My name is Glare.
I have brown messy hair, beautiful green eyes, and a small figure like a child.
My parents, whose faces I couldn’t even remember, gave me a grand name with the meaning of dazzling light, with the hope for me to brighten this dark and bleak world.
But I couldn’t understand the meaning of my name.
Even though I was young, I could tell the world was too dark for me to illuminate.
“I’m
“Ug
Since my younger sibling and I ended up on the streets, I have witnessed countless hardships.
Children crying beside their emaciated parents or wandering around abandoning their sick parents, risking their lives for a piece of bread. Shady organizations or illegal guilds often took advantage of and recruited these orphans.
Not to mention the bodies lying on the streets, which seemed to increase at least one or two every day.
One day, the adult who had given snacks to my sibling and me was found dead the following day, and I realized.
There was no light in this world.
If I hadn’t met ‘him’.
If I hadn’t gone to beg from him to get even a piece of bread for my sick sibling that day, I would have lived my whole life thinking that way and eventually become a victim of the streets.
But one day, ‘he’ appeared in the back alley.
The Hero that changed everything.
The gold coin he gave that day, and the talent I awakened through the ring he gifted helped my condition tremendously.
Thanks to those, my sibling and I no longer had to live precariously in the back alley and could move to a safer place.
Of course, it wasn’t just us who changed.
The back alley, once filled with the empire’s corruption, was now becoming a place where people could live.
Orphans who once roamed the streets begging daily now received free lodging and education at the orphanage established by the Hero.
The terrifying organizations of the back alley were losing power and disappearing.
Dead bodies, once a common sight, were no longer seen throughout the entire area, and now the Hero’s charity food stations were as numerous as pebbles on the street.
These changes were unimaginable a few years ago when we survived by rummaging through trash cans.
All this happened because the Hero purchased the entire control of the ‘Alley Market’ and implemented reforms to the place.
And that was not all.
The Hero’s good deeds didn’t stop there.
Recently, I learned that he fought directly against the corrupt Imperial Family and the Church, secretly did volunteer work, and even sent support funds to the academy. R�
He even fought against the evil forces threatening the world.
It seemed more and more that the person destined to illuminate the world was not me, but the Hero.
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for such a messiah to save the world rather than a little kid like me?
As I thought, even though I didn’t fully know him, the Hero continued to move forward, and the moment when the entire Empire would sing praise of his name didn’t seem too far off.
- Thud...!
“Hero!!!”
One day, in a dark place where I was banished with some pretty ladies, I realized his true identity and fate.
A man who had to perform a pun-like act called ‘False Evil’ to save the world.
A man who had to hide his true self and do good deeds.
Despite carrying everything on his shoulders, in the end, he was a boy only four years older than me who intended to sacrifice himself in the end.
That was the true identity of the Hero, whom I thought was a transcendent and invincible being.
He, who was losing his light with a sword pierced through his heart, was the one who needed help from others the most.
And only then did I understand the reason for my name, ‘Glare.’
To illuminate the world, I didn’t need to shine as brightly as the sun in the sky.
I only needed to shine brightly for one person.
Since realizing that, I’ve had only one thought. And to achieve that thought, I ran and ran toward the Empire as soon as I escaped the dark space.
In fact, it was a reckless act. I was exhausted, and the sea I had to cross to reach the Empire from the Eastern Continent was perilous.
Sure enough, before I could even cross half the sea, I was attacked by a horde of monsters.
But even so, I couldn’t give up.
Even when I fought against the monsters for days, I kept going, my desire to save my Hero was stronger than my desire to give up.
And when I was suddenly teleported to a ruined guild in the back alley, my mind was filled with only one thought.
I have to reach him.
I ran and ran, with that thought as a guiding light.
“Hero...!”
“H-Huh...?”
Finally, I reached you. You had been through so much.
I’m still in your debt, so I will be your light.
“What... what is this...?”
“Hehe.”
Now it’s my turn to illuminate you, Hero.
***- Rub rub rub...
A girl with brown messy hair was standing on tiptoe, rubbing her chubby cheek against my chest.
- Stretch...!
“Eek.”
As I absentmindedly stared at her cheek, I instinctively stretched it, and she looked up at me with a puzzled expression, her cheek still pinched.
“Why are you doing this?”
“...”
I should answer when asked a question, but my mind wasn’t working.
My head felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer.
Err#@ M#☆
Err@% S%r#@%...
