Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 146

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Chapter 146 – Gold and Black

Feeril held me like a tame dog, stroked my head, and made me sit meekly on her lap.

During this time, the two of us had calmed down and discussed the details of what had happened in a more serious tone.

As I listened, it seemed that it was already the evening of the next day, and it turned out that Ril and I had been here for over a day.

We had the excuse that we didn’t know how much time had passed because there was no light, but we both broke our promise to stay for only one day. We kept knocking over ants while having a great time, and on top of that, I got seriously injured, so it’s only natural that Feeril would be angry.

Ril even went off to look for the transmigrator.

And it’s no wonder that I’ve been feeling tired and hungry ever since.

Even though I’ve been running around like this, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning; I’ve only been drinking water.

I think I slept in the form of fainting, but I’m not sure how long I slept.

“(Hmm, I want to go back to the inn, eat something, and go to sleep… but I can’t give up this position either… I’m in a dilemma…)”

I thought it would be rude to interrupt while everyone was talking seriously, so I closed my eyes and opened the status screen.

The first thing I noticed was that my level had gone up so much that I was surprised.

“(This is amazing. My level was 17 before I came here, and now it’s 56. What is this place?)”

The way my level went up, especially with the queen ant at the end, was incredible.

Up until level 40 or so, it was within my expectations, or I knew what I was doing to a certain extent.

I was running around so much that I could say with confidence that I killed that many, and I didn’t think it was weird because I gave up collecting materials to do that.

However, even though I was almost unconscious from the pain all over my body, I think my level went up by about 15 just with the queen ant at the end.

Since it was just Ril and me, I guess the experience points weren’t spread out too much.

Each of my stats has more than doubled, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I’m a different person now than I was before I entered this place.

Now, I feel like I’ve become one of the higher people in this world.

“(And I’m pretty sure I’ve also gained a Lightning Element skill… Hmm?)”

When I looked at the status screen to check my skills, there was one section that I usually didn’t even look at.

In the “Title” section at the bottom left, I noticed that letters had been added for the first time.

It’s quite good that there’s something in a place that’s not a skill, but when I saw the contents, I felt all kinds of emotions.

‘King Ant Slayer.’

“(Oohh… my first title… a title I’d forgotten existed!)”

Even though it’s called a title, the way it’s handled varies from game to game.

In some games, it’s just an element of self-importance that appears above the character’s name, but in others, you can gain the benefit of a stat boost by earning it or choosing from among them.

So what is this world?

When I searched for details, I hoped it would be the latter. I found some, but my head was filled with question marks about the content.

A proof given to those who defeat the king ant.

“(Hmm? King Ant…?)”

Whether or not the stats will increase is not mentioned in the detailed explanation.

The same goes for skills, so it’s still understandable that even if bonus stats are set, you can’t tell right away unless you do the calculations.

But King Ant.

I have no recollection of that name at all.

I would like to ask for a detailed explanation: “Which one is it?”

“(The golden ant that was clearly strong must have been the king ant, and I’ve never heard of any other ants that were particularly strong. But wasn’t that ant a queen ant? Could it be that the name “queen ant” was given to it later, even though it was originally called king ant? Then who called it a king ant?)”

My head is spinning, and I can’t help but rub my head against Feeril’s belly.

This soft belly… I really want to use it as a pillow.

“Hmm… what’s wrong?”

“I’m not really sure. I just looked at my status screen, and I got a title for the first time, but the monster’s name is King Ant.”

“King Ant? Wasn’t it called Queen Ant?”

“I thought so, too. By the way, there weren’t any other ants that were particularly strong, were there?”

“Hmm… that’s right. Only that golden ant was especially strong. Even though I fought it with a split body, I didn’t expect it to take so long.”

“You were in the middle of a big emergency, and then you tried to get rid of the split body in the divine realm, didn’t you?”

“No, it was a real emergency, and I had no choice but to gather the split bodies together. Loki didn’t seem to call anyone, and I was afraid that Loki would die if I didn’t do anything…”

“What? I thought you said that if things got really bad, I should use my Divine Communication so that it would be possible to resurrect you immediately if you died?”

“No. I meant that if you thought there was nothing you could do, you should call one of the other Goddesses. I couldn’t say that outright because it would be against the rules.”

“Ueeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

“Even so~ the two of us are still here~.”

That’s true.

At first, I thought it was inevitable because it was an emergency, but even after things calmed down, there was no sign of Feeril’s return.

Therefore, the goddesses’ temporary rule that only one of them would descend had been broken.

Well, thanks to that, I’m in a comfortable place right now, so I have no complaints.

Besides, if I had made a distress call to one of the goddesses, I wouldn’t have had to spend all my skill points on Berserk, right?

