The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

Alice did not push Mador for an answer since the demoness did not wish to divulge her method of information gathering. She wasn't all too surprised that Mador did not rely on thieves to acquire her information. After all, there were many ways to collect intelligence.

Take Frosette, for example. According to what Alice heard from Frosette, the demoness relied on a unique taming magic for information gathering. Because of this taming magic, Frosette had eyes almost everywhere in the March Academy. She could even influence the actions of some beastkins for a short time with this magic.

This was why Frosette had managed to discover the underground research room. She had controlled many of the Sun Rats in the academy with her taming magic, and these rats were very proficient at locating objects and digging holes. Thanks to these rats, Frosette had not only managed to discover the underground research room but also acquired the key to open it.

Alice also had asked whether she could learn this taming magic, but the answer she got was that it might be impossible. This was because Frosette's taming magic was a unique kind of magic she had developed for herself. It was just like the magic swordsmanship Catherine had developed specifically for herself. Both were unique magic developed for a specific individual.

While it was for Alice to learn this unique magic, Frosette still lacked the theoretical knowledge to create a complete teaching plan for her magic for the time being. So, if Alice wanted to learn Frosette's magic, she'd have to wait until Frosette gained more theoretical knowledge.

Over the long history of this world, many spells have failed to be passed down because their creators lacked the necessary education to writing their spells' operating principles in a comprehensible manner. However, the fact that Frosette could get into the March Royal School of Magic already showed that she had an excellent academic performance. If nothing unexpected happened, she should have enough theoretical knowledge to record her taming magic's operating principles in a magic book.

With Frosette as an example, Alice guessed that Mador should be a similar case in that she possessed a kind of unique magic. It wouldn't be surprising if that were indeed the case, either. After all, if Mador didn't possess some capabilities, the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn't have entrusted her with the important task of conducting espionage in the Rhine Kingdom's Royal Magic Tower. Even Frosette had only gotten selected to infiltrate the human realm because of her taming magic. She didn't get chosen simply because she was Ellu Shax's daughter.

After verifying that the book thief was a career thief and not an amateur, Alice proceeded to contact Lilith. Since Lilith was also investigating the person impersonating Etoria, the two of them shared a mutual goal.

In that case, if Alice asked to borrow Lilith's thieves to investigate the person who had stolen Demon King's Shadow, Lilith was unlikely to refuse. Of course, the precondition for this to happen was that Lilith had to find Alice trustworthy.

Although Lilith already considered Alice as a close friend and a comrade who shared similar hobbies with her, Alice remained a princess of a different country in her eyes. So, she would most definitely hesitate to help Alice when this help involved the Rhine Kingdom's important affairs.

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Then, what should Alice do to gain Lilith's trust?

…

"What did you say? The Hero? You?" After taking a sip of orange juice, Lilith couldn't help but look at Alice with a concerned gaze. "Is this some strange cosplay activity, Alice? Even if it is, you should at least prepare a proper Hero's attire… I know a prop maker who can make a very realistic-looking Hero's Sword. The only part he can't replicate is the divine runes. Do you want me to introduce you to him?"

The divine runes were the Hero's Sword's symbol, and they couldn't be replicated by anyone in this world. Even memorizing these runes was impossible. It was why nobody had ever suspected the authenticity of Alice's Hero's Sword. However, even setting aside the divine runes, a prop maker would still have to be considerably skilled to perfectly replicate the Hero's Sword's intricate design.

However, Alice wasn't joking with Lilith right now. To ensure that Lilith didn't hold back any of her forces when helping her, Alice decided that it would be best if she revealed her identity as the Hero. Lilith was part of the Rhine Kingdom's royal family anyway. Alice also felt that Lilith had a trustworthy personality. So, Alice felt it wouldn't be a problem to let Lilith in on this secret.

Of course, Alice also had to admit that this decision was partly a gamble. Although Alice felt that Lilith was trustworthy, in a situation where all of the Rhine Kingdom's princes and princess were proven innocent, she still felt that Lilith was a little suspicious. If Lilith truly was the mastermind behind this whole affair, Alice could only count herself as unlucky.

