I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 42

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Chosen One Paved a Flowery Path and Became a Hero — Episode 42
Ben led Alex deeper into the tavern.
Upon entering an unfamiliar space, Alex naturally activated Mana Detection. In an instant, all the mana in the tavern and its surroundings flooded her senses.
She felt one thread of mana from the counter move through a different door and disappear elsewhere.
[That looks like it’s heading to the guild master’s office.]
Unlike Ben, who led her through one of several doors into a narrow, winding passage, that other mana—that guild member—traveled an almost perfectly straight path.
The destination was underground.
Mana Detection could sense living creatures even beneath the earth, so Alex tracked the movements of the guild members with ease.
While following Ben through the winding halls, Alex kept her focus on that distant presence. The guild member reached their destination quickly.
[Oh. There’s the strongest Aura here!]
Just as Ibeck had said.
The presence of a powerful Aura washed over her.
[Is that the guild master’s Aura?]
[If I’m reading this right, they’re around early 3rd Circle.]
[We could still win if we play it right!]
Why was she already thinking about fighting?
Through that powerful Aura, she felt Dain bolt upright from his chair the moment he heard the guild member’s words.
He’d clearly been startled by the mention of Dasha Village.
The guild member left shortly after, and Dain remained standing, lost in thought.
Then she felt him stride toward the door, but stop himself and step back, composing his expression.
Yet he couldn’t bear the anxiety—she sensed him pacing restlessly around the room.
Meanwhile.
Ben opened a door, and stairs leading underground appeared.
And along each passage, she detected the mana of Information Guild members hidden in the shadows, watching their approach.
[One wrong move and this place turns into a hornet’s nest.]
A moment later.
They arrived at a wooden door.
Knock-knock.
Ben knocked, then opened the door, and Alex stepped inside.
A young man with brown hair and orange eyes sat waiting within.
Without the black eyepatch, both eyes perfectly intact, ten years younger yet still instantly recognizable—
it was Dain.
Upon seeing him, Alex’s mind turned to the ‘future.’

* * *
‘The future.’
The truth that Dain was the guild master of the Information Guild had been revealed.
Though not by his own doing.
“You lot broke into my house yesterday, didn’t you?”
“…Haha!”
“Hehe!”
‘Ahem!’
At Dain’s pointed question, Leo and his friends laughed awkwardly, while even the Shadow Troops Alex rolled her eyes and looked away—though no one could see it.
“It’s just that you seem to know so much, sir. Too much to be ordinary.”
“You leave the village often.”
“We realized you weren’t just some regular person!”
So Leo and his friends decided to sneak into Dain’s house.
While his friends drew Dain’s attention, Leo and his aspiring knight friend Fin executed an Infiltration—silent, unseen.
As for why they hadn’t simply broken in when Dain was away, it was because his home’s defenses grew exponentially stronger in his absence.
“It was all very suspicious!”
Leo and Fin, having successfully infiltrated, discovered his basement.
A place that seemed to hold all the continent’s information in its depths.
‘I know I shouldn’t have snuck in like this… but you’re the one who taught me how!’
Dain had taught Leo and his friends Deception Technique, Thievery Technique, Coercion Technique, and the art of silent Infiltration—what he called ‘survival skills.’
‘You dug your own grave!’
The Shadow Troops Alex still thought it questionable whether those skills needed to be taught at all.
“You all did well.”
Dain smiled with satisfaction, watching Leo and the children execute his teachings flawlessly, gathering information and evading every trap.
“You dodged the traps cleanly and synthesized the intelligence perfectly. At this rate, you’d be ready to join our guild.”
‘Join the guild?!’
Unfortunately, the cry of the phantom Alex went unheard.
“Really?”
Dain led the children, who beamed at the praise, down into his cellar.
“Though I did leave some traces.”
Dain tapped a finger against the wall.
“Look here. And here too.”
His playful voice continued.
“I told you before. Being careful on the way in matters, but you’ve got to think about the way out too. You’ll need much more practice.”
Leo and his friends, who had been listening intently, suddenly looked at Dain with surprise dawning on their faces.
“You mean you did that on purpose?”
Dain grinned, having deliberately left gaps for the children to find their way in.
“Learning through experience is the fastest way.”
“No wonder! I thought none of the information was actually important!”
“Unbelievable!”
Laughing at the children’s amazement, Dain gave them a tour of the cellar.
