[Master.]
"Yes?"
Aria's voice was low.
Although he couldn't read anything from her expression, he could discern to so extent from her voice.
That's the expression she has when there's bad news.
[It seems we will have a casualty soon.]
"A casualty?"
There couldn’t be a war without casualties. Even for the great Galactic Empire.
So it was sowhat of an unexpected statent. After all, it was sothing all too obvious.
"What happened?"
[It's one of those invited to World.]
"By invited, you an..."
It referred to the Transcendents from the Community.
"...Is that so?"
They were carefully selected talents, after all.
Currently, the installation of defense facilities and interception facilities at the World base was almost complete.
It shouldn't be easy to break through unless it's a formidable enemy, right?
"I'll drop by. Prepare what I asked for in the anti."
[Yes, understood.]
Zfft-
***"Cough… I am the owner of the 32nd Holy Sword... Hero… Versya..."
"Stop speaking. You're only shortening your ti."
"Is... that so?"
"Yes."
"Kuhuk."
Blood spurted from the man's mouth.
Most of his vital organs had already been destroyed, and the lower half of his body, sliced diagonally in half, was nowhere to be seen.
Despite this situation, he was able to keep breathing and speaking, partly due to his transcendent willpower, but mainly thanks to the syringe stuck in his burst heart.
Hero Versya, barely clinging to life with the Galactic Empire's ergency treatnt.
"...It is alright. I was... already prepared."
"If that's the case..."
The Spirit Summoner decided to watch over his final monts.
"At least you can go in peace. 'He' will surely fulfill your wish. You did well. You probably volunteered with hopes not much different from ours."
The Spirit Summoner's gentle hand stroked Versya's forehead. A sense of relief filled Versya's fading eyes.
"Cough... We must all be similar."
"Indeed. So if you have any last words... speak freely. We can at least grant you that much."
The Spirit Summoner seed experienced in such matters, calmly and familiarly watching over Versya's final monts.
"Kuhuk. I see. Then will you listen to my story?"
-Look here! If there's any painkiller left, pour it all in!
-It seems mixed with cursed energy. It's not just physical wounds.
-How are the wounded on that side?
-Thanks to Sir Versya, fortunately, there aren't many casualties.
-We could have lost this entire base if we weren't careful.
The surroundings were busy dealing with the aftermath of the battle.
They knew that without Versya's final sacrifice, they wouldn't be standing here like this.
Knowing this, they were all the more focused on their tasks to honor his sacrifice.
"I am Versya, Owner of the 32nd Holy Sword."
"I know."
"The na of an exceedingly ordinary hero."
"A hero doesn't seem to fit well with 'ordinary', though."
"Haha. Is that so?"
Versya smiled wryly.
***He was ordinary.
During his school days, he could get decent grades, but he didn't have the brains to achieve anything through study.
Sports were the sa. He could play around with others, but he wasn't good enough to choose it as a career.
As a student, one might get sick of being ordinary, but things change as you live. He was an ordinary person, so he was used to ordinariness and thought of it as just another way of life.
However, dying in an unexpected accident might have been a bit out of the ordinary.
But considering humanity as a whole, it probably wasn't that special.
Then he was summoned to another world.
-Welco, Hero.
-Can you perhaps hear us?
-Please save our world.
Ah...
He beca special.
But that illusion was short-lived. Just because he, who was extrely ordinary, was summoned to an otherworld didn't an he would beco special.
Exercise, training, cultivation were all too tireso, and after just two hours, his concentration dropped as he got bored.
He tried to do sothing based on his previous life's knowledge of soap, cooking, systems, science, math, etc., but being ordinary, he didn't know enough details to utilize in this other world.
It was not like he could create a non-existent computer to make use of his previous life's skills.
He was too clumsy for swordsmanship.
He was too dumb for magic.
His political sense was too poor to manage a territory.
He didn't show any sense of justice or spirit of self-sacrifice needed to be a hero.
Was an ordinary person helpless even in an otherworld?
Still, he didn't give up on being a hero. After all, didn’t giving up also require courage?
But he didn't want to live so fiercely either.
To begin with, the expectations for him weren't that high.
There were many other heroes in the world besides him.
An incompetent hero, neither noble nor ambitious.
And he t companions fitting for such a person.
A mage who couldn't graduate from the Magic Tower.
A quack priest kicked out of the Church.
A dwarf who preferred using equipnt to making it.
An archer better with daggers than bows.
A cowardly barbarian warrior.
They were companions with unremarkable talents and lacking qualities, just like him.
But they were still too good for him.
Ordinary but always new adventures.
