The Hero’s Mentor is a Demon (King) Witch

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500 years ago.

Humanity faced a tremendous threat from the Demon King Bel Phegor.

It’s not easy to declare who was just, but one thing is certain: Bel Phegor was strong enough to easily defeat even the Heroes of the Holy Sword.

Moreover, he secured all the holy swords except for one, the Holy Wind Sword.

Having even one holy sword grants immense power to defeat the Demon King. Now that such a holy sword has fallen into the hands of the Demon King, humanity is left with only one means to oppose him.

The Holy Wind Sword.

We must find the Holy Wind Sword, whose whereabouts are still unknown. While the Human Alliance buys time against the Demon King’s army, we must somehow ensure that a hero can find the Holy Wind Sword to defeat the Demon King.

However, humanity could not locate the Holy Wind Sword.

Why? Because the previous Wind Hero had doubts about the very existence of the holy sword.

– No one must possess this holy sword!

For that reason, the hero sealed the Holy Wind Sword in a place no one could find. He hid it in a location known only if one had the Holy Wind Sword.

He either died alone on the Sky Island, cold and lonely, or he used Teleport Magic to descend to the surface, leaving no secrets behind.

The will of the past hero was indeed a situation deserving respect, but when the unprecedented event occurred that all the other holy swords fell into the hands of the Demon King, his actions accidentally plunged humanity into great danger.

Of course, no one knew about it.

If someone had known, the search for the Holy Wind Sword wouldn’t have meant scouring the continent but flying straight to the Sky Island. However, due to the thorough secrecy, ordinary humans had no way of knowing.

Only the gods were aware.

And the Red Moon Goddess, feeling pity for humanity, sought to aid them by defying the world’s laws, even those that gods dared not resist.

From the unreachable Sky Island, she retrieved the holy sword and presented it to the Wind Hero.

While we don’t know who that Wind Hero was, the unnamed hero successfully defeated the Demon King.

We don’t know where the hero vanished to, but the Holy Wind Sword remains sealed somewhere, and that village became Lucius’ hometown.

Then,

The Red Moon Goddess, who intervened directly in the human world by violating the laws of the universe, could no longer share her divine power with the intermediate realm as she once did, and as her divine power diminished compared to that given to the earthly beings, the influence of the Red Moon Goddess Church naturally weakened.

This was the backdrop for the sudden emergence of the Holy Wind Sword, which had been previously lost to all.

Perhaps before the Demon King gathered the six holy swords, the Wind Hero had already possessed the holy sword.

Maybe the awakened Wind Hero has been hiding their identity, only to appear at the last moment.

Maybe the Demon King had no intention of using the power of the holy swords to destroy the barrier protecting the world.

Or perhaps the Red Moon Goddess’s heroic act was merely a precaution against the Demon King, fearing he could wield enough power to control the current human order and prevent those two goddesses from interfering on the ground.

“The Holy Wind Sword was originally a sword that should never have appeared, but the Red Moon Goddess, thinking it a danger to the world, retrieved the Holy Wind Sword herself and handed it to a hero who could slay the Demon King.”

Lucius summarized my explanation.

By condensing only the publicly shareable content, they could grasp the rough outline, but the details remained ambiguous. However, for them, this was sufficient.

“…Is this what you, Master, said?”

“Exact summary. I’ll grant you 5 Bel Points for that.”

“If I collect points, will there be something good?”

“Yep. If you gather 100 points, I’ll give you a gift.”

“…I will do my best.”

That was Lucius’s summary.

*

“Let’s take a short break.”

While Lucius and his party discussed the behind-the-scenes story of the Holy Wind Sword, I slipped outside to check the facilities inside the bridge again.

The other facilities could wait for later.

The most crucial thing, of course, was ‘food’.

Though Belselphia must have loaded a lot of food, the issue was whether they had actually packed any edible items.

[Restaurant].

Creeeak.

As I stood at the entrance, the doors swung open left and right.

Like an inn, there’s a counter, and beyond it is the kitchen. In front of the counter are three tables that can seat four together.

“This shape is perfect for sitting and eating together.”

If one more companion joins, they can sit in groups of three, and even otherwise, they could separate into twos or threes.

If there’s worry about discord, five could sit at one table.

