The Hero's First Step

Hero Eve.

The great heroine of humanity who drove her holy sword through the heart of the Demon King after he led countless demon armies out of the demon realm in a bid to conquer all mankind.

Who joined forces with Rien of the Gale, one of the Ten Swords of the Kingdom, to seal the rampaging Spirit King Oberon.

Who struck the reverse scale of the Demon Dragon that had reduced the eastern great plains to ash as it advanced on the Benos Kingdom, and drove it back.

Acknowledged as the master of the Holy Sword, she had been called humanity's final weapon and the strongest human alive.

"······."

And now she lay like a corpse in the pitch-black corner of a room where not a single ray of light entered, blanket pulled all the way over her head.

Only a few weeks earlier she had shone brilliantly before everyone, the living symbol of hope. The reason she had become this shut-in wreck was simple.

She had despaired from the depths of her heart.

Ever since she had barely escaped the Abyss of Despair with her life, Hero Eve had not once stepped outside this narrow room.

She had covered the windows with blackout curtains to shut out every trace of outside light and completely stopped eating and drinking.

Only the vitality of a Holy Sword's master and a hero kept her alive; curled up and motionless, she was little more than a breathing corpse.

Even Rien of the Gale, the Ten Sword of the Kingdom who had once fought beside her against the rampaging Spirit King, and the former members of the Hero's party who had entered the Abyss of Despair with her, had failed to drag the hero out of the house.

No—after her return from the Abyss of Despair, no one had even seen her face.

Gid, warrior of the Hero's party and Eve's own younger brother, had tried smashing the door down to force his way in, but the hero's power protected the entire house, and he failed.

Hero Eve was the strongest among humans. When the strongest human decided to cut herself off from the outside world, it was only natural that no one could reach her.

Then, while she lay in that dark corner doing nothing but breathe, an unusual roar of cheers drifted in through the window.

Hero Eve had tried to sever every connection with the outside, yet she was still a hero.

What if something happens out there and people get hurt? That hero's worry kept her from blocking out sound as well.

The thunderous cheers that shook the entire royal capital reached Hero Eve.

"······Termin."

The moment she heard the name of the house that had destroyed a Great Rift mixed into the cheers, the hero rose from the hard floor for the first time since her return.

Click. Creeeak—

"Haaah······. Hm?"

In front of Eve's house.

Gid, her younger brother and the warrior of the Hero's party who had been standing guard the entire time, yawned and turned his head at the scream of the old hinges.

"Uh, uhh? Uhhhhh?!! N-Noona?!"

Through the narrow crack of the opened door he saw the familiar messy blonde hair and golden eyes, and he nearly bounced right out of his seat in shock.

His noona, whose spirit had been completely broken, who had seemed ready to stay locked in that room for the rest of her life, had opened the door herself and come out.

Gid was so overjoyed he wanted to leap to his feet and jump around on the spot.

But he could not move the way he wished.

He had lost both legs in the Abyss of Despair.

"Noona! You finally came out! I've been waitin' forever!"

So he gripped the wheels of the wheelchair built specially for his massive frame, used the spring of his body to bounce up and down while still seated, and cheerfully welcomed his noona, Hero Eve.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Gid was a giant even among giants, his already compressed muscle compressed still further; every time he bounced in the wheelchair the ground itself shook.

Watching her little brother celebrate her appearance, Eve's hand trembled on the doorknob.

"Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah."

Her breath grew short, her heart pounded unpleasantly hard, and a cold chill ran down her spine.

"Kh······ ugh."

The urge to slam the door shut and erase her brother's figure from her sight rose instantly, yet she clenched her teeth and endured the impulse to flee.

"······N-Noona."

Seeing Eve's face go deathly pale, Gid stopped bouncing the wheelchair.

He had thought that because she had come out on her own she must have overcome it the way she always did. She had not.

His noona was still broken.

Afraid she might close the door again, Gid said nothing and simply looked at her with pure worry.

But that worry never reached Eve.

She had endured the urge to run, yet keeping her brother's current form in her field of vision was still too painful, so she kept her gaze fixed on the floor.

"G-Gid. Th-there's, um······."

Eve forced her mouth open and spoke in a tiny, vanishing voice.

Gid was deeply saddened that his always lively, confident noona had become like this overnight, but he did not show it.

If he looked sad, she would only feel sadder.

"Mm! You got somethin' to ask? If it's a request from Noona, I'll do anything—just say the word!"

Gid hid his pity and deliberately raised the energy in his voice to encourage her.

Eve steadied her breathing several times, then squeezed her eyes shut and spoke.

"I-I, th-there's a place I w-want to go······!"

"Ohh!"

Hearing that his noona wanted to leave the house and go somewhere, Gid could not have been happier as a little brother.

"Where is it?!"

He asked, voice full of excitement and expectation.

Still staring at the floor, Eve answered timidly.

"Te-Termin. House······."

What left Eve's lips was the name of the Termin house, the one currently famous for destroying the Abyss of the Army.

