I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 44



43 – [In the Land of Elves – 11]

“Are you really sure you’ll be okay with just gruel?”

“No, it’s just my body. I’ve got a hole in my heart.”

“How are you still alive?”

“I’m curious too, Olivia-nim.”

Sometimes, even Royce would look at me with eyes that seemed to ask, “Are you even human?”

I guess I am a bit sturdy.

It’d be wise to assume that as long as I retain this human form, I won’t die.

Honestly, if you asked me how I was alive, all I could say was, “I just am.”

Traveling with Royce, I’d at least recovered enough to eat gruel, which was easier to digest. Before, Royce used to grind up appropriate foods and I had to practically drink them.

Honestly, I didn’t feel any satisfaction from eating, but in the monster domain, there were times when you had to go hungry, so the mindset of being grateful for anything that went down was somewhat present.

Above all, Royce made it so carefully each time, so honestly, I thought complaining was not a good look.

“Will Royce be okay alone?”

“He’ll be fine, and besides, it’s right next to the restaurant.”

Royce had said he’d investigate the collapsed area.

He’d said if we didn’t know why something that had been fine until now had collapsed, it might collapse again, but I suspected the real reason was somewhere else.

I didn’t know what it was, but I figured he’d tell me when the time was right.

Basically, if I asked, ‘Is there something I need to know right now?’ and he said no, I wouldn’t dig further, but if he said yes, then I’d make sure to file it away properly.

What’s the point of keeping a smart person by your side anyway?

Instead, I trust Royce’s judgment. Not blindly, but I at least believe that he will explain the validity of his judgment and give me something convincing.

It’s just that we have slightly different levels of proactiveness; Royce and I share a similar outlook on principles.

Heh heh.

Even if our personalities are different, our inclinations are similar. Isn’t that something that could earn surprisingly high points?

“Royce seems wise. Or should I say, knowledgeable?”

“He’s always liked reading books, I think. Aside from that, things like securing accommodations, anything that required communication, Royce took care of it.”

After Royce left, Alex did it, but unlike Royce who handled things neatly, there was some friction.

Alex had a bit of a ‘Kingdom-First’ kind of vibe.

You know how it is?

His tone of voice was polite and impeccable, but for some reason, he was irritating.

There was this feeling, oddly polite yet with a hint of ‘mockery,’ that often came across, and Alex used to get into a lot of fights because of it.

Rayna ended up taking over, saying she’d rather do it herself, and thankfully, there was less trouble than with Alex.

Alex *could* be kind, if he wanted to, but he only bothered with people he deemed worthy.

In other words, he didn’t see the need to be nice to random passersby.

If he just wore the bare minimum of a mask, he figured he could claim victimhood if any trouble arose later.

Well, that’s the reason they switched to Rayna.

“Back at the party, during any downtime, you were always reading. I always wondered how you could manage those thick books.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

Les looked at me for a moment, his face thoughtful, and I noticed his gaze.

A warm spoonful of porridge went into my mouth, and for the first time in a long while, something I could actually chew entered my system, giving me a subtle surge of elation.

If this messes up my stomach, I’ll have to go back to eating the stuff Royce grinds up.

I’m glad Royce does that for me, but I don’t want to cause him unnecessary trouble.

“No, it’s just, something personal has sparked my curiosity.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you exile him, despite holding him in such high regard?”

“…….”

I gave a strained laugh at that.

“Because I was foolish.”

“How could the one who saved the world be foolish?”

“It could be like that. It all happened because I had no eye for people. … Well, that’s not important right now. …They’re watching like crazy.”

“Yes, they are watching.”

“I’m sorry. Should I tell them to be careful?”

“Don’t, kids are curious. That’s a good thing.”

For me, who wasn’t allowed to have curiosity while being beaten by my father, the children’s pure curiosity was a bit envious and pleasing to see.

Now, the elf children were whispering to each other while looking this way from beyond the window.

Since the window was completely open because of what I broke, the inside was clearly visible from the outside.

It was another moment where Royce would have to pay for the damages, but thankfully the restaurant owner said not to worry about it since it was to save the children, so we could save on unnecessary expenses.

And the elf restaurant owner, who acted so casually despite having the hero and Sylphy there, was definitely a good elf.

“By the way, Mr. Les, are *you* okay? Bowing your head to the hero and a half-elf in front of so many elves.”

Sylphy said worriedly, and Les replied.

“I am fine. I bowed my head then not because you are a hero or a half-elf, but simply because you were a hero who saved our young elves.”

“You’re a good elf, you are.”

“It is embarrassing to receive such praise from the hero, Olivia Reinhardt.”

“No, the hatred of the times isn’t easy to avoid. No matter how old or young, there are many people who follow along just because so many others do.”

It’s not right, but many people throw stones at a young girl just because others are doing it.

Since so many people are doing it together, they don’t feel guilt, and they can feel superior to others, so maybe it’s killing two birds with one stone for them.

It was a feeling I couldn’t understand, but I saw quite a bit of that kind of mentality during my travels, and there were surprisingly many people whose voices got louder just because their numbers were bigger.

Or, how can they be so sure they won’t get hit? There were several people who were so bold as to pick a fight like that.

