Chapter 279 - [17th Round] The Power of Love!
Classmate A, the MAX-Class Great Prophet, and the dummies traveled to the Holy Empire in the north of the Central Continent with the intention of sailing to the Northern Continent from there. That was the plan, at least.
However, our journey didn’t work out as we intended.
Although every large city had a Wizard Tower equipped with spatial transportation magic circles, it turned out that the Holy Empire rejected the Hero’s admission due to his bad Karma.
It was, of course, strange.
Why wouldn’t they want to accept the person who would save the world?
I didn’t encounter such “hospitality” even in the 1st round despite my reputation not being that high due to my companions’ activities at the time.
Of course, only Classmate A was treated this way, not me, but that didn’t change anything since I was with him.
“How is this possible…”
“Friend, have things usually been better for you?”
Thanks to the testimony we received from the Divine Dragon, we were able to use such an expensive method of transportation for free. However, since our destination refused to accept us, we gained nothing from it.
The spatial transportation magic circles were essentially “invisible tunnels.” People belonging to certain categories were prohibited from utilizing it by blocking either the entrance, exit, or both.
Such individuals were often criminals, had their identities hidden, had uncertain status, mercenaries with less than five years of work experience, unregistered slaves, banned from leaving the country, or were entering from a hostile nation.
“Why was I refused admission?”
Offended, the Hero decided to find out the reason from the tower’s wizard, who was busy exploring the abyss and looking at the legs of his young assistant.
Distracted from his research, the wizard frowned.
“The Holy Empire doesn’t trust you.”
“Seriously? What have I done wrong?”
“That’s the point. You’ve done nothing, and that’s wrong.”
“…”
It was the effect of Karma E.
In the Dumpling Kingdom, this could be ignored because it was the “starting country,” but it was different for the other nations.
Of course, there were originally no problems with immigration. However, the fall in the heroes’ reputation reduced their authority.
Simply put, the other countries had no confidence that the Hero wouldn’t strike down the tower upon emerging from the spatial transportation magic circle.
For this reason, Classmate A’s admission was rejected.
“Then we have no choice but to walk. You can increase your reputation on the way.”
Since I traveled using my wings of the righteous hero and spatial transference, I didn’t think that the day would come when such words would escape from my lips!
“Hey, cowardly husband.”
“What’s the matter, cowardly wife?”
“I think you became more of a hero by inheriting the family business. Maybe it’s just me, though.”
“It’s just you.”
I had always been like this.
Becoming the Demon Lord didn’t change me.
I didn’t need to be the Hero to do righteous deeds.
“Someone! Help!”
“You are a hero! Go help!”
“I’m not in the mood to help others right now… Huh?!”
“The Hero with a bad reputation is already heading to you, damsel in distress!”
“Aaaahhhh—!”
I kicked Classmate A between his 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae.
The B-ranked Hero flew in a parabola and landed in front of the lady.
I let him work on his reputation.
As for me…
“I am sincerely glad that you have resurrected, Demon Lord.”
I summoned a demon hiding among the people.
“Let all the demons and their followers living in this city know that I order them to work on expanding the territory of the Demon Lord from now on. Listen to the citizens’ complaints, seek the favor of stupid people, and instill bad prejudices against the heroes. Also, chase that grunting hero holding onto his back over there.”
“Chase?”
“Load him up with a bunch of useless things to waste his time.”
“Oh! You truly are the master of evil!”
“For the cause.”
“This city will be yours!”
The demon disappeared, once again infiltrating the ranks of humanity.
I turned my attention back to the Hero.
“Han Soo! Listen to this! That girl asked me to find her red ribbon that fell in a forest full of monsters! She even set a time limit, saying that it should be done today…”
“Tsk, tsk. You’re pathetic.”
“Me? Hasn’t she gone crazy?”
He needed to change his job to “Dumbass.”
“Buy a red ribbon at a clothing store.”
“Huh?”
“Ask her what it looks like and find a similar one.”
“But her memories are connected with it…”
“Are you an idiot? How would she know the ribbon you bought wasn’t the one she was using? Buy a ribbon, stomp on it a little to give it a tattered look, and she won’t be able to distinguish it from the original one anymore.”
“…”
“Do you have something to say?”
“Secondary students really think differently. Incredible.”
Delighted, Classmate A returned to working on his reputation.
But in the end, the “substitution of the quest item” failed.
… Because there were no cuts on the red ribbon.
He was to blame for not being able to find out its specifications properly.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t fooling around, either.
After installing the bidet I had the angel make for me in public toilets, I heard the reviews of the ignorant Fantasy savages.
“This is so cool!”
“This is a real revolution!”
“I was surprised when I tried it.”
“It’s really convenient.”
Its rating was excellent, which was as expected.
However, I couldn’t yet resolve the problem with its mass production, which was difficult to achieve due to its technical features.
‘Spray water up your ass.’
It was an easy concept to understand, but its implementation was much more difficult than normalizing flush toilets.
Warming up the water was a necessity so it wouldn’t feel icy.
I couldn’t even dream of mass-producing it yet.
