Here I was, in the middle of nowhere.
This town, which I commanded, had gone through so much, but we had persevered through it all.
As I watched from the stage, staring at the audience before —a total number of three hundred and five citizens—pride swelled within my chest.
'I've really co a long way, haven't I?'
The people looked at with expectant gazes.
It was rare for to address everyone at once. That simply went to show the severity of the matter before us.
"I have important news for everyone."
The utter silence prior to my statent beca more pronounced as everyone tightened their lips and looked attentively at with their piercing stares.
The pressure of delivering a stunning performance weighed heavily on . Still, I went on.
"I will be leaving this place tomorrow."
That instant, I observed the expressions of everyone who watched .
It was initially filled with disbelief—and then, not long after… Despair!
An eerie devastation swept the atmosphere, and everyone instantly burst into tears, wailing loudly.
"H-Hero!"
"W-what…?!"
"The Hero is leaving?!"
"B-but why?!"
"I-is it sothing we've done?"
"I-is the Hero abandoning us?"
"N-no!"
"P-please….don't go!"
"No! You promised you'd stay with us!"
"No! Hero!"
"HERO!"
It grew sickeningly overwhelming how they called out for —not that I didn't understand their plight.
'I suppose this confirms it. They can no longer live normally without my existence.'
My plan of making them completely dependent on worked. As long as they understood that my presence among them was essential to their survival, none of them would dare to defy .
'Haaa… looks like that's out of the way. Uh?' While in deep thought, ignoring the frantic cries and pleas of everyone present, I suddenly noticed two people weren't joining the crying fest.
"Aren't you two worried?" I spoke softly, staring at the won—Sarah and Lucy.
Their eyes were unwavering, and they kept staring at with absolute confidence.
To be honest, it made slightly uneasy.
'Don't tell … shit! Are they really confident that they can survive without ? But these two are the most useful among everyone present!'
Beads of sweat trickled down my face as my throat suddenly felt dry.
"I trust in the Hero's decision. The Hero never lies, is forever noble, and he always sticks to his words. You already told us you would never leave nor abandon us. I have full confidence in your words." Sarah said, bowing deeply.
Her smile and eyes depicted the very essence of innocence, hopefulness, and complete trust.
'She really trusts that much?' I felt so happy about this for so reason.
As for Lucy…
"I am not concerned about the others. No matter what, I will always follow you." Her tone sounded so serious and resolute that my bones slightly shivered.
The stern gaze on her cute face made sowhat relieved, yet worried, about her loyalty.
"Hehe… Haha… Hahahahahahaha!" I burst out laughing.
Of course, this was intended, as I would not have been able to do so without that being my intention, because I could never look stupid in front of everyone thanks to Freedom Of Expression.
Everyone marveled at my burst of laughter, and I continued for a while.
Until…
"You are exactly right."
… I finally put an end to the uneasy atmosphere enveloping us.
Removing my gaze from the two ladies, I addressed everyone once again.
"Fret not, my people. I have not abandoned you at all. No, it is the exact opposite."
'Guess it's ti to let the cat out of the bag…'
I told everyone of my intention to visit the nearby city to obtain supplies and information, as well as to perform so 'activities' that were beyond their understanding.
While they expressed initial apprehension at my sudden decision to depart, none of them could deny the truth in my words.
Besides, it would sowhat be selfish—not to ntion foolish—for them to hoard in their small village while the world suffered the scourge of Demons.
"Do not forget my grand assignnt in this world. I intend to liberate your entire race. This is necessary to achieve that!"
Ultimately, they compromised and beca swayed by my words.
The mood slowly changed from a sad farewell to an optimistic sendoff. Everyone's eyes brightly shone with expectation once more as they expected to achieve sothing great, like they were used to.
"Sarah and Byron will accompany on my journey. The rest of you will remain here to carry out the assignnts I will assign to you."
"B-but, Hero—!"
As expected, I received a cry of displeasure from one person among everyone else.
"W-why will you not take with you? I wish to accompany you!" Lucy raised her voice to complain.
Her crimson eyes pleaded desperately with to bring her along, but…
'Heck no!'
… there was no way I was going to let the most OP person in this place tag along with on a mission where I could potentially screw up.
"Lucy, you are the strongest person in this place—besides , of course."
The last part was pure bullshit, but I was already on a roll.
"When I was summoned here, I t carnage. That was because you and your team weren't around to help everyone. I don't want such a tragedy to repeat itself." With hopes that my words would cajole her, I spoke with feigned concern.
"I don't care about that! I just want to be… to be… of use to you!" She let out stubbornly.
Sothing about her outburst made think of a spoilt kid.
"Lucy…" I moved close to the redhead.
She slightly shivered, but firmly took her stance to brace herself for what ca next.
"… I understand what you're saying."
Gently stroking her red head, I made sure my tone was as pleasant as possible. If she stubbornly decided to co with , there was really nothing I could do to stop her.
My best bet was to appeal to her emotions, if she had any, that is.
"But, you realize my responsibility as a Hero, don't you? These people…" I smiled, looking at the crowd that watched fervently.
So were already tearing up. The glistening tears in their eyes overwheld even , despite the fact that I couldn't care less about them.
"… They are my responsibility. You want to be of use to , don't you?" I bent to her height, placing my hand on her chin as I drew closer.
I could feel the heat in Lucy's body rise, and her stiff face nodded in response to my question.
"Then, please take care of everything in my absence."
She stiffly nodded once again, staring at with tears in her eyes. I knew it was finally ti to pull out the big guns.
I conjured up the perfect image I needed to portray in my mind, and ensured that my face was positioned accordingly. I then flashed my best smile and gave her a completely heroic expression.
"I'm counting on you… okay?"
I could swear that flashes of light emanated from my face as I made that epic statent.
"Y-yes… I understand…" Lucy finally blurted out, overco with emotion.
'Yes!' I made an inner victory fist bump.
I was imnsely grateful that my charm worked.
After all, I was scared to death of the little girl. It wouldn't bode well to have her too close to at all.
"Very good." I withdrew from her before we got too close for comfort.
Returning to the central stage where I previously stood, my heroic smile never left my face.
"I will be leaving tomorrow. Do not worry, everyone…"
This bullshit worked better than I thought it would. The only thing left to do was to actually depart.
"… I will return in no ti!"
[A/N]
I'm so sorry for the slow pace, everyone.
Don't worry, things get really interesting and heated up soon.
We're about to enter an intriguing point in the story. I hope you will keep accompanying on this journey.
Thanks for reading, everyone.
P.S: I haven't confird Lucy's age yet, so please don't think of calling the FBI on Sam.
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