I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

2 – 2. Demon Alfred

Deep in the dark forest, there is a group of humans spurring the muddy ground.

They were all heavily armed and were chasing after someone dangerous.

“The rain erased the footprints, but you wouldn’t have gone far with that body. Search the surroundings!”

Despite being armed with heavy armor, their steps were as light as a bird’s feather.

The monsters that stood in their way were cut down without mercy, and the pole-like raindrops did not stand in their way.

“Kill her as soon as you find her! I don’t even have a holy sword, and I can’t even use the power of the past anymore, so I’m no different from ordinary girls!”

The knights who once overthrew the demon king together with the hero.

But now, their swords were pointed at someone other than the demon king.

†††

When I took the hero Arcel to the bathroom, he said he would wash himself when he came to his senses.

If you want to wash yourself, it’s convenient for me.

I’ve been cleaning up the broken and dirty floors, and seeing my house clean again made me feel proud.

‘So what should I do?’

After the cleaning was over, I started to worry again.

Once the washing was successful.

However, the situation did not change.

If things change, the fact that the hero will become a little cleaner.

Other than that, I still don’t know the exact reason why the hero came to visit me, and judging from the reaction just a moment ago, it didn’t seem like he was aiming for my treasure.

The lifeless eyes and the expression as if everything had been put down.

It was just… Like a pet abandoned by its owner.

It’s different from the warriors we’ve seen so far.

Although it was only for a moment, I could see my old self for a moment.

As expected, it was far from the days when we did not give up and moved forward no matter how strong the enemy appeared.

Smart.

Ah, I think the bath is over.

I had a lot of questions, but it turned out well.

As expected, it would be quicker to ask the person himself than to think about it alone as I don’t know anything.

“…Where did my clothes go?”

When I opened the door, I saw the warrior’s appearance.

I knew, but seeing it up close, I felt that the taste of the holy sword was very desirable.

Because of the demon king, I have traveled to many human countries and met many people.

But among all the humans, Arsel was so pretty that it was regrettable that he was a warrior.

Golden hair that is soft and shiny, even though it must have been a wild adventure.

Even though there is no life, blue eyes that do not fade.

Above all, even a great body.

The hero was different from the flowers in the greenhouse, like the princess he kidnapped because of the devil.

I have seen and kidnapped many human princesses rumored to be pretty, but the only thing that catches my eye is the hero.

I really like it because I took off the armor that was worse than a rag and put it on properly.

“Are you doing laundry? But are you going to keep wearing it? It’s all broken.”

I’m not going to let you walk around naked, so I brought some decent things from the treasure house of the devil.

It was the clothes worn by the demon king himself, that is, the princesses he ordered me to kidnap.

I thought I wouldn’t like a dress, so I chose casual clothes.

I’m glad there’s no sign of dislike.

“No, I don’t have to wear that armor anymore. It was given to the hero, the owner of the holy sword…”

“Are you that warrior? Until a few years ago, you were good at cutting demons with a holy sword.”

The hero himself said something strange that he was not a hero.

A contradiction comparable to a spear and a shield.

I expressed my doubts, but did you say no anymore, hero? Arcel looked out the window with dry eyes.

“I am no longer a warrior. I don’t even have a holy sword anymore, and there probably won’t be anyone left who thinks I’m a hero.”

That is also a strange word.

I still think of Arcel as a warrior.

“But you are the hero who cut down the demon lord? Or was it actually cut by another fellow?”

Isn’t Arcel the hero who killed the demon king?

Of course, I couldn’t be sure because I hadn’t seen the scene myself.

“If you are a colleague-“

“Yes, your liar nun and sorceress. There is a bald head and a shrewd archer who were ignorantly strong.”

Two liars who said they would save you if you surrendered, but would kill you if you surrendered.

A chunk used to lift a golem bigger than a house with brute force.

Pointy Ears hid behind the lump and only fired arrows.

If it’s the hero’s companions, they are those four.

There was also a thief hiding there.

Even if not as much as the hero, they all had strong powers, so it was possible to finish them off.

