CH 263

“………….Hmm?”

Suddenly, a stark white world sprawled before me. I’d never seen such a sight, and as a dumbfounded expression took over my face, I quickly looked around.

“Eh, what!? What is this place!? Ah, eh, eh!?”

Whether I looked to the right or to the left, it was just endlessly flat and white. Actually, above and below were white too. If I can’t see the sky, does that mean I’m inside some kind of building? Trapped? Kidnapped? Why me? How?

“…Wait, wait, wait. Let’s calm down. Let’s first sort out the situation.”

Just a moment ago, I was exterminating mole crickets. Pest control in the field was an essential part of a mercenary’s job, and I had ventured into the forest to destroy a mole cricket nest…

“…Was it really like that?”

The scene that came to mind should undoubtedly be my everyday life, but for some reason, I felt a strong sense of discomfort. I feel it… but there shouldn’t be any discomfort in such an abnormal situation. Actually, everything around me was a mass of discomfort.

“Did I hit my head? If this is a dream I’m seeing after fainting, that’d be great… No, it wouldn’t be. If it’s a dream, it should be more fun…hmm?”

Being restrained and thrown into a prison cell would be troublesome, but the complete freedom of having nothing at all here was even more so. I’m not asking for the luxury of someone to talk to, but at least something… As I squinted and looked around, a table and chair suddenly appeared in a place that had been empty a moment ago.

“…”

Weird. Really weird. There was definitely nothing there a moment ago, but now when I looked right, left, and right again, there was a table and chair. I don’t understand. It’s my principle to stay away from suspicious things like this…

“Well, I can’t ignore it.”

The moment I look away, if the table and chair disappear, I will indeed be reduced to a mere existence rolling around like a caterpillar in a blank world where there is nothing. As I nervously approached the table, there was also a stark white book. When I picked it up and opened it, it was filled with very self-serving content.

“What the hell is this? A hundred different worlds, exile… Any way you think about it, it’s crazy…”

What I should do was written, but I had no idea why I have to do such a thing. As I frowned and looked to the side, there was a white wall and a door attached to it that had suddenly appeared.

“Haa…”

I let out a big sigh, then turned my gaze back to the table. I’m not surprised anymore by the crystal ball that has appeared just by looking away for a few seconds. This is the kind of world this is, I’ve been saddled with an impossible task by someone who can do this, and I have no choice but to do it… In essence, that’s what it means.

“My only hope is this crystal ball that’s supposed to give me some kind of mysterious power. Now then…”

As soon as I put my hand on the crystal ball, I could feel a strange heat flowing into me. Next, what came to mind was the name [Flagmaker] and the details of its ability.

“I see, I see, so this is how it is… can I somehow manage this, maybe?”

If it’s not about me doing something, but about something happening on its own, then even I, a mere mercenary, might be able to join something as outrageous as a hero party. In fact, it would be troublesome if I couldn’t. I want to get out of this inexplicable world as soon as possible and go home… back to my original world.

“Anyway, let’s just try doing it. Then let’s start right away… hmm?”

Just as I was about to leave, feeling like I no longer needed to be here, I noticed an object on the table that was the first non-white colored entity in this world.

“Another book? What’s this… {Records Of The Hero’s Story}?”

The title was written in gold foil on a brown leather-bound book. There were other things written too, but those parts had been scratched and scraped off, making them unreadable.

“I don’t quite understand, but should I read this too?”

Lowering my hips that were about to stand, I sat back down to read the newly appeared book. Upon opening the book, what was written was a heroic tale of a hero I’d never heard of.

“Hero Burn? Who’s that? Ah, could this be the hero from the other world?”

Muttering such things, I continue reading the book. A child born in a rural village aspires to be a hero, inspired by the stories he heard in his youth, and leaves for the city. There he has a fateful encounter and awakens to the power of the hero with his companions… it’s quite a common development… up to a point.

“Eh, you’re kidding me!?”

In the middle of the story, the heroine who was a companion suddenly reveals to the hero that “The man we traveled with is the Demon King, an evil existence who stole the power of God.” Hearing this, the hero, caught between doubts and trust, pierces the male companion with the ‘Hero’s Sword’… and as a result, the male companion dies.

