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Chapter 129: I Heard the Brave’s Story!
Mr. Amato, one of those summoned as braves, is, as expected, an otherworldler. As corporate slave, he’d been tolling away at his job (apparently as a programmer) day and night for a week, and just as he was finally able to go back home and try to catch some sleep, he came to this world. At first he thought he was dreaming. Something I can totally understand.
“…I’d have died sooner or later anyway if I kept working like that, but I sure didn’t expect for things to turn out like this…”
He thought that this light-novel-like development, where you’re summoned to another world during a break or one of your rare days off, was dangerous, and thus he planned to at least avoid becoming a brave, but with the king being a relatively decent man according to him (and Sword had said so as well), and him not being able to see his status, levels, ranks, or jobs, as it’d be common in light novels, he couldn’t find a good reason to escape.
At the royal castle, they told Mr. Amato that all the people summoned by the magic circle are braves. They also informed him that it was the ancient magic circle selecting and summoning people on its own accord, without the kingdom itself actually wanting that. Given that it’d be pitiable to throw them out on the streets just because of that, the royal castle offered to support the summoned people as long as they were willing to help the kingdom.
Being told all that, he couldn’t simply run away, explained Mr. Amato while slumping his shoulders in distress.
“I see. Well, I can understand where you’re coming from. There exist only few morons who would readily go along with something like 「Go and defeat the demon king」 like some sacrifice after being summoned against their will and being told so by complete strangers. Moreover, if you’re told 「It’s not us who’s summoned you」 on top of that, anyone would feel like telling them to be left alone. The part about them not giving people any options other than going to defeat the demon king while forcing a debt of gratitude on you is really detestable.”
“Totally right! Ah, shit, I should have used that argumentation back then. Though it’s now too late to change it anyway…” the summoned guy answered enthusiastically, but became quieter towards the end before fading out completely.
Sword seemed very sympathetic with the disheartened young man, “…Well, the palace got its own circumstances why they’re sendin’ the summoned folks out to defeat the demon king. I don’t think they actually wanna do it, but accordin’ to some old documents, the capital will be destroyed if they don’t do so, you see? In reality, there might also exist some braves who ran away, and in the first place, I’ve never heard ’bout any of ’em winning ‘gainst the demon king, so, seein’ how the capital’s still standin’, it might be possible to put a stop to it, but…the palace is a shithole. They’re a gatherin’ of nasty folks who would readily choose sacrificin’ a bunch of folks over carin’ ’bout their well-bein’, if doin’ so helps the kingdom,” Sword started to explain.
And due to that, the one in question here, Mr. Amato, looked shocked and upset.
“But, doesn’t a king protect himself by sacrificing many? The military force called knight order will fight for the sake of protecting the king, and not the people, right? Even if he only considers his own safety and prattles to others about sacrificing themselves for the many, it’s not very admirable, is it?”
“Yep! It’s exactly as you say! He should just head out himself to defeat the demon king!!”
Mr. Amato was super pissed off. But I wonder whether that’s okay, seeing how he’s got a young man standing behind him as a watchdog in the name of being an attendant.
Once I stared at him closely, the attendant bowed at me.
“…I was sold by my family and assigned to accompany him on this occasion. I do not owe the king any respect, and I feel nothing but hatred towards my family. To be very honest, if I can get Sir Brave to stop being a brave and run away instead, I will not have to die in vain either, so I have been actively cooperating with him.”
Whoa. The people who got summoned are pitiable, but so are their attendants, it seems.
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Sword scratched his head with a troubled look on his face.
“…So? What’s the point in tellin’ us all that? It might sound cold-hearted, but we ain’t in any position that we should hear about this to begin with…,” Sword said something surprisingly unfeeling, considering it was him.
Well, he’s got a point though.
“Ah, sorry. You’ve misunderstood. I just objected since you called me brave. But, I want to talk about something else altogether. …Umm…are you people from the same world I came from? is what I actually wanted to ask. Also, you were called a hero, despite not having defeated the demon king. So I was wondering whether there exists some loophole to escape being forced to fight the demon king…”
Oh, I see. So basically he’s thinking, I’ve met someone, who seems to be from the same world as I am, while I’m being forced to do my duty as a brave. But, that guy is highly celebrated by this country as a hero. In that case, it might be possible for me to also make a living in this country and world without having to defeat the demon king.
“No, not really. I’m a local who only knows this world,” answered Sword and immediately cast a glance at me.
“I was born in this country as well. Since my birth is proven, there’s no room for doubt about it. But, I possess memories of another world, though I don’t know whether it’s the same world you came from.”
The summoned guy and his attendant froze.
“…A reincarnator?”
“Not quite, is what I’d like to believe, but a spirit world dweller told me that I happen to have traces of a 「Soul Crossing」 in me. …Still, the habits and character of the self in my memories and the habits and character of my present self are completely different. You can easily say that she’s not me. That’s why I perceive it as no more than 『having memories』. So, as you can hear, I’m sorry, but even if you question Sword, you won’t find any loopholes. In the past I also asked Sword about it, but it looks like braves and heroes are different entities.”
Comprehension bloomed on Sword’s face, “Oh, so heroes and braves are the same in the world you guys used to live in?”
The summoned guy and I agreed ambiguously. I think it’s usually just like that, though.
“Anyway, I managed to make a decision by talking with you, so it’s okay now. As I thought, I won’t become a brave. If I can get them to somehow overlook Mr. Rob, I think I’ll run away and stay low in some place.” He looked back at his attendant aka Mr. Rob.
“Go ahead. Please pretend that I have died as well. After making sure that you have settled down somewhere, I will go into hiding as well.”
“Thanks.”
Looks like they reached a conclusion. Though, without us doing anything.