This chapter is updated by wuxiaworld.eu
The First Hero, Kujou Hikari, was a legendary Hero who is still talked about to this day, and it is safe to say that there is no one in Trinia who doesnāt know of her name. She was the otherworlder who overthrew the Demon Lord and brought about a great reformation in the world by establishing the Treaty of Friendship, connecting the three realms.
However, the beginning of her journeyā¦ā¦ wasnāt really one filled with expectations and blessings of many people.
After Kujou Hikari was summoned and hearing about the full story herself, the person who summoned her and the representatives of various countries at that time deeply regretted summoning the Hero.
Seeking a savior, the Humans were desperately seeking out hope and performed an ancient ritual to summon a being from another world, as a result, a young girl of tender yearsā¦ā¦ As if she had been kidnapped, a person who had lived a peaceful life with no real war experience was brought into this world.
Even when they tried to return her to the world she was from, the Summoning Magic Circle had not responded since the Summoning, and the technique engraved on Summoning Magic Circle was beyond human understanding, so they were unable to determine the cause as to why they couldnāt send her back. As a result, Hikari couldnāt be returned to her original world.
However, even if they were exhausted from the battle against the Demon Lordās army, those who summoned her were sensible people. They didnāt ask Hikari to stand in the field of battle, and was instead, courteously sheltered in the castle of the country farthest from the front linesā¦ā¦ the royal castle of the current Symphonia Kingdom.
Of course, while the battle between the Demon Lordās army and the Human Coalition Army continued, they did everything to ensure that Hikari, who they had summoned from another world, wouldnāt be inconvenienced, although they may be unable to give her a luxurious life.
Because of this, Hikari wasnāt greatly distraught when she was suddenly summoned to another world.
At least, there were many kind-hearted people around Hikari. Even though the Human Realm was exhausted due to the battle against the Demon Lordās army, each of them was trying their best to do what they could to face a better future.
Touched by the kindness of the people around herā¦ā¦ Before she knew it, Hikari had come to like the people who lived in this world and wanted to protect herā¦ā¦ and the desire to save them sprouted in her mind.
Fortunately, she had talent, and by the time a few months had passed since she was summoned, she had mastered the magic she had been taught to protect herself, and with the sword skills she had developed since childhood as the young girl living in a Kenjutsu Dojo, by the time half a year had passed since she was summoned, she had become a reasonably strong woman.
However, the people around Hikari, who wished to fight with them, didnāt look good upon hearing of her desire. The people around Hikariā¦ā¦ The people who wished to protect Hikari also liked her straightforward and kind-hearted nature, which was why they didnāt want her to join the fight.
Even though she had enough power to fight, they didnāt want to involve her in their worldās affairs as she was a resident of another world, and should eventually return to the world where she was born and raised.
However, Hikariās intentions were firm, and in the end, Symphoniaās King, with whom Hikari was negotiating with, agreed to give her a certain mission.
It is a reconnaissance mission to investigate the movements and scale of the Demon Lordās army by having Hikari, who could fight well enough on her own, visit several citiesā¦ā¦ or so āthatās what it was calledā.
In fact, the cities she was asked to investigate were places where her safety was ensured, including the path leading to those cities. It was a measure to avoid denying Hikariās will and to keep her out of the battle in their world.
Thinking of settling the matter with the Demon Lordās army before Hikari finished traveling around all the cities they had requestedā¦ā¦ the will of the people around Hikari was filled within the mission given to her.
ā¦ā¦However, there was only one āmiscalculationā that went against the intentions of those around Hikari. The reason was that someone had accompanied Hikari on her journey, which was supposed to set off alone with a map and enough supplies, just because she thought āit looked interestingā.
The name of the aforementioned companion was āHaptiāā¦ā¦ A self-proclaimed Chivalrous Thief who Hikari met through a small but troublesome incident in the royal capital and later became friends with. Yes, the legendary journey of the First Hero began with an unusual party: A Swordswoman from Another World and a Self-Proclaimed Chivalrous Thief.
A short time later, an unbelievable report arrived at the upper echelons of the Human Coalition Army. The report said that Hikari and Hapti had defeated the Commander occupying a city, who was a High-ranking Demon, with just the two of them, and had liberated one of the cities controlled by the Demons.
When the Symphonia King of that time heard the report, they felt dizzy. A tremendous battle occurred in a completely different location than the route they had instructed Hikari to takeā¦ā¦ Rather, they couldnāt understand how the two of them had managed to reach the Demonās territory without being noticed.
