Chapter 38
My hometown was a small settlement next to the ocean.
The temple I underwent the Divine Blessing Ceremony in was also quite run down.
My Class ended up being the Magic Swordsman. Since I heard that it was a powerful Class that was strong on the offense, I remember feeling thankful for it.
Thinking back on it now, it’s kind of funny, but I was quite enamored with the concept of Heroes back then.
It wasn’t like saving people was an especially meaningful act to me either. I was simply a bit too prideful, prone to flights of fancy, and had a slightly stronger than normal desire to be acknowledged as someone amazing by people.
However, that kind of personality paired with the Magic Swordsman’s incompatible priorities with a Party led to frequent loud disagreements with my Party members.
It might sound like an excuse, but the other adventurers of that city were just as obstinate and selfish as me. Our town was small and poor, so everyone was out for themselves first and foremost. I was no different either.
In the end, because of the friction caused by our mismatched priorities and a number of misunderstandings, I was framed for a theft during a job and was subsequently ostracized as a result. With a broken heart, I fled my hometown.
Trying to move bases as a low Ranking adventurer without any knowledge or connections, things had no chance of going well. The city born adventurers called me a country bumpkin and ripped me off at every opportunity.
Those days as I was treated like trash and kept making various mistakes, I had no choice but to acknowledge that I had no particular sense for the adventuring life, nor any talent for fighting either. For a prideful person who was aspiring to become a hero, that one hurt the most.
After that, I was forced to risk my life every day, while not even being properly compensated for it either. That was how my adventuring life was for a long time.
In hindsight, I can tell that I had my faults as well, but at the time I just hated every single person in the world.
Then one day, I met a certain person.
“Kalos-kun, there is a certain talent hidden within you that no ordinary person has. You have the capacity to become a Hero. Until now, you were just the victim of circumstances… You are meant for great things that could shake the world. Would you accompany me? I need your power.”
I’m not a complete idiot.
I was well aware that I had no such talent and knew, intellectually, that he was simply spouting cliches just to use me.
With all that I experienced, I knew when I saw a bad person by now. I knew right away that all he wanted was for me to dance to his tune by whispering sweet words into the ear of a down on his luck person like me.
However, the words of that man had a certain passion, a kind of devilish charm to them.
Furthermore, this was the very first time I’ve been complimented in a straightforward manner like this, or being told that they needed me.
Even if it was a lie, it felt nice. In the end, I fell in with them.
◆
“I can’t lose in a place like this!”
Kalos stood up with a bellow, tightly gripping his sword.
However, it was all but over already. Even if he’s a higher level adventurer with Endurance focused Skill Trees, he already got hit twice with [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] and [Relentless Vigor], and still has the [Poison Protect] on him for another three minutes. During that time, Kalos’s Character Build will be virtually powerless. There is no way for him to pull through after this.
“[Crimson Wave]ー”
What Kalos was aiming for was a kind of crowd control maneuver by launching an AOE, which sounds good in theory, but it was nothing but a vain struggle in the end. Like a child throwing a tantrum, he launched a wave of conflagration centered around himself.
Kicking off from a nearby rock, I jumped over the shockwave and slashed down towards Kalos.
“Don’t come near me!”
After dodging Kalos’s half-hearted attack, I cut his arm off.
The [Black Rope Sword Gehenna] flew off together with his arm. Watching this happen in a daze, Kalos finally lost the last bit of energy he had. Unable to even stand anymore, he fell to the ground.
“It’s over now.”
I put the tip of my sword to Kalos’s chin.
“W-we really managed to win…. Against that [Black Flame Sword]!”
Luce was leaning on Mabel’s shoulder as they were walking closer to me. Celt was also accompanying them.
“Elma, just kill the bastard! Who knows what kind of hidden ace he might still have!” Celt yelled towards me.
“Can’t do that. We need this guy to talk, or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
The group supporting Kalos, the [Vanguard of the God of Dreams], is a wholly unknown organization that knows more than the nobility about the mysteries of Skills and Classes and uses that knowledge to bring about various disasters. Their existence itself is a serious threat to this world. They might have the backing of someone who has a lot of influence, or maybe even a reincarnated person like me. So far I didn’t even give a second thought about why I have my former life’s memories, so that whole thing is still a complete mystery.
