The Night the Hero Wept
After that day, I went back to looking after the children, but no more letters came. There was no way they could. I had changed my face and name. More precisely, I had begged a reliable acquaintance from back then to become their nominal guardian. He looked at me like I was asking for something deeply unpleasant—actually, extremely unpleasant—but he had a soft heart and ultimately couldn't ignore my desperate plea as I knelt before him.
"Thank you, Senior."
"I'm not your senior."
I still exchange messages with him from time to time. Half the conversation is him complaining that he can't survive because of his wife, and the other half is him grumbling that the kids are going to be the death of him. The fact that he keeps replying means he's still alive, at least.
"Don't do it."
"Do what?"
"Just don't."
I still don't fully understand that strange exchange with my senior, but somehow it feels like I do. It lingers in my mind even now.
Unlike before, earning sponsorship money became much harder. There were no more empty-headed noble heirs left around me to leech off. The curse had ruined me so thoroughly that I could only use my prayers once every few days, making it difficult to even function properly as an apprentice priest. That was why I started taking on adventurer work as a side job—something any sane priest would refuse even if offered a hundred billion gold. It didn't suit my lazy nature at all, but since it was a profession that put your life on the line, the pay was quite good. On days I managed to capture rare monsters or harvest precious materials, I could even afford the luxury of meat and wine. So this is why people play gacha, I thought. Of course, all of that only became possible after dozens of failures and brushes with death. For the first while, I would tremble just from holding a sword, and I spent most of my time hiding behind the burly seniors on the same requests, getting treated like a human potion that refilled once every few days.
"Hey! Red Potion! Stop dawdling and walk faster!"
"Huff… huff… Yesss…"
Red Potion. That was my nickname back then. It wasn't exactly my favorite, but it captured my role so accurately that I couldn't bring myself to get angry about it. Sometimes I'd start getting annoyed, only to calm down the moment I saw the seniors' thick muscles.
And so, after dropping out of the Academy, I spent several years balancing my duties as an apprentice priest with adventurer work, sending money to the children. Then one day, an urgent message arrived from my senior.
「Hey. Your brats started working as adventurers.」
It was the first time I understood how parents must feel when their kids, whom they'd worked themselves to the bone to send to university, suddenly declare that happiness isn't determined by grades and start riding motorcycles like lunatics.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Reygis Rowbill, a mid-level priest who also works as an adventurer."
"The pleasure is mine! I'm Triana Abigail, the once-in-a-generation talent destined to become a great hero in the future! Ah, and this is my younger brother, Victim!"
"……"
"Haha! I'm sorry! He's always been the quiet type!"
"Haha……"
Smiling while trying to keep my trembling lips under control felt harder than surviving an earthquake. The reunion with the children was the absolute worst. It was a meeting I had never expected and never wanted. If I could be honest, I never wanted to see their faces again for the rest of my life. No one in their right mind would willingly stare straight at their own dark past.
Still, the reason I forced myself to lift my shameless head and heavy feet was simple. I wanted these children to live comfortable lives far removed from hardship. Even if they weren't wealthy, I hoped they could walk a slow, ordinary path that stayed close to happiness. It wasn't unusual in the Capital for orphans to become adventurers, since the job didn't require noble blood. But after experiencing firsthand how brutal this profession was over the past several years, I selfishly wished that at least these two could escape that cruel cycle.
Fortunately, neither of them seemed to recognize me. I had more or less expected that. Childhood memories are hazy and vague, like thick fog. Besides, our meeting that day had taken place in complete darkness. The chance of them realizing I was the stranger from back then was close to zero.
"I've heard a lot about you from your guardian, Priest Haren. I'm here today at his request to discuss your futures, Sister Abigail and Sister Victim. I understand both of you wish to become adventurers?"
"Yes! That's correct!"
"……"
"Victim says the same!"
"Ah, yes……"
Her energetic voice and the way she slammed both hands on the desk made my head spin. Her golden hair, shining like it had caught the sunlight, fell to her waist and swayed with her movements, radiating vibrant energy. Her blue eyes, staring straight at me, seemed to shine brighter than the purest fluorite. Her well-toned limbs, flawless white skin, and upright posture showed no trace of the fragility from those days. Her lively—almost overly energetic—personality had seemed insignificant back then. Everyone goes through an awkward phase in puberty when they try to stand out. Time really does change people this much. Even though I had no right to, I found myself smiling fondly as I watched them grow. Victim had grown so much that he was now a full head taller than me. They had both grown up well without any major incidents. For a moment, I felt a lump in my throat from the surge of emotion.
