Prologue-3-Living as Best Friend

Two weeks have passed since the Hero killer, Mathis Lutius,—- Seig Andreas who disguised himself was sent to a frontier village.

The territory near the village is administered by Viscount Guster.

The Demon King had been defeated, and the forces of the Demon Kingdom were rapidly losing momentum. He has been in the army for many battles, but after a long absence, he has returned to his domain after obtaining a rest.

　He had accomplished one great task.

And he had no reason to complain about his falconry excursion.

　Under clear skies, Guster drove his horse through the plains, just barely over the deep forest on his right. With his prized hawk on one arm, he caught a flock of waterfowl at the water’s edge ahead.

　Leaving the others behind, he speeds up and releases the hawk.

　The hawk, sensing the danger, took off from among the waterfowl.

　With its sharp talons glinting, it successfully caught the waterfowl in mid-air.

　The soldiers who were watching from afar cheered.

But the hawk failed to return to the Lord.

　Before they knew it, Guster had disappeared from his horse.

A moment – it was really a split second.

　Everyone, even Guster, was captivated by the sight of the hawk catching its prey.

　His eyes and mouth were covered, and he was taken from the horse.

　Although there were forests and clear plains, not a single person was aware of what was happening.

　When his vision cleared, he found himself surrounded by trees. It seemed to be in a deep forest.

　But more than the location, Guster was puzzled by the young man standing in front of him.

“Mathis Lutius is that you……?”

　His dark hair, dark eyes, and well-formed face matched Guster’s memory.

　But he also knew that he could not possibly be here.

　The collar around the young man’s neck.

The ‘Watcher’s Collar,’ a proof of a criminal, has a gem that contains various lost technologies from ancient times, such as “communication magic’.

If any abnormality is detected, the receiver placed in the Holy City will be notified and this time he will be decapitated.

Abnormality includes when a person has left the designated area, or when he has used his magical power to the extent of unleashing great magic.

At least the former would be caught up.

　No, before that, what he can’t believe is…

“Where are your associates?　You don’t have the strength to take me away!”

“Associates?　There’s no such. I’m not a coward like you.”

　His tone was different from the “him” that Guster knew.

“I’ll have you tell me who the people are who set us up.”

Although it bothered him, the other party was a dropout who had no skill with swords or magic. He could not trust that he had no associates, so he tried to put his hand on the sword at his waist while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings–

“Yeah, I don’t mind if you resist. If you can, that is.”

　Thud. His arm that he had extended to the sword fell off.

“Gaaaeaaaahhh!?

　A delayed, intense pain shot through his entire body from the wound.

　What did he just do?

How could a man whose Swordsmanship and Magic are comparable to those of an average person, could hurt the one who has fought and distinguished himself on the front lines against the demon army ……

　It’s clear that — he doesn’t have any accomplices nearby.

　Because from the man in front of him, there is a visible shimmering of Magic Power.

“It’s noisy. Enough with the screams, just talk.”

　The bleeding stopped. But the arm is still down, and the pain continues.

This is a clear demonstration of Magic. Even though it was only to stop the bleeding, it was high-level magic. He didn’t even notice that it had been invoked.

“Well, I have time. Your screams won’t reach anywhere. At best, you will suffer.”

Guster was horrified by the inescapable ‘Death’ of this completely expressionless young man.

　Guster was the one who led the Demons to assassinate the Hero.

　In fact, his best friend was attacked and killed by Demons who were not supposed to be there at the place where his unit was guarding him.

However, it could not have been the sole act of a middle-ranking nobleman.

　After torturing Guster, nine ringleaders were revealed, including Guster himself.

　They were all nobles of the Holy Kingdom of Therium.

He wanted to kill them all right now, one by one, meticulously.

But Seig chose not to do so.

(Now is not the time.)

　Avenging is only one of the objectives.

　The reason he attacked Guster this time was to uncover the ringleader.

　The most important thing for him is to restore the honor of his lost best friend.

Guster’s body was left there to be gnawed on by the beast.

　Then he hurries to another place – 

　A rocky area south of the Holy City. There was a small cave entrance there.

　But it was long and intricate inside, and at the far end, there was a wide cavity.

When we entered the cavity, which was closed by an iron door, the walls were faintly illuminated. Shelves lined up here and there, filled with books.

“Hey, hey, it’s not just a thousand or two, this much …….”

　There were also other magic tools that were in the process of being made, scattered on the floor and shelves.

　The Supreme Sage Mathis Lutius was also a teacher at the Academy in the Holy City, and all of his personal belongings in the laboratory there have been confiscated.

　However, they are all known for magic research.

　This is a workshop for secret research by the Supreme Sage.

　Materials and magical tools in the process of more advanced research, especially ancient and supposedly lost technology, were secretly hidden in this place without anyone knowing about it.

His best friend knew, and he came to inherit it.

(Hmm?　That’s ……)

　In the corner of the cavity, he found something unnaturally covered with cloth. It was about two times larger than a person.

　When the cloth was removed, a clear container was filled with liquid, and in it-.

–a beautiful woman was floating in it.

“A human …… or perhaps a half-beast person.”

　At first glance, she looked young and beautiful, with the same face as a human.

　But on her head were what looked like the ears of a beast, and across her waist was a bushy tail that wagged. Both appeared to be silver, the same color as her hair.

Her eyes were closed, so it was unclear, but there was no doubt that she would belong to the demon world if her eyes were red.

　A few books had fallen beside the huge transparent container. They were thick notebooks. He picked it up and looked into it. It was her design document written by Mathis.

“Homunculus……, and also autonomous?”[TN: It says Homonculus but I feel Android sounds better, gib suggestions]

A mere doll could be made with today’s technology, but a living, breathing creature that moves around with a sense of self-worth is only possible in a theory.

“But this one is almost complete.”

He also found a document that looked like a blueprint. The parts were in a box at his feet.

　The heart of the device is a simple magic furnace modeled after the “Magic Furnace of the underworld,” and theoretically, as long as there is a regular supply of magic power, it will continue to operate semi-permanently.

“How did a soul come to be?　The details are at ……. over here?”

He looked at the nearly 3,000 books in the library and was dismayed.

Anyway, the Homunculus should be the first priority.

“I’m not a fan of studying and researching.”

　He hated it. But…

“Even a fraction of the great things you could have done, ……”

He’s going to make it happen.

And so regain the fame of Mathis Lutius, the Supreme Sage.

　Can I do it?

He was only strong and had left all tactical stuff to his best friend.

However, he decided to do it.

Then, he would finish it. No matter how many years it would take.

His family would continue to live as if he were dead.

He no longer cared about the title of the Strongest Hero, nor about the name and appearance of ‘Sieg Andreas’.

“Well, first of all, I have to do something about my tone of voice and my attitude.”

If not careful, the truth will come out.

Because he has to pretend to be his best friend, he has to be very careful.

Seig strengthened his resolve and started to take in Sage’s heritage–

With this Prologue is now finished.

And Mathis was a man of culture, alright.