I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

31 – 31. The unfinished story

The second hero.

For the second hero, the humans took the failure of the first hero as a stepping stone and made many improvements.

The fact that simply receiving the choice of a holy sword does not mean that you have the power in the legend, and to compensate for that, he taught swordsmanship and provided equipment to those who were chosen as warriors.

“The hero that was created was much stronger than the first one, because he had the ability to subdue several knights with an ordinary sword.”

The second hero’s doll cut through the crowd of monster dolls nicely.

Bego.

Cut again.

All the monsters that pose a threat to mankind have been cut down.

But at some point, the theatrical devices suddenly began to blur, and soon disappeared completely.

“But the second hero suddenly disappeared. Exactly what went missing. Was he beaten by a monster? Or maybe he gave up being a warrior himself, I don’t know.”

With that, humans learned that only warriors shouldn’t be strong.

No matter how strong a hero is, he is still human after all.

There was a possibility that he had collapsed from exhaustion after continuing his lonely fight, or he could have died without receiving help from his wounds.

“So the humans thought. Simply being strong as a hero cannot save us. After all, heroes are also human, so we have prepared measures so that they can fight like humans.”

And then the third theatrical device came out.

The third hero was not very different from the second.

The hero was also an excellent swordsman who had undergone the same training and was chosen by the Holy Sword, but the only difference was that a new doll was attached next to the hero’s doll.

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“In case the hero was injured or severely injured, humans raised priests with healing powers. To make it easier for you to understand, would it be right to call you a saint?”

A doll of a priest.

A priest’s doll followed the hero’s doll.

The priest’s doll bestowed various recovery magics and blessings on the hero, and the stronger hero slashed the monster with great momentum and now challenged the demons.

“And the warrior was defeated and died. Unlike the monsters, the demons were smart. Of course, after eliminating the troublemaker, the saintess, I pushed the hero with numbers to get rid of it.”

A greatly damaged doll of a warrior.

A doll of a priest whose head fell off.

Numerous demon dolls surrounding those two dolls.

In the end, the two puppets were torn to pieces beyond recognition, and again the theatrical equipment was destroyed.

“Since then, similar things have been repeated. Humans are demons, not monsters. In other words, realizing that a hero alone would be on the defensive in order to face the army, he increased the number of his comrades.”

A doll of a warrior who will take the lead with the hero.

Puppets of archers and wizards who will support you from the rear.

The number of puppets gradually increased, and the duration of the hero’s play gradually increased.

“And finally, on the 7th, the hero came face-to-face with the demon king! It’s really impressive. So the demon king of the time was very happy and tore the hero to pieces.”

But the Demon King was too strong.

As if he didn’t reign as the king of the demons for nothing, the demon king tore the dolls of the warriors very easily.

Eighth.

Ninth.

The 10th.

Innumerable dolls were torn apart over and over again.

Every time that happened, the theatrical equipment was also destroyed.

“The humans started to have doubts, and they did everything they could to support the hero. He provided the hero with great equipment and companions. Even so, the demon king didn’t fall down and kept cutting the hero.”

In the end, it was faster for the warrior to die from the end of his lifespan than to subdue the demon king.

Considering that the lifespan of demons is as long as that of elves, depending on the individual, it was a pity.

“In the end, humans made the warrior stronger. Since I was young, I have been looking for warriors, training them, and making them go on a journey so that they can overcome hardships with their colleagues.”

That’s the 17th.

A doll of a warrior with light blonde hair and blue eyes held a holy sword.

The hero single-handedly cut down dozens of monsters, commanded his comrades, and successfully reached the Demon King’s Castle.

There were countless demon dolls, but the hero’s doll cut them all down.

“There the hero finally defeated the demon lord. It was a tough fight, but I managed to win somehow.”

Strangely, however, the hero’s doll pulled out the holy sword again in front of the fallen demon king’s doll.

Even though there was no need to pull out the holy sword, he drew it and left the other dolls alone.

“No one knows why.”

The place where the hero’s doll appeared was under a cliff with no end in sight.

“This is the endless cliff where his mother often threw me, but the hero drew his holy sword and stabbed himself. Even humans don’t know this. It’s a story my grandmother told me.”

I don’t know why.

The doll of the warrior pulled out his holy sword and stabbed himself in the chest, and jumped down the cliff.

“… I think he missed his comrades, because he succeeded in subduing the demon lord, but all of his comrades were sacrificed in the process.”

In fact, the fight was fierce.

The demon king’s doll tore the warrior’s fellow dolls to pieces, and only the warrior’s doll was left alone and was able to defeat the demon king with all his strength.

“And the Holy Sword didn’t appear for a while. It was supposed to be secretly found somewhere when the original owner died. It didn’t appear for hundreds of years after that.”

But peace did not come.

It seemed peaceful for a while, but just as countless warriors died and reappeared, the demon king also reappeared.

In addition, the hero only cut down the demon king, not the entire demon tribe.