That was why I said it.
"I am against it."
I wanted to stop them no matter what.
"As you know, this is an extremely dangerous line of work. One wrong move and you could lose your head. It's on a completely different level from hunting wild animals."
I knew how presumptuous and overstepping this was, but my hesitation didn't weaken my resolve.
"Monsters are cunning and intelligent. Sometimes they display wisdom far beyond what we expect—wisdom solely for the purpose of killing humans. There are times when the situation becomes so miserable that death would be preferable. For example, my former colleagues had their limbs……"
I spun a terrifying tale, mixing the horrors I had experienced with the futures they might face. But—
"I see! You're an experienced veteran! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your valuable advice! But please don't worry! I am destined to become a hero one day! Such hardships and trials don't frighten me! In fact, I'll turn them into my own experience and wisdom!"
"Ah, yes……"
Armed with youthful overconfidence, Triana didn't feel scared at all. Instead, she burned with even greater enthusiasm. Victim showed no intention or desire to rein in his sister's rampage.
"Haah…… Understood. Then at the very least, allow me to accompany you on your adventures for a while."
"Oh! You'll become our comrade? Thank you!"
"I'm not becoming your comrade. This is purely a decision based on concern for your safety. I owe Priest Haren an immeasurable debt. If I knowingly send his adopted children into danger, the gods will surely punish me."
"Anyway, that means you'll come with us on adventures! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"By any chance, do people often tell you that you have trouble understanding what others are saying?"
"Huh! How did you—!"
"……"
So, half-resigned, I ended up following the children on their adventures. I could only hope that their hopeful spirits would be crushed on their very first quest. After all, the first time I went out to subjugate monsters, the trauma had been so bad that I couldn't eat for days. I figured the children, who had lived peaceful lives at the orphanage, wouldn't be much different from how I had been back then. I planned to lure them into a den filled with grotesque, screaming monsters and wake them up to reality. If anything happened, I could throw myself in to protect them. By then, I was a reasonably experienced mid-level adventurer, and my divine power had recovered enough that I could use my prayers once a day without issue.
But—
"Kieeeek—!"
"I've defeated it!"
"Ah, Sister Abigail! On your shoulder! There's still monster entrails hanging from your shoulder! Urgh, ugh!"
These kids were far less afraid than I had expected. While I had been busy retching at the sight of blood and guts fluttering like fallen leaves, they cheerfully smeared monster blood and fat across their once-white swords like children coloring in a sketchbook. It was a massive miscalculation.
And as that massive miscalculation continued for one year, then two, then three, we accumulated strength and wisdom through hardship, recruited like-minded comrades, and eventually grew into a force to be reckoned with. Before we knew it, others had started calling us the "Hero Party." And not long after, that name, once nothing more than a rumor, was officially recognized by the royal family.
"Priest…… I have something…… I want to say……"
It was on a night filled with ambition, one that reminded me of a certain memory from long ago. With the other comrades passed out drunk, the Hero and I were left alone in the quiet room when she suddenly spoke.
"Hero, my stomach isn't feeling well right now. If this is about going for a fifth round, then next time……"
I was quite drunk myself, so I tried to stand up to get some water before we talked. At that moment—
Whoosh.
Something wrapped around me from behind.
"……"
"……Hero?"
Just as the heavy silence began to clear the fog of alcohol from my mind—
"……Uncle."
The moment that word pierced through my brain, my mind went completely blank. Taking advantage of that opening, the strong arms that had been holding me from behind grabbed the back of my right hand.
"Uncle…… hic……"
As if she had finally found me. As if she would never let go again.
"Ah, I…… Uncle! Ugh! Uncle, Uncle…… hic!"
I didn't need to listen to the sobs echoing clearly through the night's silence. The delicate trembling transmitted through my right hand was enough to tell me she was crying while clinging to my back. But I didn't know what to say or what expression to make. I couldn't even tell if this was reality or a dream.
"Hic! Sniff! Uncle, U-Uncle! Sob! Uncle……"
Even as her crying seemed to be waiting for my answer, pinching my back and soaking my clothes, I could only maintain my cowardly silence. Everything around me sounded muffled, as if water had gotten in my ears. My vision grew hazy, like a thin layer of scales had covered my skin, and my senses dulled. Thud. In the end, until she cried herself to exhaustion and collapsed, I gave her nothing in return. No voice, no gesture, not even meeting her eyes that must have been wet with tears.
"……"
And so that night, I left their side.
No.
I ran away.