Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 36

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 36

‘But I can’t even touch her!’

The ring hanging around that little brat’s neck was definitely a ring Aphene knew well.

At first, he wondered why he felt that annoying divine power from what looked like a stupid maid.

It was such strong repulsion that just brief contact turned his hand red.

‘Could she be a High Priest?’

Maybe she was that High Priest—Meriel or Marian or whatever—who was selected as a candidate for the next Elderly High Priest.

However, Aphene’s eyes widened when he saw the Sacred Relic hanging around her neck.

Wasn’t this the Sacred Relic that resembled the first Saint in being picky about choosing new owners, just like its original master?

‘That Saint bastard keeps bothering me even after death.’

It was definitely the ring that the first Saint, Aria, had possessed.

That High Priest brat she kept around like gum stuck to her shoe… ah, it was one of a pair of rings shared between the first Hero and her.

In the end, as long as that solid Sacred Relic was protecting the Hero’s hostage, he couldn’t carelessly lay a hand on her.

Eventually, Aphene switched to the alternative plan of persuasion.

‘Seduction it is.’

Aphene was confident in his face.

Sharp jawline, and though his hair was dull from not recovering his strength, it was still! glossy black hair. Objectively speaking, he knew his face was quite effective.

Surely the reason that socially inept Hero could seduce her was because of his pretty face.

Without a shred of doubt, Aphene entered phase 2 of his plan.

“Don’t you think I’m handsome?”

“Ah, yes.”

“…”

And then he met eyes that looked at him like he was less than an insect.

Iberis had been wondering what he would say when he approached her, but now she felt like washing out her ears.

‘If we’re talking about handsome, the Hero is much more handsome.’

Sorry, but Aphene was absolutely not her type.

His habit of rambling incoherently like he was mentally unstable, and his sky-high confidence despite all that—it was completely outside her taste.

His face was decent enough, so if judging by looks alone it might be okay, but Aphene’s appearance as he fidgeted with his short hair while constantly showing signs of anxiety was not appealing to her at all.

Moreover, his hazy gray eyes couldn’t even compare to Adam’s clear golden eyes.

“Ahem, hmm! Right. Looks aren’t important!”

“Yes.”

Aphene was hurt again by the lightning-fast response.

‘A lowly human dares!’

A mere human who would die with one touch of his hand once he regained his power, how dare she.

But the current Aphene couldn’t even manage one touch—it was questionable whether he could beat this tiny human even with all his strength.

So Aphene forced his lips into a smile.

“But Hero’s maid, wouldn’t you like to have a conversation with me?”

“Yes.”

Another quick answer came back. Did that damn Hero only teach his maid to say ‘Yes’ and ‘No’?

Aphene swallowed his bubbling anger.

“Still, you should talk with me, right?”

“Why?”

Unable to listen anymore, Iberis finally responded.

Not missing the opportunity, Aphene immediately shouted.

“Because I’m the Hero’s friend!”

“Ah, yes…”

At that moment, Iberis’s face crumpled even more.

Why, why?!

The more Aphene spoke, the more indifferent the small human’s expression became.

Those eyes looked like… they were looking at a peddler.

And that was exactly right.

Iberis inwardly scoffed at the peddler’s attitude of getting to the point as soon as she briefly pretended to go along with his words.

‘Friend, how ridiculous.’

Our Adam has no friends!

No companions either.

In this life, she hadn’t even made companions for him. Just looking at his reaction with Meriel when they went to the Temple last time, making friends was hopeless.

Impersonating such a Hero’s friend? What nonsense.

However, the Hero’s friend impersonator stubbornly continued.

“Anyway, as the Hero’s friend, I want to give you some good information… He likes traveling!”

“No. Not at all.”

Iberis flatly denied it, her eyes now even more like those looking at a peddler.

“Well. How wonderful would a Hero’s life be, traveling around the entire continent and showing kindness to poor humans!”

“The Hero is…”

Iberis chose her words carefully.

The reason she could say even this much to a man who didn’t know the first thing about the Hero was because he seemed like someone who really knew nothing about the Hero.

“He just wants to live a normal life.”

That was always all he wished for.

[Your Hero answers with a smile.]

[Your Hero says he just wants to live and die normally in an ordinary village.]

She had asked what he would do after killing the Demon King, when the world no longer needed a Hero.

When was it, in an early playthrough…

Probably the fifth? She used to ask various questions to keep the Hero, who kept dying suddenly, alive as long as possible.

She didn’t ask after that, but…

“Anyway, what’s certain is that unlike what you know as a Hero’s friend impersonator, the Hero is tender-hearted and kind. He doesn’t help others to feel superior.”

He doesn’t do things to fill his self-esteem by helping inferior people, but because it’s what he must do.

Because if not him, there’s no one else who would properly do it, crushed by responsibility.

Thinking of Adam made her heart sink.

However, Aphene didn’t leave Iberis alone to quietly fall into contemplation.

‘Why does she keep poking me with a twig.’

It wasn’t even touching with hands, but poking gently with a thin twig so it didn’t hurt, making it awkward to get annoyed.

If she got annoyed for no reason and drove away the stranger from the village, it would be like driving away a regular customer. Iberis, who received many things from her, ultimately chose to endure it.

“Since the Hero stuck in the Demon King’s Castle is pitiful, how about you take him to some fun places in the Capital?”

“We went out last week though?”

They went to play at the Temple and stayed for several days, so what exactly did this person know?

It was too much to expect from an impersonator.

“What!!”

Aphene almost grabbed the back of his neck from his blood pressure spiking instantly.

Last week was when he got into a fight with a drunkard and spent several days groaning in pain.

‘To waste such a precious opportunity!’

The moment he regained his power, he’d have to kill that drunkard first.

Aphene gritted his teeth.

No matter how angry he was and wanted to burn down this entire village, he had to endure it.

Because he had to grab onto the Hero’s lifeline right in front of him. First, getting into the Demon King’s Castle while avoiding his eyes was the urgent priority. Though his faithful servants weren’t contacting him about their whereabouts, they would be faintly sensing that he was alive.

Though it was weak since he hadn’t regained all his power.

Aphene immediately relaxed his facial expression and said.

“Then how about I introduce something really, really good to the Hero?”

“Ah, so you’re not a strange person but a peddler!”

“Yes! That’s right!”

Just when Aphene thought ‘got it’ seeing Iberis smile back brightly.

“I’m not buying.”

Iberis, with a stern expression, flatly refused.

“….”

Where does some peddler think they can come and sell their wares.

Our Hero was naive about the ways of the world, so if he encountered a peddler, he’d obviously end up giving away everything he had.

‘I’ll protect our Adam!’

And this peddler, upon seeing her, immediately figured out her connection to the Hero and was boldly demanding to be introduced.

Whatever it was, something fishy was going on.

Having humored him this much should be enough duty done. Iberis confirmed the unremarkable appearance of the insignificant peddler and stood up from her seat.

He had boldly claimed to be the Hero’s friend in front of the Hero’s maid, so she thought he might know something, but it was all lies.

With a relieved expression, Iberis rose from her seat.

Then Aphene muttered in a small voice.

“The Hero must be looking for something, right? There probably isn’t much time left….”

Iberis stopped in her tracks.

The other words were just nonsensical rambling like grasping at clouds.

However, there was one thing she couldn’t carelessly dismiss.

The Library of the Demon King’s Castle, information he wanted to know even with the High Priest’s help.

How does a peddler know that he’s looking for information about the Demon King?

“How do you know that?”

“Well, as I said earlier, I’m the Hero’s friend, you see.”

“….”

“So won’t you take me to the Hero?”

Aphene smiled persistently.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————