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I dissolved the zone.

Come to think of it, Mr. Tuhl was in the middle of talking.

I’m curious about something he mentioned. I think he said that the Mephilad family “looks for the hero”?

Looking for the hero… huh?
I understand it somewhat, but I don’t get how they’re looking for them.

But in this case, should I rather have studied all those books in advance? Maybe I might’ve learned something from the rare books in the library, right?¹

Well, it’s already too late. Let’s ask Mr. Tuhl.

“Mr. Tuhl, what’s that… ‘looking for the hero’ thing you mentioned?
“It’s roughly what those words confer, you know. The humans who have the blood of Mephilad can look for the hero.”

That’s the point, I don’t get how they look for them…

“You say, looking for the hero… By what means?”
“The humans from the Mephilad family… You see, we can see the status of other people. We can look at it and inspect it. From birth, we possess this skill, you know.”

What did he just say? They can see the status of other people?
Then, perhaps, Mr. Ruin already knows my status, too?

No, that can’t be right. Until now, neither Karua nor him ever acted like they’d known it from the start.

I understand it less and less.

While I was thinking that, Tuhl continued to talk.

“However… The only one in this country who can look at the status of other people is me. For some reason, it appears that since a long time ago, only the firstborn of the Mephilad family have this ability.”

I see, is that why Karua, Mr. Ruin, and the king² can’t see my status?

“Because of that, for generations, it was the duty of the sovereign from the Mephilad family to find the hero,” Tuhl continued in a smooth tone. “This was apparently decided by the gods in the past, who bestowed that skill upon us. It allows us to identify the hero right away… However, in the past 299 years, not even one hero has been found. In this country, that is.”

While he said that, he fixed me with a gaze. Then, he bashfully continued.

“In such a situation, you appeared. Even though you aren’t the real hero, Alim, both Father and I got the impression you could win against the demon god. Heh-heh.”

Oh, that’s what they’re hoping for.

Ruin, Orgo, Lilo and Myuri looked at me with concern, having learned I wasn’t the real hero.

“Please wait a moment! She isn’t the hero? If that’s true, Alim shouldn’t take part in the war! Lord Tuhl… isn’t she still a kid?”
“Is that… really alright? She isn’t the true hero…”

Both Myuri and Lilo raised their objections towards Tuhl in an attempt to shield me.

Tuhl, however, replied with a slight smile.

“Is that so? Even though, judging from her status… she’s, in fact, stronger than any SSS-Ranker, you see?”

Mika, Karua and I all nodded.

“R-really?” Orgo turned to me, muttering doubtfully.

Nope, as it is now, all of them will have their concerns if I participate in the war.

They’ll probably all take part, too. If they worry too much, it might hinder them during the battles.

Rather than that, let’s show them my stats.

“Heh-heh, it’s true, you know! Should I… show it to you?” I asked, while holding out the Tozumaho.

It was set to display my status screen.

“What’s this thing?”
“It’s an item that can show you my status screen, you see.”

I responded to Ruin’s question.

When they heard that, the four of them looked at the Tozumaho’s screen.

It’s set so it won’t show my skills.

As they looked at my status screen, they went rigid. Orgo’s jaw dropped so much, it looked like it might fall off.

“You know, I was truly surprised, when I saw Alim’s status for the first time, and then again the day before yesterday³.”
“No, Brother, this goes beyond surprise…”
“A-Alim, how is this even…”

Regardless of Orgo’s jaw-drop, after several minutes, once they’d had an adequate look at my status, they gave me back the Tozumaho. After that, they all tried to state their thoughts about my status at the same time.

“…Alim, it looks like there’s no need for us to worry, is there?” Ruin pondered.
“Hey~… seriously.” Orgo exclaimed. “That time we met, I had no idea Alim was this…”
“I guess it wasn’t our place to interfere…” Myuri lamented.
“Yes,” Lilo agreed with her, “at best, we should try not to get in Alim’s way, right?”

