The Hero's Light
Admit it.
A few days earlier, on the day the Skeleton Rider appeared in the beginner necromancer dungeon as an anomaly. The instructors who arrived to clear the exit and the cadets who came late witnessed a light that illuminated the crossroads like the sun. And they muttered in dazed voices.
“That’s a Skeleton Rider.”
“Why would something that strong be in a beginner dungeon?!”
“Th-that light… that sword…!”
“No way…!”
“It’s exactly like the legend—?!”
“No doubt about it! That’s the power of the Sun God!”
“It’s the light of the Holy Sword!”
—The light of the Holy Sword Danan…! A legend no one from the southern continent could fail to recognize. They watched the Skeleton Rider vanish within that brilliant radiance. The one who had slain the monster was the cadet Arty. He stood proudly holding a sword that shone like the sun. To anyone who saw him, he was unmistakably the Hero.
“That commoner has the Holy Sword?”
“It has to be a lie…”
“Really? After five hundred years, a descendant of the Hero Arjen has appeared?!”
And beside the Hero stood two girls, one golden-haired and one silver-haired. Princess Lydia and Saintess Aria… the most beautiful and noble daughters of the Gallia Kingdom and the Holy Theocracy. Princess Lydia smiled at Arty’s side. Though her training uniform was dirtied, her smile shone like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
—Well done, Arty.
The male cadets gaped at the sight.
“?!”
“?!”
“?!”
The Golden Princess of the Gallia Kingdom was smiling…! The swordsmanship and theology cadets stirred all at once.
“So the Saintess holding a commoner’s hand in the cafeteria wasn’t just…”
“He’s been stuck to the Princess every morning too—!”
“So his attention from those two noble ladies wasn’t a coincidence…”
“What a lucky bastard…!”
Yet there was something else that drew their eyes. The cadets lying unconscious on the ground.
“Look over there! It’s Mave!”
“Why are those guys passed out?”
“They were way ahead of us.”
“Don’t tell me they got wiped out by the Skeleton Rider?”
“And that commoner took it down…?”
“…”
An unbelievable display of flawless execution. Arty had not only defeated the Skeleton Rider but had also neatly rescued the cadets who had challenged it first and fallen unconscious. Now he stood holding the shining Holy Sword, surrounded by noble girls. The cadets could not believe their eyes.
“…”
“…”
“…”
—This can’t be real. That Arty kid, a commoner from a rural village in the Gallia Kingdom, is stronger than Mave, the strongest among the swordsmanship freshmen…? Mave might be a commoner, but she’s a trainee knight from the Royal Knights. And that dirt-digging nobody… is supposed to be the Hero…? No. That can’t be it. He probably just got lucky and picked up the sword. That has to be it…
Amid the chaos, Instructor Zack proceeded with the cleanup. The assistants carried the unconscious cadets away while the instructor led Arty’s group onward. Standing beside them, he declared,
“Training is over! Everyone, exit the dungeon and return to the academy!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The cadets glanced back at Arty with trembling eyes as they left.
—Is that commoner really the Hero…?
*
Dark night. Mave slowly opened her eyes in the academy infirmary. Her black hair was disheveled, and her toned, long body felt heavy, as though she had just endured grueling training.
“Ugh. Wh-where…? The infirmary? I was definitely…”
She lay on a white bed, yet her shoulders and back throbbed with pain.
“Nngh…”
Mave clutched her head and tried to recall what had happened. At the final crossroads of the necromancer dungeon, she had been fighting the Skeleton Rider. At first she had managed to hold her own, but gradually the tide of skeletons overwhelmed her, striking her again and again until she was driven back. The nobles she had sworn to protect were forcibly imprisoned. Mave had been left alone inside. And then—
“…I lost.”
Mave covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed by self-loathing. The image of the skeletons laughing mockingly at her rose in her mind, accompanied by blue flames.
“…”
Yet the fact that she had survived defeat on the battlefield—
“Instructor Zack must have saved me…”
As expected of a hero of the Gallia Kingdom… No matter how strong Mave was among the trainee knights, she was still just a novice. She was no match for Instructor Zack, a war hero who had distinguished himself in the northern wars and was even considered for the next Royal Knights training advisor. That much she could accept.
“…”
Once she had assessed the situation, Mave let out a long sigh. She pulled the herb-scented blanket over herself and curled up. Her tall, well-proportioned body seemed to shrink pitifully.
‘…Probably, starting tomorrow, Instructor Zack will scold me for being unfit as a warrior. The nobles will call me an inadequate guardian. My fellow knights will mock me for being a woman again.’
“…”
It wasn’t despair. It was simply familiar. Mave’s life had always been a continuous effort to prove her strength. She closed her eyes, determined to throw herself back into training from tomorrow morning, and tried to sleep.
It was several days later that she learned the truth.
“What… did you say?”
Mave stared at her fellow trainee knight with trembling eyes. He spoke excitedly of the rumors. Though many cadets still doubted, there were those who firmly believed in the Hero’s legend—especially among the cadets from the Gallia Kingdom.
“That commoner kid! The one named Arty who came from the countryside apparently awakened the Holy Sword and became the Hero…! And he rescued you and the nobles who fell to the Skeleton Rider, then received praise from Her Highness the Princess!”
“…”
“They say the Holy Theocracy is planning to send an inspection team soon to verify whether it’s really the Holy Sword—”
“…”
She could no longer hear anything after that. Her ears rang. He had saved the nobles and received praise from royalty. Just like a true knight…
“…”
And then her fellow knight added that the guy was now considered the strongest among the freshmen.
“…”
They were both commoners, but Mave was a trainee knight of the Royal Knights. Arty was just an ordinary country bumpkin. The two of them were never meant to be compared side by side.
“I’m… weaker than that guy…? And I was saved by him…?”
As if she were some delicate noble lady.
“…”
Mave’s head spun.
“…”
No. This can’t be right. Something’s wrong here.
‘I’ll confirm it myself. To think I’d be shaken by a single defeat… It has to be luck. The Holy Sword, the attention from Her Highness and the Saintess—everything is just luck…’
Mave steadied her resolve. She had always proven herself through her own efforts. This time would be no different.
“…I challenge that guy to a duel!”
She could prove it. Surely. But…
“…”
The fact that he had saved her made her heart pound strangely. Was this shame? Anger? Or perhaps…
“I’ll confirm it myself.”
*
Early morning. While Lydia and Arty trained and Aria watched, an uninvited guest finally arrived.
“Arty—!”
Mave shouted, her face slightly flushed. She knew that demanding this so abruptly was unreasonable.
“Draw your sword! If you’re a man, prove it!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Mave trembled slightly. Arty looked bewildered. Aria glanced between the two of them and quickly adopted a sullen expression.
“…”
Lydia saw their faces and immediately understood.
‘This isn’t just about pride or a desire to win.’
It was a far more troublesome emotion… perhaps even the possibility of a love triangle. It was the same feeling Mave had often shown in the original adult game with lines like “Kuh, kill her!” In short, it was the prelude to love from a stubborn female knight.
Lydia shook her head.
“Oh dear…”
‘Arty’s already well on his way down the pure romance route with Aria. I didn’t expect another heroine’s interference to come so soon.’
Lydia looked at Aria. As expected, Aria was approaching with quick, anxious steps. She seemed to have realized that Mave hadn’t come with mere hostility. She also understood that it was a form of interest. Aria muttered uneasily, her expression unmistakably jealous.
“Lies… all lies…”
The only one wearing an openly annoyed expression was Arty. He sighed deeply and scratched his head, clearly wanting to get this over with quickly.
“Good grief.”
Lydia looked at him with pity.
“…”
‘What a hopeless man, not even noticing his own girl is anxious…’
Lydia stopped herself and shook her head. Truthfully, she wasn’t in a position to criticize Arty either.
‘…If I hadn’t known the original story and been reborn as a woman, I wouldn’t have felt this discomfort either. I already understand that men and women perceive things differently.’
Anyway, the important thing wasn’t scolding the dense Arty, but coming up with a solution. Lydia’s mind raced.
