I'm notified two days later that the human woke up. Time to see if I still understand their language.

I grab his sword, which I ended up keeping in my room, then make my way to the storehouse. This is going to be my first time interacting with a human since I was reborn as a monster, and I'm not sure of how to feel about it. Aside from my old memories, I consider my current self to be fully Rai'in, so I'm not sure what kind of inner clash to expect. With a bit of luck, I won't be too shaken.

I start hearing shouts long before I reach my destination. I forcefully open the door to make sure my arrival doesn't go unnoticed, which causes the room to fall silent. The two Rai'enu and the human inside all turn to look at me, but the human quickly starts shouting very loudly again:

"Finally someone who isn't purple! Free me! Free me from these savages! These animals!"

I start feeling my blood boil hearing these words, but all of my anger vanishes suddenly when I come to the realization that I understand him. I haven't forgotten the human language!

I take a quick look around the room and see that the prisoner was restrained by having his hands and feet tied up to storage fixtures solid enough to withstand him. His armor was removed and placed in a corner of the room, and he's wearing a bandage over his snake bite.

I walk in and put the sword against the wall, causing the prisoner to start struggling.

"That! My sword! Give it to me! I will defeat these creatures, free myself, and save you, oh fair lady!"

I approach him, making sure there's enough light coming in through the window and hitting me for him to properly see me, and push my long hair behind my left ear, revealing it's distinct, pointy shape.

Silence falls on the room for a brief moment, as he stares at me in surprise, but it doesn't last long. He starts shouting again:

"You're one of them! Deceiver! Cheat! Perjurer! If you do anything to me, the Hero will be sure to avenge me!"

It's my turn to stare at him in surprise after hearing these words. The Hero? He's still alive?

No, that's impossible, I'm here right now. Revelation needs at least two decades to recharge before it can bless a new Hero, so the earliest a new one should be able to appear is in a bit over eleven years.

I can understand what he's saying, so I can interrogate him. I turn towards the other two in the room and ask, speaking loud enough to cover the human's voice:

"Has he been like this since he woke up?"

"He has! We expected the remnants of the poison to keep him calm, but he turned out surprisingly resistant to it. No way to know what he's saying, we just know he's really angry. It didn't seem safe to undo his binds, so we left him like that."

"That was likely the right decision. If you don't mind, could you get out? I want to see if I can calm him down and get some information out of him if I'm alone."

"How do you plan to do that? He doesn't speak any language we know."

"There are other ways. I'm not saying it'll work, I just want to try something out."

They shrug, but accept my request. I close the door behind them, then grab one of the boxes and drag it in front of the guest before sitting on it. He shouts insults and obscenities the entire time, but once I'm ready, I simply shout as loud as I can and in the human tongue:

"Oh, shut up!"

I'm surprised by how thick my accent is when I speak these words. They were recognizable, no doubt, but I guess with this body having never spoken the human language, some of the sounds are harder or impossible for me to do properly. I'll have to find some way to practice.

The prisoner's eyes are open wide, and he responds:

"You... you speak our language?"

"A bit."

"Ah! Then I can negotiate with you! Listen, if you free me, I promise the Hero will leave you alone."

"Who is this Hero you speak of? The last one died eight years ago during his battle against the Monster King."

"Ah, yes. Emion the Hero, a commoner unfit for the title, frankly! He brought shame upon us all by dying at the hand of his enemy, proving once and for all what we've always been saying: only nobility is fit to fill the role of Hero!"

I feel my blood start boiling again. It's true that I was a commoner, and the sword picking me caused widespread controversy across literally all countries where the Church holds any power. I wasn't the first person born of commoners to become the Hero, obviously, many of my predecessors also were, but at some point in the past, nobles started more commonly being chosen, in no small part due to everyone else being given much lower priority to hold the Holy Sword.

But this still shows that me being a commoner had nothing to do with my defeat. If they're using this as an excuse to further antagonize people of lower birth...

The prisoner continues:

"But the new Hero, Sir Braleimu Wisgeron the Excellent, Bearer of the Divine Will, Defender of the Orphan, and Slayer of Dragons, will bring swift death and destruction upon the enemies of the Church and of mankind more broadly. He is a man to fear and revere, truly worthy of the title that was bestowed upon him!"

