I Played the Role of a Hated Hero, but for Some Reason, I'm Loved by the Last Boss and Living W

Coming Back to the Scene

Translated by AmaLynne

I feel like a nobody in front of the book I hold in my hand.

I had no idea that a book written by me was out there…

「Mu! You there! This is a book about the hero, isn’t it?」

「Oh? Yes, it is, but…don’t get carried away, girl.」

Demiurge, who had been clinging to my arm, snatched the book from me and clutched it to his chest. The shopkeeper, who had been suddenly brought close to me, was a bit shaken up.

But as for me, it is indeed somewhat uninteresting to approach another man at this distance. Even if people thought I was narrow-minded, I couldn’t help but feel bad…Am I the kind of person who constrains me?

「Oyo?」

With a double sense of bewilderment in my heart, I pulled Demiurge’s shoulder and pulled her toward me.

Her body settled around my body, and Demiurge looked up at me with a「Hmm?」.

Demiurge, whether she knows what I’m thinking or not, looks excited and points the book at me with a big smile on her face.

「Husband, husband! This book seems to be about the hero! Husband! Won’t you read it with me?」

My pretty wife, with her silver hair fluttering in a twirl, attracts the attention of everyone around her. Behemoth, the beastman. Demiurge, with her inhuman appearance, attracts attention no matter what, but she is like a little child, and her frolicking appearance is mixed with warmth in her gaze.

No one would have thought that this girl was a God who, just two years ago, was trying to destroy humans.

The fact that she was once a powerful presence that was trying to crush me makes me smile.

However…as she thrusts the book about me toward me and shouts with delight, a bitterness arises in my heart that is different from the feeling of bewilderment I had earlier.

Because, no matter how I think about it, the book that Demiurge is holding in her hand, the book that contains things about me, is…

「Well, I’m surprised that any girl would be interested in that book.」

「Of course! How could I not be interested in what it says about him?」

「Oh, that’s unusual. Most girls would make a scowl at the mere mention of the hero.」

「Hmm…? A scowl, you say…?」

Oh, after all…that’s right, isn’t it?

「They say,『The hero is the enemy of women』, or『The hero is a synonym for a man you never want to face』.」

「What does…mean?」

「It means exactly what it means. It is a well-known story that Ares routinely harassed the three other heroic women who accompanied him during his campaigns to defeat the demons. You can read about it in the book you are holding in your hand. It is a book that describes in detail the atrocities committed by the worst of the worst.」

「Wha…!」

Demiurge was holding a book in her hand, her eyes wide open in exclamation.

I gently took the book from her and opened it to the appropriate page to check its contents.

『―――How did such a despicable man come to have such unworthy power as a brave man? This selection is the sole and greatest fault of the goddess who created the concept of『class』in this world.』

『―――It is not unusual for a person to have power and a broken personality. However, the person who is responsible for all the lives in the world by the king’s order has not only committed an insolent act against a woman who accompanied him on a trip. The man is also known to be in a violent mood, and his personality is so distorted that one can only be appalled at his character.』

『―――The world believes that she ran away from her responsibilities during her travels and disappeared, or that she was murdered by demons and devoured by corpses. If he is still alive, I hope he bites his shame and never shows his face on the stage of this world again. This is the consensus not only of the author but of all human beings in the world.』

And so on…accusing me of the atrocities I once committed, and on the last page of the book.

『―――The world was restored to peace by three maidens who were truly heroes, not fake heroes. If by mistake the man had defeated the demon god, our daily lives would have been ruined by the heroes. Let us be glad that he was incompetent.』

…What a waste of paper!

That was my impression of the book, at best. Most of what is written are correct. There were a few things that I didn’t remember, perhaps due to hyperbole. When I thought about my past, I felt more sorry than annoyed.

Thanks to the benefits of magical civilization, paper is becoming more common than in the past. Even so, books are still an expensive commodity. Two or three books per family are probably more than enough.

And yet, to use me as the subject of such a valuable book is a waste of resources.

It’s a lowly way to provide entertainment. There is nothing to be gained by reading what I have done. It will only make you feel uncomfortable.

「W-What the hell is this?」

「Mh……」

Demiurge and Behemoth peeked into the page I had opened.

「How dare you abuse my beloved good man in such a vicious way…」

「…………」

Demiurge’s expression gradually freezes, revealing a grimness like when she first confronted me in the past.

And Behemoth’s expression is the same as usual, just sleepily narrowed, but its tail is wagging oddly from side to side.

The first time I saw the book, I closed it and tried to give it back to the shopkeeper…

「…owner, what did you think of this book…」

「Hii…」

Demiurge who snatched the book from my hand released a powerful pressure on the store owner.

It is hard to believe that she was so excited just a few minutes ago, but with a sharp coldness in her voice that chills the depths of one’s guts, she releases a『pressure』to crush everything here.

Behemoth’s rage and fighting spirit are so strong that it seems as if she is about to burst, and she puts her thin arm around me.

「Answer me, human man…and depending on your reply, you and this town, all of it…」

Boo!

「Hii!! Aa, aaa…」

「Burn this street to the ground… wait?! Whoa, whoa?!」

「Yes yes, that’s enough.」

Knowing that the situation would be irreversible if this went on, I lifted Demiurge by the waist and lifted her with one arm.

「Ugh, nyu…?」

Then, I put my other free hand on Behemoth’s shoulder and hugged her tightly.

At that moment, the heavy air that had been controlling this place dissipated at once. I saw the residents of the town around us let out a collective gasp.

Apparently, they had forgotten to breathe in the face of so much intense pressure from these women.

And when I looked, I saw that the owner had collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Even though his strength was waning, the former God and the Phantom Beast had turned their clear hostility against him.  I guess it was normal for him to faint. Looking around, I saw that some of them were incontinent.

No, really. What a bad thing…

「I’m sorry about my companion… I’ll put the money for the book and the apology money right here.」

I took a few gold coins from my pocket and slipped them inside my clothes for the man. Since I had no idea how much he was going to sell the book for, I paid him double the price it was selling for. Of course, I included a damage fee.

I really wanted to apologize to the other stores, but the atmosphere was such that I felt it was better to get out of here as soon as possible.

「Husband! Put me down! I’m still questioning him.」

「Demia… it’s fine.」

「Husband…」

Sensing what I was thinking, Demiurge raised an eyebrow and, somewhat displeased, hugged me tightly around the neck without opening her mouth to speak any further.

「Belle, let’s go.」

「……okay……」

A brief exchange. I held hands with her, feeling sorry for the residents of the town who paved the way, while at the same time,

―――I was squeezed by the feelings of the two people who had expressed so much anger at me.