Chapter 1: The Prophet
Humanity was destined to be destroyed by the Demon King.
In fact, I had seen it happen countless times, in various ways.
I am a servant of the god who opposes the Demon King, and as his priestess, I was granted a certain ability.
— World Compilation —
Whenever I died, the world automatically rewound to a specific point in time.
This would repeat until the cause of death was removed.
In other words, until the Demon King was defeated.
While it was the hero’s role to defeat the Demon King, it was said that a prophet would guide the hero.
And that prophet was nothing more than an illusion I created.
No one knew who the hero truly was.
Seeking a hero who could defeat the Demon King, I had reset the world many times.
I can’t remember which world compilation it was when I first learned about that man.
I think his name was first mentioned in a story told by a knight to the [Hero] I was guiding at the time.
“He was a good-for-nothing, that adventurer called Leonard,”
The one who told this to the [Hero] was an elderly knight guarding the large city of Arkand.
“Adventurer” is a term for those who will do anything if asked. From helping with farm work to exterminating monsters, they’ll take on any job for the right price.
Of course, adventurers capable of defeating powerful monsters are very rare. Most are just people who can’t find other work. To be honest, it’s not a very respectable profession.
Moreover, the brave adventurers who could fight monsters had participated in the battle against the Demon King’s army in the country of Malica, and most of them had died.
Leonard was apparently one of the few adventurers who survived the battle in Malica. His companions were also survivors, and they had made a name for themselves as one of the few adventurer parties capable of handling difficult requests.
“Those guys came to Arkand just for the money. At that time, the city was being targeted by the Demon King’s army, but we knights, soldiers, and hired adventurers were somehow managing to defend it. Everyone was working together, you know. That’s when Leonard and his group showed up.
They boasted that they could defeat the demon attacking the city for ten times the reward of other adventurers. They practically threatened to leave without fighting if we didn’t pay. They could say such arrogant things because they knew Arkand was in a critical situation. There were even adventurers who fought for the city without compensation, you know? Demons are the common enemy of us humans. We all need to work together to fight them. Don’t you agree?”
The [Hero] nodded deeply.
“However, Leonard and his group were among the few adventurers who survived the battle in Malica. They were undeniably skilled. And the demon targeting the city was a formidable enemy. In the end, the lord agreed to their demands and commissioned them to defeat the demon attacking Arkand. It was our last hope. If we’re just talking about the result, Leonard fulfilled the request. He brilliantly defeated the demon. However…”
The knight shook his head wearily.
“Leonard’s strategy was to use the city, to use us, as bait. While we were desperately fighting to defend the city, they were hiding outside, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike down the demon. They were waiting for that moment when the city was about to fall, when the Demon King’s army would get overconfident and leave an opening.
As a strategy, it wasn’t bad, I suppose. But do you know how many knights, soldiers, and adventurers died because of it? More than half were sacrificed. My son died in battle too. In contrast, none of Leonard’s companions died. Of course, I’m not saying they should have sacrificed themselves, but they didn’t even suffer any significant injuries. If Leonard and his group had challenged the demon a little earlier, fewer of those defending the city would have died. Perhaps my son might still be alive. I questioned Leonard about this. And he bluntly said, ‘Our job was to take down the demon, not to save the city.'”
The knight’s gaze wandered into empty space, as if seeing a future that might have been.
“I know. This is something like a grudge. But I can’t accept it. While the city was wrapped in sorrow, Leonard and his group took their reward and immediately left the city. As if to say they had no more use for this place. They didn’t show any compassion for the families of the dead, nor did they contribute any money to rebuild the city. They were heartless. Sure, Leonard was a skilled adventurer. But you shouldn’t have someone like that as a companion to a hero. It would tarnish the hero’s name.”
“I see. You might be right,”
the [Hero] said with a sad expression, as if disappointed in this man called Leonard.
If one seeks rewards, there’s nothing as unprofitable as being a hero. If you defeat the Demon King and return to your country, you might even become king. But that’s like a fairy tale.
A hero’s journey is plain, painful, and steep. There’s hardly anything good about it. Even if you defeat one demon, another one just appears. Even if you overcome one hardship, another one is waiting for you.
No one praises you, no one rewards you.
A hero is expected to be noble. It’s not that a hero must be a person of high character, but rather because they wouldn’t be able to handle it mentally otherwise.
Probably, this adventurer called Leonard was right as a person. He demanded fair compensation for his work. He asserted his own interests without caring about others. In a way, that might be necessary to survive.
However, that’s not enough to be a hero. So, I excluded Leonard from the list of hero candidates and forgot about his existence for a while.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
The next time I heard about Leonard was with a different [Hero].
“There’s this guy called Leonard. He’s one of the adventurers who survived when the country of Malica was destroyed. Now he’s famous as one of the few skilled adventurers left,”
said an influential merchant from the city of Elderia.
“If he’s skilled, I’d definitely want him as a companion…”
the [Hero] showed interest in Leonard. After all, they were going to fight the Demon King. The more strong companions, the better.
“No, you’d better not. He’s an extremely greedy man. He was always demanding money for everything. At that time, I was stuck in a country occupied by the Demon King’s army and couldn’t escape. That’s when Leonard and his group appeared. It was good that they defeated the monsters and cleared a path for us, but they demanded a reward of 400 gold coins!”
“Four hundred gold coins!”