As time passed, the Demons, who regained their power, began to threaten humanity once again, and the humans desperately searched for the whereabouts of the Holy Sword.

“After that, you don’t have to talk about it anymore, right? Because you know better than anyone else the hero who recovered the lost holy sword.”

A girl’s doll that resembles the 17th hero.

The girl held the sacred sword in her hand, treasured in front of her knights on her knees.

And the story came to an end.

Little Alfred smiled and took off the mask from Arcel.

“Do you have any special impressions? Of course, you probably know this to some extent, but if you want, I can prepare paper and a pen to write your impressions.”

“…So what do you want to tell me?”

“Isn’t there anything in particular?”

Arsel was momentarily dumbfounded by Alfred’s reaction.

“I just told you the story of past warriors because I looked bored. There’s nothing in the hero’s story that you can refer to. You are a warrior who has achieved the most heroic achievements than any previous hero.”

Little Alfred sat on the railing and looked at Arcel with a bitter expression.

“Anything I can tell from that story is that no one is perfect in this world…”

“In the end, it was only on the 17th that we managed to subdue the demon lord.”

“And it worked the next time too.”

“But I also failed. As you said, defeating the Demon King did not bring peace.”

Of course.

The Demon King is only one of the factors that threaten peace.

It was nothing more than pulling out one of the pesky weeds in the vast field of the world.

It was only that the weed called Demon King stood out, and it had the greatest adverse effect on the crop called peace.

“Why don’t you take a more optimistic view of the situation? Even if you’re no longer a hero, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance to right that wrong.”

“Yes, but too many sacrifices have already been made.”

“That can’t be helped. Life in the world is not what you want it to be. I don’t really have anything more to say to you. I just want to tell you that the story of the 18th hero is not over yet.”

With those words, little Alfred pulled out a small doll from his bosom.

“This is a gift from me to you.”

“What about this doll?”

It was a doll from when Arcel was in the middle of his journey.

“You can throw it away if you don’t need it, or decorate it somewhere if you like it. Or, since there is a string, you can attach it to your Holy Sword and carry it around.”

“I see, well done. It looks like it was made by a pretty skilled artisan.”

Arsel, who received the doll, responded that he liked it, perhaps feeling relieved.

“Of course not. I made it myself.”

“Did you make this?”

“Because I am perfect, that is nothing.”

“Didn’t you just say that no one is perfect?”

“That’s a human standard, and I don’t see myself as a human being like you guys, do I? Because I’m a demon I am half human.”

Little Alfred circled the sky laughing.

And then, like a bat, I hung from the ceiling, whistling lightly to pass the time, and came back to Arcel’s side.

“Maybe I wouldn’t like to do this, but I can still be a milestone for you.”

“A milestone? What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not good to give up just because you spilled water. You won’t be able to get everything perfectly clean, but if you try, you can pick up some of the spilled water again.”

In the air, a glass filled with water and a handkerchief come to mind.

As Alfred poured the glass, water spilled out.

The handkerchief flies off on its own, absorbs the water, and squeezes it into a glass again.

It didn’t completely contain all the water.

However, the somewhat empty glass is more than half full, and Alfred pours the water into a small potted plant.

Arsel watched the scene in silence.

“The story ends here. How about going back soon? Your dwarf friend, whom you rescued, is worried about you.”

“…Okay. Thanks to you, I think I can get some direction.”

Arsel smiled faintly at Alfred’s words.

“And I will cherish this doll. This is my favorite gift you gave me.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Again, Arcel went back to her room.

Before leaving the visit, he looked back and saw that little Alfred had disappeared.

Instead, as if telling Arcel to cheer up, a small demon doll was waving his hand.

Of course, the doll flew away into the sky soon after.

†††

Brush.

Someone’s footsteps touched the forest where the flames were gathered.

The crumbly soil was the result of repeatedly getting wet and dry from the pouring rain and burning fire, and the corpses of wild animals that had not escaped were scattered here and there.

“…As expected, I failed as a shoplifting wizard, but most of the elves survived.”

Drips of blood.

The dagger of the robed man was covered with his own blood, not his own.

The corpses of the monsters that ate a certain wizard were also strewn about him.

‘Even so, that light is definitely…’

The light of hope enveloped the forest.

That was a blow from the sword of a girl who was once called a hero.

At the same time, it was also the sword that defeated the demon king.

I thought I’d never see her again, but it seems that the girl appeared here again as a warrior holding a holy sword.

Originally, she should have died at the hands of her former comrades, as the girl did, but it seems that there was an unexpected interruption.

‘Tsk, it would have been more comfortable if I had just died.’

The man in the robe hung a note on the crow and sent it off.

A piece of paper engraved with the pattern of Hermod Kingdom was tied to the leg of the crow.

“…The report is over, so let’s go back.”

After the man’s words, many people in the forest disappear in an instant.

The last remaining man also stared at the burned forest alone and disappeared.