“I don’t see any benefit in telling you that, but…”
Leonard threw a small twig into the campfire. It made a crackling sound as it slowly caught fire.
“Alright, how about we exchange secrets?”
[Secrets?]
“You said to me a little while ago that I was ‘repeating,’ right? What did you mean by that?”
The prophet considered the future of this world. It would probably fail this time too. If so, perhaps there was no need to hide it from Leonard.
[I have been restarting the world many times.]
The prophet decided to reveal their secret. That’s how much they wanted to know about the man before them.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t understand.”
Leonard laughed quietly again. It wasn’t mocking the prophet, but rather seemed self-deprecating, as if laughing at his own ignorance.
[I said I had no power, but that was a lie. I have one power. I have the power to redo the world.]
“So, what does redoing the world mean?”
Leonard’s brow furrowed.
[…When I die, the world rewinds time. Right now, it would be about six years ago. Then I search anew. For a hero who can defeat the Demon King.]
“When you die? Then the world will keep redoing itself forever, won’t it?”
[Death by natural causes is acceptable. However, any other death leads to the world’s reconstruction. And as long as the Demon King isn’t defeated, I’m destined to die. Nothing else matters. There’s no way to stop redoing the world except by defeating the Demon King.]
“So, you don’t actually know a hero who can defeat the Demon King?”
[I don’t know the hero. I just keep repeating until the Demon King is defeated. A journey of about ten years, over and over again. I’ve been doing the same thing dozens of times now.]
“Is that true? That sounds like quite an important secret. Is it really okay to exchange it for my insignificant secret?”
The moment he said that, Leonard realized and twisted the corner of his mouth.
“…I see. You thought this round’s hero candidate couldn’t defeat the Demon King. In other words, we can’t do it.”
[No, this round’s hero candidate was someone other than you. And he’s already dead. The young man you buried a little while ago. Do you remember?]
Leonard put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment.
“Ah, the guy who was killed by the demon. Sorry, if we had been a little earlier, we might have been able to save him…”
[No, he probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Demon King anyway. But it was indeed an early death. I thought it was too soon to rewind the world. So, I…]
“I see, you had some extra time, so you decided to test me. I finally understand why you tried to choose someone like me as a hero.”
Leonard shrugged.
[You guys were famous as skilled adventurers. So I wanted to see your power. Leonard, you are indeed a powerful adventurer. However, the Demon King’s power is immense. The Sword Saint Leon and the Holy Woman Maria died before even reaching the Demon King. The Great Sage Solon fought the Demon King and died in deep despair. You don’t have as much power as them, and you’re not young either. You probably can’t expect much more growth. …I’m sorry.]
“It’s fine.”
Leonard picked up a new branch from nearby and threw it into the campfire.
“I’ve told you many times, haven’t I? I’m not a hero. I know a real hero.”
[Who?]
The Prophet’s voice hardened. He probably wanted to know about a new hero candidate, clinging to any hope.
“A warrior named Luke who used to be in the same party as me. He died fifteen years ago. Can you only redo from six years ago? Can’t you go back fifteen years?”
[I can’t. Fifteen years ago, I wasn’t bearing the duty of a prophet. The rewinding starts after I became a prophet. …Fifteen years ago, was that the Battle of Malica?]
“Yeah, Luke, my hero, died there.”
Leonard picked up a slightly larger branch and roughly threw it into the campfire, as if to show his disappointment that the Prophet couldn’t go back fifteen years.
“You know, I didn’t participate in that battle.”
[What?]
“It’s an embarrassing story. Faced with the Demon King’s army, I got scared and ran away.”
[But you survived the Battle of Malica…]
“It’s true that I survived, right? I did go to the battlefield, after all. I just went and came back without fighting. I didn’t lie.”
Leonard shrugged again.
“But my comrades really fought. And they survived. I’m a fake, but they’re the real deal. That’s why I got them to be my comrades. I begged them. Well, it might have sounded like a threat to them.”
[You’re plenty strong yourself.]
There was sympathy in the Prophet’s words.
“Thanks. But you know, strength isn’t about sword skills. It’s about how you live, I guess? The person I acknowledged as a hero was strong, but also lived admirably. I became an adventurer wanting to be like that, but when it came down to it, I was too scared of dying and ran away. And I made up a bunch of excuses. It’s beyond uncool.”
With those words, Leonard threw a branch into the campfire with all his might.
