I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

30 – 30. The Story of a Hero

“…”

After hearing the story, Arcel was silent for a while.

A glass he shared with his former colleagues.

After sharing the cup, red wine-like blood began to ooze out on the floor, and the vividly dyed consciousness was cut off, giving her hell when she opened her eyes.

The Queen is said to have given the cup to Stella as well.

I didn’t want to know what the intention was, or why.

“Why such a reaction? Demon, you can say something!”

“I knew you were stupid, but you really don’t know anything? You, since when did you feel something wrong with your body?”

Alfred sighed as if he had expected it.

“…No way, it can’t be.”

Stella reacted in disbelief.

At first she didn’t understand the story, but after hearing Arcel’s reaction and Alfred’s words, she understood what it meant.

“Because I am kind, I will explain twice in particular. It was not a rebellion that destroyed your elves’ homeland. It’s a kind of plague close to a curse.”

It could be called a curse.

Symptoms make people extremely sensitive, lead them to act in extreme ways, paralyze their thinking functions, and make them act only according to their instincts and desires.

A similar tendency was rabies.

The symptoms may have the same conspicuous characteristics, but this one had a more vicious tendency than that.

“Especially, since most of you elves have lived in a hometown separated from the world, their resistance to disease is lower than that of humans.”

There was virtually no way for the elves to deal with it.

“Originally, resistance is formed little by little through generations, but each individual of you has a very long lifespan.”

Already, the home of elves is rarely exposed to external diseases or viruses.

365 Days a year, the climate is mild, and even if it rains, only drizzling rain falls. Even in winter, the temperature is about that of autumn outside.

Also, elves have very poor reproductive ability, so it was almost impossible to resist them on their own, as Alfred said.

It was like a bottle made to destroy the elves.

“But why? The Queen of Hermod Kingdom is the one that humans say is definitely a saint. I’ve seen it before too. Even compared to the previous king, she is far superior in ability.”

But it was different from that.

Stella couldn’t understand.

“Asmodians, you have seen them before. The current queen is the princess you kidnapped in the past. She was one of the few princesses that I and Arcel rescued before subjugating the Demon King.”

“Well, there are so many princesses I kidnapped, so I can’t remember them all… Wouldn’t it come to mind when I see them in person?”

Alfred said as if he couldn’t remember.

In the first place, he kidnapped more than dozens of princesses.

Regardless of race, all the princesses of the big and small kingdoms were abducted and offered to the demon king. Later, after Arcel subdued the demon king, it took several years for the kidnapped princesses to return to their homeland.

“I’ll just be honest, the princess… No, the queen has no reason to do that to me!”

“It’s a problem because you dwarves are so naive. As you said, let’s say that the queen is Seonggun. So is she a human or an elf that that handsome queen rules over?”

“No, that is…”

Stella couldn’t answer Alfred’s words any longer.

“The Elves have been separated from humans for thousands of years. But how can you become close friends overnight? Of course, we can get to know each other as individuals. But from the point of view of the human and elf races, the story is different.”

Come to think of it, as Alfred said, humans and elves weren’t very close before.

Of course, the elves who came out of her hometown are treated as mysterious beings by humans, and sometimes they are treated well thanks to her unique beautiful appearance, but what is that?

Some elves were killed by humans, and often sold as slaves.

“How did elves treat humans in the first place?”

Is that why?

Elves did not look down on humans.

He condoned those who harmed his own people.

Those were the words of an elf who left her hometown at a young heart, and she didn’t really say anything about retaliation or revenge against them.

However.

I did not condone the humans who accidentally entered the elves’ hometown.

-Is this a human creature? The appearance itself is similar to ours. It’s just that it’s closer to the monkey, but-

-Are these people killing us or enslaving us? Short-lived species that can’t even live 100 years at most?-

Stella remembered the scenery she had seen in her past hometown.

The elf did not immediately kill the humans who entered her hometown.

But ordinary elves never went out of their hometown or saw humans, so they used them as toys.

-Human eyes are really bad. Even if you pull them out once and take a closer look, they don’t look much different from ours. Why is that?-

And none of the humans used as toys ever returned alive.

