Translator: "Pink Tea" Editor: "Weasalopes"

The reason why General Stay and Lyricsan came to our rescue inside of the city was because of a change that happened to monsters outside.

They stopped trying to force their way inside of the city. As many monsters tried to return the way they came, defenders got some breathing room.

Surely that was the result of the stone of peace being destroyed, which acted as a beacon for monsters.

Monsters that remained inside of the town were annihilated by General Stay and his troops. It seems like by that time no strong foes remained.

As such, the monster onslaught came to an end. Saying that there was no damage would be a lie. Dead, injured, even some buildings were destroyed.

But apparently, compared to the previous large attacks the damage was on the lighter side. We then did our best at rescuing people trapped under the rubble as well as a.s.sisting with the treatment of injured.

I also was relieved to hear that brother was fine as well.

Two days have pa.s.sed since then.

We still remained in this country. To be honest, we'd like to return to our own country, but later on, we will have to meet the king at the capital. It seems that he wants to reward us for our contribution, mine especially.

It seems that Shuen-sama and General Stay gave pretty favorably reports.

But at the moment I'm neither at the royal capital nor at Hornest. And of course, I didn't go home either.

Where am I then? Together with Shoen-sama, soldiers, and brother we were at Tonell village.

Stern faced, Shoen-sama looked at the villagers a.s.sembled at the village square.

「Village chief Aurora Gaien. Do you have any recollection of this man?」

「N…None, it's my first time seeing him.」

「Then what about the other one?」

Almost as if they had rehea.r.s.ed it beforehand, villagers shook their heads, feigning ignorance. How brazen. The one who couldn't endure it was brother, who had the scariest experience with them.

「Don't screw with me! You friggin cannibals! All of your monstrous atrocities are known. It's time for you to confess already!」

「……Well, could it be, that Shuen-sama believed make-believe stories of this person, and came to arrest us?」

「Pretty much.」

When Shuen-sama replied positively, the elder looked perplexed for a moment, but soon donned a confident expression.

「This is the village where Gaien-sama was born and raised. Are you trying to say that people that brought a hero to the world are a bunch of cannibals? If so then where is the evidence?」

「We will look for the said evidence from now on, but we have witnesses. Those two. Moreover, in the past, we already had reports about people that went missing around this area.」

「My lord. Forgive me for being imprudent, but to think you would believe the words of some duo of unknown origins instead of people of this village with its name in history…」

「He here is the hero to replace Gaien. Noir-kun, tell them.」

I came forward and standing before the villagers explained what happened two days earlier.

When they learned that the very reason monsters attacked the city was the relic created by Gaien via alchemy their faces turned completely pale. Looks like they realized that their position is much less favorable now.

「Gaien was seeking eternal life. When he understood that it's a wish not fated to come true, he tried to immortalize himself as a hero in the hearts of people. He fabricated himself as a hero. This place… Is not the village of the hero!」

When I said this with pa.s.sion, the elder hung his head. However, his hand went to his chest. Of course, I wouldn't miss that.

「Two seconds for you pull out and throw that explosive stone. And one second for me to cut you down. Want to try it out?」

「Ughhhhh……」

The village elder pa.s.sed on that choice. Dropping to his knees he only gritted his teeth, seemingly frustrated.

「Seize them.」

Switching to action with Shoen-sama order, soldiers soon apprehended all of the villagers. Brother watched it in satisfaction, nodding, expressing his content.

Though somewhat simplistic, we made graves for the victims of this village, put flowers and offered prayers.

In the carriage on our way back, Shuen-sama apologized with a regretful expression.

「It pains me that I didn't take such actions as soon as I heard your report.」

「It's fine. It was under the influence of other n.o.bles. Right, brother?」

「Yes. Now I'm relieved. That the evil was vanquished after all. And it also was a good experience. I spent in repentance all the time until Noir came to my rescue. I thought about a lot, but the biggest one was that I should have spent more time studying properly to become a merchant.」

Looks like brother have been reflecting on his way of life.

Indeed. since then he seems to have become a lot more serious. I was really surprised since he broke up with all of his numerous girlfriends. Putting his hands on my shoulders, my brother announces with a sharp expression.

「I'll become a splendid merchant. So, Noir. You, in turn, should become an amazing hero.」

「I don't have much interest in becoming one. As long as I can have a calm and stable life, I'm fine.」

「Nooooir, you haven't changed one bit inside.」

「They say that people mostly change when they go through a terrible horror or terrible grief. This time I went through neither of those.」

I say and smile, to which brother and Shuen-sama looked somewhat convinced.

Now, I will be busy today. As soon as I arrive at Hornest I will have to switch to the carriage going to the royal capital. I go to the prepared carriage, waiting at the gates.

Emma and other girls all wait outside.

「You finally came. How did it go?」

「I think the villagers will face a just punishment. Well, let's board.」

「Wait, wait. Before that, there is a matter that we discussed earlier.」

What could it be? Emma, Laursan, Lunsan, and Laylsan approached me and reached towards me with their hands. Seeing my bewilderment the four appeared quite amused. Is it about LP acc.u.mulation? But at such an open s.p.a.ce……

「Noir, we decided to toss you for your performance.」

「Now, please relax.」

「Then, here we go.」

「Noir-kun, we are going to throw you into the air.」

Ah, so this what she meant. The four lifted me up and matching the timing flung me into the air. As my body rose into the air, the blue sky somehow felt very close.

「Ahahaha, this is pretty fun!」

Since it's a rare occasion I should enjoy it. While laughing, I looked into the grand blue sky.

The vast, blue sky felt like I could grab it at any moment.