“…Sorry. I was wrong.”
The viciousness was gone from the kobold’s face as he bowed. Even if he wasn’t really satisfied, it seemed that he had switched gears quite a lot.
“I’m the one who is sorry. Heroes are enemies for you, but I was seeing things too lightly.”
“Ah, um… How about we stop apologizing now. As if it never happened?”
Fi knew he had no right to say such things, but he said it anyway.
“We get to eat a hot meal under a roof. There’s no point in looking so gloomy, right?”
‘My little dragon is right. While I won’t ask you to be friends, it should be fine to relax a little. Even a worthless goddess would be able to protect you while you’re in this village.’
They chuckled at that, and the meal began.
There was freshly baked bread and roasted boar from the hunter. Also a mountain fowl stew and apple wine.
The village had prepared a feast to welcome the refugees. And so there were no complaints in regards to the amount and taste.
“By the way, are you also a Hero? Fi?”
“I was…asked to help Sheto. By the old dragon.”
‘Now that I think about it, why are you in this village, Keita?’
“…Canila asked me to be a ‘village Hero’ here.”
“A village Hero?”
Sheto raised his head. He had never heard of such a thing before. The boy refilled the kobold’s cup as he nodded.
“I guess you can say…that I chose to protect the people here. Instead of saving the world.”
“You’re allowed, to do that?”
“Allowed… If anything, that was like the condition for becoming a Hero.”
‘Yes. I am grateful towards Keita.’
Like other Heroes, Cania had contacted Keita and asked him to participate in the game.
However, her goal was not to win or expand her territories.
‘My purpose is to protect those who are abandoned and despised during the games.
“The Heroes, defeat monsters. Is that the same as, abandoning?”
‘…What they want is victory and the glory that comes with it. Gods like Zephalis and Gardekie think the people will be content as long as they defeat the monsters.’
‘Aye. That’s right. My brother and the others do not think about those left afterwards. About the ravaged fields, broken houses… And the sadness of the people who had lost family, friends and loved ones.’
Salia said bitterly. For a moment, the room seemed to grow dark.
At the same time, Fi felt the weight of his past actions.
‘I wanted to do something for those people. The people who are lost in the shadows, beneath the glamor of victory.’
‘…And for that, you joined the game?’
‘Of course, by participating, I can show the strength of my divine rank a little. Otherwise, I will fall…’
Canila presided over medicine and healing. However, if other similar gods grew stronger, her very existence may be erased.
These days, in order to show yourself in the celestial world, participating in the games was more important than the number of believers you had.
She said this with a sad laugh.
“…Being a god must be hard. Our old dragon seems to be in a pretty bad place too. But he doesn’t seem concerned.”
‘Who are you talking about? I do my best, you know?’
“But you live like a basement dweller. Now, why don’t you stop slacking off and go back to work?”
‘Leaving Canila’s wishes aside for now, are you fine with it, Keita?’
For some reason, Keita turned red.
“I…um…I prefer these kinds of stories…”
“Stories?”
“Um, no… Well, not fighting… Getting away from the main storyline… Doing things at a small scale…”
‘Ah, I see. A domestic type.’
The dragon god said understandingly. He ignored the embarrassed village Adventure and started to explain.
‘In Keita’s world, they had stories about Heroes who go to other worlds and achieve great feats with military might. And then there are stories where they bring about change with knowledge and technology they brought with them.’
“Knowledge and technology…how?”
‘In some of the most popular works, it is through agricultural reform and industrial revolution. Innovative farming techniques that would help impoverished villages and nations. They would help with economic problems in regions with underdeveloped industries by promoting special products and unique skills, such as metallurgy, ceramics and weaving.”
‘I see. So while ordinary Heroes work to bring peace to the land through military force, Keita is focusing on protecting the lifestyle of the people and raising their living standards.’
Said Salia. Keita blushed and nodded.
“Why are you so embarrassed about that?”
“Because…of…”
‘Recently, such protagonists are quite trendy. That was probably why you were quick to agree to Canila’s offer.’
“Uh…uh…”
‘Dragon god! I would ask you to stop bullying Keita so much!’
The dragon god laughed. Sheto must have understood very little about what was just said, as he looked like he was about to fall asleep.
“You don’t understand after all.”
“…Heroes…talking is hard. I…want to sleep.”