I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 33



32 – [The Hero and I – 17]

“That’s the end.”

“…”

“After that, I went back to that place but there was nothing there.”

It took too long to heal my wounds, prepare myself mentally, everything, but at least I thought I should tidy up the corpse, but when I went, the people of the kingdom had already been there.

Madame Florence had said there wasn’t some grand conspiracy, but that they couldn’t publicly acknowledge such inhumane experiments, so they were just trying to bury it all.

I thought so too.

The ones who spearheaded the experiments were all dead already, and I, I was the one who survived.

No.

*I* alone survived.

They all died in agony, and I finished my revenge without ever getting my hands bloody.

I didn’t have a reason to live, but Madame Florence raised me, trying her damnedest to make me into some sort of moral person.

Looking back now, the way she made me read suspiciously religious texts, books on morality and ethics, it makes me wonder if it wasn’t all an attempt to mend my twisted sense of it all.

Back then, I couldn’t believe in the goodness of people.

It was only after growing up a bit that I naturally realized, wasn’t Madame Florence saving me the very definition of human goodness?

“Something feels a bit off. I’ll get dressed.”

I clumsily put my clothes back on.

“Livia, are you saying something… wait, are you crying?! Hold on, Livia?”

Why are *you* crying when I’m not?

“You’re not crying.”

“…….”

It was like she answered the thoughts inside my head.

“When you were praising the kingdom with the hero’s party, how did that feel?”

“…….”

“When they thanked you, saying a kingdom person had saved them, how did that feel?”

“…….”

“How could you work for the kingdom that made your young self suffer?”

“Hoo.”

I exhaled.

“The kingdom itself isn’t bad. More people live peacefully under the kingdom’s protection. I just happened to get caught up with evil people, it wasn’t the kingdom that was bad. And the people, including the ringleader, were all blown to bits right there. Not a single one was spared.”

“But the people who knew about those experiments and turned a blind eye are still alive. They’re still sleeping soundly, legs stretched out, laughing, saying it’s okay because it never happened!!”

The Hero’s voice, brimming with agitation, certainly wasn’t praiseworthy, and I probably should have told her she was getting too worked up, but for some reason, I smiled.

Hearing my story and seeing her so genuinely enraged for my sake didn’t feel bad.

For me, it was just a story of the past, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case for her.

“The ringleader of that incident is dead, and so are the executors. There were definitely people who covered it up, and it’s truly regrettable, but…”

“Regrettable?”

“Isn’t it a waste to spend your life chasing after those people who covered it up?”

“…….”

I slowly approached the Hero and wiped away her flowing tears.

“I’m okay. But it doesn’t feel bad to have you listen to my story, shed tears, and get angry for me.”

Perhaps it was since that day.

It may have been something I continuously thought about.

The form I saw beside me was a monster, and the moment of her berserk spirit unification was nothing short of terrifying.

That’s why I didn’t use this power.

Because what I saw looked like *that*, I was afraid that a person who has Spirit Unification would look like a monster to other people too.

“Life is too short for us humans to live consumed by anger and hatred. Let’s try to live a little happier.”

“……We might just stumble upon it by chance, you know.”

“Then what, should we give ’em a little beating then?”

“Okay, I’ll do the beating.”

“At least let me have that role. Though, in terms of the severity of the punishment, it might be more extreme if I did it.”

And it wasn’t like I was working for the kingdom, anyway.

I was just participating in a journey to save the world, that’s all.

“After all that, you still believe in people?”

“Do you?”

“……”

“You believe in Ms. Livia, so why wouldn’t you believe in me?”

“It feels different somehow.”

“Is that so?”

“Royce, you.”

The Hero looked at me and said,

“You’ve been trying to believe in the goodness of people.”

“……”

This time, I was surprised and looked at the Hero.

That assessment was unexpected.

“Why, why do you think that?”

“Painful things are painful for everyone, and distressing things are distressing for everyone. You were exposed to pure malice, and yet you live virtuously. You don’t calculate the gains and losses of helping others, and you don’t consider extending a hand to someone as something noble, but as something natural.”

“…….”

“That’s the result of a tremendous effort. After that, you spent your whole life believing in people’s goodness. To believe that people have good will, and that it’s what makes them human.”

I felt a little dazed.

Even Madam Florence didn’t know that far.

Maybe it’s because she taught me believing that it should be that way, that she couldn’t see it.

I made an effort.

Having been exposed to malice, having been born and raised in it, it was difficult to believe.

But even so, I made an effort.

Why?

Of course, there was a reason.

