A Morning After the Battle: Relief and Intimacy
...Hic...hic...
I ran with both Saintesses on my back, barely managing to keep myself from collapsing too. The colossal body of the Agares-class monster crashed down onto the ground with a heavy thud and began to shrivel like a deflated balloon. A strange, foul gas leaked from the wound in the creature's eye.
...What in the world is that?
...You'd know if you just looked.
Put me down...
This time, the hips on either side started talking. The left one... is taking off her skirt. Now that I think about it, Estelle was doing something similar with her skirt earlier.
Estelle, your underwear today is pink, right?
Kyahhh!? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you pervert hero!!
Estelle slapped my back repeatedly.
Ah, hold on. It hurts like hell.
Before I could break completely, I set Estelle down and turned to look at Celine.
The one on this side is your sister, huh? She's a bit larger.
...Hero-nim, you fell for the joke?
...I was spotted.
I lightly set Celine down too. Then I asked Estelle.
Look at this. What's leaking from the wound in the eye?
...I wondered how something that big could be floating. Turns out its whole body was full of steam.
Steam?
No matter how I looked at it, it just looked like gas. Thinking back, people in this era probably don't even know what gas is.
So it shrank because of that, huh?
Yes, that checks out.
...Still, we actually did it. The three of us wiped out a monster that huge.
Still, it was a blessing.
Yes?
The Agares-class monster that appeared had high firepower and a large size, but its patterns were simple. In fact, when Abel climbed on top, it couldn't react?
Yeah, that's true. So it was kind of weird.
It was probably focused purely on firepower because it was meant to handle monsters guarded by higher threats. There were tons of high-risk monsters under the North Queen, after all.
Ah.
So it wasn't suitable for solo operations. Right. If the high-risk monsters that had come to protect it when I was captured... were still around...
...Even imagining it is terrifying.
...Still, the firepower was too strong, so I need to check how much damage was done. Abel, could you see if there are any survivors among the soldiers or paladins from earlier? Estelle and I will head toward the border.
Yes, understood.
After Estelle and Celine left, I wandered across the scorched earth. Heat still rose from the ground, making it warm. The only sounds I could hear were my own footsteps and breathing on this vast land, which felt weird.
...There were supposed to be a lot of people with me. Their cheers and battle cries should have echoed across this land.
Most of them were faces I didn't even know, but they were all people I had to protect.
Estelle said I didn't need to blame myself. She said it was unavoidable. But could I just wave it away as a simple excuse for the inevitable?
How many people died? I shouted to wash away the bitter, gloomy feeling from those thoughts.
Hello!? Is anyone there!?
I yelled into the empty air, but the only thing that came back was my own voice echoing off the mountains.
......Damn it.
I broke into a full sprint. Just in case someone had passed out and missed my voice, I started searching every corner.
I didn't even need to run like that. The entire area was scorched, so everything was visible from far away. Still, I wanted to find at least one person. Anyone who was still alive...
But I found nothing.
#
We managed to take down the Agares-class monster surprisingly easily, but we hadn't come through without a cost. Not only had Estelle and I suffered, but when you looked at it, the damage had been massive.
The Solaria Church's paladin order was wiped out, the northern border defense force was completely annihilated except for a few soldiers, the northern border collapsed, over two hundred civilian homes burned to the ground, civilian casualties impossible to pinpoint...
The Agares-class monster fired its powerful beam only three times. One of them was into the sky, so in reality it caused that level of damage with just two shots.
If I really had screwed up and couldn't take down the Agares-class monster in time, military experts even suggested it might have reached Delphoi.
...Still, thanks to you, the Hero, and the two Saintesses, we could end it with minimal damage. Truly amazing, Hero Abel.
You are the hero of our kingdom.
The Solaria Goddess will be overjoyed.
Despite all that, they were praising me. They dismissed the catastrophic damage as minor and were trying to cheer me up.
Maybe it wasn't even a lie. After all, the scale of damage is always relative. Compared to the appearance of an Agares-class disaster, this could very well be considered minimal.
Either way, I couldn't stay silent about them praising me. I nodded slightly and said.
...Thank you.
Right now, I was at the palace. The Apollo Kingdom's royal palace. I had come to report the sighting and defeat of the Agares-class and Barbatos-class monsters.
The nobles gathered at the palace to hear the report, and even the king of the Apollo Kingdom himself kept thanking me and Estelle and Celine. But honestly, receiving those thanks didn't make me feel any better.
...Abel, are you okay?
Then Estelle asked with a worried voice.
...Was my expression too gloomy? I forced a slight smile.
I'm fine.
......
The nobles at the palace were throwing a victory celebration feast. Some of them clearly didn't feel like enjoying it.
But remembering that such feasts had been held in Habsburg City, maybe this was just their way of showing gratitude.
Hero-nim, if you're tired, we can cancel the feast.
I already knew that offering to cancel was just politeness. I couldn't reject something already decided. I nodded like I was fine.
I'm fine.
Ah, I see. Then...
After saying goodbye to the nobles, I entered the assigned room and flopped face-down onto the bed. I roughly set up a makeshift camp bed nearby and buried my face in the pillow.
...Hah.
