I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me

10 – [The Hero Who Defeated the Demon King – 07]

Royce.

A commoner, no surname, just Royce.

The first Royce I saw gave a somewhat frail impression.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t trained at all, but he didn’t come across as strong either.

His actual combat ability wasn’t exactly remarkable, but Royce’s strength lay more in his convenience and versatility.

Being able to borrow the power of nature, Royce could endure longer than others, and even when they were huffing and puffing, unable to keep up, Royce followed silently.

Sweating, he would glance at those behind and, knowing he’d get an earful from me, would still say, “It’s tough, could we rest a little?”

I knew it wasn’t Royce who was struggling, but the others behind him, that’s why he said that to me.

I thought he was someone who always lost out.

But I never imagined he would save me, that he’d try to get all the way to Elvenheim to keep me alive.

Does he even realize that instead of gaining something, this could very well turn the kingdom against us?

“Still as convenient as ever, your spirit power.”

“Is that so?”

“I mastered swordsmanship, magic, all sorts of skills, but not spirit magic.”

“Because you have to have a natural affinity for it to work.”

There’s a saying in this world, ‘With effort, you can reach the second tier.’

Depending on how you see it, it sounds like no matter how hard you try, you can never be first-rate, but some use it in a positive way, meaning that if you work hard, you can at least become a skilled person and make a living from it.

After all, being first-rate was an unreasonable territory that only those chosen by talent could reach by putting in the effort.

But sometimes, without talent, you can’t even become third-rate, let alone first-rate.

And one of those is being a spirit mage.

As Royce said, without ‘natural affinity’, you can’t use spirit magic, making it a truly rare profession.

“They say spirits in books have attributes, is yours fire? You use it when you make a bonfire, don’t you?”

They say spirits have five attributes: fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth. Spirit wielders manifest their power by contracting with a spirit of one of those attributes.

Apparently, first-rate spirit wielders can handle two attributes, but throughout human history, there’d be barely enough to count on ten fingers.

“Yes, that’s right. I wield a fire spirit.”

“…Hmmm.”

“….”

I glanced at Royce for a moment, then spoke.

“Can I learn too?”

“Huh? …Well, it’ll be difficult. …Can you see it?”

“…See what?”

“Can you see what’s on my finger?”

I stared intently at Royce’s finger but couldn’t see anything. It didn’t seem to be just because my eye was gone, I just couldn’t see it.

“There’s a spirit.”

“I can’t see it. Wouldn’t spirit wielders be invincible then? An invisible spirit, that’d be really useful in battle.”

“Your mind is always on that, huh.”

“Ugh.”

I couldn’t help it.

My life, from start to finish, had been about killing monsters, capturing the Demon King, and defeating evil.

Therefore, it was easy for me to fall into the mindset of ‘Is this helpful in a fight?’, and that was how I always judged things.

“Spirits aren’t normally visible to humans. It’s just that some people can see them.”

“…….”

“A spiritist without a spirit is useless, but conversely, a spirit without a spiritist isn’t much different.”

“I don’t really get it?”

“Think of spirits as nature itself. The rain and snow from the sky, the crashing lightning, the fires that ignite… spirits are born and die from those natural phenomena. A spirit acts as an intermediary, borrowing the power of nature.”

“I understand even less.”

“To put it more simply, think of it like you, Livia, and the Holy Sword. The Holy Sword itself is magnificent, but without someone to wield it, it’s just a sharp piece of metal.”

“Hmm.”

This time, I thought I could understand.

“The spirit is the Holy Sword, and I’m Livia. A mere piece of metal transforms into the Holy Sword when it’s grasped in your hand. …Like this.”

*Whoosh*, a flame bloomed at the tip of Royce’s finger.

“So, in the end, it’s impossible, is that it?”

“If you can’t see it, it’s impossible.”

“You explained for way too long.”

“You have a good head, Livia, but you’re short-sighted, which is a shame.”

“……! Hey! *Cough! Cough!*”

“Don’t get worked up.”

As if he wasn’t the one winding me up.

If Royce hadn’t been like this before, I might have thought he was taking advantage of my weakness to tease me, but Royce used to be cheeky even when I was strong.

His outwardly impeccable appearance and polite tone masked how impolite his actual words were.

That in itself wasn’t a big problem for me.

The only real problem, if you had to pick one, was the way Alex glared at Royce every time.

Thinking about it, they were probably already engaged then, so was he uncomfortable?

Nah, whatever… whether or not he was uncomfortable with the guy who turned his fiancée into *this*, isn’t my problem.

“Hm? Out of water… Liviah, I’m gonna go fetch some from the river. Wanna come along if you’re scared?”

“Don’t want to waste the energy. Let’s head out as soon as you’re back, we’ll be at East Port soon.”

“Yeah, we should arrive by tonight at the latest.”

“At least we can avoid camping tonight.”

Royce said with a smile.

“Trying to smoothly get me to pay for a room?”

“….I’ll, I’ll pay you back.”

“I’m kidding. Just wait here for a bit.”

“……”

Royce laughed and headed towards the river, and I just watched him go.

He was polite to everyone else, so why was he only like *this* with me? Looking back, he seemed to use a condescending tone with me way more than was normal.

From the first time we met, and with Alex, Belita, and Reina, he was always polite and respectful, like a commoner to a noble.

But why only me?

‘Thinking about it, I’m not really in a position to say anything to him.’

The snide remarks Royce made to me back then were probably nothing compared to the insults I hurled at him.

