I Am Not the Heroine

It felt just like watching a movie.

The scene slowed down in an instant, with the face of a person appearing, like a cinematic direction.

But this wasn’t a movie.

“Hero······ sir?”

What are you doing here?

I couldn’t comprehend the sudden appearance of the hero. Surely, by now, he should have just met with the heroines, so why was he here?

Then where were the other three?

Overwhelmed with confusion, questions flooded my mind before gratitude could even settle in.

“Ariya, Rie, and Serelin were brought together. So let’s focus for now.”

“······Ah, yes.”

Right, we were in the midst of a fierce battle. Curiosity in a situation like this was like poison.

I decided to concentrate on the standoff between the hero and Alred.

“Hero. Have you not met the others?”

“By others, do you mean the other vampires? If that’s the question, I can tell you I’ve met them.”

With the hero holding his sacred sword at an angle, he began to be on guard against Alred.

“Haah··· such weaklings. They can’t even buy time. I’ll have to do some cleaning up once this is over.”

With a sigh, Alred gestured, and a slicing attack flew towards the hero.

‘I won’t miss this time.’

Raising my pen, I canceled out the attack with a pre-written protection spell.

“Hero, I’ll assist you.”

“Thanks, Rui!”

With a simple reply, the battle commenced.

In an instant, the hero reached Alred and swung his sacred sword.

Boom!!

Blocked by a blood barrier, as expected, but something was different this time.

“Indeed··· is this what it means to be a hero!! This is fun!!”

It seemed the barrier didn’t hold up well enough, as Alred staggered and laughed.

The hero was indeed the right match for facing off against demon kind.

I couldn’t just stand by. Noticing that Alred’s focus was entirely on the hero, I decided to use both my Master Key and pen.

“Enchanting.”

The ring of the Master Key spun fiercely, and the pen inscribed golden letters into the air.

The magic applied to the hero was about five types.

Weight reduction.

Attack detection.

Reflective gloves.

Barrier.

Speed increase.

While the number of spells decreased, their power increased.

“What!”

Immediately, Alred lost the imposing demeanor he had before.

Draped in the magic gear and armed with shoes, gloves, and bracelets, the hero moved like light.

Boom!

At last, the blood barrier couldn’t block the sacred sword anymore, and Alred was slammed against the far wall.

“Hoo···.”

Alred, now a mess, stayed still, while the hero and his sacred sword still glimmered with light.

The hero approached Alred slowly, keeping his guard up.

Then, Alred attempted to activate his unique magic again.

“Blurr······?!”

Click.

“You won’t get away with that.”

Not missing that chance, I quickly stole his staff and attached a silencing magic artifact to Alred’s mouth.

Casting unique magic without chanting or a staff was impossible, no matter how much of a vampire one was.

After all, unique magic is about turning the user’s dreams or ideals into reality through language and a catalyst.

So without those two, no one could use it.

“······!”

Alred, furious, tried to get up, but the hero wouldn’t allow it.

Slash!

That was the end of the third bloodline of the demon race.

*

“Now explain. Why are you here, Hero?”

“Uh, huh?”

After confirming he was definitely dead, I called for a Hero Inquiry.

“You were supposed to meet properly with the other three and then come find me. So why did you come alone?”

“Is that such a big mistake···?”

“Absolutely. Without you, the other three might be in danger. You are the most effective counter against the demon race.”

Even though I provided support, the hero had successfully killed the third bloodline through a combination he shouldn’t have been able to stomach.

And considering that in the original story, he succeeded in attacking the fortress without serious injuries… we could instantly know how valuable he was.

‘So why is he here?’

Position-wise, he was the closest to the other three.

Perhaps that’s why I was trying to find a way to topple the fortress while the four joined.

But with things turning out this way, the fortress explosion plan was scrapped…

“Well, I was able to save you because of it.”

“······Well, that’s true.”

As I started to grumble, the hero said that, and I suddenly lost my words.

He probably wouldn’t have died from Alred’s ambush, but still, he couldn’t have avoided serious injury.

‘Well, I could just leave the hero’s party…’

However, that would mean I wouldn’t be able to block several stories from the original.

