Volume 6 - CH 9

Chapter 9 – What is a Hero

That night, in front of the two tents that Narl secured through negotiations, the six people who came together from Veil gathered and had dinner together.

In addition to the portable food provided by the knights, the group ate a simple vegetable soup made by Kohaku with the ingredients they brought. Besides that, Amou was also in the middle of grilling the meat of wild birds he caught in the daytime on a skewer, producing a fragrant smell that permeated into the surroundings.

“Eto, why do you think the Hero has such an attitude toward you?”

Kohaku suddenly said as she remembered that topic in the middle of conversation.

“Un? Even if you asked, he has always been like that as far as I remember, though.”

“Before I heard Lana’s story, I actually thought he was just an asshole with a bad personality who did something terrible to Eto.”

“Aa.”

“But, the one who robbed Eto’s rewards was actually another person, right? Although it seems the Hero thought Eto was underpowered, he should have fully understood that he was wrong after the mock battle. And yet, he is still saying bad things about Eto.”

“That’s true. I didn’t hear it at all today, though.”

“Un. But, the Hero is the leader of his party, right? Doesn’t he feel responsible?”

“Do you mean about me?”

“Yes.”

“I wonder. I think it is difficult for him to change his thought toward me once he deemed me as an incompetent. I mean, look, his attitude toward Lana is completely different from his attitude toward me. Actually, he also thought of me as a comrade chosen by the Goddess at first.”

Eto recalled the first time he met Ronaldo. At that time, he thought how could there be a man with a beautiful heart like him. Eto’s heart even soared when he was told let’s do their best together by Ronaldo.

“Have Eto seen the Hero apologize to someone before?”

“Ronaldo-sama apologizes to people? You mean seriously apologize to people? I haven’t seen such a scene. That person is the first son of a Marquis family, after all. Although it seems he won’t be inheriting his family since he was chosen as the Hero, I think he has never apologized to people since he was a kid.”

“I wonder if every noble is like that?”

“That’s not true. There are various types of nobles.”

Narl, who had been listening silently until then, said.

Hearing that, Eto looked at Narl, but didn’t know how much he could say to him. Because Eto thought that Narl is probably not a commoner. But if someone asked if Eto thought Narl was a noble, the question as to why he became an investigator in the Adventurer’s Guild would arise. In any case, he must have his reason. Unless the person himself decided to speak, Eto thought he shouldn’t thoughtlessly ask about that.

“Is Narl a noble?”

However, without minding Eto’s hesitation, Kohaku asked straightforwardly.

“… Right now, I’m not.”

Narl replied after a pause. And Nii who was sitting next to Narl sighed deeply.

“Looks like the Hero of this generation may have a slightly twisted personality.”

Nii expressed her view of the Hero to restore the topic of the conversation.

“In the first place, what is a Hero? What is it chosen for?”

Sorano asked Eto.

“Are you not taught about that in the elf village?”

“… At that time, I was only interested in bow and swords.”

Looks like it was the reason Sorano was more skillful than her peers, because she spent her time differently.

“Well, I learned this in the Royal Castle, but the Hero seems to be an existence who can save the world’s crisis and bring peace to people. But now that I think about it, it is a bit vague.”

“That’s actually the only truth.”

“Are you familiar with the concept of a Hero, Nii-san?”

“When I’m working behind the scenes in the guild, information is a weapon that can help me, much less in this generation that is called the age of the Hero. To be prepared for what’s to come, I think the knowledge about the Hero is important.”

“The age of the Hero, huh.”

“Yes. It’s been about 200 years since a Hero was chosen. And in the era when the Hero appears, a big disaster often occurs. And the only one who could prevent that disaster in the past was the Hero who had the power of the Holy Sword. Although the Sword Saint, Master Magician, the Saint and the Sage are also chosen as the members of the Hero’s party, their job is said to be only to assist the Hero.”

Nii continued while looking at Eto.

“Ee. The fighting power of Ronaldo-sama indeed had a tremendous increase when he held the Holy Sword. Even at the mock battle at the Royal Castle, he lost because he lost consciousness due to a sudden blow. But, even though that was more than 200 years ago, is there even an accurate record about Heroes?”

The current Eto is different from when he was a kid who admired the existence of the Hero and acknowledged Ronaldo’s power. Right now, Eto didn’t know how much he could trust the story of the Hero told at the royal castle.

“The origin of the record of the Heroes is the Goddess religion that told its story to the world. It is written in 『The book of the beginning』, which is also the doctrine of the church.”

“It is a folklore that said the Goddess appeared on the earth and gave us her words directly, right? I only thought that was just a legend.”

“I can’t deny that legends and historical facts are mixed. However, it seems the Goddess religion indeed has a detailed history of how the Heroes saved the world from crisis. It also describes the great demon beast that was defeated by the Hero or the specific phenomenon that caused the disaster, but they restricted ordinary people from viewing the record, so they do not misunderstand and make a fuss about it.”

It was the first time Eto heard about this story. If the historical facts remain, Eto would like to know not only about the Heroes but also the Sage of the past. According to Nii, all records are kept in the great temple of the Goddess in the Royal Capital and the Margrave of Erven.

“In conclusion, the Hero is the one and only person who can save the world from crisis. And if a big disaster occurs in this era, we have to rely on the Hero. Is that what you mean?”

Sorano asked Nii with a bitter expression.

“Ee, that’s right. But it seems there are also some Heroes that reached the end of their lives without such a crisis, though.”

“Can’t Goddess-sama choose a more decent person?”

“Sorano-san, I advise you not to say that outside. It could be perceived as blasphemy to Goddess-sama, after all.”

“… Aa, I know.”

“I have a different opinion with everyone. I think this Hero is unexpectedly decent. Because he never said ‘if you want to save the world, listen to my order’, right? He also never tried to do anything he wanted with his tremendous power. The only thing he actually did is hunt the monsters and sometimes take a break in town.”

“If he is a problem child, there is no way he is allowed to get out of the Royal Castle because he is dangerous, right? But even the Hero himself doesn’t feel like it, the people around him can also be harmful, after all.”

Eto, with the help of the Hero, remembered the ugliness of those who spoke more terrible things than the Hero himself.

“Although Eto-san may have a hard time in the Hero’s party, given the power of the Hero and the uniqueness of his existence, he should be able to do more unreasonable things. And looking at the achievements of the Heroes of the past, the Hero of this generation will definitely become stronger and stronger from now on. Thus, even if the Hero runs out of control, I think we have no choice but to tolerate it as long as the damage is contained to some extent.”

“In order to deal with the world’s crisis, huh…. I understand that, but I can’t really obediently nod to that since I am the victim.”

“No wonder. But Eto-san seems to have overcome the past, right?”

“I wonder. I even ignored him before.”

“Isn’t that fine? The Hero also mysteriously showed a different reaction to Eto-san.”

“Ah, I hope he can spare me from that.”

“To me, it looks like the faces of you guys are intertwined with them, though?”

Hearing Nii’s words, Eto feels like the power of his body is weakened. He wanted to get out of that fate right away. But in the end, he has no choice but to continue his adventure. If in the middle of the adventure of his party he comes across the Hero’s party like this again, he just has to deal with it each time. In other words, there is no need to think harder about that.

“Even so, Nii-san. You sure were talkative.”

“…”

Nii then covered her mouth with the orange cloth she had previously removed and stared at Eto. Beside her, Narl glanced at Nii’s face and his face became relaxed. Although it is hard to see from the light of the bonfire, Nii’s face seemed to be reddened.