Vol. 1 Chapter 10

~ I decided to run away because something was suspicious ~

Translated by Raizu
Edited by Mirp

[I’m back.]

I returned to the adventurer’s guild when the sun began to set.
I had been taught the basic theory of magic and various types of magic by the mages of the Magic Corps.
It was a really productive time.
After all, there was magic in the skill list that would be a felony if used without permission.
It seems better not to carelessly acquire control-type magic and mind-manipulation-type magic.

[Welcome back, it took a long time.]

Marl, who was writing something at the counter, stood up and approached me.
She may have been summarizing the information she obtained today.

[…Eh?]

[Yeah, I’ve been certified as a Hero.]

[I’m apparently a Hero now. I may have to go to the Royal Capital soon to be officially recognized.]

Well, I admit it’s a cheat.
I didn’t even mean to be a Hero, HAHAHA.

[Um, are you kidding me?]

[Unfortunately, it’s serious. It was confirmed by a magic tool called a status checker.]

The moment Marl heard my words, she glared at the old man Woz with eyes that looked like she was looking at her parents’ murderer.
The old man looked startled and then scratched his head embarrassedly.

[Please excuse me, missy. I can’t go against you either.]

[…Let’s go, Taichi-san.]

The atmosphere suddenly turned grim.
What what? What’s going on?
I left the adventurer’s guild without knowing why, being pulled by Marl.
This is the first time I’ve seen Marl like this.
I’m also curious about how Marl, who is always smiling and affable, looked at old man Woz earlier.

=====

[Welcome back…where did you go?]

[Phinea-san, please bring the dinner to our room.]

Saying that, Marl pushed a large copper coin onto Pina, who couldn’t process the situation, and pulled me to the room on the second floor.
As for me, Marl’s had forcefully pushed me to this point in silence.
Marl pulled me into the room, closed the door behind me, and let out a deep sigh.

[Taichi-san… Do you understand the importance of becoming a Hero?]

[I, uh, guess…?]

I was pushed by Marl’s sword curtain.
Is there something wrong?

[The Hero goes beyond the borders of the nation to destroy powerful monsters such as demons and dragons. In exchange, the nation protects the Hero. On paper.]

[On paper?]

[In reality, it is to tame and kill the hard-to-control combat power of the Hero. Is that okay, Taichi-san? A Hero is someone who can easily slaughter monsters that the Knights have to make a great sacrifice to defeat.]

[Marl, are you wary of the so-called ‘The End of the Hero’?]

Marl’s eyes widened as she seemed to understand what I was saying.
That’s also what I thought when I heard the word Hero.

[From the country’s point of view, it’s a troublesome existence. Especially because if the Hero wants to usurp the throne, there will definitely be a force that will support the rebellion by following the Hero.]

Then, will the opponent’s first move be assassination, or reconciliation?
It would be better for my mental health to eliminate the anxiety factor as soon as possible.
If I were the King, I would.

[What do you think? Do you think he’s coming to kill me?]

[The possibility cannot be denied. There are rumors that the reason why a Hero has not appeared in the Karendil Kingdom for the past fifty years is because the Kingdom was secretly nipping the buds of Heroes.]

Marl nodded with a mysterious face.
At this stage, if they judged that they could still deal with me, the Kingdom would certainly come to kill me.
My status had already been grasped. As well as the skills that I could use.
Based on that information, it was possible to calculate the force.
If they decide that it’s manageable, they will come to kill me without hesitation.
Then what should we do for our first move?

[Marl, we will be camping for a while. Can you keep up with us?]

[Where Taichi-san goes is where I go. I also have a mithril dagger.]

I gave her a hug for saying such a cute thing, and stroked her head.
When I think about the future, I’m so happy that I’m about to cry just because I’m not alone.
If things go wrong, I’ll even make an enemy out of the Karendil Kingdom.

[But, what are you going to do?]

[First of all, I’ll buy all the necessary tools for the camp. I’ll also need some spare weapons, as well as things I need to maintain my weapons. I’ll also buy some dried food.]

[…Are we running away?]