Most of the elves died while being used as a toy, or died at the end of their lifespan before they lost interest.

The reason why Stella left her hometown in the first place was also because she felt skeptical about her people who would do such a thing just because she was human.

“There’s no way humans don’t know that fact, and besides, the demon lord you had to team up to defeat has also disappeared. Anyway, I think I picked and ate everything that could be picked and eaten by you. It’s better to deal with annoying races like the dwarves right away.”

Moreover, Arcel, who made the two races decisively form an alliance, also disappeared.

Although the elves might have taken this opportunity to study the outside world and try to interact with other races, there was no reason for humans to maintain an alliance with them.

Moreover, through exchanges, they must have learned more about the end of the humans who entered the land of the elves.

Just because we held hands and fought for a while.

Just because a few heroes and elves wanted to join forces.

That could not lead to peace soon.

No matter how great the influence of the warrior is, even those who have hatred and resentment towards the elves cannot be changed.

In fact, there were no elves except for the soldiers who fought together on the battlefield.

“Reality is different from fairy tales. It’s better not to think that defeating the demon king will bring peace to the world.”

Perversely, there may be some who want to dominate them or use them as possessions.

“Still, I think you did your best, anyway, did you achieve your goal? After that, those left behind will lead on their own.”

The result of those left behind is the present.

“…”

Stella choked for a moment.

According to Alfred, the result of hard work and defeating the Demon King is now.

Of course, it is said that there is no direct crime on the part of them, but the fact that the result of defeating the demon king has reached the present remains unchanged.

To be honest, the situation was worse than when the demon king reigned.

It was pretty close to the worst.

Especially, the elves were being hunted by humans on a large scale, being forcibly captured or burned, and even their hometowns turned into inferno and became a place where they could no longer live.

At least a ray of light can be found in the Maw, and it was a miracle that Arcel saved some elves yesterday…

“…Sorry. I’m not feeling well for a while. Alfred, Stella. I’m going to go out and get some fresh air.”

Not even the sweet rain of the drought.

Arcel tried to smile, but stood up from his seat with an expression that was never bright.

“Wait! Me too-“

“No, leave me alone.”

Stella tried to follow Arcel, but was stopped by Alfred.

The chains that held Stella’s wrists did not intend to be undone.

I couldn’t understand why he was doing this.

He couldn’t even imagine how Arcel, who personally defeated the demon king and arranged an alliance between elves and humans, would feel if he felt this much mental pain.

In the end, Arcel went out alone and went somewhere.

“What are you doing?! Didn’t you see that kid’s face?”

“Yes, of course I saw it. I feel like I’m going to burst into tears any moment. It must have reached the stage of self-doubt, drowning in self-doubts and fictions.”

Alfred was not unaware of Arcel’s condition either.

“You know that? You don’t know, but that kid has been like that often in the past. You don’t even know how much pain I was in at that time.”

“You don’t know, my hobby has been to observe heroes when I’m bored since the past. I’m sorry to say that.”

“What the hell…”

But he said he should be left alone.

Alfred sat Stella down and sipped the tea little by little.

Stella hated Alfred like that, and even felt a bit scared.

I didn’t know what would happen if I pushed harder here.

Alfred stopped Stella from trying to follow Arcel, albeit only for a brief moment, sending her terrifying look into her eyes.

“By nature, beings with intellect love to constantly doubt and think about themselves, so in the process, set the direction you want to go. You get to know who you really are.”

However, there was no interference from others in the process.

If someone guides you by your side, it will be quicker to find the way, but you can’t be sure if that’s the path you really want to go.

Of course it could be easier and more comfortable, but it could never be said to be walking the same path.

“At this point, why don’t you doubt yourself too? What kind of existence am I? What have I really lived for? About what I really did.”

“…What the hell are you?”

“Or would you like to play a card game? I really like dueling.”

In the end, Stella couldn’t leave her seat.

Alfred wouldn’t let her go, nor would he let her come to her aid.

I don’t know what the intention was, but Alfred seemed to have chosen to just watch.

