I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

28 – 28. Worth reaching out

“Is it over…?”

Arsel said in a weak voice.

It was around the time that the fire that had been burning the forest had finally died down, and even the smoke that covered the sky was being blown away by the wind.

“Looks like it’s over, all the lights are off and the runaway nymphs have come to their senses. I’m going to have a bit of a hangover.”

“…Ah, are you back? Have you finished your errands?”

“Then, I extinguished the embers that splattered over there. There is a saying that we will see each other again even when the fire is out, right? Once it grows, I can’t handle it, so I watched it until it completely faded.”

Alfred accepted Arsel, who was completely exhausted.

Alfred had already returned to his original form.

It must have been around the time Arcel was rescuing her elves that her alter ego and body were reunited.

“There are a lot of things I want to ask you, but… I did. I want to rest for today. I think I’ve only been this tired once in my life.”

That was probably when I subdued the demon lord.

Arsel had a lot of questions about Alfred, but he was so tired that even he couldn’t hear him.

I have no strength in my legs and my eyelids are heavy.

If you have a soft bed, you want to bury yourself in it and take a deep rest for a few hours.

Even if it wasn’t a bed, it was a haystack.

“No, if you are going to sleep, you should wash and sleep. When you come back after going out, take a shower and sleep.”

“…Could you be my mother?”

However, I forced my eyelids to close at Alfred’s determined response.

It’s true that Arcel worked hard and did a great job, but she still tells her to wash up before going to sleep.

She even suspected that she might have mysophobia.

Of course, Arcel himself was thinking of washing, but she naturally hears her mother’s nagging before her actions.

“Mother? I am your mother?”

“The metaphor is like that. Your mother must have been nagging like this. So did my mother.”

“I see… Mothers of humans are like that. My mother didn’t nag at all. She usually burned her with fire or dipped her head in water.”

“…In the world, what is your mother really like?”

“I told you. The one you called the Witch of Embers. She was the only mother in the world.”

Alfred said with a hint of pride.

She heard that her mother was very tough and she was worried that she had been abused since childhood, but she seems to feel that way herself.

“If only one more person like mother had existed in the world, the world would have perished long ago. Maybe even if you go to hell, such terrible things won’t happen.”

“Is that so? I won’t say anything more about your mother.”

“Yeah, I think that’s good too. If you do it wrong, you might get negative.”

To the point of being called a witch in the first place, she must have had an educational method that was far from common sense.

It is foolish to force yourself to understand something you cannot understand.

It’s best to just respect that and acknowledge that there is such a way of being.

“By the way, can we leave the elves alone? I’m sure the urgent fire has been extinguished, but…”

“Perhaps the nymphs will guide the rest of the dwarves into the fountain. I’ll have to stay there for a while. Maybe it’s better to live there than in this forest?”

The elves must be out of their minds, and Arsel is very tired, so I’m going to postpone going to check his condition until tomorrow.

Anyway, there are many precious herbs in Nymph’s Forest.

Even if there were any injured, using the elf’s high medical knowledge, it would be easy to treat them.

“That’s not it. I’m worried about the pursuers who may still be around.”

As Alfred flew away, Arcel was worried about the elves left on the ground.

The fire was extinguished, but there were still humans left.

It was because Arcel, who knew the human military system well, knew that he would not let the elves go alone just because the flames had gone out.

“You don’t have to worry about that. All of the nearby knights hurriedly returned to their home countries.”

But Alfred shook his head and said it was okay.

I wondered how he could be so confident.

“Why?”

“That’s right, an undead army appeared in the middle of the capital city. No matter how urgently the dwarfs deal with it, wouldn’t that be the only way to retreat?”

“Alfred?!”

Arsel looked at Alfred with startled eyes.

Just hearing the word Undead Corps made it possible to know who did it.

“Oh, you didn’t do anything dangerous? They just continued peaceful and non-violent rallies with candlelight asking for the rights of the dwarves to be guaranteed with 10,000 skeletons. How is it, did I do well?”

“No… What the hell is that?”

I couldn’t help but frown at the absurd words.

“This is a method that even the hero who subdued the demon lord has been tricked by. Have you forgotten?”

“…”

Summoning the undead army was just like that, in a way, it was very Alfred-like.

-Thousands of skeletons have appeared in the middle of the city! Urgently need your support!-

He’s done something similar before.

Arcel also fell for a similar trick.

[Today at 8:30 pm, I will go to kidnap the beautiful princess of this country.]

-Alfred-

It happened when Alfred was escorting a princess who had sent a notice to kidnap him, when thousands of skeletons suddenly appeared in the middle of the city and he ran in a hurry.

And indeed thousands of skeletons appeared in the middle of the city.

Arsel couldn’t help but be greatly taken aback when he saw that.

-…What is this?-

-I-I was just reporting…-

If what thousands of skeletons were doing was a parade performance, who would believe it?

The skeletons dancing, the skeletons playing the orchestra, and the knights who went to support before themselves were admiring and appreciating the performance along with the citizens.

-Hero! Satan Alfred has just escaped with the princess wrapped in a bundle!-

Besides, by the time I went back to the princess, Alfred had already gone.

-Go after Alfred right now.-

At that time, Arcel felt an unknown emotion coming from the depths of his heart.

-The performance isn’t over yet…-

-Does it matter now?! Wake up! Those skeletons are enchanted by magic!

