Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Fate is Bad More Often Than Not (4)
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Fate is bad more often than not.
The terror he felt for the first time.
Up until now, no existence that overwhelmed him had ever tried to take his life.
This was a first for Mersen.
It was terrifying.
He just wanted to escape from the horrifying ice witch right in front of him.
Pride as a hero?
Self-respect as one blessed with the power of light?
What good were those things right now?
Once you're dead, that's it.
In that moment, Mersen realized the truth of the world.
No matter how much power of light he, a hero, had received.
No matter what nonsense they spouted about fate or goddesses.
Once you're dead, there's nothing.
Hero? Light? Goddess?
What good were those things right now?
In the face of overwhelming power, they were utterly useless anyway.
The goddess hadn't come to save him; she'd just hung back.
He had nothing special about him.
The "chosen power" was worthless in front of the strong anyway.
He'd thought he was the goddess's chosen apostle, but she'd abandoned him.
Just like he was a complete stranger.
Or had he been a stranger from the start?
'Someone... just save me...'
He didn't want to die.
He didn't want to suffer pain bad enough to make him wish for death.
Anyone would do—he just wanted someone to save him from the horrifying witch in front of him.
And as he thought that...
"W-Wait a second! Miss Rin!"
Someone jumped in and blocked the witch.
"...?"
Mersen checked who it was.
The goddess?
Was she his apostle after all, come to save him?
No, that wasn't it.
The person in front of him was a man.
Then, was some hidden powerhouse stepping in to rescue him?
No.
He felt no power from the man at all.
A bit stronger than a commoner... just an ordinary adventurer, nothing more or less.
'Why?'
Mersen was plunged into confusion.
A powerless lowborn, scraping by as some barbaric adventurer.
Why would he save me?
They were supposed to just sit around waiting for salvation, weren't they?
Yet one of them had jumped in to save him?
The horrifying ice witch who even overwhelmed Mersen.
Obviously, a commoner would freeze solid in an instant and shatter into pieces.
Once dead, that's it.
Nothing left.
And yet he threw himself in there so casually?
When Mersen himself had abandoned everything out of fear of death?
His belief that he was special.
His faith in the goddess.
His pride as the hero of light.
The act of throwing away one's life—far more important than all that—to save another.
It was a courage and spirit Mersen lacked.
Yes, the man possessed what he himself did not.
Just like Jenny's holy power—a lesser version of the power of light—shone brighter and holier than his own light.
What Mersen lacked, this man had.
This made no sense.
Jenny at least had talent as a hero.
She possessed a holiness and beauty worthy of being called the goddess incarnate.
But the man in front of him was different.
Utterly ordinary, nothing more or less.
And yet he had what Mersen lacked?
He thought it over again.
A human who possessed what he lacked.
That must be something extraordinarily special.
'He is salvation.'
He elevated the man to something even more special than a goddess.
A being so special that the goddess had come here on purpose and taken up residence.
Twisting the incomprehensible into something he could understand.
If the man in front of him was a holy and great existence, then it made sense that he had the courage and noble spirit of sacrifice that Mersen lacked.
It explained why the goddess had abandoned him and just stood by.
Everything fit.
The ice witch and the man were exchanging words up front, but nothing reached Mersen's ears.
In his mind, the man before him was salvation itself, the savior of people.
He was rationalizing it all as a "saint."
"Sir Mersen?"
At that moment, the man—no, the saint—turned back and called to Mersen.
"Are you alright?"
How had he done it?
The horrifying ice witch had completely calmed down and backed off.
The saint after all, huh.
Mersen had no idea what he'd done, but he thought it was impressive anyway.
"...I understand."
Yes, Mersen understood everything.
Why the goddess Jenny had come here.
Why the novice hero candidate possessed by a demon had grown so terrifyingly strong.
Why they'd taken down the troll lord in Hasler without major sacrifices!
It was all because of the existence of salvation.
The "saint"!
"The goddess came here... because 'salvation' is here...!"
Mersen's eyes gleamed.
The goddess and the saint.
Great beings who brought light to the world.
And he was the apostle of the goddess and the sword of the saint.
The hero of light!
What a beautiful story this was!
Coming to the land of the saint and goddess, becoming the light of the world alongside them!
Wasn't it just like being the protagonist of a legend?
This was exactly the future Mersen had longed for his entire life, the one he'd believed in.
'For this, nothing else matters. If they've chosen an adventurer, there must be a reason.'
Right here, the light would begin.
He had no doubt.
The Empire's Hero Administration Bureau?
The Hero Academy?