When I think about it, I feel like something important is going to fall out of my mouth.

Say it more clearly, Ril…

“Well, do you think it will be okay to have two of you here?”

“For now, I think so. Since there’s nothing from Felza-sama, I personally think it’ll be okay with just the two of us.”

“Hmm. Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter if there are two of us or not.”

I think that’s true, but I can’t say something so irresponsible.

If push comes to shove, the goddesses will get angry, and if they find out that I’m the one who encouraged them, they’ll definitely kill me.

“Why don’t you take the golden ant to the Hunters’ Guild? If you do that, they’ll be able to tell you something, right?”

“Yes, I’ll try that. If I show it to them, they’ll be able to tell if it’s a queen ant or not.”

If the Goddesses don’t know about the king ant, there’s no way we’re going to get an answer just by thinking about it right now.

So let’s put that problem aside for now and… I guess I’ll have to tell them sooner or later.

Personally, I find it kind of painful to drag this out.

“Oh, and one more thing. It’s kind of hard to say, but… do you think it’s a post-death aftereffect? I think it might have come out.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Please tell me more~”

“E-Even if I say that, it’s not like there’s something mentally wrong with me. Just look at my hand.”

Saying this, I hold out my hand and begin a simple incantation.

“O wind, dance.”

“How is it? Can you see it?”

“Hmm? Wasn’t the magic black?”

“…..”

“Yes. Before I died, it was definitely blue-violet. For some reason, I noticed that it had turned black today.”

“Like a monster…”

“Yeah. That’s why I thought it would be bad to keep it a secret… I wonder if I’ve become a monster?”

I try to act cheerful, but I’m still really worried.

If I could, I’d like to keep it a secret.

But if it comes out later, the problem will get bigger, including the fact that I kept it a secret.

Then it would probably be better to tell them sooner rather than later…

Even though I think that, I feel like everyone is giving up on me, and I can’t help but tighten my grip on Feeril.

Then, after giving me a tight hug, Feeril murmured to me with a serious look in her eyes.

“Loki-kun~. Could you turn around and show me your stomach~?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Pushed by the unusual atmosphere, I rolled onto the ground and turned around.

“Hmm…please check as well, Rigal. Do you feel any part of Loki-kun’s body that seems to be producing magic power intensively?”

“No, I don’t understand. I’m not good at grasping such detailed sensations.”

“Uh, what are you doing?”

The two of them are looking closely at my body, but I don’t know what they’re doing.

Is there anything that can be understood by looking?

“The difference between races and monsters is the presence or absence of magic stones. The magic of monsters is black because it is supplied by magic stones, while the magic of races is blue-violet because it is naturally absorbed from the magic floating in the world and circulated in the body.”

“That’s why when your soul was pulled down to the ground, I thought that some kind of action had created a magic stone inside Loki-kun’s body, and that’s why I’m looking for it. But it’s hard for us to judge.”

“Ria is good at magic and magic-related things. Should we call her?”

“Yes, could you call her and have her replace you, Rigal? I need to be here when it comes to removing it.”

“Okay, I’ll call her. “

“Eh? Eh? Eh?

The story is progressing on its own, but Ria is coming here.

I’m really afraid she’ll say, “It’s too dangerous,” and make me a target.

Or something like that.

I even heard some scary words?

“Fe-Feeril? If there’s a magic stone, could you possibly do something like an operation here?”

“An operation? It’s nothing that big. I’ll just do this… It hurts, but please bear with it. I’ll heal you right away.”

“…..”

This world is too merciless…

Even if you say something like that and make your hand into the shape of a hand sword, it’s still impossible for me, an earthling, to understand.

Since I’ve had the experience of being stabbed in the stomach with my fingers and arms, I can understand that it’s possible to be relaxed enough to stab with a hand sword.

But at least… at least show me some mercy and give me some anesthetic.

After that, I desperately asked if there was any way to ease the pain, and then I saw the usual fog on the other side of Feeril.

And then, for the first time in a long time, I saw Ria.

“What is it?”

“It’s been a while, Ria~”

“W-what a dangerous thing!”

“Ugh?”

It wasn’t as if the magic stone was suddenly discovered and taken out.

My son… She stepped on my son…

Or rather, since Ria is also barefoot, it’s become a strange situation in a different way.

“Ria~? Do you understand that I called you because it’s an emergency~? This is not the time to play around like this~.”

“B-b-b-but he’s naked! A pervert is showing me something crude while naked!”

“What can I do? My clothes seem to have been dissolved by acid. Besides, it’s a cute thing, right?”

Crude… Cute…

I knew it. I knew it.

But there’s no need to say such harsh things…

You know that’s a forbidden word that tears a man’s pride to shreds?

