The sudden news threw me into confusion. Another Brave besides me? What was that supposed to mean? Were there two Braves in this era?
Then why make me the Brave in the first place? Wouldn't it have been enough to just choose that guy named Bell? Why mess up my future, disrupt my plans, and keep piling on more trouble? Were they trying to make my hair turn white before I even got old?
Or… maybe I'm not the real Brave?
But I do have the power of a Brave… No, I can't jump to conclusions. This could be false information.
"Jacob, where did you hear this?"
Jacob and Grace began explaining. Yesterday, while they were waiting at the merchant guild for the guild master's reply, they overheard people discussing the Brave. At first, they thought it was about me, so they went over to ask.
But the Brave they were talking about wasn't me—it was someone from another country. Of course, Jacob and the others didn't argue and risk exposing my identity. Instead, they carefully gathered more details about this supposed Brave.
After finishing his explanation, Jacob handed me a newspaper. The headline featured the Brave's personal information and background.
(Bell, age 16, member of the Third Unit of the Western Supply Division of the Bartletis Sword Army. He lost his family to Samidoride at a young age and grew up alone, becoming strong through hardship. At the age of 12, he joined the army to serve his country.
At 4:18 PM on January 1st, the Goddess of Fate, Fatelis, delivered a divine revelation at the temple. After receiving it, Archbishop Yargard Rupelin immediately requested King Rudi Rabist Bartletis to dispatch personnel to locate the Brave, Bell.
When Bell was found transporting supplies, he had no memory of becoming a Brave. However, the temple confirmed that he possessed the sacred power exclusive to Braves and Saintesses—the light element.)
After reading it, I couldn't help but feel skeptical. It was the kind of article you could believe if you wanted to—but also dismiss just as easily.
Overall, the personal details and background matched what I knew about the conditions and information surrounding a Brave. But he wasn't an adventurer—he was a soldier. That contradicted what the observing god had told me about the usual pattern.
And more importantly, seeing is believing. I didn't believe he was the Brave. This could very well be a scheme between the king and the archbishop. The information in the paper could easily be fabricated based on common traits of past Braves. Whether it was true or not, I couldn't trust it yet.
I handed the newspaper back to Jacob, then looked at the four of them and flatly denied it.
"Let me be clear—I don't believe this is real. It's impossible for there to be two Braves in the same era."
"You're saying he's fake?" Jacob asked.
"Yes."
The moment I answered, Alice immediately objected.
"No! The temple already confirmed he has the light element—he is the Brave!"
"Then explain why there would be two Braves. Are you saying I'm the fake one?"
"That…"
Alice fell silent. All four of them had seen me use light magic before. And to make absolutely sure, I had even successfully used the modern magic Alice learned. So I decided to make one thing clear.
"Listen—you're directly involved in this. Until you see it with your own eyes, don't believe it. Only outsiders believe things blindly, because it doesn't affect them. If some random, well-equipped guy on the street claimed to be the Brave, no one would even question it."
That's right. To bystanders, the existence of the Brave was just a topic of conversation. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. They didn't have to worry about it—they just talked.
If I weren't the Brave—if I were just another passerby—I'd probably believe the news too. I wouldn't care whether it was true or not. It'd just be something to chat about.
"But this isn't some random article," Jacob said. "It even mentions the king and the archbishop by name."
"Yeah," Alice agreed. She clearly believed the other Brave was real.
Jacob had a point. The names of the king and the archbishop carried weight. This wasn't a world of free speech—using their names recklessly could get someone executed.
Still, I felt like this was a scheme between the king and the archbishop. But at the same time… it didn't quite add up. If a real Brave suddenly appeared, it would mean they had deceived the entire world. There was no way they hadn't considered that possibility.
For a moment, the credibility of the "fake Brave" actually increased in my mind. But after saying so much to deny it, backing down now would be embarrassing. So I crossed my arms and spoke seriously.
"...Anyway, I don't believe it. If there really is a second Brave, then I'll make him disappear."
"Huh!?"
"I agree with Mr. Karen," Grace said.
"Ms. Grace!?"
"I agree too," Jacob added.
"Mr. Jacob!?"
"Same here," Ethefelis said calmly.
"Ms. Eis!?"
To my surprise, aside from Alice, all three of them agreed with me.
But that was sudden… why were they so willing to support the idea of eliminating the other Brave?
"Can I ask why you all agree with this?"
Grace answered me first, her tone tinged with anger.
"Because he's from Bartletis."
I didn't understand her reasoning. Just because he was from that country… he deserved to die?
"What's wrong with people from that country?"
Jacob stepped in, clearly just as upset, and explained in more detail.
"Karen, do you remember when you went to hunt down Samidoride, and a neighboring country declared war on us?"
Did that happen? It felt familiar, but vague. I tried to recall more carefully. When Dex asked Lina and me to hunt down Samidoride, I vaguely remembered him mentioning that the neighboring country was preparing to attack, so the king had requested adventurers to deal with Samidoride instead.
"...Ah, I remember now. Most of the army was deployed to fight the neighboring country, so His Majesty sent people to ask adventurers for help."
"Exactly," Jacob said. "While our country was struggling with Samidoride, Bartletis tried to take advantage of our weakened state and invade us. Houses can be rebuilt, but territory must never be lost. That's why His Majesty prioritized fighting Bartletis and left Samidoride to specialists—adventurers."
"I see."
"But the king of Bartletis is a warmonger. When you eliminated Samidoride, our country stabilized, and he had no choice but to back down. But this time, he'll definitely use the Brave's status to pressure us. As nobles, it's our duty to protect our homeland."
"That's right," Grace added coldly. "Bartletis people are barbarians. That so-called Brave is no exception."
"Same here," Ethefelis said simply.
I hadn't expected their patriotism to run this deep. It actually moved me a little. No wonder they supported the idea of eliminating a fake Brave.
But Alice clearly didn't agree.
"Wait! How can you talk about killing the Brave over something like this? He's a messenger chosen by Fatelis!"
Grace immediately exploded at Alice's words.
"Something like this? You call this something like this? Ms. Alice, we are nobles—not followers of the gods. We serve our country, not the gods!"
"What did you say!? Everyone is a child of the gods! How can you not repay Fatelis, who is like a mother to us!?"
Alice snapped back without backing down. I immediately raised my voice to stop them before things escalated further.
"Enough! Both of you, calm down!"
"...Yes."
"...Understood."
Now there were three clear positions.
Jacob and the others stood for protecting the country.
Alice stood as a devout follower of the Goddess of Fate.
And me… I stood on the idea that two tigers cannot share the same mountain.
…Why did my stance feel the most self-serving?
Still, eliminating a fake Brave was necessary. If he didn't die, I wouldn't be able to reclaim all of the Brave's power.
Grace and Alice were now glaring at each other, tension thick in the air. But I had no intention of dealing with that right now.
Instead, I addressed all four of them with a clear assessment.
"Right now, we still can't confirm whether this Brave is real or not. If he's real, then we need to recover the power faster than him. If he's fake, then Bartletis will bear the crime of deceiving the entire world."
"Karen, just in case, we should recover the power in the eastern region as soon as possible, then return to Aimebisalon to assess the situation," Jacob suggested.
"Good idea. But first… I want to take a look at that mode of transportation."
I had been looking forward to it for a long time. Leaving just like this would feel like such a waste.