Thinking that way made me genuinely grateful that the hero came to me.

“······Thank you.”

I bowed my head and expressed my gratitude, while the hero shrugged it off with a light smile.

“But how were you able to come so quickly?”

By my estimates, they should’ve just started moving together.

“Oh, that’s because I trusted you guys.”

“What?”

“As soon as I identified where you were using the bracelet you gave me, I joined up with Rie. Then I used Rie’s characteristic speed to catch up with Ariya, then sent Serelin with the two.”

“······.”

“Serelin is particularly skilled among our party, so I figured she could hold out until the two arrived. After parting ways with them, I came straight to you.”

Hmmm.

That was more efficient than I expected, or rather, ideal.

He appropriately utilized the three traits of Ariya’s novelty, Serelin’s strength, and Rapirie’s speed.

As I mentioned before, ordinary magical creatures and demon kind couldn’t touch Ariya.

So the hero met up first with Rapirie, who could move fastest and join the fight.

After that, using her blessings and spirits, she connected with Ariya, sending both to Serelin while parting ways.

Unlike Rapirie, who had clear weaknesses, Serelin possessed well-rounded skills, hence her placement at the end.

Meanwhile, the hero himself had just come to me, farthest from him, and had achieved the feat of eliminating the third bloodline.

‘In fact, if the three joined together, they’d almost have no weaknesses.’

In the end, I had no choice but to praise them.

“······.”

“Uh····· Rui, why are you glaring?”

“I’m not glaring. Just bow your head for a second.”

“Uh, why······.”

“Well done.”

As the hero lowered his head at my words, he still couldn’t quite reach, so he lifted up on his toes slightly.

Then I patted his head like my old magic master used to do frequently.

Perhaps from the rough battles, the hero’s hair was slightly damp with sweat.

But it didn’t feel nasty or uncomfortable.

‘After all, holding such feelings for someone who came to help me would be rude.’

“Let’s go now. The others are coming this way.”

“Uh, okay.”

I put Alred’s staff, some blood, and a few bricks from the fortress into a special treatment space.

The battle with the third bloodline was unexpected, but still, I’d gained the advantage of having a vampire’s staff, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.

‘Now that we’re all together… we’ll have to head straight for the first bloodline.’

Beep.

Just then, a notification came from the magic tool I was inspecting in the fortress.

While not every place had been scanned, it seemed I’d discovered a specific area I was after.

‘In that case······.’

Moments later, the hero party, who had been separated for about two hours, were finally reunited.

“Aswel!!”

Compared to nearly half a day of separation in the original, this was an incredible speed.

“I’m glad the three of you are safe······ ugh!”

“Rui, are you okay? Are you hurt!”

Rapirie came charging in like a massive truck, causing a bodily collision.

I gave a thumbs up to the three worried, watching eyes, indicating I was fine.

“Truly, you’re incredibly wise. Did you consider our party’s division too···.”

“That’s right! Thanks to you, I wasn’t scared at all!”

“Thank you.”

Praises from Serelin and Alya’s beaming agreement. I really didn’t know what to do.

“So······ what should we do now?”

At Rapirie’s question, the hero answered.

“We need to find the leader among these vampires. That way, we can make the fortress disappear.”

“To add to that, I have one proposal.”

“A proposal?”

I raised my hand to capture the attention of the four and shared the fortress information that I got through the magic tool, followed by the strategy I’d devised.

That caused the four, who had been listening quietly, to voice their opinions.

“I think it’s good. I’m for it.”

“I’m also in favor. Using every available tactic increases our chances of winning.”

“I agree as well.”

Three of the heroines expressed their support, leaving only the hero.

“If it’s a plan made by Rui, then it will surely succeed. I believe.”

“······Hmm, yes. Then that means everyone is in favor.”

The last to agree was the party leader, the hero.

‘In that case, I need to adjust the route slightly and tweak the magic tool’s spells.’

With that, the mission planning was complete.

The sooner we ended it, the better, so our party decided to move immediately without resting.

“Let’s go.”

The hero took the lead, and the first step toward our mission to eliminate the fortress began.

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