Returning to the Adventurer’s Guild, Paulo and I reported the whole situation.
“Eh! The Four Heavenly Kings were in that ruin!!! We have to contact the country immediately… Eh!!! You’ve already defeated them!!? Amazing, Cain-san, Paulo-san. At this rate, B-Rank… no, A-Rank Adventurer is not a dream!”
The lady was beaming with joy.
That’s right, we accomplished something amazing…
As I was listening as if it were someone else’s story, Paulo said,
“Um… I was manipulated and couldn’t do anything… or rather, I was just a hindrance, so please don’t include me in the list of those who defeated him. Instead…”
“Could you please include the name of… Ganjis, who died…”
The lady seemed to read the room.
“Of course, and I’m sorry. I got carried away… That’s right… Ganjis-san helped Cain-san, didn’t he…”
I wanted to hold back the tears, but I couldn’t.
When I think of Ganjis…
“Please go back to the inn and rest today. I’ll come to ask about the details again tomorrow.”
The lady said, and Paulo and I went back.
In front of the inn, Paulo said to me,
“I’m sorry! My reckless actions led to Ganjis’s death… It’s my fault…”
“That’s not true, Paulo. So please don’t apologize.”
“No, I can’t forgive myself if I don’t. Hit me, as hard as you can.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Please.”
“…Okay. Just one hit then…”
Was I holding a grudge against Paulo somewhere in my heart? Even I don’t know.
But for some reason…
“Guh!”
After hitting Paulo, I felt like I had gotten over something.
……………………………………………
…………………………
…………
“Hey, hey, it’s the monthly regular meeting… why isn’t one of the Four Heavenly Kings here?”
“Text, huh… isn’t he probably manipulating another girl, making her do embarrassing things, and then playing his game of torturing her to death after saying he’ll release her?”
“Even though he’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings… he’s so lacking in self-awareness…”
The three were talking happily while eating sweets.
Then, a dryad in a maid outfit appeared.
“I have a report regarding that matter. Manipulator Text-sama of the Four Heavenly Kings has been defeated.”
“Oh, is that so? By the Hero?”
“No, by two C-Rank adventurers.”
“Hah, Text… I always thought he was weak, but he lost to C-Ranks? He’s really a small fry.”
“He was the weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings after all… a disgrace to the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“No, there’s no way he’d lose to just C-Ranks. They must have been strong. Tell me the names of those two.”
“Yes. One is a small, silver-haired one-handed Sword user named Cain. The other is a large, black-haired Greatsword User named Ganjis, but he died in the previous battle.”
“I see… then put a bounty on that adventurer named Cain.”
“Understood.”
“…Aren’t you being too cautious?”
“They’re just C-Ranks, right?”
“Text may be like that, but he was still one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Then, the only ones in the Demon Lord’s Army who can beat that Cain are the three of us and the Demon Lord-sama, right?”
“Well, I guess that’s true.”
“I’ll remember it. Silver-haired Cain-kun, huh? I’m looking forward to it… I hope my next toy won’t break.”
Did you notice that Cain was a girl?
…I think there were places where the people around were misunderstanding, but I shouldn’t have explicitly written him as a man…
If there are any contradictions, please let me know.
By the way, the protagonist was lucky to defeat Text.
Text’s own combat power was low, and he specialized in manipulation, but since it hadn’t been long since he came to the protagonist’s town, he had only manipulated Paulo and the mini-lessers in the cave.
If he had manipulated and controlled an army to attack, or tried to manipulate the other adventurers little by little, Cain would not have been able to win.
He was the type that would become troublesome if left alone.
I probably wouldn’t be able to win against the other Four Heavenly Kings.