What Is a Hero? (1)
Ice trolls.
Humanoid magical beasts averaging three meters in height, living in packs high in the cold mountain ranges. Capable of breathing freezing breath, those monsters were now closing in on Termin Territory.
"Sir Gid, did you confirm how many ice trolls there were?"
"Thirty of 'em."
"Thirty means an entire tribe has come down."
"You know that too? That's our big bro Offen for ya!"
"I've studied a little about the ecology of magical beasts."
Each ice troll was classified as C-rank—powerful magical beasts that only knights who could wield mana or B-rank mercenaries could hope to face. And thirty of those monsters were swarming toward them.
A tiny, precious territory with a mere fifty-six residents like Termin would be smashed to pieces in an instant.
If I weren't here, that is...!
Eve walked toward the northern wall with Offen, Rina, and Gid, the corner of her mouth curling into a small smile. She was the strongest and fastest among them right now.
All she had to do was draw the Holy Sword and charge in swinging. C-rank magical beasts like ice trolls were nothing more than candles before a storm in the face of Hero Eve.
Finally, I can show Baron Offen how useful I am. Working as a maid was strange from the start. I'm a hero. A hero is someone who swings the Holy Sword and destroys evil—not someone who dusts and mops floors! W-well, of course maid work isn't easy or trivial either... but still, being a hero suits me better than being a maid.
Eve considered her identity to be that of a hero. She had been chosen by the Holy Sword and had destroyed countless evils through it. She was the one who had driven the Holy Sword into the Demon King's heart, stopped the rampage of the Spirit King, and repelled the demonic dragon that had scorched the great plains while flying toward the Benos royal capital.
That was Hero Eve.
Rumble-clank!
Arriving first, Eve lightly pulled the pulley of the northern gate, and the portcullis rose.
"...They're coming."
As the gate opened and her view cleared, she saw dust rising near the horizon. A faint tremor rose from the soles of her feet. The pack of ice trolls was approaching from four kilometers away.
Rumble...
Trolls were known for their long limbs and exceptional physical abilities. No matter how hard they fought or how much they moved, they never tired easily, so their charging speed never dropped. Closing a distance of four kilometers would take them less than five minutes.
In five minutes they would reach Termin Territory, and using the momentum of their charge they would smash their quartz clubs against the walls. A single blow from a troll would shatter this shabby wall in an instant.
To protect Termin Territory from the ice troll pack, Eve walked out beyond the gate.
"Hooo..."
Hero Eve, who had fought and defeated the Demon King, the Spirit King, and a demonic dragon. To her, a pack of ice trolls was far too weak an opponent—even swinging the Holy Sword once felt excessive.
"I can do this. It's something I've done countless times without a second thought."
Draw the Holy Sword and swing it horizontally, and the ice troll pack would vanish without a trace. An extremely simple task. With that, she would clearly prove her worth to Baron Offen.
Rumble...!
The closer the ice troll pack drew, the thicker and wider the dust cloud spread. The tremors in the ground grew stronger as well.
Eve brought her right hand to her empty left hip.
Fwaaah-!
She lightly grasped the empty air right beside her left hip. With a brilliant golden light, a white scabbard embroidered with golden stars appeared. Inside it was the Holy Sword—the blade of the hero bestowed by the gods, the one that had pierced the Demon King's heart.
Before she knew it, the hilt of the Holy Sword was gripped in Eve's right hand. The ability to summon the Holy Sword anywhere—that was one of the many powers of her blessing, the Blessing of the Holy Sword (SSS-rank).
Rumble...
Eve fixed her gaze on the ice troll pack. They still needed a little more time to enter her range. Holding the hilt of the Holy Sword in her right hand, she waited for the enemies to step into striking distance.
"Huh? Sis! You summoned the Holy Sword? Finally gettin' to see your skills again after so long! No need for me to step in! Hahaha!"
"H-Hero... drawing the Holy Sword... I-I'm so looking forward to it...!"
From behind her came Gid and Rina's voices, full of anticipation. As people gathered at her back, Eve's shoulders gave a small flinch.
Rumble...!
After about three minutes, the ice trolls that had been hidden by the dust cloud became clearly visible. Soon they would be within five hundred meters—within her range.
"Hooo..."
Eve exhaled deeply, relaxing her entire body. Stay loose, then put power into the draw at the exact moment of the slash so that she reached top speed from the very first motion. That was the essence of the quick-draw technique.
Eve was the master of the Holy Sword and an unparalleled genius of swordsmanship. She intended to pour all the effort she had accumulated and all her innate talent into a single stroke and annihilate the enemy. In doing so, she wanted to leave a deep impression on Offen, her lifelong benefactor.
Rumble...!!
The ice troll pack stepped into Eve's range. At the same time, she tried to draw and swing the Holy Sword gripped in her right hand.
Clunk.
Or rather—she tried to swing it.
"..."
But she couldn't.
"...U-ugh."
The moment she tried to draw the blade, the memory of that day surged up. The day she had been completely defeated in the Abyss of Despair and her heart had broken.
Crunch-! Snap! Crack!
"KRAAAAAAH!!!"
"G-Gid?"
Right before her eyes, her younger brother's legs twisted and snapped, then were torn clean off.
Slash-!
"W-what? M-my arm...!"
