I Have Become The Hero’s Rival - Chapter 87

I stared at the bartender making the cocktail. I rested my chin on my hands in a daze and abruptly uttered the words that came to mind without thinking.

“I think the names of the alcohol are rather symbolic.”

Death in the Afternoon. Angel’s Kiss.

He then offered me a white cocktail that looked like it had cinnamon powder sprinkled on top of the milk foam. 

I glanced down at it for a moment and asked.

“What’s the name of this?”

“It’s the ‘Hair of the Dog’.”

“Dog hair?”

‘You’re giving me a cocktail called dog hair?’

Without realizing it, I fiddled with my hair that had grown quite a bit.

It initially resembled dog hair, but Claudia constantly took care of it, so now it was soft and smooth.

“There’s a saying that if you rub the hair of the dog that bit you onto the wound, it will help it heal. That’s where the name comes from.”

“Really?”

“It means that you should consume alcohol to relieve a hangover. It’s a hangover drink.”

So it was similar to using poison to treat poison?

‘But I haven’t even taken a sip of alcohol yet, so why would I suddenly need a hangover drink…’

Feeling puzzled, I held the cocktail glass in my hand and silently examined it. The man casually continued to explain.

“I believe that the best way to heal wounds caused by people is to allow other people to heal them. It’s a drink that perfectly suits the lady.”

For some reason, those words made me feel awkward.

I never said a word before, so how would he know? Did that mean the bartender had been observing me carefully? Or did he usually think like this?

I wondered if he was flirting with me right now and looked at him suspiciously. In return, he raised his eyebrows as if I was under a ridiculous illusion.

The bartender spoke with a serious look on his face.

“It means that you should come often and give Martina strength. She’s a person who has been bitten viciously by a lot by people, so I hope you can let her pat you as much as possible.”

Oh. So that was it.

Your gaze would always automatically follow the person you liked.

Even if you didn’t want the people around you to know, they would eventually find out.

I nodded with a sly smile that implied that I knew everything. Subsequently, the bartender seemed somehow uncomfortable.

“Please remove any thoughts of unnecessary meddling.”

“If you don’t like it, I won’t interfere. I’ll merely keep cheering for you from behind. I’ll support your beautiful love.”

“That’s not what I’m saying…!”

The bartender couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because the door inside the bar opened and Martina appeared.

As if he was never agitated, he maintained a poker face and kept his head lowered.

‘Come to think of it…’

I glanced at the multitude of men who served Martina and hovered around her as if they were her guards.

Cladded neatly in black suits, their gaze contained admiration and respect, and there was something more than that.

I doubt they were just bartenders.

But Martina headed straight to me without even glancing at them.

It couldn’t be helped, but it was regrettably a one-way street.

Such a sinful woman.

“Long time no see.”

Martina said as she raised her crimson lips crookedly.

Somehow, I heard, ‘Where have you been and what have you been doing?’ from her words and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

“Has it been almost half a year?”

“Yes. I’ve just been waiting for you to come and visit me in person.”

Martina never appeared publicly.

Her job was to control the world by thoroughly collecting all the information from under the surface and then selling it to those who needed it.

After all, those who were in power and had the strength, ability, and wealth were the ones who generally sought out Silentium. It was no exaggeration to say that the world revolved around her information.

‘You’ve been waiting for me.’

For some reason, I felt guilty because it seemed like I would only look for Martina whenever I needed her, but I had my own reasons for not coming.

“To tell you the truth, I lost all my prophetic powers.”

The price of information from Martina, who was ranked number one in Silentium, was quite expensive. No, it was very expensive.

And above all, it wasn’t simply money that you paid to purchase a dog or cattle.

Since the first time I met Martina, I gave her affectionate comfort and was adored by her. Even so, without any ability, she wouldn’t have easily given me a grain of information.

At that time, I sweetened the deal by adding a specific condition.

“I know quite a few things that are worth investing in.”

Whether it was a dress that would become a new trend in the future, a land where prices would shortly skyrocket, or a play that would be a box office hit, I declared that I would know.

At first, Martina treated me like a bluffer. But when the value of the items rose as I claimed, she began to look at me differently.

For this part, the original novel was a tremendous help.

It was godsent that I was able to memorize every sentence of the novel so precisely.

However, now that it was well past the timeline of the original work, there was no choice but to lose that superhuman ability.

That was why I didn’t come all this time. It was Martina who said that the basis of negotiation was ‘give and take’.

“So I’ve been thinking for a while about what I could offer, and I can’t be sure, but I know things that might be worth it.”

I decided I could pay the price by offering the culture and knowledge that existed in reality but didn’t exist in this world.

