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Everywhere Arnold walked, he was greeted by every passing student or employee of the academy. Smiles he had never received were plentiful today. He had to deal with so many "thank you's" and "we are so grateful to you's". It's not that he hates them but it would be great if they didn't have a minute-long monologue about how their family lived near the town or something and how he's their savior.
--'Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about you.' Said Selia through the message system. They've been chatting ever since he left the SDC office.
'If I were Arthur, my head would be the size of the moon right now.'
--'Oh? The little Hero likes being praised? Not a good quality for someone humanity has to rely on.'
'Yeah, and that's what makes him a danger to everyone around. Proving yourself when so much responsibility is placed on you brings only trouble.' He went up a flight of stairs and had to deal with another group of girls who barraged him with compliments, praises and such.
Skillfully turning their invitations down, he proceeded to the second floor. The cycle just continued with another group. He withheld so many sighs and it hasn't even been two hours since coming to school.
--'About that… People have been mocking the little Hero for hiding like a coward during all that chaos in that town. It's safe to say he has lost a lot of supporters and retaliations will be few if you do end up killing him.'
'I wasn't concerned about those… So, why did you contact me this early in the morning?' this time many simply waved at him and thanked him from afar, which he had to return. It feels so strange receiving all of this.
--'I wanted to report on the Black Sperm Demon I sent to the western territories of the Theocracy. It's accumulated roughly a hundred thousand XP from killing demihumans and monsters. The XP counter hasn't moved in half a day so it's been proven now that the rumors of a powerful monster in that monster zone, are true. And the arrogant savages have realized they can't climb the ranks in their tribes by trying to prove themselves by killing the monster. My Shadow Demons also reported that Razor's armies have moved east as you ordered.'
'That's good.'
--'I'll get out of your hair since that's all I needed to report.'
'Yeah. See you later.' She logged off and so did he.
He wanted to talk about Grace as he has no idea how to explain the situation from back then. He's worried that she'd be upset about the incident from before and holds a little animosity towards him.
'I guess it'll be fine. She's definitely afraid of this mysterious magician who can mind control people.'
The automatic door of his classroom opened just as he finished his thought.
'Rachel isn't here, as expected. I hope she's okay.' Feeling genuine worry for people he once considered mere NPCs and lines of code felt foreign to him but Rachel has suffered enough despite never doing wrong. Fortunately, she won't have to live that same life again since he now owns their territory.
"The Hero hath come!" some guy joked from the very back of the classroom the moment Arnold stepped through the door.
Haa… D-Class.
"Good morning, Sir! You look mighty handsome today too!" several boys jumped from their seats with enough enthusiasm to make the classroom shake.
'I don't want to hear that from a guy.'
"Did you get a new hairstyle!? Your aura has changed considerably, sir!"
"…It's the same hairstyle." Arnold answered flatly.
"That calmness! Gods, he really is different from us common mortals!"
"Sit down before you embarrass yourselves further." another student muttered while rubbing his temples, though even he failed to hide his curiosity as he glanced at Arnold repeatedly.
A few weeks ago, most of these same students would either avoid eye contact with him or whisper once he walked past. He was someone who they had to watch their behavior around as he could end their entire lineage on a whim.
Now half the classroom looked at him like he had descended from a legend.
One of the girls near the windows stood up nervously with a small wrapped box in hand. Arnold recognized her vaguely as someone who once complained to the instructor about him "making the classroom atmosphere oppressive" in the past.
"U-Um… Lord Arnold…" she approached stiffly, nearly fumbling the package, "My family owns a bakery near Eswick Valley. The soldiers who survived said… said you helped hold the line long enough for many people to evacuate…" Her eyes lowered. "My little brother survived because of that. So… thank you."
She pushed the box into his hands before immediately retreating to her desk with a bright red face while her friends squealed quietly beside her.
Arnold stared at the pastries in silence.
"…Thanks."
That single word nearly made the girl collapse onto her desk from excitement.
Even when he went to go sit down, he was surrounded by his classmates and students from other classes. Is this going to be his school life from now on? Sure, he got a lot of support and favor but as someone who has to constantly move in the shadows, he can't have this much attention on him all the time.
"Doesn't Arnold seem kinda cool? I thought he was a scary bastard who hits any dude who comes near him. Look at him even speaking to the guys." while receiving all the sea of compliments and stories about who he saved, Arnold overheard a conversation from the hallway.
