Chapter: 581
Before I could say anything, my grandpa’s self-imposed answer was disappointing.
So, he was planning to move my body in case the plan failed.
Why is he being so annoyingly noble!? Ugh! Just be more in tune with your desires!
Then, even if I had doubts about carrying a mace, it would have been funny, right?
“Why were you trying to hide it? You got my hopes up.”
<...I can't say.>
“Did I say something weird when I borrowed my body?”
[Oh. How did you know that!]
Aah. So I’m cursed by the Mesugaki Skill.
It’s confusing when it gets distorted at first. Even now, I keep wondering why it translates that way. Yep. Yep.
“When you adapt, it’s actually quite fun.”
Don’t they say, if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it?
The Mesugaki Skill still throws out nonsense all day long, but it’s not completely without benefits.
Using this skill as an excuse, messing around can actually be quite enjoyable.
“You must have enjoyed calling Erginius a sympathy loser too, right?”
That was a hopeful shot in the dark for an answer, but no reply came from grandpa.
“Uh. Grandpa. No way.”
[I will answer! I will answer, but don’t press further!]
“It’s fine, Grandpa. Everyone gets swayed by temptation. I can embrace that.”
[Don't dig any deeper!]
Hearing that self-deprecating shout, my sadistic tendencies surged, but I held back because it seemed grandpa might truly cry.
How terrifying it is! The power of a Mesugaki that can corrupt even a Holy Knight!
“Then why are you hiding it? If you had just told the truth, this wouldn’t have happened.”
<...How could I proudly say that I parted ways with an old friend after a fight?>
“You fought?”
[You know well that our fight didn’t end properly. What we chose was just a stopgap. It's not something we could confidently say to future generations.]
The heroes of the Age of Myth won wars, but they couldn’t achieve their desires. The Evil God couldn’t be erased with their power.
[Others called us heroes, but we never thought of ourselves that way. Quite the opposite. We saw ourselves as sinners.]
The heroes were more than deserving of the title.
They had the nobility required to be chosen by the gods. Thus, they were infinitely harsh on themselves.
Even if the whole world praised their achievements, the heroes could not forgive themselves.
[Given the situation, could our relationships be good? Naturally not. We pretended to smile in front of others, but behind the scenes, we didn’t exchange a word. The moment someone brought something up, a fight would break out.]
Erginius lamented in self-condemnation as he blamed himself.
Garad should have noted that yelling without any thought wouldn’t lead to solutions, as Ruel pressed him to keep quiet.
Actually, Ruel, who was urging Garad, had similar thoughts in his heart, so to hide his own self-loathing, he raised his voice.
And the hero remained silent.
They said nothing.
In formal occasions, they smiled and chatted as usual, but behind them, their hollow eyes gazed at their broken swords while their mouths were tightly shut.
[Looking back now, I think it’s pathetic, but at that time, I had no choice. After overcoming all the trials with the will to save the world from the Evil God, the result was something that burdened future generations. Everyone found themselves so pathetic that they couldn't bear it.]
The tale of the remorseful Holy Knight was truly cruel.
At the cost of countless sacrifices, after overcoming innumerable trials, with the sole intent of saving the world from evil, if such an ending awaited them, who could laugh?
[I would have rather had a full-blown fight. If I had shouted against the ones who ascended to heaven again, it wouldn’t have ended up like this. I wouldn’t have had sleepless nights wondering if I could have done something.]
However, the heroes could not do that.
They were far too virtuous.
They were noble enough to give up all their glory and take steps to save the world.
They were foolish enough to dive headfirst into something others deemed impossible.
Thus, they could say nothing. They wanted to endure everything themselves.
[Well, despite everything, in the end, they are human. The festering hearts created thorns for each other, and we naturally grew distant. When we faced each other, the things we wanted to forget kept resurfacing, which is why we ran away from each other.]
“Still, in the end, grandpa and your comrades faced what you wanted to forget, right?”
<...Huh?>
“If not, you wouldn’t have left something for future generations, right?”
Leaving something for future generations means thinking about what they would need. This, in turn, means confronting the nightmares they wanted to forget. The heroes may have fallen, but they did not crumble.
“Grandpa?”
<...Ah. Yeah. Sorry about that. Just a moment.>
His voice seemed to carry moisture, and I tilted my head. Did I say something wrong? I thought I said something pretty good?
