Take Responsibility
Take Responsibility
001
My name is Deron.
Kim Taeyoung, a 28-year-old cargo truck driver from modern Korea.
......That past is already distant.
Really, in the four years since I became Deron, I have almost forgotten it.
There is no way to know the exact reason for this phenomenon.
Whether Kim Taeyoung's memories surfaced in Deron, or Kim Taeyoung's soul took over Deron's body.
Or if even this is all an illusion.
I have no way of knowing.
However, in any case, there was no time to indulge in such contemplation.
"Deron!"
"...... Yes, yes."
Deron is a character in a novel.
A novel titled 'I Get a Job in the Demon King's Army After Being Banished'.
Just as the title suggests, it is a story about a hero who gets exiled, turns dark due to various circumstances, and takes revenge on the side of the Demon Army.
Deron probably died and bit the dust around that point as well.
The reason it is a guess rather than a certainty is because Deron does not appear after the early stage.
A character who appears briefly just to show the misdeeds of the party members.
Deron originally leaves the party on his own long before the main character is banished.
Because the bullying was terribly vicious.
However─
I endured.
The purpose of all that endurance was one thing.
Survival.
That was no shallow joke.
It was the reality facing me.
I want to live.
That desire is an indispensable instinct and urge present in all living beings beyond humans.
If there were no survival instinct at all, humanity would have been wiped out long ago.
Therefore, even after being possessed in a single moment without any warning.
And even after getting employed in a party of human trash scumbags—far more villainous than an abusive sweatshop company—I maintained that desire.
In fact, I accompanied it with actions to achieve that wish.
To summarize that action in a single word......
It is 'mooching'.
"...... It was my fault."
"I told you it is fine."
Amelia apologizing to me with a face full of guilt.
The apology coming from her lips was so deeply heartfelt that I internally felt a bit guilty too.
In truth, it would be fair to say she bore no responsibility.
Because Deron was not a regular member of the Hero Party.
Strictly speaking...... the second unit?
But among them, he was a decent backup member.
On top of that, a fair amount of relentless effort.
And with the advantage of knowing the content of the novel (of course, it wasn't much help), I became stronger than in the original work.
As a result, I reached a level where Amelia could clearly recognize my existence.
However, the first-tier party.
The villains inside who could clearly be defined as evil.
The bullying inflicted by those guys, and the kingdom-wide discrimination I received for being lowborn.
We were quite distant for such things to come into her sight.
Intentionally, I maintained that level of distance in our relationship.
Because if such things were brought to light, this 'hero' would surely try to protect me.
At the same time, I strove to make the best possible impression within that boundary.
How much she trusted me could be seen before coming here, through the lines of Rosel, the wizard of the first-tier party.
'Dammit, Deron, Deron. If it's going to be like this, why don't you kick out that bastard Geralt and just bring him along instead?'
'What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking son of a bitch—'
The curse words of the first-tier party warrior, whose job tenure suddenly faced a crisis in an instant, were vivid.
Of course, those guys didn't directly touch the hero, who was the main member of the party, but it was a detail showing that they were covertly ostracizing her and losing her trust.
"I, I thought...... I was the only one who was unhappy."
A continuation of such situations.
The news of exile delivered to the hero, whose mental state was already shattered from personal matters and various misfortunes.
She must have been deeply shocked by the fact that all members of the so-called first-tier party, as well as backup members like me, had consented to that decision.
Since she probably hadn't heard the detailed circumstances.
She must have assumed that I agreed to it too.
That's why she showed such a sharp attitude at first.
"But, you too...... even amidst all that, you were protecting me."
"......"
But after hearing the whole story, the hero burst into tears again and again.
Her face, which had been full of hatred and depression, was now messily distorted as she atoned for her own sins.
But as I said before, that sin is an illusion.
It is a craft I wove together solely for this moment.
Rather, I was the one who ought to apologize.
"It is fine, Hero-nim. To me, every single moment we spent together was simply an honor. Your very presence was a source of strength."
"Uuuugh..."
I covered that truth with a black cloth.
Sometimes truth is better left concealed.
"What on earth did I do to a child......"
Hero Amelia turned into a menhera while staring at the truth covered by that black cloth.
For the record, calling me a child is a bit awkward.
Me—that is, Deron—am twenty-one years old this year.
Since four years have passed since she first met Deron, she could easily have such thoughts by recalling Deron when he was a teenage boy.
The problem is that Amelia is twenty-two years old this year.
