"You're the Only One for the Hero, Right? No, Maybe You're Just an Idiot ♡"
“Aren’t I the only hero you have?”
“Are you seriously not knowing that~?”
I wasn’t. I hadn’t read the novel at all, and you never told me, you damn woman… I wanted to say that, but I just nodded instead.
The Saint smiled lightly and answered.
“Heh, then shall I teach you~?”
“Yes.”
“Heroes can appear up to five at most in a single generation. Right now there are three of us—including you, Hero-sama. How could you not know something like that? You really know nothing, do you~♡”
“…Indeed.”
I let out a silent sigh. There was no reason to get angry—she had no ill will toward me.
If she had any, she wouldn’t have saved my life in the first place.
She had lured me to places where I could handle monsters of appropriate levels, healed me when I got hurt, and kept treating me even though she never showed it. It must have been incredibly hard to keep patching up someone who got injured so often without being noticed.
At least I could hope she would change that way of speaking…
“There’s a regular reporting gathering for heroes at the district we’re visiting today. It’s called a reporting gathering, but in truth it’s just a social gathering to get along with the nobles and heroes.”
“I see.”
I answered without much thought. The Saint tilted her head and asked.
“But how much do you know about noble etiquette, Hero-sama~?”
“How could I possibly know that?”
“E~ Then you really know nothing, right?”
“Yes.”
How could I? I wasn’t even from this world originally. This body was probably from a commoner background too.
“Fufu, then you’ll come and make a fool of yourself without knowing anything. Such an idiot♡”
“…Is there really something to make a fool of myself? Just go in and take a seat and be fine, right?”
The question made the Saint show her signature arrogant smile.
“You’re not seriously thinking that, are you~? Even if you’re an idiot, you wouldn’t think that. Ah, wait, could it be that you’re such a dummy you can’t even realize you’re an idiot?”
“……”
Damn it.
Before entering the district, the Saint had taught me the essential etiquette: proper greetings and table manners when eating at parties, plus things a hero should be careful about.
“Don’t get too entangled with the nobles, right?”
A moment ago she had said it was a gathering to build camaraderie with the nobles. The contradictory words made me blink. The Saint laughed with a smug “Heh heh” and showed her eyes smiling.
“Asking something so obvious, you really are an idiot who can’t think for himself~♡”
“…What’s obvious?”
“Hero-sama is different from the other heroes—you’re newly appointed. So you don’t know what kind of person the nobles are. There are plenty of schemers who want to use someone as naive as you.”
It was probably out of concern for me, and I knew the Saint cared about me a lot…
“Remember what I said. Don’t forget it again like an idiot~♡”
“Yes, I will.”
At least change the way you talk…
Regular Hero Reporting Gathering
The regular hero reporting gathering was where the heroes of the current generation gathered in one place, reported on their achievements, and received praise for their deeds. They also received appropriate rewards based on their accomplishments.
The location of the regular gathering changed depending on the time. Even though they all fought the Demon King, there were still national interests at play.
Countries that had united against the Demon King took turns hosting the regular gatherings, and this time it was the turn of the Mars Empire, the country that belonged to Abel’s village.
The regular gathering was basically an international banquet on a huge scale, so the Mars Empire had prepared it with great effort.
Especially because there was no hero from the empire itself, the gathering was particularly important—this was the place to announce the birth of a new hero from their own country.
As Abel and Estelle arrived at the district, they walked the streets while heading toward the Imperial Palace. The capital of the Mars Empire, Tracia, had a grand avenue stretching from the city gates all the way to the Imperial Palace.
People of the empire called this the Avenue of Triumph. It was named after the heroes who had won wars and walked this road back to the palace.
“Well, let’s check if the foolish hero hasn’t forgotten what I taught him~?”
“…What?”
“You didn’t forget the warnings I gave you, did you?”
“Not to get entangled with the nobles?”
“Thank goodness you remembered. If you hadn’t, you would have been worse than a flea~♡”
The Saint winked and smiled arrogantly. Seeing her, Abel sighed.
“…I remember at least that much, Saint-nim.”
“I see. I must have underestimated Hero-sama a little.”
What the hell was she even saying? Abel looked at her with those eyes. She smiled lightly and asked.
“Then, let’s confirm if you remember all the etiquette I taught you~?”
“……Um, yes.”
Abel answered with much less confidence than before. The Saint noticed and quickly asked.
“How did you say to greet someone?”
“I am Abel, the hero who came from Daisy Village. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Ah~♡ Hero-sama, that’s wrong. You couldn’t even remember one thing you were told… Maybe the goldfish has better memory than you~.”
“…What was wrong?”
Estelle raised her finger and brought it close to his eyes.
“Idiot~♡ Don’t you know even something this simple? The order was wrong~.”
“Ah.”
Abel finally realized. The Saint enjoyed seeing his reaction.
So cute.
“You should greet first with ‘I’m happy to meet you’ and then introduce yourself. You really didn’t know even that obvious thing? Does that mean no one ever greeted you before~?”
“That’s not….”
“No choice then~♡ I’ll specially think of you as my friend.”
“Eh?”
Abel looked dumbfounded. Estelle gave him a slightly dissatisfied look.
“What’s with that look? Do you not want to be friends? I’m the Saint of the Solaria Church, and I’m offering to become your friend. You should be honored.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
“Fufu, there you go. Hero-sama is such a useless scrub who can barely beat a kobold. I’ll help you a lot as your friend~♡”
The end of the avenue was already in sight. Abel and Estelle stopped in front of the entrance to the imperial palace at the end of the road.
