Chapter 1: The Hero’s Guild
As winter passed and the warm spring approached,
there came a day when the wind blew a bit chilly against the skin.
“I’m tired… exhausted… I just want a job where I can sleep all day…”
I, once again, found myself toiling away at my construction work, despite feeling like this.
It was almost noon. I had been tirelessly repairing the outer walls of the city since early morning, and my entire body was protesting. As I tried to loosen my shoulders and stretch my arms, they made unpleasant cracking noises.
“Ugh…”
Despite the urge to give up and slump down, I forced my body to move and resumed my work.
Why do people have to work anyway? The wealthy can generate wealth just by putting their money to work, while the common folk have to toil away for meager wages. Labor sucks. If only there were magical tools that could generate infinite money… I wouldn’t have to work. I really don’t want to work.
“Hey, Jirei! Let’s grab lunch together!”
As I continued my work, feeling the harsh reality, it was time for lunch break.
I shook off the annoying arm around my shoulder. Annoying.
“I don’t want to. I can’t sleep with you around. Leave me alone.”
“They say the fish dish at that diner is amazing. Let’s go!”
“I said I don’t want to.”
Despite my protest, the burly man with a gorilla-like face and a large scar on his cheek—Wedd—forcibly wrapped his arm around me and tried to drag me along. Does he have ears?
But, it would be a waste of energy to resist. I gave up. Instead, I cursed and cursed the “heroes” who were the root cause of this situation in my mind.
“How do you have so much energy? I just want to crawl into bed right now.”
“Well, of course! The “heroes” are here in our country, you know!? We might even get invited to join the hero party!”
“Even though adventurer activities are on hold?”
“Well, you see, what if a “hero” saw me working so diligently in construction and invited me.”
“As if that would happen.”
Even if it did, it would be a scout from another construction site.
“But, there’s no other choice. If we don’t get work from adventurers, we won’t get any work at all.”
Wedd pouted discontentedly. It’s not cute when an old man does it, so stop.
“I remember, Wedd, you were A-rank, right? I know I’m D-rank, but… A-rank doesn’t come around either, huh?”
“I’m at the lower end of A-rank, you know. Besides, I’m not a combatant… Even if dangerous subjugation requests come, I’m not suited for the party’s combat power… Well, I don’t really want to join the hero party anyway. I’m comfortable being laid back with my current party.”
“Then, it has nothing to do with the heroes, right? Why are you so energetic?”
“Well, I’m working with you, my ‘brothers,’ you know! I wanted to do something together again!”
“I didn’t want to…”
I sighed as Wedd laughed heartily with his arm around me. I want to go home. Seriously.
But, all of this happened because of the heroes.
A few days ago, information leaked that four heroes had gathered in this land, and adventurers from all over came to Rivulhiro upon hearing the news.
In this vast world, it’s rare for so few heroes to gather in one place.
In other words, for adventurers, this was an opportunity they couldn’t miss, a chance to come into contact with the heroes and potentially join their party.
Adventurers from various regions came, all aspiring to join the hero party. They were all outstanding individuals, as expected. It was common to see B-rank adventurers, and there were also A-rank and even S-rank adventurers. They could easily defeat the demon army even if it invaded this country now. Overwhelmingly superior combat power.
In such a situation, in this land saturated with high-ranking adventurers, even simple gathering requests were hard to come by. They’re taking all the requests just to appeal to the heroes, it seems, but I want them to leave some for us.
It’s a common thing for there to be no quests on the adventurer board when I go to check it early in the morning. Being broke, I end up doing day labor for cash, accumulating frustration. Heroes are shit. Heroes are shit.
“Well, that’s not my concern. Even Jirei hasn’t been invited by anyone except the Hero of [Attack], right?”
“Uh, yeah… Well, yeah.”
“That’s true. With Jirei’s skills, it wouldn’t be strange for everyone to invite him.”
What a waste of time. I scoffed.
…I can’t say I haven’t been invited already. And not just by one hero, but by all of them.
“There’s no time for breaks, let’s eat quickly and play.”
“Y-yeah… But after eating, I’m gonna sleep.”
Ignoring my response, Wedd continues, “Let’s play the ‘Trump’ today. Of course, with bets.” Why do so many people around me not listen to others?
But, he’s still better than others.
I’m dealing with even more troublesome things at the moment.
” …… Aaaaah!”
Sigh A big sigh escaped. I scratch my head to suppress my frustration. Annoying. Don’t want to. Want to go home.
But, complaining won’t help. I’ve already agreed.
I look up at the cloudy sky, thinking back.
Yes, it was several tens of days ago. When I went to the Hero Church–
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
inside the Hero Church.
I came by order of the Hero Church to collect something. After completing various procedures and entering, I sat on a bench in the spacious chapel, waiting for the person I was supposed to meet.
Looking around, the believers sitting on the benches have their hands clasped in front of their chests, eyes closed in prayer. There’s quite a few people, filling about half of this spacious chapel.
It’s probably an early morning ceremony. Everyone is fervently praying with their mouths shut. Perhaps because of that, this vast chapel is enveloped in silence, making it very uncomfortable.
“Ugh…”
While resisting the urge to leave, I look towards the back of the chapel, towards the altar.
On the altar is the symbol of the Hero Church (two crossed sacred swords, with a sacred shield behind), and in front of it sits a life-sized bronze statue shining silver.
[Hero Church].
A religious organization with headquarters in the [Grand Helt Empire] and activity bases throughout the Helt continent.
Their object of worship is, as the name suggests, the heroes, and among them, one hero is revered as a god.
That person is the first hero ever born, the [Hero of the Beginning, Lien].
He’s said to be the model for the most widely circulated currency—the Lien coin, and possessed the sacred seal of [logic] that could change the principle of things.
According to the scriptures of the Hero Church, the current heroes’ powers are said to have been created by [Hero Lien] using the power of [logic] to create a sacred sword, to confront the suddenly appearing Demon Lord, and it’s even said that the current heroes are the incarnation of god himself.
But, most of it is just hearsay. There are almost no remaining documents that mention [Hero Lien], and whether he actually existed is dubious.
Moreover, the one who defeated the first Demon Lord was a different hero. There’s plenty of documentary and material evidence for this, and historically, this is the one that’s officially recognized.
So, it’s natural, but historians don’t acknowledge [Hero Lien]. However, because of the powerful [Grand Helt Empire] backing and the large number of followers of the Hero Church, [Hero Lien] is now recognized by society as the original hero and the god of this world.
But, honestly…
“This smells fishy…”
Muttering to myself as I look at the long-haired woman—[Hero Lien]’s statue lying on the ground.
Personally, I think it’s everyone’s freedom to believe in whatever they want, and they can do whatever they want. After all, I don’t believe in gods or anything.
I understand that religion is about believing in something intangible, but the Hero Church is way too shady.
I remember, I was once approached by a believer of the Hero Church.
During those days, I was still pure and aimed to become a hero. So when someone said to me, “Are you aiming to be a hero? Then you should join the Hero Church for various benefits,” of course, I joined. Excitedly, I joined their faith, only to be recommended some damn expensive talisman, saying, “If you buy this talisman, you’ll surely become a hero.” Well, I fell for it and bought it. What a joke.
Honestly, I don’t understand why this is the most famous religion on the continent. I think it would be more beneficial for them to worship me as a god instead.
So, I don’t believe in religions or things like that. Partly because I have bitter memories of being deceived, but also because I hate shady things like this.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
You here as well “Axis Cult”.