I grinned at Marl, who had an uneasy expression.

[In the short term. I haven’t officially been certified as a Hero yet. This means that there is no obligation.]

Is that so? When I asked with my eyes, Marl nodded after thinking for a while.

[Then, go outside and hunt monsters. Do you know that defeating monsters makes it easier to raise your level?]

[Yes, and the higher the rank, the stronger they become. Heroes have a remarkable increase in ability when their rank goes up…I see.]

It seems that Marl also noticed my intentions.

[So you’re trying to gain strength so that they can’t get their hands on you so easily.]

[Yes, I will become stronger and increase my own deterrence. By doing so, the risk of being targeted by the Kingdom should also decrease.]

If I can’t be killed easily, then they’d have no choice but to make peace with me.
I don’t have any particular ambitions at the moment, but it’s not good for my mental health to keep being targeted by assassins.
Also, in order to reduce the risk of Marl being taken hostage, it was necessary for Marl to become stronger.

[We have to procure a lot of things…would it be easier to arrange them via the guild?]

[No, the adventurer’s guild is connected to the country, so information will be leaked. The adventurer’s guild is an organization created to find Heroes once the last one has been dealt with.]

[…I see.]

Was this an organization that managed adventurers to subjugate monsters and discover Adventurers = Heroes who achieved extraordinary results?
It seems to be an effective measure in terms of population control, human resource development, security maintenance, economic effects, and many other aspects.
It must have been a very talented administrator who came up with this system and established it.

[Okay, let’s go around the town now. Let’s collect what we need.]

[Yes.]

Me and Marl ran out into the town as the sun began to set.
When I returned after collecting various things, I was scolded by Phinea, who was miffed by our absence since she took the trouble to bring dinner to my room.

=====

In the early morning of the next day, we escaped from the city as soon as the city gates opened.
Aside from entering the city, there were almost no checks when leaving, so it’s easy to sneak out.
I hid my face with the hooded overcoat I got yesterday.

“I’m renting a house in the city to live in,” that was my excuse when I checked out from the Scorching Anvil.
We didn’t tell them where we moved to, so it should take a few days before anyone finds out that we left Crossroad.

It can’t be helped because there’s no way to hide the fact that we bought supplies for the camp.
I generously bought magic tools if they were convenient, so about 15 gold coins were blown away.
Converted to Japanese yen, about 1.5 million yen was blown away in less than an hour, so there really was no way to cover it up.

For now, the first priority was to walk away from the Crossroad Knights’ sphere of influence.

[I think the southeastern forest would be a good place to head for. It’s a big forest, and rumor has it that there are ancient ruins deep inside. And if you cut through the forest as it is, it will also be a shortcut to Mischronia Kingdom.]

According to Marl, the Miscronia Kingdom seemed to be one of the countries that tends to protect its Heroes generously.
It is said that the ancestors of the people of the Royal family were Heroes, and many of the Nobles in the country had ancestors of heroes or their companions.

[Oh, that’s interesting. Let’s aim for that ancient ruin first.]

For now, we decided on a destination and started walking.
Since I stored all the food and supplies that I bought in my inventory, we can travel light.
For the time being, Marl was equipped with the minimum amount of food, water, and medical supplies. There was no possibility of getting lost.

After a short walk, a small boar appeared.
Although it’s small, the meat was delicious and was perfect as Marl’s training partner.

[Okay, Marl, do your best. Avoid its rush and slash at it as you do.]

[Yes!]

Marl pulled out her mithril dagger and headed towards Small Boar with a humble waist.
The Small Boar seemed to recognize Marl as an enemy and rushed in.
Even though Marl’s stance was a bit stiff, she moved unexpectedly quickly to evade Small Boar’s charge, all the while pricking and piling up damage at it.
How should I put it, the evasion isn’t bad, but her attack wasn’t good enough.
She may have an aversion to harming living things.
Although it took some time, she eventually managed to kill the small boar.

[I guess you have to learn how to handle the sword first.]

[I-I’ll do my best.]

=====

After that, by the time we reached the front of the forest while hunting, it was getting dark.

