The Hero's Fall and Bitter Farewell
Siegfried charged at me, having completed his first request. "Kyaaah—!" Cream screamed upon seeing it.
Am I going to die like this?
I'd braced myself for getting beaten up during my loser days, but...
I never prepared for death—!
He's supposed to be the hero!! The hero!!! How could a hero try to kill someone!!
Siegfried's holy sword was already drawn and right in front of my eyes. Ah... half-sliced? The holy sword was truly at my nose. I thought, this is it.
Life flashing before my eyes? Nothing like that.
Huh? What the...?
No pain at all. I opened my squeezed-shut eyes. The holy sword frozen mid-air. In Siegfried's hands, chunks of rock were blocking him.
What...? Oh! Brynhildr!
The talisman she'd left behind. It had activated.
Helping me right to the end! Thanks, Brynhildr!
"What happened?!" Nibel and Hagen rushed over at Cream's scream. As they arrived, the talisman wore off. They saw Siegfried poised to attack me.
"Sieg...? What the hell?!"
"What did you do, Siegfried?!"
Nibel quickly pieced it together, grasping what had gone down. Hagen pulled the frozen Siegfried away from me. Nibel snapped out of it and shoved him back too.
"Let go—! Let me go!!"
Siegfried thrashed wildly.
"Why are you doing this?!"
"All brawn and no brains!!"
Nibel even resorted to magic against his brute strength.
"Hoo... hoo... crazy bastard."
"Sieg, what the hell's going on?"
Nibel had to use binding magic to finally restrain him. He didn't know the reason, but he'd stopped the murder attempt for now. Hagen figured if I died, Altera would be freed, so he held Siegfried back too.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you!!"
Even bound, Siegfried inched forward slowly. Hagen grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground.
"Enough, Sieg! A hero committing murder? You lost your mind?"
Ughhh—! Siegfried ground his teeth, head planted in the floor.
"Sieg... is this because of Cream?"
Nibel glanced at Cream behind me and assessed the situation.
"Cream's heart belongs to no one but herself. Whoever she likes is her freedom."
Nooo—! Siegfried bellowed.
"Sigurd!! That bastard did something weird to Cream!! He's a Demon Army spy!"
Nibel shook his head at the utterly deranged Siegfried.
Huh? The sword's light...?
The sword, once shining like the sun, began to dim.
"Oh no..."
Nibel sighed, knowing exactly what this meant. The sword lost all its glow, turning into an ordinary blade. Nibel released Siegfried.
"Hagen, no need to hold him anymore."
"What? This guy's suddenly weak."
"Sigh... he's lost his hero qualification."
Nibel looked down at Siegfried with contempt.
"You were chosen as hero with a pure heart. But now jealousy has tainted you, stripping your qualification."
Attempted murder sealed the deal on disqualification.
"?! So that's it."
Hagen let go upon hearing Nibel. The moment he was free, Siegfried snatched the fallen ex-holy sword and swung at me.
Cream moved to take the hit for me. Before she could get hurt, I lunged forward first.
Siegfried, caught off guard by my charge, reacted slowly. I whipped out my sword from inventory.
Clang—!
I parried his blade perfectly, knocking it from his grip.
Clang—!
I pointed my sword at the disarmed Siegfried's throat.
"Sieg... stop. Cream isn't an object. And I'm not a Demon Army spy."
In a way, I was a messenger of the gods. From another dimension, sure, but carrying out a divine request with god-given power—calling myself a divine emissary wouldn't be off.
Maybe valuing his own life, Siegfried stopped rampaging and just trembled.
"Why... why!? Why did the holy sword suddenly weaken!?"
"Because it's no longer a holy sword."
Nibel explained the sacred power had drained, leaving a normal sword.
"When a new qualified hero appears, a fresh sword will form in its place."
Siegfried had lost Cream, his hero status, and his holy sword. Thud—! He dropped to his knees, tears flowing.
"Haha... hahaha... Why me... like this...?"
No one pitied him here.
Hagen pondered something else—probably about Altera.
Nibel racked his brain on how to report to the king back in the capital.
Cream checked me over for injuries.
The bonds he'd built in under a year crumbled completely.
Siegfried rose with dazed eyes and stumbled out. He looked suicidal, but aside from me, everyone stared elsewhere.
"Kehkehkeh—! The hero party ends here."
The worst party in history... Nibel took my luggage without a backward glance at Siegfried and left the inn.
"Hold up, talk to me a sec."
