to make my fourth companion.’

Which is why he used Da’s invitation as an excuse to co to the capital.

And now Mide had scooped her up?

Just what kind of bastard was this Mide?

Kaeld lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his index finger.

So far, everything had gone according to plan. Googlᴇ search novel✦fire

He had already gathered three hero-class companions, and Kaeld himself was steadily walking the path to becoming a true Hero.

But at this mont—for the first ti—

‘I think I’ve run into an obstacle.’

Kaeld’s eyes grew deeper.

Da continued chatting on, and Kaeld replied casually.

But in truth, Da had already vanished from his thoughts.

Much later, Kaeld made up his mind.

‘I’ll have Offense go et this Mide.’

While in route to our next destination, I asked Trail to check on the current situation.

I’d been waiting for this mont.

‘Map!’

[Sure.]

Trail responded a bit sarcastically and projected the continental map onto the screen.

It had been hard holding back from looking.

[Why hold back? You could’ve asked to see it any ti.]

‘I wanted to wait until I had collected all the points from Lior. Hmm.’

I folded my arms and smiled in satisfaction.

My influence in the northern continent had spread significantly.

Lior Territory had a wide area, sure—but even accounting for that, the growth was impressive.

‘Looks like my reputation is starting to spread into other territories too.’

[Yeah, good montum. But compared to Kaeld… huh?]

Trail suddenly sounded discouraged.

Kaeld’s black fog hadn’t expanded much compared to last ti.

Sure, it had grown sowhat—but it looked like that ca from natural word-of-mouth rather than him actively doing anything new.

[Is this guy not working or what?]

‘If he’s not working, that’s good news for us. Show the numbers.’

[Just a sec.]

If I rembered right, Kaeld’s Fa last ti was 20,450.

Yep. He’s been sitting on his hands.

Thanks to that, the gap between us had shrunk significantly.

[You’re acting like you knew this would happen.]

‘I did make a move. Couldn’t be sure it would work, though.’

[Let’s hear it.]

‘Xenia said she was originally supposed to et Kaeld together with Da in the capital. In other words, he’s there now.’

And probably had a eting with Da.

I had asked Xenia to report my achievents to Da.

[So now Kaeld likely knows about you through Da?]

‘Yeah. Didn’t expect it to go this smoothly, though.’

[But why would you want to make yourself known! You’ve just made him wary!]

‘So simple-minded.’

[Take that back. I’m complex.]

Hmm.

Is that really the right word?

In any case, I shrugged and explained.

‘Kaeld may look simple, but he’s actually extrely cautious. Just look at how he deceived the entire continent.’

[And?]

‘And he probably never even considered that soone else might be walking the sa path he is. If I know him, he’ll prioritize investigating over starting anything new.’

[Huh. So you intentionally steered him in that direction? By having Xenia report to Da?]

I nodded.

‘Right. It’s important for to catch up quickly—but it’s just as important to keep him from widening the gap.’

[Still, he knows about you now. You sure it’s worth the risk?]

‘I figured it was a risk I had to take. And even if he knows, he’s not the type to just fly over here and challenge head-on. He’ll probably send soone to scout first.’

And if he does send soone to scout, one na cos to mind.

If Kaeld sends Offense, that would be ideal.

That guy is at least soone you can talk to.