Chapter 271
- It’s best to start by drawing bigger picture (4)
#4 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of Those Fighting
“All troops have completed their retreat.”
“Thank you.”
I conveyed my gratitude to the Wind Temple’s hero who helped the retreat of our troops until the end.
“No, I’m sorry instead.”
“Were there a lot of casualties?”
“Yes….”
Seeing the Wind hero unable to lift his head, I sighed.
“How much damage did you take?”
“Twenty have gone to the gods.”
“Twenty….”
Compared to the hundreds and thousands of ordinary soldiers dying every day, it may seem like a small number.
But if you consider that the heroes who stayed behind for the retreat were all veterans, the story changes.
“The enemy’s forces….”
“It seems like there are thousands less, but given time, it will fill up again.”
“I see….”
Heroes are reborn. When they die, the gods immediately choose new heroes to replace them.
They all have outstanding talents and are courageous enough to be rightly called heroes.
But no matter how excellent one’s talents, if they cannot blossom, they are useless. And courage without strength is merely recklessness.
What we need now is the power to slay the Demon King who follows the evil god and his forces.
“Now it’s half….”
“We are training the newly deployed heroes, but there is too little time.”
Even when one is chosen as a hero, it is extremely rare for them to be immediately assigned a mission.
Usually, they have to train for at least a few months under their senior and retired former hero.
“Even so, to be at the level of common soldiers….”
“We have no choice.”
Originally, heroes were chosen to fight the Demon King.
That’s why heroes can only be selected from humans, the only race that can stand against the Demon King.
But after that, everything depends on the gods’ choices.
An excellent knight may be selected as a hero, or a farmer who has only handled farming tools all his life may be chosen as one.
Regardless of age, gender and status, only those who receive the gods’ favor can become heroes.
“Isn’t it too much for the gods…. At a time like this, they should be selecting nobles who have been trained since childhood rather than commoners as heroes….”
For a commoner, becoming a hero was the fastest way to rapidly elevate their status. That’s because heroes, along with saints, were treated even better than ordinary nobles as representatives of temples.
How desperately did I want to become a hero as a commoner?
When the Earth God chose me as a hero, I couldn’t hide my joy and shed tears.
That’s how happy beyond words it was for a commoner to become a hero.
But that wasn’t the case now.
Hundreds were dying every day, and dozens of heroes were killed after a single battle.
In this situation, heroes without training are completely useless.
At least nobles would be helpful as fighting forces.
“That’s right. If a noble is selected as a hero, their family can’t just let them go easily.”
“Indeed.”
Even though the situation has been pushed this far, the nobles won’t make a move.
Despite the fact that they will lose everything they own when the world perishes by the Demon King, it seems they still don’t move because such a thing has never happened before. They don’t mobilize their family’s army, making all kinds of excuses, fearing that their own power may weaken.
“I wish the next Sword Master of the Keshar family were chosen as a hero by the God of Swords.”
The Keshar family, once evaluated as the empire’s top prestigious family comparable to Aris which completely overwhelms Yugrasia now.
If Prince Mareil, the third son and successor of the Sword Master from the Keshar family gathering the continent’s best swordsmen, is chosen as a hero, we can gain tremendous fighting power.
“I heard the young Sword Master has such outstanding talent that he became a Sword Master at 21.”
“And has a knight order that is no less outstanding than him.”
The Keshar family boasting they can form a knight order with Sword Masters if they want.
But they won’t make a move. They absolutely won’t unless provoked first. That is the rule of the Keshar family who live only to train in swordsmanship.
“Sigh…. If only Master Swin was still here….”
“I’ve heard that he is still alive.”
More longed for than the improbable Keshar family was Master Swin who led us.
“To think he was captured by an evil god’s apostle….”
When we thought we had driven the Demon King north, an unprecedented event occurred in history. Another Demon King appeared.
Having fallen into his evil scheme, we were utterly defeated, and lost Master Swin, the hero of the Nature Religion, the light hero, and the hope of us all.
“I wonder what agony he must be suffering….”
He disappeared after luring the Demon King alone to assist our escape.
At first, we thought he died. But the Nature Religion did not select a new hero.
While the other orders send new heroes day after day, only the Nature Religion did not send any.
Could he still be alive? Badly injured and unable to move?
If so, we must find and nurse him back to health. Because we must repay the grace of saving our precious comrade Peshe.
With that determination, I asked my comrade Laria to help locate Master Swin’s whereabouts, and she, who also received his grace, pleaded earnestly to the Earth God.
Perhaps her sincere plea reached the Earth God?
The Earth God gave a new answer within a day.
‘Give up. Giving up is easier.’
Both I and Laria, directly conveying those words, could only gape our mouths open.
Give up? It’s easier to give up? What does this mean!
Laria pleaded even more desperately. Very desperately, extremely desperately.
She prayed to the Earth God all day for Master Swin who saved Peshe.
Did her desperate heart reach the Earth God?
The Earth God gave a new answer within a day.
