Chapter 1: Childhood Dream
It was an ordinary village with no name.
In a world where a being called the [Demon Lord] had appeared and threatened people, bringing sorrow and suffering to the countries, this village was unrelated to such things, passing days leisurely and peacefully.
At the edge of such a peaceful, tranquil village was a small hill. There, two children were fighting with wooden staffs.
“Take this!”
“Ah!”
The red-haired boy knocked away the black-haired boy’s staff with his own.
“Heheh, my win!” Yu!′′
“Ugh…”
Foil-Austin, the red-haired boy, had a triumphant look on his face.
Meanwhile, Yu-Protagonist, the blue-haired boy who had lost, was crestfallen.
“That makes it my tenth straight win! You’re so weak, Yu!”
“Ugh…I lost again…”
“Hey! Fi-kun!”
“Geh, Mei-chan!?”
A girl with peach-colored hair, wearing a cute pink dress and holding a doll, came puffing her cheeks at Foil. It was Mei-Hervin.
“Geez, you’re bullying Yu-kun again! Meanie! C’mon!”
“I-I’m not bullying him! This is training, trai-ning!”
“Yu-kun isn’t very good at fighting, and he isn’t athletic like you, Fi-kun! Are you okay, Yu-kun?”
“Guh…I’m okay, Mei-chan.”
Seeing Mei hand Yu a handkerchief to wipe his tears,
Foil made a displeased expression, losing the exhilaration from his earlier victory.
“Tch, what’s with this. It’s Yu’s fault for being such a crybaby. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Geez! The way you get all sulky right away! Apologize! Apologize to Yu-kun! C’mon!”
“Ugh…Mei-chan, it’s true that I’m…guh…a crybaby…But, it’s frustrating to lose…! Foil-kun, one more time!”
“You wanna go again? There’s no way you can beat me, Yu.”
“I don’t wanna!”
“Your perseverance is awful. Honestly. But, heheh, that’s just like you, Yu!”
“Geez! Both of you, don’t get hurt okay!”
Despite her childish jealousy, Mei’s words were quickly forgotten as the two started competing with staves again.
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And so, the two would make up in no time.
“Ugghh…In the end, I didn’t win once…”
“Haa…haa…heheh! It’ll be ten years too early for you to beat me, Yu!”
“Foil-kun is the strongest in the village…”
In the end, Yu was unable to defeat Foil after that either.
Lying on the ground, Yu watched Foil with a vexed yet admiring gaze.
That said, Foil was also quite out of breath. Yu’s unwillingness to give up was exceptional.
But training was over for today. Their bodies couldn’t take any more.
“Training’s over, so what should we do now?”
Mei, who had been watching the two, cheerfully raised her hand to suggest something else.
“Yes, yes! I wanna go to the flower fields to make flower crowns! Or maybe play house!”
“Playing house, huh. Mei-chan’s settings for it are super detailed…”
“Don’t say that, Yu. I think so too. …Mei-chan, Mei-chan. We’re a bit tired from training, so instead of that, why don’t we read a storybook? I brought this one. Ta-dah!”
“That one again?”
“Wahh!”
Mei looked exasperated while Yu’s eyes lit up.
Foil smugly held up the book.
“The Hero’s Story. When it comes to reading, nothing beats this!”
“The one your grandpa bought you, right? I want it too, but my family doesn’t have much money… Hey hey, let’s start reading!”
“Don’t rush, Yu! You gotta sit down calmly in a place like this.”
“Can’t be helped. I’ll take a look too! Fi-kun, scoot over a bit more.”
“Any more than this is impossible. Yu, can you get a little closer?”
“Uhh, if I move any further I won’t be able to see well either.”
In the end, the three clung tightly together with Foil at the center.
“Alright, let’s read.”
And so the three began reading The Hero’s Story.
The story was simple.
In this world, there exists an evil being called the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord forms a Demon Army, commanding created monsters called demons and monsters.
One day, a hero chosen by the holy sword Arianrod appeared. The hero travels to various places with companions, overcoming hardships and defeating assassins sent by the Demon Lord at times.
Bonds of friendship with companions. Confrontations with enemies called Anglecia blocking the [Hero] several times. And finally, defeating the Demon Lord to bring peace to the world.
That was all there was to it.
A simple story for children, without difficult words and just pictures inserted.
But to the children Foil and the others, that alone was enough to set their hearts aflutter.
“Coo~, as expected, heroes are so cool~! I wanna become a hero too, defeat bad guys and save people! Even if I gotta defeat Anglecia, I’ll cut them down!”
“Fi-kun, you always say the same thing. But, I wanna become a mage if I could. And use lots and lots of wonderful magic! Hey, what about you, Yu-kun?”
“Eh, m-me?”
“Yeah, what do you wanna be, Yu-kun?”
“O-oh, I’m interested in that too.”
Put on the spot by the two’s stares, Yu fidgetingly poked his index fingers together and answered in an embarrassed way.
“Y-you won’t laugh? …I wanna become a hero.”
Yu said shyly.
The other two made surprised expressions. And Foil burst out laughing right away.
“Pfft hahaha! A scaredy-crybaby like you!? No way, impossible impossible!”
“Now now, you never know.”
Mei denied Foil’s laughter. Foil looked shocked at her words.
“Wha, are you saying I’m inferior to Yu!?”
“That’s not it. Yu-kun has a kind heart. You can’t become a hero with strength alone, you need the kindest heart more than anyone else.”
“Ugh…grr…In that case, Yu! You and me are rivals!”
“Ehh!?”
Frustrated by Mei’s words, Foil sulked, then gripped his staff again and declared to Yu.
“There can only be one hero. So it’ll have to be either me or Yu. Let’s compete in swordsmanship first!”
“Ehh, again!?”
“That’s why it’s bad to always jump straight to force to decide things, Fi-kun!”
“Shu-shut it! Here I come, Yu! Get ready!”
“Ehhh!?”
Eager to look good in front of Mei, Foil decided to compete with Yu again.
In the end, neither had the strength left, collapsing limply to the ground as Mei looked at them with exasperation.
“It’s still not enough…I’m gonna show Mei-chan my good points!”
Foil made some kind of resolution despite his heavy breathing and lying on the ground.
That night.
When the villagers had gone to bed.
Foil and Yu, along with several children, had secretly slipped out of their houses to gather at the forest entrance without telling their parents.
The plan was to go to the shrine of the goddess enshrined in the forest. It was the sort of courage-testing deed common for children.
“Umm…are we really going?”
“What’s up, Yu? You scared?”
“As expected of Yu! He’s a scaredy-cat after all!”
“Th-that’s not true! It’s just…the adults say the night forest is dangerous…”
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