Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

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We can’t talk comfortably while standing outside like this, so I brought Feli to the camp. I also called Max and several other people to come here to hear Feli’s story. Unfortunately, Barkey hasn’t reached the campground yet.

Neurath and Schunzel gazed fiercely at Feli probably because he called me a noble, ‘big bro’. I need to talk about this to Feli later, but for now, let’s hear what he wants to say.

“It’s been a while. Why are you here?”

“Big bro Mazell said ‘Welner is probably going to arrive in Valeritz soon.’ so he asked me to stay here to be a messenger for you.”

“So it’s that punk’s doing.”

I blurted that out with a sour smile. I don’t know if he trusts me or if he just has way too high of expectations for me. There’s stuff I want to complain about, unfortunately, the person himself isn’t here.

“Anyway, where’s that guy now?”

“He’s in the Great Temple Finnoi. After we succeeded in repelling the first wave of the demon attack on Finnoi, I came here alone.”

Max, Neurath, and Augen raised a surprised yelp in unison. I stayed silent, not because I wasn’t surprised but because I’m lost for words. Why the hell is Mazell in Finnoi!?

In the game, Mazell was supposed to appear when Finnoi is already destroyed and Laura is facing off with one of 3 Demon Generals. Currently, Finnoi is still intact so why is Mazell already there?

“Tell me the details.”

“Alright. You see…”

Feli’s story can be summarized as follows. Mazell and his party were leveling up in a place near Gouberg. They were gathering information about nearby dungeons when they heard the rumor that Valeritz was attacked by demons.

Luguentz said, ‘Judging from the time the rumor surfaced, even if we went there now, it would be too late.’

That’s why even though Mazell was unwilling, they decided to not head to Valeritz. I agree with Luguentz’s assessment but I’m more surprised that Mazell accepted Luguentz’s words.

After that, the situation completely changed as Mazell suddenly noticed a critical thing.

“Come to think of it, Welner said that we should put Finnoi as our target for the time being.”

…I did say that. Wait, is that why they went to Finnoi?

Then Elrich said, “I’ve been to Finnoi before so we will be able to go there immediately.” And thus, Mazell and his party went to Finnoi and told everyone there that Finnoi would get attacked by demons.

The people of the Great Temple were skeptical, but Laura believed Mazell’s words. Ah, right. Unlike in the game, in reality, Laura already knows Mazell.

Laura ordered for the temple’s defense to be strengthened, she said it was just in case. That’s why the guards of the temple barely have enough time to prepare themselves before the demon’s attack.

I guess since Elrich is a monk, it wouldn’t be strange if he went to Finnoi before. But then again, in the game, the hero party should’ve… AH!!

Skywalk! In the game, Skywalk can only be obtained in the town that was unlocked after the players cleared the Counting Star Tower. That’s why when the Finnoi incident happened in the game, the players didn’t have Skywalk. 

But now, Mazell and his party have Skywalk and Elrich has gone to Finnoi before so they can use Skywalk to arrive in Finnoi before the demon army did. To think that giving them Skywalk has this much effect.

“Well, since we succeeded in knocking back the demon’s first wave of attack, we decided that someone needs to convey the situation in Finnoi to you.”

“That’s why you’re here, huh, Feli.”

I managed to give Feli a response like that, but the situation was changing so rapidly that I couldn’t keep up.

“In short, currently, Finnoi is still fine?”

“Yeah.”

“Welner-sama, this…”

“Ah, Augen. Can I trouble you to give the news that Finoi is still fine to the people of the 2nd Division?”

“Yes!”

Augen left the tent. I have so many things to think about that I feel like my head is going to burst. I groaned. Then, with a strange expression, Feli said, “Big bro.”

“Stop calling me Big bro. What?”

“Well, maybe I’m being too sensitive but I feel like there are a bunch of strange people in the Great Temple.”

“Strange?”

According to Feli, there is a strange group of people among pilgrims and the peddlers that are taking refuge in Finnoi currently.

“Well, they were traveling in a light outfit even though demons have been appearing more frequently recently. How to describe it… They were smiling when I talked with them but I felt like their smiles were fake.”

Maybe their strangeness is something that only scouts like Feli can notice. Feli also told me that after Mazell’s party succeeded in repelling the first wave of the demon attack, this group seemed to be asking around about Mazell’s party.

“Um… How should I explain it… I feel like they were not asking around just because they were curious about the amazing people that just saved them…”

It seems like Feli has also talked about it with Mazell but Mazell was hesitant in taking any action while the cautious Luguentz told him to be careful around them. Hmm… since I haven’t seen them directly, I can’t really judge.

“Like, who is he, or where is he from? They also asked about the relationship between Big bro Mazell and the Princess.”

I felt an alarm go off in my head. Wait, what did I just notice?

Let’s remember the game scenario. In the game, Finnoi was taken over by the demons and became no different than a dungeon. Then, in the Great Temple, the protagonist interrupted the confrontation between one of the Three Demon Generals, Beliulace, and Laura.