Cowardly bastards who attack one out of six people.

“Don’t they know best that you are a hero? I heard you traveled together for a long time?”

It’s a pity if someone was replaced or died in the middle.

Still, the comrade who ultimately defeated the demon lord together is true, so it’s like a living witness who can prove that he’s a hero.

But why isn’t Arsel himself a hero?

“Ah…”

“Uh, why are you crying all of a sudden? Did you ever fight each other? Surely it’s not because of me?”

Arsel suddenly starts to cry.

Have you ever had a quarrel with a colleague and broke up?

Arcel risked a disagreement with his comrades in order to save me after I surrendered, and maybe that’s why we got into a fight.

In that case, I’m really sorry.

I feel like I’ve ruined normal human relationships for no reason.

Did you not just surrender and see the end?

“No, not because of that. Besides, they already…”

Then we could have remained friends until the end.

I felt a little uncomfortable.

‘I don’t want to think about things as complicated as human relationships.’

I tried to ask questions to Arcel, but he didn’t look very good.

There won’t be much progress even after talking for hours like this.

In times like these, it’s good to point out only the important things.

“Ah, let’s just make it simple. I’m pretty busy too, so I can’t keep talking like this.”

Besides, I can’t just look at Arcel forever.

The devil’s castle is bigger than I thought.

It is not easy to manage such a large castle.

It is said that living in a large and luxurious building does not mean that it is easy to live.

Especially things like cockroaches get entangled…

Of course, it’s much better than nothing.

“…Sorry to waste your time. I’ll leave right away, and I’ll thank you for your help.”

Arsel bowed his head and thanked me.

Seeing that reminds me of the first time I met the hero.

That remains a pretty good memory.

The flames of a warm building that was roaring, the humans pointing their spears and swords at me, Arcel and I standing in the center.

It was a day when I felt few joys when I was running errands for the devil like a slave every day.

“What are you trying to leave so soon?”

“There are circumstances that I cannot tell you.”

Recalling memories makes me feel better.

I tend to go out on my own, so I sometimes do things I wouldn’t do in my sane mind.

“If you insist on leaving, I won’t stop you… It’s raining outside. Why don’t you wait until the rain stops? This area is not a good place to go around during the rainy season.”

“Thank you for your concerns, but I will decline. Instead, there was a sword outside. Would it be okay if I borrowed it for a while?”

“It’s an old sword that I took out to throw away… If you like it, you can just take it.”

“Thank you, I owe you another favor. If we meet again, I will try to repay the favor.”

“I was going to throw it away anyway.”

Arsel went out of the castle like that.

I took out the rag I was wearing again and disappeared into the forest with only an old rusty sword.

‘I’m a long-awaited guest, but he’s already gone.’

I feel a little lonely.

Why did you leave in such a hurry?

I also once looked out of her window like Arcel.

Perhaps it’s because of the heavy rain, you can see the monsters around you gathering under an old tree to avoid the rain.

But there are some guys you don’t usually see.

It’s not even raining for a day or two, so some monsters survive even in heavy rain.

But those guys evacuate along with the other monsters…

This usually happens when an alien species comes in.

This, I’d better go out soon.

†††

The first time I met the hero was about 10 years ago, as usual, when I was returning from running errands for the demon lord.

I forgot what exactly it was, but it must have been an errand to get rid of the magic school that expressed hostility to the demons and deal with the principal.

So the school was set on fire, and the principal, the great wizard, took the students as hostages.

“Conscious students, this way! And those who are resistant to fire help rescue the trapped people! That way! Did you walk out of the flames unharmed?”

“Uh… Me?”

“Yes, I am talking about you.”

I thought the work was over. When I was about to go back, I was caught by the warrior.

When did this guy get here?

Naturally, he tried to evacuate along with the students, but was caught by the hero who came to help with the evacuation.

At first, I thought about just shaking it off and running away.

“Please. I know it’s dangerous, but please lend your strength to rescuing the students trapped in the flames.”

However, my heart weakened as I bowed my head in the flames and asked politely.

