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

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“…Alright.”

Rosmas made a decision.

Although she generally tried to avoid using her trump card, it seemed there was no other way.

“To defeat the Witch, I must draw Arthur’s attention even more.”

She would defeat the witch.

Even if the odds were against her now, ultimately, the one who triumphs in the end is the true victor.

Just think of the battle between humanity and the Demon King’s army.

Humanity was nearly wiped out, and most elves became slaves or were forcibly integrated into the Demon King’s territory, but who is the true master of the continent now if not the Human Alliance?

In the end, the one who laughs last is the one who wins.

No matter how much she gives the witch an advantage, if Rosmas achieves final victory, the events of today would merely end as a fleeting episode.

“Arthur, I have a place we need to go for a moment.”

“Is it somewhere that takes a long time?”

“No, we can be back quickly. The Witch mentioned it would take her a little while to leave too…!!”

Right.

Even if this time was created by the ‘enemy,’ she must not fail to utilize it properly.

“Follow me, Arthur.”

Rosmas took Lucius and headed somewhere.

It was a familiar spot for Lucius, the place where he had bought his sword—the Elf Smithy.

“No, what brings you here…”

“Sis. Please give Lucius a sword and the outfit of the Forest Guardian for me.”

“…What?”

Stuck in the human world, yet still an elf at heart, the blacksmith Fergus was helpless against this bold customer’s demands.

– I’m going to tell Mom.

“…….”

Rosmas Terbation.

Being ennared in the human world, Fergus couldn’t help but focus on her status as ‘royalty.’

“…Haha, dear customer. The items we sell…”

“Here you go.”

Thud!

Rosmas placed a bag of jewels in front of Fergus.

There were so many jewels it made Fergus lick his lips, thinking that they might need to be presented in a box.

“Rosmas, where did you get these?”

“I heard a Sand Worm swallowed some wicked merchant’s house. He must have earned the money in a bad way. Judging by how the merchant was begging for help, not a single trader came to his aid.”

“…….”

Lucius was left speechless.

“Dear customer, we do have the Guardian’s outfit…”

“Please give me that. Arthur, can you wait for a moment?”

Rosmas disappeared into the back room.

Lucius quietly waited, tilting his head as he gazed at the pile of jewels.

“Ah, Arthur…?”

Rosmas appeared, having changed into her outfit.

A breastplate that bared her abdomen.

A skirt that revealed her thighs.

And a robe that lightly draped over her.

Overall, the white, gold, and green outfit was eye-catching enough to draw the gaze of any man—but—

“Looks good on you.”

“…….”

Lucius’s voice was utterly flat.

*

Before leaving.

I briefly concealed myself in the crowd, then sought an opportunity when there were fewer people to meet Bearnes.

“…Witch?”

“Shh.”

Bearnes was in her bedroom.

Having rented a room at the Adventurer Guild, she was noticeably flustered when I suddenly appeared.

“…You don’t seem to be a fake.”

“If I were fake, what would you have done?”

“I would have cut you down.”

Bearnes had already grasped her Holy Sword. Dressed in white silk pajamas, she seemed quite startled by my sudden appearance at night.

“…What do you want?”

“I just wanted to say goodbye before leaving.”

“Goodbye? You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I’m going to track down Asydia’s traces.”

I briefly summarized our plans.

“Tracing the remaining mana from the Dimensional Door’s Magic Circle… That’s impossible. Something like that…”

“You’re saying it’s impossible, huh? I’m glad I asked.”

It seemed the magic for retroactively tracing the dimensional door had been lost over the last 500 years.

“I can do it. I’m the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus. Although I’ve weakened for some reason, I was once a Great Sorcerer even the Demon King feared.”

“What do you…”

“Here.”

I swiftly removed the knit I was wearing.

At first, Bearnes was taken aback, but her expression stiffened as she saw my chest, my heart area.

“Right now, I’m merely a being barely moving thanks to mana. I’m no different from the undead.”

“Ah, ah…”

“I broke my seal to defeat the Demon King. At present…”

With a whoosh.

Bearnes immediately sheathed her Holy Sword.

A burst of light shot toward her neck, transforming into a necklace with a shimmering red gem.

‘Oh.’

So that’s her choice, to turn it into a golden necklace.

“I’m sorry, Witch. Not knowing your situation, I spoke of the Moon Goddess’s teachings…”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. I thought I should tell you someday, and it’s good to talk like this now.”

The blessing of the Moon Goddess has no effect on me.

Your teachings mean nothing to me.

So please don’t think of preaching to me in the future.

“Still, we’re both trying to save people, even if our beliefs differ, right?”