"Well, I don't remember him hating dudes that much, just that he prefers to hang around girls more."
"Yeah, I know but something is more obvious now, he's not as bad as they say, right?"
"The hell are you talking about? He killed James Caervil and took his daughter hostage and she even developed Stockholm Syndrome. And remember the rumors about him raping and killing his servants?"
"Bah, you shouldn't believe everything you hear! He still seems like a good guy. Honestly, I used to stand with Hero Arthur since he said Arnold is a demon factor. Now I think it's better if Arnold helps that Luke kid fight for humanity."
"Err, now that you mention it, that Arthur guy—despite having the Holy Sword—didn't even fight alongside them…."
Though unintentional, he had showed the empire just how incompetent Arthur was. Sure, Luke wasn't receiving the same kind of hate as him but the difference is that one is still developing—his awakening just around the corner—and the other wields the Holy Sword.
'No… Not yet. I can't laugh yet. I have to hold it in. They're like cattle.'
It would be so easy to sway public opinion and destroy Arthur socially but Arnold isn't the sadistic type so he would rather use his strength to destroy someone. That said, the option is still there. It may even eliminate some Death Flags as it's possible many important figures linked to the game's story might be on his side.
The automatic door opened and this time their homeroom teacher, Lisiar Brockway came inside.
"Everyone, to your seats." Arnold ordered, which they quickly obeyed.
The class greeted her as she put down her things.
"Good morning to you too, everyone. This first month has been quite chaotic, to say the least so we haven't had much work done. But I hope all of you completed your homework…" she said it as if she didn't have any confidence that they did.
"If you completed your homework, stand up." Arnold spoke as he stood up himself. Miraculously, more than half stood up.
"Uhm, I couldn't understand everything b-but I only have a few chapters to complete!" one boy gave an excuse.
"I'm struggling with a lot of the work…" another complained as he sank into his seat.
"Would teacher be willing to explain this chapter please?"
What a sad bunch. No wonder they're Class D.
"Instead of putting that responsibility on our teacher who expects you to know most of what you learned from last year, you should form study groups with students who offer them to get you up to Year 5 level." He spoke to all of them, "I know several acquaintances from the A and B classes who would be willing to help so make sure you go to the classrooms they arranged to use with the academy's permission."
"Y-Yes, sir! Thank you!" one said with a deeper bow than necessary while the others also gleefully called out.
Huh, he was expecting some resistance with this being the bottom-of-the-barrel class filled with lazy delinquents.
Surprised, Lisiar smiled, "It's a relief all of you are willing to work together. We won't be behind the other classes for too long but I hope you all join the study groups. First off, lessons begin today and I've arranged copies with the periods on them so when you hear the bell ring and are heading out, remember to grab one." she turned to the board and wrote a few things, "As you already know, I am your history teacher: Lisiar Brockway. I may be relatively new compared to the other teachers but I hope your passion for learning remains unchanged—"
The next thirty minutes was just her giving them a refresher of what they should know about the curriculum and if there were any changes. Soon, the school bell rang so they quickly stood up to head to their first period.
Lisiar seemed like she wanted to say something but never called out to him. Maybe she wanted to know if he was serious about his work? Well, she already spoke to him about it before so he doesn't need another reminder.
In any case, he'll have to bear with the fact that he's in a D-class for a bit as it's his own fault for almost failing the entire year. It shouldn't be hard to get into the top ten again as he's not that simpleton Liam anymore.
**
'The Champion has been so dejected by the public's opinion of him…' thought Secta, one of the Divine Guardians of Melis' temples as she walked among the mortals on the streets of the shopping district.
Her golden skin was now pale like a young woman's and her divine essence was hidden by her magic so that she can fit in with the humans. Drawing attention to herself will only incur the ire of those who now see Arthur in a bad light.
She's not confident in her social skills, having been in isolation for thousands of years in a temple, so it's best to just hide.
The threat that could have destroyed this entire continent has only been dealt with a few days ago but the smiles of the people she walked by made it seem like they had nothing to worry about…
Of course, this has nothing to do with Arthur.
--'Secta, you must know some way to restore my image, right? I can't face the citizens if I don't prove myself to them!'
That was what Arthur said earlier this morning.
He hasn't left his room in the palace for a while now, with the excuse of isolation training. Even his lover, Shirley, hasn't seen him lately. Speaking of her, she's been moving around on her own lately so Secta doesn't know what she's up to.