Besides…
“Cowardly Demon Lord, everything will roll back upon the heroes’ regression. Wouldn’t that alone make thinking about it in vain?” Ssosia asked.
“That’s the biggest problem. If the Hero dies and returns, even properly functioning bidets will perish.”
“But I understand your heart well.”
“My heart?”
What did she know about my heart?
I looked suspiciously at my cowardly wife, who was busy pretending to be close to me. What was she up to?
“I’m not planning anything! I just love watching you care for the people of Fantasy.”
“Where did you pick up such nonsense?”
What I was doing was nothing more than using the savages to trample the heroes’ hopes and dreams and plunge them into despair.
This was hypocrisy and deception.
“Hmm, I see~ What a wicked and insidious Demon Lord~”
“Don’t smile. You’re making me feel sick.”
I decided to install the bidets only in the Demon Lord’s castle until I could resolve the problem with its mass production.
With the blueprints, one unit could be produced in each dimension.
It would be a special service for heroes visiting the Demon Lord’s castle.
“Get out of here!”
“Get out of my city!”
“I am disappointed in you, Hero.”
“Boo! Look, it’s the Hero! Booooo!”
Classmate A, who began to work on his reputation, repeatedly failed and was expelled from every city he visited.
Rumors about him spread so far that there were times when he was stopped from getting into inns even though he had money.
At this rate, he might be homeless by tomorrow.
And it wasn’t just the B-ranked Hero I was traveling with that suffered such a fate.
Heroes who died often and had already raised their Karma to D-rank were generally in a similar situation as Classmate A.
Type: Skill
Name: Karma
Rank: D
C: Credibility diminishes every regression.
D: Favor diminishes every regression.
E: Fame decreases every regression.
F: Reputation decreases every regression.
So far, they were only forbidden to use magic circles as means of transportation. Crossing the border by foot wasn’t disallowed. I wondered what would happen once their Karma had reached C-rank, however.
“I just want to blow this off and go home…”
“Don’t be a sourpuss, friend!”
The reason why Classmate A, who had E-rank Karma, lost the public’s trust and interest was me.
In hindsight, he just seemed like an incompetent person who failed his every task, but he actually did well, considering he was a social outcast.
“Cheer up, Sir Hero!”
He was so depressed that even the half-breed began to console him.
It occurred to me that her sympathy and empathy for him were growing more and more. Was it because she also suffered from what was happening to him as his companion?
And after fifteen days of traveling together, The number of sleeping bags our party used was reduced from three to two. Our numbers remained the same, though.
Since then, Classmate A changed in a strange way.
“Please go away, Hero!”
“Haha! I will come again tomorrow, elder!”
“Don’t ever return!”
“Just you wait! I’ll find the herbs that will heal your son.”
“Ha! Do what you want.”
Gradually, he began to rebuild his reputation.
Even when the door was slammed in front of him, he just laughed and moved on. Whenever he was having a really hard time, the half-breed would console him at night.
“Hmmm… I didn’t expect this.”
I didn’t even think Classmate A, who was on the verge of giving up on everything, would be able to overcome difficulties and hardships with the help of “the power of love.”
It was all because of the new companion that I imposed on him.
Their chemistry manifested during dungeon raids and monster hunts, too.
“Shshshshshk?!”
Thanks to their teamwork, the hydra, a gigantic and powerful monster not even Classmate A could defeat, fell lifelessly to the ground.
That lizard grew up to nine heads as it aged.
Its swift regeneration and the fact that all of its heads had to be chopped off simultaneously to kill it made it difficult to overpower.
However, the girl’s Brave job was even more fraudulent than the hydra.
Because of the drop in its levels, it died before it could even do anything.
Half-breed decapitated eight of its heads while Classmate A barely managed to cut the last one.
On second thought, I wasn’t certain if that could even be called teamwork.
In the end, however, he reached the maximum level visible with her help and the 500% experience boost.
Level 496 → Level 999
Classmate A, upon absorbing the hydra’s experience points, immediately passed level 999.
From that moment on, a one-sided massacre began.
Strong monsters were defeated by the half-dragon and her Brave, while the Hero dealt with weak monsters.
“This is a little annoying.”
In theory, the Hero and Brave combo were unstoppable. Moreover, their trust in each other went far beyond the battlefield.
It seemed to me that I had to come up with a countermeasure.
“Han Soo, I’m sorry.”
At least that’s what I thought until Classmate A apologized to me when we got to the capital of the Holy Empire.
“What? Why are you apologizing to me out of nowhere?”
“I think this is where Piko’s adventure ends.”
After a lot of thinking about who Piko was, I remembered that this was Classmate A’s name.
“Why did you decide on giving up on your journey, friend?”
I needed to know his reason.
Upon gradually overcoming the obstacles set by Karma E and the MAX-Class Demon Lord, the B-ranked Hero suddenly announced his resignation.
His answer might be able to help me deal with the other heroes.
Classmate A scratched the back of his head. “She’s pregnant.”
“Who?”
“The companion you brought me… That woman is dearer to me than my own life. She carries my child.”
“I see.”
The vile power of love hadn’t bothered me that long.
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