Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

134 – To Force Out the Strongest, Perhaps it was Love

I can’t remember when.

But ever since I was aware of my surroundings, I was already mesmerized by Clear videos.

The coolest of them all being the Hero.

And among the Heroes, at the peak, stood my father.

No matter how big the enemy was, no matter how strong they were, he never gave up. He never stopped. He kept fighting, and fighting, and fighting, and the last one standing was always my dad and his friends.

So co~ol.

My father and his allies were strong and cool.

According to my mom, they were even the world’s 1st-ranked at one point.

I wasn’t proud of my childish thoughts. My father is the strongest Hero in the world.

You can be proud of a father who was a little strong, so with how strong my father was, I couldn’t be prouder.

It was great at first.

But then, little by little, things that distorted it began to appear.

For example, my friends. I’m not sure when, but they would hear things from their parents and more of them would start bad-mouthing my dad.

Stuff like「He was only 1st-ranked for a year.」or「He’s just a coward who was frustrated and quit when younger people overtook him.」or even「To get to the 1st rank with no Spirit Magic, he must’ve cheated or something.」

I was often subjected to heartless words.

Like how my pride in my father is annoying…and so on.

I couldn’t forgive them.

I don’t care if I lose an argument. Whatever. If I was wrong and the other person was right, then I will apologize. That’s how I was taught.

But, that. Having the things you love being disgraced by heartless words made me very sad.

I asked my father.

I asked the father I am proud of, who quit being an Adventurer, took in a few disciples, and lived as a family man…

Why did you quit?

Why didn’t you try to be 1st rank again?

You’re the Unyielding Hero, right? No matter how strong the Storm Hero was, you’d be able to get to 1st rank again if you never gave up.

My father said.

『I got a job that’s much more important than being a Hero.』

And pat me on the head.

That job he’s talking about is being a father. Even a child knew that.

But so what?

Just because I was born into this world, the strongest Hero retired from the front lines.

The posted videos were filled with shitty comments, countless baseless slander was forever carved into the message boards, and even the neighborhood kids make fun of him.

Even without Spirit Magic, youth, a flashy appearance nor flashy skills.

My father was strong.

Why doesn’t everyone acknowledge that? Why is that not enough?

The hero is the one who wins, right?

My father accomplished his role splendidly, stood at the very top, and even now, there are many who rely on him and visit our house.

But only a mere portion of people understand.

A vast majority of regular people don’t even remember my father, and even if they do, they look down on him.

To them, there are too many things that they value more than strength.

Oh, I see. So that’s how it is. I get it.

If it weren’t for me, my father would have aimed to become 1st rank again. He surely would have achieved it.

The thing that got in his way…was me.

I am the one who should be hated.

But even if they were to repent, you can’t rewind time.

I thought with all my young mind could muster「What should I do?」. And then at some point, it hit me.

I’ll just prove it to them.

Prove that it’s OK to just be strong. The job of the Hero party is to achieve victory in the end, alongside allies.

I’ll gather strong, reliable allies.

It doesn’t matter what people think about them.

My Destroyer childhood friend, who expressed her intention to fight alongside me.

The Black Sorcerer who didn’t succumb to his public reputation was kicked out of his party yet is still striving for more victories.

I will gather allies and continue to Clear Dungeons.

I don’t need the Spirit. I don’t care about appearance. I don’t care about Jobs. I ignore all trends.

All that matters…is winning.

When that old man named Fellow came to talk to me, I thought that this was my chance.

Now, I am attending the Clear alongside the parties currently sitting at the top.

There is no better chance to prove my strength.

My mom was worried, but she didn’t stop me. Dad had a complicated look on his face.

Both of them don’t know my goal.

「I guess that’s a no, huh Lem?」

In front of me is the ally candidate Black Sorcerer, Lem.

Via Aerial, he managed to make time to see me.

I’m wearing a cap that covers my eyes, and Lem is wearing a hood that covers most of his face.

We were sitting face-to-face in a small cafe.

The place was less than half full, but I didn’t mind the quiet atmosphere.

「I already have a job, so…」

「Right, you did say that. I was curious, so I checked and, sure enough, you haven’t joined any parties.」

After being rejected by him, I looked into him by myself…or so I say, but I actually just asked Mr. Fellow.

「I wonder if you’re just at the stage where you’re deciding whether to join the party or not. I won’t tell anyone, so just tell me which party you’re joining.」

Lem said nothing with a sorry expression on his face.

A certain suspicion occurred to me.

「No way, are you…expecting a child?」

Lem spits out the black tea he had in his mouth.

「Ch-child…? No, not at all. What would make you…」

Looking at him, looks like he isn’t lying.

「Nothing, really…I just thought you were disappearing for the same reason as a certain Hero.」

He said he dreams to be a hero. I don’t wish to see him give up his dream for such a reason.

At my comment, his expression turned serious.

「About that, Wraith.」

「What is it, Lem?」

「Do you happen to know…about the Unyielding Hero?」

「Ah, so you noticed. Yeah, he’s my father.」

On the surface, I look flippant, but on the inside, I’m preparing myself.

I don’t believe he is the kind of person who would speak ill of my father, who achieved 1st rank through great efforts, but I couldn’t help but be vigilant.

「I see. So you really are… You know, I’m a big fan of his. So big in fact that if I had never watched his videos, I probably never would have aimed to become a hero.」

「Is that so? Thank you for saying that.」

I felt sorry.

If it weren’t for me, he would have been able to see many more of my father’s Clear videos.

Lem hesitated in saying the next few words.

「Is it possible that you…are fighting in order to prove that your father’s way of doing things was not…wrong?」