Ch.3939. The Hero’s Plan

…Human will sometimes accomplishes remarkable things.

We departed from the Imperial Capital and reached the nearest territory at the border in a short time. We managed to cover a distance that would normally take merchant caravans at least ten days in just two days.

It was a miracle achieved through well-trained military horses, excessive blessings, hay soaked in elixirs, and above all, sheer madness.

Normally, after such a harsh journey, one should drop dead immediately upon dismounting, but not a single person from the pursuit team fell behind.

It was surprising to see not only the knights but even the former Cardinal and mages with gleaming eyes.

“Inspector, we’ve made it this far, but we can’t possibly search this entire vast area…”

The young bishop from the Papal State asked with a hoarse voice, but I shook my head, telling him not to worry. I had already formulated a plan while we were riding.

“The border doesn’t mean it’s uninhabited. We’ll quickly get answers just by meeting a few peddlers who supply necessities to the villages. Considering the effort The Hero put into forming his party, he wouldn’t have hidden them in some cave.”

He’s probably causing trouble somewhere even now. Once we find his location, capturing him would be quick.

“Let’s move quickly, to find that bastard.”

I looked around at the numerous older men and few young men as I gave the order. They scattered in an orderly fashion as if they had been waiting for this.

***

In a cozy village hall.

The Hero Gwon Heejin was finally catching up with his party members.

Or rather, he was trying to. Quite a bit had accumulated over time.

But there was no tearful reunion with hugs and emotional embraces. The Hero was smiling with his chin slightly raised as usual, but as time passed, he was finding it harder to maintain his expression.

‘Huh. Look at these people.’

Unlike the elf Silvina, the other party members were in poor condition.

First, the female knight Millia Neize.

She was looking at The Hero while nervously shifting her eyes.

“…Hero, how’s your hand?”

“Not bad. It’s just a pinky finger anyway.”

“The pinky is a support. In some ways, it’s as important as the thumb… No, never mind.”

She seemed to have many questions but hesitated to speak up while watching the reactions of her companions. She had always had a weak position in the party due to her relatively lacking skills and the circumstances of her recruitment.

‘She’s one thing, but…’

The Saintess Claire.

She was openly displaying hostility. She seemed to know something. They had gotten along well until they decided to hide the deaths of the holy knights, but her sudden change suggested she had made personal contact with the Papal State.

She really doesn’t listen. Gwon Heejin clicked his tongue.

“Hero…! How could you do this?”

“Calm down. Let’s talk about this slowly.”

And the mage Yuni.

She was clutching her wand, just waiting for the moment to leave. Usually curious and inquisitive, she now seemed to have no questions at all.

At least the elf stood firmly by The Hero’s side, ready to support whatever he said.

‘Sigh. At least it’s not beyond repair.’

Fortunately, The Hero’s worst fear (party members leaving the hideout on their own) hadn’t materialized.

The plan The Hero had devised while meticulously avoiding the Empire’s search parties required the cooperation of his party members.

“Everyone, I’m sorry for neglecting you. Initially, I meant for you to rest and clear your heads, but it ended up taking longer than expected.”

“…Rest? You call that rest?”

“Just listen. I’ll explain everything that happened.”

The Hero began to sincerely explain recent events to his party members.

Of course, he didn’t forget to add a little seasoning to his story.

He claimed that while he was trying to meet the Emperor to explain the false reporting allegations, Prince caused a major incident; that the Papal State suffered great damage and Prince mentioned his name, making him the target of investors’ anger; that the Empire, having lost its reason, was now hostile toward him.

“…As a result, you all got lumped in with me and are taking the blame.”

“You shouldn’t have made false reports in the first place.”

“You don’t know, but I was trying to engineer a soft landing. I planned to gradually decrease it over three or four months… But it failed because of Prince and the Beast King.”

“……”

“Stop frowning. It’s not like we can turn back time.”

Naturally, none of the party members accepted The Hero’s explanation. Instead, the Saintess began trembling and sobbing.

“So… we just die? Branded as traitors along with you?”

She looked like she would collapse at the slightest touch.

The Hero raised his hand quietly before her emotions could explode.

“I understand your anger, but listen to me for a moment. There’s a way out.”

“I don’t want to hear any more of your nonsense…!”

“Sorry, but you’ve been following that ‘nonsense’ quite well until now, haven’t you? Think of this as the last time and hear me out. If you still refuse, I’ll let you go without a fuss.”

“……”

At the mention of letting them go, the female knight and the Saintess exchanged glances. They seemed to be considering whether to give The Hero one last chance to explain or to seek their own path (if such a thing existed).