“Let me be clear, I don’t think I was wrong. It’s natural to run away when you’re scared. That’s just how humans are. We value our lives, want to drink, want to eat good food… that’s how it is. And most things, whether it’s life or anything else, can be bought with money. So money is the most correct thing in the world. Isn’t that right?”
[…………]
The Prophet wanted to deny it, but couldn’t find the words.
After traveling for over a hundred years, the Prophet didn’t know what was right for humans anymore. A hero who risks their life for people is beautiful. Because such an act is rare. Because it’s outside the norm, it becomes people’s aspiration, and that’s where they find beauty. He understood that much.
“It’s troubling when you stay silent.”
Leonard gave a wry smile.
“You know, I put that into practice. After running away to save my life, there were fewer adventurers who could fight, and people like me became valuable, so I made a fortune. Running away was the right decision. I ate good food, drank alcohol to my heart’s content, lived luxuriously, and kept telling myself, ‘This is the best life!’ But you know, the things you can buy with money, you usually get bored of quickly. Whether it’s food or alcohol, by the next day the memory fades, and it’s gone in no time. Even things that remain in form, you quickly get used to them being there. And then the joy goes somewhere. That’s about the extent of it. What remains is the memory of that time. The memory of abandoning Luke and running away.”
Leonard turned his eyes from the campfire to the sky.
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“I left Luke to die. I killed the hero.”
[That’s not…]
The Prophet wanted to say something to this man.
“I know. The result would have been the same whether I was there or not. But that regret from back then keeps smoldering in my gut. Unless I do something about it, I can’t move forward. Of course, I can’t become a hero.”
Leonard turned his eyes to the Prophet.
“I’ve talked too much. Did you want to hear about the merchant? Well, out of the 400 gold coins of reward, I canceled 300 coins in exchange for a job. The job of transporting grain from Gastan to Arkand. It’s not just that grain. There’s an agreement to transport more grain directly from Gastan. We’ll say it was stolen by monsters.”
[Why transport grain to Arkand?]
“It’s simple. In Arkand too, I made one request to the lord instead of a reward. ‘Accept the refugees,’ I said.”
[Refugees?]
The Prophet remembered the sight of the refugees he saw in Arkand. At that time, Leonard had treated the refugees roughly. Seeing that, the Prophet had despised Leonard.
“They’re people who lost their homes in the war. Poor folks with no money and nowhere to go. So they’re cheap lives that can be easily saved with money. But in these times, no one saves even these cheap lives. Well, saving them is also a promise I made to Nina.”
The Prophet was also aware of the refugees’ existence. At the beginning of the [World Compilation], they were lives he had vowed to “save someday.” He thought everything would work out if only the Demon King was defeated. But he had turned a blind eye to what kind of thoughts these people would have until the world was saved.
“But you know, Arkand doesn’t have the luxury to accept unlimited refugees. They’re in the middle of a war, and food prices are soaring. The lord demanded food procurement in exchange for accepting them. That’s unavoidable. Even if you have money, if there’s no actual food, you can’t do anything. In fact, the wagons from Gastan were being targeted by monsters. So we needed a means to transport grain from Gastan and secure the grain itself. The grain sales were controlled by officials, so we had to get it diverted, which meant we needed reliable transporters. In that respect, trustworthy merchants understand these things if you pay them enough. After all, they were kind enough to try to bring even children along with them.”
[You went all the way to Gastan to save the refugees? You were demanding high rewards for them?]
“No. Not at all.”
Leonard snorted.
“I just used the money as I pleased. Money is precious. It can even save lives. Lives that pompous kings and nobles couldn’t save. Abandoned even by God. If you have money, even someone like me can save such lives. Moreover, life continues. It’s not something that disappears tomorrow or the day after. If I can think ‘I saved their lives,’ it makes me feel pretty good. Even the alcohol tastes better. It’s like a side dish for the alcohol. Besides, I’m not using all the reward for them. Out of the 400 gold coins promised by the merchant, we’re using 100 for ourselves. That’s enough to have fun. We’re just using the leftover money.”
With 100 gold coins, one could enjoy life for several years. There’s no lie in Leonard’s words.
“Also, there was a separate reason for going all the way to Gastan. Procuring food was just a side task. We have our own purpose.”
[What is it?]
“You’ll know soon. Very soon.”
Leonard refused to say any more and soon traded places with Efsei to sleep in the wagon.
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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