I expected them to be concerned, but their looks were completely different from a few minutes ago. The big worries they had about me no longer seemed to be on their mind. Rather, their faces looked to be of regret about their own incompetence.

That’s not good.

I raised my voice to say a few words.

“…Come on, everyone! Once the war is over, why don’t we go train, too?”
“Huh? Train?”

They all were bewildered by my sudden proposal.

“That’s right! I’ll teach you the method how I got so strong, so you’ll get to the same point!”

I threw out my chest (that still had room to grow) and put my hands to my hip with a triumphant look. Thereupon, they all started to shoot each other glances.

Hm? The mood doesn’t seem great.
It should’ve been a fine proposal, but it changed the mood here for the worse, didn’t it? Was it no good?

If anyone could at least laugh about it…

“Heh… Gah-ha… Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Orgo opened his mouth wide and started laughing.

Oh… good. He was nice enough to laugh. just as planned.
Lucky, I’d probably have been in trouble without him.

“H-hey, Orgo!”
“Eek! Wait, sorry, I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect her to say something like that…”

Orgo was still laughing while holding his stomach.

Good, the mood has changed… but…
Hm… This is getting on my nerves.

I immediately made Orgo tumble over by hitting him behind the knee. There was no reason.

“D’oh!?”⁴ Orgo yelled, as he fell.

He got up right away and asked me, why I made him tumble down.

How does he know it was me?

“Why did you make me fall down?
“…No real reason, you know~.”

With all my power, I turned my expression into an innocent looking smile.
Thanks to that, Orgo quieted down.

“…Still, we should definitely train, right? Promise?” I said, just to be sure.

Look, in games and mangas, they make these kinds of promises before fighting the last boss, too, don’t they?⁵
You know, I was aspiring to that, right?

“Uh-huh! If it’s with you, Alim, I’ll do my best to train!
“I-I’ll give my all, too, you know!”

Maybe my smile did the trick, or they were moved by the word “promise”. Lilo and Myuri were on board.

“Ha-ha, can I go, too?”
“I’m also curious about it.”
“I-I’ll go, too! I’ll become a really strong knight!”

Ruin and Tuhl were up for it, too.⁶　

What about Karua…?
I looked at her.

“M-me, too, Alim?”
“Yep, as long as his Majesty permits it.”
“I want to go!”
“Got it.”

Karua was on board, too.

That leaves Mika.

“What about you, Mika…?”
“…Isn’t it already clear that I’ll go, too?” she mumbled with a dissatisfied look.

Though she outwardly didn’t seem to be very eager, she additionally told me [I’d feel lonely, you know, just being by myself] and [I don’t like being separated from you, Alim] via message.

Adorable.

“Then, everyone, once the war is over, let’s go train!”
“Yeah!”

Great, everyone’s expressions are completely different from how they were at the beginning. Very good.

As if he thought we’d reached a good stopping point in our talk, Tuhl opened the door.

“Ruin, the concerns of you and your friends seem to be no more, so I’ll be going back. Please do your best tomorrow, Alim!” he said and left the room.

Ruin and the three others from Seinforce each said a few words and then left, too.

TL notes:
What the hell, Alim? First that at the end of chapter 145 and now this. What did poor Orgo ever do to you? And Mika just stands there watching her boyfriend bully someone who’s so much weaker, it feels like a professional martial artist beating up a toddler.

1. Well, it was only around 2 weeks since he scanned them. Hardly enough time to properly read 10 million books. Though Mika did read some of them while Alim was on his latest leveling spree…
2. I assume the skill is transferred from parent to firstborn child, otherwise the king should still have it.
3. So Tuhl probably knew about Alim’s real strength since after the tournament. Though you’d expect him to ask Alim how he went from level 160ish to 181 times the max level in the span of a few weeks.
4. The original is so close to Homer’s “D’oh!”, I simply had to use it.
5. That’s more of a death-flag, if you ask me…
6. Normally I’d assume missing Orgo here was a typo, but I’m pretty sure it’s intentional.