None of that mattered.
It was all empty lies anyway.
With a god and a saint here.
How could heroes serving the Empire be the real deal?
"Goddess, saint. I will follow your will."
For them, he was prepared to give everything.
The saint had saved his life, so he could even offer that in return, he thought.
Look at that.
Just moments ago, he'd been terrified of losing his life.
Now he could boldly think of offering it up.
'Oh! As expected of the saint. The moment I gave my faith, my spirit has already grown!'
As he marveled like that, his eyes were already gleaming with madness.
#
"I never thought you'd actually come to Hasler."
"Hehe, it's thanks to you, Lady Jenny."
Rin and Jenny had finally met.
The two smiled as they asked about each other's well-being.
And shared a pleasant conversation.
Hm, two beauties like that make for a nice picture.
Red hair and sky-blue hair.
The complete contrast was pretty fun to look at.
"Thanks to you, I got to meet a wonderful person like Mr. Kane."
"Hehe, I told you, didn't I? He'd guide us properly. Big Brother Kane is pretty amazing."
"You're right, Mr. Kane is truly incredible. I've never met anyone with so much knowledge."
"The most amazing thing about Big Brother Kane is that even as a kid, when he read books in unknown languages..."
...Somehow it felt like 90% of the conversation was baseless praise and admiration for me.
But no need to butt in and ruin their fun chat.
More importantly, I had something far more pressing.
...Is this really okay? That was the thought nagging at me.
I was seriously confused right now.
Why?
Because of that guy Mersen Remnant who showed up earlier and blew through like a storm.
This lunatic suddenly starts calling me a saint, Jenny a goddess.
Spouting all sorts of weird nonsense.
Then declares he's abandoning everything to follow my will.
...What the hell? This feels subtly similar to past patterns?
Just to check, I asked if he meant quitting as a hero to become an adventurer.
And yep, that's exactly it.
No, are you insane?
What kind of sudden personality flip is this?
He shows up out of nowhere trying to drag Jenny off, attacks Rin like he's out to kill her.
Well, compared to that, him acting like a deranged fanatic is at least controllable, so better, I guess.
Fine, since it's come to this.
I decided to quickly accept the situation and make use of it.
For all his flaws, that guy is the famous "hero of light" in the Empire.
He's been active for about 10 years, and his power is top-tier among heroes.
With Jenny having quit, he's practically the Empire's strongest asset now.
On top of that, his father is Parus Remnant, the current academy principal.
One of the few heroes who survived into his late 40s, and a power player with major influence in the Empire.
In other words, he and his family have considerable sway in the Hero Administration Bureau and the Empire.
So, why not use him to mediate smoothly between Jenny, the adventurer guild, and the Empire?
Jenny may have quit as an imperial hero, but she's still operating out of an Empire-affiliated adventurer branch.
And they'd take imperial requests for the right price.
The money they used to pay heroes as salary exists anyway—it's just the difference between soldiers and mercenaries.
No big change for the Empire.
Building friendly ties with a guild branch that has two heroes and one legend could even pay off big later.
...Well, if the Empire insists they don't need any of that and both heroes and the legend must belong to them, no choice.
But they'd have to be idiots not to see the benefits.
Especially now: no point starting a fight with the guild and losing more heroes.
They've already lost one key hero—they won't want to risk more conflict.
Of course, they might scheme later to gain the upper hand, but for now, this buys surface-level peace.
This process was supposed to be a long, grueling battle, but pushing Mersen—a voice in the Empire—as mediator makes it easier.
I couldn't understand why he'd suddenly become... friendly—no, zealously faithful to us.
Whatever.
Maybe he's just the sensitive type who offers his life after being saved~.
We'd just exploit this windfall as it came.
"...That guy isn't going to become an adventurer and tag along with us, is he?"
"No way."
Jenny and Miss Rin asked with pale faces.
Hm, they really hate the idea that much.
Fair enough... From one side, he's a stalker trailing her as a "goddess."
From the other, a jerk who tried to kill her and damaged something precious.
Still, as they said, I wouldn't make him an adventurer just yet.
Right now, he has a role mediating between the Empire and the Hasler guild branch.
He said he'd follow our words, so he'll handle it fine.
Could be lying... but honestly, a guy who oozed pride as the haughty hero of light wouldn't stoop to deception for weird schemes.
And above all, those eyes.
...That mad glint was sincere to anyone watching.
Ugh, creepy just thinking about it again.
"Don't worry. It won't happen for now."
...Of course, "for now."
Once his mediator role ends...
I'll think up some other excuse then.