I'm Not the Heroine

Chapter 27

It had been too reckless.

I hadn’t properly calculated the extent to which the monsters would be empowered by the demons and the Dusk Fortress.

‘I should have considered the distance from the fortress.’

The strength of enhanced creatures weakens the farther they move from their source.

But right now, the Dusk Fortress and the Western Gate of Alphares were so close it was as if you could reach out and touch it, so the enhancements hadn't weakened.

‘And the demon responsible for the enhancements must be quite powerful.’

There’s no way it’s not the demon from the original story.

After all, the [Dusk Fortress] is the unique magic of one particular demon.

It’s probably best to assume there’s a difference in depiction between the original and this reality.

“Sigh...”

Because of this, I had no choice but to pant heavily after hastily creating the spell formation.

On top of casting buffs on my party members, I had been expending both my focus and mana on developing the spell, which was making me dizzy.

“Haah.”

“Louis!”

Fortunately, Lapirie caught me from behind before I collapsed to the ground.

“What did you just do?!”

"I just cast some magic on everyone’s equipment here."

"What...!? But everyone has different body types and uses different gear... You’re telling me you did that?"

That was precisely why it had taken two hours.

If I had simply enchanted everything indiscriminately, there’d have been no need to create a custom spell. But since I had to reflect individual data and adapt it, gathering and calculating all that information took a lot of time.

“You’re insane... absolutely insane...”

“Louis!”

Soon, the three who had been fighting at the front approached me.

“Was that your doing just now?”

Still leaning against Lapirie, I nodded.

The three of them looked at me with eyes full of disbelief.

“Aswell, thanks to Louis, the burden on us has been greatly reduced.”

“That’s true. I was worrying about running out of arrows myself.”

“Thank you, Louis.”

“No problem.”

The three heroines thanked me, speaking on my behalf.

“Thanks, Louis. Because of you, everyone’s fighting much better now.”

Looking around, I saw the people fighting with expressions of disbelief.

People who had been struggling just a moment ago were now easily dispatching the monsters in front of them.

“Aswell, I think we should reorganize our entire formation now that we have some breathing room.”

Serelin spoke, and the Hero agreed. Soon, the two of them bid us farewell and gathered the captains of the three battle units.

“The church should be arriving soon. I’ll go inform them of the situation.”

Aria also left, leaving just Lapirie and me once again.

“Louis.”

“Yes?”

“It’s great that you’re casting magic for us, but let me know next time beforehand.”

When had my hair gotten so dirty?

She stroked my head, looking at me with worried eyes.

Seeing her expression, there was no way I could say, ‘I’d rather not.’

“I’ll be sure to tell you next timeeeeee.”

“Make sure you do. Honestly, I was worried you were about to collapse.”

“I got it, stop patting meee.”

Finally freed from Lapirie’s grasp, I tucked the master key away and took out my pen.

I had overexerted myself, so for the next hour or two, I’d only be able to use my pen.

“Lapirie, over there.”

“Got it.”

I handed Lapirie a golden spell and shared the next target.

The battle continued on into the night, when suddenly, there was a shift.

“No more monsters are coming out!”

The monstrous roars from the Dusk Fortress had ceased.

“Everyone’s taking a break now.”

“After fighting as soon as they arrived from the other gate, they must be exhausted. They’ll need as much time to rest as possible.”

The Hero’s party was also taking a short rest in the central tent set up by the guards.

“Serelin, use this. Don’t hurt your hands.”

“Huh? Oh, thanks.”

As she was about to wipe her blood-soaked sword, I handed her a cloth I had prepared earlier.

It only had one enchantment, but it would be good for cleaning swords.

‘It’s microfiber.’

“Louis, what do you think?”

The Hero asked me, and all the eyes that had been on him were now on me.

That’s right. I’m also a member of the Hero’s party.

They were asking for my opinion.

I stood up slowly and opened my mouth.

“I agree.”

Could we achieve a future where no one gets hurt?

It’s possible.

“Everyone’s in agreement.”

Finally, the Hero looked at each of us and nodded with a determined expression.

“Then let’s prepare.”

The Dusk Fortress.

One hour before entry.

Many people were gathered outside the numerous tents.

The guards, adventurers, mercenaries.

But they weren’t the only ones.

There were also members of the church, cooks, porters, and even ordinary citizens.

All of them were looking in one direction.

At us—the Hero’s party.

“Come back safely!”

“Good luck!!”

“Hero, you can do it!!”

The cheers of the crowd echoed, and the Hero stood with his eyes closed, facing the sounds.

The other heroines looked tense, but there was no fear or hesitation in their eyes.

“Are we ready?”

“We’re all set. It’s time to go in.”

There was a massive gate leading into the Dusk Fortress.

And now, that gate was wide open, as if inviting us in.

All we had to do was enter.

“Hero, and everyone.”

But before that, I called out to them.

“What is it, Louis?”

“Please take these.”

What I handed them were bracelets embedded with mana stones.

Using a technique I learned from Diaurcil, I had carefully crafted the mana stones and placed a spell on them.

“These bracelets allow us to track each other's locations and statuses. Serelin, Aria, and Lapirie’s bracelets are linked to the Hero’s location.”

“Oh...”

I had also engraved a separate tracking spell on the master key for the Hero.

“And what about me?”

“For you, Hero, I’ve made it so you can track the locations of the three heroines.”

I had put a lot of effort into layering several spells for this.

“What about you?”

“Me? I don’t have one.”

“Why?”

“Well, if you’re asking why...”

Because I’ll find you all on my own. But before I could say that, the Hero spoke first.

“I’d like to be able to track your location too.”

“Hmm, alright.”

I gently took the Hero’s hand and infused the bracelet with my mana.

“Anyway, with these, no matter what happens inside, we’ll be able to regroup quickly.”

I had also added several other spells, so in simple terms, the bracelets would prevent us from becoming helpless after entering.

“Haa... I feel a lot more reassured with this. Thanks, Louis.”

“No problem.”

With Serelin’s thanks, the bracelet ceremony was complete.

Now, it was truly time to set off.

“...Alright, let’s go.”

Amidst the cheers of many people, we approached the fortress and soon entered through the gate.

Rumble...

And with a deafening sound, as if the earth itself had split, my vision was engulfed by darkness.

When I came to, I was alone in a black corridor.

“It’s begun.”

At last, we had entered the Dusk Fortress.