Them wondering about such a thing isnāt strange, for the reason why Hikari had to fight the Demons of that city was her companion, Hapti. Hapti tricked Hikari into going to an ancient ruin for the treasure within it, and because of that, Hikari, who didnāt know the area, got lost.
As a result, she happened to arrive at a city ruled by Demons and along with the group of city dwellers who were simultaneously staging a rebellion at that time, Hikari defeated the High-ranking Demon that was in charge of the city.
Even so, the result of this battle brought a ray of light to the Human side. Until then, the Humans had no effective countermeasure against the Demon Lordās army. However, the result of Hikari and Haptiās battle brought light to a certain weakness of the Demon Lordās army.
It was the lack of camaraderie among the Demonsā¦ā¦ Yes, in the end, most of the people in the Demon Lordās army only followed by force, and there was no sense of camaraderie among them. It was simply an organizational structure where the one with the most power stood on top.
Hence, their group easily collapsed after defeating their commandersā¦ā¦ the strongest being among them. No one thought of avenging their fallen comrades, and after the strongest being among their group defeated, they would quickly flee.
In addition, the majority of the Demon Lordās army looked down on Humans. Especially the powerful ones, thinking that they couldnāt be defeated by them.
Thatās why it became effective to āhold down the enemyās main force in a different locationā and then āattack the key locations with a small group of elitesāā¦ā¦ It was a strategy that pierced through an army abiding to those with power just like the Demon Lordās army.
To put it in another way, if the Demon Lord, the strongest being in the Demon Lordās army, was defeated, then their army would fall apart. Of course, there would be those who would still try to continue fighting, but they probably wouldnāt be able to maintain their cooperation with each other. There is a high possibility that they will start holding each other back and fall apart sooner or later.
It was as if they were finally seeing the sunshine, a hope that was finally visible to the Humans, which had always been losing the initiative since the invasion of the Demon Lordā¦ā¦ and thereās no way that they wouldnāt make use of it.
Ironically, contrary to the thoughts of those who wanted to keep Hikari away from the battle, Hikari has created an āaccomplishmentā with this one incident. A solid achievement of defeating a High-ranking Demon with small numbersā¦ā¦
Therefore, it could be said that it was inevitable. Hikari has become the key to the future countermeasures against Demon Lordās army, as while the enemyās main force was being drawn away by the Human Coalition Army, she had been appointed to the unit that would be made up of a small number of elites to retake occupied strongholdsā¦ā¦
And Hikari herself, who was even more determined to fight the Demon Lordās army after that incident, agreed to that proposal.
Of course, the Human Coalition Forces didnāt just rely on Hikari for everything. From the Human Coalition Forces, Laguna, a Mermaid warrior who boasted the strongest fighting power among the Humans, joined Hikariās group, and becoming a three-person group, Hikariās journey started again.
On the way, they dropped by a village of Elves who had escaped after the Demon Lordās army burned down their forest, where they lived, and representing the Elves, the High Elf Fors, known as the Sage of the Forest, joined their group.
The activities of the Hero Party were truly what could be called a great success. Along with the fact that the four party members had good chemistry with each other and they matched well with each other in battle, more importantly, the Demon Lord Vier, the leader of the Demon Lordās army, wasnāt paying much attention to the movements of this four-member partyā¦ā¦ or rather, she hadnāt paid attention to any actions occurring around her for a long time.
The invasion of the Human Realm, so to speak, was a transit point for Vier. Her goal was to overthrow the God Realm in order to make Kuromueina the King of the whole worldā¦ā¦ However, that wasnāt the same as invading the Human Realm.
Even the Kings of the Demon Realm she knew so well couldnāt destroy the God Realm back thenā¦ā¦ And above all, in order to achieve her ultimate goal, she would inevitably be confronted by the overwhelming being, the God of the world, Shallow Vernal.
If she were to be honest, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how difficult it would be to defeat the almost omnipotent Shallow Vernal. At least, at this point, she couldnāt see any way to win at all.
Therefore, Vierās mind wasnāt composed enough to notice them at all. Her nerves were frayed as she continued to think of a way to defeat Shallow Vernal and the God Realm.
Thatās why, when she noticed the existence of the Humans who began to be called Heroes, the Humans had gained enough momentum that they could no longer be easily stopped.
It was only then that Vier realized that the invasion of the Human Realm, which she had considered as a mere transit point, wasnāt going well, and was finally beginning to take action.