Literature, music, art, theatre, design, economy, politics, whatever it may be. As long as it didn’t cause great chaos in this world.

However, I hesitated because I wasn’t sure if they would work in this world.

I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn’t come up with any other way.

In the end, I came here feeling ashamed of myself.

However, Martina frowned and said.

“Did you still worry about that? It’s all right. It doesn’t matter now. If there’s anything you want, just come. If Irene asks, I’ll tell you everything.”

In the meantime, she beckoned with her finger as if telling me to come and hug her.

My eyes widened at the unexpected words, and as if I was attracted to Martina’s energy, I fell into her arms.

I had nothing to give, so I thought she wouldn’t like it if I visited and thus I didn’t show my face.

But it seemed like I must have saddened her instead.

For a moment, my gaze briefly intertwined with the bartender standing opposite me. He remained silent, but he shot me a look that hinted that if I ever hurt Martina, he would not stay still.

The wounds inflicted by people should be healed by people.

But if I couldn’t see the person who should heal me, then who the hell would heal me? Even if countless people surrounded me, it meant nothing unless it was him.

Was the Little Prince, who left the fox in search of the rose after deeply engraving the feelings of wait and loss into its bones, really a good man or a wicked man?

A drop of water from the cocktail glass trickled down the back of my hand like a tear.

When I looked at it, the face of a person, who had been buried in the depths of a lake, floated into my mind and vanished.

I slowly moved my lips.

“Yes, I’ll do that for sure. I was wrong, Martina.”

* * *

[Victor of War, Mercenary of Judgment and Destruction, Walter.]

‘You’re a mercenary.’

When I returned to my residence, I carefully reviewed the materials I received from Martina.

And after a thorough examination, the man named Walter was truly extraordinary, both objectively and subjectively.

In the first place, it was unprecedented for a mercenary, who was not even a knight, to have such a nickname.

A few hundred years ago, there was a man who was called the ‘King of Mercenaries’, however, his nickname was limited to only that. It was also a nickname filled with satire as it implied that no matter how excellent he was, he would always be only a mercenary.

In addition, the word ‘judgment’ was used even though he was not a god. How much did he maneuver on the battlefield for even the knights to call him that with respect?

He was also called the blue-eyed devil since the figure of him wielding a sword in both hands resembled a devil with its black wings unfurled.

He was also known as the killer of tens of thousands. There was plenty of nicknames.

Skills and achievements that were hard to count by hand. And a questionable ability that evoked doubt on whether he was actually a human being.

I couldn’t believe these names all referred to one individual.

“This is like a weapon developed for warfare…”

From the description, he seemed similar to a swordmaster, but if other swordmasters claimed that he was astounding, it meant that the man appeared to be at the peak of his skills.

Even after the completion of the original novel, a superhuman like this appeared.

I murmured to myself as I turned over to the last page of the material that contained Walter’s personal information.

However, unlike the previous pages containing the hero’s monstrous performance, it suddenly became strangely concise.

[A mercenary who is an orphan and has never registered his birth.

He has no sexual desire as he has never set foot in a brothel during the months where he finished participating in the war.

Blinded by success, he slaughters and indulges in massacres.

Merciless and emotionless.

Since all these are words that have been circulating around, the credibility of this diminishes. It’s because he doesn’t get along with anyone, and he doesn’t speak to anyone either.]

“Hmm…”

Was this person really okay? So, to sum it up, he did nothing and only annihilated the enemies.

‘Ultimately, the information implies that he subdues and kills.’

Merciless and emotionless. Perhaps it was due to mental fatigue from all the continuous work on the battlefield.

‘The odd matter is the lack of sexual desire.’

It was unnecessary information to find out.

Even if I declared that I was planning to seduce Walter, it was misleading as I didn’t intend to appeal with sexual charm. In the first place, I didn’t have the confidence to do that.

My specialty was to tug out from the bottom what you really longed for, to comfort you if you were hurt, and to remind you that if it was a dream or wish that it could come true.

That was how I seduced people.

But with this kind of information…

‘It’s outrageous.’

Frankly, I was rather repulsed by all the information.

However, Claudia always said that you shouldn’t actually judge people until you actually met them.

In the end, the vicious rumors were only rumors, so the only way to discover the truth was to meet the person and confirm it.

‘Okay. Let’s see what kind of person you are.’

It had been a long time since I attended a party.

I started to make preparations for it.

A neat first impression was bound to win the favor of the other person.

I decided to pay more attention to my attire than usual as that person might see me and deem me as a seemly person.

‘Winter will soon be over, so it’ll be early spring…’

I scanned around the dressing room with a troubled look. I spotted something and paused for a moment.

It was a dress with a cherry blossom-shaped lace that Felix once picked for me himself.