The Festival of Heroes was a grand event held every four years to awaken heroism.

  I took part in it twice and won first place both times.

  Shouldn’t that be enough for me to be considered the True Hero?

  “We need to find out what purpose Lanuvel has over there as fast as possible.”


  “We have another problem.”


  “What is it?”


  “You have no right to appear there.”


  “Why?”


  “Have you forgotten? You’re the Demon Lord. You can’t just freely walk between dimensions. You can only use a puppet, like what my father did.”


  “Change the rules.”


  My wife was the director of this world. She held absolute power. However, she apparently couldn’t even amend such trivial rules.

  It wasn’t even funny.

  “Are you hiding something from your MAX-Class husband, my cowardly wife? Do you want me to punish you with my finger?”


  “What? Aahn!”


  “Speak quickly.”


  “It would be better for you to be patient until the Mollansoft inspection team finishes their business here! After that, you can turn someone else into the Demon Lord, only supplying them with Dark Energy! For now, however, you should stay in Fantasy!”


  “Hmm…”


  “If you understand, remove your finger. Unlike you, I’m busy. There are tons of problems I have to deal with.”


  “Hmm! You say you’re busy, but you don’t even work overtime.”


  “I have to fulfill my responsibilities as the director, but as your good wife, my duty of giving my time to you in the evening, my handsome husband, is just as important.”


  “I am such a popular guy.”


  This was clearly all about Ssosiel’s sneaky jealousy, which fueled her desire to monopolize her husband!

  “Why are you making me look bad?”


  “Because I am your handsome husband.”


  “What does that have to do with it? In case you’ve forgotten, I am the second most beautiful being in existence!”


  “Ha! And I’m the first. There is a big difference between 1st and 2nd place. Just looking at your MAX-Class husband’s achievements will be enough for you to realize that.”


  “Ugh…” The Righteous Hero’s perfect logic pierced through the Fallen Angel.

  I withdrew my finger.

  “So, how do I get to the Festival planet and deal with Lanuvel’s spine? It’d be better for us not to waste our time. She’s obviously up to something.”


  “You need to turn yourself into a part of this event. You can do so by implementing the global task to find and defeat Demon Lord Parmamon. I’ll take care of the details.”


  “Just be quick about it.”


  My juniors, who were still adapting to the 5th curriculum, would take several years to get to the Tower of the Demon Lord.

  There was nothing I could do here.

  “Are you coming with me?”


  “No. I thought I’m already in complete control of the system, but I’m starting to have doubts since Lanuvel managed to escape. I can’t leave Fantasy until I’ve figured out what the problem is.”


  “That’s unfortunate.”


  I at least carried a heating pad in my spatial pocket in the past, but now it was empty.

  All I could do now was look for options on-site.

  Ssosiel chuckled.

  “I assumed you’d think about that, so I assigned an observer to you that will help you control yourself.”


  “It can’t be. A man?”


  “It’s a girl.”


  “… Really?”


  That wasn’t like the Ssosiel I knew.

  I couldn’t believe that my cowardly wife, the personification of jealousy, would use another woman to monitor me.

  Oh! I knew it!

  “She’s married, huh?”


  If so, then it made sense.

  “No.”


  “Then is she as ugly as Parmael?”


  “No. She’s a really pretty single woman.”


  This had to be some kind of fantasy.

  “Who is it?”


  “Hanjo.”


  “… Who?”


  “The Lord of Betrayal, whom my husband appointed as the boss of the 40th floor of the Demon Lord’s Tower! You even forgot about her… Don’t you feel sorry for the female angel who’s forced to wear such a nickname?”


  “… Ssosiel.”


  “What?”


  “What’s her real name, then?”


  “I-I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter! She works for you! In any case, Hanjo will be the middle boss in the global quest, ‘Slay the Demon Lord.\'”


  “Okay.”


  I didn’t see anything wrong with that.

  It was better to have a stupid woman as my assistant than some savage.

  But this was amazing.

  Why did she put the female angel on me and not the married elves or the android?

  Was she testing me?

  “No. I didn’t want to separate the couple, so I ruled them out.”


  “And Boris?”


  I hadn’t heard from him in a long time.

  “He also has a better half.”


  “You turned him into a handsome android so he won’t feel lonely?”


  “No. Remember General Chromatigus?”


  “Who?”


  “You called her Red.”


  “Ah! The red dragonian!”


  She should’ve said that right away.

  As far as I remembered, they came here to meet Boris.

  “When my husband destroyed Fantasy, she died and had her soul tied to the Fantasy Institution.”


  “And?”


  “I set her up with Prince Boris to get her to cooperate.”


  “I see.”


  “Hence, I decided to appoint Hanjo. Although she is an angel from Fugitive Hero’s army, I think she probably wants to visit her people’s home planet.”


  “Okay. Make it quick.”


  “Be patient. Don’t you know how difficult it is to hold large-scale events like this? The trainee teachers assigned to tasks like this usually take six months.”


  “How much longer will I have to wait?”


  “It will officially start exactly one year after the arrival of the inspection team. Chasing the students around will hasten the preparation time, but we can’t do that because of the incoming inspection.”


  “Tsk.”


  I thought summoning the graduates and telling them to defeat the Demon Lord would be enough, but it looked like there was still a lot to be done.

  “Of course. Hunting down the Demon Lord will be this program’s main event, but we need to develop side activities as well. Otherwise, the festival will be too dull…”


  “Let’s make a survival game.”