"Sharen!? W-what is this! Why—why?!"
At the voice from behind, she turned her head and saw the right arm of her close friend, the elf Sharen, fall away.
"I-I'll pray! Everyone, gather to me!"
When two comrades suddenly lost a leg and an arm, Saintess Meer quickly clasped her hands and began to pray. Radiant holy power tried to spread from the saintess at the center—but her prayer never reached her comrades.
Thud. Plop.
"...Huh?"
"Meer!!!"
The hands she had clasped in prayer had been cleanly severed above the wrists and fallen to the ground. In the blink of an eye, three members of the Hero's party had been rendered combat-incapable.
"L-Lin! Cast a barrier!"
The leader of the Hero's party, Hero Eve, urgently called to the last remaining comrade—the mage Lin—for a protective barrier.
"There's something invisible—"
But Eve's request was cut off midway and never finished.
"Ghk... grrk..."
Lin, her vocal cords ripped out, clutched her throat as she sank to her knees, making wet, bubbling sounds of blood.
"...W-what...?"
Without sensing anything at all, every single one of her comrades—veteran heroes of the Hero's party—had been rendered combat-incapable.
"W-what is this? What the hell is going on!"
Whoosh—clangclangclang! BOOM—!!
Filled with rage, Eve swung the Holy Sword she held. With every swing, brilliant golden slashes tore through the surroundings. But all the Holy Sword cut was empty air. Whatever had done this to her comrades never even grazed the blade.
She tensed every sense and nerve so she could react instantly to anything that happened—yet Eve felt nothing. Something she could not perceive had torn her comrades' bodies apart.
"Haa... haa... h-how... how could this happen...?"
From the moment she had been chosen by the Holy Sword and become a hero, Eve's heart had never once broken. There had been difficult situations, yes, but never a problem that could not be solved. With the power of the Holy Sword, her innate talent, and her unceasing effort, she could overcome anything. The Demon King, the Spirit King, the demonic dragon—she had defeated them all that way.
"U-ugh..."
But now, for the first time, Hero Eve felt as if her heart was about to shatter. She could not think of any way to defeat an enemy she could neither see, nor feel, nor touch.
"K-kraaah...! S-sis...! Run—run right now...!"
"E-Eve... r-run. This is a calamity. Not something humans can face...!"
"Haa... haa... u-ugh. Hero... the gods are not answering. This is a great disaster. Please escape this place at once...!"
Comrades who had lost the legs that supported their upper bodies, the right arm that drew a bowstring, and both hands needed for prayer were telling her—still whole—to run.
"N-no. I can't. I-I can't run. I can't leave you behind and run...!"
Even so, Eve gripped the Holy Sword and tried to protect her comrades.
Tug.
In that moment, the edge of her cloak was pulled from behind. She turned her head and saw the mage Lin holding a scrap of paper.
Run. Now.
Lin showed Eve the paper written in her own blood, then pointed behind Eve with her finger.
"...U-uah."
Where Lin pointed, darkness was rapidly surging forward. From that darkness rolling in like a tidal wave, she felt no power, no emotion, no presence. She was certain that even swinging the Holy Sword would do nothing at all—just as swinging a sword at the darkness of night would change nothing.
She was certain that if that darkness touched her, it would not end with something as simple as limbs being severed.
"Sis! Full speed—k-ugh. Full speed, run!"
"U-uuh! No! I can't go alone!"
At Gid's roar, Eve shook her head wildly in refusal, then unleashed the full power of the Holy Sword. The hero's ultimate technique she had used when she felled the Demon King and pierced his heart.
Awakening of Courage.
An ability that detonated every last bit of power contained in the Holy Sword at once, pushing every capability to its absolute limit for a short time. True to its name—exploding the courage held in one's chest—Eve reinforced her entire body with that ultimate skill.
"U-uaaaaaah!"
She transformed the Holy Sword into the form of a rope, bound her comrades with it, then tucked Meer and Lin under both arms, slung Sharen onto her back, and dragged Gid along as she fled with everything she had—leaving the severed limbs of her comrades behind on the ground.
"Haa... haa... haa... haa... haa..."
Thanks to the peace of Termin Territory, she had briefly forgotten that day's memory—but now it rose again, vivid and raw. Her vision swam, her breathing turned ragged, and her heart pounded so hard it shook her entire body.
"Ha... haah... u-ugh..."
The right hand gripping the hilt of the Holy Sword trembled violently. No strength entered it at all. Her body, her mind, her heart completely refused to fight.
The troll pack is about to reach the wall. I have to protect the territory. I have to repay Baron Offen's kindness and prove my worth...
She listed every reason she had to draw the Holy Sword inside her head, but her body would not obey.
I-I'm scared. So, so scared...
Terror soaked her entire body in cold sweat. Ice trolls were far too weak an opponent for Hero Eve—yet right now, the very act of fighting terrified her beyond measure. From the moment she had turned her back and fled the Abyss of Despair, her heart had been completely broken.
"U-uhk... hnn..."
As tears welling from the all-consuming fear began to slide down her cheeks—
"Lady Eve, let me show you. How I destroyed the Abyss of the Army."
Offen lightly patted her shoulder and stepped past her, carrying on his shoulder a thick, solid cylindrical cannon she had never seen before.
