What a Hero Is (2)
“······Offen, Baron? What is that?”
“Simply put, think of it as a cannon you can pick up and fire.”
Offen smiled faintly, the deep-green cannon resting easily across his shoulder. It was clearly smaller than any magitech artillery piece or powder-fired field gun. Light enough that an ordinary man like him could sling it over one shoulder, it was far lighter than any military cannon.
“I-it’s so small. L-light, even······ W-what can you possibly do with something like that?”
Eve knew full well the power that size and weight could carry. Ice Trolls possessed such tenacious vitality that even a direct hit from a cannon would only make them regenerate and charge again. Thirty of those monsters were rushing toward them now. A single cannon this small and light looked utterly incapable of stopping them.
“Lady Eve, this isn’t small and light. It’s compact.”
Offen’s lips curled into a confident grin, as if her worries were nothing more than groundless fretting. It was the smile of a man who harbored not the slightest doubt in his own actions—someone certain of absolute success.
“······.”
Faced with that smile, Eve could say nothing more. She, who had nothing left but fear and hesitation, had no right to worry about him.
“Aim.”
User’s will confirmed. Commencing Red Button assistance.
A translucent blue window floated up over Offen’s retinas.
“Target: Ice Troll Chieftain.”
Among the horde of Ice Trolls surging toward Termin Territory, the largest one. The others stood only about three meters tall, but this lone specimen looked a full five meters in height. That was the chieftain.
Target: Ice Troll Chieftain. Location: 120 meters straight ahead. Aim complete. Ready to fire.
“Fire.”
Click.
The instant everything was ready, Offen launched the anti-tank missile—the Javelin—straight at the Ice Troll Chieftain.
Thump—! Whoooooosh—!!!
The Javelin missile tore through the air, climbing in a slight arc as it streaked toward its target. The Ice Troll Chieftain stood at the very rear of the pack, but that made no difference. Its head alone towered five meters above the ground.
KRA-BOOOOM—!!!
The Javelin struck the Ice Troll Chieftain with zero deviation. The creature possessed durability that would leave only hairline fractures in its bones even after taking a cannonball. But the Javelin carried enough destructive force to obliterate a tank in a single hit. A mere mana-less magical beast of flesh and blood stood no chance against this modern javelin, the concentrated pinnacle of human technology.
Whoosh—
A breeze scattered the smoke from the explosion. The Ice Troll Chieftain’s corpse toppled to the ground with a heavy thud, its head completely blown away.
The remaining ordinary Ice Trolls halted their advance the moment the blast erased their chieftain’s head, staring down at the fallen body.
“Kr··· krawrah······.”
Then they slowly turned their heads toward Offen. In their eyes, fixed on the man standing a mere hundred meters away, there was no hostility or murderous intent. Only pure terror at the explosion that had erased their chieftain’s head in the blink of an eye.
“Kr··· kruk. Krawrah······.”
“Kieeek······ Kr··· kruk······.”
Ice Trolls lived in tribal societies and obeyed their chieftain absolutely. They followed the law of the strong—the strongest ruled everything. To them, a chieftain who alone stood five meters tall was nothing short of a god. And now that god they had revered had suddenly died with its head exploded. Trembling in fear was the only possible reaction.
“These guys are slow on the uptake. Shall I give them a little help?”
Offen decided to provide the answer for the Ice Trolls who, with their chieftain suddenly dead, had no idea what to do next.
Button input confirmed. Summoning the ‘Anti-Tank Missile’ — Javelin purchased by the user!
“Aim. Fire.”
Click. Thump— Whoooooosh—!!! KRA-BOOOOM!!!
“Kieeeeeek!!!”
“Krawaaaah!!!”
“Krurawrawrah!!!”
The second Javelin missile slammed directly into the Ice Trolls. The five at the front were caught in the blast and scattered as chunks of meat. Watching their comrades turn into raw flesh in an instant just like the chieftain, the remaining Ice Trolls finally turned tail and fled for their lives. They had belatedly realized that their ruling family had fallen—and that they themselves could become meat as well.
“Hah!”
Offen exhaled in satisfaction as he watched the Ice Trolls scramble away with their tails between their legs.
“This is the ability I possess—the Embodiment of Destruction.”
“W-whooooa! Offen hyung! What the hell is that cannon?! Just looking at it gets my blood pumping!!! Smashing an Ice Troll Chieftain’s head in one shot with a little thing like that—that’s insane!”
