I Have Become The Heroes’ Rival

It was Felix who first tried to take me outside, but now I was leading the way.

When I glanced back, he was smiling like a fresh summer flower.

Oh, my eyes!

I rubbed the sore corners of my eyes as if a flash had hit me.

He was so handsome that I was dazzled by the halo around him. Until I saw Felix, I didn’t know that this comic expression was actually possible.

“Good job, Irene. Please continue to respond that way in the future.”

Felix patted my head gently as if to praise me. I was totally becoming accustomed to him patting me like this, wasn’t I?

Inadvertently, I was sucked into the golden atmosphere Felix emitted, and every nook and corner was being filled by Felix alone. I didn’t really hate it.

I was happy to hear the compliments.

‘To be honest, I regretted it as soon as I came out.’

I looked up at him and asked in an uncertain voice.

“Would it have been better to cooperate? At least we could’ve made a compromise.”

No matter how much he looked like nuclear waste, he should pass through the filters!

However, in this world ruled by a gangster, we must bow down first.

I guess the ride on the demon’s relic route was going to begin smoothly.

No, judging from Benjamin’s dubious attitude, it seemed he was already onboard and that it had already begun.

He never had any intentions to conciliate with me. It seemed that he had already made an extreme decision.

In the end, Felix will become the incarnation of desire devoured by the demon’s desire!

At that moment, his hand came down from my head and wrapped around my cheek,

“No, I’d rather become a devil than cooperate with that.”

* * *

I laid out several maps on the floor of the playroom.

The maps were large and existed in many types, so when I spread out all I had collected so far, there was no place to stand.

After searching here and there, I obtained some rare maps that were very difficult to obtain, but they were also challenging to recognize and understand.

I couldn’t help it because I needed maps of remote areas or places outside the continent where people couldn’t reach.

I was desperate for Google Maps. I arranged a map with a sigh. As I concentrated on my work, it started to get dim.

When I finally managed to pick a map with the help of a servant, Claudia and Felix appeared at the entrance of the playroom.

“Rin!”

Today, the sparkling siblings had both hands full of shopping bags.

I was told that I couldn’t see them at all today, but did they go out to the city together without telling me?

‘It’s rare.’

Felix, who had many secrets, occasionally went out without a word, but Claudia always told me everything.

Well, siblings could spend quality time together. No matter how well you were with me, there was bound to be an area that I couldn’t get close to.

Even though I thought so, I was a little sad about it. At that moment, Claudia ran to me and placed all the shopping bags in my arms.

“……What’s all this?”

I looked down at the shopping bags, which were difficult to hold in my arms, with a puzzled expression. They were all stamped with the seals of high-end stores.

In modern times, it was called luxury brands.

“Happy birthday!”

“Alas.”

It was my birthday today.

I didn’t know. Rather than my birthday, it was lrene Amber’s birthday.

And now that my life was full of ups and downs¹, I couldn’t even afford to take care of myself on the day I was born.

I wasn’t even aware of it, but I didn’t know you cared.

“Thank you.”

When I received the unexpected salutation, I replied half mesmerized.

Then, I eagerly opened the gift box in one of the shopping bags Claudia gave me.

There were so many gifts that it would be a job to open them.

“I thought this would look good on Rin, so I made a pair of shoes. The same goes for this bonnet…… Oh! The evening bag and dress here are a set. Isn’t the combination of flower-shaped jewelry decoration and ribbon so lovely?”

The moment Claudia saw it, she had cried out that it was made for Rin. And right away, she called the designer who made these clothes and bags and hired them as their exclusive designer.

Claudia chattered with the voice of jade beads rolling.

It was clear and cheerful, like the sound of a lark chirping, so just listening to it still made me feel better.

‘You look more excited than I am. So cute.’

I looked at her with a satisfied expression and checked the price tag stuck to her clothes without thinking.

“…….”

The price wasn’t cute at all.

Never mind. I didn’t see anything. I doubt I would be able to survive if I checked everything like this.

Besides, you hired another designer for me? Maybe they were employed as a replacement. I was curious, but I thought it would be better to bury the curiosity for the sake of my mental and physical health.

“I’ve always wanted to make a brand for Rin.”

“No……. Please refrain from doing that.”

At that point, I stopped her flow of thoughts as I didn’t know what this mistake would do to Claudia’s diamond mine². A brand would be too big for me.

I would be embarrassed before something so great!

“What? Why? I’ve already decided on the brand name. It’s called RENE.”

That’s just the letter ‘I’ removed from my name, IRENE. I was soaked in a cold sweat from the challenge before me and quickly changed the topic.

“You’ve given me enough birthday presents. Rather than that, look at this.”

Pointing at the map I had chosen with great difficulty for Claudia, Claudia muttered to herself with her head tilted.

“Well, I’ve never seen this area before. I don’t think it’s near the capital, right?”

Felix, who approached us, looked down at the map.

“This is a map of Camoli Island, a small island in Gelao south of the Empire. It would have been difficult to obtain.”

As he said this, he very naturally put something in my mouth.

Chocolate slowly melted in my mouth that I reflexively opened.

Felix sweetly smiled as he met my gaze.

