The Hero Is My Natural Enemy

This is a troublesome development.

It certainly is. This whole affair is a crisis for us.

The next morning, I invited Sebas and Fine to my room and held a strategy meeting.

Sebas seemed to understand how serious the situation was.

"A crisis? I would have thought it was an opportunity... Since His Majesty will distribute the knights fairly, isn't Al-sama the one who knows Leo-sama's abilities best?"

"Haaah..."

"You were making fun of me with that sigh, weren't you!? Even I can tell!"

I reluctantly began explaining to the loudly protesting Fine.

In truth, Fine's thinking wasn't wrong. She was only half right.

"This whole affair is an opportunity, but it's also a crisis. The opportunity is that Leo may become the plenipotentiary ambassador. The crisis is that if one of our three rivals becomes the plenipotentiary ambassador, the backs we'd finally started to see will pull away from us again. Even as the fourth faction, we're still far behind the other three. If one of them becomes the plenipotentiary ambassador, the other two can somehow hang on, but we don't have that kind of fundamental strength. Unless something extraordinary happens, we'll be eliminated from the succession struggle."

"I-is that so!? This is terrible! We have to do something quickly!"

Fine began to panic, uttering frantic noises as she rose from her chair and paced around the room.

Leaving her to it, I turned to Sebas.

"Have you gathered any information?"

"Not much. It seems the knight corps only heard about it yesterday as well. The decision was probably made almost entirely by His Majesty and his close advisers."

"Then underhanded tricks are going to be harder than ever. The outcome will come down to the candidates' abilities and luck..."

Whether they encountered a rare monster or not. That would truly come down to luck.

No matter how capable you were, it meant nothing if you never got the chance to demonstrate it.

"There's one more piece of information. The knights predict that the venue will be in the eastern part of the Empire."

"The east? Why?"

"Because the east has suffered the heaviest monster attacks, and the adventurers can't keep up with the extermination efforts. Knight units have been dispatched to the other regions, but apparently the east alone has been left untouched."

"So he deliberately left it untouched so the east could serve as the festival venue. Father would certainly do something like that."

I had assumed we couldn't hunt monsters across the entire Empire and would have to focus on one region, but the east? Once a monster-ravaged region became the center of a festival, it would bustle with tourists and the like. That would also make reconstruction easier.

That certainly sounded like Father.

"The plan is for the knights to hunt monsters in the east for several days, after which each knight unit will select one of its own kills. His Majesty will inspect them and choose the winner. Word has already spread, and merchants have apparently begun streaming east."

"Merchants won't miss a chance to make money. This is going to become quite a large festival... Influential people from all over will come to watch, too. This is going to be troublesome."

"Al-sama! I've thought of a plan!"

"Let's hear it."

Fine clapped her hands, then raised one to ask permission to speak.

It probably wouldn't be useful, but there was no point in refusing to listen. Fine simply wasn't suited to intrigue; she wasn't stupid.

She might even have come up with some brilliant strategy.

"I think Al-sama should take first place!"

"The fool I was for letting myself hope, if only a little..."

"Fine-sama, Arnold-sama must pretend to be incompetent. It would be unnatural for him to suddenly distinguish himself here."

"Ah, that's right... But isn't that the only sure path...?"

Fine was right. My taking first place was the most certain option. After all, Silver was participating. The other candidates—and even the knights—wouldn't stand a chance against Silver.

But if I did that, we'd lose our trump card, and it would become harder to put Leo on the throne. If I were pushed to the forefront, it could also lead to our valuable votes being divided.

No matter how I looked at it, it was a bad move.

"We'll think of another way."

"But from our current position, there are very few moves available to us. The other three could lure rare monsters to the east or determine their locations in advance, but we don't have enough personnel to do that."

"I know. And I know they'll definitely do it. We can do something similar. I just need to drive monsters into the east as Silver."

"N-no! You can't do that!"

Fine was the first to oppose my proposal.

