The Tale of Hero Alice's Social Death (Pantsu Hero Alice) Chapter 95 - History Repeats

"At this rate, we're going to have to slaughter the entire hospital…"

Alice felt mentally tired when she looked at the unconscious people on the ground. In addition to the people she had previously knocked out using the Spiritual Strike skill, the Gryffin King Hatter Ceres and three stern-looking middle-aged men had also joined the ranks of unconscious people lying on the ground.

However, these four people weren't the only new additions. Two doctors upstairs who had heard the commotion had come running down and got knocked unconscious by Luna as well. Fortunately, these two doctors didn't have any important duties to attend to, so none of the other doctors upstairs came down to find them. Hence, Alice simply left them by the staircase.

"Should I wake them up?" Luna asked as she stood beside Alice, behaving as if she would go along with Alice's decision and showing no initiative whatsoever. However, probably because she noticed the look of distress on Alice's face, she also suggested, "We can just say that you were experimenting with the Hero's abilities."

"I guess that's our only option…"

After thinking for a moment, Alice found that there was no other reason she could use to explain why the people on an entire floor had been knocked unconscious. The most reasonable solution would be to use her identity as the Hero as cover. Nobody could explain the Hero's abilities, in any case. So, everything would be fine so long as she pushed all the blame to this identity.

Although Alice had been joking when she mentioned the "Hero's privilege" to Zauna, in this world where the Hero was considered part of the natural law, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the Hero could do whatever they wanted.

Luna nodded to Alice's words. Then, she walked up to King Hatter, helped him onto a bench in the corridor, grabbed his head, and violently shook it.

Just when Alice wondered if Luna's actions would give Hatter a concussion, Luna let go of Hatter's head. Then, miraculously, Hatter started waking up.

"Hm…? Where am I…"

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Luna said. She stuck to her maid routine despite wearing a hospital gown and politely bowed to Hatter. As the other people on this floor were still unconscious, she did not have to worry about her words as she said, "Lord Hero was experimenting with spirit magic previously and accidentally knocked everyone on this floor unconscious."

"Is… Is that so?" Hatter had just woken up, and his mind was still in a blur, so he subconsciously accepted Luna's explanation. "I was wondering why I felt dizzy as soon as I came up to this floor… Whatever. I'll just treat it as a short nap. I've been working overtime until this morning. I haven't even had time to go home and sleep."

Seeing that Hatter remained relatively conscious even after working until now, Alice guessed that this pitiful king must've used the energizing magic she previously saw Heris using. However, the energizing magic merely suppressed one's exhaustion temporarily. The magic did not last forever, and neither did it erase one's fatigue. So, one would still have to catch up on their sleep afterward.

"These three fellows collapsed as well? …Whatever, let them continue sleeping." When Hatter looked at the three middle-aged men who were collapsed on the ground nearby, he hesitated for a moment before deciding that there was no need to wake them up immediately. Then, he looked at Alice and said, "I came here to ask about the details of the situation… Where's Catherine?"

"She fainted inside," Alice truthfully said as she pointed at the high-class hospital ward beside her.

"...Alright, then. Catherine might be strong, but I guess it is normal even for her to fall in the face of the Hero's abilities," Hatter said, shaking his head. Although Catherine was knocked unconscious, the fact that Alice could so effortlessly knock Catherine unconscious proved that she possessed strength far surpassing Catherine. So, it was almost certain that Alice was the Hero.

Of course, never would Hatter imagine that Alice the "Hero" wasn't the one who knocked Catherine unconscious. Instead, it was Luna the "Demon King" who did it.

However, Luna obviously wouldn't expose her identity like a fool. Alice didn't intend to have Luna reveal her secret to Crhis, either, deciding to let Hatter misunderstand that the Demon King was someone else instead.

"Then, if my guess is correct… You should've fought with the Demon King, right, Lord Hero?"

Hatter, Luna, and Alice were the only people conscious on this floor. Moreover, Luna evidently knew about Alice's identity as the Hero already. So, Hatter didn't have to watch his words when he spoke.

"The explosion of holy light that came from the direction of your mansion earlier this morning should've been your power, right?"

You might be talking about the power of panties.

Alice thought so in her heart. However, her mouth still provided a very standard answer as she said, "Yes. It is a skill called Holy Cross Slash. The Hero's Sword is required to use it."

After Alice finished speaking, though, she suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, did you hear about it through Catherine's report? How did you figure out that I was battling with the Demon King? It can't just be because you saw the light coming out of my hand, right?"

"It's because the Demon King's Power in my body has been drawn out," Hatter said, smiling when he heard Alice's question. "The portion of the Demon King's Power that had originally been inhabiting my body and twisting my spirit started putting up a struggle and escaped during your battle. Then, it flew in your direction. This situation could only mean that you were embroiled in a heated battle with the Demon King, and the Demon King had no choice but to recall the rest of the Demon King's Power. Did I guess correctly?"

No, you're overthinking things. The Demon King's Power was simply changing hosts, so it recovered the portion of its power that its original host had separated from it.

Although Alice knew the truth, there was no way she could reveal it. Otherwise, Luna would probably be in for a lot of trouble. Now that the Demon King's Power no longer acknowledged Luna, it showed that Luna had already lost her hatred for humanity. It would be terrible if the suspicion of the people around her triggered her hatred for humanity again.

"I guess you can say that…" Alice dryly laughed. "But the Demon King used a special means to cover his appearance. I didn't get to see what he looked like even until the end. So, I'm guessing that he will continue hiding in the human realm and wait for an opportune moment to strike."

It was normal for Demon Kings to hide in the human realm as they developed their strength, so Alice felt that there shouldn't be any problems in her reasoning. After all, nobody else was aware of her battle with Luna apart from the Loli Goddess. The likelihood of her lie getting seen through should be small.

"Ah, that won't be a problem," Hatter said, waving his hand when he heard Alice's concerns. Then, he smiled and said, "That area has many surveillance cameras. Although the cameras in the direct vicinity of your fight might have been destroyed, the cameras further away should have captured the Demon King when he was escaping, so finding him shouldn't be a problem."