After that day.
Leo and his friends began learning more from Dain.
Those lessons continued until Leo set out on his adventure.
The phantom Alex visited Dain’s cellar as always, and in doing so came to know Dain’s past.
Eleven years and more before the phantom Alex had died.
Before Leo was even born.
Dain had lived in some territory in the eastern part of the Mühiti Kingdom.
It wasn’t a prosperous place, so all the villagers were poor, and Dain’s household—with only himself and his younger sister—was especially so.
With nothing but an agile body to his name, Dain left Dasha Village for the city to earn money.
And not long after.
When he returned to his hometown.
There was nothing left.
No one remained.
Not the neighbor woman, not the village elder, not the hunter.
And not his younger sister.
Only bloodstains on the ground and houses charred by fire testified that a village had ever existed here.
Standing in a daze, Dain searched the entire village thoroughly. But truly, no one remained anywhere.
The only thing he found was a Cloth Fragment with Pattern, half burned.
After that, Dain joined the Information Guild to find the owner of that pattern. Knowing it would be difficult as a mere foot soldier, he worked hard and rose to become the branch director in Brodell.
“I didn’t know I had talent for this sort of thing.”
-That’s why I became your subordinate. If not for that….
Through the communication channel.
At the heavy silence of Vice-director Ben, weighted with unspoken meaning, Dain burst into laughter.
“Right. I wouldn’t have made it this far without Ben.”
Even after becoming branch director, nothing had changed.
He continued climbing higher within the Information Guild while searching for the Cloth Fragment with Pattern, his only piece of evidence.
He eventually became the head of Crow, the Information Guild’s branch, and expanded his domain of control to the southern continent, yet still could not find it.
The world had fallen into chaos.
The few people he managed to find were dead, and the leads had burned away.
After being attacked, Crow relocated its headquarters to Kaldis Territory, and Dain, bearing deep wounds, came to Belo Village to recuperate.
Even in that chaos, persistently tracking the pattern’s owner, Dain finally found a clue.
The Barton Countess House.
A noble family in the eastern region of the Mühiti Kingdom, located not far from Dasha Village.
“I’ve always wondered why our village, of all places, but it turned out to be nothing special. Would it have been different if there had been some precious treasure or artifact?”
Dain leaned back in his chair as he spoke to Ben, exhaustion evident in his voice. The phantom Alex watched quietly.
They had simply needed people no one would look for. Subjects for their experiments.
So they needed the people of Dasha Village, a place the lord paid no attention to.
The Cloth Fragment with Pattern was used by Shadow Troops raised in secret, which is why it had been so difficult to uncover until now.
“But I don’t think the Barton Countess House would have raised these Shadow Troops themselves. They don’t have that capability. There must be a real mastermind somewhere else.”
-Should we investigate further?
“…No.”
Dain, with no inheritance, not even a memento to cherish, gazed at the map marking the region where Dasha Village had been, his face etched with sorrow.
“There are more important matters now.”
Saving the continent mattered more than his own vendetta.
And he had a disciple setting out on his adventure whom he needed to help.
The day sixteen-year-old Leo set out on his adventure alone.
Dain, who had come to see him off, spoke.
“Leo, if you ever have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ll look into anything for you.”
Even Alex, who had disliked him, found herself reassured by Dain’s steady, trustworthy words.
“Yes, thank you. Dain.”
Leo felt the same way.
Dain ruffled the hair of the beaming boy.
“When you get back, let’s play Card Game. You’re due for a win.”
“That’s only because you cheat!”
‘That’s right! I saw you switching cards the whole time!’
Leo bounced indignantly, having never won a single game, and Dain burst into genuine laughter.
After that.
Wherever there was a way to send word, news from Belo Village and Dain’s letters always arrived. He would gather useful information and send it along.
“Just like Teacher Dain!”
“Right? Amazing, the Information Guild Director!”
Leo and his companions avoided danger countless times thanks to that information and traveled safely.
And at last, he awakened as a Hero.
“I knew he’d accomplish great things, but a Hero…”
“It’s all thanks to my teachers.”
“Right? Thanks to me? The things I taught you were the most useful, weren’t they?”
Dain laughed playfully and ruffled his student’s hair—Leo, whom he hadn’t seen in so long.
Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to feel pure joy at his student’s fate, now burdened with the weight of the continent, though he didn’t let it show.
