Chapter 24:

Chapter 22: Whole Lies

I Was An Office Worker Till I Was The Hero!?


"Glad I wasn't the only one who didn't trust him." I said, almost a weight coming off my chest revealing that. I didn't trust Mr. Voice in the slightest. Ever since I came here, he's given me vague directions and even more vague reasonings for said directions. Worse yet, he claimed to know my power was enough to stop Slain but wouldn't tell me. Lastly, Mr. Voice seemed to hide too much from us...in my world and even here, that is a sign of a deceiver. 

"So if we don't trust him, why are we following his commands?" Alna asked. 

"Cat-girl says something I agree with for once." Mateo chimed in.

"Because I think we need to unfortunately." I responded. 

"Explain." Thalia folded her arms, waiting for a reasonable answer from me. 

"Look, our options are like this. We could all just avoid this entire battle and just exist here together or apart. As we see, the world is...falling apart. There are monsters everywhere and these lands are literally disjointed. Our other option, we rise to being heroes. We face Slain, we take him down and we save this world." 

"You make it sound so simple. Hero, I don't know if you know this but Slain is basically this world's God." Mateo chimed in.

"He's not though. Maybe he has powers like a God but let's assume Mr. Voice is lying to us this entire time. Why did he set this story up the way he did? The other heroes who faced him did so alone but not us. He's been making us work together. Why?" I asked.

"Maybe he wants to take us down together?" Alna said.

"Possible or maybe he's afraid of what we can all do together." 

"Hmmm. I think Mizuki has a point. I was told to wait for heroes but with you three, I was told to follow you. Maybe Mr. Voice is done with me but why not send me out sooner to die?" Thalia began to ponder her facial expressions were betraying her kid-like looks.

"I think Mr. Voice is smarter than all of us but I see what you're saying. Maybe...maybe he's afraid of us all and hopes to have us all eliminated at once. But if we can somehow be smart about this...maybe we can fight back." Alna tried to force a positive smile. 

"Right, now let's think like this. Why does he want us 4 to face Slain together? If we could all be eliminated easily enough, then why all this preparation? Assuming Mr. Voice is trying to double cross us, he probably can't do it if we're alone but equally why then raise our power via awakening and then launch us at Slain? What is achieved if we are so powerful and us going together than at him?"

"There's a lot of what ifs in this thought process. I do agree with Mizuki though. Together we must have something Slain is afraid of and Mr. Voice thinks is a threat or a strength. We just have to follow his guidance but be ready to make a move. We will be surprised but not caught off guard." We all nodded to what Thalia said and decided to keep walking. As she said, there was a lot of possibilities here but what mattered was us standing together and ready. We had to believe we could survive this and in my heart I knew...it was possible. 

We continued our ascent up the summit. What struck me strange was how eerily quiet this place was. There were no birds, insects or even monsters making noise. All we could hear was our own heavy breaths and the occasional sounds of the mountain, rocks becoming disjointed and other pieces breaking away from the movement. Why was this place so quiet?

Evening began to approach rather quickly, the sun was setting in the distance and the top of the mountain barely visible to the naked eye.

"How much higher?" I asked Mateo who had begun to utilize his new device, a strange bird-like object that could apparently relay information to one of his hand held devices.

"If we keep this pace up...tomorrow we could reach the halfway point. So realistically, maybe 2 or 3 more days till we get to the top." 

"That's not bad." Alna said.

"No its not and I'm beginning to feel like myself again." I jumped in place a bit and noticed my pains from earlier were almost entirely gone. Still some minor discomfort but it wasn't bad at all. 

"Good, but we shouldn't push too much. The day we dragged you back into the HV, your body was like a piece of parchment ripped apart." Thalia said. I could see Alna look down in depression.

"What matters is the now, I'm fine." I patted Alna on the back and gave a thumbs up to Thalia. She looked at me but the smiled a bit. 

"Alright, let's camp here. The weather is still good and the path is devoid of any threats." Mateo said, his bird device returning to him and disappearing.

"Rest sounds nice, we can also cook..."

"We will cook, you two rest." Alna interrupted me. I didn't argue, Mateo and me decided to set up camp. 

As we began to work on the tents and making sure they all the sleeping mats in them, Mateo pulled me to the side.

