Chương 46: It Has Always Been Five

I observed the expressions of Henry and Rachel; though they remained silent, they seemed to have reached a tacit agreement.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, the two of you will enter the palace. Just stick to what I've written here and you'll be fine." I pulled a piece of paper that contained the key points I'd drafted during class for negotiating with the Royalty from my pocket and placed it on the table. Rachel picked it up and scanned the contents before looking at me.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"Huh? How could I? I'm not a Hero Candidate, and I have no family backing to speak of. Who would even listen to me? Besides, I have business tomorrow. I'll likely be leaving the capital the day after."

"Heading where?"

"A place called Grasiva. The Church just assigned a few Hero Candidates there for a mission; I'll be tagging along." Henry spoke up, "Who exactly was assigned? And what kind of mission is it?"

"All of them are healers. The Church claims it's for plague control, but I'm not buying it."

"Grasiva? That's the place..." Henry cut himself off, casting a fleeting glance toward Rachel. She didn't miss it, of course. She raised an eyebrow.

"Wary of me? Fine, I'll step out." I interjected with a conciliatory smile.

"No, he's just worried you won't understand the context of what we're about to discuss. Besides, with your skills, if you wanted to eavesdrop, we wouldn't be able to detect you anyway." Rachel shifted her gaze like a cat trying to pretend it didn't enjoy being petted.

"Hmph. You know exactly what my line of work was. The amount of classified information I know probably outweighs both of yours combined." Seeing my relaxed attitude toward Rachel, Henry stopped being vague and spoke plainly:"Grasiva is highly likely where the Church conducts experiments related to Miasma." Miasma is the toxic fog that blankets the Demon King's domain. Humans and animals that inhale a certain amount of it undergo mutations.

The various grotesque monsters in this world are a direct result of this toxic gas. It is the primary reason why only the Hero's party is permitted to participate in the Demon King's conquest. To date, the Hero's Mark is the only thing known to grant humans immunity to Miasma. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Rachel was well aware of this. She asked, "Experiments related to Miasma...

you mean the Church is looking for a way to protect ordinary people from its effects?"

"Yes. From what I can tell, they have already made significant progress. By the time the conquest began, they had finally succeeded." I raised an eyebrow and asked Henry, "They actually succeeded? If that's the case, why didn't they send reinforcements to support us?"

"We did have six people."

"Huh? But all six of us had Hero Marks, didn't we? There wasn't anyone else." I was starting to find this confusing. Henry shook his head and said:"It took me a long time to realize this myself. The Holy Marks... there have always been only five." There have always been only five Holy Marks? Then what is this on my hand? No, the mark on my hand is undoubtedly real. Although I'm not sure if it will still work this time, the fact that I could withstand the Miasma in the first isekai proved it.

Halunar even used it to recognize and summon me. That meant... among the remaining five, one Holy Mark was a fake.

"You mean Claire's mark was a fraud? She was able to enter the Black Forest because the Church's experiments were successful?" Henry nodded. It sounded perfectly logical, not even a difficult deduction to make. From ancient times until now, there had always been exactly five Heroes. There were, and should have, no exceptions. It was me who had always assumed that because I was an Isekai traveler, I was the one who created this "sixth member" anomaly.

I had defaulted to believing I was unworthy, the one who was redundant. I had tormented myself, thinking that because of me, the power bestowed upon the Heroes had been diluted. I had turned myself into an errand boy just to beg for the acceptance of others. And now it turns out... I was one of the chosen ones all along? Henry watched me, silent as if waiting for something. What was he waiting for? Did he expect me to fly into a rage, cursing Claire as a thick-skinned, treacherous bitch?

Or to point a finger at his face and call him a blind fool? To let hatred consume me and seek every possible way to retaliate against the Church? If I were the "me" of ten years ago, I certainly would have wanted to do all of that. To be honest, I still kind of want to. But that's just too exhausting. Perhaps I'm in quite a good mood because I just had a solid night's sleep and gave Julius a humiliating setback.

Or perhaps my head is so full of schemes and calculations that spending energy on anger feels like a waste of resources. Right now, I just want to handle this mess properly, then go back home to eat a bowl of Pho and lie down on a soft mattress under the cool breeze of an air conditioner. Noticing the unusual silence between Henry and me, Rachel spoke up with a suspicious tone:"What on earth are you two talking about? How could Claire enter the Black Forest? She's dead!"

I couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter.

"Exactly, Claire is dead," I said, my eyes still fixed on Henry.

"There are no more fakes. From now on, there are only the true Heroes." Rachel's eyes darted between the two of us.

"I'm starting to feel like you two are speaking in some sort of code I don't understand. How did I never know you two were acquainted? And I know quite a lot, believe me."

"There's plenty about me you don't know yet. A man is most charming when he's mysterious; feel free to find out at your own pace," I winked at her. Rachel let out a boisterous laugh.

"A 'man'? With that height? You're just a brat." The smile on my face vanished instantly. At the moment, it seemed I really was shorter than Rachel. But this body is only sixteen! It's definitely going to get taller!

"Alright, I've said everything that needs to be said. The rest is up to you two. I'm heading back."