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Both this and the next chapter are numbered “152”. They have different names and are not a longer chapter seperated into two.

I closed in on the king.

“Ah, Alim. How are you feeling?”
“Excellent, your Majesty.”
“I see, that’s wonderful.”

The king stood up from his throne and approached me.

“Incidentally, Alim. I think you already heard so from Tuhl, but…”
“Yes, your Majesty, he told me. Since I don’t hold the ‘Brave’ title, shouldn’t it be impossible for me to become the hero?”

Well, from my perspective, it’s nothing more than a trivial problem…¹

“You’re right, I kept quiet about it and made it appear like you’re the hero. You have my apologies.”
“True, but it was unavoidable, since you couldn’t afford to look for the hero in this short span of time, wasn’t it?”
“I am truly sorry.”

The king bowed his head deeply. Even though the minister, knight commander and archbishop were in the vicinity, it didn’t look like they’d stop him.

“Ah, please raise your head, your Majesty!”
“I… Without explaining this to you, I made it look like you were the hero… It’s only natural, that I’d go this far.”
“A-about that…”

The king slowly raised his head.

“Alim, though I was the one who brough this up in the first place, do you truly want to be the hero?”
“…I do, your Majesty.”
“I see… In that case, I think I should tell you my reasons for choosing you as the hero.”
“It was because I, as the person who created it, can draw the Hero’s Sword, wasn’t it?”
“Well, that was certainly the primary reason, but…”

Hm?
Did he say… primary reason? Then, was there a reason apart from that? Something else.

“Alim, in fact, for 300 years, not even a single person holding the ‘Brave’ title has appeared here.”

About that… I wonder why?

The king continued talking.

“If the holder of ‘Brave’ dies, it moves to someone else.² That’s how the title works. However, according to the most important classified literature of the kingdom, in all those 300 years, no new owner has shown up. That’s because if one were to show up, our country would immediately know who they are, right? Only I, as the king, and the historians know about this.”

…Is that true?
Then, if it worked like intended, instead of having to do something unreasonable like finding them within 3 days, they’d have prepared a hero in advance.

The question is, why did no new owner of the title appear… right?

“Then, how is it possible no one holding ‘Brave’ showed up?”
“Well, I don’t understand it either. Besides, normally you also wouldn’t have had to create the Hero’s Sword, would you?”
“Eh?!”

It can’t be, the Hero’s Sword is also…
Did it, too, for some reason fail to appear, like “Brave”?

“What does that mean?”
“Originally, the Hero’s Sword, if it was used to seal the demon god, would, once again, appear from nowhere³ the same moment the hero of that time died.”
“Eh… Is that so?”

The king slowly nodded.

“Considering all this… the previous hero must still be alive.”
“Yes, that’s probably it.”

Still, that was 300 years ago, you know? How could a human live that long?

After all… the previous hero wasn’t of a special race like an Elf, he should’ve been a normal human. That was even written down in the stories.

“How could that be possible?
“I do not know… However, the one thing I can say, is that the demons of today think differently than they did 300 years ago. For instance… in previous conflicts with them, they never abducted anyone. It looks like this was the first time they did so.
“Moreover…” the king continued. “You fought with someone called Mephistophales, Alim… did you not?”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“A demon of that name doesn’t show up in the stories, you see. The ones apart of him you mentioned… Asmodens and Astarohd? Two days ago, the historians confirmed that those two were defeated by the hero in the stories, but…”

Somehow, I get the feeling all these things are connected.

No hero with “Brave” appeared for 300 years, and there’s a new demon, Mephistophales, who can’t be identified in the stories…

In other words, might Mephistophales be the hero from back then…?

“Your Majesty! Could it be… Is Mephistophales…”
“Yes, we’re thinking the same thing. Still, no matter who he is, it doesn’t change the fact he abducted my beloved daughter and used the remains of my wife as a sacrifice.”

When he said that, the king balled his fists tightly in apparent frustration. The minster came close to him and whispered something into his ear.

“Hm? Yes, I see. Alim, the time will be soon. Please go to the large center terrace of the castle. There, raise the Hero’s Sword up high and pull it from its sheath.”
“Of course!” I replied grandly, but…

Wait, I still haven’t asked the king what I wanted to ask.

“Y-your Majesty, there’s one thing I’d like to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s… In here, I met the mayor of one of this country’s villages and several big shots from neighboring countries and friendly nations, you see?”
“That’s right, but…? Is there something wrong with that? Since we’re announcing the first new hero in a long time, it was my duty to inform friendly nations and neighboring countries, wasn’t it?”

No, that’s not what I wanted to ask him.
The question is how these people came here, you know.

After all…

“All these people, how did they arrive here, your Majesty? The ones from neighboring countries in particular. Shouldn’t it take around 2 weeks for them to get here by carriage?!”
“Oh, about that?”

He acted like there wasn’t anything strange about it.

“If the archbishop and I use our skills, it’s quite simple, you see. I’d very much like to tell you, but we don’t have the time for me to explain the skills in detail. Would some other time be fine?”
“…Of course, your Majesty.”
“Then, go to the large center terrace.”

I guess, the king is even more incredible than I thought.

Well, my doubts have been cleared up… Let’s give my undivided attention to the hero proclamation.
With the cute-and-innocent-girl-act dialed up to eleven, right?

TL notes:
Some actual new information. Makes one wonder what happened to create our favorite murder-clown, if he’s really the former hero.

Still, in chapter 146 it said 3 people can have the “Brave” title at the same time and both the king and Tuhl specified that no new hero appeared in their country. So, if there are heroes in other countries, why not work with them and send the hero where they are needed? Especially since the problem existed for 300 years.

1. Until it turns out Samaeyl has a “takes 100% reduced damage from anyone without the ‘Brave’ title” buff.
2. So, it just picks a random person in the kingdom, then? Some meddling from the gods might be involved, since the skill probably wouldn’t know the kingdom’s borders.
3. I checked chapter 144 again and I’m reasonably sure it says the sword came from a dungeon, though I guess it might also say the hero was outfitted with the sword and full legend grade equipment by the kingdom, after he cleared all those dungeons. It’s further possible the sword appears in a random dungeon and the current monarch gets a divine notification, where it is.