Hagen pulled me aside, away from Cream, saying he had words.
"I've helped you plenty, so how about giving me Altera?"
He demanded Altera.
I could, but...
Altera had suffered greatly these past days. She'd learned her lesson through pain. Heading back to Earth soon, I decided on one good deed.
"Sorry, but that's not happening."
I refused. Hagen gripped my shoulder hard.
He started threatening.
"You think I'm asking nicely? I could tell Cream everything you did. Or kill you right here."
Shing—! He drew a dagger to my chest.
"If I... no, if I die."
Everything was out with Hagen, so I dropped the formal speech.
"The brainwashing lifts if I die, and you die too. Try it."
I stayed calm despite shaking. Hiding the World Tree branch and admitting to brainwashing helped.
Life-first Hagen sheathed his dagger.
"Tch—! Gimme my stuff."
Hagen grabbed his gear and left.
After parting with Hagen, I went to Altera.
"Altera, your hell ends here."
Declaring the hero party's end, I freed her.
"Return to World Tree Village. Forget everything about me."
I pulled out the World Tree branch and commanded her. A single tear rolled from Altera's eye. I handed her luggage, and she left.
Just Cream and me in the hero party. No—without a hero, we were just adventurers now.
Back with Cream, she sat on the bed, looking bittersweet.
"Let's grab breakfast."
After eating, we wandered the streets in silence. She was quiet, reminiscing about party memories.
"Pretty..."
We stayed out till evening. Cream looked up at the sky and spoke.
"Yeah... so pretty."
A clear sky rare in Seoul. Stars twinkled brightly.
Time to tell her.
The dilemma since confessing to Cream. I decided to reveal my secret.
"Cream, truth is, I'm from another world."
I expected shock, but...
"Finally telling me?"
Cream responded calmly, no surprise. That shocked me instead.
"We all knew you had secrets."
Suddenly joining mid-journey. Skin and hands too clean for a commoner. Not noble either, since illiterate. Suspicious.
"But we decided to trust you and wait till you opened up, seeing your hard work."
Uh... um... Hearing that made me feel like total trash.
Feel like? I am trash.
I came to steal another man's woman from the start. No shaking now. I've been trash all along.
This is a game world... I steeled myself inwardly.
"But hiding something this huge... I'm shocked."
No expression change for someone shocked. As I spilled all my secrets, my body started fading.
"You're... leaving?"
Cream realized parting time, tears falling.
Ah...
I'd grown too attached.
Any way to take her to Korea?
No matter how I thought, impossible. Cream saw my wavering eyes.
Mwah—! She grabbed my cheeks and kissed me.
"Don't apologize. I'll be fine."
Me, a saintess~? She was saddest yet comforted me.
"Gotta part with a pretty face!"
She wiped tears, smiled. With that smile, my vision went black.
Siegfried left the village, wandering the forest. He clutched what was once his holy sword.
Any living thing—monster or beast—he slashed. Like venting rage.
He roamed till sunset, then leaned on a tree to sleep. Dreams always featured Cream, naked.
"Ahh... Cream—! So beautiful..."
He approached dream-Cream to touch her, but...
"Scram."
A naked man blocked him. Sigurd, who'd shown him despair. At Sigurd's appearance, Siegfried's knees hit the ground.
"No... no!!"
Hands reached out, but couldn't touch them. Sigurd and Cream made love.
"She's mine, my Cream!!"
Screams changed nothing. In despair, his thing swelled. Unknowingly, his hand moved there.
"Hah... hah..."
Siegfried woke from the nightmare. His lower half sticky and wet. He headed to a stream to wash.
"Huh...?"
Shocked at his reflection. The face in the water was smiling.
After that, he kept wandering the forest, fading from people's memories.
Back in my studio apartment. Smartphone on the desk. First modern thing in ages—I picked it up and turned it on.
Date hasn't changed?
The day Shimbu Rumkun gave the request. Time unknown, but date unchanged.
"Time stops in other dimensions—total cliché, right?"
That smug voice. Shimbu Rumkun grinned at me.
"Lots to say, but rewards first?"
Like our first meeting, he swung his staff.
"A gift from Father. Said to tell you it was fun."
His gift: an ability.
"Fate Summon. Summon people you met in other dimensions."
"Cream too?"
"Yep. But mana cost means short summons for now."
Short was fine—summonable! Mana pool's small, but I can grow it.
"Next, the hero's prized ability! Better to see like a game than hear it."
As Shimbu finished, a blue window popped up before my eyes.