"Ian—!"
Penny burst out of Ian's tent as if she'd been burned by fire.
Her eyes fell on the pile of documents blazing in the bonfire, and she screamed toward Ian, who was riding off into the distance.
He was getting smaller and smaller as he galloped away on horseback.
"Ian, Ian—! You mad...!"
The members of the 1st Hero Party were thrown into confusion by her throat-tearing shouts.
It was the first time they'd seen her excited, she who always smiled and spoke politely.
Penny ruffled her hair like a madwoman, then plunged her hand into the bonfire.
"What are you doing?!"
Kaily quickly blocked her, but Penny shoved her away.
"Let go! Do you even know what all this burning stuff is?! What have you been doing, just standing there?!"
"What is it? We only did what you told us to. You said to just follow orders too."
Kaily shrugged and glanced at her comrades.
The rest of the heroes looked perfectly calm.
Penny ground her teeth as she glared at them, innocent as children unaware of the world.
Ian, you lunatic... Even so, burning all this? Do you know how much this is worth...? And there were even Sir Philip's documents in there!
The papers swallowed by the bonfire had vanished without a trace.
Rummaging through the ashes now would be pointless.
Kaily patted her shoulder.
"Why worry so much? Don't you know who we are?"
The 1st Hero Party.
Humanity's star, boasting overwhelming power and unrivaled popularity.
But right now, that meant nothing to Penny.
Haa... I'm going insane. Why did I even come all this way...?
The true manager of the 1st Hero Party, Philip.
He never involved himself in the actual work.
A supreme being who manipulated and managed everything from the shadows, never stepping into the light.
He was Penny's ideal, the benefactor who had saved her life.
It was only for him that she'd abandoned being a hero to become a manager.
By analyzing his footsteps, she'd learned so much.
Turning heroes into symbols of hope, gathering public attention around them.
Countless other things followed his lead.
It had started from curiosity.
But she'd quickly been captivated by achievements bordering on omnipotence and his mysterious tendency to hide himself.
To Penny, Ian had been a thorn in her side.
A puppet doll carrying out orders from the real manager 'Philip.'
An obstacle blocking her from meeting Philip.
She'd finally managed to drive Ian out, only for him to burn every document related to the 1st Hero Party and Philip.
She had no idea how to contact Philip now.
"Anyway. You'll keep your promise, right?"
"Promise?"
Penny openly sneered at Aria, who smiled warmly.
"You leave things in this mess and now you say that?"
"This mess? We faithfully carried out our duties."
"Haa..."
Ian had been right.
What to do with these fish-head idiots?
She made her decision quickly.
Like it or not, these were the 1st Hero Party that Philip had carefully nurtured.
They'd know how to reach him.
Penny quickly flashed a smile.
"A promise is a promise. Don't worry. By the way, where is Sir Philip?"
"Philip?"
Everyone tilted their heads at her question.
They exchanged glances, and not one seemed to know.
"No idea. He's been like that before, so why keep looking for that guy?"
Kaily spoke for the group.
"He's the real manager who gives Ian important info and orders. Since I'm taking over for Ian, I thought I should meet him."
The reaction wasn't good.
The four heroes frowned, as if they couldn't comprehend.
"That again? As I said before, Philip's just one of Ian's hired attendants."
"Haa... Fine. Then do you know where this attendant Philip is?"
"Nope. Don't care. Ian might know."
"..."
What was going on?
Philip was the one who'd raised them himself.
It didn't make sense that they didn't know him.
But there was no lie in the heroes' expressions.
Penny was quick on the uptake.
Philip's movements are as elusive as these heroes. Only a tiny few know the full truth, but he has some fame. For these heroes not to know...
The conclusion: He'd hidden his identity from them so they wouldn't pay attention.
Penny let out a hollow laugh.
Philip... You're amazing. Hiding yourself this perfectly.
But even Philip couldn't abandon the party he'd raised forever.
I'll wait for you, Philip.
With Ian gone, Penny was the only one left to receive his instructions.
Having sorted her thoughts, she beamed.
"I'll guarantee you much better treatment than when Ian was here."
Only then did the heroes smile back.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Isn't that Sir Ian? Wh-what brings you he—"
The guard at the small city I'd stopped in recognized me.
It was the place I'd brought the 1st Hero Party to before.
"Are the 1st Hero Party members coming too?"
"No. Just me."
"Y-yes...?"
"I got fired. I'm not their manager anymore."
The guard nodded, flustered but seeming to accept it.
"Then, uh, can I ask one thing?"
The guard asked as if prying some great secret.
"What?"
"I heard this Philip guy is the real manager. Is it true?"
The 1st Hero Party's fame had drawn attention to their manager too.
To deflect it, I'd put forward the alias 'Philip.'
The unknown entity who raised humanity's star.
The name 'Ian' only appeared as his proxy.
All credit and attention had to go to the hero party.
To the 1st Party heroes, I'd passed him off as one of my media-handling attendants.
Hoping they wouldn't care about such things.
"Does this Philip even exist?"
The enigmatic Philip circulated in rumors like a ghost story but never drew much notice.
Most people didn't even know if he was real.
"Even if I'm no longer affiliated, I can't share classified info. Sorry."
He'd probably asked thinking I could spill now that I was out.
Unfortunately, no intention of revealing the truth.
Philip had to remain a ghost, drifting unseen.
"Ah, right. I understand."
The guard smiled as if grasping some deep meaning.
Secrets don't reveal facts, but they feel like sharing profound truths.
He could've just said no, but 'classified' made it seem like something was there.
Misunderstand or not, didn't matter.
Philip could linger in doubt.
The 1st Party had to remain strong.
At least to hold the front lines against the demonkin invasion while I grew another party.