Only then did I notice that Felix’s shopping bags were all stamped with the seals of the famous dessert shops in the capital.

“Do you like it?”

With my cheeks flushed, I slowly nodded.

Then Claudia, who was watching the scene, rummaged through Felix’s shopping bag and pulled out a macaron.

“I chose this one. It’s been popular among young people these days.”

I accepted what she offered. It was a fat macaron with a very thick filling of vanilla cream, strawberry jam, and cookies on a pale pink skewer.

Ha, what was this delicious…….

When I chewed the macaron with a look of joy, not only did Claudia look pleased, but also Felix.

I averted my gaze in embarrassment when I noticed that they were both completely focused on me. Why on earth were you so happy with my every reaction?

With a short cough, I pointed politely at the map again with both hands. Please focus on this.

“In fact, all the places marked on the map here are places where I suspect there is an independent spirit.”

There were several criteria for judging that.

Firstly, a mysterious phenomenon that deviated from human common sense must occur in the nearby area.

Secondly, the origin of the phenomena from point 1 must be a remote place where people could not reach. In other words, it should be a place for natural survival.

And lastly, if organizations or institutions tried to hide it and cover it up, we must suspect it.

“Speaking of Camoli Island, I was actually bothered by it the most. Have you ever heard anything about the island?”

When I asked, Felix followed me and crouched down in front of the map before answering.

“Roughly. I heard that thousands of years ago when the demon world was opened, it was used as a passageway, and the whole island was full of evil spirits.”

Claudia, who was fiddling with my hair, then spoke.

“I heard that it’s an extraterritorial jurisdiction. It’s a special jurisdiction free from state interference.”

I nodded my head.

Camoli Island, in a nutshell, was a city abandoned by the Empire.

The passageway to the demon world that was once opened could not be opened a second time. Therefore, there was a wide belief that demons and creatures would no longer emerge from Camoli Island.

Even now, thousands of years later, the island showed no signs of recovery.

The air was still full of evil spirits, and the land was so polluted that it was difficult for not only crops but also trees to grow abundantly.

And sometimes, an unidentified creature popped out and ate people. The islanders called it the devil.

The troubled land that no one in the Empire wanted was completely abandoned about 50 years ago.

“But, no one comes in and out from Camoli Island anymore.”

“No one comes in and out?”

“Yeah. If a person lives there, there will be merchants who will procure supplies and bring in goods. But no one goes in, and no one goes out. Because it is a barren land, it is impossible to be self-sufficient.”

Camoli Island had a few people who dwelled there. It wasn’t because they wanted to, but because they had nowhere to go, so they just lived on the island for generations.

“……then all the people on that island are dead?”

Claudia looked uneasy as if asking what type of horror story this was.

Yeah, that’s what people usually thought when they heard up to this point.

But with that said.

“Camoli Island is a special jurisdiction in ‘Upper Mendello’. However, from this point where upper Mendello begins, no outsiders are allowed in.”

More importantly.

“There is a rumor going around that the barren land where the crops dried became fertile and lush from the edge of the river.”

Of course, it was a rumor that would have remained unknown without an intelligence agency because it circulated in the dark.

The authorities of Mendello were very desperate to prevent rumors about the upper region of the island from spreading.

“Doesn’t it smell?”

“The smell of the spirits?”

“Yes.”

Of course, this was only my guess.

It was not possible to purify the evil mana even with magic, so they built resistance instead. After all, only a spirit could revive a dying island.

“It’s not the power of an ordinary spirit.”

If it had enough power to revive the nature of the entire island, it was sure to be at the level of the Spirit King. Of course, under the assumption that this wasn’t a rumor.

If so, there was a high possibility that the spirit was an independent spirit! There was also a possibility that someone summoned it, but that was a slim chance!

“You promised. Let’s go sign a contract with the Spirit with the three of us, together.”

I squeezed Claudia’s hand tightly and smiled at her.

Her eyes shook like a candle for a moment, and then she pulled me into her arms.

Startled, I blinked and reached out a hand to pat her back. My lady, you have been struggling with Nihilis³, the spirit of hopelessness.

“The question is how to enter this island where no one is ever let in…….”

I wasn’t sure, but with Felix’s magic, I thought that going in and out of the island would work out somehow.

After I left her arms, I agonized over it with a serious expression on my face. Then Claudia and Felix looked down at the map and exchanged glances silently.

They seemed to have no idea why I was worried about such things.

The perfect brothers and sisters, who had been silent for a while, said in unison.

“We can buy an island?⁴”

“We can buy an island.”

* * *

T/N: This chapter and the next one is last week’s (late) upload!! Thanks again for your great patience everyone!

^{1. Irene is saying her life was alternating between good times (ups) and bad times (downs).↩}

^{2. Chapter 2 mentioned that Claudia’s the owner of a diamond mine and the daughter of the major shareholder of a mine corporation.↩}

^{3. Chapter 25, the spirit was introduced here. Nihilist was an intermediate-grade spirit and saw Claudia’s potential. He stuck onto her like a pest and blocked Claudia from being able to summon any other (stronger) spirits so that she will constantly feel hopeless (since he is the spirit of hopelessness, he feeds on that.)↩}

^{4. Yes, this is an intentional question mark from the author. :>↩}

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