Why did hearing someone die next to me feel so unfamiliar? Maybe because I had lived in a peaceful era for so long.
Now I knew exactly what a hero was and what they did. If I wanted to keep living as one, I would need to become a little numb to death.
...This isn't working.
When would I get used to it? As I thought that, a knock sounded on the door.
Tap tap, twice, timidly. The person knocking already knew who I was. I slowly got up from the bed and approached the door.
Without opening it, I said.
Estelle?
...How did you know?
It was her, as expected. I turned the doorknob and welcomed her in. Estelle wasn't wearing her priestly robes. She looked like a comfortable nightgown. A cute pink one at that.
A slight smile formed on my face from her adorable figure.
What happened?
Ah, Abel... you see...
Estelle closed the door softly and approached me. I waited quietly, wondering what she was up to.
If it's not an intrusion, I can comfort you.
...Eh?
Estelle pursed her lips like someone making a decision and suddenly began unbuttoning her clothes.
Estelle!?
I quickly grabbed her hand. She blinked in surprise, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed, and said.
W-why are you stopping me?
Wait...
I let out a small sigh. Offering to comfort me with her body was weird, so of course I had to stop it. Where had she learned that method from...... Celine?
Estelle gave me a look like she was slightly annoyed. Instead of letting her do whatever she wanted, I pulled her hand closer.
Yah!?
And I pulled her into a tight hug. She jolted in surprise at my sudden move, then slowly reached out and patted my back.
...It's okay, Abel.
......If I had been a little stronger, I could have protected you.
That would have been too little. You would have needed to be much stronger than you are now.
...I'm too weak.
I guess so. I don't think so, though.
I felt her touch and asked.
Why? Without Estelle, I can't do anything. Without blessings, I can't even touch the edge of high-risk monsters, and without her help I can't even defeat monsters properly...
You're too greedy, Abel.
Greedy...?
Estelle said it gently but seriously.
Abel, your growth is amazing. Honestly, if you got more experience like the other heroes, you might become even stronger than me.
...But right now you're not.
So in time you'll become strong on your own, Abel. You're just too greedy. The other heroes fight while receiving blessings too, and you taking down an Agares-class monster with a little help is already amazing. Didn't you see how the nobles reacted? You'll understand when you look.
I recalled the nobles' and king's reactions to Estelle's words. Still, my heart didn't calm down.
One thought kept lingering in my mind.
...The achievements built on the lives of countless people.
So what? Protecting everyone from monsters in the first place is a fantasy. It's impossible unless you're actually a god.
...A hero should protect people, but using their sacrifices to build achievements?
Abel.
Estelle grabbed my face and made me look at her. Her amber eyes, filled with moonlight, gazed at me seriously.
A hero isn't a god. And while a hero is someone who must save people, it's not all of them.
What...
Abel saved the majority with a few sacrifices. Heroes always stand at the crossroads of choice. Using the sacrifices of soldiers and knights labeled as the few to save the civilians labeled as the many. But most heroes choose the many. Why do you think that is?
...Because there are more of them.
No. The soldiers and knights in the few may be weaker than the hero, but they are people who came to fight to protect the majority.
.......
Those people have made up their minds to give their lives. Even if their lives are like ants in front of a powerful monster, they advance without fear. Heroes need to respect the resolve and choices of those few. If a hero says he will save the few and gives up the many, what would soldiers and knights do?
...They'd be furious.
The hero's role is to fulfill the wishes of those soldiers and knights who have passed on, and to comfort their deaths. If you feel sorry for them who died honorably and boast about saving everyone, that's nothing but desecrating the value of the few who sacrificed their lives.
Estelle wiped the serious look from her eyes and smiled slightly.
Well, since you're a goldfish-level idiot, you probably didn't understand my words~♡
I mulled over Estelle's words. It wasn't that I should naturally accept the sacrifices of the few. It was respecting the choices of those knights and soldiers in the few. I nodded.
...Thank you, Estelle.
...I'm glad you feel a little better♥
Then let's finish.
...Eh?
Why are you pulling back now? I didn't let go of the subtly trying-to-escape Estelle. I whispered to her and asked.
Don't want to?
Uw...... No...
I chuckled. She was the one who tried to seduce me first, yet she was acting so embarrassed.
How did someone like this come up with that idea... Was it Celine's doing?
I gently stroked Estelle's cheek. She rubbed her cheek against my hand like a cat.
You're cute because you're like a cat, Estelle.
Estelle stared at me silently, then opened her slightly puckered pink lips like cherry blossoms.
...Nyaong.
...Ah, seriously.
...That was too much for my heart just now.
Why are you so cute?
......Only for you.
That's good.
I picked Estelle up in my arms. She let out a small sound and wrapped her arms around my neck so she wouldn't fall.
Just as I was heading toward the bed, I heard a knock.
...Who's there?
...Abel, don't open it.
Eh?
Estelle glared at the door like a cat guarding its territory. When I didn't react to the knock, the door suddenly burst open.
!?
Ah, really! How did you know I was here?
It's rude for the Saintess to break a promise, isn't it?
The one who burst through the door with a sharp face was a beautiful woman—Celine.