“It’s the ability to summon weapons of destruction equal in value to the price I pay. With this power, I destroyed the Abyss of the Army.”
“Just how much did you offer up to take down a Great Rift······.”
“The earnest wishes of many people, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Hooo······ The wishes of many and a once-in-a-lifetime chance. You’re really something else, hyung.”
Gid was genuinely impressed by Offen’s answer. A head maid who could restore lost limbs, and a lord who could summon weapons that obliterated Ice Trolls with a single pull of the trigger—the sheer potential these two held was beyond anything he could even begin to measure.
“······.”
Gid was not the only one left in awe by what Offen had shown and explained.
He’s······ truly amazing.
Eve, too, was deeply impressed after witnessing his power. After all, Offen was an ordinary person who could not even handle mana. He spent more time sitting at a desk buried in paperwork than moving his body outdoors. His stamina was probably far below the average for a normal human. And yet that man had blown the head off an Ice Troll Chieftain with a single pull of the trigger. He had accomplished with effortless ease something even a seasoned knight would struggle to achieve. On top of that, Offen was the first man in human history to destroy a Great Rift.
He’s different from me. Baron Offen is far greater than someone like me.
Unlike her, who had fled the Abyss of Despair alone with all her limbs intact, Offen had destroyed the Abyss of the Army and become a hero of hope for all mankind.
I came here myself after hearing the news that Baron Offen had destroyed a Great Rift······.
He was a man so remarkable that even she, the Hero, had found hope in him.
That’s why someone this incredible never called for me even once today.
The moment she realized that truth, Eve understood why Offen had not needed her.
Baron Offen didn’t use me because he had no need to.
Offen needed labor. So after repairing Gid’s legs, he had employed him. Offen needed someone to manage the mansion and run his errands. So he treated Rina with the utmost care and maintained a smooth relationship with her. But he had no need for combat power. He already possessed the Embodiment of Destruction—an ability capable of destroying even a Great Rift. And a Hero, stripped of personal martial might, was a useless existence. That was why Offen had not employed Eve. He already had more than enough force at his disposal.
I was······ a useless existence to Baron Offen······.
Regardless of the actual facts, that was how Eve interpreted the reason Offen never sought her out.
“Well then, shall we scavenge whatever’s worth taking and head back to the mansion?”
“Sounds good, hyung. An Ice Troll Chieftain’s heart is a precious material—make sure we grab it. I’ll handle the butchering for you.”
“Thank you, Gid. I’ll leave it to you. Rina, let’s go.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Eve watched the backs of Offen, Gid, and Rina as they headed toward the Ice Troll corpses.
······There’s no place for me there.
The crushing sense of exclusion made Eve feel as though she were an unbearably small person.
A Hero was always called upon by someone.
A Hero was always asked for help by someone.
A Hero always helped someone.
A Hero was always a necessary existence to someone.
A life of racing toward every cry for help. A life of doing good without expecting reward. It was never an easy way to live. Yet the Hero had believed this was the responsibility she was meant to bear. The Holy Sword had been bestowed by the heavens, and she was merely the one who had been chosen. Great power gained overnight naturally came with great responsibility. Hero Eve had accepted this as only natural and lived accordingly until now.
A life of rushing to anyone in need was exhausting and difficult, without question. But there was no other choice. This was the duty of a Hero.
Yet here in Termin Territory, no one sought out Hero Eve. Even when she tried to rise and be of help, every task was already finished the moment she stood. In this place, she was not even given the chance to help another.
A Hero had to be called upon by someone.
A Hero had to become someone’s necessity.
A Hero had to help others.
A Hero had to be an indispensable person.
She had to prove to everyone why the heavens had chosen her.
And yet, here, Hero Eve received no one’s call. She became neither necessary nor helpful. She could not prove why she had been chosen by the heavens. Eve felt as though the entire life she had lived as a Hero was being denied.
“I-I am a Hero. Broken though I may be, I-I’m still a Hero.”
Eve knew better than anyone that she was a failure. But that did not mean she believed the path she had run all this time was the wrong one. She had always striven to become a necessary person, and she had become the necessity of many. Having lived that way, she could not bring herself to accept that she was an unnecessary person in Termin Territory.
So she decided to go and ask.
Click.
“Hm? Lady Eve? What brings you here at this hour······.”
“B-Baron Offen······ I-I, I have something I want to ask. S-so I came.”
“W-w-why won’t you······ use me······?”
Late at night, to Offen, who sat alone in the family head’s office.