The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 52-53

Chapter 52: The Demon King’s Subordinates’ POV

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The four-member party of arsonists—no, heroes—left Sheryl’s house behind. They believed no one had seen them commit the crime, but they were gravely mistaken.

“Oh dear. They really went and set a fire.”

The woman said.

“Yeah, they sure did.”

The man replied.

“What should we do?”

The woman asked her partner for his opinion.

“Hmm, what should we do… That’s a tough one.”

“If we leave it as-is, the heroes’ crimes will only grow more serious, but if we do that, a lot of innocent people will end up dying too…”

The flames were steadily growing stronger. If the two of them didn’t put out the fire, it wasn’t going to die down on its own. By the time someone else noticed and tried to extinguish it, chances were it would already be too late.

If they only considered the heroes, doing nothing and staying on the sidelines would be the best course. But if they considered the nearby residents, they had no choice but to put out the fire.

“Well, none of those people have anything to do with us, so it’s no skin off our backs if they die.”

The man said, but then he added.

“Still… Letting people die right in front of us isn’t right… It’d weigh on my conscience.”

“You have a conscience? That’s news to me,”

The woman said, sounding impressed or perhaps skeptical.

“Of course I do. I’m a decent person.”

“Hard to believe, honestly.”

“Oh, and there’s another thing…”

The man added one more reason to extinguish the fire.

“It’d be a problem if the corpse turned to ash.”

“Really? But the recording crystal we planted earlier caught the whole crime perfectly, didn’t it?”

“Oh… Right, that’s true…”

The two of them had broken into Sheryl’s home earlier and discreetly set up a recording crystal in a corner of the room disguised as a decoration (which they had already retrieved).

“Well, whatever. We’ve got footage of the arson too, so let’s just put out the fire already.”

The two, who had been hiding in the shadows of a building like invisible phantoms, stood up in unison and headed toward Sheryl’s house.

◇◇◇

They were subordinates of the Demon King Sharon. The red-haired woman was Elna. The blue-haired man was Elma.

They had been ordered by their superior, Sharon, to keep an eye on the hero. During the mission, they’d spent their time leisurely eating at food stalls and partying at taverns. When they finally came back, they found that Sheryl had turned into a corpse (and retrieved the recording crystal at that time).

“Elma, do you think we’re gonna get scolded by the Demon King?”

Elna asked.

“Why would we? We didn’t make any critical mistakes.”

“But that person—Sheryl or whatever—got murdered.”

“Well… I mean, that can’t be helped. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s unfortunate, and yes, it was a mistake, but not a fatal one.”

“I see. Yeah, you’re right.”

The two of them tried to push the mistake from their minds. Right before them, Sheryl’s house was burning in a blaze. If they put out the fire now, the fire might still count as a minor incident.

“Alright, let’s go ahead and extinguish it.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them thrust their hands toward the flames.

“〈Water Creation: Generate Water〉”

From the magical circles that formed at their palms, water came gushing forth—splash splash whooosh whoosh. As the water doused the flames, the fire quickly lost its momentum and finally went out.

“Fire extinguished.”

Elna declared.

“…Hmph.”

Sensing a presence, Elma turned around. A group of women—presumably housewives in their 30s or 40s—were approaching. Likely drawn in by the sight of the fire blazing in the dark of night.

“Huh? Wasn’t that house on fire?”

“Oh, we put it out just now!”

Elna answered cheerfully.

“Oh, did you? Thank you.”

“Is the homeowner not in?”

Elna and Elma exchanged glances. Then, they smiled brightly.

“Wait! The door isn’t unlocked?!”

Elna said in an exaggerated tone, and the curious housewives opened the door and started filing into the house one by one. And then—

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Nooooooooo!”

“S-someone’s dead in here!”

“It’s a corpse!”

“Someone, call the guard! Get the guard!!”
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Chapter 53: The Demon King’s Subordinates’ POV

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Hmm. It seems she was murdered by someone…”

The guard who had arrived observed Sheryl’s corpse and spoke. It was clearly a homicide. There was no way such wounds could be the result of suicide or an accident.

“And then, afterward, the culprit set the place on fire.”

“You two.”

Another guard turned to ask Elna and Elma,

“Did you see who set the house on fire?”

“Yes.” 

Elna replied. 

“We just happened to be passing by and coincidentally observed the arsonists’ actions.”

She emphasized the words “just happened” and “coincidentally.” She wanted to make it clear that they absolutely weren’t keeping watch on them. However, even without such clarification, the guard didn’t seem particularly suspicious of the two of them. There was no reason to suspect them.

“Arsonists?”

One of the guards said. 

“So there was more than one culprit?”

“Yes. There were four of them.”

“Do you know what they looked like?”

“Yes. Or rather, we know exactly who they are.”

“W-What did you say!?”

The guard’s reaction was impressively dramatic. Elna was pleased by the reaction. After pausing slightly as if to build suspense, she spoke slowly, as if she was trying to make a grand announcement.

“The arsonists were… None other than the Hero Party!”

“What!? Are you serious!?”

“Yes. There’s no mistaking it.”

Elna replied with confident nods.

“Hmm… Those heroes, huh…”

“Speaking of them, I’ve heard a few bad rumors here and there.”

“Yeah, me too… But they’re just rumors, right?”

“Well, you know what they say—‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’”

The guard murmured among themselves. It was clear that their thinking was starting to lean toward believing Elna. Elna and Elma exchanged a quiet, knowing smirk.

“Do you have… Any kind of evidence?”

“We can’t punish the Hero Party without solid proof, after all…”

If there was no evidence, the heroes could deny everything. This wasn’t the same as arresting some ordinary citizen. These were national heroes. Without proof, the guard themselves might end up being the ones punished.

“If it’s evidence you need…”

Elma said, pulling out a recording crystal.

“We have it.”

Elna added, pointing to it for emphasis.

“Hm, that’s… A recording crystal?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Don’t tell me… You managed to capture the moment of the arson?”

“Yes, we did.”

“…By the way, how did you two come to possess such a thing?”

One of the guards asked. Elna stiffened, breaking into a sweat.

“Um, well, that’s, uh…”

Elna glanced at Elma for help—the one she (questionably) relied on.

“We just happened to have it. This recording crystal was entrusted to us by our Lord, but upon witnessing a crime by those individuals—the Hero Party—we were filled with righteous indignation and recorded it as evidence.”

Elma’s tone was clearly unnatural but fortunately, the guard didn’t grow suspicious. In fact, they seemed moved by the young duo’s sense of justice.

“Wonderful. Truly inspiring!”

“Alright then! Let’s go arrest the Hero Party right away!”

These guys are way too easy.

The two thought. Elma was about to hand the crystal to the guard, when—

“Ah… We should probably make a copy, just in case.”

“Hm…? Do you even have another recording crystal to copy it onto?”

“Yes. Our Lord gave us several, so…”

Elma made a copy of the recording and handed one of the crystals to the guard. The guard didn’t ask what kind of person their “Lord” was. Even if they had, the girls had no intention of truthfully answering “the Demon King.”

“Well then, we’ll be off.”

Elna and Elma gave a light bow and swiftly departed from Sheryl’s home.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー