Prologue 02: The Age of Peace
She was born into House Reinhardt.
Chosen as the Hero, she formed a contract with the Holy Sword.
Techniques that those around her could not master even after months of training, she learned as if they were nothing. Swordsmanship was only the beginning — she became capable of wielding every manner of weapon there was. Training alone, of course, had its limits. It was only when she began traveling in earnest with the Hero's party that real experience accumulated, and that experience became bone and flesh, a growth worthy of the title of the strongest Hero in history.
She had already been a formidable human even before the journey began. Through countless trials, she was transforming into something beyond human.
Overwhelming power. Overwhelming talent.
Olivia herself was aware that she was somewhat emotional, a little short-sighted — but the fastest solution was always for her to charge in and beat everything into the ground. It caused the least damage. It spilled the least blood. In her mind, it was the most Hero-like way of doing things.
"The Demon King... was strong."
"Yeah. He was."
Olivia muttered the words as she wiped the blood away. It had been a long time since she'd been pushed this far, and the honesty slipped out before she could stop it.
That was a mistake. A Hero should've given a braver answer here.
Wouldn't a proper Hero have laughed heartily and said it was nothing?
Still, the Demon King really had been strong. Fighting the Demon King Army Cadre, she had figured that at this level, with a little support from her companions, she could take him down with room to spare. But the title of Demon King was not an empty one. He was powerful, and he struggled like a true villain until the very last breath.
In the end, Olivia won. The Demon King was dead.
"......Hah."
The Sage, Alex Reynolds, stood with his mouth hanging open.
The Demon King's Castle hadn't merely been half-destroyed — it had been blown off the face of the earth. The surrounding terrain was wrecked so thoroughly that the maps would have to be drawn from scratch. Olivia herself was rather badly wounded, some of the injuries even life-threatening, yet she made no fuss about it. She simply sat receiving treatment from the Saintess.
"That's enough. You can stop treating me now."
"But your wounds..."
"The bleeding's stopped. That's enough. Just wrap some bandages around it."
Olivia rose to her feet.
"Let's go back to the capital. We need to get back quickly and deliver the good news. As the Hero, I've finished what I set out to do."
"Indeed. As the Sage, I am inexpressibly delighted. His Majesty will surely be pleased as well."
When the Saintess, Belita Bright, spoke with a smile, Olivia replied in a rather undignified tone.
"Whether that old man is pleased or not is none of my concern."
"Ahem. Lady Olivia. It would be... problematic if you said such things so openly."
"I'm the Hero. The Hero who just killed the Demon King. It's no exaggeration to say I saved the world. So what can they do to me? I saved the world for them — they're going to come after me because I grumbled a little?"
Olivia had her reasons for disliking the king, but she had neither the need nor the inclination to make the others understand them.
Even with the Demon King slain, her work as a Hero was not completely finished. There were still many people in the world who needed saving. She had to fulfill that role, save even one more life, carry out her duty.
"Haha, you're quite right. The Hero has truly saved the world. It would hardly be proper to take issue with such a person over a complaint or two."
"Alex, you seem to be in a good mood."
"Well, it is the day we slew the Demon King, is it not? It wouldn't be strange if this became a holiday the world over."
"That vaguely unpleasant way you talk... I never did get used to it, even to the end."
"My apologies for that."
The Hero's party consisted of four members.
Originally there had been five, but one had been banished on Olivia's account. For anyone living as an adventurer, reputation was everything, and to be expelled from the Hero's party of all places carried a weight far heavier than Olivia could comprehend for the one who had been cast out.
Regardless, this party of four had succeeded in slaying the Demon King. All that remained now was the journey home.
"What will you do now, Hero?"
"Well, the Demon King's dead. What should I do now... I suppose I'll travel around saving people."
"That too is a noble endeavor, but wouldn't leaving descendants also be important? Anyone who inherited blood like yours would be strong — they could save even more people."
"Even more... people."
At Alex's seemingly pointed words, Olivia's eyes went wide.
Save people. Even more people.
"I see. A child, then."
She had never thought about it. She had spent every living moment fighting, becoming a Hero, hunting the Demon King, saving people. As a woman, she was a complete novice when it came to that sort of thing. She had never even felt her heart race for anyone, never developed romantic feelings for a single soul, and that made it all the more foreign.
"Then let us discuss it when we return — our future together."
"Huh?"
"Pardon?"
"Wait, what?"
"Ah. Well."
Alex was uncharacteristically flustered, and Olivia wore an expression of genuine incomprehension, as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
Behind them, Belita and Rayna, who had been providing rear support, murmured quietly.
"Surely she doesn't... remember?"
"She might not. She's the Hero, after all. Would she have even paid attention?"
"......"
Olivia could hear Belita and Rayna talking behind her, but she still couldn't make sense of it. She pressed her fingers to her temple.
Alex's face flushed, just slightly — a color born of rage that bordered on humiliation — but Olivia didn't notice. Only Belita and Rayna, who knew Alex's true nature, let out another sigh. Mockery was one option, but it was all so terribly pitiful.
"......En...gaged? You and me?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"......Were we? ......No, wait, I think we were. Sorry. I just... had no interest at all. There was no malice in it."
"......"
Olivia had no idea that this wounded Alex's pride even more deeply. But Alex immediately recovered his composure. He could not afford to let a mere bruise to his ego ruin everything.
"So you'll come with me, then?"
"Where to, exactly?"
"To save people."
"......That sounds as though you have no intention of remaining in the kingdom."
Olivia laughed, as if to ask what he'd been listening to this whole time.
"Of course not. Are suffering people only in the kingdom? Come on, let's go. We should at least make a report, as a formality."
"......Understood."
"Don't worry — I'll make sure your contributions are properly announced too. I won't go around saying I basically killed the Demon King by myself. Well, your support did help, actually."
Olivia noticed her companions' expressions sour for a moment and immediately spoke up. Were they worried they wouldn't receive credit? That was how it looked to her, so she had said it in advance. If they wanted, she could even tell the king directly that without them, slaying the Demon King would have been difficult.
The number of times she had been put in danger because of them, or had to save them, vastly outnumbered the times they had saved her — but the number of times they had saved Olivia was not zero. That was enough. They had fulfilled their roles.
"Ah, well. The Hero is quite generous."
"I thought the Hero hated commoners. I mean, she did banish that guy."
"......"
"Ahem. That's quite enough of that topic. He knew his own worth, his own capacity, and his place — that's why he left without a word of complaint. Though I do wonder if there was any need to give him money on top of that."
Olivia responded to Alex's words.
"It was a whim. ......Besides, I don't hate commoners. I just hate people who don't know their place and act up."
"Precisely so. As a Hero, and as a noble, protecting the people is our duty. ......Is it not?"
Olivia nodded.
A Hero had to be perfect, and that applied to party members as well. Every Hero's party in history had been composed solely of nobles. Not once had a commoner ever been admitted. That was the only reason she had banished him. That was all. She had simply believed that a commoner did not belong in the Hero's party.
"I ask once more — have you no intention of remaining in the kingdom?"
"I already said no. And I'll say it again: the people who need help aren't only in the kingdom."
Olivia's will seemed unshakable. Alex assessed that this was not something mere persuasion could change.
She had become a Hero because of a desire to save people that had reached the point of absurd madness. It was somewhat self-righteous, at times arrogant, perhaps even cruel, and it might well look like evil — but at its root was the wish to save even one more person.
"And besides, you all are here. You protect the kingdom you're in. You're strong, so don't get discouraged just because you couldn't do much this time — protect the kingdom. Leave everything else to me."
"Hero."
"......"
Each of them reacted in their own way, and Olivia took it as emotion born of being acknowledged. She wasn't entirely wrong. That feeling was not absent from Belita and Rayna's hearts. When someone who had always been arrogant, who had always looked down on them, offered words of recognition — even if it was at the very end — it was enough to stir the heart. But that was not the main reason their expressions were so complicated.
"Let's go, then. We have to tell everyone that the age of peace has come."
"......Of course."
Alex smiled as he watched Olivia walk ahead, as she always did, leading the way.