[Anyway, about five years after we scattered. The hero came looking for me again. I didn’t recognize him at first due to how shabby he looked.]
Ruel, faced with the captured hero, was shocked but also felt the urge to apologize for past events.
At that time, he wanted to say he hadn’t seen his comrades as comrades due to being caught in temptation.
And he resolved to give confession if the hero still had lingering feelings in his heart, as any clergyman would.
[However, our reunion ended in the worst way possible.]
‘…What did the hero do?’
[You don’t think I did something, do you?]
‘Someone who’s going to do something wouldn’t think of apologizing, right?’
[Haha. That's true.]
Grandpa, who had been laughing lightly, started to say something but sighed deeply. It took him over a minute to break the silence.
[That guy wanted to bring the god to the ground.]
‘…Huh?’
[Literally. The hero said that gods should disappear from this world.]
If there is light, darkness deepens; if there is darkness, light shines brighter. So why not just get rid of both, the hero said to Ruel.
[There was nothing theoretically wrong. If Erginius had been present, he would have yelled about what kind of crazy talk that was, but there was no outright error in it.]
‘What kind of person is the Erginius inside grandpa?’
[If I were to explain that, it would take more than a day, so let’s skip it. Anyway, while I could understand the hero's words logically, I couldn't accept them emotionally. No, I’ll assert now that I couldn’t understand them at all. What a madman. To eradicate evil, he suggested removing good as well? That’s like saying to burn down the village to stop the plague.]
Initially, Ruel tried to explain it calmly, but the hero wouldn’t listen to him until the very end, even as his rationality unraveled.
[So, I expelled him. I threw the guy clinging to me out of the Holy Land. Then, after some time, when my head cooled down and I went outside, the hero had already vanished.]
After that, grandpa sought out information about the hero while trying to achieve what he had resolved, yet he obtained nothing.
[I know nothing more than this. Isn't it a terribly trivial tale? The reason I didn’t say anything is that I thought I didn’t need to…]
‘Where was the last place the hero appeared?’
That alone is enough. Just having the last sighting information could significantly narrow the search range. Grandpa’s story isn’t trivial at all!
<...Sigh. Yeah. You’d probably answer like this, Lucy.>
‘Wha-why all of a sudden?’
[Lucy, I want you to not look for the hero's traces. Even if the fairy's song is something close to a prophecy, it should not be something you pursue while carrying the legacy of the madman who wished to bring down the god.]
A deep worry seeped into his voice.
Having witnessed the gruesome end of the hero, grandpa thinks what the hero left behind will harm me.
However, the thought of needing to complete the quest surged within me, the efficiency junkie warring inside me.
Saying something like this won’t resonate at all with grandpa.
The one who needs to respond now isn’t the rotten fish of the Soul Academy. I should talk to grandpa as the next generation’s hero carrying the legacy of the heroes from the Age of Myth.
“Grandpa, I told you earlier, didn’t I? The heroes didn’t run away. They faced what they considered sins.”
[That’s right. You said that to yourself. But Lucy, don’t assume my words covered everything. I left out a lot to protect my old friend's honor.]
That’s true. The hero that Ruel truly saw must be much more gruesome than I think. After hundreds of years, the vivid horror must be haunting.
“Still, he’s a hero.”
Even so, he is a hero.
More noble than the Great Wizard Erginius. More than the Knight Garad. More than the Holy Knight Ruel. More noble, more righteous, more hopeful and pure. He is a hero chosen by the Lord.
“The higher a bird flies, the longer it has to fall. But a bird is still a bird. Even if it falls to the ground, it will soar back into the sky. The hero must have needed time too, didn’t he?”
[That’s too optimistic…]
“He’s recognized by you as a hero, isn’t he? I just believe in your perspective.”
I can never say the Shoddy God’s perspective is right. If I find out the hero actually looked like an adorable girl, I’d genuinely start to hate the Lord.
As I concealed this inner strife and replied, grandpa let out a huh of laughter.
[Right. Kids really do grow up so fast.]
“Did I grow? Thanks to causing a miracle, my status has risen so…”
[That’s not what I meant, you little brat.]
“A brat!? Did you just call me a brat?!”
That’s one thing I couldn’t tolerate! It’s war! Ruel!
[Hahaha. I would gladly accept war, but first, I must answer your question. The last place the hero was seen was the island we went to last time.]
‘…An island?’
[Yeah. The place where that bizarre dungeon was located.]
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