Crackle, crackle.
It was ti to sleep after the al.
I decided to take the first watch, sitting in front of the campfire and checking the condition of my spear and armor.
I had firmly barricaded the entrance and the connecting corridor, but there was still a risk that they could be breached like before.
Brother. Can I talk to you for a mont?
But perhaps because of the events of the day?
Ga-ram, who had been tossing and turning under the blanket, eventually couldnt fall asleep and started talking to .
Rest up. We need to conserve our energy for tomorrow.
I cant sleep.
Do you still not trust ?
No, no, its not that I dont have the sha to distrust you after you risked your life to save .
Yi Ga-ram hastily shook her head in response to my probing question.
I could faintly see her fingers fidgeting under the blanket.
I just wanted to ask you sothing.
Was her shy approach after such silence due to anxiety?
Whatever the reason, if that question was keeping her awake, I had to address it, so I nodded, and she imdiately asked her question.
Brother, you really hate heroes, dont you?
I do.
It was a response without a trace of falsehood.
A response anyone but a hero would empathize with.
Youve seen heroes too, right? You know how they mistreat adventurers and laborers like .
Ive seen dozens die from arrogance and carelessness, even in front of monsters theyd t before.
Heroes were invariably creatures of such nature.
Unless the system entrenched in human society were overhauled, such types would continue to increase.
The endless influx of so-called heroes exploiting the overwhelming majority of citizens and foreign workers alike.
Then, why did you agree to join my party?
If you want to resent , you can.
However, unlike them, this child, having realized her place, could no longer hold pride in herself.
Her passive deanor would surely be seen as contemptible even by the idolizing masses.
As much as I struggled to take care of myself, I couldnt shalessly exploit such a child.
Because you deserve better.
All the more because I was the reason she ended up in such a state.
Even so, I was prepared to accept whatever response ca my way.
No, I dont resent you.
Actually, Yi Ga-ram harbored no resentnt.
She just gave a bitter smile and spoke.
You saved , and more than that, if I hadnt t you, I would have acted like the other heroes when facing similar enemies.
Instead, she thought that losing her confidence through our eting might be the reason she was still alive.
The girl, accepting this as enlightennt, had even transford her potential resentnt towards into gratitude.
Is that enough?
Yes, actually, Im more comfortable with this.
That was the conclusion the girl had chosen for her story.
Not revenge against the cruel Hero Killer who had led to her fall as a hero.
But a tale of enlightennt and lifesaving grace from one individual to a girl.
Crackle, crackle.
Even after that conclusion, the sound of the campfire burning continued.
While listening to it, Yi Ga-ram, who should have been sleeping, ca to my side and started to lean against .
I cant sleep. Can you listen to more of my story?
Do as you feel comfortable.
If she couldnt sleep right away, I should keep her company until she was satisfied.
The prelude to the story, which I listened to with a light heart, turned out to be much heavier than I had thought.
Before I ca to this world, I tried to jump off the roof of my school.
No, I did jump. If I hadnt, I wouldnt have co to this world.
Yes, one of the conditions for reincarnating in this world was being on the brink of death at the ti of summoning.
Being hit by a truck, falling from a building, etc. The last mories of people who ca into this world were usually like that.
This child fulfilled those conditions with her own hands
It was sothing she did at an age before even graduating middle school.
At first, I was scared. People who were disappointed in always tornted . I was always ignored by others, but in this world, I beca the object of expectations.
This fragile girl, who even ran away from her own world, was awaited by a mission as a hero to save this world.
Having been pushed to the limit in her previous life, her eagerness to be properly recognized in this world must have grown.
Falling behind others, losing her own judgnt.
I thought I had to et peoples expectations around , but
And she failed.
She lost her place due to that, but still, she tried to rise above the stigma of being a fallen hero and achieve sothing.
It was wrong to do that, wasnt it?
Could such efforts ever be rewarded at the end of survival?
Adventurers like might consider re survival as more than enough, yet ironically, this world expects from this girl nothing less than the deanor of a universally revered idol.
Once summoned as a hero to this world, the world would endlessly impose duties and responsibilities on her.
Well
But I knew too well the consequences of ignoring such a reality.
Though few in number compared to the whole, I had seen those who were called heroes but chose a different path.
Your point about the deeds of heroes not looking good is valid, but accepting such an atmosphere isnt necessarily wrong.
Why? You said you hated heroes
Even heroes cannot oppose the world alone. In fact, one of the heroes I know rebelled against the empire that fostered such an atmosphere, becoming a wanted criminal, hunted by other heroes.
A hero beca a wanted criminal?
Its a complicated story, even for adults. What youve realized now is
Initially, heroes were modern people like . Wasnt it typical for people with similar sentints to end up as morally corrupt?
Those who defied such an inevitability were treated even worse than fallen heroes.
Like that person I know, enduring such treatnt could also be a choice, but this child was too young to make such a decision on her own.
So, if youre not sure what to do right now, its better to keep doing what youve been doing and wait for the right ti. If you cant find an answer, it might be more comforting to just live with it for now.
If you crumble floundering, you wont even find a chance, but even if you ignore it and move forward, you might find an answer soday.
Thus, I, too, must montarily pause my hesitation.
Although my ideals lay far in the distance, having pursued them to this point, Id grown incomparably more than I had at the beginning.
So, if I wait and endure a bit longer, I might just get a chance to give those damned skeleton guys a good hit.
Brother, how did you end up in this world?
As I held the polished spear, resolving myself, Yi Ga-ram, now deeply wrapped in her blanket, looked at intently and asked a new question about how I ca to be in this world.
Are you curious about what I was doing before I ca here?
Yes, Brother, were you like too?
Dont worry, its not particularly a sad story.
That made recall how I ended up in this world.
It was two years ago and hard to rember clearly Ah, yes, thats how it happened.
Well, if you really want to get into it, I was on the 10th floor of an apartnt and got hit by a truck.
What?
No, I an, let explain how it happened.
Sure, if I say a truck crashed into the 10th floor of an apartnt out of the blue, anyone would think its weird.
I slowly recollected that days mory and began to explain it to Yi Ga-ram.
In my previous life, I was from a large family among my relatives. So, on holidays, my nephews and nieces would co over, and they would run around, throwing toys everywhere, you know?
Yes, so?
I got hit in the head with one of those toys, and when I ca to, I was in this world.
What?
Then, like you, I was summoned to the imperial city, my abilities were tested, and I beca a foreign laborer
No, wait a minute.
Yi Ga-ram interrupted as I continued to explain.
Her face, which had been tense until now, showed a very dazed expression.
Im a bit confused So, you ca to this world after being hit by a toy?
Well, yes.
And that toy was a truck?
Maybe?
I dont really rember well.
At that ti, I was playing with car-shaped toys, and the feeling of being hit in the head was quite heavy, so I just thought it must have been a truck.
It could have been a fire truck, a transforming robot, or even a dinosaur toy, but now, does it really matter?
Regardless of what hit , I ended up in this world, and now I have to live in it.
Pfft.
A small laugh escaped the lips of the girl as she gradually realized the bleak reality.
Feeling puzzled, I looked at her and saw a smile slowly forming on her lips.
A feeling more vivid than the campfire lighting the room at this mont.
Now, I am no longer a king, but rely a knight.
Indeed, he is now not a fallen king but a Knight of Death.
His sole mission was to serve the Corpse Lord, solely for his own unfinished regrets.
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