Chapter 2
Chapter 2
My fifth memory was glory.
"Captain."
"Bel. I told you to call me noona. If you keep that up, noona will get upset, you know?"
"..Something strange appeared on my hand."
The day after the mark of an apostle appeared on his hand, Bel went to find the Mercenary King early in the morning.
She was a commoner who carried the title ‘King’ and possessed suspiciously vast knowledge. Bel thought she would know what this mark was.
As expected,
"..Bel."
"Yes. Captain."
"Let’s talk for a moment."
The captain cast a soundproofing spell as if no one should hear this conversation.
She hadn’t even gone this far when revealing the weaknesses of nobles.
Bel wondered. Just what was this mark, for the Mercenary King to react like that?
After setting up the magic circle, she sat down.
"Bel. Have you had any dreams recently?"
"A dream..?"
Seeing her serious expression, Bel began to feel uneasy.
"A dream where someone unseen speaks to you from within white or black clouds. Have you had one?"
"..No."
At my answer, the Mercenary King’s face turned even paler.
"..Bel. Listen to noona carefully."
"You’ve been chosen by a god."
"....What?"
Bel was rarely this flustered.
It made sense. It hadn’t even been a week since he learned of the existence of gods. Just a year ago, he didn’t even know that this world had been created by one.
And now suddenly, he had been chosen by a god.
"Then… what happens now?"
"..."
The Mercenary King looked down at me with sorrowful eyes.
"You can become a companion of the Hero."
She continued quietly.
"The appearance of the mark means the Demon King will soon descend upon the world."
"The Demon God appoints the strongest demon of the era as the Demon King every 500 years to destroy the human world."
"The other gods, except the Demon God, form a Hero’s party to stop him. Each god selects one apostle."
"The God of the Sun. The God of the Moon. The God of Earth and the God of Gold. The Goddess of Benevolence."
"And exceptionally, there is Yggdrasil, the god of the elves who possess divinity, and… the God of Death, whose existence is shrouded in mystery."
"The Hero chosen by the Sun God stands at the center. The Goddess of Benevolence chooses a Saintess to care for humanity. The Moon God selects a mage to burn the demons. The Earth God chooses a warrior to protect the party."
"The God of Gold appoints a guide to lead the way to the Demon King. Yggdrasil selects an archer to pierce the heart of the Demon King’s army. And…"
The God of Death selects the blade that will pierce the Demon King’s heart.
"The gods usually designate their apostles through dreams, where they hear a divine voice before a symbol representing that god."
"But the God of Death… gives no revelation."
After saying that, the Mercenary King’s expression looked extremely complicated.
"But don’t worry too much. Just because you have the mark doesn’t mean you’ll be forced into the Hero’s party."
"..I understand."
Back then, what was I thinking?
Even Bel himself knew that the talent granted to him was far too great to be wasted on mere mercenary work.
That day was the first time Bel reflected on his own existence.
Three days after the mark appeared.
"Vice-captain… someone is here to see you."
"Who?"
"..I think you should come out and see."
Following his subordinate James, Bel arrived at the meeting room.
As expected, a man calling himself the Hero and a woman introducing herself as the Saintess were arguing with the Mercenary King.
"Are you Bel, the vice-captain here?"
"Yes, I am."
The Saintess looked at me with pity.
"..You’re much younger than I expected."
At her words, the Mercenary King snapped.
"...I told you, you lunatics. You’re taking away a kid who just escaped the slums? Do you even know how hard Bel’s life has been?"
Silence fell for a moment.
"..As I said, that decision is not ours to make. It is the will of the gods…"
"The will of the gods?"
The Mercenary King cut the Hero off.
"Fine. You’re right. The damned God of Death chose Bel, and the moment that happened, his fate was decided."
"But doesn’t that go against your doctrine?"
"Aren’t you treating humans like tools and sending them to war? Am I wrong?"
The Saintess clenched her teeth.
"...Do not insult the gods."
But the Mercenary King did not back down.
"When did I insult them? You’re sending a child who just started understanding the world to war as the apostle of death. And to the most dangerous role at that. I’m just describing the situation objectively."
"What part of that is an insult? Bel could die!!"
