SWNOVELXO Chapter 193 - Divine Cat Mii-chan Doesn't Underestimate the Hero.
193 Divine Cat Mii-chan Doesn’t Underestimate the Hero.
Since we hadn’t had dinner yet, I took out some easy-to-eat pilaf rice balls and fried chicken from Mii-chan’s bag and handed them out to everyone.
“We haven’t tasted anything like this in a while!”
“It was worth following Nero’s persuasion just for this, sis!”
“We’re the winners here!”
The food in this world isn’t bad, just a bit bland. It’s what you’d call cooking that brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients. For someone born in an era with a highly developed food culture, it feels a bit lacking in excitement.
There are spices, but since distribution isn’t widespread, things like pepper are as expensive as gold by weight, just like we learned in history books. Finding a cheaper way to get them… that’s something to work on for the future.
“Mii~.”
Mii-chan is nibbling on some cat food, while Lu-kun and Ral-kun are eating the same food as everyone else. Since we’re leaving at dawn tomorrow, we’ll sleep as soon as we finish eating. The Mukata siblings are exempt from keeping watch or tending the fire, so I’ll take the first watch with Letty-san.
Mii-chan, Lu-kun, and Ral-kun are resting in the tent with the Mukata siblings, while Jin-san and the others are wrapped up in blankets, already asleep.
With nothing else to do, I decided to ask Letty-san about the hero from today.
“Letty-san, what do you think of the hero?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think of the person called Endo, who fought against me?”
“Hmm, I’d say he’s a gray that’s nearly black.”
“You don’t think he’s fully fallen to the dark side yet?”
“I’ve heard that the Grand Lady received a divine command to persuade him before he falls. So, for now, it’s best to assume he hasn’t fallen yet.”
“Can you tell if someone has fallen to the dark side just by looking at them?”
“The guild says that when someone falls, they emit a sinister aura. I didn’t sense that level of malice from that kid.”
Letty-san added that even if Endo falls to the dark side, with his current strength, he wouldn’t be much of a threat. Unless someone wields power equivalent to, or surpassing, that of the Demon King, they aren’t considered a significant threat. Apparently, falling to the dark side is a kind of illness that only affects people from other worlds.
Everyone has some evil in their hearts. You could say that no one is entirely free of it. Normally, people suppress that evil with common sense, conscience, and ethics, but people from other worlds have their souls altered, which causes their mental capacity to expand rapidly, leaving space for evil to spread. Ayane-san explained this to me.
While expanding one’s good nature requires continuous effort, letting evil grow is much easier. That’s why the protection of the gods and the powers of a divine being like Mii-chan are crucial in suppressing that evil.
I’m really lucky to be under Mii-chan’s protection. The Mukata siblings will likely benefit from Mii-chan’s blessing too, reducing their chances of falling to the dark side. Mii-chan is truly incredible.
“Do you think they’ll become targets for elimination?”
“That depends on them.”
So, it’s up to them… Two of them might have a hard time with that.
Before dawn, everyone wakes up to have breakfast.
“There’s miso here…”
“Which means they have koji.”
“Hmm, interesting.”
We steer our horses towards the royal capital, making a wide detour around the rebel army. The members of the Thieves’ Guild stay behind to monitor the rebels, so they won’t be joining us. Thanks for your hard work.
That night, we camped out again, and by noon the next day, we reached the royal army’s camp. The army seems ready, but they clearly have fewer soldiers than the rebels.
When Jin-san showed a soldier the chancellor’s seal, we were led to an empty tent. After a while, a soldier came and summoned only me—not Jin-san, who had shown the seal—to meet with the chancellor. Suspicious.
Led by the soldier, I entered a large central tent with Mii-chan, and there sat the king… Oh, so you’re here too.
“Mii~.”
Beside the seated king were the chancellor and Captain Willibald of the First Knight Order.
“Welcome back, Nero. So, how did it go?”
“Of the five false heroes, two agreed to persuasion, but the remaining three couldn’t be fully convinced due to enemy interference.”
“So, you managed to recruit two. That’s excellent. You’ve done well—now take your rest.”
That was the extent of my conversation with the king. As I left the tent, the chancellor pulled me aside.
I was taken to another tent and questioned in more detail. I made sure to mention Dusk as well.
“I see. So, Rotaringia was behind that incident.”
“It’s possible. By the way, I noticed Captain Willibald was here, but where is the First Knight Order?”
“They’ve already joined us in this camp.”
The royal army consists of 3,000 cavalry, 3,000 infantry, and 1,000 supply troops. The 3,000 cavalry are actually disguised members of the First Knight Order. On top of that, the dragon knights will be joining us as well.
“In that case, there’s no need to worry about the false heroes.”
“For now, yes.”
“Do you think the hero’s powers will awaken?”
“It’s hard to say… but given their unusual skills, it would be wise not to underestimate them.”
“Mii~.”
“Indeed. The best course of action would be to make Rotaringia retreat without engaging them.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll have to rely on Willibald and Elena for that.”
“Mii~.”
According to our scouts, the rebel army will reach this battlefield tomorrow, and the battle will begin the day after. It seems the rebels plan to face us head-on, with no tricks up their sleeves. They probably think they’ve already won, given their superior numbers.
But while we’re pretending to face them directly, we have plenty of tricks prepared, not to mention our secret weapon, Ral-kun. I’m not sure what his abilities are yet, but we’ll have to figure it out on the fly. If we can throw the enemy off balance at the start, that’ll be enough.
“Mii~.”