I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 31



30 – [The Hero and I – 15]

The world is not fair.

The things people can and cannot do in their lives are determined by innate talent.

And depending on luck, those who are healthy and alive die, while those who have done evil things live.

That is why I believe in the afterlife, in a world called heaven and hell.

I didn’t have what you’d call faith, not compared to other clergy, but I still showed the minimum respect and belief because I *wanted* those things to exist.

I hoped that even if a good person had a miserable end, they would find happiness in heaven.

Even if an evil person died peacefully, I hoped they would pay the price for their sins in hell.

The belief that someone transcendent, not of this world, was watching the good and evil we did – that was the beginning of religion, and why it wouldn’t disappear no matter how much time passed.

And me too.

I sincerely wanted that.

“How are the people?”

“They’re okay. They’ve been affected by the mind erosion, but they all just say ‘I don’t know why I did that,’ and they don’t seem to think of themselves as followers of the Death Cult.”

“That’s a relief.”

The state of Half Village was completely stable.

Mind erosion was a dangerous magic that could really drive you mad if left unchecked, but thankfully it didn’t seem like anyone had severe aftereffects this time.

In the worst case scenario, even after the mind erosion was lifted, some people might still believe they were part of the Death Cult.

I wrote a few precautions on a small piece of paper and handed it to Silphy.

“What’s this?”

“Even if the villagers seem okay right now, as time passes, their reality might settle in and they might get anxious. Memories especially play a big part in a person’s character. The fact that they acted that way and had those feelings will probably stay in their minds for a long time.”

It varies from person to person, but in the worst cases, there were even instances of people who committed murder while under mind erosion who couldn’t bear the guilt and committed suicide.

They had felt murderous intent towards someone completely innocent.

And they acted on it.

Even if it was because of mind erosion, the fact that they *felt* that way, that they *had* that will – not many people could just brush it off.

No matter how much you try to comfort them by saying “it can’t be helped,” the lingering sensation and the feelings from that time wouldn’t just disappear.

“This herb, it’s written here, should help calm things down. It won’t be a complete fix, though.”

From here, it was up to them.

To completely separate those memories, emotions, and that will from themselves is quite difficult.

The one saving grace was that no one had been killed.

If blood had been spilled, it would’ve been a tale no one could laugh about, and, no joke, some would have suffered extreme mental breakdowns and exhibited severe symptoms.

“I’ve made sure to distinguish what can be steeped like tea leaves and what can’t, so please use them exactly as written.”

“Th-thank you. Royce, you know so much. I’m so much older than you, yet I don’t know nearly as much, it’s, well, it’s embarrassing.”

“I’ve simply enjoyed reading and learning more than others. Ignorance doesn’t excuse sin, but if you’re ashamed of your ignorance, then perhaps this is a good opportunity to learn slowly.”

“Can I even learn?”

“Compared to someone like me, you have plenty of time. Given enough time, you might even surpass me in knowledge.”

“……Haha, I can’t imagine that.”

Well, in Sylphy’s case, it wasn’t that she was stupid, more like she lacked will.

When long-lived and short-lived races fight, logically the long-lived race should become stronger over time, but for some reason, the strong often arose particularly from the short-lived races.

Just look at the heroes, they’re always human, never an elf, dwarf, or dragon.

Humans have a short lifespan within humanity, yet the strong figures who left their mark on history were, despite their elders being older and some with even longer training, mostly human.

The reason is unknown.

Perhaps they have something akin to an obsession because of their short lifespans.

“Then I’ll go deliver this to everyone!”

Sylphy, clearly in good spirits, waved the paper I gave her and ran off.

Still, it was fortunate that the village was saved peacefully.

A little mistake and blood would’ve spilled in droves, and if that happened, no matter how I looked at it, a happy ending would have been far out of reach.

“…….”

“…….”

Silence filled the room where only the hero and I remained.

*Shhh*.

The hero visibly moved closer.

Little by little.

From noble mtl dot com

But certainly closer to me.

“You’re too close.”

“Ah, sorry.”

The hero finally took a step back and looked at me.

“I got permission to touch you, so, yeah. You’ll tell me, right? Now.”

“You look like you’ve been holding it in quite hard.”

“Well, no matter what, the village was in chaos, I couldn’t just have a leisurely chat, so I held in what was bothering me and waited until the aftermath was settled. If I came all this way and you said you didn’t actually want to talk, I mean.”

“If I said?”