-And, indeed…! Come to think of it, everyone was engrossed in that performance as if possessed!

What pissed me off even more was the fact that the skeletons’ performance was very worth seeing.

It was said that it was magic to seduce people, but in reality it was just that the performance was very fun.

To be honest, it wasn’t that Arcel didn’t have the slightest desire to continue watching the show.

However, emotions that cannot be expressed in words took precedence.

It was all that made me feel even more pitiful for my own stupidity that had been deceived by such an absurd method.

-If you catch him someday, be sure to put a holy sword on his handsome face…!-

Arcel had promised that if he ever captured Alfred alive, he would definitely show all these emotions.

Thanks to Alfred’s words, memories of that time that I had forgotten also came to mind.

“Alfred.”

“Why?”

“Can I punch you in the face? Or continue for as long as you like for one minute…”

“Why all of a sudden?! You can hit over 300 cars in one minute, right? Anybody got a job? I don’t know if it was yesterday, but now you’ve regained some of the strength you had when you were a hero?”

Then Alfred was surprised and disgusted.

He didn’t mind when his head was cut off or his head blown off, but that’s how he reacted to hitting him with his fist.

“…Nothing. It reminds me of bad memories for a while.”

Arcel let out a sigh and hung his head, asking what use it would be now.

It was only belatedly that the feelings of that time came to mind and the fists cried, and the fact that humans were deceived by such a method again only felt dejected.

Also, he blamed himself for not remembering what happened when he was captured alive.

“You don’t have to be so heartbroken. Just because, as you know, I am a bit too great and a genius.”

Alfred said proudly of himself.

Hearing those words, Arcel gave strength to his fist for a moment, then stopped.

“And don’t really hit me? But now that you’ve regained some of your strength, it hurts when you get hit, right? Drop it if you make a mistake.”

“I know. Didn’t you say something similar before?”

“Yeah, I’m glad I know you well.”

Alfred has a bright smile on his face.

Arcel blushed slightly and looked down at her.

Now Alfred was flying so high that the elves looked like ants.

If you make a mistake here, you will plummet down.

There is no way you will be safe, let alone fall.

I don’t know if I’m in good shape, but at least I didn’t even want to try it in my exhausted state like now.

“Do you really have to fly this high? It’s a bit awkward to look down at a height like this…”

“There is no need to look down, it is enough to look forward and up when flying.”

Alfred picked up Arcel in the air and pointed to the sky with his hand.

The wind blows from over there.

The black smoke remaining in the wind completely disappears, and the hidden moon and stars appear.

The sky was bright even though it was late at night.

Although there was no warm sunlight illuminating the ground, it was thanks to the moon and stars that brightened the night sky.

“How about it, am I right?”

The scenery must be said to be beautiful.

“Surely… This is a pretty night sky.”

Arcel looks up at the starlight with admiration.

It seems that if you stretch out her hand, you can touch it.

Of course I know that there is no way to reach it, but I could feel that I was much closer to the stars than before.

Someday, if I stretch out my hand, I’ll be able to reach that star.

It was a time when Arcel silently lost his gaze to the night sky.

“So what do you want for dinner? Even if you are tired, you must eat. Humans live like human beings only when they eat. How about grilling for dinner?”

“…”

“What? What’s wrong with your expression? Did I do something wrong?”

Alfred questioned when Arcel made a displeased expression.

“No, you didn’t make a mistake. I didn’t make any mistakes…”

Arcel wraps his head around asking with really pure intentions.

It was enough to break the atmosphere by bringing up the topic of dinner while admiring the night scenery for a long time.

Moreover, you could end up being a whole roast instead of just eating grilled meat.

After barely rescuing the elves from that terrible inferno and extinguishing the unquenchable witch’s ash, it’s only natural that it feels burdensome to talk about grilling on the same day.

“I’ll cancel it for now if you’re not that hungry. You must be tired.”

Then Arcel held Alfred’s arm a little tighter.

“…Is it possible to barbecue pork?”

It just feels burdensome.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t eat meat.

“Of course, I ordered something in advance. If you don’t eat it, you can feed the monsters, so there’s plenty. But why is it a pig? There are other things, like rabbits, cows and fish. Anything is fine if you want.”

“When I was about 5 years old, I went hunting wild boar, and it reminded me of how her mother cooked deliciously. That’s why I want to try it after a long time.”

“Did you hunt wild boar when you were 5?”

Alfred looked back slightly surprised.

“But why?”

“No, nothing. At that age, I spent most of my time reading books in the library. Humans are amazing, they even hunt wild boars at the age of 5.”

I brushed my hair as if I was embarrassed by Arcel’s reaction that it was nothing.

“In the countryside, everyone lived like that. Sometimes chasing wild boars caused me to fall and scrape my knees, but all the children in the countryside grew up like that.”

“Okay… Then, let’s have dinner as soon as we get out of the shower. Everything will be ready, so wash up comfortably and come out.”

“Okay. Don’t expect it.”

Arsel leaned over Alfred smiling as if he was in a good mood.

The castle is starting to show.

It was a short but long day, but during the day, Arcel’s eyes started to feel alive.

Although it hasn’t completely returned yet…

Alfred decided to be content with the fact that the curse that had strangled Arcel had weakened a little.

This job was well worth the time for that alone.