Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

38 – Laughing With a Friend 2

Overall popularity was an important factor when it came to ranking.

But think about it.

Who in the world would support a Hero that would treasure their useless Black Sorcerer best friend to the point of kicking out their other three party members?

Adventurers exist for the sake of the viewers.

No matter how strong one’s friendship might be, choosing to prioritize that over work will inevitably cause ratings to plummet.

Not to mention that the only flaw Fenix had at the time was the fact that he had kept me in his party.

What’s worse, anyone that joined the party afterward wouldn’t be able to say anything bad about me.

Because they’d get kicked out if they did.

That wouldn’t be a healthy party, and if their popularity dropped, then reaching the top 3 would have become impossible.

「I know. But in that case…are you trying to say that that dream of ours was impossible from the very start?」

Yeah, it makes sense how he’d think that.

But right now I’m waiting for his answer.

「Why did you want to reach the top with me, Fenix?」

「…What do you mean why?」

「You said we’d be able to reach the top together, but being able to reach the top is different from wanting to reach the top.」

「…You’re a hero, that’s why. I felt that everyone else would understand that as well once you became ranked 1st in the world.」

There’s no doubt that right now, he himself strongly desired to reach the top.

But what started it all was me. That was clear after recalling our conversation at the time.

「Then there shouldn’t be any problem.」

Fenix made a dubious look.

「What do you mean?」

「I still plan on becoming a hero. That hasn’t changed.」

「But you declined Aerial’s offer, didn’t you?」

「I told this to him as well, but basically I don’t want to just get carried to the top.」

「Did you find a new party?」

「Hmm, not exactly.」

「Lem, tell me in a way that I can understand.」

「Someday.」

「…Are you trying to tell me that you’ll become a hero on your own, so I don’t have to worry?」

「I’ve found comrades.」

Those people knew my power. They’ve agreed to fight alongside me.

「I see…」

「That’s why we’ll be competing from now on, Fenix.」

「Huh?」

「You said that you’d prefer if I was your comrade rather than your rival, but remember what I said before? If you slack off enough, I might even surpass you.」

I wanted to reach the top together with him. We weren’t able to make that dream come true, but it’s not like the dream is completely dead even after things have changed.

「Y-Yeah, I remember.」

Fenix nodded.

「Let’s see which of us is the better hero. I’m not going to hold back just because you’re my friend.」

Fenix made a surprised face as I teased him, but he soon made a smile.

「…I’ll be waiting for you at the top, as well.」

His smile was bright and cheerful.

「Hmm? It sounded to me like you had a lot to complain about, though.」

「Well, yes, considering that not only did you leave us without consulting me about it, you even cut off contact from me. Of course I’d feel a little hurt.」

「C’mon, I already apologized about that, didn’t I?」

「On top of that, you were having fun in a pub with your new friends and lover…」

「Stop sulking already.」

I pushed one of the dishes towards him as to urge him to eat.

「…It’s pretty good.」

「Right? And it’s cheap, too.」

「I suppose I’ll stop by here every once in a while.」

「You better not, Mr. Popular. If people find out you like this place, it’d get crowded as heck.」

It’d be nice for this place’s business, though.

We then just talked about trivial things.

「So then I sliced off that damn werewolf’s claws and went after his neck just like that!」

A group of noisy people entered the restaurant with one of them bragging loudly.

The rest of them started cheering after hearing that.

「…I suppose they’re Adventurers.」

「Maybe, I don’t recognize them. They’re at least not within the top 100.」

I was pretty familiar with anyone within the top 100 and prospective newbies.

I also felt that as long as they didn’t commit crimes or cause any trouble, Adventurers should be free to do whatever they wanted during their off time.

Being noisy might fall under the category of「causing trouble」, but we were in a pub, after all.

But from what I could hear, it sounded like that man was really discriminating against Demi-Humans.

「Man…some people really get too into the established setting, huh?」

As in, people would legitimately think they’re heroes defeating the evil monsters that lurk in dungeons.

Of course, they still had a grasp on what was reality and what was fantasy, but there were still a good amount of people that had their Dungeon experiences influence their opinions in reality.

「He’s going too far, even if he might be drunk.」

Fenix made a grimace as well.

「Those shitty demons should be grateful for the current times we live in! Otherwise, we’d be slaughtering each and every one of them! Gahaha!」

Those people orbiting around him would nod and applaud at every remark he made as well.

It’s been a long time since the world fell into peace, but no matter how much time passes, discrimination will always exist.

There are those that have gotten along with Demi-Humans, but there are also those that continue to ridicule those that are mixed with beasts.

「…Let’s go, Fenix. They’re making me sick.」

「Yeah, we’ve already talked about everything that needed to be talked about.」

We paid for our food and began to leave.

But that’s when it happened.

「What the heck, you’re a Demi-Human? Hot damn…you’ve got a pretty nice body for someone mixed with a beast. Hmm, how ‘bout you come to my place so I could exterminate you?」

The man had grabbed onto a dog Demi-Human waitress while leering at her vulgarly.

Everyone around him seemed to cheer him on.

「Ugh…and I have work tomorrow, too.」

「Don’t worry, Lem. You won’t get tired out if the two of us work together.」

「I’m already having a hard time making sure no one here notices you, you know?」

「I know you’ve trained enough for that to not be a problem.」

「…Yeah, yeah. This’ll be easy. So easy.」

We talked as we approached the men.

「Um, I don’t think that girl appreciates what you’re doing.」

「Also, your discriminatory remarks are inexcusable.」