Heroes Are Not Eligible for Pensions
With trembling hands, she lifted a single small sheet of paper. And slowly read the words written on it.
Not eligible for pension benefits.
Reason: Unable to verify participation in the Demon King subjugation war.
It was something I could've fully anticipated. The other adventurers hadn't received their pensions either. But still, I'd held out a sliver of hope. After all, I was the hero who'd slain the Demon King—surely I'd be the exception. But no, I didn't get one either. As was entirely predictable.
I guess I've been used. This isn't what they promised. They definitely said that if I, as the hero, subjugated the Demon King, they'd give me everything. Rewards so vast I'd never spend them all in a lifetime. There were even whispers of granting me a noble title. I never doubted those words. Clinging only to that promise, I left my beloved hometown to journey forth and defeat the Demon King. Leaving behind the one person I longed for back home. After subjugating the Demon King, I wanted to return to their side laden with those promised rewards. To live out the rest of my days in happiness with them.
But now, after slaying the Demon King and ending the war, all that's come back to me is this pathetic scrap of paper. The rewards they swore to give upon the Demon King's death? Nowhere in sight. Not even the pension they claimed would be ours just for fighting in the war.
I stared down at the hands clutching the paper. Small, white hands. They hadn't always been like this. I'd been cursed during the battle with the Demon King. Transformed into the body of a little girl. In a body like this, I couldn't work anywhere. There are hardly any jobs for a little girl. Unwelcomed everywhere—a tiny girl no one wants around. In this state, even scraping by day-to-day would be impossible.
I'd gained nothing and lost everything. If I'd known it'd end like this, I never would've set out to subjugate the Demon King. Surely no place would welcome a mess like me. But shamelessly, I came crawling back anyway. To the side of that person I yearned for. Empty-handed, without so much as a token reward, trapped in the body of a little girl.
Heroes are not eligible for pensions. No lifetime stipend to live on. No rewards. No titles. Anywhere.
But I had a place I had to return to. An everyday life I needed to reclaim. My appearance had changed beyond recognition, but even so... I wanted to go back. Because I missed them so much.