【The Story of the Red-Haired Hero: Digest】The Destruction of Fenoben Village and the Hero's Departure

“Right now, this world, Ardyst, is in peril......”

A white space that stretched on forever.

Floating there in the form of a soul, I listened as the beautiful, blonde-haired goddess spoke those words.

“Though still lurking in the darkness, gathering strength, a Demon Lord has been born. That one plots to destroy humanity and seize the world......”

The goddess's beautiful voice carved itself deep into my oddly hazy mind.

“I beg of you. Brave soul from another world. Please, become the hero and save this world of Ardyst.

Defeat that one, and please, protect this beautiful world that I love......!”

The goddess looked as if she were about to cry.

You must never make a girl cry.

That was something my late grandpa always used to say.

......If someone's in trouble, I've gotta lend a hand!

Leave it to me, Goddess!

Demon Lord, Doom Lord, whatever, I'll be the one who takes down the bad guy!

A hero...... yeah, I'll do it!

◇ ◇ ◇

It was some time after my 5th birthday that I remembered that exchange with the goddess, as well as the memories of my previous life, where I had lived under the name Suzudou Shota.

My name in this life is Torch Fenoben.

I was just an ordinary boy living in Fenoben Village.

Yes, until yesterday, I really was nothing more than an ordinary boy.

Fenoben Village was small, but it was a warm place where the villagers helped one another.

Even as a child, I respected Dad, the village chief who held the community together, and I thought that in the future, I'd become a fine adult like him and protect this village.

But now, things are different.

I have a mission to fulfill!

I will defeat the Demon Lord, the Calamity that is bound to appear someday, and save the people, and the world.

That is my mission.

The power overflowing from deep within my body proves it!

Without telling the adults, I went to the nearby forest to test the power the goddess had given me as a hero, and I was shocked.

I had intended to use a small fire spell, but a great explosion went off and turned the entire area into a scorched wasteland!

“......This is gonna take some practice to control. Man, the power of the 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】 is something else......”

I couldn't help but let out a wry smile and mutter to myself.

The 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】 is the power to fight, granted to me by the goddess who reincarnated me into this world.

The goddess told me that even though it's this powerful now, I'll become even stronger if I train.

It really is an incredible power.

And it makes me shudder all over again to think of the Demon Lord, a thing that can't be defeated without power like this......!

Feeling a bit tired from using a power I wasn't used to, I decided to return to the village immediately.

I intended to keep this power a secret from everyone in the village, but...... I was found out right away by Caro, who was like a little sister to me.

Or rather, Caro had already sensed that I'd sneaked out of the village, and she had seen the exact moment I exercised my power.

I worried she might be scared of me, but when Caro found out I could use the hero's power, she was just plain happy for me!

Caro is so cute when she's excited and jumping up and down.

I'll protect this girl's smile...... and for that, too, I have to defeat the evil Demon Lord, no matter what!

◇ ◇ ◇

Fortunately, the days passed peacefully, and my power remained a secret from everyone in the village except for Caro.

Of course, Caro and I were scolded severely by Dad for sneaking out of the village on our own......

But Caro kept quiet, and no one noticed that I was the cause of that great explosion.

I feel bad for the villagers who tremble while muttering incomprehensible things like “Disaster......” or “The cursed child......”, but for now, I'll keep the truth a secret.

I think I'm still too young to set out on a journey to save the world, since I can't control my power yet.

I mean, in this life I'm still only a 5-year-old, y'know? Even with the 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】, I think leaving the village to go traveling would be reckless.

I'll set out once I've grown much more and undergone plenty of training!

......Until then, it should be fine if I just relax a bit more in this warm and cozy village, right?

......Looking back now, that way of thinking was nothing but childishness.

The moment that childishness was shattered to pieces, and I was forced to leave the village whether I liked it or not, came about 1 month after my power and memories had awakened.

◇ ◇ ◇

That day, 3 thieves attacked the village.

Calling themselves the Megzam Thieves Band, they had the audacity to take Caro hostage in an attempt to steal money from the village!

This was clearly not the time to hide my power.

I turned the power I got from the 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】 to controlling my body, and took on the thieves band with a wooden sword.

To put it simply, the thieves band was weak.

With my physical abilities boosted by the blessing, the big machetes the thieves swung looked to me as if they were standing still.