†††

Because he grabbed the sword, he became a warrior.

I chose to be a warrior because the choice was made.

I wasn’t chosen because I was a hero, and I wasn’t given the holy sword because I was a hero.

When I recall my childhood memories, I still miss it.

Before I was given the fate of being a warrior, I missed going through the forest with the village children buried in dirt.

The fruit he picked after climbing the tree was sweet, and when he was hungry, he hunted small wild animals and returned home.

Although it wasn’t an affluent life, I really liked it.

At that time, I didn’t have to worry about the world.

It was not his fault that the world would perish tomorrow, or that the sky would collapse tomorrow.

If the world were to end, what crime could an ordinary girl in the countryside have?

The only thing the girl had to worry about was that the crops wouldn’t go well because it wasn’t raining, or she tripped over rocks while walking on the road.

But one day, a prophecy came down to such a girl.

-Those who are chosen will hold the holy sword, those who hold the holy sword will become warriors, and those who hold the holy sword will bring peace.-

A very sudden thing.

That was when I was only 5 years old.

In the girl’s head, she kept hearing that voice.

But he said he wouldn’t be such a hero, so he ignored the two years and wanted to continue living a peaceful life.

Sometimes the voice I heard even when I was sleeping was annoying, but I could ignore it.

But now is the time to ignore fate.

-There was a prophecy that a blue-eyed girl in this village would become a warrior who would defeat her demon lord by holding her holy sword.-

The knights of the kingdom came directly to greet her girl.

With that, the girl realized.

This fate cannot be avoided by avoiding it.

She said that if she doesn’t, fate will forever remain only a prophecy.

Although she never wanted to, she had no choice but to become a hero and hold the holy sword.

After holding the holy sword, I exchanged swords with the knights every day.

His legs, which had been playing with his friends, were running in the gymnasium before he knew it, and his hand, which had been picking up fruit, was slashing scarecrows and slashing monsters while holding the holy sword.

This is not the life I hoped for.

Still, if it was the life I was chosen for, I tried to do my best.

However, the result has reached the present.

My precious comrades died right in front of my eyes, and the elves who offered direct alliances were killed by the humans.

Besides, she was no longer called a warrior herself, but a witch.

I heard that the hero slashes the demon king and brings peace to the world, but why did the result turn out like this?

Was I really the hero of the prophecy?

Is it true that I really did it like a warrior of prophecy?

-Reality is different from fairy tales. It’s better not to think that defeating the demon king will bring peace to the world.-

Alfred’s words echoed in Arsel’s head.

Peace does not come by defeating the demon king.

Then, how do you achieve peace?

“Once upon a time, a very, very, very, very, very, very long time ago. There was a warrior who was chosen first.”

“?”

It was when Arcel leaned against the railing and looked at the dawn sky.

A small theatrical device that appeared in the sky at some point, a toy that turned on a gearwheel by winding a spring, contained a doll of a warrior holding a sword.

The device seemed to have been touched by a craftsman.

“However, the hero was too weak and died while defeating the monster. End of story.”

Boom!

“…?!”

However, the theatrical device exploded just before the commentary was over.

The first story ended with the dragon-shaped doll blowing fire at the warrior doll.

“You… no, you.”

As the smoke from the explosion disappeared, Alfred appeared as if it were natural.

However, it wasn’t the Alfred you usually see, it was the little Alfred you saw the other day.

“Shh.”

Little Alfred put a mask with an X on Arcel’s mouth and brought a theatrical device from somewhere.

“The story of the first hero is over, but that doesn’t mean the play is over yet. Would you like to appreciate it a little more?”

“…”

Arsel, unable to speak, had no choice but to watch an unexpected play.

Even though I don’t know what the intentions and reasons for doing this are.

At least it didn’t seem like he was doing it with bad intentions.

“Once upon a time, a very, very distant time. There was a warrior who was chosen second.”

The hero’s doll appeared again.

The second chosen hero.

The hero’s doll was different from the first hero in both his clothes and the shape of his holy sword.

Arsel decided to watch the play a little longer.