The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 49

49 – Prayer (3)

Clang! Crank!! Kwa-kwang!!

With each swing of the sword, shockwaves erupted. The tremendous physical force created a gust of wind.

Occasionally, when the sword touched the clouds, the clouds scattered in all directions.

I swung the sword relentlessly.

“Eek!”

“Hey, hero! Calm down! Calm!!”

“Ahk!? That was really dangerous just now!!”

Every time, Eunen screamed and maneuvered skillfully like a mayfly.

Indeed, a goddess is a goddess. Her dodging skills are top-notch.

Of course, I had no intention of stopping.

Something inside me felt like it was boiling like fire. What is this?

The answer quickly emerged.

Anger.

Overwhelming anger that had been suppressed for half a year!!!

That anger was endlessly fueling my body and my swordsmanship.

Unless I evolve this flame that has emerged in my heart, I will continue swinging the sword indefinitely.

“Just one strike. Just one strike is enough.”

“If you get hit by a sword, ordinary people usually die!”

“You’re not a human, you’re a god!”

We jumped around like we were shooting a comedy skit.

Whenever I swung my sword, Eren would do everything possible to dodge it.

I really wanted to cut her at least once… but sadly, I was the one who got tired first.

After swinging the sword about 300 times, suddenly I felt a wave of fatigue.

Yeah, what’s the meaning of this? After listening to her words, I won’t hold back.

When I stopped my sword, Eren fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

“Haah… Huh… Huh…”

At first glance, you would doubt if she really is a goddess. If it weren’t for her sophisticated appearance, she would have just looked like a bratty girl.

I nervously spoke to the fallen goddess on the floor.

“Hey, stop panting and let’s have that conversation you mentioned. I have so many questions to ask. Get up quickly.”

“The meeting I imagined wasn’t this rough.”

She grumbled and stood up.

Seeing her pouting reminded me of a brat, but surprisingly, her words were sharp.

“So, that’s what you’re most curious about, right? Why did you have to become a hero burdened with curses?”

“…You already know, don’t you.”

I couldn’t help but be a little flustered.

To be so close to the answer like that.

Perhaps she was also thinking the same secretly, in order to give me an answer.

“I know, so there’s no need to explain. Why did you burden me with curses in the first place? And why did you make me a hero?”

There are a lot of things I’m curious about. There are a lot of things I don’t understand.

There were more tangled thoughts in my heart than I thought.

“Take your time with the questions. After all, I’ve prepared this place today to answer everything.”

As if she knew my thoughts, she spoke with a calm tone.

And then, she began speaking.

“First, I’m sorry for placing those curses on you. It was something I couldn’t avoid.”

“…What?”

I gritted my teeth and spoke.

Anger flowed out like venom through my mouth.

“I had no choice? You damn… you’re a god. And yet you’re saying such things?”

“…Yes, from my perspective, that was the best course of action. I had to sacrifice something to secure the cost.”

However, when I heard the next words.

I had to suppress my anger for the time being. It seemed necessary to hear what she had to say.

I asked, “Cost?”

“Yes, cost. To put it in simpler terms, it’s like an equivalent exchange. Like buying something from a merchant with money.”

She continued, “When I summoned you, I had no remaining funds. I wanted to help, but the constraints on me were too great, so I couldn’t provide assistance. So, what I needed was to sell something to secure the necessary funds.”

“Are you saying that my fate was what you sold?”

“I didn’t exactly wish for that. It was just the result that ended up covering the remaining balance for me.”

She pointed with her finger, referring to the skills that resided within me.

“Those things you possess, including skills like ‘Cheonmu Jiche’ and ‘Sacrificial Power,’ are quite valuable. They meant a lot to me too.”

Do you understand now?

She looked at me as if asking.

I scratched my head nervously and asked, “I’ve heard the words, but I still don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘having no remaining funds’?”

It’s a god, after all.

When I asked in that manner, she hesitated before answering.

“Well… the previous hero and the hero before that caused quite a bit of trouble. In their terms, they could say they ‘piled up crap,’ you know?”