  “Hmm?”


  “That would definitely spice up the experience and keep everyone’s boredom at bay.”


  “Well… that’s… not a bad suggestion. It would open up many possibilities. It also won’t take long to prepare it.”


  “The longer the Hero lives, the better the reward they’ll receive. As for the trainee teachers preparing this event, promise a reward for the one that’ll be able to eliminate the most heroes.”


  “Ah…”


  “How long will it take?”


  “… In that case, it will only take a month or two to get everything ready. This is excellent.”


  Ssosiel looked at her MAX-Class husband with respect.

  Anyone could come up with such an idea, but she was surprised nonetheless.

  “Anything else?”


  “… I won’t be able to see you for a while, so stay for just one more day…”


  “You said you’re busy.”


  “Don’t mince my words. A woman’s heart and mood are fickle.”


  “Are you reading some nonsense from Earth again?”


  Nevertheless, I was her MAX-Class husband.

  I decided to grant my cowardly wife’s desperate wish.

  After a day…


  “Just don’t destroy the planet. The trainee teachers have started working since yesterday.”


  “Good.”


  “When you arrive, one of them will be waiting for you there. She’ll be taking care of you. I probably should’ve appointed a man, but she volunteered herself. Besides, an angel will be watching over you anyway.”


  “Hmm…”


  “If you betray my trust and do something strange, then I’ll assign only males to you next time.”


  “Your jealousy is nasty and vile.”


  “Goodbye! I’ll visit you later!”


  Flash!

  My consciousness moved from the world of Fantasy to a special Festival puppet that served as my vessel.

  ***

  “So this is Festival, the homeland of my people! I feel divinity even just by breathing in the air!”


  The first thing I saw was a female angel who acted like a child visiting an amusement park for the first time.

  Hanjo, Lord of Betrayal.

  And also…


  “It’s been a long time, Kang Han Soo. I’ve heard a lot about your achievements.”


  “You are…”


  “Ellis. A trainee who dreams of becoming a teacher. I’m in charge of the men’s dormitory for primary education students. However, since I have no work to do right now, I volunteered to help Kang Han Soo.”


  “I’ll be in your care.”


  Ellis, the caretaker of the S-rank apartments. It had been a long time since I last saw her, but I remembered her.

  Back then, I was already mistaken for the Demon Lord…


  “I’m honored that you remember me. From now on, I will refer to you as the Demon Lord, not an alumnus. I never thought the day would come when I would serve the Demon Lord, not the Hero.

  “I am also a hero!”


  “The S-rank apartment hasn’t been used by anyone in over 100 years since the Demon Lord used it.

  “My juniors disappoint me.”


  “Well… the minimum requirement to use the S-rank apartment is to score more than half of their predecessor’s points. However, your track record is so vast that it’s difficult to reach even half of it.”


  “They are pathetic!”


  “To address this issue in the most natural way possible, there will be many generous awards at this festival. If they were to touch the Demon Lord’s body, they would receive 200 points. Whoever can put a scratch on it would likely be in 1st place… That is if anyone’s even capable of such a feat.”


  “What about Lanuvel?”


  “Her whereabouts are currently unknown. We have been instructed to prepare for the festival until the rules have been worked out. The awards are so compelling that everyone immediately got down to work.”


  “What are the awards?”


  “Let me show you.”


  ? Announcement: Dear faculty members, nice to meet you. I am Ssosiel, director of the Fantasy Institution. The theme of this festival is survival. In relation to that, the heroes must move forward despite the obstacles thrown at them, sparing no effort to overcome evil. This shall also serve as the perfect occasion to test the abilities of all trainee teachers. Create an extreme environment and filter out as many graduates as possible. Unprecedented rewards await those who can prove themselves the best!

  1st place: Internship duration reduced by 500 years.

  2nd place: Internship duration reduced by 300 years.

  3rd place: Internship duration reduced by 200 years.

  4th place: Internship duration reduced by 100 years.

  …


  “That’s huge.”


  “For all participants who have eliminated one or more graduates, the internship period is reduced by one year. If we eliminate more than five, then it’ll be reduced by ten years! In particular, landing on 1st and 2nd place almost guarantees a teaching position!”


  “Got it, just control yourself and keep your cool.”


  Ellis’s worried face was enough for me to understand how grand of an event this was.

  It seemed this event wasn’t for the alumni but interns.

  Fshuh!

  “While we’re here, Sir Hero, let me go to my beloved Elfheim.”


  “Go ahead.”


  Shadow A, who until now hadn’t helped me in any way, suddenly jumped out and asked for a request.

  “Well … if you’re in doubt of my actions, I’ll offer my daughter Illeana to you…”


  “Get out of here already.”


  “Thanks!”


  When she saw the copy of “young Elfheim” in the Fantasy dimension, she was delighted, but the way she behaved now was incomparable to that.

  Shadow A burst into tears, said goodbye politely, and then jumped off the fifth floor of the men’s dorm.

  I didn’t know how the pathetic Elf King, who sat by the window on the city hall’s second floor every day, blissfully examining the breasts of women, would react to this.

  But that was none of my business.

  “Demon Lord Kang Han Soo … That’s not quite true.”


  “What?”


  “For about 100 years, Elf King Elfheim has been conquering the world with his twin granddaughters.”


  “… Ha?”


  What nonsense was that?