‘If my companions increase here?’

Adding members to the Hero Party’s harem would be a good thing. We might face even more Demon Kings and others besides the Demon King.

‘For now, there are two potential companions.’

The Flame Hero Bearnes.
The Water Hero Liriez Seacross.

If the remaining party members are heroes wielding the other holy swords, that would feel rather good.

‘The problem is, those two seem not particularly interested in Lucius.’

Maybe there’s a reason that those of the same holy sword are somewhat detached, showing little interest in Lucius.

Why that is, I don’t know.

‘Is it because they’re both devout followers of the Moon Goddess?’

While being a Holy Sword Hero doesn’t necessarily require deep faith, these two certainly have strong belief in the Moon Goddess.

Since Saintess Yan is here too, if they both joined, it would undoubtedly be a great help.

‘Even if it’s not those two, many could come to join the Hero Party.’

This party has already defeated one, no, two Demon Kings.

What happened in Count Odrone’s Territory must have spread widely among people, and now that Lucius is about to wield the holy sword more actively, interest in us will surely rise even more.

‘With a ship, escaping will be easy.’

If Lucius creates a Wind Barrier to transport his party to the ship, the ship will fly into the sky on its own, distancing us from the people.

This ship has countless such functions.

“Optical camouflage… Just using transparency magic on the entire vessel, huh? Well, even that alone is impressive. Hmm.”

Without a sorceress, using only the mana emitted from the core, one could perform area-wide transparency magic.

That alone shows that the technology concentrated in Belselphia is already overwhelmingly superior to that of the surface.

‘I really need to be cautious.’

Currently, I’m not overly worried about the party members, but the incoming party members need careful selection.

What if they end up falling for Lucius and join as party members due to some incident?

That would be fortunate.

But the real danger lies in the members of the Hero Party bringing along acquaintances.

Whether it’s Rosmas, Droniel, or Yan, if they bring someone along or seek to join our party based on their connections, I must definitely block that.

Well.

Still, I must recruit those who are truly needed…

“I’d like to have at least one chef.”

I recalled the cooking skills of my party.

‘Disastrous.’

None of them are particularly skilled at cooking.

They just can manage the level of edible, but they are not excellent or anything like that.

“I guess I have to do it.”

Eating well and sleeping well leads to fighting well too.

I wasn’t planning on taking responsibility for the party’s health, but given the environment we’re in, I feel compelled to do what I must.

“Even if there’s Clean Magic for laundry, I can’t serve bland food.”

No matter how much I’ve claimed I can only taste sweetness now, my skill from 500 years of cooking hasn’t just vanished.

‘In the past, I couldn’t even cook for her.’

A long time ago.

Though I did many things for her, thinking back, I couldn’t even feed her properly.

While I’ve cooked for the Hero Party, I’ve never prepared anything special for the woman I loved.

“……Huh.”

Since I began as the party’s errand cook, I researched cooking in the Demon World.

For 500 years.

‘Honestly, if I’ve cooked for 500 years, I should be able to manage even without taste by now.’

I should teach the party members here how to cook.

The best way to attract a man is to feed him well.

‘Back in our days, if the wife’s cooking is bad, the husband might cheat, that was common knowledge.’

Even though the Hero Party aims to tackle the Demon King, the party members need to win over the hero.

This ship will be the absolute best place for that purpose.

“With a swimming pool, I can also showcase physique… Hold on. Does that mean…?! Huh…!”

Out of curiosity, I took a look, and sure enough, it was there.

“Ugh…!!”

Celcius.

I love you.

“I didn’t realize because the name’s different!”

Not a training center, but a gym.
Would it kill them to just call it a fitness room?

‘But at least it’s there.’

Though it seems completely different from what is in the Demon World, in the end, if it’s equipment for increasing strength, it shouldn’t be too difficult to handle.

“Wow, this isn’t just a transport vessel; it’s literally a nurturing ship!”

A ship intended to raise the Hero Party’s harem members.

Given everything is available, if we strategize well, we can create the ultimate bride.

“…Raising heroes can be done globally, but the tasks we can do on this ship are…”

Raising brides.

“Alright. It’s decided.”

The name of this vessel is.

“‘Bride’ ship.”