Published: September 10, 2025
Satou here. Some say, "The person who knows themselves the least is themselves," while others say, "The one who understands themselves best is themselves."
But I think most people switch between these two depending on the situation, don’t they?
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“What’s the matter? Seems you didn’t expect your true identity to be seen through.”
Strategist Touya, still pointing at me, looked this way with a smug, self-satisfied expression.
“I’m not a god — even if I say that, you probably won’t believe me, right?”
“Of course not!”
Strategist Touya was brimming with confidence.
“Mind telling me the basis for thinking I’m a god?”
I asked, and Strategist Touya grinned slyly before starting to speak.
“You’re full of mysteries.”
Like a stage actor, Strategist Touya began to speak in a dramatic tone.
Though I wish he’d tone down the slightly narcissistic and odd poses.
Somehow, I feel he might get along well with the dog-headed kind.
“You first appeared on the stone tablet during the battle against the black high-rank demons in Seryu City.”
That was definitely written there.
Of course, the stone tablet called you the “silver mask hero.”
“There’s no way a single-digit level could defeat high-rank demons.”
Yeah, back then I forgot to update the public info section.
“You must be carrying some kind of concealment-type artifact. That was our conclusion, so we extended our investigation to uncover your true identity.”
After saying this, Strategist Touya looked into my eyes, as if checking my reaction.
“But even the best among us couldn’t find any trace of you before you appeared in Seryu City. It was as if you dropped down alongside the starfall—perfectly seamless.”
Well, I think I probably teleported there on that day, so it kind of was like dropping from the sky.
“We took great care, never making direct contact but tracking your whereabouts. Each time we received reports, we had to doubt the sanity of the informants.”
Strategist Touya put his finger to his forehead and slowly shook his head.
Somehow, that gesture was irritating.
“You slaughtered veteran high-rank demons one after another, and even easily defeated the golden boar king and the great monster fish Tovkezera, two of the strongest in history.”
The one who defeated Tovkezera was hero Nameless, and there was no record linking me and Nameless as the same person.
“More than that, you even defeated the strongest ‘ancient dog-headed king’ called the evil god and the demon god’s offspring.”
— Hm? What was that?
I just felt a moment of discomfort.
I couldn’t put it into words before it vanished, but another question came to mind.
“Hasn’t no one besides the dragon deity or demon gods ever defeated the dog-headed?”
When I pointed this out, Strategist Touya looked a little annoyed.
Seems he was vaguely aware of that too.
“Hmph, the ancient dog-headed king must have been weakened after his revival.”
The stone tablet humorously described the dog-headed king being pummeled, but oddly, there was no depiction of how I defeated him, nor any mention of the mysterious young girl who intervened in the battle.
“And even though you had the strength to defeat the weakened dog-headed king, you strangely hid all your achievements and continued your journey as a mere mortal. If you went public, any honor or glory would be yours for the taking, yet you only repeat sightseeing and charitable work.”
Well, my main purpose is otherworldly sightseeing.
“Your puzzling actions troubled us greatly. But then, everything was explained after confirming a certain phenomenon.”
Listening to Strategist Touya’s reasoning somehow made me feel a strange sense of kinship.
It’s like déjà vu from the way his deductions wandered.
“So? What’s that phenomenon?”
Although I knew it was wrong, I urged him to continue anyway, not wanting to brush it off lightly.
Definitely not because of pity or anything like that. Absolutely not.
“You perform impossible-distance teleportations in impossible quantities without any casting.”