[It’s fine to camp here…is it okay?]

[Oh, leave it to me.]

Marl was probably worried about night attacks by nocturnal monsters.
But that point is fine, I asked the magic corps about the magic that would be useful for the camp.
I raised the convenient life magic to level 3, then magic strengthening and magic recovery to 2 with the remaining points.
With this, I had zero remaining points. I would have to raise my level in order to acquire new skills.

I set up my battle staff and started concentrating my magic power.
We didn’t have any plans to fight for the rest of the day, so let’s pour in a lot of magic power.

[Safe shelter!]

A battle staff imbued with mana was thrust into the ground and the mana was poured into it.
A magic formation with a radius of about 5m was formed centering on the place that was thrust after a moment.
A barrier of light appeared on the dome from the perimeter of the magic circle.

I put about 100 MP into it, but when I looked at the barrier with an appraisal eye, the effective time was displayed as 10 hours.
I guess 10 MP equals 1 hour of uptime.
However, considering my natural recovery speed of MP, I shouldn’t overuse my magic.
The current maximum MP was 670, so 100 is quite a big number. It’s a good idea to increase magic power enhancement and magic power recovery.

[Wow, it’s amazing.]

[It’s the barrier magic I learned from the magic corps before we left town. It really feels like important magic. For now, we can spend the night safely inside this magic circle. Apparently even troll attacks won’t break it.]

It seems that it can withstand rain and wind, but it’s okay to make a fire inside it. What a convenient magic, long live opportunism.
What about the toilet? Hehehehe, there’s a magic tool that acts like a portable toilet.
Cooking and toilets were a source of trouble when camping, so there were various portable magic tools.
The portable magic stove cost 3 gold coins, and the toilet cost 5 gold coins.
It’s an eco magic tool that can be used repeatedly if you put magic into it.

[Well, shall we prepare a meal?]

I took out a wooden box instead of a cooking table, a cutting board, a stove that can be used with magical power, pots, frying pans, tableware, etc. from the inventory one after another.

[Today’s menu will be soup and the small boar meat we hunted this morning.]

I poured the water generated by life magic into the pot, added the salted meat, appropriately crunchy cabbage-like vegetables, and carrot-like root vegetables, then let it simmer.
If I made a lot of it, we should be able to eat it tomorrow morning as well.

[Taishi-san, you can cook?]

[Cooking isn’t that hard.]

I sprinkled salt and pepper on the small boar meat that has been dismantled in the storage to season it.
I scooped a sip from the boiling soup and tasted it. A little salt was missing, let’s add a little more.
I bought plenty of food, including salt and spices, so there’s no problem.
Perhaps the two of us can easily live for two months.

[My cooking is crude for men, so don’t expect delicate tastes. If I can afford it, I’d like to try more elaborate dishes.]

[I’ll play the role of eating!]

As a girl, how can you say that so easily?
The umami from the dried meat and the sweetness from the vegetables were a perfect match, and the soup was quite good.
Perhaps because the small boar meat was fresh, it had a rustic taste and was satisfying to eat.
It should be really delicious if I eat it with the fluffy bread that I’ve stored in the inventory.
Well, having this inventory is really convenient alright.

=====

[Oh, is this the ruins?]

Three days after leaving Crossroad.
We proceeded through the forest while mopping up all the monsters along the way until we reached the ruins.
It’s a moss-covered building, and seemed to be mostly made of stone.
That’s the kind of place we’re standing in front of right now.
When I went up the moss-covered stairs, I could see a temple-like building in the back, and a road that stretched straight through an open field.
The open field was quite large. Probably about the size of a baseball field.

[Hmm, it looks like a shrine. I can’t recognize the deity just by looking at it from the outside.]

Marl looked around while loading bolts into her crossbow.
In the last three days, I had reached level 16, and Marl’s level has also risen to 7. If it’s just goblins, it’s already possible to deal with it easily.

In addition to new sword mastery skills, Marl also acquired skills such as stealth and detection.
Even though she’s a real life Princess, no matter how I looked at it, her skills were leaning more towards the scout or thief-type. Anyhow, it’s good that she’s getting stronger.
I only acquired one new magic eye skill, and I had 18 extra skill points.