"Hero...no...Mizuki...I need to talk to you." Hearing Mateo call me by name was a bit worrying.

"What's the matter?" 

"Let us call Mr. Voice...I think I have a way to prove if he's being loyal to us or not." 

"Really?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, I can't tell you or the girls but trust me. I thought about it earlier. I have a question he can answer me and if he answers it wrongly, I know this is 100% a façade." 

"We can try but let's summon him with all of us present. I don't want the girls to be concerned." Mateo looked at me, thought for a second and then flashed a wicked smile.

"That will work way better."

After we had finished, Thalia and Alna told us dinner was ready, it wasn't anything more than a beef stew-like soup--it tasted strange but good and I didn't want to know what meat was used--we went over the plan. Alna and Thalia were both hesitant but they agreed.

"What do we do if we learn it's deceived us?" Thalia asked.

"We keep going. I know that sounds crazy and something only hero would tell us to do but at least we'd know he's a liar and going forward, that would give us an edge." Mateo suggested.

"Hey now...I don't disagree that does sound like me but jeez be nicer about it man." I laughed and the rest of us began to laugh, a nice distraction for a moment. 

We began to call Mr. Voice. It sounded like a ritual but if we kept calling for him, he seemed to answer. Just saying his name once wasn't enough. 

"Mr. VOICE YOU STRANGE MIST-like WEIRDO!" Mateo screamed.

"Mr. Voice we need to talk to you." I said.

"Mr. Voice please talk to us, we need guidance." Alna lied 

"Mr. Voice are you him or an it?" Thalia said which made us chuckle.

"I am a him, you fools." that voice didn't belong to any of us and indeed was from the one we wanted to appear...Mr. Voice.

"Took you long enough." Mateo rolled his eyes.

"I need to be sure Slain isn't listening and since we are closer its even more important to be weary of our interactions. Why have you summoned me?" 

"I have a question for you." Mateo asked.

"You? Fine be quick." Mr. Voice sounded agitated.  

"I know I ran from you...I am sorry for that honestly. I was...terrified." Mateo for the first time began to open up to us. Back in the cave, I remember I asked him but he told me he would tell us in due time. I guess this plan would mean he'd also have to reveal his past.

"You did...you were a coward." Mr. Voice just loved rubbing salt in the wound. Mateo dejected for a second but then went back.

"I ran because I was terrified, you told me I was going to be a hero with my lame power...that first night I was alone, I ran into a strange creature. I tried everything to scare it away and it didn't even work. It ran at me, attacked and I was lucky enough I fell down a ravine. The monster didn't chase me but I spent days trying to get out of that pit, calling for you and calling for anyone. It was...a nightmare."

"Mateo..." I wanted to reach for him because it sounded so much like my first day. I looked over towards Alna. Had I not met her, that monster would have possibly maimed me or worse...I too might have run for my life and never rose to be who I am currently.

"I finally escaped and headed for a small village where there was no one...not a single soul. Everyone there was dead..."

"The village of the lost. I had heard about it, apparently it was attacked by goblins overnight and everyone there was killed. They had no defense." Thalia mentioned and Mateo nodded.

"Yes, there are still skeletons there...small and large ones. When I saw that and after the ravine, I knew I had to run and hide. I wasn't made to be a hero...not with my power. I took a small club I found off one of the dead villagers and ran...and ran...and ran. I finally settled in that mountain and I don't even know how long I was there for. I remember you visited me one time. you remember that?" 

"Yes, I begged you to be a hero again but you said no and then never responded to me no matter how many times I appeared."  Mr. Voice said, his mist like form moving around.

"Yes...you did. You told me, it was okay...I'd be a hero eventually whether I wanted to or not."

"I did...was I wrong?"

"No...I just wanted to say I'm sorry for running from my duties. I won't this time. We will beat Slain and save Armata!" Mateo said so confidently.

"Good, I'm glad you called me to prove your worth and apologize despite it being foolish. Now go on, keep ascending this place. Our final battle will end in victory once you reach the top!" Mr. Voice vanished and left us.

"So...?" I looked over at Mateo. He looked at all of us and smiled widely.

"That Mr. Voice is 100% a liar."



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