Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Prologue
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< Prologue >
Prologue
From a young age, I'd been learning swordsmanship and martial arts.
Not because I enjoyed it.
It was closer to being half-forced on me.
And it wasn't just martial arts. Shooting, survival skills, cooking, sewing—pretty much all household chores.
Back in kindergarten, I had no idea I was unusual.
It was around the time I started elementary school that I realized my situation—or more precisely, my parents' approach to education—was peculiar.
Then, in my second year of middle school, I asked my father.
"Why are you teaching me all this?"
It wasn't like I was picking a fight. I'd been at it since I was little, so I was pretty accustomed to it by then. And honestly, I didn't mind much. My parents were the type who didn't care about school grades precisely because they were busy teaching me these odd skills.
In any case, Father pondered my question far more than I'd expected, then spoke with an incredibly serious expression.
"Our family has the hero's blood running through its veins."
"Not the Demon King?"
No, seriously, this guy.
At my half-hearted retort, Father slowly shook his head, his face still grave as he replied.
"No, not the Demon King—hero. Truth is, your old man here is the hero. I already saved Phaien... you know, the fantasy world, once."
"Ah, I see."
He didn't seem interested in giving a straight answer.
I figured I'd just brush it off as a joke, but somehow, I couldn't. Father's eyes and expression were too earnest.
In the end, operating under the assumption that he really was a hero, I asked one more thing.
"But then why'd you come back? If you saved the world, you could've lived like a king there."
Like in all those recent novels and comics—maybe he'd been cast aside after saving the day.
I found myself curiously anticipating what he'd say.
And as always, Father delivered an answer that exceeded my wildest guesses.
"Fantasy worlds don't have internet... or bidets."
What can I say? It was utter nonsense, yet weirdly convincing.
I stood there stunned for a moment, shook my head a few times, and took a step back.
"Uh, um. Anyway, that's enough. You can explain later why you taught me all this stuff."
"Son, I'm not joking. You thought it was strange too, right? How I don't really work but still live so comfortably?"
"Weren't you just some rich kid living off family money?"
"Nope. It's from selling off the stuff I brought back with me. Legit money I earned through blood and sweat. And..."
"And?"
"Your mom... isn't she, honestly, freakishly pretty?"
"Well, yeah... she is."
Mother really was abnormally beautiful. She didn't seem to age at all. Standing side by side, people often mistook us for siblings rather than parent and child.
"Well, probably fastest to just show you."
With those words, Father's presence shifted.
Hard to put into words exactly what it was.
But in that instant, I realized.
The entire space around us was under his control.
Father was no ordinary human.
Cold sweat trickled down my back. If I exaggerated a little, it felt like standing before a god.
"I'd planned to talk about this with your mother together... but looks like it's happening a bit early."
Father's presence returned to normal.
He extended a hand to me—I'd collapsed to the floor without realizing—and continued.
"In a month... your mother and I have to head back to her hometown. Trouble's brewing there again. Seems the Demon King's been revived."
"I... I see."
I didn't even feel like cracking a joke or pushing back anymore.
Father chuckled softly at the sight of me.
"I'll get back as quick as I can. Might take a while, though... so don't slack on your training in the meantime. It'll all turn into blood and bone someday. Who knows—you might get yanked off to another world like me one day, hailed as the hero."
"Hmm."
It was a story that tugged at me oddly, even as it repelled me.
Hero's blood, huh.
Did that mean my late grandfather was one too? Or was it just Father?
As I started slipping into some full-on middle school fantasy delusion, Father's large hand came down on my head. I looked up on reflex and saw him grinning.
"I'll be off."
"Take care."
That was four years ago.
Father's words turned into reality.
< Prologue > End