Secta is currently on a mission to look for any trouble that may require Arthur's intervention, which should be able to sway people's opinion of him. His reputation is even worse than the second Champion despite him also not fighting the Demon Kaiju. But no one blames the boy as he doesn't have the Holy Sword and is still growing.
It would be easy to use certain tactics to create conditions where a Hero is needed but such underhanded methods are only used by demons and it would cost the lives of many. She believes Arnold helped the demonic cultists to do the exact same thing, costing the lives of thousands, both those who died and those that were turned into demonic monsters.
Speculation without proof is dangerous but she believed the demon who could hide its presence for almost 19 years while still inside the boy, can plan ahead like this.
Looking towards the open square of the district where a large fountain was located, Secta spotted a crowd of individuals in all sorts of gear and clothes—adventurers.
"—Is there a magician looking for a party!? We're going on a C-Class quest early tomorrow morning!"
"Priest needed here! We will provide scrolls and—"
"We need two vanguards—"
'Adventurers… To humans, they are mortal heroes. Nothing like Champions but they also save lives but in exchange for coin.'
This gave her an idea, "There may be difficult quests that will require his intervention!" her eyes sparkled as she hurried towards the map that was standing nearby. After memorizing the route towards the Adventurer Guild, she quickly left the city square.
Thinking it's better to fit in with the adventurers, she changed her clothes from simple robes to a priest garb and conjured a staff before heading inside the adventurer guild. Despite it being so early in the morning, there were many adventurers already standing around the streets to either check out the quest boards or to report the outcome of their quests.
Secta made sure to not stick out too much and politely refused anyone looking to recruit her.
She quickly headed inside to check the quest board however she sensed a familiar presence just as she stepped inside. The person had finished their business with the receptionist and was about to head upstairs.
'Is that… the Queen of Thalivielle? Why is she here?'
Though she was in disguise as an ordinary magician in Tower Attire, Secta could recognize her presence as illusions of this caliber are useless on divine beings. They learned their lesson with that incident with the mysterious Evil God who deceived Melis.
'The Elf Queen is visiting the Guild? I must investigate.' If she's coming here personally, it means she has something important to discuss.
After slipping into a corner and using her magic to make any light bounce off her form for a limited time, she headed upstairs.
'Adventurers are only called upstairs for A-class and above quests. Why would she need to go there? Is she interviewing a party? But for what reason?' since she was invisible, none of the guards could see her. The Progenitor's magic has proven to be a useful tool for divine beings despite the originator of the magic being evil incarnate itself.
In any case, Secta spotted Setariah dispel her illusion and tell her guards to stay outside. Secta quickly slipped through the walls.
"Welcome, Elf Queen." A woman with wild red hair greeted Setariah.
"Greetings, Ms. Daraia. Thank you for agreeing to see me." The two sat down.
"When you mention an SS-rank quest that involves my adventurers, how can I refuse? So, what is this mysterious quest about and why did you come to the person who intends to blow your kingdom's shores?"
"…You are quite the blunt woman, as I've heard. I hope you will rethink such drastic measures… Like I said in the letter, the High Elves are working on a ritual that will be able to push the dungeon into another dimension but as this is high-tier magic of the Elves, we need some time to finish it…"
"Humph. You better tell them to finish before I gain permission to use the Magic Bomb."
Setariah visibly shook at hearing that.
"…I will… let them know."
"So, Your Majesty, will you please let me know why you are here?"
Setariah rummaged in the bag around her shoulder and pulled out a bunch of images.
"The quest concerns the World Tree. These are [Moving Pictures] our explorers took at sites where it was reported that sink holes appeared."
"?" Daraia frowned looking at the moving images. On one of them was a sink hole but something was inside that hole, a dark gold appendage that stretched underground. The appendage was covered in a strange purple goo.
Since this was a Moving Picture, a type of technically that utilizes a tool and magic to capture a few seconds of movement in the form of a picture that can replay what the photographer captured, the goo could be seen pulsing as if it were alive. Light pulsed through it but other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"This appendage in the ground… What is it?"
"It's one of the tree's roots."
"The tree can be seen even from the capital city so I suppose it's not that surprising that its roots are this large. The people in the photo look like ants compared to that giant hole. But that slime on the tree is glowing—do you know what that is?"
