CH 196

—World Transfer, Complete

“…phew. This time was quite an intense world, wasn’t it?”

“Hahaha, well done.”

Having completed all the tasks as a hero party, we safely returned to the <White World> Since we said proper goodbyes and returned this time, there was nothing left to regret.

By the way, the reward I received was a request from Tia to explain “why treasure chests appear in front of heroes.” And the answer turned out to be quite disappointing, as it was “we don’t know either.”

Similar to the golden medal, treasure chests appear in front of heroes. However, unlike the medal, it seems that it must be in a place where there is always a presence of demonic beasts in the surroundings. The opportunity for a hero to unknowingly encounter a treasure chest, like with the medal, is almost non-existent. That’s because if a child goes to a place where treasure chests appear unarmed, they will die.

We have also conducted some research on the treasure chests themselves. It is known that the chest remains in that location as long as the hero is alive after opening the lid, and even if you try to move the chest, it somehow becomes stuck to the ground and cannot be moved at all. However, the fundamental reason for the appearance of treasure chests remains unknown.

Although we have been speculating about the surrounding magical energy concentration or the special wavelength generated when demonic beasts are born, ultimately, the act of “creating something out of nothing” falls within the realm of divine miracles. Therefore, no conclusive answer can be given.

Tia seemed somewhat dissatisfied with that answer, but when I said, “Have you ever wondered why the sun rises in the morning? It’s the same kind of thing,” she seemed to be satisfied. No matter how much we are manipulated by a strange destiny, humans are ultimately insignificant beings. There are countless things that we don’t understand.

“Now, Ed, let’s read the book right away!”

“Haha, Tia, you are always full of enthusiasm.”

“Well, when we come back here, our fatigue and everything just disappears, right? Besides, since it’s from the perspective of a god, maybe we can understand the secrets of that world.”

“Oh, I see. That’s another way to think about it.”

Indeed, {Record Of The Hero’s Story} was written from the perspective of a god, looking down on the life of a hero. If that’s the case, it’s not impossible that there is information in it that humans cannot know.

“Alright, let’s start reading.”

Once we realized that fact, my interest was also piqued. I sat down at the table and picked up the book that had appeared there, flipping through its pages.

“What!? Younger Gou-san didn’t break any pots…!?”

“Are you that surprised!? That’s a privilege of being a hero. If he had been breaking pots all the time before being recognized as a hero, he would have been seen as a mischievous brat.”

“That’s true, but… ah, but finding the medal in his own chest was the trigger. Yes, I understand that.”

“That’s right.”

The trigger was a trivial thing. Gou, who was born in a small village, found a golden medal in a chest where he kept his clothes.. He showed it to his parents, and his parents consulted with the village chief… and eventually, it was presented to the king, and Gou was officially appointed as the hero.

“Oh, that’s how they parted. It can’t be helped, I guess.”

“Even though they were comrades, it’s not acceptable to rummage through someone’s chest.”

The female magician who temporarily became hos comrade. It seemed like things were going well, but it appears that she got into a fight with him and left the party after he rummaged through her chest without permission.

Well, yeah. Gou probably didn’t mean any harm, but if someone rummages through your chest without permission, well… even if it’s said to be a privilege of being a hero, it’s a different matter if you can accept it.

And so, we continued reading the story of the adventures of the hero Gou, with each success and failure, expressing our own opinions. Unfortunately, there were no descriptions touching on the mysteries of the world, and most of the contents were about Gou, who was inflexible, being looked at with a bewildered expression. Despite his hesitation, Gou continued on the path of a hero without showing it openly… and then, the last page.

――The 011th world, {Records Of The Hero’s Story} Epilogue, there it begins and there it ends.

Having successfully defeated the Demon King, the hero Gou was granted the right to marry the princess as is customary. However, Gou, who had followed all his missions as a hero until now, finally refused.

――”My companions taught me. If I truly desire it, I can carve my own path,”―― saying that, Gou headed back to his hometown, the village where he first set off as a hero. There, he attempted to confess his feelings to his childhood friend, but the woman who was the same age as Gou had already surpassed the age of thirty and was already married with children, so he was heartbroken.

In his sorrow, Gou returned to the royal capital and began to immerse himself in making pots to forget his sadness. The pots made by Gou, who had broken countless pots before, were difficult to break by accident, but they would break cleanly with a beautiful sound when consciously done, showing remarkable craftsmanship. As a result, pots all over the world gradually started to be replaced with ones based on the pots made by Gou.

Not only for defeating the Demon King but also for developing a new type of pot called “Parin-yaki,” Gou left a name as a hero. By his side were the companions he had traveled with, who would stop him and slap his head every time he tried to break a pot or rummage through a chest out of his hero habits.

“It’s like… Gou-san until the very end, huh?”

“It’s not like he was supposed to be the ‘Pot Hero’ or anything.”

To Gou’s way of life, who clung to pots until the very end, I exchanged glances with Tia and smiled wryly. However, since things ultimately ended up working out well, we could breathe a sigh of relief for now.

“Now, onto the next world… Oh, but before that.”

Tia gently touched the glowing crystal ball. The light flowed into Tia, and it seemed that she had once again gained power safely.

“By the way, I realized I haven’t asked what kind of abilities you have been receiving lately. How’s that going?”

“Oh, about that? Well, um… Is it okay if I tell you… without getting angry?”

“Huh? Why would I get angry?”

I tilted my head in confusion as Tia looked up at me with upturned eyes. Regardless of what kind of abilities Tia had gained, I couldn’t think of any reason why I would get angry about it.

“Well, you see, most of the abilities I’ve been getting seem not very useful… For example, there’s the [Skip Step] where if we hold hands and skip, our movement speed increases by ten percent…”

“Ah, I see… Haha!”

“Oh, did you laugh!?”

“Hahaha, sorry, sorry. I’m not angry, so it’s fine, right?”

“That’s not good! Mou~, I didn’t want to say it in the first place!”

Tia puffed up her cheeks in a huff, and I laughed while patting her head.

“I’m sorry. Skipping is great, isn’t it? It’s peaceful.”

What resided within Tia was a part of my power, the power to end, the Demon King Of The End. It was a power so fearsome that the god had feared it and sealed it away. However, Tia didn’t possess the power to destroy or end things. Instead, she gained the ability to simply skip.

She was able to do that because she was Tia. How precious it was to have Tia, who could turn my power, which could only bring about endings, into an ability unrelated to endings. I understood that more than anyone else in the world.

“Tia, you’re really wonderful.”

“What? Don’t make fun of me! Hmph! Come on, let’s go to the next world!”

“Don’t sulk like that! Okay, I got it.”

I followed Tia’s back as she headed towards the next door. For the sake of continuing to watch over that back, I would smash pots all over the world with ease.

“Next is ……, how many worlds is it?”

“Which one is it… um, the twelfth world, right? Didn’t they assign numbers to each one in the {Records Of The Hero’s Story}?”

“Ugh!? R-Right!q, I just forgot for a moment! Alright, alright, let’s go to the twelfth world!”

“Okay!”

Holding hands, we set off for the next world. But what awaited us there was… the bare malice of a God that finally caught onto my transformation.