She is merely one year older than Knight Deron, and seven years younger than cargo truck driver Kim Taeyoung.
"I am not a child, Hero-nim."
"...... Puhuhu, you didn't like that?"
At my rebuttal, Amelia laughed foolishly, as if she had recovered a bit of her energy.
For the record, this line was also a conversation written in the Q&A script I prepared whenever I had free time.
The slightly grumpier tone, unlike before.
And the dissatisfied look in my eyes were all part of a prepared play.
"Of course, from your perspective, Hero-nim, I might not seem reliable."
"I didn't mean it like—"
"However, I have looked up to you for a long time, Hero-nim. Setting aside my position as a knight, protecting a woman I respect and cherish is both my honor and my duty."
"......"
This was also a scene depicted in the original work.
It was the same, except for the fact that the person conversing with Amelia wasn't Deron.
Her face flushed bright red.
Of course, there was no way the hero would fall for me at once over a confession like this.
In fact, no such thing happened to the knight who spoke those words in the original work either.
"...... No, you must go back."
As if to prove it, Amelia shook her head with a firm tone.
There was a certain conviction in those words.
"As you can see, I am no longer a hero."
Amelia was confessing calmly.
Her eyes reflected the state of the house, which had become a mess in a short period of time.
The completely cluttered room seemed to reflect her inner feelings.
"The hero you admired is no longer here."
What had come upon her was probably despair.
And even greater than that, self-hatred.
It was a character trope often seen.
The near-flawless Hero Amelia was actually an illusion.
What existed here was a girl who buried all her karma and responsibilities in the darkest depths of herself.
"So please go back, Deron. You still have a future ahead of you."
Showing her shabby self must have taken a great deal of courage.
Urging me to return like this was the same.
Because right now, she was in a state where she needed help more than anyone else.
"...... Thank you for everything."
Amelia turned away after leaving those words.
It was a posture as if she intended to leave no room for hesitation.
Ordinary words probably wouldn't stop those steps of hers.
Therefore, I shouted at the back of her head.
"I can't go back."
"......Deron!"
Amelia turned back around with a face tinged with a bit of anger.
The words that would follow were likely to be closer to an order than a persuasion.
Pal-lak-!
But then she winced and stepped back upon seeing the piece of paper thrust right in front of her nose.
?
It felt as though a question mark popped up above her head.
Her face was so full of doubt that it gave off such an illusion.
"Final verdict, Knight Deron and his direct descendants are permanently exiled. The crime is harboring and inciting a traitor.....?"
"That's how it turned out. I can't go back. Since all of this happened while trying to protect your honor, Hero-nim, you are partly responsible."
"No, what on earth does that—"
"So please take some responsibility for me. All my assets have been seized, so I'm on the verge of having to sleep on the street. Haha."
"......"
Amelia stared at me with a face as stiffened as my awkward laughter.
That gaze of hers felt a bit unfair.
In modern terms, isn't this a situation where my boss, whose line I was following, got blown away, so I got fired from my job too?
Then, am I now abruptly asking my former boss (female) to move in together?
I erased such improper analogies from my head.
Once again, there are times when truth must be left covered.
A short time after the menhera former hero and the former party member decided to live together.
"Furthermore, it is said that the neutral zone facing the kingdom has also been destroyed."
"The Glory Knights dispatched there have been annihilated, except for the Second Unit!"
"We are requesting as much support as possible, but most nations have deployed their forces to the borders of the Demon Realm, so......"
"......"
Hearing the reports flooding in one after another, there was a person whose mind was just as shattered as the hero's.
The very person who ousted the hero, who originally belonged to the First Prince's faction, for the sake of the succession struggle.
The former Third Princess and current King of the Libert Kingdom was that very person.
"Surely, didn't you say the subjugation of the Demon Realm was completed.....?"
To that voice squeezed out with a trembling tone, an answer returned immediately.
"Well. It is said that the Demon King has manifested in this world."
"......The Demon King? Do you mean the one written in those ancient books?"
"Yes, it is said to be the first manifestation in 607 years."
The history of the Libert Kingdom does not even span 607 years.
An incomprehensibly long, long time.
Of all times, am I the one facing this disaster that transcends such time......
"Haha."
The young Queen looked up at the sky with a bewildered expression.
A disaster that had not occurred while the throne changed owners 37 times.
Facing its occurrence, the thing that came to her mind at the same time was the former hero she had gotten rid of.
"It is retribution."
"......"
She spat out the word that everyone in the grand hall was thinking of.
What followed was nothing but silence.