Still staring blankly and stretching Glare’s cheek, I reached out to the shattered system window spreading all around.
- Shatter...
As soon as my hand touched it, the system, which was somewhat maintaining its shape, began to disintegrate into dust, and within a few seconds, the ‘Path of the False Evil’ system completely disappeared before my eyes.
“...”
Staring at it blankly, I tried calling the system internally, but the window that used to annoyingly pop up in front of my eyes remained unresponsive.
“System.”
Even when I called out loud, it was the same.
The system has been deleted.
Only that message floated around.
“Hero! You can relax now!”
As I stared at the unbelievable situation with a blank expression, Glare, who had been rubbing her cheek against me, smiled and reached out her hand.
“I will protect you!”
The ring on her left ring finger sparkled, reflecting the light from the starry curtain behind her.
“...Kid.”
“Cough, cough!”
“How could you just let them do that to you? You should fight back!”
As Glare patted Frey’s back while he clutched his throat and shed tears, she turned her head and glared fiercely at the committee head.
“Hey!”
“Huh?”
“The Hero healed your scar! You should thank him!”
Glare ran over, wildly swinging her arms and shouting.
“Really? He healed my scar? But even the Magic Tower couldn’t–”
The woman, who had been struck dumb by Glare’s flurry of punches, stared at Frey with a bewildered expression.
“...”
“Th-thank–”
Frey looked at her with slightly darkened eyes before turning away and starting to walk forward.
“Hey...”
“Y-yes?”
- Shimmer...
“...!?”
Then, Frey began to gently touch the cheek of the maid who had been slapped by Limia.
“How is it?”
“...Ah.”
Seeing the maid’s cheek return to its original state after being red and swollen, Frey smiled and asked.
The maid lowered her eyes and blushed, responding in a quiet voice.
“Th-thank you...”
“...!”
Frey flinched at her words and broke out in a cold sweat as he looked around.
“...”
A long silence followed.
“Uh, uh...”
The strange groan that broke the silence came from Frey.
“Uh... haha...hahahaha...”
“Disciplinary committee, quickly subdue...”
“haha!! Uh-haha-haha!!!”
“...”
Limia, who was about to give an order, fell silent along with the committee members as they watched Frey burst into hysterical laughter.
“Haha-haha-haha!!!”
“He’s gone mad.”
“Haha, ha... haha...”
Ignoring the stares directed at him, Frey sat down in the hallway, laughing and crying like a madman.
“Th-thank you...”
“Ugh.”
“Kid... really, really... really thank you...”
Then, as Glare patted his shoulder, he hugged her tightly, rubbing his cheek against hers.
“You’re free now, Hero.”
“Uh, uh...”
“So don’t worry about anything and live as you wish!”
Glare gently patted his back and whispered cheerfully.
- Shimmer...
The starlight from the collapsing barrier illuminated them.
***“Kid, thank you. Truly.”
“Hehe.”
“I owe you a debt I’ll never be able to repay.”
Having successfully evaded the pursuing disciplinary committee thanks to the light curtain commotion, Frey patted Glare’s head as she clung to him, speaking with a helpless expression.
“How can I repay this kindness?”
“It’s okay. I just...”
Glare, who had been smiling at Frey, suddenly trailed off.
“Debt...? Kindness...?”
She then began to ponder, touching her cheek with her finger.
“Um... well, then... then...”
As she started fiddling with her ring with a mischievous smile,
“Oh! Right!”
Frey suddenly widened his eyes and pulled out a crystal ball from his pocket.
“I need to send a message...”
“...”
“...Huh?”
But as he tried to initiate a signal, he froze, his expression becoming one of confusion.
[1657 missed messages]
[526 missed calls]
“Oh...”
- YoungMasterYoungMasterYoungMasterYoungMasterYoungMasterYoungMaster
- Freywhereareyounow?
- Yousaidtomeetattheportwhereareyou?
- Did you deliberately give the wrong time?
- AnswerbeforeIrapeyou
- Master? Master? Master?
- Frey. I need to turn you into an ego sword. Please, contact me...
The crystal ball glowed red hot as it continuously vomited out a slew of messages.
“...”
Feeling a chill down his spine, Frey looked at the top of the crystal ball and gaped.
[Call in progress..........]
[Caller: My Precious Gem]
“How do I handle this?”
“Huh...?”
Sweating profusely, Frey instinctively pulled Glare closer.