Sebas and I exchanged wry smiles at her reaction.

She really was like Leo.

"Exactly. If we did that, the people of the east would be forced to suffer until the festival began. That's why we won't do it. Leo would never allow something like that, either."

Personally, it was a strategy I absolutely didn't want to use. I wouldn't want to do it as a matter of pride as an adventurer. But if it became necessary, I might. This was different, though. Unless every candidate besides Leo became a tyrant, the only lives at stake for now were mine, Leo's, and my mother's. I couldn't make the people suffer just to protect myself and my family.

"I see... That's a relief."

Fine sighed in relief, then suddenly seemed to realize something and bowed her head.

"I-I did it again... I acted rashly! I'm sorry! Of course Al-sama would never do such a thing!"

"It's fine. Say what you think. Your opinions are always on the side of righteousness."

"What do you mean...?"

"He means that Arnold-sama likes you just as you are, Fine-sama."

"M-my goodness!!"

Without me saying anything, Fine covered her flushed face with both hands.

She could blush all she wanted, but Sebas had been the one to say it. Those were absolutely not my words.

"I don't recall saying I liked her."

"Then do you dislike her?"

"No, that's not..."

"Then you do like her. That's good to hear, Fine-sama."

"Yes!"

Seeing Fine beam with delight, I was completely disarmed.

In the end, we came up with no good ideas that day, so we each took the matter home to consider.

■■■

The next day, I was out on a quest as Silver.

The Adventurer's Guild had contacted me about a high-rank quest.

I had almost never gone into action twice in a single month before. It seemed the reports of monsters appearing in large numbers throughout the Empire were true.

Still, it wasn't as though a monster capable of giving me, an SS-rank adventurer, any trouble had appeared. The monster in question was a red Cerberus. It was an unusually powerful individual that had defeated many adventurers and been designated a bounty target by the guild. It was AAA-rank, on the same level as the King Minotaur I had defeated before.

Cerberuses themselves were rare monsters and not native to the Empire. This one had apparently fled from adventurers and wandered into the Empire.

I grumbled inwardly about it wandering into the Empire at such a busy time, then quickly took it down.

It didn't die from a single blow, but roughly three spells were enough to finish it. The final attack had left almost none of its body intact, but its fangs remained, so I decided to take them back as proof.

While I was doing this sort of adventurer's work, a cavalry unit came toward me from a short distance away.

They were moving at quite a speed. Which lord's cavalry unit was this? The local lords should have been informed by the guild that Silver had gone to hunt the Cerberus, but...

"Hey, you there! Was that explosion just now your doing?"

"And if it was? Why don't you start by giving your name?"

Answering the question called from behind me, I retrieved the fangs and turned toward the cavalry.

And I froze.

The person there was someone I never expected.

"…!?"

A breathtakingly beautiful girl was riding one of the horses.

She had long cherry-pink hair and jade-green eyes. Her ramrod-straight posture and fierce gaze brought to mind a graceful yet powerful sword.

I knew that girl. I knew her very well.

We hadn't had anything to do with each other for several years, so I hadn't recognized her from her voice alone. But I knew her instantly when I saw her. For that matter, in this Empire, there was only one family associated with the combination of cherry-pink hair and jade-green eyes.

"I'm Elna von Amsberg, captain of the Third Knight Unit of the Imperial Guard Knights. I came after hearing about the Cerberus. Did you happen to be the one who defeated it?"

Amsberg.

Just hearing that name was enough to make the surrounding nations tremble.

The family descended from the hero who had slain the Demon King that had shaken the continent five hundred years ago.

After the Demon King's defeat, the emperor of that time had desperately wanted to keep the hero in the Empire. But the hero refused the offered rewards, saying he wanted neither a duke's, marquis's, nor count's title, and tried to set out on a journey. The emperor came up with a plan: he granted the hero a unique title, the only one of its kind on the continent, and thereby kept him in the Empire.