Besides, this reunion itself had come about only because they had gathered to stop the Demons’ invasion.
Dain: Director of Information for the Salvation Army.
It was a weighty title, but Dain had accepted the position willingly and proven his worth.
He gathered tiny clues that others would have overlooked, deduced the location of ancient artifacts, revealed where enemies would strike, and saved many lives through information warfare.
“I’m going!”
He was a skilled Aura user whose specialty was Infiltration, and he sometimes participated in operations directly.
Everyone in the Salvation Army trusted Dain’s ability and judgment.
Yet despite it all, the territory controlled by the Demons kept growing.
“The First Hero’s Legacy, sir?”
It was during a time when combat with the Demons had become extraordinarily fierce.
A Salvation Army council meeting.
Dain nodded at Leo’s question.
“Yes. I found it while digging through old records. I can’t say exactly what the Legacy is, but it will surely become a great source of strength.”
“How reliable is the information?”
Leo’s Swordsmanship teacher asked.
“The documents themselves are only about twenty percent reliable, but my instinct says one hundred percent.”
“…Then it’s worth trusting.”
“Then I’ll go!”
Leo stood up abruptly. Dain shook his head with a smile.
“No, I have to go.”
“You, Teacher Dain?”
“The Legacy is located in the heart of enemy territory.”
!!
Everyone’s expression hardened.
Such crucial information emerging at such a critical moment.
“It’s definitely a trap!”
Dain knew that too.
“That’s exactly why I have to go—I stand the best chance of escaping safely. Besides, the records we have aren’t precise enough to pinpoint the Legacy’s location. I need to go gather more information.”
What he said made sense.
“Without you, the Intelligence Division will struggle.”
“That’s true!”
“To be honest, there’s almost nothing left for the Intelligence Division to do. All that remains now is a full-scale war.”
Dain’s words were sound.
Finding artifacts and gathering enemy intelligence were tasks for times when there was still room to maneuver.
Now all that remained was an all-out war that would stake everything the Salvation Army had.
The Intelligence Division had almost nothing left to do.
“But…”
“It’s fine, Leo. According to my information, there shouldn’t be any major problems. You know my information is the most accurate in this world, don’t you?”
Dain spoke with a laugh.
Leo watched him with anxious eyes but could only nod in agreement.
And so an expedition was assembled to search for the First Hero’s Legacy.
Dain was appointed its commander, and some of Crow’s subordinates joined as well.
“Ben, you stay here and manage the information division.”
“…Understood.”
And the Salvation Army, too.
Within moments, they were ready to depart.
“Please come back safely.”
“Don’t worry. You’ve never beaten me at Card Game yet, have you?”
“That’s only because you use dirty tricks, sir!”
‘That’s right! I mean, where does a teacher who cheats a Hero even come from!?’
Somehow it brought back that day sixteen years ago when they had set out on their first adventure, and Leo, Dain, and the phantom Alex found themselves laughing without meaning to.
And so Dain and the expedition departed.
Hero Leo had no time to wait for Dain at headquarters—he had to leave to fight elsewhere.
“…I hope teacher Dain comes back safely.”
‘It’ll be fine. It’s Dain, after all.’
Leo and his friends, along with the phantom Alex, waited for news while worrying about Dain.
And then, not long after.
A member of the Information Guild delivered a letter.
‘Wait, how did they even get here?!’
It was a place most ordinary people would struggle to reach, yet this guild member had managed to arrive.
“Hero… here is a letter.”
The guild member’s face looked as though they had been crying for hours, and Leo and the phantom Alex grew uneasy.
Leo opened the letter with trembling hands.
『First Hero’s Legacy secured.』
Leo’s face brightened.
‘I knew he could do it! That bastard!’
But at the next message, his expression went rigid.
『Director of Intelligence Dain deceased.』
『All information division personnel of the expedition deceased.』
『With the information division’s assistance, numerous survivors and expedition members returned alive.』
『Cause: Attack by a High Demon.』
And so Dain, the teacher of Hero Leo, was dead.
He had completed the mission, found survivors whose existence they hadn’t even known of, held back the enemy to the bitter end alongside his subordinates, and saved countless lives.
‘Leo….’
The phantom Alex could only stand motionless, staring at the letter, and then watch as Leo wept.
No words of comfort would reach him now, no hand of solace could touch him.

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