The hero was shocked by this amount. He probably had only a few dozen gold coins on hand. Even that should have been enough for several years of travel expenses. Four hundred coins was not an amount that even a nobleman could easily prepare.
“Yes, it was clearly an unreasonable demand. I think we were charged such an amount because there were no other adventurers who could rescue us. I was so troubled by the enormous sum that I didn’t know how to pay it.”
The merchant smiled bitterly.
“And that’s not all. I was hiding in a village that the residents had fled from, and there I met a boy who had been left behind. He was about the same age as my daughter, a pitiful child who had lost his parents. So I suggested, ‘Let’s get out of here together.’ I thought one child wouldn’t be much trouble. But that man, Leonard, demanded payment for the boy too. The amount? Fifty gold coins! He was an unbelievable man.”
“Fifty gold coins for just one child…”
The hero made a sour face. He couldn’t trust people who were motivated by money. The demons who formed the core of the Demon King’s army were not monsters acting on instinct. They possessed power, magic, and wisdom beyond human capabilities. If necessary, they would use money to manipulate humans.
That’s why heroes and their companions were required to have strong will. A strong will to defeat the Demon King no matter what. It wasn’t just about being physically strong.
“That’s right, Hero. Leonard was certainly a skilled man. But he lacks conviction. As a merchant myself, I shouldn’t say this, but he’s driven by money, not belief. He’s not the kind of man who could be your companion, Hero. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is.”
The conversation ended there.
The hero had been looking for companions, but at this point, Leonard was crossed off the list of possibilities.
The hero left for other towns in search of companions.
As a prophet, I suggested several candidates for his companions, and he recruited from among them, but in the end, this hero too fell halfway through his journey.
In the repeatedly rewound time, I often heard bad rumors about Leonard.
“I heard that an adventurer named Leonard took crops from a village called Gastan as payment for defeating monsters.”
I heard this story when I was guiding another hero.
It was one of the soldiers of that country who told the story, bringing up the topic of Leonard as a comparison to praise the hero.
“Sometimes there are adventurers who defeat monsters without being asked. And then they demand high rewards, which is really bad. Monsters are enemies of humans. Defeating them should be a matter of course. Demanding payment for it is wrong. Of course, we soldiers would defeat monsters if requested, but there are places we can’t cover. That’s where people like Leonard take advantage. It’s partly our negligence that allows this.”
The soldier shrugged apologetically.
“But you’re different from Leonard, Hero. You defeat monsters for people in need. And not just any monsters, but powerful ones that we can’t handle. That spirit is what’s truly admirable.”
“What do you mean by ‘took crops’?”
the hero asked.
“I don’t know the details, but Gastan is a village in the granary region, supplying grain that becomes food for soldiers on the battlefield. However, the wagons transporting the grain were repeatedly attacked by monsters. It was probably the Demon King’s army intentionally interfering. Cutting off supply routes is common in war. But because it’s common, it’s difficult to deal with. The supply route is long, so it’s hard to predict when and where attacks will occur. We can’t provide enough troops to guard every transport, so both the village and the country were struggling to cope. Leonard took advantage of this difficult situation. The village chief had put out requests to adventurers, but Leonard demanded ten times the usual reward.”
“Ten times!?”
This hero, who had been an adventurer himself, was surprised by the outrageous demand.
The knight of Arkand had also mentioned a tenfold reward. It seemed Leonard had a tendency to demand excessively high payments.
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? The village chief tried to refuse, saying he couldn’t possibly pay that much, but Leonard almost forcibly accepted the request. And he did manage to defeat the demon leading the attacks. He may be a good-for-nothing, but his skills are real.”
The soldier grimaced.
“But the problem came after that. Leonard took the grain being transported at that time and disappeared with it. Apparently, he sold it to some merchant at a high price. In these times, grain certainly fetches a high price, but to take food meant for soldiers fighting the Demon King’s army and keep it for himself… it’s a terrible story.”
The soldier shook his head and sighed deeply.
The hero furrowed his brow, showing his displeasure.
He probably couldn’t forgive it as a fellow adventurer.
I had heard stories about Leonard several times before, but each time I was amazed that such a good-for-nothing man existed.
“I heard that guy Leonard died.”
After repeating the world compilation dozens of times, such a rumor was being exchanged in a tavern visited by the hero I was guiding.
The hero himself didn’t seem interested, but I listened closely.
“Apparently, he took on a dangerous request for money and ended up entering the Demon King’s territory, where he was killed by a demon. It’s a fitting end for a money-grubber.”
The drunk man laughed at Leonard as he said this.
The other patrons present seemed to know the bad rumors about Leonard too, and they all laughed uniformly, using his death as a topic for drinking.
Not a single person mourned Leonard.
I myself thought it was an appropriate end for him.
However, I was surprised that a man said to be so skilled, who had actually defeated several demons, died in such a way.
What kind of man was Leonard?
I became a little curious, but either way, I didn’t think he could have been a suitable hero.
TLNOTE: Volume 3 already announced https://x.com/daregayu/status/1823675942616883378
While waiting for next chapter , I implore you dear readers to read other masterpiece novels that also written by the same author :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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Wow! That’s cool!
I honestly didn’t belive it could get a sequel, I wonder what it is about (will only read it after the tl is completed xD).
Maybe it’s a mostly unrelated story with other characters. I guess the author had to write a sequel in any case due to its popularity 😀
It’s sort of prequel, and the new party actually have relations to Zack/Ares