At that moment, the small-framed mage Yuni rose with a yawn.

“Hero, can I wait outside? The atmosphere here is too gloomy.”

“Yuni… have you already made your decision?”

“I’m sorry, but things have turned out this way, right? I’m out. I’m not trying to run away, I just don’t think I’m much help to you anymore, so I’m going back to the magic tower.”

“The magic tower, huh.”

“I’ll recommend a more capable mage to replace me.”

The Hero paused briefly before nodding.

“Alright. Do that.”

“Huh… you’re letting me go more easily than I expected?”

“What choice do I have? You said your heart has left me. But even if you return to the magic tower, you should lay low for a while.”

“What?”

The Hero looked at Yuni and smirked.

“There’s an elder at the magic tower who made a fortune with Cordana. Lukeris, who was the vice archmage about 19 years ago. He’s over 70, but apparently has a talent for investment, making over 14 billion.”

“…?”

Yuni tilted her head in confusion.

‘Lukeris,’ whom The Hero mentioned, was an elder who had retired due to health issues. There were even rumors of dementia. Even mages couldn’t overcome the passage of time.

It was the first time she’d heard that such a person had invested in Cordana.

“You don’t know? That makes sense. He sold quietly through a proxy over twenty occasions. And there’s one more elder who profited. Since they sold when prices were around 100-200 million, they haven’t attracted much attention yet.”

Yuni’s expression grew increasingly serious as she heard this.

As far as she knew, the magic tower had never been deeply involved in the Cordana market.

But she had never paid attention to long-retired elders. They could die tomorrow and it wouldn’t be surprising.

The fact that The Hero knew detailed investment information about these elders…

“He-Hero…? What exactly did you do?”

“Remember the money I gave you for research? Where do you think it all came from? Do you think it was seed money the Goddess gave me when I transferred to this world? Why are you pretending to be shocked when you probably had a good idea?”

“……”

The Hero ignored Yuni’s dumbfounded face and looked away.

Though The Hero himself wasn’t exactly calm, his slightly trembling hands didn’t help Yuni.

After all, The Hero still held her leash.

“…So in the end.”

“Yes. We’re bound by fate. But if you really want to leave, go ahead.”

Yuni couldn’t bring herself to say she would leave. The female knight and the Saintess were also staring at The Hero with serious expressions.

“Want to hear more, Yuni?”

“…Yes.”

In the chilly atmosphere, The Hero began to outline his plan.

“We’re going to enter the Demonic Land.”

The declaration itself wasn’t strange. Some past Hero parties had stayed in the Demonic Land for over a year, conducting guerrilla warfare.

But Gwon Heejin’s party had only entered once to fight the Demon Lord. And even then, they were accompanied by dozens of holy knights and two bishops.

“…Hero, how can we survive there?”

“I’m not actually suggesting we enter the Demonic Land. I have a safe place prepared where we can stay. Of course, we won’t just be hiding—I plan to spread rumors to the Empire. We’ll say we discovered and raided a harpy nest in the Demonic Land.”

“Why bring harpies into this?”

“I heard harpies have a habit of collecting jewels and gold. In the past, they’ve actually raided merchant caravans. We’ll claim we found gold they’ve collected over hundreds of years.”

“Will anyone believe such a lie?”

“They will if we present evidence. We’ll show gold coins and treasures used before the Empire began its conquest wars. I have all of it.”

The Hero claimed that if they suggested a way to obtain treasure without going all the way to the Demon Lord’s castle in the deepest part of the Demonic Land, people would look toward the Demonic Land rather than throw stones at the Hero’s party.

“Think they won’t fall for it? They’ll all grumble but go along with it. That’s investor psychology. They become even more desperate after losing big money.”

The plan was to buy time with another scam, and in the meantime, train to become strong enough to actually enter the Demonic Land.

This was The Hero’s plan.

The party members looked at The Hero with mixed expressions.

The female knight Millia was too disheartened to argue, Claire seemed somewhat calmer and contemplative, and Yuni just stared at the floor.

“When are we leaving, Hero?”

Only the elf remained unchanged.

“Well. What should we do?”

The Hero looked around at his emaciated party members and decided to stay in this village for a few days.

He wanted to comfort his mentally damaged party members and spend intimate time with the elf Silvina, who still loved him as before.

‘It was good that I came in person.’

Initially, he had considered hiding in a separate hideout and summoning his party members, but now he saw that directly controlling them was the wise decision. If even one of them had left and spread different stories, the situation would have been more difficult.

Sorry for Yuni, but it was no longer just about protecting his harem. At the very least, he needed to avoid being stoned in the public square.