Keita had fought alongside older mercenaries and adults from the village. It was very different from the adventures from light novels and anime.
Somewhere deep down, he longed for that kind of friendship. However, he was also afraid of getting close to people.
“I was scared that one day…they would suddenly disappear without saying anything. Actually…Canila suggested that I quit being a village Hero and join Sheto…”
“…But you couldn’t trust us?”
Keita tried to argue, but he just chuckled sadly.
“I was scared. Perhaps you two would be different. Inside of that dungeon, I really felt like the protagonist of a story. And that made me even more scared…”
He was always afraid of something. To fight. To make a decision.
That weakness led to hesitation, which led to trouble for other people.
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? A Hero who is like this. I’m no Hero. I’m just a coward.”
Fi took his cup silently. As he licked the cooled contents, he looked more like a dog than a dragon.
“What kind of person…is a true Hero, anyway?”
“Huh?”
“I just think…that everyone who is participating in this game…is not a true Hero.”
“I don’t agree with that. There were people that unlike me, fought against monsters and saved people.”
Fi shook his head sadly.
“Did you hear? About the Hero who burned down Sheto’s village?”
“Yes. It’s because Sheto defeated him, that he is as strong as he is now.”
“He was a real idiot. Tricked by his god. He believed that slaughtering all of the monsters would bring peace to the world.”
Keita listened silently.
“Of course, it’s right to defeat those who do bad. Like the Demon King. But Sheto’s village. They were far away from any human settlement, and they weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“But the people of Lindle told me… Other monsters steal from kobold settlements. So it’s best to crush them in advance.”
“That’s how things work in this world. But he wasn’t even thinking about that. He just wanted a hunting ground for easy experience points.”
As he listened to such things, he remembered the one hundred Heroes who had visited Lindle.
There had been normal people like Fuminori and Ayano, but most didn’t see the town as anything more than a save point from a game.
“Sheto said. Heroes are all children who came to this world to play. They are fools who know nothing.”
“Really?”
“Well, something like that. That’s how he feels. His family were killed as part of a game.”
It sounded like Fi was trying to tell him something.
“It’s all an extension of a game for them. None of them actually want to save this world. And so…”
“They’re playing at being a Hero. There are no true Heroes…you mean…”
After losing his title as the village Hero, and being mocked by the people he had helped, Keita finally felt that he could see everything clearly.
No one, no gods or Heroes actually cared about this world.
“I guess real Heroes only appear in stories.”
“Well, when the gods who chose them are like that… Really, there is nothing right in the world…”
“Yes… That’s true…”
And then the conversation stopped.
The bonfire burned small, pushing away the darkness, and then being pushed back again.
Before he knew it, Fi had curled up and fallen asleep. While watching him, Keita was lost in thought.
What was a true Hero anyway…