However, if Lilith truly was the mastermind, Alice's action of revealing herself should deter Lilith from carrying out her plans for some time. This meant she would have more time to investigate this matter.

Meanwhile, after Lilith finished speaking, she looked at Alice with a wide grin, hoping to see some sort of reaction from Alice, such as uttering a complaint. However, when she noticed Alice's expression remaining unchanged, her jovial mood gradually turned serious as she asked:

"Are you serious, Alice?"

"You'll have to ask your old man this question. Either him or your second brother Etoria."

Alice knew it was unlikely she could convince Lilith with just her words alone. After all, people's image of the current generation's Hero was that of a muscular man with a pretty face instead of a little girl like her. So, rather than try to convince Lilith herself, she decided it would be better to enlist the help of others.

Of course, Alice also had the option of pulling out the Hero's Sword to validate her claims. However, they were currently in a cafe. Although they had asked for a private room, the vast amount of light mana that her right hand would release the moment it grabbed onto the Hero's Sword would instantly attract the attention of others. So, it was best if she avoided this option.

"Okay, I'll ask my brother," Lilith said, nodding. Although she still held doubts about Alice's claims, she decided to put her faith in Alice.

Lilith also didn't doubt why Alice—if she was indeed the Hero—had appeared in the Rhine Kingdom. After all, she had heard about the Hero chasing the Demon King away two days ago. So, it was normal for the Hero to remain in the Rhine Kingdom temporarily after taking care of the Demon King.

As for why Alice had seemingly arrived in the Rhine Kingdom even before King Haydn had contacted her about the Demon King's appearance, Lilith guessed that it was because the Hero possessed the ability to detect the Demon King's presence. Hence, Alice had made her way to the Rhine Kingdom. It would also explain why the Demon King had appeared in the Royal Magic Tower shortly after Alice arrived in the Rhine Kingdom.

Originally, Lilith planned to ask her father about Alice's identity. However, when she considered he might be busy, she decided to contact Etoria instead. She also didn't have any concerns about Etoria feeding her lies. In her opinion, her second brother was the least suspicious person in the Rhine Kingdom since, whether it was her, Collins, or Arcana, none of them could possibly compete with him for the throne. All Etoria needed to do was to continue working hard as the Rhine Kingdom's successor and not mess up too badly.

Subsequently, Lilith pulled out her phone and called Etoria in front of Alice. Meanwhile, Alice, who sat across from Lilith, could naturally hear what Lilith had said to Etoria. Basically, Lilith had gone straight to the point and asked Etoria about the Hero's true identity. Then, she told him that the Gryffin Kingdom's Princess Alice was sitting right in front of her.

Etoria had probably initially been hesitant about telling Lilith the truth. However, when he heard that the Gryffin Kingdom's princess was sitting in front of Lilith, he knew that Alice had probably taken the initiative to reveal her identity to Lilith. So, he quickly made up his mind and told Lilith about the Hero's identity.

Lilith was aware that Etoria had attended the last Conference of Kings with their father and saw the Hero in person, so she naturally didn't doubt his words. After ending the call with her second elder brother, Lilith couldn't help but look at Alice strangely.

"Hm? What's wrong? Did Etoria not tell you about my identity?" Alice asked, growing confused when she saw Lilith looking at her strangely. She even touched her face to make sure there was nothing strange stuck to it.

"No… He already told me that you are indeed the Hero," Lilith said, sighing. She never thought Alice would be the Hero. This was a scenario she had never imagined, even in her dreams.

As a Demon King fangirl, Lilith had a perplexing view regarding Heroes. She knew that she should respect Heroes as a human. However, because she found the existence of Demon Kings to be cool, she couldn't bring herself to feel fondness for Heroes. So, she couldn't help but feel a little troubled to learn that Alice was the current generation's Hero. How was she supposed to treat Alice with such a complicated stance?

However, Lilith quickly shook her head, threw this strange thought to the back of her mind, and came up with a simple solution.

Since Lilith didn't know how to treat Alice as the Hero, she would simply treat the little girl before her as "Alice" rather than the "Hero."