It was called the 〝Heroic Ducal House〟. It ranked highest among the Empire's nobles, and its head was considered higher in status than a prince and, in practice, knelt to no one but the emperor.

Yet no one complained about such treatment. For hundreds of years, the family had continued to achieve feats worthy of—or even surpassing—such extraordinary privileges.

Elna was the heiress to the 〝Amsberg Heroic Ducal House〟, known as the guardian of the Empire.

She was also my natural enemy. When we were children, she would rescue me from bullies, then call me weak and a coward before putting me through Spartan training and instilling a fear of her in me. Let me say this plainly: that was bullying.

Because of that fear, I took a step back and couldn't speak at first, but then I remembered that my face was hidden behind a silver mask and pulled myself together.

That's right. I wasn't Arnold now. I was Silver.

I had nothing to fear from Elna!

"Can't you tell just by looking? The young lady of the Heroic Ducal House seems to have poor eyesight."

"What did you say...?"

Oh...

I-I screwed up!!?

Years of pent-up resentment had made me sound provocative!!?

This is bad!!

"Judging by that outfit, are you the SS-rank adventurer Silver? You seem awfully full of yourself for someone who's only had a little success."

Elna smiled.

But I knew her. Elna often smiled when she was angry. That was an angry smile.

This was bad... There was nothing to gain from picking a fight with Elna. I had to somehow smooth this over...

"You've been squatting in the Imperial Capital, and lately people have even taken to calling you the Imperial Capital's guardian, haven't they? Is that supposed to be a declaration of war against House Amsberg?"

"The people call me the Imperial Capital's guardian. I never claimed the title myself. Besides, I have no interest in the epithet of the Empire's guardian, either. So relax."

Okay... How was that?

I was trying to show her that I wasn't an enemy...

"Are you saying House Amsberg cares about some petty epithet? Or are you saying we're not even worth your notice? Either way, that was a provocation, wasn't it?"

Aaaah!!??

It's hopeless! My first impression had been so bad that everything I said was being taken the wrong way! Besides, Elna was unbelievably competitive. Once someone picked a fight with her, she would beat them into the ground and wouldn't be satisfied until she had won completely.

Tch! In that case!

I might as well vent all the resentment I'd built up over the years. It seemed impossible to establish a friendly relationship now.

I gave up on trying and snorted at Elna.

"Heh. It seems you've been paying quite a lot of attention to me. The Heroic Ducal House must place great value on its reputation. You can't stand someone else receiving praise? How petty."

"What!? You...! I won't tolerate such disrespect toward my house!"

"Isn't the discourtesy yours? I was carrying out a guild request when I defeated this monster. Yet judging from your earlier words, it sounded as if you intended to hunt it if I hadn't. Isn't that an outright provocation of the Adventurer's Guild?"

"That's not what I meant! I was only thinking of the people!"

"Captain, please withdraw. Even if there was a misunderstanding, the Adventurer's Guild issued the request, so the fault is ours. Besides, we must hurry to the Imperial Capital."

"You...! Silver! Remember this! Protecting the Empire is the duty of House Amsberg, the knights, and the soldiers! Never adventurers!"

"I'll remember it, at least for now. I may forget soon."

"You...!"

Watching Elna leave on the verge of losing her temper, I couldn't help thinking I'd really messed up—but I also felt wonderfully refreshed after venting years of pent-up resentment.

Elna was a prodigy among prodigies who had joined the Imperial Guard Knights at the age of eleven. Since she was often entrusted with important missions, I had hardly seen her after she became a knight. Even when we happened to meet, she was usually short on time, so we rarely exchanged more than a few words.

Yet I had managed to get the better of Elna. It felt great! I understood perfectly how it felt for someone who had been bullied to get revenge on their bully.

"I've made an unnecessary enemy, though..."

What was I doing...?

If I ended up at war with the Amsberg Heroic Ducal House, it would be entirely my fault...

"What a mess..."

Rubbing the back of my head, I headed home for now.