Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

68 – The Silver Prince’s Aspirations and Troubles

「Mmm.」

Cashew sat in the chair and swung her legs. Her cheeks looked so happy and her ears cheerfully swayed.

Cashew, Nicola, and I are now in a restaurant that has a calm atmosphere.

It seemed to be a restaurant that Nicola found after she came to this town.

Usually, Adventurers eat in a noisy tavern or the inn’s dining room. This kind of restaurant has the image of where we go to when we have a job with the TV or when we meet with the higher-ups of the Guild and want to treat them to a feast.

If they’re a woman, they’ll know a fashionable cafe, and if they’re a man, they’ll be familiar with the best food stalls. A place with a good atmosphere and food that suit their tastes is important to Adventurers.

It’s not like I’m indifferent to food, but I’m not used to these types of restaurants.

It’s like the calm atmosphere is making me unable to calm down. I wonder if it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

「I’m glad to see that the food is to your liking.」

Nicola smiled tenderly as she watched Cashew eating her meal with relish.

Then, she looked at me.

Now, to explain how this happened-.

◇

Someone called out to us as we were on our way back home from work.

The one who suddenly said that she was my fan, the one who figured out Lemegeton’s identity, the one who asked me the reason as to why I changed my job from an Adventurer to a Monster – the Silver Hero Nicola.

Of course, I could’ve deceived her by asking her「What are you talking about?」.

The reason I didn’t do that was that her eyes were earnest.

And because the expression on her face showed that she was concerned.

As long as it’s not unavoidable, I don’t want to ignore these kinds of people.

I don’t want to say something random and drive her away.

It’s hard to believe that she figured out my identity just by seeing my eyes, but because it seemed like a lie, that’s why I think that it’s true when I combined it with her seriousness.

Seriousness should be responded with seriousness.

「…Someone told me that there’s more than one type of Hero. 」

「There’s more…than one type…」

「Besides, even Monsters can win. 」

When I laughed, Nicola stared in wonder.

I think that it’s also true that she’s my fan.

I used to talk a lot about my aspirations to be a Hero when the party was first created, but gradually, there were fewer and fewer people trying to talk to me, so not a lot of people knew about it.

Some Adventurer or Fenix-lovers know about it, but it’s just a laughingstock for them.

It’s been a long time since the last time I was able to mention my dream with a serious tone.

Well, I’ll just leave Fenix out since he’s an exception.

I yearned to become a Hero that can win ever since I was a child.

That dream came true for a moment through the one-on-one battle with Fenix.

「…I see. Lem is still Lem, after all. I’m glad I wasn’t mistaken.」

Nicola looked relieved.

「Uhm, Nicola?」

「Ah, I’m sorry. Eh, ah, right! C-can you…sign…this…?.」

She took out a handkerchief. It probably belongs to her. And a pen. Popular people sometimes have it for when their fans ask for their signature. It’s the same with the Storm Hero Aerial and the others.

「Eh, you want my signature…?」

Nicola nodded with a red face.

「This handkerchief…looks expensive though.」

「Not at all, it’s okay, really…」

Her voice was so small that it sounded as if it was about to disappear.

This usually happens to the female fans when they stand in front of Fenix.

…She’s really rooting for me.

That’s unexpected.

To think that a Hero is a fan of a Black Sorcerer.

I was a little surprised, but I’m very happy that someone is rooting for me.

「Well then, okay.」

When I handed her the handkerchief I had signed, she took it with both hands.

「Thank you. I’ll take very good care of it…」

She held the handkerchief in front of her chest as if she were hugging it. Her arms contorted the shape of her chest.

「Well then, it’s about time. Ah, just in case, don’t say anything」

「Sure, I won’t talk about this. Since, if you’re hiding it, then that means that you don’t want people to know.」

「Thank you. Let’s go, Cashew.」

Gently grasping her hand in her pocket containing the memo, we head to the inn.

「Ah, um…!」

Somehow, I thought that she was restraining herself.

She has some worries inside her. I won’t ask her directly「What are you worried about?」, but I have a feeling that she wants to talk.

「If you haven’t had dinner yet, would you like to go to a restaurant that I recommend? Of course, it’s my treat.」

Cashew’s stomach growled.

There was no particular reason to refuse.

I was a little bit happy that Furcus wasn’t here.

If she heard that someone is going to treat her, she would eat endlessly.

◇

And that’s what happened.

As for Cashew’s memo, the delicious meal seemed to have made her forget about the mission.

Before the food arrived, I remembered when I heard Cashew and Milla talking for a little bit, Milla said「Please record all the insects…no, females that approach Lem, even if they are animals that are female, okay? It’s all for the sake of protecting Lem. Eh? From what…? An evil that can destroy his body! This is something that only Cashew and I can do.」as she gave Cashew the mission.

Cashew said with a serious look on her face,「I don’t want Lem to be destroyed, so…」.

Cute.

But Milla…

Well, I’m not going to complain about this because it’s something that I’ve accepted.

「So…」

I softly urged her to talk about the main problem.

While Cashew is happy with her dessert cake, I had eye contact with Nicola.

So far, I have explained what had happened since I left the group, including my relationship with Cashew.

She told me how much of a fan she is.

She said that she liked the way I didn’t bend and continued to stick to my style.

When she found out that I was Lemegeton, she also knew that the incident during the defense of the tenth Stratum was caused by me.

She asked me about my one-on-one battle with Fenix, but I had to answer ambiguously for this question.

I got her to be convinced by explaining that even when I was still an Adventurer, I didn’t want anyone to know that the level of my Black Magic is close to Black Sorcery.

The only thing left is her worries.

「Ah, I…was it so obvious from my face?」

When she’s talking to Cashew, she’s in prince mode, but when she’s talking to me, even though her tone is neutral, there is a hint of femininity in it.

I guess the difference is that Cashew is a customer who enjoyed the show, while I’m the Adventurer she admires.

「What do you think of me, Lem? I mean, rather, the other me. I’m talking about the Silver Prince.」

「I think that you are a popular and competent Hero.」

「Really?」

「…I’m not going to lie to you.」

She flusteredly waved her hands and spoke anxiously.

「No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call Lem a liar. It’s not like that…uh. For example…right. Lem, if Black Sorcerer was a popular Job and Black Sorcery was a power as well-received as Spirit Magic, wouldn’t you have used it?」

「That…might be true. No, I think I’ll definitely use it.」

「Right. But because the world wouldn’t accept you just how you are, you had to change your ways. I didn’t know about that until today, but Lem, you kept on trying to achieve what you wanted to become.」

Both my Black Sorcery and horn couldn’t be exposed, but I hadn’t given up on becoming a Hero that could lead my allies to victory. I figured that if I could quickly get within the top three ranks, everyone would acknowledge me.

「You haven’t been doing this in order to achieve what you want to become?」

She nodded seriously.

「Yes. The Hero…that I want to be is-」

「I thought that the situation was strange, so I went looking for you, what are you doing, Nico? 」

I remember this man who appeared to interrupt Nicola’s words.

He is the Diamond Hero Philip.