“…”
The no-romance route had been completely blocked. Arty and Aria were only a matter of time. After the Skeleton Rider battle, they had become strongly aware of each other and were walking the pure-love path. And that was before they had even had time to interact with the other heroines.
‘…That’s why I let the two of them become conscious of their relationship at a steady pace. I was planning to approach Mave and Morgan after enough time had passed, given their strong personalities.’
But now Mave had been added to the mix. She stood with her arms crossed, cheeks flushed, radiating “I’m aware of you more than anyone!”
Mave shouted,
“Arty! Answer me already!”
“Haa… Why are you doing this to me?”
“Hero…”
“…”
If things continued like this… it could even develop into a love triangle.
‘The decisive battle with the Black Temple is still far off. I refuse to let the Hero and heroines’ mental states be destroyed by romantic drama.’
‘I don’t want them to fall apart over mere romance when they need to be reliable allies in the future… There’s no time to nurture them steadily and build loyalty.’
Should she just go for the harem route? Grant Arty a harem…
As a ruler, it was only proper to reward loyal subordinates.
“…”
…No. That route was also blocked. Perhaps it had been from the moment this world became reality.
‘The original harem route was basically fan service—glossed over with the ridiculous excuse that [the heroines all agreed anyway]. Unlike game logic, in a realistic situation where jealousy exists, that would be suicide.’
Aria was already biting her lip, wasn’t she? This world might be abnormal, but it wasn’t a game. These people had real emotions, and sometimes they felt jealousy. Therefore, the headache-inducing harem route was discarded. Lydia had no intention of becoming a kindergarten teacher managing the emotions of three harem members. The amount of emotion Arty could pour out was also limited.
‘In that case, for now…’
Lydia finished her calculations and approached Mave. The trainee knight of the Gallia Royal Knights startled and immediately raised a military salute.
“Y-Your Highness the Princess…!”
“Enough. In the academy, call me Lydia.”
“But…”
“Arty and Aria already do so. Isn’t that right, Aria?”
Aria jumped in surprise. She hadn’t expected the conversation to suddenly turn toward her.
“Yes…?”
“You, his ‘close companion,’ also call me Lydia, do you not?”
“!”
Aria’s face flushed slightly.
“C-close companion?! Um, well… y-yes, that’s right?”
“Indeed. ‘Aria and Arty’ are like that.”
“Yes.”
She had never actually called the Princess by name before. Still, being referred to together with Arty made Aria feel strangely pleased.
Mave let out a small groan before finally speaking.
“…Understood. Lady Lydia.”
“Good, Mave.”
“Y-you knew my name?”
“Of course. You’re the top student who passed the swordsmanship department’s brutal first training with flying colors. More people are aware of your name than you think.”
“…I-I see.”
“Did you come here after hearing that Arty defeated the Skeleton Rider?”
“Yes…”
“Excellent. The spirit to challenge rather than flee upon hearing of a strong opponent. Truly the model of a knight.”
“…Thank you.”
Mave tucked her black hair behind her ear, pretending not to care while clearly pleased. The emotions that had seemed ready to explode had calmed down. Lydia was satisfied.
‘With this, Aria and Mave’s emotions have settled a notch.’
The chaotic romantic-comedy atmosphere that had dominated the space had largely disappeared. Only an awkward, hesitant mood remained as they each caught their breath. Lydia looked at Arty, who was standing dazed in the corner.
“Arty, since it’s come to this, let’s make it practical training.”
“Huh?”
“Having the top student of the swordsmanship department come to you is a rare opportunity. Sparring with such a strong opponent will be great practice for fighting other humans as well.”
“A strong opponent…! Now that you mention it, she was incredibly fast at grabbing the flag during the first class too.”
Arty looked at Mave with fresh eyes.
“!”
Mave suddenly composed her expression into a dignified one. As her previously unseemly approach was being elevated, her emotions seemed to stabilize further. Lydia nodded as she watched Arty and Mave regard each other.
‘…Good. Their emotions have been adjusted downward from romantic interest to rivalry.’