Because I wanted it to be that way.

I wanted to believe that the circulation of human goodwill is the way the world should be, and that people can hurt someone without reason, but at the same time, they are beings capable of helping and saving someone.

“I…”

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Maybe… I saved you because I wanted to believe in that goodness.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Really?”

“You said it yourself, that I am a sublime person. It doesn’t matter what I was thinking, what my heart was like when I saved people, what matters is the result: I saved so many people, and saved the world.”

“…….”

“You’re the same. It doesn’t matter the reason, does it? Even within that past, you didn’t succumb to malice, you believed in good, and you believed in the me now.”

Blankly.

I just stared blankly at the hero.

“You’re an amazing person. I’ll tell you, the fact that you used that power, which was practically a shame to you, to protect people, that’s sublime.”

“…….”

“You know, Royce said *I* was sublime? So, I, a sublime hero certified by you, acknowledge that *you* are sublime. What else is there? Saving people, believing in them, that’s what’s sublime.”

He laughs, hehe.

At that sun-like smile, I found myself smiling along without even realizing it.

His changed appearance was moving, but at the same time, I thought he was someone I couldn’t reach.

And yet, that person, after hearing my story, called me sublime.

It wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

“I guess I might have put in the effort.”

Ever since then, I couldn’t trust anyone.

Everything was hateful.

I hated it all.

I even hated Madame Florence who saved me.

Because she didn’t even give me a reason to die.

More than anything, I hated myself for pretending I’d given up and become enlightened, when in truth I struggled to live the moment an opportunity arose, and couldn’t escape this hellish life.

But at some point, it just felt empty.

I had already survived.

What’s the point in wasting life like this, I thought.

The b*stard who tormented me, and the one behind him, they’re both dead.

So why am I the only one who has to suffer?

That’s why I decided to believe.

I tried to become that.

I pretended to believe, gritted my teeth and tried to see the good as much as possible.

“…….”

I pretended to believe, pretended to hope, and wore a mask as if human kindness circulated.

But then a woman came and ripped that mask off.

I was afraid that the ugliness I couldn’t trust in anyone would be left on my face.

But.

That woman says.

Huh, you’re the same.

And laughs lightly like that.

That.

“……Livia.”

“Huh? Why? ……Huh!? What did you just say!?”

Livia, who always reacted confidently, went ‘Huh?’ and ‘What?’ and thought about it in her head once more before quickly blushing.

That reaction was just as I’d expected, so I personally thought it was good and smiled.

“Livia, why?”

“Uh, well… I’ve been calling you ‘Ms. Livia’ until now.”

“Was that rude? I wanted to show it as proof that I’m opening up to you, you know? If you don’t like it, I can just call you Ms. Livia again…”

“No!”

She came right up to me.

Her face was flushed to her ears, seeming embarrassed, but that direct approach was still very Livia-like.

“Livia’s fine, you’re the only one who can call me that.”

“……”

“Hehe.”

There used to be a dog Madame Florence raised, and I think it grinned like that.

I smiled, mirroring Livia.

“Are you maybe smitten? Wanna officially, like, be a thing? I’m down anytime.”

“I’d say… it’s subtle.”

“This guy, he’s tough…!!”

“Haha.”

I laughed.

It wasn’t that my heart hadn’t skipped a beat.

And it wasn’t that there wasn’t something about her that bothered me, in a way.

But if you asked if it was love… it was still kind of subtle.

“But it’s something, I guess.”

“……”

“I think… I can start to imagine that kind of future.”

“……!”

As I slowly stood up, Livia stood up with me and smiled.

“Alright! Next is reality, not just imagination! Let’s go! Let’s go to Elvenheim!”

“Yes, we should. This is, after all, just a trip for the two of us, right?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“For what?”

“It’s not ‘Olivia Reinhart’s trip’ anymore, but ‘Olivia Reinhart and Royce’s trip’ now.”

“…….”

Come to think of it, I had said it was Livia’s trip last time.

Was she actually concerned about that?

It wasn’t like I had said it to draw a line, though.

“It’s a trip for the two of us.”

“I see. By the way, what would you want to do if you became lovers with me?”

“Marriage.”

“Ah, achieving one goal makes a new one pop up, I see.”

I decided not to ask what comes after marriage.

I needed to keep a moderate distance from Livia, who had almost zero social skills.

If I messed up, I’d be devoured before we even became lovers, let alone get married.

In a s*xual way.

I’d pondered what I could do if a hero, practically the strongest of all time, were to attack, but ultimately, I came to the conclusion that there was nothing I could do.