Chapter 760: Who the World Looks At

Zero began watching differently.

Before, he had watched for attacks.

For movements.

For hidden mana signatures.

For the people Earth Zero might be using.

Now he watched something else.

The aftermath.

Who people spoke about.

Who appeared in the reports.

Who stood at the center when an important event ended.

At first, he felt ridiculous doing it.

There were far more important things to measure.

Military strength.

Political stability.

The condition of the peace treaty.

The mysterious force.

But Earth Zero had already proven that those things were not his only concern.

Perhaps they were never his main concern.

*******************************************

The next major incident happened near the eastern border.

A group of unknown attackers had attempted to interfere with a joint human and devil supply route.

The attack failed.

Hiro’s group responded before the situation could escalate.

Several guards were injured.

The attackers escaped.

But the supplies reached their destination.

From a military perspective, it was a success.

Zero knew that much.

The treaty remained intact.

The route remained open.

No major political consequences followed.

The War Council classified the incident as contained.

But Zero didn’t focus on any of that.

Instead, he watched what happened afterward.

The next morning, he visited the capital.

Newspapers were already being distributed.

He stopped beside a merchant selling them.

The first page displayed the attack.

Zero read the headline.

JOINT SUPPLY ROUTE PROTECTED

Below it were several names.

Hiro.

Two human commanders.

A devil representative.

The report praised cooperation.

Peace.

The success of the joint route.

Zero continued walking.

Nothing unusual.

Until he reached the next street.

Another newspaper.

A different publisher.

This one had a large image of Hiro.

HIRO PREVENTS BORDER ESCALATION

Zero stopped.

A third newspaper carried a similar story.

This time, Hiro’s name appeared directly beneath the headline.

A fourth mentioned Mia.

But only near the end.

She had assisted with securing the route afterward.

Zero folded the newspaper.

The military result hadn’t changed.

Neither had the political result.

But the way people were talking about it was different.

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

*************************************

He spent the rest of the day listening.

At the guild.

At the market.

Outside the War Council.

He didn’t interfere.

He simply listened.

"Did you hear what happened?"

"Hiro stopped the attack."

"I heard the devils were involved."

"No, the devils were helping."

"Really?"

"That’s what they said."

"But Hiro was there, right?"

"Yeah."

The conversation continued.

And Zero began noticing something.

People rarely remembered every detail.

They didn’t discuss supply routes for long.

They didn’t discuss military reports.

They didn’t analyze political consequences.

They remembered the person.

Hiro.

Zero closed his eyes briefly.

Earth Zero knew this.

That was the difference.

He understood that the outcome of an event was not the only thing that remained afterward.

Someone remained with it.

A face.

A name.

A person attached to the memory.

*******************************************

That evening, Zero visited Aidan.

"I need information."

Aidan looked up from his desk.

"That usually means trouble."

"I need reports."

"Definitely trouble."

Zero ignored him.

"Every major incident since the battle against Aamon."

Aidan stopped smiling.

"What kind of reports?"

"Public reports."

Aidan stared at him.

"That’s it?"

"Newspapers. Guild discussions. Public records. Any information about how people responded afterward."

Aidan slowly leaned back.

"You’ve become strange."

"Do you have it?"

"I can get it."

"Do it."

Aidan sighed.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zero looked at him.

Aidan immediately raised a hand.

"Sorry. Bad joke."

*********************************************

The reports arrived two days later.

Zero locked himself inside his room.

At first, the information seemed useless.

Newspapers.

Guild records.

Public discussions.

Ceremony attendance.

Popular names mentioned after major events.

Zero spread everything across the table.

Then he began comparing them.

The battle against Aamon.

Mia.

Hiro.

The peace treaty.

Lilith.

The attacks.

Hiro.

Joint supply routes.

Hiro.

Smaller incidents.

Different names.

But Zero ignored the names at first.

Instead, he followed one thing.

Attention.

Who appeared most often?

Who did people ask about?

Who was mentioned when an event was summarized?

Who became the face of what had happened?

Hours passed.

Then Zero stopped.

The results weren’t random.

Before the recent mysterious attacks, Mia had gradually become the strongest public symbol connected to the events following the war.

Not through manipulation.

Not through official orders.

Naturally.

Her strength made her memorable.

Her role in the battle had become widely known.

People associated the victory with her.

Hiro remained recognized.

But his name appeared less frequently.

He was part of the story.

Mia was becoming the face of it.

Zero stared at the records.

Then he looked at the reports following Earth Zero’s actions.

The change was immediate.

Not complete.

But it’s obvious.

Hiro’s name began appearing again.

First, occasionally.

Then repeatedly.

Then almost every time something important happened.

Zero slowly leaned back.

Earth Zero wasn’t measuring victories.

He was measuring whether Hiro was present.

***************************************************

The realization made Zero sit forward again.

He pulled several reports closer.

One attack had been stopped by Hiro.

Another had been resolved by local guards.

A third had ended before Hiro arrived.

Earth Zero’s reaction to each had been different.

The incidents connected to Hiro continued producing movement.

The ones that didn’t—

stopped mattering.

The mysterious force didn’t return to them.

There were no follow-up events.

No additional manipulation.

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

"You’re filtering them."

Earth Zero wasn’t interested in every major event.

Only the events that created something around Hiro.

Zero continued searching.

A pattern slowly emerged.

When Hiro responded, Earth Zero watched.

When Hiro became the focus afterward, Earth Zero appeared calmer.

When Hiro was present but someone else became the main symbol of the event—

Earth Zero continued moving.

As if the result wasn’t enough.

Zero froze.

That was it.

Earth Zero didn’t care whether Hiro won.

He didn’t even care whether Hiro was physically present.

What mattered was what happened afterward.

Who the world remembered.

*************************************

Zero stood.

The chair moved backward.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the table.

"You’re measuring the center."

The words left his mouth quietly.

Earth Zero wasn’t trying to make Hiro stronger.

He wasn’t trying to change politics.

He wasn’t attempting to gain territory.

He was watching where attention went after something important happened.

Who became the person attached to the event.

Who occupied the center.

Zero slowly clenched his hand.

"Why?"

*************************

The question followed him for days.

He watched everything.

And once he started watching, he couldn’t stop noticing it.

A group of adventurers completed an important mission.

People spoke about the strongest member.

A military commander successfully resolved a crisis.

People remembered the commander.

A political agreement was signed.

People talked about the person who stood in front of the crowd.

Every event had a result.

But every event also had a center.

Someone the world attached to it.

Zero had simply never cared enough to notice.

Earth Zero did.