Before we defeated the Demon Lord, I was especially on edge, and I think I was more impatient back then since I hadn’t grown strong yet.

I only got stronger at a rapid pace after my victory against the sea dragon Leviathan.

Up until then, I’d just thought I was strong, normal-strong, so I ran like something was chasing me from behind.

‘Now what?’

If I go towards Elven Heim like this, I’ll die before I even get there.

The world will announce that I died taking down the Demon Lord, and since Royce is a good guy, he’ll at least make me a grave.

Thinking about it, it wouldn’t be such a bad death, a hero’s death even.

Putting the truth aside, people will sing praises of Olivia Reinhardt’s name as ‘the bravest hero in the world’.

‘But why am I fighting so hard to stay alive?’

If I die, I die.

If that’s what a hero’s death is supposed to be, then I should accept it.

But why am I struggling to live, to follow Royce?

Royce’s words echoed in my mind, ‘It’s okay for a hero to have a happy ending, isn’t it?’

‘Happy ending.’

Never considered it.

I’d only ever thought about how to live, how to die, never once about how to be happy.

Even if I took down the Demon Lord, I’d still be a hero, and even if I died of old age, I’d still die as a hero.

But living as Olivia Reinhardt, I’d never thought of that, not even once.

Because I was a hero.

I was a hero first, before being Olivia Reinhardt.

“Huh?”

The bushes rustled, a presence felt.

“Royce?”

The thought was barely formed when a low growl yanked me upright.

“Ugh, cough!”

My reflexes were still sharp, but my body wasn’t keeping up. The quick movement sent searing pain through my entire body, a jolt that even seemed to fog my brain.

“Grrr…!”

“Black Bear…!”

Not that powerful.

But for a creature of that size, its movements are fast and it packs a punch.

That’s why it’s nicknamed the Beginner Hunter.

Clueless newbies would see the big body, assume it wasn’t fast, charge in, and get killed easily.

Plus, it wasn’t even that rare of a monster, so it seemed like a lot of beginners were dying because of it.

They say if you survive a fight with a Black Bear once, you’ll never die to one again. A menace only to those just starting out.

‘The Holy Sword…! Ah, I don’t have it…!’

My hand went instinctively to my shoulder, searching for the Holy Sword I always carried on my back. But the Goddess’s Orb had stripped me of my Hero’s mark and severed the sword’s contract. I had no Holy Sword now.

‘It’s alright, I can fight.’

I’ve faced countless enemies, even defeated monsters without magic.

Thinking about that, I haven’t become so weak that I’d lose to a third-rate monster nicknamed the Beginner Hunter.

“Krrrt!”

“Ugh!”

Too slow to react.

I jerked aside, the clear intent to kill radiating out, making my legs heavy.

‘This feeling…’

My limbs trembled.

If I hadn’t dodged just now, that black bear would have torn my body to shreds. Unable to reinforce myself with magic, my body a mess thanks to the Grim Reaper’s poison, I was nothing more than a soft hunk of meat to that black bear.

This feeling.

The same feeling I had when Alex chopped off my arm, when I was on the brink of death at everyone’s hands.

My limbs trembling, regardless of the Reaper’s poison, my head feeling like it was turning blank white – this was a feeling I’d never experienced before, and it left me in a daze without even realizing it.

That feeling…

Ah.

‘Am I… afraid right now?’

I had strength.

There was something to resist.

Even when I was weak, I had that.

But now, with a body that couldn’t even produce magic, that could barely move, I’d obtained, for the first time, ‘helplessness.’

And that immediately led to the fear of death.

That fact struck me harder than anything, and I was still stunned when the black bear leaped at me.

“…!”

*Whoosh!!*

Only when it was right in front of me did I react, trying to move, but before that, flames erupted, engulfing and burning away the black bear.

The warm, pleasant flames quickly disappeared, and when I looked in the direction they came from, I saw a slightly flustered Royce.

“Are you alright? ……Phew, I’m sorry. I never imagined a monster would appear so suddenly…. This whole thing is my fault, due to my carelessness. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Lois.”

“Yes?”

“I was scared.”

“Yes?”

“I was so scared I couldn’t move properly.”

“Yes….”

From Lois’ perspective, he might think, ‘It’s understandable to be scared.’

But for me, the genuine fear that seized me in that moment held a different meaning.

“I, up until now, I thought I was brave.”

“…….”

“No matter what enemy I fought, I was always tense, and even though I knew I might die, I charged forward. I know it sounds ridiculous even for me to say it, but I thought of myself as a ‘brave person.'”

No matter what kind of monster it was, I charged at it, and no matter what kind of villain, I fought back.

Even if someone said it was impossible, I’d charge and win, and as a result, it was even possible for me to defeat the Demon King. I believed that was definitely my courage, and I praised myself, thinking I was a brave hero.

“But I wasn’t.”

“Livia, ma’am.”

My head hurts.

Like it’s about to shatter.

It felt like something within me was collapsing.

The sound of cracking is sharp and clear in my ear.

“I was just strong, that’s all, so I was fine.”

“……”

“What even is dying a hero, I’m so weak now that I’ve lost my strength.”

Royce said nothing, just looked at me.

“I, I was just a coward who happened to have strength.”

Tears flowed.

I dedicated my entire life to living as a hero, to dying as a hero.

Literally, I gave everything.

And yet.

I wasn’t a person fit to be a hero.

That fact.

Shattered my heart.

I could feel my heart, which even the Reaper’s poison hadn’t been able to kill, dying.