Farewell, Leon
The hero sighed and raised his head. Upside-down soil. Tilted trees. Tangled roots. The hero lightly kicked the overturned dirt with his foot and stroked a few of the fallen trees. Then, walking slowly through the knotted roots, he scanned the surroundings once more. A breeze passed by. Only then did he lift his head.
"…I get the gist."
At those words, several knights turned their heads simultaneously.
"Really?"
"That story?"
The hero shrugged. Staring at me, he answered nonchalantly.
"I'm not saying I believe every bit of it. But that girl has no reason to lie."
He paused briefly.
"And she's not the type who couldn't pull something like that off."
A few knights fell silent. The hero glanced at me and chuckled softly.
"She helped us escape the Demon King's Castle."
All the knights' gazes turned to me.
"She held off the Ma왕군 간부 in our place."
A brief silence. The wind blew. The knights looked visibly tense. Gazing back at the forest, the hero continued.
"So the forest ending up like this, a dragon being here, the druid dying and coming back…"
He looked at me again.
"It's surprising, but not completely unbelievable."
At the hero's words, one knight cautiously spoke up.
"Then… that pink tree too?"
It wasn't directed at me, but I nodded and answered anyway.
"Yeah. It's a dragon."
The forest fell quiet again in an instant. Several knights stared at the tree simultaneously. They were still flustered, faces full of shock.
"…Believe it already."
The hero drove the point home to the doubting knights. I nodded.
"Thanks for trusting me, Hero."
In that moment, the hero's expression turned a bit strange. It stiffened slightly. He looked at me briefly, then spoke again.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"That."
The hero pointed at me with his finger.
"The 'Hero' title."
I tilted my head.
"What about it?"
The hero gave an awkward smile, though his face showed some dissatisfaction.
"I noticed that druid earlier. She called me by name."
"Elesia?"
"Yeah. Elesia."
He paused, arms crossed.
"At first, I let it slide. Figured maybe you just don't use names much."
He stared at me intently.
"But it felt off. She uses my name, so why am I always 'Hero' with you?"
A few knights stifled laughs. The hero pointed at himself.
"Why don't you call me by name?"
I thought for a moment. Demon territory. Our first meeting with the hero. Yet I'd never changed how I addressed him. Meanwhile, Elesia's name had come naturally. I looked at the hero again.
"Leon. Leon Valt."
I nodded.
"Got it."
A brief silence passed. The hero narrowed his eyes.
"Say my name."
The knights held back more laughter. I pretended to hesitate a bit before saying,
"Leon."
I paused.
"That good?"
The hero's expression grew peculiar. He scratched his neck for no reason and looked away.
"…Yeah. That's fine."
Overturned earth. Fallen trees. They entered my view once more. The wind blew. But the sunlight remained warmly unchanged. The air was as delicious as ever. The soil, for some reason, felt joyful.
"Well, I'll be off then."
The hero looked at me.
"Where to?"
I shrugged.
"Anywhere. Just traveling."
One knight asked, looking a bit surprised.
"Leaving now?"
"Yeah."
The hero glanced at me and smiled.
"…Yeah."
He nodded.
"That's how she is."
I didn't reply. I just turned around. I could see the path leading out of the forest. After a few steps, the hero's voice came from behind.
"Hey!"
I stopped moving and turned.
"Yeah?"
The hero raised his hand.
"See you again sometime."
I thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, Leon."
The hero—Leon—smiled. I headed off again. Out of the forest.
I left the forest and walked along the road. No particular destination. Just following where the sunlight pointed. With every step of my roots, the roadside grass responded. The soil underfoot subtly rejoiced, and the surrounding plants seemed to lift their heads a little. By now, it all felt natural to me. A sensation I'd never known as a human, but now one that would feel strange without.
Then I spotted a small flower wilting by the roadside. Tap. Without thinking, I tapped it once. And it revived.
