With conflicted emotion, Keita watched as the kobold prepared for the journey.
The contract between the villagers and Salia had been made without any input from him.
Of course, it was because Canila had told him to not say anything. His position had weakened after letting Sheto in. And he could not make things worse.
But…
“Really. You are so reckless…”
Said the blue dragon with exasperation as he looked at his smartphone. Still, he did not look that worried.
“Sorry. But, only way, to help the others.”
“…I think it’s a good idea. And I’ll…do what I can to help.”
“Wou!”
“Thank you, Fi and Guto.”
Sheto’s face had nothing but a strong will. What he needed to do, and how to do it. That was all he was looking at.
‘I, hunt all Heroes and the Demon King. And then, make a forest, where kobolds are not harmed. I, don’t need your help.’
An invincible Hero and then a group of a hundred. After defeating them all, this small monster declared he would hunt the Demon King and win the game.
‘A kobold Hero?’
‘Yes. With a blessing…from an old friend.’
It seemed like a mistake or a joke.
However, a few months passed since Canila told him, and then several Heroes visited the village. They said they were going to defeat the kobold.
‘Why don’t you come with us? We don’t have enough healers.’
‘Sorry… I have a place to protect here.’
The boy with the greatsword looked a little disappointed, but left with a smile.
‘In that case… Would it be possible for you to take in the people from the village that I helped?’
‘I’ll have to ask the others. But I think it should be fine.’
‘I see. Thanks. I was worried about not being able to offer them proper support. Because of the old bearded man.’
That was the last time that they spoke.
In the end, most of the Heroes vanished from Morania, and the kobold remained.
Ever since that moment, Keita had developed an interest in the kobold.
“Keita. I, will go now.”
Sheto said as he stood up.
“Ye…yes….”
‘While it will be a hassle, I’ll leave the monitoring to you.’
“Yes…”
He picked up his staff and followed Sheto.
Outside, the villagers were waiting.
“Keep your eyes on him, Keita.”
The chief said with a serious expression. Now that he thought about it, he had been like this when Keita first arrived.
“If there are any signs of betrayal…”
“It will be fine. There is a contract.”
“You are now an important part of this village. Come back alive no matter what.”
“Thank…you.”
The chief stood back, and then several others offered words of appreciation. He answered them all, but his eyes were following Sheto.
He was looking at the other kobold, who was in a large cage hanging under a tree.
Guards blocked his path, preventing him from getting any close. Still, he raised his hand and assured the other kobold that everything would be fine.
“Couldn’t we at least bring him down?”
“That monster is a hostage who tried to steal from us. Besides, the goddess said that this was fine.”
Sheto ignored the voices and continued to walk on ahead..
And then someone blocked his path.
“I’m against it! They are related to the monsters who attacked our village!”
It was one of the refugees who had come yesterday.
“Stop! Poro! We are new here…”
“He was fighting over me with the goblins! He said that weak farmers should be used as monsters please!”
“…Stop this.”
Keita moved in between them.
“Sir Hero! Why do you want to bring monsters into the village!”
“Poro!”
“…Because he is no ordinary monster. He is a god’s Hero, like me.”
“Then the god must be evil! What other god would use a dog like that!”
His eyes were bloodshot and he glared at the kobold with hatred. Sheto just looked back at him sadly.
“…Is what he said true?”
“I, found goblins and killed them. This human, was there.”
“And then you…!”
“This man. Called me a monster. He was, scared. And so I, left. At that time, I worked for Salia. Not with the monsters.”
“He’s lying! It must be a mistake! he! Shit! Let go of me!”
The other humans held him back.
And so Sheto walked towards the village gate.
“Why…”
The words came out naturally.
“How can…you be like that?”
“Keita?”
“Why are you so strong…”
The kobold shook his head slowly.
“I’m, not strong. Just a kobold.”
“That’s not true… Your level is way higher than mine.”
‘You must have heard as well. We had no promised strength. Sheto is just a kobold. And I could not give him invisibility like my brother.’
“Then how…”
‘Because we had no other choice. To lose was to die. That is all. And as he continued to find ways to survive, he acquired power.’
The goddess spoke in a strong and calm voice.
But before he could get lost in thought, the kobold pulled him back to reality.
“Keita, no time. I want to go to the dungeon, at once.”
“Ah…right. Yes.”
“By the way, don’t you need to ride a horse? We have a dumb dog to ride…”
Keita kicked the ground and answered the dragon.
“Before coming to this village, I was on a little adventure. That’s when I acquired these boots. I can run for half a day and not get tired.”
“Wait a minute. I’m going to make you a party member now, so can I take a photo?”
“Huh? Uh, sure…”
Fi took a photo with his smartphone and then showed Keita the screen with a grin.
“Is this…my status?”
“It’s an app made by the dragon god. If it’s a party member, then you can see most of their data. There is also data about monsters, such as the number of times you’ve fought them.”
“Huh…”
When he saw the photo, as well as the data like HP and MP, he felt as if he was a character within a game.
“It’s a little unsettling to look at yourself like this.”
“Unsettling… Well, I suppose having your life and abilities show as numbers would make you feel conflicted.”
Now that he thought about it, he used to read novels on a website. Stories about people entering the world of MMOs and going on adventures had been very popular.
They were usually sent to worlds that they were already familiar with. They always accepted these things as normal. But it felt strange for Keita now.
“So, you cannot see all of your stats like this. But if you don’t mind, you could change the range of data that is shown here.”
“That’s fine. My abilities aren’t anything special. You can see all of it.”
“Alright, then put your finger here.”
He did as he was told. There was a beep and then the screen changed. He could not see detailed stats, including equipment and magic.
“Frozen Moon Arrow, Sun-Piercing Strike… Lightweave Binding, and other… Oh, grand spells too? The casting time seems pretty quick too… I see, I see.”
“You can see that too?”
“Well, the data is just an estimate. The dragon god said that human abilities can’t really be turned into accurate numbers. You shouldn’t think about it as if it is a game.”
He sighed. This smartphone seemed to be more useful than his own abilities.
“Sheto. His boots have magic that allow him to run as fast as Guto. So it won’t be a problem if he goes with us.”
“Fine. Be our guide, Keita.”
The road leading away from the village. There was a large mountain ahead, and on the other side, was the dungeon.
“Let’s go. If we run now, we should be able to arrive in two hours.”
Bonus chapter courtesy of Photo. Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome and thank you too!