第１０４掘：勇者と書いて傀儡と読む (Part1)
**Dungeon 104: Read "Hero," Pronounced "Puppet"**
**Side: ???**
"How is it?"
"Bad. The Demon Lord and their Four Heavenly Kings are here."
"You can’t be serious!?"
"……I hate to say it, but the residents here and the visiting kings must all be deceived."
"……I see. That explains why the weapon support for our country was cut off."
"What do you mean?"
"In short, the Demon Lord squeezed my country to strip us of our military strength. Naturally, they are trying to contain you, Taiki-sama, the Hero, with that same tactic."
"I see. If that’s the case, I’m forced to play defense back home. However, it seems the Demon Lord didn’t expect me to come here."
"Yes, that is our only salvation. No, this must be the power of a Hero. If you defeat the Demon Lord here, everyone will have their eyes opened."
I renewed my resolve to save the people living happily in this dungeon—Weed.
"I will defeat the Demon Lord and save this world!!"
"As expected of you, Hero-sama."
I swore that oath while holding the princess beside me in a tight embrace.
***
**Side: Yuki**
"……Ah, well, how should I put this."
"What an idiot."
I was watching a certain individual through the dungeon surveillance.
"So, King of Gartz?"
"……*Sigh*. To think they would resort to such a method……"
Seraria glared at the screen.
The King of Gartz was covering his face with one hand, sighing deeply.
"Still, a 'Hero,' huh."
I opened his status screen for everyone to see.
**Name:** Taiki Nakazato
**Race:** Human
**Status:** Hero of Ranks
**Gender:** Male
**Occupation:** Hero from Another World / Student
**Lv:** 168
**HP:** 7020
**MP:** 4200
**STR:** 1740
**DEF:** 1200
**INT:** 2530
**AGI:** 2032
**LUK:** 210
**Skills:**
*Unique Skills:*
- Hero’s Intuition (Demon Lord detector, includes subordinates)
- Hero’s Aura (3x damage and 3x defense against monsters and demons)
- Hero’s Charm (Popular with women. Women with weak wills are easily swayed)
- Hero’s Tenacity (Auto-recovery)
*Other Skills:*
- Numerous general-purpose skills
"Oh my, the compatibility is quite poor for me……"
Deryu’s face twisted as she looked at the Hero’s stats.
"Indeed. If it were just raw stats, Deryu could barely manage, but……"
"Don't do it. That Hero has clearly used his status to equip himself with top-tier gear," the King of Gartz interjected.
(By the way, the fact that Deryu holds the title of Demon Lord has already been communicated to each king. Their reactions were non-existent. While they are told the Fresh Blood Princess is a Demon Lord, they know the reality: she has put an end to conflicts and internal strife. They are grateful, not looking to hunt or capture her. It’s an unspoken understanding. Well, if they actually issued an order to capture her, their total annihilation would be a certainty.)
The King of Gartz, in particular, treats Deryu with the utmost respect, acknowledging her as a survivor of the dynasty that existed before. He even told her she was welcome to live here if she liked.
*“I’ll pass. As you know, I’ve finally caught myself a husband. I’m looking forward to the future,”* she had said, refusing the offer to return to Gartz.
"Decent equipment, huh. In that case, let’s call off Deryu’s interception. It would be a disaster if she got hurt."
"Yuki……"
Deryu’s face flushed red.
Well, it’s not a problem that can be solved just by Deryu going out there.
Incidentally, this Hero is the representative from Ranks, a country in the rear.
During the founding of this place, we reached out to the three countries fighting over territory in the rear, and while we didn't get the top brass, we succeeded in gathering a certain level of representation. This was for the sake of trade advertisements using the dungeon.
One of those countries brought a Hero. That is Ranks.
"Now, King of Gartz, that princess is thinking of unnecessary things by summoning a Hero from another world. Do you realize what will happen if he starts acting out recklessly here?"
"Hmm. I suspect that is exactly what she is aiming for…… Even if Deryu-dono goes out and identifies herself as the Fresh Blood Princess, they won't be able to back down now. If we follow the Ranks princess's logic, the 'evil' Demon Lord is the true ruler of this dungeon and tried to dispose of the influential people gathered here, and the Hero—backed by the justice of Ranks—stopped it. The goal is likely to gather support and aid from other countries by claiming they defeated the Demon Lord."
"……What is that? It’s a plan that’s doomed from the start," Rurua said, sounding exasperated.
In other countries, Deryu is ignored by unspoken agreement; the moment they lay a hand on her, they would be ostracized by the rest of the world.
Well, because they don't realize Deryu is the "real" one, they aren't receiving support from these three countries, and if those three stop their support, the smaller nations will likely follow suit.
"So, what about this talk of Ranks' support?"
"……About that."
"I shall explain," said Charl, who handles diplomacy for Gartz, stepping forward.
"The Ranks princess's goal this time is to receive support from various nations under the guise of defeating the Demon Lord. As for why they need support: since they stopped receiving it due to our dungeon trade, they brought a Hero to Weed to introduce him here, hoping to gather the support and aid of other nations."
"……No, even if they say it's because of the dungeon, I asked to make sure Gartz's trade wouldn't harm other countries, didn't I?"
"Yes. There is no harm, but Ranks—who was requesting supplies under the guise of Demon Lord subjugation to attack other countries with their Hero—has suffered."
"I see. That’s what it is."
From Ranks' perspective, since they have a Hero, it’s easy to collect supplies for the purpose of "defeating the Demon Lord." However, now that the three countries have joined hands and simplified trade, they only need to equip the Hero; there is no longer a need to support Ranks' soldiers. When it comes to soldiers, the three countries are superior in both quality and quantity.