Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

75 – To the Busy, Heartless Diamond Hero, a Black Sorcerer is… 1

「Brother…」

「Where the hell were you? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!」

Philip approaches us.

Now that I look at him, his hair is longer than his Avatar version.

「I’m sorry for making you worry. I just needed some time to think a little…」

「…Another man? What’s with you? You want a boyfriend that badly? Look, if you really want to, I’ll help you hide it from the public, so stop meeting in random places without telling me. Who is this guy anyway and this…female…vampire…」

「Ah, uhm.」

「Oh, my darling and I were just out on a lovely moonlit stroll when we found her crying on the street, so we called out to her. We couldn’t just leave her be, so we stayed with her until she calmed down, and then we walked her to her inn. Isn’t that right, darling?」

Milla suddenly activates her previously seen Lover Mode.

Even in situations like this, she’s amazing.

However…

「Is that so? A thousand pardons for all the trouble my dear little sister may have caused.」

He said, smiling while approaching.

「-is that what you thought I’d say?」

He extends a hand towards me.

I knew it was coming, but it was fast.

As expected of a Hero. A Black Sorcerer is no match for his speed.

In addition to predicting the attack, I cast Speed Down on him at the very last moment and thanks to Furcus’ training, I barely made it.

I was able to catch his outstretched hand.

Getting used to Furcus’ swift strikes coupled with the fact that Phillip wasn’t actually aiming to attack me, but rather just grab me by the collar, made it possible for me to somehow succeed in catching his hand.

「What the-?」

He had a surprised look on his face. I let go of his hand, smiling.

「Brother?!」

「…Honestly, I’m shocked. Contrary to what people think, you’ve always been an excellent Black Sorcerer, haven’t you, Sir Lem?」

I expected as much.

He may not be a normal family man who cares for his sister, but he is certainly concerned about her. There was no way that he would not investigate the mysterious man who had been with his sister.

For example, a pedestrian will just pass me by without recognizing me. No problems. You can’t remember someone you can’t recognize.

But in his case, even if he didn’t recognize me at the time, he recognized me later.

He probably wanted to know and investigate the man who was with his sister.

If that was the case, he would have noticed the uncomfortable feeling caused by Confusion.

My Confusion spell obstructs people’s ability to recognize me, which then creates an uncomfortable feeling.

If something in the future causes one to try to recall me, they will arrive at a memory of a man whose features they can’t remember, and they will realize that this was caused by magic.

However, no ordinary Black Sorcerer can do this, so it is very difficult to predict who did it.

Philip was probably not aware of this either.

Since he thought it had something to do with recognition-influencing magic, it was only natural that he would try to Magic Resist it the next time he saw his sister with that man.

「…Hey there.」

From the next moment that he noticed Nicola, he knew that I was Lem.

But it wasn’t because he resisted my magic.

「Are you going to display your amazing Black Magic today?」

「There’s no need for that.」

That’s right, I didn’t cast magic.

「What?」

I was going to call it a day, but I guess that’s the way it goes.

I gently pat Nicola on the back.

She nodded.

「Br-brother.」

「In a minute. I have a question for Sir Lem. Last time and this time, just what are you doing with Demi-Humans? Could it be that you’re earning extra cash by revealing Adventurer information to them?」

…Oof, technically, he isn’t wrong.

I am getting paid a salary and I am showing them methods to repel Adventurers using my own analysis.

There’s no way I could tell him that I’m actually the Demon King Castle’s Chief of Staff, so I just stand there, smiling wryly.

「Actually no, I don’t care. What I really want to ask is, what do you want with my sister? How do you know each other? Certainly, my sister has a ridiculous fascination with you, could it be that you plan on using that to leech off us like the parasite that you are? If so, then give it up. I will never allow the luster of the Silver Prince to be sullied by your Black Magic.」

He remolded his sister and himself from an unpopular party to a party that grew rapidly and has broken the top 100 in the rankings in a matter of two years.

In contrast to that, I appear to be incompetent. My abilities were recently recognized by my former party members but to the world at large, I am the parasitic Black Mage who leeched off Fenix.

