A holy sword descended from the heavens,
and a hero shall descend upon this land.
Selian took a step forward and stretched out her hand toward the holy sword, gripping its hilt.
Whoosh.
No, she had attempted to grip it.
?
Everyone observing the situation was bewildered, and Selian, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, momentarily froze before trying once more to reach for the holy sword. However,
Whoosh.
Sure enough, the holy sword moved as though alive, evading Selian’s touch.
“Eep…!”
Selian quickly maneuvered her hand to grab the holy sword, but it merely dodged her every attempt.
Instead, it slowly drifted away from Selian and edged closer toward me.
What is this? Why is it coming here?
Caught in confusion, I tried to back away, but the holy sword continued to follow my every step.
“Hey, Sel…?”
I turned to seek help from Selian, but she was frozen in place, merely staring at me and the holy sword with a rigid expression.
For Selian, who was the descendant of heroes and naturally expected to become one herself, this was a completely disheartening situation.
Stuck between indecision, I hesitated, only to have the holy sword nudge my hand with its hilt.
During this time, I noticed the demons outside the pillar of light turning their attention toward Professor Selen.
No. We couldn’t afford to waste any more time. We could discuss the holy sword later and confirm its purpose then.
I extended my palm and gripped the holy sword.
At that moment, an even brighter light erupted from the holy sword within the pillar.
As the pillar dissipated and the demons who had earlier been giving us trouble began to eye me warily, I felt no great tension.
Rather, my entire exhausted body was filled with a renewed vigor.
This newfound confidence was not merely a result of that.
The demons too sensed something unusual and attempted to charge at us. However, I moved first.
I seized the collar of a demon who had rushed forward.
With a simple strike, I cleanly cut off the demon’s head, leaving the decapitated body to stare blankly at me, unaware of its own demise.
As the other demons were left disconcerted, I advanced again.
It wasn’t just speed—it was my ability to move in a way that evaded their detection.
Even though I had previously managed to dim my presence with assistance from various conditions in the labyrinth, this was different.
This power, while my own, was simultaneously not quite mine.
It was a glimpse of the future I would reach one day.
A fragment of the future skills I would acquire as an assassin and swordsman.
And yet, this peak was temporarily borrowed through the holy sword. However, without fully mastering the holy sword’s power or that of the hero, I could feel its inadequacy.
Even so, the strength it granted was formidable and would certainly be a great aid.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel that the holy sword was delineating a line, as if declaring that my limits were here.
Furthermore, this power would disperse the moment the goddess’s lingering grace in this place vanished.
Even now, with each step, my body was bearing immense strain.
But it didn’t matter. By the time this strain became unbearable, we would have already overcome this crisis.
And so, within just a few minutes, all the demons and minions threatening us, including Professor Hilfin, had lost their heads and lay sprawled upon the ground as corpses.
*
“…Let’s head back to the Academy.”
No matter how urgent the affairs in the capital might be, it wasn’t enough to justify a reckless journey under such conditions.
Though the carriages had been damaged, the horses, being unharmed, allowed us to each ride two to two and make our return.
Professor Hilfin’s remains… In light of the urgency, we left a small marker after burying him in the ground.
“Hey, Sel…”
“Later. Let’s talk later.”
Only after I had grasped the holy sword did I realize that it had already completely chosen me as the hero.
Why had it chosen me, given the limitations I knew would define my future?
Considering Selian’s innate talent and current capabilities, it was evident that her potential as the descendent of heroes and her suitability to be a hero far surpassed mine.
Even though she carried the bloodline of the hero, it had ultimately chosen me instead.
I didn’t know what to say to Selian, but I couldn’t just sit idly by either. Still, when I approached her, she kept her face stern and refused any conversation.
Once we returned to the Academy, there was an atmosphere of emergency.
Since Professor Hilfin had been in a somewhat high position, news of his death sent shock waves through the institution. The close call of the saint losing her life to the demons sparked alarm.
Amid all this, the most sensational news spreading through the masses was that I had become the hero, not Selian.