[Taichi-san, let’s go in.]

[Oh, I don’t think there are any traps in the shrine, but let’s be careful.]

The moment I stepped into the site of the ancient ruins, I felt strangely clean air.
When I looked around with the magic eyes that I got when I leveled up yesterday, I noticed that the area was full of magic power.
How should I put it? Places where monsters appeared had cloudy magical power, but the magical power within this site was eerily clear.
It was bright because the forest was open, and colorful flowers were blooming where the soil was exposed.

[Somehow, I feel calmer.]

[Even though it’s been forgotten for a long time, the area around the shrine that enshrines the God is still sacred. Unexpectedly, the barrier created by the ancients may still be alive.]

I climbed the moss-covered stairs and looked around.
If you thought about it carefully, it’s strange that the forest was only open around this shrine.
It should have been natural for it to be swallowed up by the forest over the years, but this hadn’t happened and the shrine’s original form was preserved.
Small fish were swimming in the waterway surrounding the shrine.

[But, it’s a beautiful place. If it wasn’t such a place, it would be a tourist spot.]

[Is that so…]

In addition to the shrine, there are several stone buildings.
It’s probably the residence where the priest who manages the shrine lived.
For the time being, we ignored it and proceeded deeper into the shrine.

[…it doesn’t look like anything is living there.]

If animals or monsters live there, there would be odors from leftover food and excrement.
However, you couldn’t smell either of those at all from this shrine.
Isn’t it kind of strange? It’s an environment where it’s easy to secure water, can withstand rain and wind, and has few external enemies.
I think it shouldn’t be strange for those creatures to live here.

[Marl, do you feel anything?]

[…I don’t know. I don’t feel like it’s dangerous.]

Saying that, Marl tilted her head.
Maybe Marl’s danger and presence detection were confused.
As for me, I didn’t feel anything.

We found a corpse as we went deeper into the shrine.
It’s rotting like it’s leaning against the wall, but there’s no visible damage to its bones.
Most of the corpse’s clothes and body had been weathered over the years, but there were some golden ornaments scattered around.
Judging from the accessories, I wonder if she’s a priestess or a shrine maiden here.
Among the scattered relics, there was only one thing that caught my attention.

[Is it a ring?]

[Yeah, it’s made of mithril and enchanted with magic.]

If you look at it with an appraisal eye, it says 『Ring of Protection』. Apparently it can prevent its wearer from taking a fatal blow, although only once.
It didn’t seem to be cursed, so let’s take it.

[You may be reluctant to wear a memento, but put it on. It’s just for comfort, since it seems that the ring is imbued with protective magic.]

I hand over the ring to Marl and put my hands together facing the corpse in prayer.
I felt she would be hesitant to wear it if I told her the true effect, so I lied about it.
I’m good, but it’s a perfect item for Marl who was still weak.

When I looked at it, Marle was doing the same, putting her hands together, or rather, praying.
The corpse that was leaning against the wall was pushed further into the back, and a chapel or rather a large hall appeared.
At the far end of the large hall was a pedestal, on which stood a large stone statue of a man.
Above all, what caught our eye was,

[That’s a lot of corpses.]

[Yeah, it looks like everyone wasr paying towards the pedestal…]

The clothing of each corpse had been weathered, and the bones were visible to the extent that their original poses remained.
Again, none of the corpses had any noticeable damage, and they either died in a praying position, or in a position that seems to have collapsed from a praying position.
When I looked at them with magic eyes, I could see minute amounts of magic from some of the corpses. It’s probably a magic item like the ring from earlier.
In addition, I could see that the magic power was more concentrated on the pedestal.
Was there something on the pedestal?

[I can feel the magic from the corpses. I think there’s probably something like the ring from earlier, so let’s collect it.]

[Yes, we are adventurers.]

In addition to defeating monsters, diving into ruins and dungeons to acquire treasure is also one of the sources of income for adventurers.
From the looks of it, there was no sign of anyone having entered, so there might be quite a few treasures in there.