"Unfortunately, no. We can only speculate but nothing can be concluded until we know more. That's why I personally asked many adventurer parties if they will be able to assist us."
"Treating my adventurers like fodders, are you? You're too scared to head in there yourself or let any of your people go there." though she sounded unpleased, she didn't attempt to oppose the request. "I hope you came here to give more details on what to expect in those untouched lands. You Elves have always been against humans exploring your country, now you want us to go to a place even you won't go to."
"…We intend to change that going forward. In any case, the roots of the tree is an untouched land but we know what to expect. There are mainly spiritual creatures that were cursed by witches of the past, ghosts of the dead who still harbor regrets and gave them magical abilities, treants—tress corrupted by miasma waste that was there in the past, corrupted fairies, and so on."
"You mentioned witches—are they also going to be a problem?"
"The title of Witch isn't tossed around casually by us. They are considered the pinnacle of dark magic and taboo arts so yes, they will be an issue. But so long as the adventurers have a balanced party, they can be dealt with."
"I'll have to move a few of them around as not every party is balanced. How many parties did you contact in total? Only two or three came forward to me with the information."
"Including Misteltein, Red Storm and Dead End, I contacted twenty parties. Nine in the empire and the others outside the empire."
"I hope you told them that this is a team effort and not a race to see who gets there first." Daraia looked at her with a narrowed gaze, "In this line of work, not everyone is kind or considerate. They would kill to get ahead of others. I'm not worried about Misteltein as two SS-class party leaders joined the guild, but I worry about the S and A rankers."
"I intend to meet with all of them soon so please do not worry." It seems Daraia cares deeply for her adventurers so she brought up the possibility of infighting beforehand.
The higher-ranked parties will trample the lower-ranking parties to get ahead, which can take lives.
"Lastly, Queen Setariah… What will happen if we fail to stop whatever's down there in the roots?"
"…I will be honest as keeping this a secret is wrong of us to do as we must form an alliance to work together."
With a small voice, she said: "Ragnarok will happen. The destruction of all realms. The World Trees were planted to maintain balance in the nine realms. We aren't certain of it yet, but the Hiisi Elder, who was born from our World Tree, told us that he could not feel his guardian kin."
"Hiisi Elder? The thing that protects the forest? I thought that thing was just a myth…"
"I can see why you would as his strength has weakened over the past few centuries so he could not protect the forests as well as back during my infancy."
"…I see. Ragnarok, it's not the first time I've heard of it. But ours is told a little different. Heaven will fall down to the mortal world and the barrier that uses the essence of Valhalla itself will break apart, allowing demons to come into our world without restriction." She said with a trembling voice, sweat running down her cheek and forehead, "To think it's real…"
"That's not far from the truth as the mana that protects this world will depart once again."
"If we do manage to defeat whatever's killing the World Tree, what happens after that? Will the World Tree return to normal?"
Setariah shook her head with a pale face, "There is one way, but even if that's the only way, I fear for whoever will need to carry out the duty."
"What do you mean?"
"We will need to track down the Elven Goddess' incarnation."
"Your goddess should be alive, though right?"
"No, the dwindling glow means there is nothing to fight whatever corruption latched onto the World Tree. That means that the soul that created the World Trees is gone."
"Gods… This isn't just some SS-class quest that can be compared to the others… We might face some outer god with a grudge against the Gods."
She shook her head, "No, I can't get cold feet now. We'll need the full cooperation of humanity so that we can deal with this. I'll join you in the meeting so can we go let the guild's board members know about this first?"
"Okay, I don't find an issue with that. So long as they agree to keep this from the public for now as it will cause unnecessary panic." after leaving the contract she brought along, she left with Daraia.
After the Guild Master and the Queen left the office, Secta approached the table to read through the contract.
A name caught her eye under the list of participants for the quest:
'The Misteltein Guild? I've heard their name in reports even in the palace. This means they are quite famous. The supposed guild master is also an expert warrior who is said to be equal to the SS-rank party leaders of the empire.'
But his strength is definitely beyond even theirs from observations from rumors.
'Since the leaders from famous parties like Red Storm and Dead End formed a unification with Misteltein, I must go to their guild house to find out more about them.'
Misteltein and this quest may be the answer to helping Arthur regain the support of the people. As such, Secta will have to investigate them as well.
Even if they can't achieve that goal, if Nova is really as altruistic and strong as they say, just forming a good relationship with him will help with Arthur's status.