Volume 4 Chapter 98 The Hero’s Reversal
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
A coup had broken out in the Kingdom of Nakuos.
From the capital’s streets, I could see black smoke curling up from the royal castle.
What the hell was happening?
The king was supposed to be bedridden, with the princess acting in his stead. The nobles and her faction had been at each other’s throats for some time. So… was this the nobles’ move?
And what about the heroes?
They had followed the princess into the war against the Demon Kingdom. Had they switched sides?
Too much didn’t make sense. I needed answers.
Lifia and I hurried off, looking for someone who knew more. My boots struck the cobblestones as we ran through the city, and the scenery shifted.
We passed into the noble district. Rows of elegant mansions lined clean, patterned streets. Normally, the place reeked of calm and refinement. Today it was silent, tense. No carriages, no idle chatter. Only armed guards glared from every gate, their eyes sharp with killing intent.
We stopped at Baron Borg’s estate. The gatekeeper’s spear rose as his voice cracked across the street.
”Stop! Who goes there?”
But then his expression shifted, eyes widening.
”Sir Taro! Forgive me!”
So he recognized me. The spear dropped, and he bowed.
”Please, enter. The young lord is waiting.”
I was led inside, to a familiar room. A plump nobleman rose stiffly to greet me. Iberigo Borg—the eldest son of the baron, an ally of mine. Usually cheerful, now his face was grave.
”Lord Taro. Welcome.”
He wasn’t head of the family yet, and the Borgs were only minor nobility. Still, in this mess, he was the closest connection to the castle I could reach.
Another figure sat with him. A graceful woman stood, smiling with practiced elegance, pale dress shimmering as she rose.
”Good day, Sir Taro.”
Marquis Castanope’s daughter. Arcona. Iberigo’s fiancée. So that explained her presence.
”Lady Arcona, it’s been a while,” I said, then cut straight to the point. “Tell me. What’s going on?”
Iberigo grimaced. “I’m sorry, Taro. The baron’s household was blindsided.”
So he didn’t know much. I turned to Arcona. She lowered her gaze briefly, then answered in her refined tone.
”Yes. As you may suspect, Father is involved.”
The Castanope family had always opposed the crown. The Borgs followed their lead. Of course she hadn’t been told in advance—but she’d come to explain what she could.
”The nobles launched the coup,” she said simply.
”Because of the Demon Kingdom war?” I asked.
”That was part of it. Father’s eyes shone when he heard the news…” She laughed lightly behind her hand. The war had tarnished the royal family’s prestige. For the nobles, this was their long-awaited chance.
”But the final blow,” she continued, “was His Majesty.”
The king. His health had collapsed in recent days. The princess had tried to hide it, but word spread that he had… vanished. Dead without naming a successor. The princess tried to seize power herself. The nobles moved to stop her. That clash became today’s coup.
And there was more.
”After the Demon Kingdom battle, some heroes began drifting from Her Highness,” Arcona said. “I heard Hiiragi, their leader, led this uprising.”
Hiiragi? The name rang faintly. He was one of the other Japanese students summoned with me. At first, there had been thirty. Now, twenty. Most had gladly served as heroes. Unlike me, banished for my “Love Hotel” skill. I’d thought they were loyal to the princess. So what changed?
Was it my fault?
I had slipped some of them Love Hotel products to keep them out of the war. Only five. One ignored me. Even so, maybe the effect had spread further than I realized.
”I think more time is needed before the truth comes out,” Arcona concluded.
”I see. That’s enough. Thank you.”
I bowed deeply.
* * *
We left the Borg estate and made for the castle. To be safe, I called out my usual five from the Love Hotel: Lifia, Kéa, Yomi, Korukona, and Rozmiaque.
I didn’t care for royal politics. The princess meant nothing to me. But if I’d played a part in this chaos, I couldn’t just look away. I owed it to myself to see.
As we walked, I explained what Arcona had told me. When I mentioned Hiiragi, Yomi’s eyes went wide.
”Eh? Hiiragi?”
”What kind of guy is he?” I asked.
”Um… remember, Mr. Taro? Right after we were summoned, there was a boy who sided with the princess, saying we should fight as heroes.”