[It’s like a ring or a necklace.]

[There are a lot of things that are plain and unattractive, though.]

I got three items: a magic defense ring, a dark magic resistance amulet, and a ring that can act as a magic catalyst.
In addition, a mithril ring and gold ornaments with no particular effect were found.
Other metal products seem to have decayed.

[I’ll put on the catalyst ring. Marl should equip the other magic accessories just in case.]

After polishing the relics with a cloth, I stored them all in the inventory, leaving only the ring, which can act as a magic activation catalyst, on my middle finger of the left hand.
Now, even if I’m unarmed, I’ll still be able to cast magic in combat.
Marl also seemed to have equipped accessories in the same way.

[I feel kind of strange.]

[Dead people can no longer make use of it. Using it is part of the memorial service.]

Even the old craftsmen who made the ornaments would think it would be better this way instead of being forgotten without being used by anyone.
Next, I headed to the pedestal in the back.
Even though it’s called a pedestal, it’s so big that one person can lie down on it.

[There’s nothing in particular.]

[That’s true.]

Magic power was gathering towards this pedestal, but it didn’t seem to be anything special.
It’s kind of disappointing because I was expecting a dramatic development with a legendary weapon or a naked girl sleeping.

[What happened?]

[Well, it looks like this happened as a result of some kind of ritual.]

I look up at the large male statue.
The face of the male figure was dull and unclear, perhaps because it had weathered over the years.

[Probably to the God this statue was enshrined in, do you recognize it?]

[I cannot say for sure…the face is not clear, and there is no symbolic sacred vessel.]

According to Marl, the Gods of this world seem to have some kind of sacred vessel as a symbol.
Usually, idols of Gods are given holy vessels that symbolize such Gods.
Then, this statue was probably made before such customs became common.

[Then, was it a God that was enshrined in ancient times but had become obsolete?]

[There’s a possibility of that. Experts in ancient civilizations might know, but I’m not sure.]

Marl shook her head.
Well, there’s no way we could understand everything. The moment I turned around, it happened.

The inside of the temple, which was supposed to be filled with sunlight during the daytime, was now dark, and the interior of the church is now illuminated by a number of torches hanging on the walls.
What? Was I hallucinating?

『Please deliver upon us, please deliver upon us』

When I noticed the voice and looked under the altar, the corpses were all men and women of all ages wearing the same clothes.
They were men and women of all ages who dedicated their lives to praying for that magical power single-mindedly.
There were also children among them.

『Please deliver us, please deliver upon us. O’ God, deliver upon us a Hero.』

One by one, they gave their lives and fell down.
No, even after they fell down, power continued to pour out from them.
They’re not only surrendering their life. It’s also their very own soul.
Then, I looked back at the pedestal.
There was a black-haired boy in a school uniform――then the surrounding scenery returned to normal.

Marl seemed to have witnessed the same scene, and leaned towards me while looking around with a pale face.
Was this vision something that happened here in the past?

[Hey, Marl. Are all Heroes summoned like that?]

[No, no, a Hero is just a person who is rarely born with extraordinary talent. That kind of thing isn’t something that you can summon by offering even your soul.]

In other words, the general Hero of this world that Marl talks about was probably a mutated individual of the human species.
It’s not a being summoned from another world.
Then, what was this『Hero』that these people were trying to summon?

[…let’s look for more clues.]

[…..Yes.]

=====

～Magic tools～

It referred to a tool that moved using magical energy as its power source.
Although they were expensive, they had been gradually mass-produced recently, so it had become possible to purchase them casually in cities or towns of a reasonable size.
The best-selling items were useful in daily life, such as a portable stove that could be used to cook with a small amount of magic power, a portable toilet that can be used repeatedly, and a tinder rod that can be ignited more easily and quickly than a regular tinder box.
Prices differed from item to item, but even the cheapest tinder rod is one silver coin.
As for the most expensive, they started from 70 gold coins for an installed bath boiler.

It seemed to be similar to magic swords and other magical power-enhancing items, but it was also different.