Anyone would feel uneasy and uncomfortable if someone like that approached your little sister, which explains his rudeness.

In the past, I would have been depressed by such comments, but recently, negative comments don’t hurt as much as they used to.

I wonder if it’s because I’ve found a place and allies that approve of me.

「Phil!」

He didn’t flinch one bit at his sister’s aggravated shout.

To my side, Milla mutters「…I’ll kill’em.」under her breath to which I calmed her down.

「And another thing. First, you clung to your best friend, now you cling to women? No matter what is said, you always sit there, silently, and someone defends you. This has nothing to do with the existence of your ability, Sir Lem. Your very existence is a shackle on the party. Do you know how many people said unfavorable things about Fenix every time he defended you?」

It was the truth.

Fenix knows about my power.

But the world at large only knows that Fenix and I are best friends.

A Hero who defends his incompetent best friend.

Of course, there are many fans who find that admirable of him.

In everyday life, not abandoning your friend could be seen as a virtuous act, but this is business.

Voices that criticized him for giving limited slots to an unpopular and useless friend grew more and more.

「I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let my sister publicly announce that she’s a fan of yours. I don’t know what kind of use you see in my sister, but I’m putting a stop to it all.」

As an older brother and as a party member, he will chase away any and all worms who might approach his sister.

His way of speaking is crude, but I don’t think his opinions are wrong.

「Are you sure you don’t want to listen to what your sister wanted to say?」

「I want you to swear that you will never come close to my sister from now on.」

「I think that will be rather difficult.」

「What? I knew it! You are planning to use her-」

「Philip!」

「Shut up Nico! I will not allow this pest to infest us just as our luck is finally turning. Listen, Nico! Open your eyes, Nicola! I don’t care what part of this man has charmed you, but as an Adventurer, he is defective! How do Black Sorcerers gain popularity? They can’t. It’s impossible. Despite climbing to the 4th rank, there is almost no one who loves him. How many people in the world do you think praises him as you do? Huh? Ten? Eight? If that’s the case, he is worthless as merchandise.」

His words are very severe, but I don’t think they come from pure hatred.

It seems to come from an obsession over the commercial value of everything.

「I-I’m entering the Tag Tournament with Lem!」

Said Nicola, forcing Philip to pay attention to her.

But it only had an effect for a moment, as he then turned his attention back to me.

「…Huh? Whuh-what are you…you bastard, so that’s it! You’re just a piece of shit that wants to use my sister to gather attention for yourself. You’re despicable. Abandoned by your best friend, so now you’re clinging to your fans, huh? Couldn’t make it again on your own, huh? Is that hero you dream of becoming some kind of parasitic lifeform or something?」

There’s a difference between those who strive for the top together and the incompetent who cling to the strong.

He appears to think I’m the latter.

I’m not even trying to be a part of Nicola’s party in the first place, but I’m not sure if I can convince him of that…

「You’re wrong! I’m the one who asked him! I-」

「Enough, just stop. You’re being tricked! If only you’d realize that.」

Well…I suppose with the information that Philip can get on his side, it wouldn’t be strange to think that.

「I think there’s a misunderstanding here.」

I try saying.

「As if! Geez, Sir Fenix was hopeless too. If he wanted to get rid of the trash, I wish he did it when he was still a kid. Some of us can handle it depending on how you do it, and some of us can’t. No wait, even the whole best friend-angle is suspicious. Hey Sir Lem, do you have some kinda dirt on him? Like his weakness? It makes more sense to me that that’s how you got him to accept you into the party.」

「No matter what weakness I might have had over him, he wouldn’t allow someone who couldn’t win into the party. He’s a Hero that always wins, after all.」

「All things considered, he lost at the Demon King Castle, though.」

「If so, then he’ll win the next time. No one said that you could only challenge something once.」

「Hmph. So? Is your next challenge to leech off my sister? I wish Sir Fenix at least broke that foolish ambition of yours when he kicked you out of the party. But I guess that’s impossible. He may have been fortunate enough to be chosen by the Spirit, but as a professional, he’s second-rate.」

「Excuse me?」