“Uhh…”
The calm of dawn had ended, and now the wind was blowing.
As he felt the gentle chilliness, the smell of something burning also entered his nostrils.
The place that had once been a settlement, was now completely destroyed.
The stone walls that surrounded the village were crushed to rubble, and the houses had caved in. The wooden buildings had all been burned, and their remains were black under the morning light.
And as if to decorate this scene, no, it was done with purpose. There were the human corpses.
Burned and hanging from the trees.
A head rested by a well, in place of the bucked.
A mercenary soldier was nailed against the wall and used for target practice.
Children who were trampled over or eaten.
They had also set fire to the fields, and the bodies of the farmers now replaced the scarecrows.
Near where he was standing, by the street that went through the town, he saw numerous corpses.
“Ah…hh…”
The bitter feeling that had been inside of him was now torn away.
This scene was just like…
“My…village. Same…”
‘The Demon King’s army shows no mercy.’
Salia’s voice was flat, but he could smell the rage in her voice, which seemed to explode around him.
‘They kill, destroy, and drink up everything. They have no inhibitions. After all, it is their role.’
“Role…”
The role of a monster. Kill humans and be feared.
“Am I…the same?”
‘Uh…’
Salia did not reply, but he smelled the sadness. It was not comforting.
Among the human corpses, Sheto saw that there were kobolds.
Had they been forced to fight? Or was it their own will?
He saw someone who wielded a rusted sword, even as his head was split open by some farming tool.
However, the majority of them had wounds on their backs.
“Our role…is that.”
‘Sheto…’
The wind blew again, and he smelled the burned flesh.
The smell of the weak.
The smell of those who were chased, crushed, and squeezed for the entertainment of others.
‘…Sheto! Be careful!’
“What?”
He heard her sharp voice, and he dropped low. He had been distracted by the scene in front of him, but he now saw that something was happening on the outskirts of the village. The sounds of swords and magic shook the air.
“Someone is…fighting!?”
‘The Hero.’
He could sense that she was nervous. That being said, the Hero was fighting someone else. Sheto was still not noticed.
The sounds then grew more vicious, and a small house was blown away.
“!?”
A giant sword. The armored ogre who was hit by it could do nothing, but crumble to the ground.
The sword seemed impossibly long, and yet the young man in black swung it like it was nothing.
‘I have seen this one before. It is Lord Gardekie’s Hero.’
“Is he strong?”
But even as he said this, the scene before him spoke for itself. With ogres and trolls in front of him, the Hero continued to swing with unchanged force.
His friends were also powerful. There were two sorcerers and a holy knight. They clearly prioritized attacking.
Without any regard for damaging their surroundings, flames exploded and the greatsword swung.
However, this scene of brutality was just a page from the book of heroes. Of good men slaying monsters.
The extermination was complete in no time, and the prisoners were released.
“…Lord Hero.”
“Thank you, Hero.”
“Our savior! Glory to the hero!”
The young man looked quite proud as the people showed him and his party with praise.
Sheto could only stare from the shadows.
At the corpses of humans and monsters at his feet.
At the crowd.
And the Hero who shone under the sun and blue sky.
Before he knew it, Sheto was walking back into the forest.
Everything he had seen that day spun around in his mind.
The monsters that invaded the human world, and the hatred born from it.
And the Hero who conquered all.
“Salia.”
Sheto suddenly stopped and looked at the sky.
‘What is it?’
“What am…I?”
It was such a sudden question, that the goddess did not know how to reply.
“I, a monster. But have power from a goddess.”
‘You are just Sheto.’
“But…I’m a monster!”
The words echoed and were sucked into the quiet forest. Birds and small beasts scattered.
“Humans, say that I am a monster. Heroes say I am a rare monster. Even with your power, it does not change!”
As he said it, the truth of the matter dug deep.
What he did in this world. It had no meaning. He might as well have just died in his village.
In this world, kobolds were nothing.
“Besides, even if I kill monsters. It is just betrayal.”
Killing. Senseless fighting between his own kind.
But the Hero was praised and worshiped.
While he was hunted and chased.
“The Hero kills monsters, the people are happy. They are happy that monsters, kobolds are killed.”
‘Sheto…’
“Salia.”
Sheto said through gritted teeth.
“Is it…better for me…to die?”
‘Why would you say that! Back then, you told me…’
“Yes! I wanted to live! But…it was a mistake!”
As he shouted, his heart seemed to tear into two.
‘There is no need for mercy. It is a monster.’
‘Kill or be killed. It is the law of this world. You are a monster too, aren’t you?’
‘You are a part of this world. As long as it is a monster, it cannot be overlooked.’
‘I want to kill it here, now. Even if I can’t kill it, I want to release one arrow for Shuto.’
‘Why did you kill the Hero?’
‘It’s obvious! Because it’s a monster!’
‘Stay away, monster!’
“Everyone, tells me to die.”
He had not felt this when he was just a normal kobold. The voice of the world. The thing he had desperately tried to brush away, was flowing out now.
‘So what! I wanted you to live! I will not allow anyone to tell you otherwise!’
“You are only one, Salia! I have no one now! Ma! Brothers! Friends! Lu! No one! No one is here!”
He had killed the Hero who did it. That chapter was closed. And the only thing left to him was a lonely world.
Perhaps the kobold here today could have been his friends. But they had died meaningless deaths amidst the chaos.
“Why. Did you save me?”
The kobold groaned on the ground.
“Why am I alive?”
As he said, this, something in his heart mocked him.
‘It’s because you are a terrible monster.’
Sheto rolled up and thought about those words.
Why was he alive…