After a while, I arrive at the gate leading from the [General Area] to the [Reconstruction Area].
As I take a step forward to start the procedures, I immediately stop.
“…Maybe I should just go back.”
I wanted to check on Leti, but there’s something I want to investigate. I have a feeling something is about to connect.
I turn around and head back–that’s when it happens.
” –!”
I sense someone approaching rapidly.
I quickly use magic to pinpoint the attacker’s position and surround myself with threads of magic.
From the northwest. They’re gliding towards me at incredible speed. Despite intentionally letting them touch my magic for warning, there’s no sign of them stopping.
They’re a proficient user of gliding magic. But if they try to infiltrate my guard, they’ll be instantly restrained by the magic threads I’ve set up. No matter how fast they are, it won’t be a problem.
I sense no killing intent or hostility, but just to be safe, I prepare myself in a state of readiness–
But then I realize something and furrow my brow.
…Wait a minute. I recognize this magic power from somewhere.
I dispel the magic I cast. At the same time, the person descends from the sky in front of me.
“Jirei!! Haa… haa…”
” –Aldi?”
It’s Aldi, a cat spirit who looks cute on the outside. As soon as she lands on the ground, Aldi gasps for breath and spits out a hoarse voice.
“What were you doing? I didn’t see you at all. Were you at the Mage Association’s council or something?”
“I don’t care about that! More importantly!”
“Huh? And let go, you’re so clingy.”
I’m grabbed by both shoulders, and I express my displeasure. But Aldi ignores me and takes a deep breath.
“If we don’t do something, if we don’t do something–“
With a tense expression, she shouts.
“Miss Letinoa is going to be killed…!”
“Come with me,” Aldi says as she brings me to a place in the [Reconstruction Area] residential area.
“What’s going on? Explain…”
“I’ll explain later. I want Jirei to see Miss Letinoa first.”
“Huh…?”
I tilt my head in confusion. I see Leti’s face every day. What’s the point of doing something like this–?
“She’s coming out.”
Aldi points to a lit house, and a girl with peach-colored hair comes out.
She bows her head in gratitude to the elderly woman, who seems to be the client.
A bag of coins is offered, but Leti shakes her head and refuses. She waves cheerfully and runs off, leaving the client repeatedly bowing her head in thanks.
“…”
We follow her silently.
Leti is running around without stopping.
Handing over the requested items, taking care of pets for people with mobility issues, and being thanked as a hero by various people for completing their requests.
It’s already late. The sun has completely set. Despite this, Leti doesn’t seem to want to go home and continues to move around frantically.
On the outskirts of the [Reconstruction Area], Leti knocks on a house, and a resident slowly peeks out.
It’s a beastman. His cheeks and body are emaciated. His fur lacks luster and looks faded.
In the past, it must have been an injury. One eye was crushed, and there was nothing beyond the right wrist. Holding an uncorked bottle of alcohol in the left hand, he drank heavily, his face flushed with intoxication.
Leti took something out of the bag hanging from her waist and tried to hand it over with a smile.
But — the man suddenly contorted his face and shouted loudly.
” –The hero! What the hell do you want coming here!”
The bottle was thrown at Leti’s head. The bottle shattered and shards scattered on the ground.
Aldi grabbed my shoulder to stop me. “Please. Just bear with it for now,” he said, his face filled with bitterness.
The man yelled.
“You heroes! Both of them died because of you! What the hell are you trying to do now!? Huh!?”
“From someone else’s request, to deliver this–“
“Showing your unpleasant faces…! You heroes come when you’re not wanted!”
“W-Well, I–“
The man grabbed Leti’s shoulder and shook her vigorously.
“Why didn’t you come then! Why didn’t you save us from the ‘demons’! I know the hero was nearby! Thanks to you, everyone except me died, you piece of shit!”
Sharp claws dug into Leti’s shoulder. It vividly expressed the man’s feelings.
“If you heroes had come…”
Leti is pushed away. The man falls to his knees and claws his face with both hands.
“my son and my wife would have survived…”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
The city was shrouded in the darkness of night.
The streetlights remained broken and abandoned. The houses were silent, and the faint light of the stars peeked through the gaps in the clouds, dimly illuminating the surroundings.
Leti’s face walking ahead was indiscernible. The outline could be seen, but the dark obscured her expression.
Pitter-patter, the rain began to beat down on the ground.
The drizzle quickly turned into a downpour, mercilessly pouring down on everything. Within seconds, the clothes I was wearing became soaking wet.