When Laura confronted Beliulace, what did he say? Hmm… I think he threatened Laura to do something to the hostage if Laura resisted? That means Beliulace has enough intelligence to take and use hostage.

Still, would the group that massacred Valeritz even bother to take hostages? I don’t know but if we’re talking about the worst-case scenario…

“The Trojan Horse!!”

(T/N: It is a trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected place.)

“Yes!?”

Feli yelped in surprise because of my loud shout. Well, Maz and others are also surprised. I guess anyone will be surprised since this world didn’t have the words ‘Trojan Horse’. For them, I just uttered some incomprehensible words. Anyway…

The strange people Feli was talking about are probably aiming to cause strife inside Finnoi and secure hostages during the chaos. Maybe they even aimed to open the temple’s gate from the inside.

But what if they judged that it would be difficult to open the temple’s gate from the inside? What will they do once they know that the hero was there, protecting the temple? What will they do once they gather the information about the hero? I mean the fact that Mazell was from Alea village isn’t a secret. 

My priority was literally flipped once I noticed what the worst-case situation is.

“Feli. There’s something I want you to do, but it will be dangerous.”

“Welner-sama?”

I ignored Neurath’s voice and entered the camp. I took the blue box that was placed on a shelf in the corner of the camp. Inside it are potions and magic items that I’ve had the merchant party buy. I haven’t tested the magic items so my plan might be a huge gamble.

I took 2 medicine bottles and a Skywalk from the box. I only had 2 Skywalks so with this, I have 1 left. I had enough time to test the magic items and resupply them yet I didn’t do that. I was too careless.

“What is that?”

“This is called anti-evil medicine. It can prevent demons from approaching you for a fixed amount of time.”

In the game, this medicine will make it so the player won’t have any encounters with demons for a fixed amount of time. Neurath and Schunzel were surprised by my explanation, but for now, I decided to ignore them.

The problem is I don’t know why and how this item prevents encounters with demons. Maybe it will make the user unable to be detected by the demons? Or perhaps it will give some kind of divine protection to the user so the demons hesitate to approach the user?

There might be a chance that if the demons noticed your presence before you use this item, the demons will still attack you even after you use it. The Great Temple is in danger because of the ‘spy’ but I can’t go there now since I have another urgent thing to do.

“Sprinkle the anti-evil medicine on your body and use the Skywalk to return to Finnoi. I will give you two so, after arriving in Finnoi, sprinkle the other on the ground around you. You should be able to buy some time if you do that.”

Feli listened to my words with a serious expression. Just like Mazell, I think you need to learn how to doubt other people’s words. Well, it’s not like I’ll gain anything by lying here though.

This mission is quite dangerous. Using the Skywalk to go to Finnoi will mean that Feli is going to be transported outside of Finnoi. Until someone opens Finnoi’s gate to Feli, he will be surrounded by demons. Alone.

I don’t think I can handle that kind of dangerous situation but Feli easily nodded his head. As expected, the members of the hero party had a lot of nerve.

“So after I return to the Great Temple, I just need to catch the suspicious people, right?”

“Yeah. Use the Zeavert’s name to arrest them and throw them in prison. But do it with Mazell and others, don’t do it alone. Use force if they resist.”

“Got it.”

“The enemy’s aim is probably Laura. Tell Mazell to strengthen the defense around Laura.”

“Okay. What are you going to do, Big bro?”

“I have an emergency.”

After seeing my expression, Feli stopped talking. He poured the anti-evil medicine on his head, said “Bye. To Finnoi” and disappeared. Max and the others are stunned.

“Welner-sama, that…”

“I’ll explain later. Max, I’ll appoint you as the army’s temporary commander and Augen as the lieutenant. Wait for the 2nd division instruction here.”

“Welner-sama?”

Not only Max but also Neurath and Schunzel looked confused. However, I don’t have any way to explain it to them.

The fact that our enemy is one of the Three Demon Generals, Beliulace, and the fact that he’s a sly demon who planned to use hostages are both something that only I know.

If I told them about this, I’m going to be bombarded with many questions that I can’t answer like, how did you know that? So even if I wanted to, I can’t explain this to anyone.

For a second, I thought maybe this is what people call loneliness… but well, that’s not important.

“Neurath, Schunzel, sorry for troubling you both but I need you to come with me. Bring along 10 horsemen and 26 healthy horses with us. Also, prepare some potions.”

“Y…Yes!”

“What are you planning to do?”

This is going to be a violation of military discipline, but I couldn’t care less. As for the Great Temple, it will probably be fine for a while since Mazell is there. 

“We are going to take a few elites to Alea Village. Mazell’s family is in danger.”

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T/N: Let’s play a game! Count how many the words  ‘Welner-sama’ appeared in this chapter! Put your answer in comment! Oh and next week chapter will be pushed back to Friday, Saturday, sunday, cause of my midterm

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