“…Yes!”

The effect of baring my chest was truly remarkable.

Bearnes, who had already developed a positive impression of me, now had admiration and trust soaring to the heavens.

The hero and companion who saved the city together.

“Thanks to you, we could defeat the Behemoth. While Lucius helped as well, it would have definitely been challenging without you. Bearnes, thank you so much.”

“Witch…”

“But I can’t rely on you forever. Bearnes, if you ever have hard or painful times, call for me. I’ll be there to help you anytime.”

“Witch…!!”

For a Hero of the Holy Sword, what’s needed most is a pillar to rely on, someone they can trust when feeling mentally drained.

“Of course, the Moon Goddess will be by your side, but if you need human warmth, please find me. For you, Bearnes, I’ll always be ready to embrace you.”

Forming a party as a hero isn’t just about compensating for insufficient abilities to face the Demon Races, but also about overcoming the mental strain of fighting alone through companionship.

“Ah, of course, I’m not talking about actual warmth; it’s more like warming up with mana or something…”

“That’s enough.”

Bearnes buried her face into my embrace.

“I feel like I’m taking so much from you, thank you so much, Witch.”

“Don’t mention it. …Bearnes.”

I pressed my forehead to Bearnes’s, reaching for her necklace.

Bearnes flinched momentarily, but I closed my eyes and prayed for her.

“May the flame of the Holy Spirit, which brightly illuminates your path, accompany you.”

“!!”

Bearnes’s eyes widened in surprise.

I lightly kissed her necklace, gently ruffling Bearnes’s hair as I created some distance.

“Take care going forward, Flame Hero.”

“Who are you…?”

Thud.

Bearnes collapsed.

I gently laid her down on the bed, then rubbed her necklace gem with the prepared Magic Stone.

Swoosh.

“…This is a reward for awakening.”

The Magic Stone, which felt empty, quickly filled with crimson energy.

I extracted a tiny fraction of the nearly infinite power of the Holy Sword, as if scooping a cup from a reservoir.

“…In exchange, I’ll take ‘that’ which you don’t know about right now.”

Because that’s the price for unsealing a further stage of the ‘seal’ embedded within Bearnes’s Holy Sword.

‘I can’t miss out on such talent.’

A hero wielding only a ‘1st stage’ unsealed Flame Holy Sword, yet achieving such feats?

If it weren’t for the Moon Goddess, I would seriously want to recruit Lucius’s party.

However.

The protagonist of Lucius’s party is Lucius.

Surely, if Bearnes joined, all attention would shift to her, and Lucius would be overshadowed.

“Goodnight, Hero.”

And I hope you wield the Flame Holy Sword for me.

That the Flame Holy Sword, ‘Flamberge,’ becomes even more powerful with its 2nd stage unsealing to burn the likes of Zephar to ashes.

I prayed for Bearnes and teleported out of her room.

*

Midnight.

The promised ‘tomorrow’ has arrived.

In terms of time, barely a day has passed, but officially, it’s clearly the promised tomorrow, and thus it’s time to leave.

“It seems both of you are ready.”

Lucius and Rosmas looked changed.

Lucius had transformed from a rookie adventurer into a figure akin to a seasoned mercenary, while Rosmas donned the typical outfit of the Elf Guardians seen in the forest.

“Lucius seems to have met Lady Morzen, and Rosmas must have encountered that blacksmith elf?”

“Yes, Master.”

“…I’m not a formal Guardian, but I received a gift. How do I look…?”

“You look cute and pretty.”

Though I felt it looked hellish.

The Elf Guardian outfit, unchanged for 500 years, reminded me of the fierce battles in the forest, causing strange phantom pain throughout my body.

“Then let’s begin the retrotracing… Found it.”

“…Yes?”

“Right away… I found it?”

“Of course.”

I pointed to the lake.

“While the dimensional door may have unfolded over the lake, the traces of mana scattered around are easy to locate.”

Having once been a Demon King.

A being at the pinnacle of magic.

Despite how much human magic has advanced over 500 years, it cannot compare to the ‘strongest sorcerer’ from the ‘most magical era.’

“Back in my day, if you couldn’t quickly grasp something like this, people would die left and right.”

“Ah…”

“Now that won’t happen, and if it does, we need to prevent it, right? Alright, shall we move on?”

I unfolded the map.

“It’s fine to go straight with these coordinates, but that might drop us right at the enemy’s stronghold. Let’s head to a nearby city instead.”

“Where is it?”

“Hmm… It’s a bit far, but Lucius might have heard of it?”

It wasn’t too far from the Village of the Holy Sword.

“Count Odrone’s Territory.”