I kept walking like that, crossing one mountain. There was a forest on that mountain. Just a forest. Trees, grass, a flowing stream—just a forest. The sunlight was good. The air was delicious. So I stopped for a bit. That time was very quiet. The grass was grass, the trees were trees. No one greeted me or spoke to me.
After that, I passed a few more forests. Over mountains, along roads, encountering more forests. Some had tall trees. Some smelled strongly of grass. Some teemed with animals. But they were all the same. Just forests.
I didn't encounter anyone like Elesia. No fairies talking to me, no trees happy to see me—nothing. I stopped sometimes, wondering if someone might speak. But nothing ever happened. Just the wind passing by.
Elesia. She was a pretty special friend, huh. Thinking that, I kept walking.
A little further, and a small village appeared. For some reason, the atmosphere was extremely chaotic. No one guarded the village. Some shops were shuttered. Houses had half-closed windows locked tight. Merchants talked in the streets, a few adventurers shouted in front of the tavern. People gathered everywhere, chatting. Their voices were low, but their faces serious. They were all talking about the same thing. And the main topic matched what I'd expected.
"The Demon King's remnants are on the move!"
It had only been yesterday since the Hero Party arrived in the city, so news of the Demon King's death had probably spread by then. And by now, word of Bellishian Drakar was likely out too.
I slipped past their conversations and approached a villager.
"Excuse me, what's this plant?"
Grass was planted in a roadside flowerbed, and one was wilting.
"Oh, that? It's maldaha. I tried eating… it…?! Gah!!"
The auntie freaked out at my root lower half. Maldaha. Something I'd tried eating with the Hero Party. A vegetable with a spicy kick, like chili mixed with apple.
Ignoring her scream, I approached the plant and breathed life into it. It revived. Not wanting to cause more of a stir, I slipped between buildings away from prying eyes.
The narrow gap between buildings. Peeking through, I toured the village and set off again on my way.
That's when I spotted a building in the corner.
[Haemai Church]
Haemai Village? Come to think of it, a church. Yesterday in the city, it was a cathedral. Like the difference between Protestant and Catholic—maybe something similar here? With my root lower half, going inside would be a huge bother, so I peeked through the window.
"It's a real church."
People were sitting. It was night now, but they had their eyes closed in prayer. And the object of their prayers was the statue inside the church.
The statue… As I looked, I couldn't help but be stunned.
"The Saintess…?"
It looked exactly like the Saintess. Really identical. Face, hair, eyes—all just like the one I knew. The only difference was one thing. Her expression. The Saintess I knew always smiled. In front of people, in the Demon King's Castle. But this statue wasn't smiling. Eyes closed, like she was praying too.
I leaned closer to the window. The church interior was very dark. Just a few candles lit. Their light illuminated the statue from below in various directions. Small voices rose. Prayers.
"Lord… protect us…"
"Please bring complete peace to the world…"
I blinked. The Saintess wasn't a god. At least, not the one I knew. Just a person. A bit strong, a bit stubborn, very pretty—just a person. But what these people spoke of wasn't the Saintess. It was a god.
That's when it happened. The ground reacted ever so subtly. The soil touching my roots trembled just a little. Like… it sensed something.
"…Just my imagination?"
That instant. Someone inside the church raised their head. And our eyes met. I blinked. The person inside blinked too. We stared for a moment. Then, feeling awkwardly embarrassed, I bowed my head slightly. A greeting. The person inside looked startled for a second, then awkwardly bowed back.
Seeing that, I turned away. Lingering to sightsee more felt rude. I quietly left the church and exited the village.
It was night. Outside the village was a small hill. I climbed to the top. An unmanaged hill where grass grew to my waist. Every gust of wind made it rustle softly. The air was good. Grass scent. Earth scent. I slowly lowered my body. This felt more comfortable than any bed. The grass wrapped around me like a blanket. Warm. The ground breathed quietly. The wind passed once more. The grass rustled again. I closed my eyes just like that. And for the first time in ages, I fell into a truly peaceful sleep without a thought.