I'm Not the Heroine-Chapter 73

“That if we stop them now, another horde could form and attack later. They’ll keep coming until they achieve their goal.”

“Right.”

Considering we didn’t know what kind of enemies or situations awaited us inside, it was wiser to conserve the strength of the Hero’s Party for now.

“…Alright, let’s do that.”

Even as Aswell agreed, his expression was troubled. The thought of letting enemies reach their allies seemed to gnaw at his conscience.

Despite having Oplite and seasoned guards who were now used to handling such situations with minimal casualties, his fundamentally kind nature made it hard for him to accept.

“Aswell.”

I held his hand gently and reassured him.

“Instead, let’s focus on resolving this quickly. That’ll make it okay.”

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

Aswell smiled warmly at my words. He seemed to feel a bit better and stepped back. That’s when I felt someone watching us.

No—not someone. Several people.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The four heroines were staring at me suspiciously.

Feeling their gazes, I froze momentarily, then awkwardly raised both hands. I tried to convey with my entire body, I’ve done nothing wrong. It’s absolutely not what you’re thinking.

“Hmm…”

“It’s about time something like this started happening.”

Muttering cryptic remarks to themselves, the four of them turned their attention back to the movements of the monsters.

“…”

It seemed I had dodged the situation, for now.

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But speaking of strange things, recently, even Nia had started behaving similarly to the other three.

Not just in her actions or feelings toward Aswell but also in how she was growing closer to the group overall.

It was a good thing, but at the same time, I couldn’t quite bring myself to celebrate it wholeheartedly.

I’ve never seen her look at me like that before.

Nia’s gaze, compared to the other three, was far more ordinary on the surface. Yet, within it was an inexplicable sense of wariness.

Why was she looking at me like that?

“…”

On another note, had Aswell been training even harder lately? His shoulders looked broader than before.

***

"Let’s go."

About 30 minutes later, with a thunderous roar, countless monsters descended the mountain. Moving cautiously and deliberately to avoid alerting the rear of the horde, we finally stood before the entrance of the cave.

“Aria.”

“Yes... I can feel the miasma.”

Aria made the sign of the cross and sprinkled holy water onto our armor and robes. This small act significantly reduced the harmful effects of the miasma, so we waited silently until she finished the precautionary ritual.

Clack.

Fwoosh.

“Everyone, wear this. Anywhere is fine.”

I handed out small magical tools, each acting as a light source. These devices, created with a unique magical material, adhered comfortably to the body without causing irritation.

Most people placed them on their foreheads or wrists, but Aria…

“Perfect!”

“...”

…decided to stick hers directly in the middle of her chest. It reminded me of those drink-holder antics I’d seen in my previous life.

Meanwhile, Lafiré and Serelin brought out their secondary weapons. Since their primary weapons were less practical for cave combat, they equipped short daggers about the length of their forearms.

Nia, as usual, was the same.

Unlike me, who at least wielded a pen as a magical tool, Nia relied entirely on barehanded spellcasting.

Aria, too, didn’t depend much on tools, so there weren’t any changes for her.

The key difference was Aswell. Unlike Lafiré and Serelin, who switched to secondary weapons, Aswell continued to wield his holy sword.

Although the holy sword carried the same movement and range limitations as Serelin’s, it was a sacred relic that couldn’t simply be set aside. Moreover, Aswell had trained extensively for combat in confined spaces, so it wasn’t a significant issue.

“Here, watch your step.”

Lafiré took point, her elven agility and sharp instincts guiding us to stable footholds. Thanks to her, we avoided any direct combat with monsters climbing up the path.

It seemed this cave wasn’t the only source of monsters. Likely, other hordes were forming in different directions. Just as the monsters here had gathered into a group, similar gatherings were probably happening elsewhere.

I guessed that by the time the next wave of attacks began, the monsters from this cave might climb back up to join the assault.

“The miasma is getting thicker,” Aria warned. Her words made everyone’s movements even more cautious.

Clack.

“Huh?”

Lafiré’s foot struck the ground, producing a dull sound. The material underfoot was different from what we’d been walking on so far.

“So this is the real deal,” she muttered.

The black, smooth floor marked a distinct change in the cave's composition. This also meant Lafiré no longer needed to lead us, as the path ahead was stable.

The space began to expand, growing significantly larger. Lafiré and Serelin took this as their cue to retrieve their primary weapons.

“It’s pretty vast…”

“That explains how the monsters could keep pouring out. If it were any smaller, they’d have wiped each other out in the chaos.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

If the space had been cramped, the monsters might have crushed or killed one another even before an attack could begin. The room could easily have become a blood-soaked battleground of their own making.

Even with the magical lights I’d handed out, the massive chamber was too expansive to illuminate fully. As I prepared to bring out another magical tool, my attention was drawn to Aria, who was trembling.

“Aria? Are you alright?”

Reaching out toward her, I saw her lips move in warning.

“Everyone, proceed with caution. This place…”

Gulp.

“This place doesn’t feel like…our world anymore.”

***

"Not our world?"

For a moment, no one fully grasped what Aria had said. I too froze, confused, but soon pieced together the meaning and stopped in my tracks.

“Aria.”

I turned to her, trying to confirm my suspicions.

“This black ground we’re standing on… It’s not part of the Empire’s territory, is it?”

“…No. To be precise, this land itself is saturated with miasma.”

Aria’s gaze swept across the surroundings. Her eyes caught on the jagged rocks protruding unevenly from the ground.

“Those too. They’re the same.”

Now that I looked more closely, these weren’t just ordinary cave formations. They resembled sharp, polished spears rather than natural structures.

In other words, this terrain couldn’t exist naturally in our world.

This… This feels like something I’ve seen in the original story.

Land infused with miasma. Sharp, spear-like rocks.

There was only one place in the story that fit this description.

“…The Demon Realm.”

“That’s right. For some reason, we’re standing on Demon Realm soil.”

“...!”

“...!”

Everyone was shocked. Even Aria, who had delivered the revelation, looked as though she couldn’t quite believe it.

“I’d like to think there’s another explanation, but… The density of miasma flowing from this ground and deeper inside can’t be caused by ordinary monsters or demons.”

Her conclusion, though phrased as a theory, felt nearly certain. Among all her studies, the situation she described most closely matched the Demon Realm.

And yet it was still a “theory.” Why?

Because none of us here had ever been to the Demon Realm.

“So, this might be harder than we thought,” Aria added.

“…We were prepared for this kind of challenge from the start,” Aswell said, his voice calm and dependable.

Hearing his reassuring tone, the tension in the heroines began to ease.

The Demon Realm…

Meanwhile, I reflected on what I knew from the original story.

The Demon Realm… This kind of phenomenon wasn’t unheard of.

It hadn’t been mentioned in the main storyline, but like Mercadia, it was briefly alluded to in the side stories.

[“The Demon Realm and our world nearly merged…”]

The Emperor had said those words, hinting at a grave danger.

I suspected that what we were seeing now was the precursor to that event.

This cave was part of the Demon Realm but also part of our world at the same time.

Erosion. That was the word that best described what was happening.

And how was this “erosion” dealt with in the original story?

The answer was tied to someone I knew very well.

[“Without the Magic Tower, I would have become not the Emperor of the Empire, but the Demon King.”]

The Magic Tower.

She had solved it somehow.

“Hey! I see something!”

My train of thought shattered as everyone turned their attention to the direction of the shout.

There, in the distance, was a massive, dark crimson pool, bubbling violently and releasing thick miasma into the air.