CH 24

If there was a hero in another country, does that mean that Iska is not a hero? … Well, the main character is not necessarily the hero.

To be honest, I was a little relieved, because if Iska had been chosen as a hero and told to fight for the country and the world, I would have had to fight the country.

Is it possible to get around a situation like this if you have knowledge of the game?

…I wonder what’s for dinner tonight (for the second time).

When I got home and opened the door and went inside, Nina and Stella jumped at me.

“Welcome home oto-san!”

“Welcome home daddy”

“I’m home. Have you been good kids?”

This alone is enough to make a day’s worth of fatigue go away.

“Welcome back, Gray-san. I’ll carry your bags. …There’s something the two of them want to show you today. Right, Nina, Stella-chan?”

Ariamel said that and looked at the two of them. Nina and Stella ran to the living room after fidgeting, and came back with something in their hands.

“You know, Oto-san…… and, uh, this”

“Papa, here you go”

They presented me with a portrait of myself. The lines were messed up, and I couldn’t tell what they had drawn because they had tried to correct it so many times. At the bottom of the drawing, there were two words written in dirty letters that Ariamel must have taught them: “Dad” and “Pa-pa”.

………………………………eh.

What is this? A present from angels?

For the time being, I’ll just go buy a picture frame with water, fire, and impact resistant protection magic.

“…Gray-san, are you all right…?”

“Ah? What are you talking about? Why … it’s totally okay … it’s decided. I’m a B…B class adventurer, I can afford it (unintelligible).”

Here…you are so naive…to try to upset me with something like this.

“Oto-san…?”

“Papa… aren’t you happy?”

They look anxious.

aaaaaaahhhh… What should I do?!

“I… no, I’m really… happy. Thank you.”

Instinctively, I hug the two of them.

Somehow…somehow I managed not to cry…

But after this, it was ultimately no good, as Ratz belatedly and shyly brought out a painted picture of a cat, a dog, and me.

Nina, Stella, and Ratz hug back.

“Gray-san… Here you go.”

I was saved by Iska who brought me a handkerchief… Fio and Ariamel came to call me when I managed to recover.

“Dinner’s ready, let’s all eat together, shall we?”

“Wash your hands, everyone, and Gray-san!”

I wish these children a peaceful and happy life… No, I will make them happy. Absolutely.

I will be a wonderful father.

I vowed once again.

During dinner with everyone, I suddenly remembered the story of the hero that was told to Emilia and the others. Was there any connection between Iska, the main character in the original story, and the hero?

“…? What’s wrong, do I have something on my face?”

“No… nothing”

I don’t know, I must have been looking at Iska without realizing it.

――――――――――

(Third-party perspective)

There were two people in the burning cathedral.

One is a young man with black hair. Eyes dyed with hatred, despair, and revenge. In his hand, he holds a red-tinted sword.

The other is a young man with blond hair. His eyes were just blank and didn’t reflect anything.

A young man with black hair is looking down at the young man with blond hair who is bleeding from his chest and collapsing.

“…I have a question”

The dark-haired young man opens his mouth.

“Are you the one who killed the girl named ◯◯◯◯… ◯◯◯◯◯ four years ago?”

At those words, the eyes of the young man with blond hair flicker slightly.

“…… why is that such a “just answer.”

The blonde-haired young man’s words are interrupted by the dark-haired young man.

“… not…”

“…”

“I… didn’t kill.”

“I see.”

Hearing those words, the black-haired young man wiped off the blood on his sword, put it back in its sheath, turned his back on the fallen blond-haired young man, and began to walk away.

The blond young man who was left behind stared at the crumbling ceiling and thought back to four years ago when he had just been asked the question.

A scrawny, skinny girl in tattered clothes who was introduced to me as a saint. Her hair was falling out in places, her face and body were covered in bruises… and she had dark, cloudy eyes like the young man I saw earlier.

Nobles and priests who laugh amiably while talking about something unpleasant.

Suddenly a girl shouts

“Ahaha hahaha ha！Ahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha! Die! Die, all of you! Curse you! Suffer and suffer and suffer and die!”

The girl cursed, snatched the sword from the waist of the dumbfounded soldier next to her and put it in her own chest…

I couldn’t stop it. I had no right to stop it.

I… I didn’t want to become a hero.

I just wanted to live a quiet life with everyone else.