‘The hero of nature, Swin, is now captured by the evil god and his apostles. And… you can’t imagine the very horrible things that are happening to him.’
Hearing that, Laria and I shed tears.
Ah… Swin, who lured the Demon King instead of us, is being severely tortured by them after being captured.
I immediately stood up and gathered the heroes.
I told them how difficult time Swin was going through. And I shouted that we who were saved by him should gather our strength and rescue Sir Swin.
The hero alliance, most of whom were saved by Sir Swin, quickly recovered its forces and challenged the Demon King.
And now.
“I’m sorry, Swin.”
“Heril….”
We were pushed back and pushed back by the Demon King.
“If only we were a little stronger….”
“There is also a lack of support.”
It was a reasonable word from the hero of the wind.
The only ones supporting us were the kingdoms under attack from the Demon King and the nearby kingdoms, and the soldiers who enlisted for revenge from the already perished kingdoms.
The Demon King was a crisis that could destroy the world for humanity, but for the kingdoms it was an opportunity to realign their power.
Gather their own power and reduce the power of other countries!
“It’s a foolish choice, but they’ve always been like that.”
Although the Demon King could destroy the world, there has never been a successful case before.
That’s why other kingdoms feel at ease.
They will be able to stop it safely this time as well.
There is no need for them to step forward, the Demon King will be eradicated anyway. Whether two or three Demon Kings come out.
“I’m frustrated, but I have to do what they want. Because I’m a hero.”
It is the role of a hero to overthrow the Demon King and save the world. Doing that was what we had to do as heroes.
However, there was one thing on my mind.
“Swin…”
Only Swin who is still suffering severe hardship.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Slap!
A slapping sound is heard from the middle of the forest.
“I told you not to follow me, didn’t I?”
“I can’t give up!”
You can see the figure of a hero passionately confessing his love despite being slapped.
Looking at that figure….
“I want to show this to Princess Surry 1.”
“Was there such a princess?”
“The princess kidnapped by that dragon. She fell for him.”
“Ah ha!”
I wonder what would happen if I filmed this with a video magic tool and gave it to that princess as a gift?
A small northern country wouldn’t be able to deal with elves.
“It’s exciting.”
“I often think about it, but the master would be really good at being an evil god, too.”
“Say sometimes, sometimes.”
And what benefit do I have in destroying the world?
“If it was the master, wouldn’t he tell the gods to hand over money so he doesn’t destroy the world?”
“I didn’t know there was such a way.”
But do the gods have money?
While I was wondering about the monetary concept of the gods, a crazy elf who discovered me from afar ran over.
“Prince! There is a strange guy who keeps following me!”
The crazy elf, who was chirping like a crow, clings to me.
“You’re saying it’s good.”
“I don’t like it!”
No, no, don’t do this.
Although the crazy elf clearly showed her will to firmly reject the hero, the hero did not give up. It was as if to prove that he was a hero by pushing even harder.
“That guy is more crazy tha…. Kuk!” said the hero
In a speed that I couldn’t even see, the blade of the crazy elf’s hand struck the hero’s neck.
“How dare you touch the prince with your loose mouth?”
It was a chilling voice that I couldn’t imagine from her usual carefree appearance.
– Master, you’re loved?
– Is that important?
Different from usual.
Indeed, everything she had shown me so far was all pretense.
– People, no, high elves can pretend a little to someone they like.
It was a reasonable word from the metal bat, but I don’t trust those around me.
With the Princess and Sia, and even the evil god sticking to me, who can I trust?
“Huh… Haha… Haha…. What exactly do you like? Appearance, personality, character! I am superior to the instructor in every way!”
Looking up and down at me, his acting skills were very excellent.
Look at how he looks at me. It’s like looking at garbage, isn’t it?
– It might not be acting?
– Shut up.
I think the metal bat is right, but it must be my feelings.
Still, aren’t I his master? Would my disciple really look at me like that?
– What if the master met a master like master?
– I said shut up!
That’s acting. The acting is obvious.
Even if it’s not acting, I can’t hit the guy anyway, so let’s just think positively.
– That’s why that clause….
– You have to work hard.
Because I put a clause in the contract saying ‘As long as you keep the contract, the metal bat will not attack you for no reason’, I could not attack the hero for no reason.
“What are you talking about! Appearance, personality, character! The prince is superior in all of that!”
– Master? How long have you been with that sister?
– Not very long? Until the elves took me from the imperial palace. And for a while as a contact person when taking distance from the organization.
– What did you do in that short time that made her so into you….
– I didn’t do anything.
I’m really upset. Why do people keep thinking I did something when I didn’t do anything?
And hero, is your genuinely shocked expression right now really acting? The acting is obvious, right?
“That’s why you should give up! I only have the prince!”
Hmph!
The crazy elf, turning away the hero like that, grabbed my arm and moved forward quickly.
“I cannot give up!”
And looking at that crazy elf, the hero guy shouted pitifully.
“Oh my gosh….”
“What’s going on here….”
The elves in the elven forest were watching with great interest at the drama unfolding in front of them.