She shouted.
"..."
"..."
The Hero and the Saintess had nothing to say.
Because even they knew she was right.
But they couldn’t give up on Bel either. This was not a childish matter. The fate of humanity was at stake.
For the first time, they resented the gods.
In that silence,
the one at the center of it all, who had yet to speak—
Bel opened his mouth.
"What happens if I don’t go?"
"...."
By now, Bel understood.
He had no real choice in joining the Hero’s party. The Mercenary King had said it was optional, but something had clearly changed.
Otherwise, people like them would never lower themselves to someone like him.
"..Humanity will be destroyed. By the Demon King."
At the Hero’s words, Bel answered calmly.
"Then that settles it. I’ll prepare. Let’s leave immediately."
"Bel..!!"
The Mercenary King called out urgently.
I walked up to her and smiled.
"It’s okay. I’m okay."
I was still bad with words.
"I’ll save you, Captain."
Talking to others was still difficult. Especially expressing my feelings or comforting someone.
So the only thing I could do was convey what I felt.
"I’m really okay."
At that, tears welled up in the Mercenary King’s eyes.
I stepped closer and wiped her tears.
She looked at the Hero and the Saintess with trembling eyes.
"..You two."
"..I haven’t decided anything yet."
"If you want to take Bel… at the very least, tomorrow."
"Not today. Absolutely not. Understood?"
They nodded.
"..."
I rolled the word ‘glory’ around in my mind.
A word I had only ever read in books, one that never formed a clear image—
" I’m okay, Captain—"
"..No, noona."
Maybe this was what it felt like.
My sixth memory was a dream.
About a year after joining the Hero’s party.
"..Haah. Everyone… are you okay?"
At the Hero’s exhausted question, everyone answered.
"Alive, at least."
"I’m out of mana."
"..Do I look okay to you?"
"..I’m fine."
"..Please wait a moment."
After checking everyone’s condition, the Saintess gathered divine power in her hands.
She looked strained, having even cast buffs during the battle, but she still pushed herself to heal the guide whose left arm had been torn off.
A three-day-long battle against the Demon King’s army.
After fighting with everything they had, they managed to kill two of the six enemy commanders.
It was the greatest achievement of the Hero’s party in the past year.
"..."
Bel left his resting companions behind and moved away.
He was checking if reinforcements were coming.
Standing between the demon realm and the human world, the dense demonic energy made every breath feel like it tore at the lungs. The temperature was around minus twenty degrees.
In such conditions, no one could use even thirty percent of their true strength.
Hero Aden. Saintess Lucia. Mage Ricardo. Warrior Malay. Elf Irina. And Guide Claire.
A party of geniuses, perhaps seen once in a hundred years.
But in this extreme environment, all were equal before death.
Especially the mage, the elf, and the saintess.
For those who had never felt death before, this journey must have been constant suffering.
"..Huu."
In contrast, for Bel, there was no place more peaceful than a battlefield.
It was as if he had been born for it.
He had already overcome the fear of death at six.
Yes, the sensation of death was always there, but compared to the terror he felt when he was powerless, this was nothing.
It could hardly even be called fear.
Bel climbed a hill and looked toward the demon realm.
A land blackened entirely.
Once a green field, now twisted by demonic energy.
Under black clouds, gray haze drifted through the air.
If death had a density, this place would be an ocean of it.
A place whose very purpose was the death of life.
To struggle to escape death, only to be chosen by the God of Death and fight to the death in a place filled with it.
The life named Bel was the very definition of a paradox.
Still, there was no particular emotion in it.
He was still just a boy.
Bel had never really thought deeply about the world.
He simply lived because he was born that way.
"..."
For some reason, he felt empty.
This kind of thinking didn’t suit him.
He moved the mana in his hand idly.
At that moment, the Mercenary King’s words came to mind.
"How about setting a goal?"
The vague advice she once gave him.
Back then, his goal had been to learn to read.
…She had been right.
A goal.
Bel closed his eyes and imagined.
By the time he opened them, his companions were getting up.
He gathered the mana he had spread around.
And just as he stood—
"Hey. You okay?"
Ricardo, the silver-haired mage, approached him