In fact, I used so much extra effort just to control my own strength that I was exhausted by the time I drove them out of the village.

I mean, even if they were thieves, it would've left a bad taste in my mouth if I'd accidentally caused an irreparable injury or killed them, right?

I'm a reincarnator from Japan, a peaceful country without such conflicts, and I'm still just a 5-year-old kid.

......However, because of that judgment, I used up too much energy. That was the mistake.

Gusari.

An ice blade pierced my stomach.

“Eh......?”

It happened so suddenly that my thoughts ground to a halt.

What? Why? How?

My head was filled with questions.

I had been suddenly stabbed in the stomach by an ice blade created with magic.

The one gripping that ice blade was the girl who was like a precious little sister to me.

My childhood friend and housemate with the light-blue hair.

It was Caro, who had rushed over to make sure I was safe.

“Honestly, you really made me go through a lot of trouble. I was aiming for the moment the 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】 weakened, but you wasted far too much of my time.”

Caro muttered to herself in a surprisingly cold tone, unlike her usual self.

The ice blade was pulled out of me, and I collapsed on the spot.

My blood flowed out and soaked into the ground......

“Wh...... why, Caro......?”

“......Are you still alive? I suppose that's what makes you a hero.”

The blue-haired girl answered with a sigh.

Before I knew it, her complexion had turned a pale, ghostly white.

“Well then, out of respect for that bug-like tenacity of yours, allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is ‘Ice Blade Caro’. I am the one Demon Lord-sama commanded to monitor you, and then to kill you. Well? Have your doubts thawed?”

The Demon Lord?

Monitoring me?

Caro?

In other words, Caro is a minion of the Demon Lord?

I was confused.

With the pain in my stomach, I couldn't gather my thoughts......

“Kukuku...... what a fine face you're making. Just as I thought, the face of a human betrayed and steeped in despair is truly magnificent!”

“Be, trayed...... why......”

“Why? I am a demon, a loyal servant of Demon Lord-sama. And since Demon Lord-sama has given the order, there is no need to keep you, my enemy, alive, is there?”

“Then why...... is Caro crying......?”

“......!?”

Startled by my observation, Caro wiped her cheek.

Yes...... Caro was certainly crying.

Judging by how she only noticed when I said it, she hadn't even realized.

“......Hmph, the mood is ruined. I'm done chatting with you.”

However, once Caro had wiped away the tears, not even the slight surprise from before remained.

Regaining her cold expression, she readied her ice blade and approached me.

“As a final mercy, I shall behead you in one go so that you do not suffer any further.”

With that, she raised an ice blade far too large for her small body.

When that was swung down, my life in this world would end.

Some hero I am.

Unable to properly use my power, unable to achieve anything, unable to become anyone, am I just going to die like this?

“Well then, farewell.”

Caro said only that and swung the blade down at my neck.

My head would be lopped off, and the curtain would fall on the life of Torch Fenoben.

......Or so it should have been.

GAKIN!!

A hard, metallic sound rang out, as if two pieces of metal had collided.

The ice blade swung at my neck had been stopped by a beautiful sword gleaming gold.

“What!?”

Surprised, Caro leaped back to create distance.

“......Hah, haah! Made it just in tiiime......”

The one who had saved my life, breathing hard as he leveled the golden sword at Caro again, was a blond man clad in golden armor to match.

He was perfectly golden from head to toe.

“You are...... the Special-grade adventurer ‘Golden Arcus’, aren't you!? Why are you in a place like this......!!”

“Heh...... just a little personal business, is aaall. I never imagined there'd be a demon in a place like this...... either!!”

With that, Arcus closed the distance in an instant and slashed at Caro!

So fast!!

Even my eyes couldn't follow his movements at all!

The ice blade and the golden sword clashed at high speed.

A flurry of blows too fast for the eye to follow.

Ga, ga, ga, KIN!! The sounds echoed with a slight delay.

“Kuh......!! Against you, the odds really aren't in my favor......!”

Caro leaped back to create distance and muttered some kind of spell while breathing hard.

And then.

“‘Gate, open, and call them forth! 【Summon】!!’”

As she shouted, a purple magic circle appeared at her feet, and terrifying monsters such as giant wolves and dragons leaped out one after another!

“Wha!? Summoning maaagic!?”