“This fire is made of powerful magic, so it doesn’t go out even when it rains, and the principal is invisible. Then at least the students should be taken out.”

A hero who officially opposes the demon lord asked me even while bowing his head.

How can I say it, at that time I felt a sense of joy for some reason.

It was only natural that a hero who would not give in even to a terrifying and powerful demon would do that to me.

“Here is the last student, he is unconscious, but his life seems to be intact.”

“Thank you. I will never forget the grace of helping students evacuate. What is your name by any chance?”

That’s how I helped the students evacuate and received thanks from people.

Of course, the hero thanked me the most.

“Me, that person! No, that demon tribe killed the black… principal and set the school on fire!”

But in an instant, only silence lingered around.

The student who was used as a hostage to deal with the archmage has come to his senses.

“That’s… You misunderstood the person. This person took the risk and helped the students evacuate. If Lee was the one who started the fire, he wouldn’t have to do such a thing.”

“But obviously-“

“Maybe I was looking at it wrong. Or maybe he misunderstood that he had come to the rescue in the midst of the flames.”

“Uh, that… is that so?”

“I see, could you explain the situation yourself?”

Of course, not only the people but also the hero didn’t believe the student’s words at first.

If I had pretended not to be, it might have gone smoothly, but I didn’t lie and told the truth.

I didn’t feel the need to hide anything.

“No? Is it true that I set fire? I also killed the wizard called the principal. He was strong for a human.”

I was just telling the truth honestly, but it seemed that the surroundings were rapidly turning cold.

The school was still burning brightly, so it was supposed to be warm, but strangely, winter seemed to have arrived.

“Oh, why? Why would you do that-“

The warrior asked me in a trembling voice.

I have lived an honest life.

“Demon king, that nobleman ordered it. Surely he told me to deal with the cheeky kid who is hostile to him and to set an example for him to burn the school to ashes…”

“Eh, Demon King?!”

As expected, the demon king is a son of a b*tch, but he seems to be great.

A few people ran away like dogs on fire with just one word, Demon Lord Army, and all the people who had been thanking me started to show hostility.

Of course, the hero also hesitated, but it was the same.

“…Then why did you help? Why did you set the fire yourself and help the students evacuate?”

There were two reasons.

One was because the hero asked me politely.

“Because the demon king didn’t even kill the students. Besides, there are hundreds of students, so when are you bothering to kill them all?”

To finish quickly, you have to blow up the school in one shot, but then you can’t turn it into ashes.

Erasing things without a trace and reducing them to ashes were completely different concepts.

“And I asked for your name earlier, right? My name is Alfred. Know him as an errand boy for the Demon King.”

I tried to shake the warrior’s hand with a friendly smile.

However, the nearby knights and wizards began to attack.

Thanks to that, I missed Arcel’s white and beautiful hand right in front of his nose.

I thought it would be nice to hold it softly.

Sometimes when you say thank you, they suddenly try to kill you.

In the end, she had no choice but to run away, panting.

It’s a shame they prepared in advance, otherwise they would have had to kill everyone there to escape…

Anyway, after all the hardships and hardships, the demon king was angry because he saved the students.

In the first place, he did not say to kill the students, but it was a very unfair difference.

But when I think about it now, it’s a very good memory.

Because it was a fairly fresh experience for me, the Demon Lord Soldier, to help people with a hero.

Unlike the tedious errands of the demon king, it was also quite fun.

‘Would you rather have kidnapped me then? I heard that if the demon king finds a girl he likes, he will boss him on the spot.’

No, I don’t want to act like that son of a b*tch.

I am a civilized person with a mind to be considerate of others and a reason to control myself.

It means that you are different from savages who do not know how to respect the other person’s intentions.

Rather than kidnapping me right away because I like it, I should make the other person ask me to kidnap him.

Or have the other side kidnap you like your father did.

‘Shall we go soon?’

As I reminisce about the past, 30 minutes have already passed.

I can feel the presence of an alien species through the rain like a pole.

And then, I could see Arcel in a confrontation with armed humans over there.