Feeling uncomfortable with the rain seeping into my shoes, I frowned.
Aldi spoke while being beaten by the rain.
“That man is a victim of the ‘demons’ that devastated this place a few years ago. He lost his family, and since then, he’s been living his days as if dead.”
“…But why does Leti have to be the target of his anger?”
“When the demons attacked the city, the hero who was nearby didn’t come. It’s said that he was just a step away, but no one knows for sure. Some of the victims judged that they had been abandoned.”
“Still, it’s wrong to resent the hero.”
“Not quite. Not all of the victims resent the hero. …But you know, it’s rare for someone who’s lost something important to think [It’s just a disaster]. It’s easier for them to blame something, isn’t it?”
I glanced at Leti. She was walking with her head down, her face soaked in the rain.
Eventually, we passed through the gate of the Reconstruction Area and arrived at the street in the General Area. The surroundings were brightly lit by streetlights, reflecting Leti’s silhouette that had been shrouded in darkness.
“Gghh–!”
Leti’s face looked like she was about to cry.
She squeezed her lips tightly, trembling her eyes. She rubbed her face with her arm, trying to wipe something away.
The intense rain ran down her cheeks and dripped onto the ground.
Snap! A dry sound echoed.
Leti looked up. Both cheeks were slightly flushed.
“Why did she…?”
It’s a smile. Leti was smiling. She forced a smile, lifting the corners of her mouth with both hands and lowering the corners of her eyes. It was the expression Leti always showed.
A strong sense of discomfort circulated in my chest. …What’s this?
Leti continued on her way to the inn where she was staying. It was past midnight. There was no sign of her going on a new quest. She must be going home at last.
///
“Jirei. What did you think of this?”
After Leti left, Aldi spoke in a heavy voice.
“…It’s abnormal. That’s not the Leti I know.”
“No, it’s just that Jirei didn’t see it. Miss Letinoa works like this, doing quests late into the night and acting as a hero.”
“Isn’t that messed up. I’m out.”
“Is that so? Even if the hero is busy, this is strange. Didn’t you wonder why she’s doing this?”
I thought so. But Leti’s doing it because she likes it, right?
The words almost slipped out before I swallowed them. Just by looking at Leti’s expression earlier, I couldn’t simply dismiss it as that alone.
“I understand. That secret…”
“Secret—”
“Three days ago, I heard about it in the council. It’s reliable information.”
Aldi continued, “I’m going to tell you even though I’m not supposed to. I don’t care what happens to me.”
“But just promise me one thing.”
“…What?”
“I think Letinoa-sama wouldn’t want this known… So, even if you know, please pretend you don’t. Act like you haven’t heard anything.”
—I can’t tell the boss about this.
I recalled Leti’s clear rejection when I tried to confront her.
“…Got it.”
Nodding, Aldi said, “Thanks,” and began to speak.
“A few years ago—a certain scholar was arrested for conducting unethical human experiments. Have you heard of it?”
I had just heard about it yesterday. The infamous criminal was Leti’s father.
The man’s name was Redonis-Terikos. The nature of his experiment was—[Creating Heroes].
“…? But don’t you need the [Holy Seal] to become a hero?”
Normally, yes. But Redonis achieved it with his genius intellect and innovative ideas. He implanted the [Hero Factor] into human flesh to create a base, then fused it with the mana-based body of a high-powered spirit to create a vessel for a hero.
“Woah—”
I widened my eyes in astonishment.
[Hero Factor]—I’ve heard of that. Heroes have the [Holy Seal] within their bodies. The [Holy Seal] fades away naturally when it is passed on to the next generation or after the hero’s death.
However, by extracting the [Holy Seal] from the hero’s body before it fades away, it remains on the piece of skin from which it was cut. That’s what’s known as the [Hero Factor].
There was an institution that sampled and stored the [Hero Factor] of successive heroes, but it was immediately shut down due to ethical concerns. So, the [Hero Factor] is not widely known.
I hardly knew anything about it, just rumors.
“The [Hero Factor] used was from the [Destruction] Hero—’Noah’.”
He was—praised as the “strongest” among the successive heroes, possessing an unprecedented number of multiple [Holy Swords]—and had manifested six [Holy Seals].
“Hey, Noah… Could it be…”
Click, click—the pieces started to fall into place in my head.
The conclusion I reached was an unbelievable and brutal truth.
“Leti ‘Noah’ is the sole survivor of that experiment.”
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