I remembered. A kid more excited than afraid, happy to be the protagonist in some fantasy story. I’d figured he’d stay loyal to the princess forever. Yet now he had turned against her.
Was he disillusioned?
High ideals can shatter hard against reality. Or maybe he’d only acted devoted back then, just to survive.
I didn’t know.
Didn’t matter. What mattered was what came next.
As we neared the castle, faint sounds carried on the wind—metal on metal, bursts of magic, screams. But step by step, the noise faded until silence swallowed everything.
The outer walls loomed. Gates blasted apart, stones collapsed. Smoke lingered. Deep claw marks scarred the stone. Through a break in the wall, I looked inside.
What had been a garden was now a slaughterfield. Soldiers sprawled across blood-slick cobblestones. Some groaned; most lay still. The carnage spoke of a battle just ended.
Knights still stood among them. Their allegiance was unclear. And there—black-haired boys and girls, swords raised, staffs lifted in victory.
”Look! That’s Hiiragi!” Yomi cried, pointing.
Up ahead, a boy was laughing with his friends. Was that Hiiragi?
The scene before me left no doubt—the coup had succeeded. Victors cheered while the defeated groaned in pain. The royal castle now reeked of triumph, chaos, and despair all at once.
But where was the princess?
To think she had been bitten by the very hero she’d once paraded as proof of her authority. The woman who had cast me out for being “vulgar.” I couldn’t help but feel she’d reaped what she sowed.
”Hey, look!” someone shouted.
The noise around us fell away, and all eyes turned toward one point.
Through the smoke and rubble stood a boy—dark eyes, black hair. One of the heroes.
”Yamada…” Yomi whispered.
I knew him. He’d never touched the products I’d given out from the Love Hotel. He fought to the end for the Demon Kingdom, stubbornly carrying on with that war. And now he stood here, looking utterly smitten with the princess.
”Yamada, give it up! This is our victory!” Hiiragi bellowed, sword raised.
The other heroes echoed his cry. It was clear enough—Yamada had chosen the princess’s side.
”…Shut up… shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Yamada’s screams rang out, shaking with madness. His whole body trembled, eyes clouded like broken glass.
”I—I’m fighting for the princess! Only the princess… only she believed in me!”
His desperate words barely carried before a cold voice slipped out from the crowd:
”But you know… she’s never even held your hand, has she?”
The murmur was quiet, but it stuck like a thorn.
Laughter rippled around him, spreading until Yamada’s face burned crimson.
”Shut up! I’ll kill you all!” he shrieked, throat straining until it seemed ready to tear. Arms flung wide, he began to chant.
”Master, it’s dangerous!” Lifia shouted. Her ears had picked up the distortion in his magic.
A thunderclap split the air.
The ground cracked open at Yamada’s feet, spreading like a spiderweb. Stone and dirt erupted, rubble flying as a choking cloud of dust swallowed the courtyard.
And then—something colossal rose from the earth.
Mud and rock fused into a towering figure, magical veins glowing across its massive frame. A human-shaped mountain of earth. A golem, heavy enough that its very presence seemed to drag the ground downward.
For such a thing to appear inside the royal castle… the destruction would be unimaginable.
So, they were serious.
To everyone else, Yamada looked like nothing more than a pitiful fool—tricked by the princess, used like a pawn. But still, he had chosen to love her, to throw away his life for her sake.
I remembered.
On the day we were summoned, he had been the first to cry out. He had shouted that it was kidnapping, that he didn’t want to fight, that he wanted to go home.
So why—?
Notes:
• Kingdom of Nakuos – The nation where the protagonist and companions were summoned as heroes.
• Iberigo Borg – The heir of Baron Borg; trusts Taro after he helped cure his fiancée’s illness; offers to hide Taro in the noble district.
• Rozmiaque – High-ranking elf investigating large-scale Spirit Magic usage. Condescending, believes a High Elf is involved. Uses 6-letter Spirit Magic to trap targets. Displays contempt for half-elves and humans. Aggressive interrogator, possibly capable of sensing hidden information.
• Korukona – A cat-eared girl with amber eyes. She is brave but vulnerable, showing honesty and gratitude. Taro rescues her from the pirate and plans to send her to her village.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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