“Wow… But what’s with this development? Shouldn’t something like this have more foreshadowing from the beginning? Suddenly hearing such a thing and dying the next day, isn’t that a bit too sudden?”

Just because he had the same name as me… well, Ed is a common name, so there must be many around… I feel a certain uncomfortable emotion. But since there’s no author in front of me, there’s no point in complaining, so I continue reading the story…

“…What is this?”

The overly positive hero keeps worrying about stabbing the man… the Demon King, and the elf girl who always cheered everyone up seems to have reversed her outgoing character to a more reserved one due to the effect of her mind control being lifted.

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And as the presence of the elf Lunaritia faded, the one who started to shine was the priestess Euralia, who had taken in the power of God recovered from the Demon King. She began to wield a power that was completely different from her predecessors, and honestly, it felt like it became just about Euralia.

It’s kind of like the protagonist has changed, even though the perspective remained with the hero. This was an interesting experiment in its own right, but of course, there’s no sense of unity in the story. It would be better to divide it into two volumes and sell it as separate books. Readers will definitely be confused. I am too.

“This is terrible… well, it’s a bit interesting, but terrible.”

There’s a saying that innovative methods that no one has ever tried before are usually things that someone has tried but found to be no good… and right now, I’m strongly feeling that. If at least the elf was also powered up, the balance could be maintained, but it’s only the priestess. Certainly, this wouldn’t get read to the end if it were left lying around here.

“Well, there’s no point in complaining about it here. Now, let’s continue… huh.”

I continued reading the story, which had taken a confusing turn. The priestess woman defended against enemy attacks with the power of God, the priestess woman broke curses with the power of God, the priestess woman gets thanked by villagers and almost had a nobleman’s son forced on her… I reached the final page just as I was starting to lose track of whose story this was.

―― %*& World {Records Of The Hero’s Story} The Final Chapter: True Peace, True Faith”

Thus, after a journey spanning three years, Hero Burn and his party finally succeeded in subduing the Demon King. Despite the cries of joy resonating throughout the world, the humble hero did not boast of his achievements, but merely smiled quietly.

Afterward, having fulfilled their great responsibility, the hero’s party disbanded, each going their separate ways.

The elf, awakened from brainwashing, disappeared somewhere after reporting the defeat of the Demon King. There were rumors that she had not completely broken free from the Demon King’s brainwashing and, in order to resurrect the Demon King, she had turned to dark magic and had been eradicated from the world by the hand of the hero. However, Hero Burn only gave a vague smile and said no more.

Hero Burn relinquished all of his fame as a hero, as well as his status and wealth, and returned to the rural village where he was born. Distanced from people due to a heart hardened by strife and a painful betrayal, time gradually healed his wounds. At the relatively late age of thirty, he married and built a very ordinary family, fulfilling his life as a villager.

Finally, the priestess who harbored the power of God in her body used the funds entrusted to her by Hero Burn to establish a church worshiping the only God in this world. She, who had thrown away all she gained from defeating the Demon King in pursuit of true faith, became the greatest entity in history in name and reality, dedicating her life to prayer.

Her exceedingly beautiful and noble way of life satisfied God greatly, and He shed tears of joy. These drops washed away the evil existence of the Demon King, and thus, the world took its first steps towards true and pure peace.

“No, it definitely became a story about this priestess Euralia!”

As the development turned out to be unexpectedly as I had anticipated, I unconsciously slapped the spine of the book. What’s this? Did they want to write a story where the priestess was the protagonist, but were afraid it wouldn’t sell, so they put a male hero in the first half as bait for the readers?

“Phew, I feel so drained… well, this should be enough.”

I raised my eyes and put the book back on the shelf, which had been there at some point, but it didn’t seem like anything else was going to happen. I stretched and walked toward the only door in the room.

“Well, shall we go then? To another world… I wonder what it will be like.”

Excitement at the unknown adventure, major anxiety, a strong obsession with “wanting to go home”, and… something I couldn’t put into words that stuck in the corner of my mind. With all these feelings in my heart, I opened the door to a new world and stepped forward.