For a while, I was dragged around from one meeting to another and couldn’t attend classes.
I even met the Dean of the Academy, whom I’d only seen during the enrollment ceremony, and encountered high-ranking figures from the shrine.
“Do not overly rely on the power of the holy sword or the hero.”
Selian spoke this single line before treating me as she used to.
Her behavior, pretending as if nothing had happened, made me feel more awkward than her.
We deliberately avoided discussing anything related to the hero, both Selian and I.
The only notable change in Selian’s behavior was that, despite infrequent visits to the shrine in the past, she had been going there for days now. Occasionally, she met with Mariel.
Throughout her 18 years of life, Selian had undoubtedly lived with the assumption that she would one day become the hero.
Thus, having that title taken from her by me could only have left an indescribable sense of loss.
Even while dealing with various issues each day, I continued to practice as usual, swinging my sword.
“Haa!”
Today, instead of sparring with Selian who had absent herself, I was in a match with Anne.
However, after just a few exchanges, Anne was kneeling before me in defeat.
Anne’s abilities, seemingly focused on Kleyn’s unique aura techniques, placed her at a disadvantage during such matches.
“Ugh… I lost again.”
“Well, it was close this time.”
I extended my other hand, the one not wielding the sword, toward Anne, as she announced her clear defeat.
Anne took my hand and stood up, continuing to speak.
“It was already hard enough to beat El, but since you became the hero, it seems like you’re only getting stronger every day.”
“Really?”
“Of course! You’re not secretly practicing without telling us, are you?”
“We share the same room and practically live side by side every day. How could I? It must be your misjudgment.”
“…Is it?”
Anne’s mimicry of my earlier tone made me chuckle slightly.
Though I pretended not to know in front of Anne, the truth was that I, the very subject of this talk, was most aware of the changes Anne had pointed out.
Even though I knew my growth had accelerated, this degree was astonishing even to me.
This might be one of the powers of the hero that Selian had mentioned.
Instead, the level of mastery I achieved when I first grasped the holy sword was far out of reach for me and worried me.
“Anyway, can you take me?”
“Huh?”
“What else? Obviously, I’m asking to join the party to slay the Demon King. Surely, you weren’t going to leave me behind, were you?”
“Well, to be honest, I haven’t given it any serious thought yet…”
“No way! I’m coming no matter what!”
Saying that, Anne carelessly threw her large sword to the ground and firmly latched onto my waist.
“Hehe. This way, you can’t escape!”
A hero’s party… I had been pondering whether or not I ought to join Selian, who had been that hero just recently, but now I’ve become the one in question.
Still, it’s about time I talk to Selian about matters relating to the hero, yet my words fail me every time I face her.
Is there a way to naturally bring up the conversation?
“El. Let’s spar.”
While still lost in thought and with Anne clinging to my waist, Selian had silently entered the training ground.
Seemingly finished with her warm-ups, her movements were fluid.
“Let’s do it once, then?”
On seeing Anne step aside, I too readied myself.
What had previously been a foregone conclusion of Selian’s overwhelming victory might now be quite a close match, considering these past few days’ boost in my own skills.
“Then, let’s go.”
Claiming the first move, Selian stepped within my reach and lightly swung her sword.
Klang!
Despite the lightness of her attack, I easily blocked her sword.
Upon deflecting her blade, Selian’s attacks continued unrelentingly—once, twice, again and again.
Each successive swing was faster and sharper, testing my skill.
I found no openings to counterattack.
After merely twenty exchanges of sword clashes, I was effortlessly subdued by Selian.
It became clear that while I had grown stronger, Selian had surpassed her former self by an even greater margin.
Not even the hero’s power could keep up with this rate of growth. I still couldn’t fathom why I had been chosen as the hero.
“…Let’s make a visit to my family home this weekend.”
“Family home… you mean the House of Deretia?”
“Yes. Father has summoned us, and there are numerous documents about the hero’s history stored there. Let’s use this opportunity to discuss about the hero and our future endeavors.”
While I had been pondering how to bring up the subject, Selian had already taken the initiative to address it.
