I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me

15 – [The Hero Who Slayed the Demon Lord – 12]

-You must become a hero.

Father said that, and each time I made a mistake, he unleashed violence.

Having grown up within the confines of our home, never experiencing society, I couldn’t understand it as ‘bad’. It simply was that the more I grew as a hero, the more Father smiled, and in those moments he was kind, so I wanted it.

And Father, until the moment he died…

-Become a hero, even my death will be good fuel for the hero’s tale.

He left a curse on me.

Actually, I knew.

I was a fool, but not that oblivious.

I knew that what I possessed was something closer to an obsession than a sense of justice.

But it was about saving people, and no one told me it was wrong, no one told me to stop, so I just kept moving.

Saving people felt good.

Being thanked by someone wasn’t a bad feeling.

But still, I felt suffocated.

‘I guess I was never really a hero.’

The Goddess chose the wrong person. If it was simply about ‘someone capable of slaying the Demon Lord’ then it wouldn’t be strange that I was chosen, but I wasn’t fit for the title of hero.

There is no ideal.

There is no faith.

No pride left.

What clings to my heart is nothing more than the ghost of my dead father, his obsessive whisper ringing in my ears, ‘You must become a hero.’

Saving people, becoming hope, even slaying the Demon King – it was all, without exaggeration, because of that ghost’s cursed whisper.

But.

“Hero or Olivia Reinhart…! You saved people, didn’t you!”

You were always like that.

You saw me not as the hero who should be hope, but as Olivia Reinhart.

All the countless pains and agonies of the past that I could only endure by being a hero, and the suffering I must endure now – you’re forcibly turning me back into Olivia Reinhart, making me unable to withstand it.

It’s truly ironic.

You, whom I recklessly discarded because of my own circumstances.

You’re next to me, the discarded.

The person who cares for me more than anyone, looks at me, acknowledges me as a person – that person is the one I discarded.

In the end, I was a false hero, perhaps not a hero in the true sense that people desire.

Everything is fake.

Ideals too.

Conviction too.

Pride too.

If everything about me is fake, I might not be allowed a hero’s death, but isn’t it okay to wish for a death where I save you?

And yet, you…

“Whether you’re a fake hero or not, none of that matters!!”

*Tzzzt.*

Your words echo in my head.

You say it doesn’t matter if I’m a fake, one who can’t be a hero… what does that even mean?

For someone like me, who can’t be a hero, the only worth I have is in saving someone, in throwing my life away. Isn’t that enough for a dying body like mine? A decent enough send-off?

Maybe it’s too good a death, considering how arrogantly I’ve lived until now, but… can’t I be greedy for something like that?

“Saving people *because* you’re a hero!? That’s wrong! Completely wrong!!”

Wrong?

“It’s *because* you’ve saved so many that everyone calls you a hero!! Olivia Reinhart!!”

I thought I wasn’t qualified to utter the word ‘hero,’ a coward who couldn’t muster the courage.

But a hero isn’t something you become, nor is it something you’re made into.

Many people were grateful.

And smiling.

It was definitely something beautiful.

To me, genuine acts of kindness from the heart were an incomprehensible something, and I’ll never understand those who save others without any sense of duty.

I was clearly a far cry from the saints and the virtuous, I was probably a selfish child who could only be good once my mind was broken.

Even so.

You.

You call me a hero.

No matter how much I deny it, you call me a hero.

You see me as Olivia Reinhart, and you don’t deny calling me a hero.

Knowing my ugliness better than anyone.

Knowing my fragility better than anyone.

Better than anyone…

“Even a fake hero.”

I smiled.

“I’ll protect you.”

My heart beat fast.

Burning hot from the inside, and then.

Light spread.

*

“The holy sword.”

The holy sword was before my eyes, and I was startled.

Why is this in front of me?

As if telling me to grab it, I stared at the sword before me and mumbled in a tearful voice.

“One more time…are you giving me another chance?”

A broken contract.

I’m no longer a hero or anything.

I couldn’t accept that myself.

I already defeated the Demon King, there’s no real reason for this sword to be used by me.

There was nowhere that guaranteed I’d only wield this sword for what was right.

There are many others more fit to wield you than I, and if you ranked people suited for the holy sword, I’d probably be at the bottom – just a weak child, unable to escape the trauma of my parents.

Are you giving me, a child with a grown-up body, another chance?

Can I hold you again?

“…….”