“It’d be a shame, I guess.”

“……Is that enough? I lied, didn’t I?”

The hero smiled.

“You’re a wise person, Lois. You know how to judge how stinging your own wounds are. If you think you can endure it yourself, you won’t say anything. But you’re also human, and there are things that you can’t handle alone.”

“…….”

“Like I’m receiving your help right now. ……So, when your wounds are so raw and painful, I hope you’ll reach out and take my hand right beside you. ……Well, there’s only one, so it might not feel very reliable.”

With that one hand, he could probably sweep away the entire world.

It didn’t seem like something someone who just decisively defeated the Death Cult leader should be saying.

Regardless, he was a hero worthy of the stories, one said to be the strongest since the first hero.

No, perhaps even the strongest hero ever, some even said, and I agreed with that assessment.

Though I’ve never met the first hero, so I wouldn’t truly know.

“At least.”

The hero gave a warm smile.

“If there ever comes a moment when you can’t bear it anymore and tears start to fall, I hope I’m there beside you.”

“…….”

“Sadly, I may not have that right, but I have to try. ……To make that right mine. I want to be among those you reach for when you’re wounded and weary inside. I guess that’s all I’m wishing for right now.”

“……I don’t think I did anything that great for you. I just did what anyone would do, what’s natural for a person.”

Rescuing the hero, being with him, that’s just a natural thing for a person to do.

“Maybe so. But…no one has ever done that for me.”

“…….”

“You did.”

“…….”

“It was you, not anyone else. ……You allowed this arrogant, blinded, self-righteous hero to finally see others. To you, that might just have been simple charity work or a small act of kindness, just saving someone passing by.”

The hero moved closer.

“It could be salvation for someone. …So, you mean something to me. More than anyone else. Because you’re the one who brought Olivia Reinhart into a life that only had my warrior self.”

“I think you’re overestimating me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Well, that part is up to you, Livy-ssi, to judge… I don’t mind talking, but like I said yesterday, it’s not a very pleasant story.”

“I figured as much, somehow.”

More like, I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it either.

The reason I didn’t use Spirit Unity wasn’t just the burden that came with the power, and that there hadn’t been an enemy worth using it on, it was also because it wasn’t a power tied to pleasant memories. I didn’t want to use it.

For those who died without even having such power, it might sound a little arrogant, but there was a power I couldn’t bring myself to like.

I could use it to save someone, and I would have no choice if my life was in danger, but truthfully, I wanted to avoid using it if possible.

Like I said, it went beyond the burden and all that. I just didn’t want to use it.

“Hm.”

“Are you still debating whether or not to say it?”

“No, honestly, it’s not something I’d call a secret so it doesn’t matter. The problem is, I don’t know where to start explaining. Some stories, when you tell them, force you to look back at the past.”

“I see.”

“Yes, well… first…”

I quickly took off my shirt.

“Wait, just a second!!”

“Yes?”

“I’m okay! Yeah! I think it’s good! But that’s too fast! Pace-wise!! Or, is that what you want? If we’re doing it anyway, I prefer doing it sooner. There’s nothing better to give each other that psychological reward of being each other’s! But isn’t the context completely gone?”

“……”

Hmm, maybe I didn’t say enough.

More like, I didn’t say anything at all.

“I wanted to do it properly after I got my hands on an elixir! …Alright, I’m ready anytime! But since it’s the first time, a little gentle…”

“Livia-ssi.”

“Uh, huh? …Huh? What’s that?”

The Hero-nim, lost in his own fantasies, finally realized I was only half-naked, and then was shocked by what he saw on my upper body.

To be precise, there were two jewel-like things embedded in my chest, completely fused with my body, already becoming something akin to ‘Roys’.

They couldn’t be removed, and even if you did, they’d just regenerate over time, so it was fair to compare them to something like fingernails or toenails.

“…”

The Hero-nim’s eyes widened, and then, it seemed he intuitively understood what they were.

“Could that be…a spirit core?”

“That’s right.”

I said to the Hero-nim, recalling memories of the past.

“How should I put this… Well, simply put, I was captured as a test subject for some experiment. It was an artificial spirit experiment.”

“…”

Did I really need to say all that?

I worried about it, but for some reason, I didn’t want to lie, so I let out a small sigh and continued.

“The kingdom was the one that led the experiment.”

I don’t know how he’ll take this.

Honestly.

I didn’t even know how I was taking it all in myself, right now.