However, now that I think about it, since it happened to me, it’s entirely possible that someone else might’ve gone through the same thing.
Anyway, we need Kalos to cough up everything he knows. Their existence is simply too much of a danger.
“That piece of—!”
Celt scratched his head with a growl. It seems he’s aggravated by the seeming contradiction that we need to handle the criminal in front of us with care.
“You psychotic bastard! How dare you fool us and use us! Your acting was really top notch, you know. Were you laughing at us inside the whole time, huh!?”
Celt nocked an arrow and pointed it at Kalos. He turned his gaze to Celt, but he kept silent and did not answer.
That’s when it happened.
“[Dark Blaze]!”
From behind us, a shrill voice sounded out, accompanied by a barrage of dark projectiles. Mabel, who reacted the fastest, jumped forward and deployed a Magic Circle.
“[Mana Barrier]!”
A magic barrier blocked the incoming black flames. Since the attack was launched from quite a distance away, the fall off damage was just enough for the [Mana Barrier] to hold out against the black flames.
“Y-you bastards, what the hell are you doing to my teacher!?”
Her face pale as a sheet, Hilde pointed her blade at us. Seeing Kalos’s severed right hand on the ground, Hilde’s expression changed into one of sheer rage. Standing behind her were six other adventurers.
Apparently, Kalos told Hilde that he managed to detect the whereabouts of the traitor and instructed Hilde to stay away, since she would just be a hindrance to him. After that Hilde must’ve had the clever idea to ask another party to come and help out Kalos.
“And here I thought you guys were decent people, but… you were the traitors all along. Get the hell away from my master!”
Her timing was terrible. At this point, talking down an enraged Hilde will most likely prove to be impossible.
Killing Kalos here would mean not just losing out on important intel, but it would also set Hilde’s antagonism in stone.
If it comes to that, then with our current state, we wouldn’t be able to stand against Hilde’s group. In the worst case, some people might even end up dead.
“You really are a stupid kid right until the end. How many times did I tell you that I don’t remember becoming your teacher?”
Kalos spoke up just then.
“Tea….cher….?”
Hilde asked, looking completely bewildered. She looked like she just could not process what he said.
“I’m not a decent person that could become someone’s teacher.”
Kalos continued in a sad tone.
A heavy silence fell upon the area.
Kalos consistently expressed his reluctance to be called teacher by Hilde. That might be simply because he wanted to raise his prestige as an A rank adventurer even higher, which was the reason he offered his advice to her to begin with.
However, it might also be due to the last slivers of his conscience that felt bad about Hilde, who so innocently idolized him.
“Top notch acting….huh. That’s right. I just thought by acting like someone who I would’ve admired back then would be fine. I was so envious of you… and found you radiant at the same time, Elma. You were living exactly as I imagined a Hero would. No underhanded dealings in your past, nothing to feel ashamed for. I did not lie when I said I have an eye for people, you see. That’s why I knew as soon as I met you; you are my polar opposite type of person.”
Kalos explained.
It looked like Hilde’s emotion did not manage to keep up with the information she was presented with. Still, it seems she got the general gist of the situation, since she was just standing there in daze while looking at Kalos.
Kalos must’ve felt at least some guilt about his actions. He also didn’t seem to have any clever scheme on hand to extract himself from this situation.
“Kalos, tell us please. Who are those people you were working for?”
After a brief hesitation, Kalos started speaking.
“That time…. I was just a kid that no-one cared about, who would’ve just died in a ditch somewhere.”
I didn’t know where he was going with this, but I listened carefully for the time being.
“I was taken in by that person…. and I chose to sell my soul, my humanity, and serve him. If I were to betray him at this point, then this time, I would become nothing in truth.”
A Magic Circle was deployed, centered around Kalos. I did not expect that Kalos would try to put up a fight anymore, so my reaction was one step too late.
I had a choice between killing Kalos or trying to dodge. After a moment of hesitation, I jumped back as far as I could. The black flames that appeared over his head shot down and accurately pierced right through his chest.
【You have gained 6500 experience points.】
【Your level has increased from 75 to 80.】
【You have gained 5 Skill Points.】
A cold robotic voice informed us of our Level Ups one after the other.
“Teacher—!!”
At the same time, Hilde’s grief filled wail echoed around us.
Feels bad. He kept his dignity, and that’s just about it
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Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter