The Abandoned Village (1)
The Abandoned Village (1)
After the funeral ended.
The Hero Party officially disbanded.
It would be possible to meet again and reform the party.
'...But I don't think anyone would want that.'
Because everyone has their own dreams.
"Hero-nim, please take good care of the crystal ball? Anyway... you and Saintess-nim are like my father and mother... I want to keep in touch."
"I'm not that old with Ria, but..."
I chuckled and gently patted Bina's head.
The paths we were taking diverged.
Because the directions our dreams led us were so vastly different.
However, our bonds won't be severed.
Because we walked together, even if just for a while, on the road to those dreams.
I plan to keep in touch privately and continue our friendships.
"It's so sad, Bina! Are you not going to treat this old man either!?"
"I gave you one too!?"
"Uwahahaha!"
Whether he just chimed in because he felt left out or was just trying to be funny, Uncle Hart laughed.
Seeing Bina hemming and hawing while scratching her head, Ria and I burst out laughing.
We probably won't get to see this kind of feeling very often anymore.
'...Maybe we should have laughed and chatted more often.'
Because we had experienced so much, we gradually spoke less and less.
Looking back now, it seems like the final stretch of our adventure was too dark.
Considering that adventures in fairy tales get brighter as they reach the end, my adventure was indeed too dark.
"......."
Could I call it a bit of regret?
Just as that vague, heavy emotion was welling up.
"Thank you for all your hard work until now!"
Bina said that with a bright smile and did a little jump.
Her hat, perched on her head as she hopped like a rabbit with a pure, childlike smile, swayed as if it was about to fall off.
Wondering if she was holding it on with magic since it didn't fall, I chuckled and reached my hand forward.
"You worked hard too, Bina, and Uncle."
"Hehe, there were a lot of tough times too... but I still enjoyed it!"
"Hmm! It was an honor to be able to travel with you all!"
My companions placed their hands on top of mine one by one, each saying a word.
Hesitating, Ria also placed the back of her hand on top of ours.
"I, I was also happy to be with everyone...!"
There were many hard times too.
But I decided to shake them off here.
"May blessings be upon all the paths we walk from now on......"
As I muttered that, Bina pressed down on our hands firmly and shouted.
"Okay, okay! Fighting!!"
Thus, the hero's adventure came to an end.
From now on, we would each walk a different path.
I looked at Bina, who was already sitting astride her magic staff.
'She's not going off to scout, she's really leaving.'
Thinking that, I smiled.
"Shall we go too?"
Ria looked at me and smiled, hehe.
"...Yeah."
I nodded.
The place we are heading to now is an abandoned village that was once attacked by the Demon King's army, where almost all traces of people living there have disappeared.
The starting point of a story where a child who normally admired the hero from fairy tales would later be truly reborn as a hero.
"Let's go, home."
Holding Ria's hand, I moved my steps toward my house... no, the place that would now become our house.
Everything was burning up.
I blankly stared at the house burning.
I just blankly stared at my father's face, who looked at me with a serious expression and earnestly told me he would definitely bring out my mother and younger sister.
Hiding in the forest grass where the house was clearly visible, I looked at the village.
Screams and cries came from the village that was burning and collapsing.
The Demon King's army's raid.
The smell of blood and burning human flesh made my head ache.
My father never returned.
When the dawn hadn't yet warmed the cold earth, I went outside and saw my father, who had turned to ash while clutching my mother and younger sister.
My mother, with her stomach slashed and blood dripping from her mouth, lying cold and dead.
My younger sister, only her upper body remaining in that mother's embrace.
It was the moment my peaceful family collapsed.
That's when it started.
I think it was from that time that I began to blindly chase the concept of revenge and the goal of becoming a hero.
Maybe I wanted to run away.
Maybe, to escape the reality that my peaceful days had been destroyed, I coveted the hero's life like a fairy tale.
'...I never dreamed I'd come back here.'
A short, three-day journey starting from the kingdom's capital.
Feeling the even breathing of Ria sleeping soundly on my back, I quietly sat up.
It's not much different from back then.
The dawn beautifully illuminates the sky.
