Estimated reading time: ~6 minutes
Chapter 56
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「How did you–」
「You want to know how I figured it out?」
I was utterly confused that Anon had seen through my true identity.
「That question itself is a no-go, Low. You’ve already completely admitted it, haven’t you?」
He was absolutely right. There was no way to refute how I had been exposed.
In short, I was completely busted.
「Well, whatever. Since you’ve given the okay, Low, let’s have a little chat.」
Anon led me to the room assigned to him.
As I followed behind him, my feelings were those of a suspect being taken away.
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「To put it simply,」
Anon said as he sat down on the bed,
「a wealthy, powerful, black-haired person named ‘Yanmar D. Low’ does not exist.」
「Huh?」
Stupidly, I failed to grasp the gist of his words.
「I mean exactly what I said. Do I need to explain it one by one?」
「Well, whatever,」 he said, crossing his legs.
「In the first place, if someone has outstanding abilities or is wealthy, that person would naturally be well-known to some extent. I am familiar with almost all the famous people that exist not only in this kingdom but also in neighboring countries. That includes even the most notable ones.」
Hey, hey, are you a database?
But a database shouldn’t be able to come up with an answer naturally.
I was in the midst of a literal escape from reality.
「Judging from your shopping habits, you must have quite a lot of money, right?」
「I won’t deny that I have money. But wait a minute. No one should know about my abilities, right? In fact, I don’t think I’ve fought in front of anyone since I came to Boldaf.」
「You have fought. When you prevented the kidnapping of the aristocratic young lady. Those bandits you took care of, they weren’t just random small fry.」
Until now, I had only perceived them as dirty, villainous mob characters.
「They were involved in some pretty nasty business with the spoiled son of a certain high-ranking aristocrat. But well, we don’t need to go into the details of that.」
「But even so, just identifying my true identity is–」
「It’s possible. After all, you introduced yourself as ‘Yanmar D. Low’.」
Ah. (Rolls eyes)
「You played on the name Yamada Ichiro, didn’t you?」
This is no good. I gave up.
「Some time had passed since the Holy Knight disappeared from the Hero’s party.
Right around that time, a black-haired, wealthy, and skilled person, using a name that played on the now completely shunned name of Yamada Ichiro, was gathering information on the Hero’s party and the Holy Knight.」
When he put it that way, I realized for the first time that if such a suspiciously overloaded person existed, it would be no surprise to be suspected.
Anon seemed to have completely figured me out, and if worst came to worst and I couldn’t go down to the city, it would be troublesome.
But there was something that caught my attention even more than that.
「Anon, I surrender, I surrender. I don’t mind, you’re right, I’m Yamada Ichiro, the Holy Knight.
But hey, the part you just said about me being ‘skilled and wealthy’ is totally different from the rumors about me circulating in this country, isn’t it?」
In the rumors, I am a spendthrift who can’t manage my assets, and a fat, lazy person with no real ability.
「I prefer to believe what I see with my own eyes. You could even say that’s my policy.」
「Policy…」
「Yes, policy.」
I felt like I had touched upon something like a passion that existed inside his nonchalant demeanor–
「In any case, those who don’t have the will to make their own judgments in the end are easily manipulated by others.
Similarly, those who don’t have the will to scrutinize information for themselves end up being swayed by information that is convenient for others.」
And probably– there was an even fiercer passion hidden inside him.
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「As soon as you left, the Hero’s party failed a dungeon exploration for the first time. And that’s with two S-rank parties that the Hero personally nominated joining them.」
「Is that really true?」
Even without counting Ryūgūin as fighting power, those three should never have to return from the first floor of any dungeon.
「I’ve already heard from them– from Atlas, about the members who accompanied the Hero’s party. Heh. The heroes who saved the nation are quite the laughingstock.」
I felt his affection for the clan he called Atlas in his voice.
「Well, if what the accompanying parties are saying is true, the Hero is quite a reckless and thoughtless person. Of course, there’s also the possibility that the members of Atlas lied to cover up their own mistakes and shifted the blame onto the Hero.」
However, he continued.
「I have a fairly close relationship with them, you know, and I know that they’re not the kind of people who would tell such lies.」
His eyes pierced through me from under his hood.
「So, here’s a question. Between ‘you’, whom most people in the kingdom scorn as incompetent, and the ‘Hero’, whom my acquaintance called a ‘thoughtless person’, who do you think I should believe?」
「Don’t ask me something like that.」
「Sorry. I don’t even need to ask. The correct answer is ‘you’.
If it’s between you and the Hero, I would believe you without hesitation.」
His words filled my chest.
「After all, I believe in my own ‘eyes’.」
I couldn’t put my feelings into words.
My cheeks suddenly grew hot, and I felt like I might cry if I let my guard down.
「This is a personal story, but would you mind listening for a bit?」
It was Anon who broke the silence between us.
I nodded, 「Sure.」
「You know, I once wanted to become a hero. The kind of hero who protects everyone from all disasters.」
Anon began to speak.
「The trigger was a picture book. A certain picture book I read as a child. I admired the hero who was the main character of that book. That hero was a hero who saved everyone.」
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