After hearing that tirade, my anger has been completely replaced by annoyance. Who the heck is that Braleimu guy? Did he actually slay a dragon? If he was recently chosen as a new Hero, then he must still be a teenager, so that seems unlikely. At least his last name sounds somewhat familiar, but I stopped paying attention to the noble houses when I realized they were all effectively my enemies, so I didn't make any effort to remember anything about them.

"How did he manage to receive the Holy Sword's blessing so early after it was returned to the Church?"

"Oh, I am not aware of the details, but rest assured that he most certainly wields a sacred sword filled with the Goddess' love for mankind and hatred for monsterkind!"

Revelation never felt particularly hateful to me when I wielded it. Too many strange things are coming out of this guy's mouth.

"And what makes you believe that he'll personally avenge you if anything happens to you here? Did he pick you as a member of his party?"

"Oh, no! A lowly servant such as myself would never be worthy of being so close to him. No, I am merely a minor noble serving under House Wisgeron, offering my services to the Hero in whatever way I can."

"And is that why you found yourself in this forest?"

"Yes, of course! The good sir wanted me to scout in this part of the world to find dungeons for him to conquer as a way to bring glory to his name."

Dungeons? The term refers to vast and complex networks of caves, abandoned structures, or natural formations in which wild monsters, and even some more intelligent ones, tend to find residence. Adventurers routinely delve in and exterminate everything they find as a way to ensure the monster population doesn't get out of control, but something always ends up replacing the previous inhabitants, so the struggle never ends. As the Hero, I was only rarely called upon to help with dungeons... So could my replacement feel insecure about his social standing and try to gain some reputation by defeating powerful monsters?

"Isn't the Hero too busy to deal with dungeons?"

"No, for the monsters are quite calm these days. It serves as good training for him in preparation to a next war, surely."

In my experience, there's little to learn about the art of war in a dungeon. Well, it can help you learn to adapt to more varied one-on-one combat scenarios, and I am very aware of how varied the powers monsters wield are. With the lack of a Monster King to wage war against mankind, training in dungeons might not be that bad of an idea for a new Hero.

"So, to recap... You're a minor noble serving the Hero, who sent you here in search of dungeons. He has time to spend in them because we're presently in relative peace, and he's training for an upcoming war."

"That is correct! Do you now see just how glorious Sir Braleimu Wisgeron truly is? A paragon of virtue, an exemplar, the true hope for humanity, the..."

"Yes, yes, I get it."

Honestly, with how annoying this guy is, I wouldn't be surprised if the new Hero sent him here just to be rid of him, at least temporarily. No classification effort was ever made for the areas beyond the mountains, so nothing is officially counted as a dungeon within the monster-controlled territories. However, by definition, this entire forest could be treated as one, and he doesn't seem to have realized it. He's truly clueless. Does he even know where he is?

I need to know. He doesn't seem bright enough to lie, so I'll just ask him upfront:

"Hey, do you know where you are right now?"

"Mmmh? Well I can't be very far from Hilden, since I set out from it this morning."

He's been here for a few days so clearly he lost track of time when he was poisoned, but also... Hilden? That's on the other side of the mountains, and crossing them takes two weeks minimum, with the right mount and during dry season. Something's not adding up here.

As I'm thinking, he continues:

"It only now dawns one me to ask, but... What are you purple freaks doing on this side of the mountains? How dare you encroach on the holy land the Goddess bestowed upon her favored creation?"

How is it even possible for a man to be this annoying?

"You're the one who's on our side of the mountains."

"What? But how?"

I shrug.

"You tell me, I don't have the first idea."

"Well, it hardly matters! Release me this instant if you value your life and do not wish for my generous master to descend upon you with the wrath of a thousand dragons!"

That's it, I can't stand him anymore.

As I sigh, I get up and push the box back where it was. I grab his sword, then say:

"You know, that's a really nice weapon you have here. As tax for having crossed into our territory without permission, I'll take it for myself."

"How... How dare you! This weapon was forged for me and me alone! To my specifications! I will not allow a filthy purpleskin, even one as white as you, to lay hands on it! Free me this instant, I will show you my wrath! Fight me like a real warrior! I will not..."

I leave the building and close the door behind me, relieved that his voice is finally muffled.

I turn towards one of the Rai'enu who was originally inside.

"As far as I can tell, he got lost at some point and ended up in our forest. Definitely dangerous, so I'm confiscating his weapon, can't risk giving it back to him. We might be able to find more clues among his belongings."

"The Elder grabbed the bag he was carrying, and we found nothing worthy of note when we removed his armor."