“Remember this, Arcus! I will definitely repay this debt! I'll make you regret opposing the Demon Lord's Army one day! ‘Gate, open, and carry my body to that land! 【Teleport】!!’”

In the next instant, Caro vanished, leaving behind the magic circle from which monsters continued to swarm.

“Tch! That brat just said whatever she wanted and bolted! But man......”

As Arcus looked around, a single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

“U...... uwaah!? What is this!?”

“H-help me......!!”

The villagers, who had been watching the fight between Arcus and Caro in confusion, were being attacked by the monsters!

“She left behind the worst kind of parting gift, didn't she!!”

Arcus shouted as he cut down an attacking wolf monster.

Individually, the monsters were nothing to him, but he didn't have enough hands.

Assailed wave after wave, Arcus was hard-pressed just to fend them off, pinned to the spot and unable to move!

“U...... geho......”

Even as this happened, the villagers were being attacked by monsters, losing their lives one after another.

“I've gotta...... protect them......!”

......I squeezed out every bit of my strength and managed to stand up, using my wooden sword as a support.

“Everyone...... in the village......! I'll protect them!”

And then, spitting up blood, I raised my wooden sword against the monsters.

“K...... kid! You're hurt, aren't you!!? Don't push it, just stay dooown!!”

The golden old guy was saying something, but my consciousness was hazy and I couldn't hear him clearly.

However, I have to fight.

I have to protect them!

If I can't protect the people precious to me, what kind of hero am I!

I gathered the last remaining scraps of my blessing's power and forced my body to move.

I threw fuel into my battered body!

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!”

And just as I was about to slash at the monsters...... my consciousness faded to black.

◇ ◇ ◇

“......Hah!!?”

When I woke up again, night had already fallen.

Countless stars were scattered across the purple night sky, twinkling brightly.

“Wh...... where am I......?”

I looked around.

Apparently, I was in a clearing beside some highway.

“Wha!? Kid, you're already awaaake!?”

The golden old guy, lit by a campfire that went pachipachi as it burned, came hurrying over to me.

“Don't push yourself! Stay dooown! You had a huge hole in your stomach, y'know!?”

At his words, the spot where I'd been stabbed started to hurt, as if it had just remembered to.

However, when I covered the spot with both hands, the wound had already closed.

Though a few scars remained, it had healed so cleanly that it was hard to believe there had been a hole here.

“Eh......? Why......?”

“......I used a potion on you after that. It's a high-end item that costs as much as a house, y'knooow?”

By potion, he meant a magical medicine that heals wounds just by sprinkling it on.

It looked like I owed my life to this old guy...... to Arcus-san.

“Th-thank you very much.”

“......Don't sweat it. I'm a Special-grade adventurer; I'm actually rich. You can tell, riiight?”

Clowning around as he said it, Arcus-san rapped his knuckles on his golden armor, kon kon.

Arcus-san sat down beside me, took a cigarette out of his bag, lit it from the campfire, and began to smoke.

Every so often a cold night wind blew into the clearing, where there was no one but the two of us, and carried the smoke from the fire and the cigarette off somewhere.

......Yes, in this clearing, there were only two of us, Arcus-san and me......

I had a sneaking suspicion. But I couldn't help but ask.

“Um, Arcus-san.”

“Hmm?”

“Um...... what happened to everyone in the village?”

“............”

“Everyone in Fenoben Village......? Dad......? Mom......?”

“............”

Arcus-san looked away from me and breathed out a long Fuuuu......

The smoke stretched upward into the sky like a string.

And then.

“The only one, I could save, was you.”

He said it simply.

“............!!”

I instinctively gritted my teeth.

My vision blurred.

“I couldn't...... protect them......! Anyone! It's because...... because I was weak!”

I couldn't put any more into words.

I cried.

I just cried and cried.

I cried because my own weakness was so pathetic, so shameful.

Arcus-san sat silently beside me.

◇ ◇ ◇

“What are you gonna do now, kid?”

Once I'd finally stopped crying and calmed down a little, Arcus-san asked me that, tossing the butt of what was roughly his 10th cigarette into the fire.

“Do you have any relatives in another town? I can take you there, y'knooow?”

“............”

I silently shook my head.

I had heard before that all of Dad's and Mom's families had died from an epidemic.

“......All alone in the world, huuuh......”