"The Termin house! The house of those heroes who wrecked the Abyss of the Army! I've been wantin' to go there myself! Noona, come on out! We're goin' right now!"

"Uh, u-uh? R-right now?"

"Why waste time? If we wanna go, we go—that's our style! C'mon, Noona!"

"Eep, I-I'm still in my pajamas······."

Afraid that if he told her to change she would go back inside and never come out again, Gid grabbed Eve's wrist and pulled her along by force.

Even without legs and stuck in a wheelchair, Gid was still a giant; dragging Eve, who was smaller than the average adult woman, was nothing.

Eve, wearing only a thin T-shirt, shorts, and slippers, was hauled along by her little brother.

Thus the hero and the warrior siblings of the Hero's party set out for Termin Territory.

"······."

The moment I read the words on the translucent notification window, my brain short-circuited.

Even though the letters were right there in front of my eyes I still couldn't believe them, so I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and even slapped my own cheek hard enough to make a loud smack.

Yet the text on the notification window floating before me remained unchanged.

My cheek, slapped by my own palm, began to sting.

As time passed the pain grew sharper and clearer, and that sharp ache told me that what I was seeing was real.

"Y-Young Master? Why did you suddenly slap your— Kyaah?!"

Once I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accepted it was real, I could no longer hold back.

I yanked Rina into my arms, buried her face against my chest, and hugged her as tightly as I could.

"Mmph······."

"Rinaaa!!! You're the absolute best!!!!"

An S-rank Blessing—and not just any S-rank, but the Blessing of Restoration!!!

I was happier than if I had won the lottery.

Blessings couldn't be bought with money, so of course it was better than winning the lottery.

I was so overjoyed I bounced up and down while still hugging Rina.

In my heart I wanted to do twenty consecutive backflips right then and there, but unfortunately my body wasn't built for that kind of stunt.

So I settled for just bouncing while holding her tight.

"U-Ugh······ Pwah!"

Rina, face still buried in my chest, wriggled her head until she managed to lift it free.

"Y-Young Master. What on earth is this all of a sudden······."

She looked up at me with flushed cheeks and an utterly flustered expression.

Only when I met her bewildered eyes did I finally come back to my senses.

This was no time to celebrate.

"Rina! Come with me!"

"Y-Yes?"

I grabbed her wrist and dragged her straight toward the family head's office.

"Young Master! Dragging me is fine, but at least explain while you do it! And hugging me out of nowhere like that startles me too! You have to say something before you hug someone!"

Rina kept complaining as I pulled her along, but none of her nagging reached my ears right now.

The dopamine from learning that the S-rank Blessing of Restoration had manifested in Rina was still flooding my brain.

Click. Bang!

"Kyaa?! Young Master, if you open the door that hard you'll leave doorknob marks on the wall! Those are really hard to fix!"

"It's fine! It won't be hard anymore!"

"What? What do you mean by that?"

I left her question hanging and strode over to the office desk.

Lying on the desk was the fountain pen that had been passed down through the Termin family for generations.

I picked it up by the tip with one hand.

Crack!

And smashed it against the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠edge of the desk, snapping it clean in two.

"Hyaaaaah?!!! Y-Young Master?!!? Th-that's the heirloom fountain pen that's been handed down for generations······!"

At my insane act Rina let out a scream I had never heard from her before and rushed over in a panic.

I simply smiled at her and held out the broken halves of the fountain pen.

"Rina, put this on your hand and think about returning it to how it was."

"W-What? That's nonsense······ U-Ugh! Young Master, why are you doing this all of a sudden! Is this because I was sulking and huffing earlier? Are you holding a grudge and trying to put me on the spot?!"

"It's not that. Trust me and just try it once. Put the fountain pen on your hand and shout with all your heart, 'Return to how you were!'"

"······I have no idea what's going on."

Looking thoroughly confused and flustered, Rina nevertheless followed my words and placed the broken fountain pen on her palm.

"R-Return to how you were!"

She shouted at the pen, both cheeks and ears burning red.

Wooooom—!

"······U-Ueh?"

In that instant the snapped fountain pen began to be wrapped in an orange haze of light.

Fwaaash!

The orange light that had enveloped the pen soon scattered into particles of light that drifted away in every direction.

"······W-What is this."

After the light flared and vanished, Rina stared at the fountain pen resting on her hand in pure shock.

The pen that had clearly been broken was now completely restored.

This was the Blessing of Restoration.

A blessing that could return anything it touched to its original state—one of the top one or two most broken, game-breaking blessings in all of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Crack Kingdom.

Of course it had restrictions, but compared to the performance of this blessing those restrictions were something I could cover without any trouble.

"Rina, from now on I'm going to treat you really well. Let's stay together for the rest of our lives."

I confessed with complete sincerity to Rina, who was still blinking down at the restored fountain pen on her hand.

Even if the power dynamic flipped, Rina was a talent I absolutely had to keep by my side.