"If I may ask, what do you mean by that?"
The words that came out of his mouth carried pressure. The pressure was directed at me. He tried to intimidate me, but I still stood firm.
Our eyes are still looking at each other. With a small smile, I replied to Jullian's question.
"Are you sure that I should say it here?"
When he heard me say that, he immediately realized that we were still in the middle of the banquet hall, where many eyes and ears were watching us.
His eyes looked around and he saw that people were already looking at the two of us earlier. After his head turned like a windmill, he looked at me and said something.
"We'd better talk about this somewhere else."
"All right. Follow me."
I led him out of the banquet hall.
***
For a quieter conversation, I led Jullian to a quiet room. This is one of the empty rooms in this huge mansion.
When I finished closing the door, Jullian immediately grabbed my collar. Suddenly he pushed me until my back slammed into the closed door.
Twhack!
After my back slammed the door, I grabbed his hand which was still gripping my collar tightly. I pretended like I wanted to rebel. That's why I wasn't serious when I tried to release his grip.
And it seems that he used something like strengthening magic because his grip was so strong.
Actually, I just had to activate the Strengthening skill and break free from his grip, but that's okay, after all, I didn't mean to reveal that I can control Mana from the start.
"Now, tell me what you mean about my secret that you told me earlier!"
He said it in a threatening tone. Even so, not an expression of fear appeared on my face, but a calm expression instead. My mouth smiled a little and my eyes narrowed.
At that moment, I started to think about what made Jullian react like that.
What might be Jullian Arkie's secret? The answer to that question is very easy.
I actually still remember that clearly because I really planted that in my brain.
His secret was linked to the power that he received, where he obtained the magical powers that had a powerful element of light.
Actually, the secret lies not in his strength, but in the limitations that he must overcome. When he gained such immense power, he also received an equally great limitation.
Indeed, he gained great light elemental magic power. However, there is one condition to maintain his power.
He had to earn the admiration of humans.
Like a real hero, he must be able to save others and reflect the character of the hero perfectly.
Kind, honest, friendly... All of that is just camouflage so that he gets more power.
Because the more people who glorify him, the more his power will increase.
Like politicians who are willing to do anything to get votes from the people when they are about to conduct elections, so is Jullian, he is willing to do anything to have great power, including saving humanity.
Then, what will happen if the fate of mankind is certain to be destroyed? Of course, he would not hesitate to betray humanity. Such a scenario happened in the epilogue of the novel Demon Lord and the Hero of Light. Or at the end of my previous life, where Jullian betrayed humanity.
At that time, humans were indeed on the verge of annihilation, until he, who was considered a hero, felt that he was unable to save mankind. Thus, he, who did not wish to fall with mankind, was tempted by the demons and betrayed mankind.
You don't have to wonder how I got to know that even if I didn't interfere with Jullian's life in my previous life, because I know it all from the Demon Lord and Hero of Light books.
However, that was only explained at the end of the book, while at the beginning of the book it is said that Julian is a really kind person. I know that was confusing, but that's how the reality was.
Luckily, in the current timeline, he hasn't been crowned a hero yet. So, I still have many opportunities to thwart all the heroic actions that he will do later.
Including what he was going to do now, where he wanted to be engaged with Willa.
To be honest, I don't care if Jullian gets engaged to Willa or not. I'm just doing this all to prevent Jullian from gaining more power later on.
Let's get back to reality.
I was still in the position where my collar was grabbed by Jullian.
"Do you really want to know if I really know about your secret?"
"You'd better not play around if you can't bear the consequences."
"In that case, we'd better have a duel in front of all the party guests tonight. If I lose, I'll tell you...."
I stopped my speech midway. Averting my gaze from Jullian, I stared at the system message that had previously appeared next to my eyes.
[Quest: Fight against Hero of Light.
Description: You must thwart the plans of the aspiring Hero of Light to get his first harem.]
[Rewards will be given after you complete the Quest.]
The system message seemed to be telling me to fight Jullian. It was exactly what I wanted to do, so I just smiled in response to the system message.
I turned my gaze back to Jullian, then I continued my speech which I had stopped in the middle of the road.
"...But if you lose...."
"What do you want?"
"That's easy. You'd better cancel all the plans you have here and go back to where you came from. Stay home, and you should lock yourself up for the next 1 year!"
After I put forward my terms, I could see that his eyelids were twitching slightly. Then he let go of the hand that was gripping me.
"Sigh~"
I sighed as soon as I was free from his grip. I put my hand on the collar of my slightly wrinkled shirt.
When I finished, I could see that Jullian was lowering his head, as if he was deep in thought.
Maybe, in his head, he was wondering if I really knew his secret or if I was just bluffing.
Looking from his point of view, there's no way that I would know his secret.
However, what if he believes that I know his secret?
It's possible that he'll go to extremes when he's completely sure that I know his secret.
In the worst-case scenario, he would kill me instantly.
However, when he's not convinced yet, he won't do anything extreme like killing me outright.
Why can I be so sure? The reason is simple. It's because he can't kill me directly. If he kills me directly, his qualifications as a potential hero will be lost.
In the nature of a hero, they should not kill innocent people. In this case, those who are innocent are those who have never killed anyone.
"It's strange, how can he feel like someone who has already killed so many people, but at the same time, I believe he really has never killed a human."
ραпdα Йᴏνêl(сòm) Jullian muttered to himself.
Indeed, some of the followers of the Church of Light could tell whether the person had killed another person or not. Like Jullian and Clarista.
Just like Clarista won't kill me because she's a Saintess candidate, Jullian won't kill me either because he's a Hero candidate.
But, Jullian and Clarista can instantly kill me the moment I've killed someone else.
Miraculously, I haven't killed anyone else in this timeline yet. Should I be grateful?
After pondering for quite a while, it seemed that he had already made up his mind.
He took something out of his pocket. What he took was a paper.
[Name: Magic Contract Paper.
Level: High.
Description:
Magic paper that can be a judge. If you write the contents of the contract and sign it with the blood of your own accord, the contract will be active.
If one of the parties reneges on the agreement, the judgment magic will activate.]
The description of the item that was issued by Jullian was displayed in the notification window.
It seems that the Magic Contract Paper grade is higher than the Magic Contract Paper Clarista used with me before.
"Do you know what this item is?"
"Of course."
"If you had known, it would have been easier. I would have agreed to fight with you. But you have to sign here first."
Jullian suggested that we sign the Magic Contract Paper first. Of course, I totally agree.
A sly smile might be on my face without me knowing it. I knew that he would take it out, so I didn't tell him to.
Let him feel that he is the one leading this negotiation. That way, it will be easier for me.
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