Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 85
Just as expected, Derek seemed unable to bring himself to start easily, fidgeting with the hands resting on the table.
“It seems like the reason the lich settled in the Grand Duchy of Serendal was because of the magic stone mine.”
“…Do you mean, magic stones from the Hangerten Mine?”
Since the lich had been creating monsters with magic stones, it did make sense that it would settle near a magic stone mine.
But I’d heard that the magic stones they used were given by the Dark God…
“That’s right. Hangerten’s magic stones were especially famous for their high purity. In the past, we made a lot of money from them, but as you saw earlier, they haven’t been mined for quite some time. And then Mildred appeared and chose that particular mine to settle in. That doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”
Derek glanced at me briefly, as if wondering why I was asking, then continued his explanation.
“When did the mining stop?”
“About ten years ago.”
Ten years ago overlapped with the period when the Black Flame Dragon had been active.
“One day, my father said he would offer all the magic stones to the Black Flame Dragon. So we stopped additional production as well. We planned to resume mining once an order came down from the Black Flame Dragon, but then all contact was cut off.”
At that moment, I remembered what Jim, the ship’s captain, had told me while we were traveling by boat.
“I only heard it as a rumor, but aren’t there people like that among humans? Those who admire and follow even an evil being, as long as it’s powerful. I heard there are followers who obey the Black Flame Dragon.”
Then did that mean the Grand Duke was one of those ‘followers of the Black Flame Dragon’ Jim had mentioned?
“And when Mildred arrived at the castle, she spoke as if she were a messenger of the Black Flame Dragon and demanded the magic stones. Only my father and I knew about the Black Flame Dragon, so we didn’t doubt her.”
So that was it. I tried to calmly sort through the situation, but Derek’s next words rendered all that effort meaningless as my mind went blank.
“You can stop pretending you don’t know anything. The moment we met, I had a rough idea that you were the Black Flame Dragon.”
What? I was so shocked that I couldn’t think of anything to say, my eyes just widening. I couldn’t even breathe, and I couldn’t close my eyes either.
Seeing my reaction, Derek’s lips curled into a smile, as if he’d found confirmation.
It finally became clear why Derek had sought me out among the hero’s party. He was the first person who had figured out that I was the Black Flame Dragon.
“…How did you know?”
I asked blankly, like an idiot. Derek met my eyes directly, as if he’d expected the question.
“You matched exactly the appearance my father once described to me. My father noticed too. I don’t know why you’re hiding your identity and traveling with the hero’s party, but you don’t need to worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
That meant the Grand Duke had met my past self directly, and in the form of the human Lysian.
Why did the Black Flame Dragon need all those magic stones? And how had the lich pretending to be Mildred known to use the Black Flame Dragon as an excuse? Those questions gnawed at me.
“What did I do here back then?”
I started carefully.
“Why are you asking that? Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”
“Well… I have my own reasons.”
Since it wasn’t even my memory, it was only natural I couldn’t recall it, but I had no idea how to explain that to Derek, so I dodged the issue.
“You took all the magic stones with you. You really don’t remember?”
If that was true, did that mean the high-purity magic stones the Devotees of Darkness had now were ones the Black Flame Dragon had taken and given away?
I still didn’t know how everything fit together, but it was clear that the Black Flame Dragon and the Devotees of Darkness were closely connected.
That must’ve been why the lich could so confidently invoke the Black Flame Dragon.
“Do you know what I said I was going to do with those magic stones?”
“We don’t know that either. My father simply did as you told him. I firmly believed you would return and cure my father’s illness. So isn’t that why you came back?”
Why had Derek thought I would heal his father? Probably because of something I’d done to the Grand Duke. With that in mind, I asked very carefully.
“Did I do something to the Grand Duke, by any chance?”
