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

Chapter 282

TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi, and join our Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!

Enjoy~

Chapter 282 – I’ll Stay True to Myself

The once-massive Gargouille has been neatly disposed of, leaving only a pool of blood at the dismantling site.

Nearby, Carla lies sprawled out, gazing up at the sky with his pet pig. I asked him for a favor.

“Hey! I brought the materials!”

“Oh? What is it this time?”

“This time it’s a big cat.”

With that, I dumped the stored corpse out with a thud-thud-thud. He stared wide-eyed, but he started petting the cat’s corpse.

“This is nice. Feels really good to touch. Maybe the people up there will like this, too?”

“Nah, I don’t think Asia cares about dead cats. But she seems to be trying to make clothes. If we give it to her, maybe she’ll make us some clothes eventually.”

“Oh! Then I’ll dismantle it. Ask her next time, okay?”

“Okay.”

After giving the pig what looked like a sweet potato that I had seen for the first time that day, I headed to the material warehouse.

A huge Gargouille hide was drying in the center, and piles of other hard-looking materials—bones and fangs—were heaped in one corner.

Glancing at those materials sideways, I clatteringly dumped the magic stones I got from today’s goblin fighter into the wooden box Zeo made for me.

This base has magic tools for light sources installed all over the place.

The consumption and recovery rates are completely out of whack, but it’s always better to have a stockpile for emergencies.

Next…

I called out to Zeo, who was relentlessly building shelves, and to Lodge, who was grunting at the Gargouille materials.

“I’m back! Here’s a souvenir!”

“Hm? What’s that?”

“The color looks poisonous!”

“Mushroom monsters. They’re tasty when roasted, even with colors like this. They’d be a good snack to have with drinks. Did you know about these, Zeo?”

“Hmm, they were common in the forest. I definitely used to eat them as a snack with drinks.”

“Let me see. All right, then. Let’s grill some up right away.”

Zeo’s been drinking a lot of alcohol from Lodge lately, after all.

They’re probably just the right kind of souvenir for two guys who look like old men.

“Also, they’re D-rank, but I hunted a bunch of black cat monsters. If you want the materials, tell Carla. She’s dismantling them over there right now.”

“Got it. For D-rank, a wooden box’s worth of materials should be plenty. More importantly, Loki, what should we do with this guy?”

The finger pointed at the Gargouille’s materials, of course.

He voiced the obvious thought.

“Well, I definitely want armor first. Full leather armor, the cool kind! By the way, Lodge, is this material something you can handle with your current capabilities?”

“Hard to say. When I touched it during dismantling, the hide felt tough to cut. I’d guess this is high-tier S-rank material, but that’s just a hunch.”

“My Appraisal skill can only identify up to A-rank, which is level four. I can’t tell if it’s S or SS.”

“Yeah, I know. Well, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how to raise the money, so there’s no need to rush to sell the boss materials. You can practice as much as you want, right? If it goes well, you can make some for everyone else, too.”

“Hehehe, that’s the spirit!”

Since Lodge knows the material is rare, he was probably holding back until he got approval.

From here on out, it’s about how much high-tier material he can work with and build his track record.

If he keeps saying it’s a waste, he’ll never unlock its full potential.

Now that he has raised his blacksmithing skill to 10, he should be able to handle SSS-rank materials eventually.

Then maybe he could show up the dwarf in Valnir who handles SS materials.

However, Lodge might not want that, and it would just make me feel smug about my comrades’ skills.

Once the “Storage” is tidied up, the next stop is the upper plateau.

I hear it’s almost time for everyone to come down. I feed small pieces of meat to the approaching cats while watching Alicia shake the frying pan in front of the hearth.

The bricks that Felin made seem useful even here. It’s a technology not yet present on the lower plateau.

“You’ve been cooking for quite a while. Do you like it?”

“It’s incredibly interesting because I can gain a lot of knowledge from memories. All races have evolved their daily meals through trial and error, continuous improvement, and refinement.”

“Stiff! Your lines are shockingly stiff! People work hard because they want to eat delicious food. That’s good enough, don’t you think?”

Trying to act godlike now won’t fool me.

Her mouth curved downward, and her gaze, which had been chasing the cat, shifted abruptly to me. She looked shocked.

She was trying to hide it, but her hand, which had been flipping the pan, had completely stopped.

“Alicia, the meat’s burning!”

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”

Sigh.

I was actually kind of looking forward to her home cooking.

That night, we had a roasted sweet potato party with the ones I’d procured. While we grilled a few mushrooms over the fire, I shared my concerns with Ria next to me.

“Is it really that big?”

“Based on my impression from scanning the entire town, it’s definitely not just dozens of people. There were rogue elements mixed in with the Hunter Guild and merchants, too. It feels like the whole town is contaminated.”

“I’ve heard similar stories elsewhere.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Regardless of the era. Sometimes, a new nation is born through military domination.”

“Hmm. If they’re scoundrels, wouldn’t it be best to eliminate them all and cleanse the place?”

Ril held half-eaten roasted sweet potatoes in both hands as he reached a simple conclusion. But that’s precisely why it’s so troublesome—it’s not that straightforward.

“Earth had similar corrupt organizations that spread and polluted. But with this kind of pattern, the severity of the crime varies wildly depending on the person.”

With bandits, you wouldn’t have this kind of dilemma.

The boss and his henchmen grab weapons and are intent on killing to steal goods and money. They’re all guilty, so it’s a simple, one-shot solution.

Their last-minute remorse or repentance, born from begging for their lives? Frankly, I couldn’t care less.

However, in an organization where people have different roles, the guilt of the higher-ups—the Bernard brothers—is completely different from that of the lower-level members.

Consider a merchant who passed through checkpoints on a whim. If that merchant was just transporting goods for the Bernard brothers without knowing the details, you’d have to wonder if they should really be a target for execution.

I wish I could see into people’s hearts, but I don’t know if that’s a skill humans can acquire.

If they clearly intended to kill me or others, I wouldn’t hesitate. But the moment a slight curveball comes flying, my foundation shakes. I’m still too soft.

As if reading my thoughts, Ria interjects,

“When Loki makes this weird face, it’s dangerous.”

“I thought so too! I just have a bad feeling about this!”

“W-weird face… I was just thinking about how to best resolve this, planning the steps.”

“You look suspicious.”

“If anything happens to Loki-kun, I’ll erase that town.”

“Eh?”

“Well, it’s unavoidable, but everything will be kept to an absolute minimum. If you go too far, it’ll throw the world into chaos.”

“Even so, Alicia, unless there’s a huge power difference, that leniency and complacency will only end up hurting Loki.”

“That’s why last time, I kept getting beaten and covered in blood while waiting for that decision.

“”””””…'”””””

No matter how many laws exist, people ultimately judge one another. In any case, there will be those who rejoice at the outcome and those who resent it.

In this world especially, judgment is often left to the whims of nobles, whose criteria are terribly ambiguous and heavily influenced by money and status.

But that doesn’t mean I have free rein to do whatever I want.

If I go too far, I’ll just become the ‘evil’ I despise.

Ria seems to have her own thoughts on this, but for now, we’ll stick to the rules we set before.

I’ll stay true to myself and crush the “evil” I hate, as agreed.

“I’m really fine. I’ve decided I won’t do anything halfway anymore.”

After I honestly stated what needed to be done and what I wanted to do, two days later…

Operation Guinier Cleanup was set to commence.

If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!