With a deep sigh, Arcus-san muttered to himself.

“Same as meee...... I lost my only family in all this, too.”

“......Eh?”

“My younger brother's family lived in that village, y'knooow. Do you know a guy named Cody?”

Uncle Cody...... the drunk old guy who lived on the outskirts of the village.

“I hadn't seen him since he hurt his leg and retired from adventuring....... I was thinking I'd go take a look at his mug for the first time in 6 or 7 years, and then this happens. I heard rumors he'd had a kid, too. It's just tragic, y'knooow......”

“......But Uncle Cody lived alone, didn't he?”

“Huuuh? ......I see. So his wife and daughter ran out on him, huh......”

Ha, ha, ha, Arcus-san let out a dry laugh.

This was the first I'd heard of Uncle Cody having a wife and child.

“Well, enough about me. Back to the point. If you've got nowhere to go, I'll introduce you to someone I trust. A merchant named Drogg.”

“......”

......A merchant?

“He's strict, but he's a good guy, true to his word. Plus, he's always looking for help. If you're with him, you won't have to worry about eating, y'knooow.”

“......”

Stay away from danger and live peacefully in a city......?

“How about it? Not a bad deal, riiight? ......I already saved you, so this is just part of the package. No need to hold back, y'knooow? I can look after you that much.”

“......Um, Arcus-san! I......!!”

Arcus-san, who had been talking with his eyes on the fire, turned and stared at me, startled by my sudden shout.

“I have to become strong! Strong enough that I'll never lose to monsters like those again! That's why......!!”

I said it all in one breath, and I noticed that Arcus-san's gaze had changed into something sharp...... as if he were glaring at me.

Without flinching, I looked straight back into his eyes and continued.

“Please...... please! Make me your disciple!!”

Silence fell.

Only the pachipachi sound of the campfire echoed.

Arcus-san began to smoke again.

He took a deep drag and exhaled.

The smoke, tinted red by the fire, stretched thin and long toward the sky.

“......I don't really want to......”

Arcus-san muttered.

“Please! Teach me how to fight! I can't stay like this! If I stay like this, I can't protect anything! I have to, I have to become stronger!!”

“Because you're the hero...... huh?”

“!!?”

I froze at Arcus-san's words.

“‘How did you know?’ That what you're thinkiiing?”

With a kukku chuckle, Arcus-san continued.

“That moment right before you keeled over in the village, when you let out that fired-up yell, I felt an insane Divine Aura coming off yooou. Plus, even with a high-end potion, you healed way too fast. That alone makes it a sure thiiing the gods granted you some kind of blessing. And that demon missy seemed to be after you...... so if you think about what kind of kid with a blessing a demon would be gunning for, well, it can't be anything but a hero, y'knooow?”

With a great sigh, Arcus-san slumped his shoulders.

“This kind of thing is the job of a ‘Sword Saint’ or a ‘Great Mage’, y'knooow...... It doesn't suit a comic-relief guy like me...... I was planning to just dump you on Drogg and pretend I didn't know anything about it......”

After muttering to himself with his head down, Arcus-san met my eyes again, his expression now serious, unlike before.

“Kid, what's your name?”

“......Torch...... Torch Fenoben.”

“I see. Torch, huh...... It'll be tough, y'know?”

“Eh?”

“Since we're doing this, I'm going to commit and go all out. No matter what happens, can you follow me without running away?”

“Yes! There's no way I'm ever running away!”

“......Very well. A hero has asked to become my disciple. Then that, I suppose, is my fate. I accept your request!”

“Then!”

“Yeah, Torch. From today on, you're my disciple. I'm gonna whip you into shape, so don't you dare whine. Got it?”

Arcus-san grinned, ruffling my hair with his large hand.

“YES!!”

When I looked up at the night sky, it was full of glittering stars.

When a person dies, their soul ascends to the heavens and becomes a star to watch over their family left on earth.

That was the legend of Fenoben Village.

Dad, Mom, and all the kind people of the village must be watching me from the sky.

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you......

But I'll become much, much stronger and make sure this kind of tragedy never happens again. I'll save the world!

You'll cheer for me, right......?

The stars in the night sky gave no answer. They only twinkled.

But that light was very gentle and warm.

And that is what happened on the day Torch the hero, age 5, left his hometown.