“Where are you from?”
When the imperial guards asked, Estelle placed her hand over her chest and said.
“I am Estelle, the Saint of the Solaria Church. And this is Hero-sama, Abel, who was chosen this time.”
The beautiful and holy figure stunned the guards for a moment. They quickly recovered and apologized politely.
“Ah! I’m sorry for not recognizing you. Please come inside.”
“Thank you.”
Estelle smiled as if saying I’m the Saint, and the slightly blushing guard opened the door. Abel, watching it, thought to himself…
Damn woman. She was only acting like that to me.
He cursed the Saint inside.
“Wow, it’s really huge.”
The scale of the banquet hall was so grand it erased the shitty mood from moments ago.
Honestly, I had never seen a banquet hall this big, so it felt strange. While I was staring, the Saint next to me laughed.
“Fufu, Hero-sama has never been to a banquet hall like this?”
“Of course not.”
This body was originally from a commoner, after all. How could I have been to a place like this?
“Still, don’t look too amazed. People might run away because you’re too out of place~?”
“…Yes.”
Damn it, I wish she would fix that mouth of hers. She always acted for me but spoke like that…
Still, the thing that made it bearable was that she looked cute even with that shameless expression. Thanks to her being the perfect heroine from the novel, I could at least tolerate it.
…But she was definitely the heroine. I didn’t know because I hadn’t read the novel. The title was The Hero Who Travels with the Mesugaki Saint, after all.
“Of course, even if everyone else runs away, I won’t. Don’t worry~♡”
“That’s really appreciated.”
Contrary to what the Saint worried about, no nobles approached them when they entered the hall. They only glanced their way for a moment.
“Saint-nim, no one’s coming over.”
“Hero-sama, you should at least be a little less clueless. I wonder if that’s even human intelligence~♡ Maybe you’re not a monkey~?”
“Eh?”
“Of course. Because you haven’t announced that you’re the hero yet, they don’t know. Most of those people will suddenly change their attitude later, so be careful. Got it?”
“…Yes.”
Damn, maybe I could have figured that out.
If the Saint’s words were true, they would announce that I was the hero right there, so I would definitely stand out.
I don’t want that.
Thinking about it, the Saint mentioned other heroes too. Who were they? I kind of wanted my attention to be on them instead.
“Saint-nim.”
“Yes, Monkey Hero-sama~?”
“I’m not a monkey….”
“Then a chimpanzee~♡ Or a gorilla?”
“…That’s not important. What kind of people are the other heroes?”
“Ah, what a nutritious question.”
The Saint looked around and pointed to one person.
“See that guy over there? The man with short red hair. Ah, maybe your useless eyesight can’t see him~?”
“…I can see him.”
“That’s great♡ He’s Revius, the hero of the Minerva Kingdom.”
“Where’s the Minerva Kingdom?”
“Seriously, Hero-sama, you really don’t know anything. It’s not just military strength—it’s intelligence too?”
Damn it, of course I don’t know. I hadn’t read the novel.
The Saint saw that and curled her eyes. Why was she winking every time? If she wanted to soothe me with beauty, would I like it more?
…Damn, why did it work so well.
“The Minerva Kingdom is a country to the east of the Mars Empire. It borders our empire and has active exchanges. It’s surprising that you don’t know that. There really is no other monkey~♡”
“…Thank you for telling me.”
The hero of the Minerva Kingdom, Revius, looked cool and manly even from a distance. Completely different from me.
…Thinking about it, I never looked directly at my own face since I was reincarnated.
I wasn’t paying attention. Whatever, my face wasn’t important. I would see it later.
More importantly, a beautiful woman next to Revius caught my eye. Not because of her looks, but because her clothes were similar to the Saint’s beside me.
“Then there are multiple heroes, so there are multiple Saints too?”
“You’re smarter than a monkey, after all. Yes, each church has one Saint, as I said♡”
“The Saint-nim is clearly….”
“The Saint of the Solaria Church who worships the sun god Solaria.”
“Then who is the Saint of the church that lady belongs to?”
When I pointed at the woman beside Revius, the Saint’s expression suddenly stiffened.
“Saint-nim?”
“…Hero-sama, you’re not getting interested in that woman, are you?”
“Eh? No, just curious…”
Why the hell? Her tone suddenly changed and I was startled. When I said I wasn’t, she finally relaxed and went back to her usual tone.
“Oh? Well, even if Hero-sama is trash and a scrub, you wouldn’t suddenly become a monkey chasing other women~♡”
It always ended with her mocking me like that. Still, she didn’t forget my question.
“The Saint who travels with Revius Hero-sama is the Saint of the Ludria Church who worships the wind goddess.”
“Ah…”
Why didn’t she give the name? When I looked at her with a puzzled expression, she asked as if I had another question left.
“What is it, Hero-sama~?”
“…No.”
Something felt wrong about asking. It was just a feeling.
Anyway, the third hero hadn’t arrived yet. The Saint had only taught me about Revius.
At that moment, a woman with brilliant golden hair entered the banquet hall, waving it around. Oh, she was really pretty. Golden hair and blue eyes—like a heroine from a novel…
…Couldn’t be.
People around her gasped and approached.
“It is an honor to be graced with your presence.”
“I just came to my assigned seat.”
Nobles bent to greet her. She must be someone important.
The Saint pointed at her from beside me, who was watching in amazement.
“That’s Elfride, the hero of the Vesta Kingdom.”