Trivial but enjoyable daily life.
Not grand, yet still valuable.
Rather, because it was them, they could empathize with those who didn't even have the strength to ask for help.
They shared pain, empathized, and saved them.
A Hero Party that took requests from the poor and hunted low-level monsters.
-Haha. We did it again today!
-Goblins are scary!
-Today, only half of my spells failed!
-I didn't shoot arrows into your butts today either.
-Then what's this in my armor?
-Huh?
-Kyaak! Run! We're under attack!
It was hard, but they could still laugh.
Because there were always people who needed help.
There were plenty of small requests that glory-seeking heroes wouldn't even glance at.
-I guess even guys like us are needed, huh?
-I feel proud.
-Today was fulfilling too.
-You just slept all day though?
-That's why it was fulfilling.
-Oh my.
Companions who could cherish each and every adventure of helping people and bringing back their smiles.
So he could only say they were too good for him.
However, perhaps the ending for them, who were ordinary in an extraordinary world, was predetermined.
They were truly wonderful people, but it was a harsh world for those with wide-reaching kindness and weak to emotions to survive in.
"Kuhuk..."
"Take a deep breath and calm your mind. There's still ti left."
Versya's eyes were fading.
He was probably looking at his past companions with blurred eyes.
"Cough. That's how... I lost… them all."
"Is that so?"
"Haha. But... they didn't go in vain. I... am proud of them."
To save a girl taking care of her sick mother.
For a child who should have been in its parents' arms right after birth.
For a boy soldier who joined the war to find his brother.
For won who took up arms and risked their lives to protect children.
They died one by one.
And they left one by one with smiles.
-I am... satisfied.
-Why did you hurry so?
-Their tears haunted ...
-You did well...
-Did the child survive?
-Stop! Don't say anymore! Just hold on a bit longer!
-No. Even I know that much.
-Sob!
-What about the child...?
They closed their eyes worrying about those left behind until their dying monts.
To Versya, they were true heroes.
-Why on earth!
Those who accepted even Versya, who couldn't understand the value of sacrifice.
-Haha. Don't be sad. We're just going ahead to wait.
-I... I hope you will only join us after a long ti...
-I’m sorry. That I'm going first.
-I believe in you.
-It will be hard... but you can overco it.
And so he beca alone.
"It's just my turn now."
Versya's eyes slowly closed.
"They were wonderful companions."
"Haha... Too good for ."
"Were they..."
"But it was fine. Until that mont."
"Until that mont?"
"...No one rembered them."
He thought it might be because they didn't achieve great feats or subjugate infamous demons.
However…
"I couldn't... stand them being ignored and insulted."
Incompetent Hero Party. Odd jobs. Problem children. Losers.
All sorts of contempt poured out.
"At that ti, I... thought it was all my fault."
Various kinds of disrespect poured onto him who was left alone.
As the situation on the continent worsened, the criticism towards the incompetent hero intensified. Moreover, towards those who had been with him as well.
"If only I had died, they wouldn't have had to face such contempt..."
His eyes closed. He was barely opening his mouth.
"The story after that is nothing special. It's ordinary."
"Why is that?"
"I just... tried not to let their nas be in vain. That's all..."
"You must have gone through a lot to beco as strong as you are now, haven’t you?"
The Holy Sword, given only to the strongest hero.
However.
"Haha. Compared to the adventures with my companions, it is all just trivial stuff. Cough."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
There was not a hint of hesitation in his voice.
The Spirit Summoner smiled at that.
"Then haven't you fulfilled your wish? As your fa grew, the evaluation of them must have changed."
"Haha..."
Versya shook his head with difficulty.
"Their last wishes weren't for to beco special."
The strength was leaving Versya's voice.
"The continent is facing destruction."
"If even you find it difficult..."
"Yes. It is not an easy situation. It is beyond my abilities too."
"I see..."
The Spirit Summoner didn't comnt on that.
"What were their last wishes?"
He simply asked what past companions' last wishes Versya was following.
At that, Versya's lips curved into a smile.
"An ordinary... daily life... for everyone..."
Versya couldn't continue speaking.
"You are already a splendid hero..."
The Spirit Summoner closed his eyes for him.
*
Versya, which had now beco his na.
-Shouldn't our party have a na or sothing too?
-A na? Is it necessary?
-How about Versya?
-What does that an? Mage.
-Yeah. It ans 'courage' in the Rune Language.
-Isn't that far from who we are?
-Shut up! Nas are supposed to be cool!
-Hahaha. We'll just have to beco a party worthy of the na!
Their laughter welcod Versya.
:"
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