A mysterious blue sky stretches out expansively.
The burnt grass had already regrown, filling the hillside.
A hill where the wind blows.
The place that is my beloved hometown and the location of my family's graves.
Returning there, I looked at the piles of stones in front of me.
Only the skeletons of buildings remain.
Even those are crumbling, not intact.
It was quite a large village, but all that's visible are the skeletons of a few buildings.
I took a deep breath.
The smell of burning human skin, the terrible screams, the cries of monsters are no longer heard.
There's only an eerie, chilling solitude.
"...I'm back, Mom, Dad, and Sion."
Calling out to my mother, father, and younger sister, I smiled faintly.
I've finished my revenge.
I've poured it all out, everything.
Since I've repaid all the grudges of the villagers, those here can now live happily.
Thinking that, just as I was nodding.
"...Hero-nim."
"Ria? Are you awake?"
"Yes... Good morning."
Ria smiled hoo-hoo and greeted me.
After returning her greeting and setting Ria down, she looked around.
"This is......"
"Yeah, it's the village I lived in."
It might look a bit eerie.
I smiled awkwardly, looking at the village that could easily be mistaken for ruins.
Ria blankly stared at our village, which might look shabby.
'...Does she not like it?'
Well, I could live somewhere else.
If Ria doesn't like it, that is.
It might feel uncomfortable to settle down and live in a place where people died.
After all, to Ria, they are just complete strangers.
Just as I was waiting for Ria's assessment, a little nervous.
Ria turned around and took a deep breath.
Ria inflated her chest and stomach to the fullest, then exhaled again.
"...The air is really nice. The air unique to dawn is really cool and also... somehow it's a village that reminds me of you, Hero-nim."
"Nothing's left but a hillside, though."
"It's a pretty hillside."
Ria said with a faint smile.
'...When I was young, I used to run around here a lot with Sion.'
Nodding, I smiled faintly and looked at Ria.
"Soon, a lot of flowers will bloom here."
"Flowers?"
"Yeah, since it's spring now. I used to run around with my younger sister."
"Ah, I see. She must have been very cute."
"She was."
A laugh burst out.
Because I had stopped grieving when thinking about my family now.
It would be rude to the deceased if I shed tears first when thinking of happy memories.
"I used to make crowns out of flowers for her."
"...!!"
Ria flinched at the story of making a crown from flowers.
Smiling at this, I looked at Ria.
"Do you want one?"
"...Yes."
Perhaps embarrassed, she covered her face with both hands.
That sight was also cute, so my hand naturally went up to her head.
As I slowly stroked her white hair, Ria's face turned slightly red as if embarrassed, but she closed her eyes slightly and smiled.
It's hard to believe I'll be living with this Ria from now on.
"How big should we build the house?"
"At first, we'll build it small, then have and raise kids one by two...!"
"Y, yeah."
"Hmm, would it be good to cultivate a garden next to it?"
"Not bad."
Nodding, I moved forward with Ria to look at the house site.
Our fingers were intertwined.
Even though the Hero dealt with the Demon King.
In this world, things called Dungeons exist.
Mysterious structures blessed by the Demon God, a higher existence than the Demon King.
They randomly appear on the surface, and monsters continuously spring forth from there, so the profession of Adventurer is needed to conquer Dungeons, take out the treasure inside, and close them.
The somewhat fortunate thing is that monsters have lower intelligence than the Demon Race and humans.
Since they are no different from beasts, they don't wage war against humans unless led by the Demon King.
Thus, even though the Hero's mission is over, the monsters still remaining in the world.
And in a certain dark forest.
"...S, save me......."
A girl surrounded by wolf monsters whimpered and muttered.
The red cloak was torn here and there, looking quite shabby.
And just like that cloak, the wounds on the girl's body were no small matter.
"Sniff......."
Though her eyes were glistening with tears, the girl stubbornly refused to take off her hat.
As if trying to hide something, the girl grumbled and picked up a stone.
And then.
Thwak!!!
She threw it at the tree behind.
Using the moment the wolf monsters' attention was scattered.
'...Now...!!!'
She began running madly toward the outside of the forest.
Following the faint light.