"Thank you. Keep an eye on him, can't have him break loose while we're not watching."

"Of course."

As I'm walking towards the Elder's office, I think about what I just learned. There's a new Hero, one who potentially didn't receive the blessing of Revelation, who's trying to clear dungeons. Or maybe that was just an excuse to send that vermin away. Either way, the Church rushing ahead with the selection of a new Hero is rather concerning, and could greatly affect the selection of the next Monster King. If only I could go and meet him in person...

Wait! I already have to go and attend the congress being held at the capital. If I cross the mountains, I can do a large part of the journey in human territories, and if I leave ahead of schedule, I'll be able to afford to do detours. This will allow me to gather more information and, hopefully, meet the Hero myself.

This is a bit sudden, so I'm sure I'll still need a few days to prepare before I can leave, but it's not impossible for everything to be ready by then if I mention my plan.

Then it's decided. In a few days, I will leave my hometown and venture into human territories. Thanks to my skin having turned white, I won't be as conspicuous as if I was still purple, but I'll need to be careful to not attract any attention and to hide the shape of my ears, just in case. The memories of my travels as a human should prove useful to avoid any suspicions, so I'm confident I can manage it.

When I enter the Elder's office, I see a travel bag and its contents laid out on a table. That's likely the items they found on the human.

"Ai'erina, you're here. How was the prisoner?"

"Angry, and probably quite a bit confused. I managed to figure out that he somehow got lost and ended up here, but he's also extremely violent. Releasing him would be too dangerous."

"I thought as much. Anything else?"

"Well... His presence here worries me. I would like to set out earlier than planned and go through some of the territories controlled by the humans to see if I can learn anything about it while on my way to the capital."

"What!? That's far too dangerous! If someone was to recognize you as a monster, your life would be forfeit!"

"I believe I can hide among humans, and I'll make sure to keep a low profile. I know it's risky, but there might be invaluable information to be gathered that way."

I need to be careful with what I say, revealing that I can understand and even speak the human language might put me in trouble. However, I need to convince him, as learning more about this new Hero might be crucial. Of course, a part of me is simply curious to meet my successor, but I also don't want the next war to unfold like the previous ones did. Deeply understanding both sides might help me find a permanent solution.

Wait... Is that what the Monster King had in mind when he made me come back as a monster? I really wish I could ask him a few dozen questions right now.

"Even so, it's far too risky, and there's only so much you can learn without knowing the human language. It's too risky to send a representative who also happens to be a Rai'ire into enemy territory like this."

I'll have to be more convincing... What could work without revealing too much about me? Should I mention the new Hero? If I stay vague, I might be able to convince him that I managed to learn something without casting doubt on myself.

"... I can't know for sure, but from the time I spent trying to understand the prisoner, I've come to suspect that he talked about a new Hero who has been chosen by the Church."

"What? Already?"

"Yes. This is part of my reason for wanting to go investigate. If the Church really found a new Hero, it could greatly alter the course of the upcoming congress. The more we know about him, the better prepared we can be to defeat him."

"That's a good point... Are you confident the human mentioned a hero?"

"I can't be entirely confident, but that's what I interpreted from my attempts at communicating."

"... Very well. This is too big to ignore. I will allow you to venture into human territories, on the condition that you promise to get out of there immediately if you learn that there is no new Hero yet, or find yourself in a position where your true identity is revealed. Do not, under any circumstances, take unnecessary risks."

"I understand. Thank you very much."

"Now, go, you certainly have preparations to attend to."

"Ah, before I do, could I take a quick look at the prisoner's items?"

"Certainly. Be careful, some of them seem fragile."

I approach the table, then start grabbing and moving the items around. A few healing potions, along with some empty vials. Food, water, an oil lamp, a few magical gemstones that have yet to be processed... He was geared up like an adventurer. Makes sense if he was scouting for dungeons.

As I look around, I eventually spot a transparent stone with a large crack going across it. I grab it, manipulate it a bit, and finally figure it out: it's a broken teleportation stone. Even the most novice of adventurers knows that, if a teleportation stone is even just slightly damaged, you don't use it. It could send you in a completely different location to where you expected to go, which risks putting you in even greater danger than whatever you were running away from.

Since it's transparent, I know it's been used. That dumb guy probably tried to teleport using a stone with a massive crack in it. I almost pity him at this point, but it might be some sort of retribution inflicted by the universe to punish him for being so annoying.

I put everything back, then wave to the Elder as I leave the office.