Episode 0-a. The One Who Advances.
In other words.
This world only follows the footprints of the Hero and the Holy Girl; the path intertwined with their lives is not one of many directions.
There exists a stage that has not been properly illuminated and has had its lights turned off.
The goal of the Hero and the Holy Girl, the objective expressed in words.
The narrative of such beings known as heroes consists of fragments that cannot be easily distorted.
In the end, what lies at the end of it is the defeat of the Demon King, which shone brilliantly only to light the stage for that journey.
However, it has been an excessively long journey.
Even though the Hero’s journey has been almost ten years, they have yet to even touch the hem of the Demon King’s robe.
So.
All I know, having read not even half of the novel, is that much.
Even if I lament in vain, saying “Pic- die already,” what I possess is merely small fragments.
Even those, for me, are precious because they have passed and drifted away like that.
I hope that the signposts that are whitewashed and embedded on the path I intend to take will serve as traces.
So.
I will follow their footprints however I can, observe those traces, and carve my own path forward.
Revisiting the setups and worldviews that burst forth in a few words, I find what I need.
I must confront and explore those things directly.
Bumping into them repeatedly, sometimes falling down.
Yet, I will rise again and step into the unknown.
This journey was meant for that purpose from the beginning.
A vast world filled with numerous settings.
And the traces of ash that are surely hidden.
I wish to uncover them and head towards a different conclusion of the story.
I had a certain habit.
It was not a habit that had originally existed, but thinking of a certain woman made it spread like a habit now.
“…. ”
“Ain, there are children here too!”
“Ain, it seems like three of them. They’re all starving and emaciated.”
So.
I had an odd habit of not progressing along ordinary paths and ordinary streets, but rather wandering around alleys.
“Let’s tuck two of them under my arms, and you two can support the remaining one.”
““Yes~””
Thus, wandering through dark and foul-smelling alleys, I developed the habit of gently picking up the children I found sprawled out.
“Ah, no… Wait, stop! Commoner, there aren’t any more spots in the orphanage…!”
“Then build a new one.”
Wherever I went, the alleys were dark and emanated a damp odor.
Wherever I went, the alleys had turned into a haven for abandoned children.
“No, they clearly told me to save money, and if I spend money like this…”
“So should we just leave them?”
“Ugh… There’s no way! I, Lucía Vicente Todorika Seymour, will not abandon commoners! Please give me one child! Caring for children is a noble obligation!”
I thought of a small girl shivering in the alley during winter.
Though I could not hold and care for them continuously like her, I found it impossible to simply leave abandoned children like that.
It stinks.
The scent emanating from the bodies of children who have not bathed for a long time is perhaps familiar.
I see a face blankly looking up.
The face that knows nothing of being saved because it has only been abandoned is perhaps heartrending.
And.
“Let’s go. To a new home.”
“…, Ah.”
The word that flowed out with a sigh from me.
Something sad, something bitter — perhaps I must embrace that breath.
Thus.
I carefully embraced the new children and took them to the orphanage.
That orphanage, the only one in the city of Bina, was the so-called idealistic and artificial charity built upon request from any noble.
“Commoner, it seems the amount you’re withdrawing is more than what you paid to save my daughter.”
“Um… Thank you.”
And I bowed my head to the only benefactor.
Lucía Vi…, Seymour’s father, Triphol Vi…, well, Seymour the Baron.
“It’s done. Saving commoners is a noble duty after all, and fulfilling the requests of a lowly commoner is also the generosity of a noble!”
“Indeed, Father! What a heartwarming mindset of a noble! I, Lucía Vicente Todorika Seymour am truly moved!”
Just, well.
Yeah.
“Um! I, Triphol Vicente Todorika Seymour, am the true noble who leads Noblesse Oblige! To be emulated, Lucía Vicente Todorika Seymour!”
“Yes, Father!!”
The dialogue of a real father and daughter is just that.
The strange concept of Lucía Seymour and where it originated is perhaps clear in this context.
The only difference is that while Lucía is a concept to some extent, Seymour the Baron is undoubtedly sincere.
For that reason.
Though I’ve seen them countless times over the past three years, I always think, what should I even say each time?
“What’s with that expression, Commoner?”
“…, It’s no expression. I just hope the orphanage’s expansion goes well.”
Nevertheless, they are clearly good people.
Meeting such noble nobles in this world is no different from picking stars from the sky.
While I think it’s a fortunate circumstance that we’ve formed this bond, I also ponder.
“Um! That is the duty of a noble! In that case, let the three commoners who stopped by the mansion have lunch before they leave!”
“Hoho, that is indeed the duty of a noble! Commoners, you should eat and then leave!”
“…. ”
In other words.
“That’s rude! Hurry and answer, Commoner!”
“Answer, Commoner!”
“…, Yes. I am simply grateful.”
Ah, damn.
Every time I enter this mansion, my energy gets sucked away.
Listening to the noble’s duties spewed by two Seymours for over an hour is simply unbearable.
Thus, after finishing lunch at the mansion, I head back to my lodgings.
“Ugh… Isn’t the weather a bit cold, Tori?”
“It’s warmer than in the snow country, so put up with it, Yaki.”
“Hoho, it’s the duty of a noble to take care of a commoner shivering in the cold! I would give you my coat… ugh… The weather seems a bit cold…”
The voices of the three behind me intertwine, muddling up the path as the sun begins to set.
It certainly wasn’t as chilly as in the snow country, but a cool breeze began to ripple through the duchy.
The seasons are changing.
As I blankly stare up at the sky, I hear the ticking of time passing.
And although it hasn’t been long since I returned to the duchy, that fact softly whispers that I must leave again soon.
I must move forward.
I must take a step.
Even if my front foot gets stuck in the muck, I should stretch out my back foot for one more step.
Even if that foot is sucked into the muck again, just one more step.
For my kind will become extinct if they do not advance.
The goal I desire grows ever more distant if I do not hasten.
“…, I guess I should start getting ready to leave soon.”
So I speak those words and mentally brace myself to move forward again.
Of course, that only applies to me.
““Umm, we’ve only been in the Duchy for a month, you know?””
“The wicked leader who harshly mistreats poor commoners is going to step down!”
Hearing my mumble, the two children and a strange noble standing beside them have turned their faces into frowns.
Yet.
I have something I want to say too.
“Then stay in the Duchy. Since noble lords would be staying here anyway.”
“Uhh… that’s so cold. I was just complaining a bit, right, Tori?”
“Uhh… wherever we go, we’ll follow.”
“Uhh… I, Lucía Vicente Todorika Seymour, find this unacceptable.”
Still, I mean.
If a person had set the mood and spoke seriously, they could have at least taken it a little seriously.
“…. ”
““Uhh~””
“Uhh~ as well!”
Ironically, the three following me have a rather young mental age.
Even though they are children, I can’t quite understand why the noble is acting like this.
Perhaps idealists need to have their heads spun around once.
Anyway.
I, along with my companions, gather in the living room of the lodging.
They sit on the sofa, gazing at me, who stands there awkwardly.
It’s ironic that I, who am so lacking, am their leader, as I have gathered each one of them.
“Perhaps we could leave on our journey a tad faster than I expected.”
I begin to speak, pushing aside my trembling heart.
I’ve persuaded and brought them here, saying I would grant their dreams, but I have not yet shared my story with them.
“A world without war… that sounds good. A world that is not threatened by disease also sounds good. I will also rescue the commoners from their suffering. I will rekindle the flame of Horn Grandpa that I do not yet know of.”
Here I am.
Here I am, promising rather ridiculous things for my situation.
It lacks persuasiveness for a mid-level adventurer who has nothing in hand and is rolling in the muck.
However, they do not scoff at my words.
With their eyes shining with their own lights, they gaze at me wholeheartedly.
And I too expel the light I possess upon them.
“I will change the world.”
This is the inner part of me I have never unveiled, the light I hold.
“I will change it to a world certainly better than now.”
The hue of that light perhaps spreads slightly darker and a bit hazy.
“I will step forward for the ash.”
Everyone in this world calls the hue ash.
It is undoubtedly a light rejected by all.
However.
“I have someone I must save.”
I know well.
Ash also shines radiantly.
“There is someone who was born of ash yet continuously endures and strives to become ordinary.”
Ash dances beautifully and blooms into its unique hue.
I have surely seen ash flowing ordinarily like any other hue.
So.
“I.”
I am certain.
“I will create a world where that person can live ordinarily.”
Asha.
She was a clear potential, and the light and role I hold are meant to help her bloom.
“My journey is a quest to find that clue.”
A watcher of ash and a wandering traveler of the world.
I will fulfill that role.
Thus.
There are gazes upon me as I utter those words.
There are eyes that do not falter at my declaration, unwavering.
They are not ordinary individuals; they dream non-ordinarily.
While holding the two beads I had grasped throughout my speech, they collide with a sound.
It blurs the boundary between reality and dreams.
With a loud thud, they crash again and produce a refreshing resonance.
Thus.
I sold a dream.
I started selling a dream of changing the world.
Merely a minor character in a novel, merely a mid-level adventurer.
Though it may be nothing more than that, I took out the dreams I was full of.
And thus, I started to sell them.
Minor character.
Background figure.
A mere individual creating a scene like that will never end simply with such matters.
He seizes his role.
The small boy has grown into a young man over time.
The young man, who had nothing in hand, has seized a small fragment over the course of three years.
He etches his name into the world.
Ain.
A new □□.
What he has gained by moving forward.
That new role is that of the one who continues the journey for ash.
Not something he assigned to himself in the folly of youth, but simply something he has acquired by moving forward.
That could perhaps become the possibility of changing the world ahead.
So go forth.
Do not stop, continue your journey.
The journey for ash will once again shake the scales of a world that once paused.
The solid letters will slowly bleed with that ink.
