Chapter 8 : The Weight of the Crown

“Could it be that this bracelet also has powers? The perks of being an incarnation are enormous.”

Having lived an ordinary life for twenty-two years after being reincarnated into a hero manga, it seems that the perks of being an incarnation are finally about to be used excessively.

The chastity belt and the bracelet are resonating.

They are items imbued with the same will.

The bracelet can share some skills with the chastity belt.

The power of the worn area becomes stronger.

“Oh,what does this mean? Judging from the last message, it’s definitely stronger.”

Several messages appeared one after another.

After reading the last message, Iris’s arm tensed. When she swung her hand, she could feel the increased strength in her arm. Just in case,Iris opened the status window.

Regrettably, the hero’s name was still “Chastity Belt.”

“I’m annoyed…I guess I have no choice but to accept that this name is mine now.”

Iris closed her eyes tightly.

Since she wouldn’t have to mention the hero name often, it would be fine.

She had spoken honestly at first without thinking, but if anyone asked in the future, she planned to give a different, cooler name instead of “Chastity Belt.”

“Iris, attack one of those scarecrows.”

“Huh, okay.”

“If you think about attacking, you’ll be able to awaken your unique skill.”

“Ah….”

Teresa pointed in a direction where three scarecrows were neatly placed next to a stone Buddha statue.

Iris’s eyes rolled.

She wondered if others could see the status window as well, but from Teresa’s words, it seemed that she couldn’t see it.

Thinking about attacking would awaken the unique skill.

“What skill does Senior Teresa have? She might not be able to use her skill since she’s retired…I don’t want to ask her directly in case it’s an example.”

She hesitated for a moment.

But Teresa, misunderstanding her hesitation, shook her head and stepped forward.

“I haven’t used my skill after retiring, but let me show you an example first.”

“Ah,I….”

Teresa seemed to have mistaken that Iris hadn’t awakened her skill yet.

She wanted to say that she could, but she closed her mouth.

She wanted to see Senior Teresa using her skill.

Teresa’s gaze sharpened,and for a moment, the illusion of an eagle overlapped on her body.

In an instant, the illusion disappeared, and Teresa stood there wearing a hat shaped like an eagle’s beak and with eagle wings attached to her back.

Dressed in a dress with the colors of eagle feathers, brown and white, Teresa’s appearance left Iris’s mouth agape.

“That’s incredibly cool!”

“Hehe,is it? It’s been a while since I transformed in front of others. Let’s start with the first one!”

Teresa extended one hand forward and threw something like a shuriken.

With a whooshing sound as it cut through the air,something embedded into the scarecrow’s head.

Upon closer inspection, it was a sharp eagle feather.

She didn’t stop there and threw several more feathers, soon turning the scarecrow’s head into a hedgehog.

“Wow.”

“I’ll show you up to the second one. Focus your mind and think about attacking the scarecrow.”

Teresa spread her arms wide and took an eagle stance.

Then, in accordance with her posture, an eagle illusion appeared and immediately rushed towards the scarecrow.

The scarecrow split in half and collapsed weakly.

“Splitting it in half is an incredibly strong attack!”

Teresa, wiping her sweat, looked at the collapsed scarecrow and then at the dazed Iris.

Teresa’s cheeks were slightly flushed.

“I only showed you the basic attack. The second one was a bit…embarrassing,right?The skill becomes faster when I take the stance.”

“No, it’s not embarrassing at all, not at all, really.”

Iris denied it vehemently.

Because the attack she was about to show would be much more embarrassing.

She was already anxious about what expression Teresa would have when she used her skill.

Teresa,unaware of Iris’s thoughts,continued speaking.

“Heroes Information is not shared at all. Only a few well-known heroes have their information disclosed after their death, which is used as research material. So,Iris,I don’t know well what kind of skill series you will learn. And! You don’t have to show me everything. I’m just here to help your ability to blossom.”

“Okay….”

“Now, focus and give it a try.”

Teresa set up three new scarecrows next to the stone Buddha statue.

She didn’t feel like showing the grotesque Chastity Belt skill in front of her.

“No. I need to get used to it. There’s a saying, ‘He who wears the crown must bear its weight.’ I can do this,Iris.”

Iris hesitated and then looked at the scarecrow.

Soon, something squirmed under her skirt and a chain popped out.

As Iris picked up the chain, it immediately became taut and swung noisily.

It seemed like a gasp escaped from Teresa, who was standing next to her, but Iris focused and ran forward.

Then, as she swung her hand with all her might, a whooshing sound cut through the air, and the scarecrow was split in half.

When Iris turned around, Teresa was staring blankly before regaining her composure and speaking calmly.

“…That’s incredible.”

“Uh,it is incredible,right?”

“Indeed.The skill is incredible.”

Iris wanted to ask exactly what was incredible, but she decided to keep quiet.

Instead, she struck the scarecrow once more with the whip.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the whip lengthened and took out two scarecrows at once.

Iris, who hadn’t intended to take out two at the same time, stopped in confusion.

“Huh?”

“You attacked two scarecrows at once. Was that intentional?”

“No….”

“Hmm, we need to do some strength control training. This is a bit dangerous as it is.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Iris,that…weapon seems very effective. It will be useful in the future. But if the length extends at will, accidents could happen. We only want to harm the enemies, not innocent citizens.”

“Ah….”

“Phew, an unpleasant memory comes to mind. That was….”

Teresa gazed at the distant mountains and brought up an old memory.

The mission that day was to rescue citizens captured by the villain.

Teresa heard that there was another novice hero at the scene where she was dispatched.

But that novice hero, instead of just attacking the villain, attacked the citizens as well.

“Goodness.”

“The novice hero was greatly shocked and hasn’t been heard from since..Now you understand why I’m helping Miss Iris, right? I don’t want Miss Iris to unknowingly use her power and create innocent victims..If that happens, the awakened ability might become useless and instead become a source of trauma.”

“Yes, I understand now. Just thinking about it is terrifying.”

“Indeed. If that happens,you would become a walking killing machine instead of a hero.”

Iris’s face turned pale.

She had dreamed of living an extraordinary life, but becoming a killing machine was definitely out of the question.

“Using abilities is more complicated than I thought. I naively believed that as a hero, I would only defeat villains, but now I realize that I could accidentally harm citizens. It’s a chilling thought.”

Seeing Iris’s face turn pale, Teresa felt relieved.

In fact, she had just tested Iris.

Although she had heard Iris’s determination to become a hero, she had been worried whether Iris could truly stick to that resolve and not betray her conscience too quickly.

But judging from her reaction,it seemed there was no need to worry.

Under Teresa’s guidance, Iris practiced controlling her abilities.

Even with the status window, this training was essential.

Before Iris swung her whip, if she set the target of her attack, the length of the whip would freely change according to her intention.

One of the gains from the training was discovering that the whip could extend much longer than she had thought.

The Chastity Belt’s skill could cover not only close range but also a considerable distance.

Just how far it could cover….

“Haah!”

“Goodness me!”

Teresa set up several scarecrows.

As Iris stood in place and swung her whip, it extended up to three meters and knocked down three scarecrows.

The moment she knocked down ten scarecrows,a message appeared before Iris’s eyes.

The whip becomes more accustomed.LV.1 becomes LV.2.The whip becomes stronger.