As I entered the city square, amid the bustling crowd, a large bulletin board stood out in the distance.
At the top were full-body portraits of the 1st Hero Party members, with messages of support filling the space below.
A board to gauge reactions to hero parties.
Other heroes were mentioned, but mostly it was about the 1st Hero Party.
This was my idea too.
In my second run, while heroes fought on the front lines, riots had broken out.
To unite public sentiment, I'd proposed this to the imperial family.
The results were highly effective.
Like modern internet buzz about celebrities.
People here endlessly checked the board, sharing and seeking hero news.
"Hmph. Humans who know nothing."
Mercy muttered from my pocket.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Tell me about it."
I created all that.
And got chased out by its beneficiaries.
What a ridiculous reality.
The members for my new party should get their names up there too.
No, I have to make it happen.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
To be called a hero, one must pass three stages.
Aspirant, Temporary Hero, Official Hero.
'Superhumans' who awaken special powers by pure luck.
Among them, aspiring heroes register their profiles on the Aspirant List.
These aspirants train, take the Temporary Hero promotion exam, then build achievements to challenge for Official Hero.
In my hand now was the Aspirant List.
A roster of superhumans challenging the Temporary Hero exam with no accomplishments yet.
The less they'd done, the more obedient they'd be.
I'd gotten the roster from city hall and come to the public library.
I picked a seat, and Mercy emerged from my chest pocket.
Whenever moving was hard for her, she claimed her spot in my pocket.
Convenient for me too.
Walking alone felt like traveling with three.
"Looking among aspirants? Not Temporary or Official Heroes?"
Mercy asked from beside the roster.
Kati, sprawled across from me, rested her tail on my wrist and peered at the list.
"Heroes already have managers."
More importantly, skilled ones had sky-high egos.
I'd pass on those.
"Honestly, I'm worried. Those unwashed ogre-ass guys were unlucky but strong, weren't they?"
"...Don't use words like that in that tone."
"I'm only voicing what you won't get mad about."
"Thanks."
I smirked and opened the roster.
It was packed with brief profiles and intros.
"Oh! There's a Sword Master here!"
The spot Mercy pointed to had someone introducing himself as an 'empire-renowned Sword Master.'
Come to think of it, this was the first time Mercy was seeing the Aspirant List with me.
I'd met her while gathering and growing my four heroes.
"Check that closely."
"Huh?"
Mercy peered at the text.
[Aspiring to be one of the Empire's top Sword Masters]
The words 'aspiring to be' were in tiny font.
"Why is only this text so small?"
"Obvious. 'Sword Master' needs to stand out big."
"Isn't that deception? Why?"
"To catch the eye."
From intros alone, the empire seemed to have about 100 Sword Masters.
Plenty of traces of desperate self-promotion.
[Dreaming of winning the Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament.]
[Practicing to conquer high-difficulty dungeons.]
[Trained with someone who isn't the child of an acquaintance of a parent of a friend of a Grand Sword Master's disciple.]
Some were genuine disciples or from notable families.
Not what I needed now.
Whether true or false, those inflating themselves wouldn't listen.
"Amazing. So you'll read this whole thick thing?"
"Have to. Can't tell who's decent otherwise."
"Dreadful..."
As a manager, I'd seen enough text to last a lifetime.
I skimmed quickly, flipping pages.
A few names I'd heard in my second run.
But they'd all grown arrogant after getting strong.
No need for those.
"Can you really tell from this alone?"
"Nope. If they seem okay, meet in person to check."
"Hmm... Tough. Hope we don't get earholes full of troll pus like last time, ignoring us."
"Do you research those expressions normally?"
"Of course! I have a collection of ones that pop up. Want to see?"
"No, you're too much..."
Expressions aside, it was hard.
Strength was easy to check in person.
But obedience?
Kindness? Even meeting couldn't confirm.
They could act briefly, or true nature emerge over time.
Flipping through the unremarkable Aspirant List, one mage aspirant's intro caught my eye.
[Please save me.]
I like it.
Concise and desperate.
Not uncommon.
Family this, clan that, pleading for a chance in hopes of help.
But stripping it to just 'Please save me'...
Made me curious.
While weary Mercy lost interest, I checked the profile.
Vivian, 25 years old. 2 years as aspirant?
Who stays an aspirant for 2 years?
Half a year shows potential at most.
And failed the Temporary Hero exam 10 times?
Desperation crawling from the bottom.
But failing that not-so-hard exam 10 times...
Resides in Arke Village. Northeast of the capital, pretty far.
On the way, conveniently.
Since I was heading to the capital.
To dig for useful info, I delved into past-life memories.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Memory Correction
Very useful skill for me, who doesn't remember everything.
Except major events, details escape me.
Past conversations flooded my mind.
'Heard there was a mana explosion in Arke Village?'
'Mana explosion? Did some crazy tower mage screw up?'
'Tower investigated, so probably not. I heard the orphanage was ground zero... Teacher was a mage or something.'
Timing: late spring this year.
Not far off.
Mana explosion, or mana rampage.
The worst outrage by a mentally broken mage.
Could vaporize a village like nothing—a calamity.
But not just any mage could do it.
Needed tower-archmage level at least; fewer than 100 in the empire.
Impossible for an aspirant.
My gaze returned to the roster from those memories.
Vivian, mage aspirant... Something's up.
No one else on later pages stood out like Vivian.
I closed the roster and stood.
"Huh? Found something?"
Mercy woke from dozing against Kati.
"Yeah. Not certain. But high potential."
Potential for mana explosion.
Heart to teach at an orphanage.
All speculation, but worth checking.
I arranged a carriage, loaded supplies, and set off.
To Arke Village, home of the suspicious aspirant Vivian.