I was kind to civilians, but if I decided someone was picking a fight when I was in a bad mood, I would’ve knocked them out.

Like, there was that guy who I rescued and then came yelling at me about who’s going to fix the collapsed building, and some weird middle-aged examiner who whined about me being younger and stronger than him.

Back then, I just thought they were picking a fight, but looking back now, what was I so confident about?

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Actually, I didn’t understand.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I kinda grasped the gist of it… but how do I say this, it’s like I just know it intellectually? It doesn’t really hit me deep down.”

“Olivia thinks that’s okay.”

“Really? …That meat looks tasty.”

“Royce would get mad if you ate it.”

“Ah, I know… about having all those cravings once I recover. I just feel like eating until I burst. I want to eat something delicious, not just force down food to avoid dying.”

It might not seem like much, but for me, eating was just a means of getting nutrients.

Taste didn’t matter, as long as it didn’t cause an upset stomach, I’d eat anything.

Afterwards, I’d be fighting or training, whatever, so back then, I thought eating was a waste of time.

“Come to think of it, wouldn’t Elvenheim have some elixirs?”

“Elixirs, you say? Unfortunately, we don’t have any on hand.”

“Yeah, they’re not easy to come by. …It’d take an astronomical amount of money to get them legitimately.”

“I heard they sometimes appear as rewards for high-rank adventurer quests.”

“Royce said that it’s really just sometimes. And you can’t even take on a quest unless your rank is high enough.”

“Does the Hero really need something like that? Isn’t your existence itself a high rank?”

“Uh, is that so?”

Still, I’m no adventurer.

I do have an adventurer rank, so shouldn’t I not accept this?

Should I ask for a favor?

Come to think of it, Royce is an adventurer, what’s his rank? Maybe he could get it?

No, no, Royce hates standing out and seems to work just enough, so his rank probably isn’t high, but not low either, somewhere in the middle, is what I should assume.

“Will you be going to Titania again tomorrow?”

“I should keep going for now. If there’s something wrong, like Les said, should I offer to help, maybe?”

“……Perhaps it would be better to say, ‘I’ll help you, so shut up and tell me.’”

“Titania is the king of this country, right? ……Was that something you wanted to say inside?”

“I have never considered such rudeness.”

Never considered it?

“I believe it is a necessary thing to say.”

Les looked like he was considering something for a moment, then continued.

“……But elves cannot do that. The current Titania, who is practically a savior, is half-deified, so that would certainly not be good. Personally, I think it’s about time she stepped down.”

“A revolution?”

“Cough!”

Les, for a moment, didn’t understand what that meant, then he choked on the water he was drinking.

“O-Oh, misunderstanding! ……It’s a misunderstanding. It’s just that she’s held the position of Titania for too long, so I think it would be alright to pass it on to the next generation.”

“Thinking of passing it on to Reina?”

“Reina-nim, you mean. I don’t know about that, the position of Titania isn’t hereditary, so there’s no guarantee that Titania’s child will be the next Oberon or Titania.”

By the way, if it’s a guy, they seem to call the elf king Oberon.

If it’s a girl, Titania.

“From the way you’re talking, I guess you’re against it?”

“It’s not so much that I’m against it, but… she was raised like she was handling a beautiful handcrafted item since childhood, so she doesn’t know the ways of the world.”

That was definitely part of it, but I wasn’t in a position to say anything, so I decided to stay quiet.

“It’s not that she’s unintelligent, but she’s prone to having a narrow view, and I think she’s a bit lacking in her attitude as a queen.”

“I see.”

“Maybe after some more time, but I think it’s still difficult to entrust the position of Titania to her right now. I daresay, the current Titania thinks the same.”

I was surprised.

I thought everyone would just follow what Titania said, and I went out for on-site investigation prepared to be pelted with stones.

But the children welcomed me.

The restaurant owner laughed cheerfully.

And the person in front of me right now was truly a good person.

Come to think of it, there are many people under the name of a nation, so they wouldn’t all have the same ideology, inclinations, and personality.

Humans are the same, and if you lump the crimes committed by humans onto the human race, most people would probably find it ridiculous.

“Are you finished with your meal?”

“If I eat more than this, my stomach’s gonna be in danger.”

“There’s a training ground right next door.”

“Huh?”

“There should be quite a few elf soldiers there now.”

Feels like he’s giving me the eye.

Not sure what’s up.

Huh?

My face must have shown I was clueless, because Les chuckled a little and continued,

“How about a light sparring session, like a workout, over there? I’d like to learn a thing or two from the hero who saved the world.”

Uh, um?

What? Isn’t that kind of sudden?

I could practically hear the gears grinding in my brain.

…Aha.

By sparring with the captain of the guard, we’d show those elves we were building rapport, and on top of that, if I beat the captain, I’d get them all impressed with my skills.

Hmm, not bad.

Not bad at all, actually.

“Are you sure you’re okay with that? I don’t hold back in a fight. If we go, I’m going to win.”

“It would be pointless if you didn’t. Let this friendly spar… be a step toward changing Elvenheim, I hope.”

“…”

I stood up, smiling.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Just finished eating, and I feel like moving around a bit too.

And the Elven guard captain.

An elf who’s supposed to be good with a bow, but uses a sword.

It was quite interesting.