It’s not my fault that it’s crude and cute.

It’s because of this body that has become too young!

“J-just wait and see! I’ll become a fine man one day!

“Aren’t you already becoming one?”

“…..”

“…When a human is in danger of losing his life, the will to leave descendants naturally comes into play… Mmm!”

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

“Yes. There’s no sign that it’s generating magic power from a single point. It’s circulating normally. I think the wavelength is the same as before as well.”

While I drenched the floor with my tears, Ria held her hand over my body, apparently searching for the flow of magic power.

I don’t know what she was doing, but I had heard Riste use the word ‘wavelength’ before.

Somehow, it felt like Ria was saying, ‘It’s the same as before,’ and a feeling of relief slowly spread through me.

“But then why is it black?!”

“…Loki, show me the black magic.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Create water.”

When a small ball of water was created in front of me, the black magic power appeared for a moment after the chant and then immediately disappeared.

“What do you think?”

“It’s definitely Loki’s own magic power, created from Loki’s own body. But is the color a bit mixed? If that’s the case… Could it be that you’ve turned into a demon?”

Ril touches my forehead, then presses her lips together and looks at me, her teeth showing.

I don’t know what’s going on, so I just let her do what she wants.

“Feeril, was there anything strange about Loki’s body?”

“I think he was fine, but… could it be that you’re talking about the ancient race from long ago?”

“Yes, but there’s nothing about him that reminds me of that race, and there’s no way that the transmigrator Loki is an ancient race. So I have no idea why it’s black.”

“I wonder if the fact that Loki can acquire monster-specific skills has something to do with it…”

Hmm…

The three of us tilt our heads in unison.

The idea of an ancient race is intriguing, but the fact that my transformation into a monster that I once feared has returned gives me a headache.

Since I have a magic stone in my body, the magical power it provides is turning me black.

And even though I don’t seem to have a magic stone inside me, somehow, my magic power has turned black.

If that is the case, what is magic power anyway? It seems like we’re getting into the premise and origins of this world, and there’s no way I can understand something like that.

I guess the only thing to do is to ask Felza-sama about it.

If my soul was dragged to the ground when I died, maybe my soul mistook me for a monster?

It’s like someone else’s problem, but that’s the only prediction I could come up with.

“W-well! My appearance hasn’t changed at all, and I have no desire to attack people, so I think I’ll be fine. If I get a magic stone inside me, I don’t mind having it removed as long as I get some painkillers… But in my imagination, magic stones are like a second heart, so I feel like I’ll die if it’s removed… Is that okay?”

“”…..””

“…Did you try to remove the magic stone without thinking about it too much? Hey, hey, Feeril, is that what happened?

“W-what are you talking about? I wasn’t planning on doing anything dangerous like that!”

“You did that hand motion thing with your hand earlier, didn’t you? You said it was okay because you wanted to heal it, right?”

“You’re so cute, Loki-kun~. Here, let me hold you~”

“Y-You’re deceiving me with that? It feels so good~.”

“…I’m going back now.”

As I moved my body and looked at Ria, I saw that she was already beginning to be enveloped by the mist.

“Thank you for coming all this way, Ria. And thank you for not judging me as dangerous.”

“Well, there are a lot of people who get angry when Loki dies. Besides, I’m just like everyone else, so I don’t mind if you speak normally.”

“Eh?”

As I watched the figure disappear, Ril came back.

“Did you manage to solve it?”

“No, nothing was solved, but if you don’t know the cause, there’s no point in worrying about it.”

“I see… well, Loki is Loki. If he doesn’t change, I guess that’s okay too.”

“That’s right~ for now, we just have to wait and see~. I’ll tell Alicia and the others later~”

“Yes. Thank you for your help, Feeril. I’m really sorry for causing you so much trouble.”

“I’m your mama~. So please don’t worry too much~”

After that, Feeril also returned to the divine realm, and after I found the two swords, I left the cave with Ril.

But it was all over in a flash.

Unlike the way we came, we had been here before, so Ril used her spatial magic, and I experienced my first teleportation.

Even though my eyes were open during the teleportation, the scenery changed instantly as soon as I heard the words, “Let’s go!”

I had heard the principle from Felin before, but I was still more than impressed to see that I could move without feeling anything.

It was so incomprehensible that it felt like seeing a ghost—or rather, I’ve never seen a ghost, but it felt like one.

I ran to the entrance, picked up the basket I had left behind, and then teleported again.

I found myself in my room at the inn, and it was like a cheat spell that couldn’t be more unfair.

“(Oh, I really want it… I want it so much… but all my skill points are used up on Berserk. Damn it!!!)”

After arriving at my room, Ril looked at me with a puzzled expression as I writhed in agony and held my head.

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