She sighed deeply and continued, “The hero before the last one piled up crap, but the previous hero piled up even more. This time, with a determination to defeat the Demon King, I mobilized the cost heavily, but the Demon King was defeated by the first of the Four Heavenly Kings. Sigh, thanks to that, you can’t imagine how much damage we suffered…”

She spoke calmly.

“At the time, 101 heroes, a total of 130,000 knights and paladins, and 1.2 million soldiers died due to the invasion of the Demon King’s army.”

Civilian casualties were even higher, she added.

It was a matter-of-fact tone, but I couldn’t help but be at a loss for words for a moment.

It was an enormous number.

Unimaginable.

That was the result when the heroes were defeated by the Demon King’s army. The burden that heroes should bear, but which others also had to shoulder.

“Just restoring the partially unsealed Demon King’s seal cost the lives of that many people. Only one of the Four Heavenly Kings died, and it was best to lock him up in the Demon Realm again.”

The image of that war naturally came to my mind.

It must have been a war where blood washed away blood. Corpses piled up like mountains, and cries of grief echoed from all directions.

In the midst of despair, people must have struggled not for hope but for survival.

Certainly, it was a horrifying sight.

But before I could empathize with it, a curiosity arose within me.

“You.”

I asked the boy that curiosity.

“What did you do?”

“What?”

“Couldn’t you have done something to help? With your power, you could have made a difference.”

He was a god in name.

And he had overwhelming advantage against monsters and demons. Her power, her divine energy, dealt additional damage to the demons and their minions.

Wasn’t it because of her power that we managed to capture the Shark Jaw?

When I asked this question, she frowned.

“I… I couldn’t do anything.”

“Why not?”

“A long time ago. I made a contract with the demon king.”

“A contract?”

“Yes. I sealed the demon king and his minions in the demon realm, but in exchange, I cannot directly intervene.”

She asked me.

“Why do you think the Four Heavenly Kings and the demon king attack one by one?”

She expressed her doubts.

“Isn’t it strange? Why would they send one warrior at a time to block your path, knowing that someday, one of them will become a formidable enemy? Frankly, if all Four Heavenly Kings attacked you together, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“It’s all because of the contract you made.”

“That’s right.”

She nodded lightly.

I nodded my head.

Until now, I thought it was just a feature implemented in the system. Apparently, there was a contract I didn’t know about.

There had to be some background story.

It was kind of thrilling to hear the behind-the-scenes of the game, but…

I still calmly organized the situation with my rationality.

So, I am a summoned hero to clean up the mess left by the previous generations of heroes.

Thanks to that, I was able to easily figure out the next cause and effect relationship.

“The reason why the Demon King’s forces have become unusually strong must be because of that.”

“As expected, you’re smart. Yes, because I used up too much power last time… the seal on the Demon King’s forces was released slightly earlier than planned.”

“…So, in other words, I have to clean up what the previous heroes couldn’t handle?”

I sneered and asked.

She seemed to not understand for a moment, tilting her head.

“Yes?”

“It’s the right thing to say. I have to take care of what the previous heroes couldn’t handle by putting in my own effort, right?”

There was no choice. Because of the contract, she had no power.

Many people died in the previous war. Although it was dressed up in different words, the truth was ultimately the same.

And because of that, I had to bear the burden of the debt incurred.

Unfortunately, I was not someone who was emotional enough to be sad about the fact that many people died in the past.

For a while, I cursed at the guy.

Why do I have to carry this burden? Why can’t you manage properly and keep giving me work? etc. I complained about those things for a while.

She didn’t seem flustered at all, just silently listening to my words. And then, after a while, she opened her mouth again.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to do everything on your own.”

“…”

“Demon King. Please defeat the Demon King. Then I will grant you the wish you desire.”

I flinched.

My body trembled for a moment. It may be a common offer, but it was still enticing.

To defeat the final boss and receive something as a reward, it was a promise made in countless works of fiction.

From Noble mtl dot com

However, despite that, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the power that the word ‘wish’ held.

“In that case, can my body and… curses be cured as well?”

Thanks to her, I asked her with a trembling voice.