I grabbed the sword without a word.

“It’s heavy.”

The holy sword’s light faded, and the hero’s mark was imprinted on the back of my hand, the only one that remained.

I feel the weight of the holy sword.

“Up until now, I didn’t feel your weight at all.”

I just swung the sword, without understanding the meaning of wielding it.

I’m not a human worthy of wielding you, and perhaps I’m not suitable to be a hero at all, but…

If you give me one more chance to hold you,

I’ll try a little harder.

Even if I don’t recognize myself as a hero, if many people still call me a hero, and believe me to be the ‘hope of humanity’, then I’ll put on a show.

“I know now.”

No, maybe I still don’t know.

The holy sword’s energy spread through my body, and my breathing became easier.

It was a strange feeling.

The holy sword shouldn’t have a function to detoxify, but it felt like the god of death’s poison was being pushed back by the holy sword, and my shaky vision was regaining its focus.

In my now clear vision, I saw Royce, his arm broken, looking at me, and the high-ranking demon, I can’t remember its name.

Anyway, the muscle-bound, higher-ranked demon was glaring at me.

“Holy Sword!! A hero…!! Hahahaha!! What the hell is that form!? I can’t believe that’s the state of the hero who even killed the Demon Lord!! But you’re lucky! If I eat the hero!! I can definitely become one of the Seven Great Demons!! No, beyond that, maybe I could even become the new Demon Lord!!”

“……”

The blood was still streaming down, and my physical state wasn’t exactly positive.

I probably shouldn’t get into a drawn-out fight.

But it’s okay.

It might seem arrogant, like I’m really looking down from above, but it didn’t seem like I’d need that much time with the high-ranking demon in front of me right now.

“I’m not the kind of person who deserves to be a hero, but there’s one thing where I’m better than any of the previous heroes.”

“Oho, what is it?”

“Cutting.”

I don’t have courage, but I have strength.

So, to the many brave people fighting in this village.

And to Lois.

Lend me just a little of that courage.

So that I can be even a little like your nobility and goodness.

“Oho, you think you can cut me in that state!! Take this fist…!!”

“Yeah, I cut you.”

“……!”

There’s no sound.

Nothing at all.

Just the result of being cleaved.

The swung holy sword’s attack had already split the higher demon’s body, and the higher demon, who had been about to punch me, widened its eyes.

Its upper body sliced clean off, the higher demon died without even properly understanding what had happened.

“Amazing, to send a named higher demon packing in one blow.”

“This is all I’m good for, you know. Glad I managed this at least. Is it too selfish to think I wish I had done it sooner?”

“Well, they say a person’s greed has no end.”

“Ugh, *cough*.”

“Livia-ssi!”

Blood flowed, and I collapsed right there.

‘Damn, I’ve bled too much… and the poison, it’s spreading. Did I push myself too hard?’

Plus, I’d even made a contract that consumed quite a bit of stamina, so collapsing might be inevitable.

“Look, Livia-ssi.”

“……”

I couldn’t see clearly, but through the sky, I could see the demons fleeing.

Even if only lower demons remained, I was thinking about the possibility of someone else being sacrificed, but it seemed the higher demon – or rather, their boss – had been taken down, so they immediately tucked tail and ran.

If anything, that’s a bit of a relief.

My breathing was ragged, my thoughts a jumbled mess.

But my mood wasn’t so bad.

The sky was clear, and seeing the sun like this felt like it had been a really long time.

“You saved us again, you’re amazing.”

“Ah, no way.”

“……”

“People saved me.”

“……”

The kindness of many people allowed me to move once again.

Their courage affected me.

I’m pathetic, a cowardly nobody, but their courage gave me a little bit of strength. It became the power that pushed me forward that one step I couldn’t take before.

“Royce.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I only have things to be grateful for with you… it must be a nuisance.”

“……Well, I guess things like this happen.”

Sometimes I’m not sure if he’s big-hearted or narrow-minded.

I stared at Royce silently.

“Then can I ask for one more thing?”

“What is it?”

I grabbed Royce’s shoulder and spoke, my consciousness fading.

“Don’t… tell them I’m the hero… okay…? Please….”

In the end.

I can only make childish requests of you.

Sorry.

But, I’m really sorry,

but this isn’t such a bad feeling.

“Livia! Miss Livia! … Your arm is broken, are you passed out?! Miss Livia!”

That voice, the last thing I heard.

I lost consciousness.