The first thing she did when she turned her attention to the Human Realm wasnāt to unite the Demon Lordās army, which had become restless due to the rapid progress of the Humansā¦ā¦ but to ādisposeā of those who had disobeyed her orders and unnecessarily murdered the Humans, and those who had fulfilled their own selfish desires and persecuted the Humans in the city they controlled.
After quickly disposing of those people, she personally took command of the Demon Lordās army. As expected, the power of the Demon Lord herself was strong, and the Humans were quickly put in a tight spot.
However, the people who had received the hope of the Heroes didnāt lose heart, and plucking up the courage, they desperately paved the way to the Demon Lordās castle and sent out the Hero Party forward.
And thus, after the fierce battle at the Demon Lordās castle, the battle between the Heroes and the Demon Lord, as told to future generations, came to an end.
Kujou Hikari, a great being who was known as a brave Hero, long spoken of in Trinia. In various history books, biographies and stories, she had been described as having a strong and indomitable heart.
This wasnāt a mistake. It is true that she had a very strong heart, and her indomitable will to fight had helped her overcome many predicaments.
However, she was still human. She hasnāt always been able to look ahead without changing. There were times when she felt weakness well up in her heart. There were times when she wanted to run away from the heavy responsibilities she carried on her shoulders.
However, she couldnāt let herself speak out about the weakness of her heart. The environment around her didnāt allow her to do so.
It was not because she was the savior of the Humans, carrying so many lives on her shouldersā¦ā¦ It wasnāt that she was ever in a position where she was not allowed to complain. On the contraryā¦ā¦ she was in a position where āit was alright for her to complainā.
The people around Hikari, the people she wished to protect, were all kind people. If Hikari had just said āI want to escapeā, the people would have given their way for her retreat.
If she wanted to, Laguna and Fors, her traveling companions, would have accepted that Hikari didnāt have to bear the responsibility of this world.
However, this was also why she couldnāt let her weakness go because she was in an environment where they would accept her weaknesses.
However, there were always exceptions to everything. The only thing that saved Hikari was that there was only one personā¦ā¦ to whom she could spill out her complaints, even within such an environment.
There is a conversation that still remains strong in Hikariās memory. In the middle of their journey, she talked with her party members about why they were fighting.
As for Lagunaā¦ā¦ Her race, the Mermaids, had been forced to leave the land where they had lived for generations because of the invasion of the Demon Lordās army, and thus, she had joined the fight with the hopes and pride of her people to reclaim her homeland and overthrow the Demon Lord.
Fors was just like Laguna, having been forced to leave the land she was used to living in. But in her case, she didnāt join the Coalition Army, but stayed in the elven village to protect her people. However, after being persuaded by her people, she joined the party with the goal of overthrowing the Demon Lord and reclaiming the Elven Forest.
What both of them had in common is that both of them were fighting as representatives of their race, carrying the feelings of their people on their shoulders, a position they could never escape.
[ā¦ā¦So, Hapti. What about you? As I thought, youāre still in it for the money?]
In a party that carried the expectations of the Humans, Hapti was a bit of an oddity. Until this moment, the other three didnāt really understand why Hapti was accompanying them on their journey.
She didnāt have the personality that would push her to act for the sake of Humans, and her reason for participating in their deadly journeyā¦ā¦ Well, the three of them had guessed that her purpose would be to make money, but it was this moment when they directly heard her reason for the first time.
Hearing Lagunaās question, Hapti looked at her with a puzzled look on her face and tilted her head.
[Eh? No, I donāt make money where the risk outweighs the reward. If I wanted money, there are plenty of better ways to make money than slaying a Demon Lord.]
[Oya? Thatās a surprising response. With all due respect, I also thought you were in it for the money. Itās just my impression, but you donāt strike me as the kind of person who would fight for the sake of the people. No, donāt get me wrong though. Iām not making fun of you. It was just my personal impression of you from what Iāve seen so far.]
[Unnn? Youāre right though? I donāt really care if the Demon Lordās army or the Human Coalition Army wins. I donāt think itās going to have any effect on my own life.]
Hearing Haptiās answer that she wasnāt aiming to make money, the three of them were surprised. In addition, she easily acknowledged Forsā curious question and said that she didnāt care if the Humans lost.
[ā¦ā¦Well then, why in the world are you joining us on this journey?]
In response to Lagunaās question, Hapti once again made a puzzled face and pointed at Hikari, who was sitting next to her.
[Eh? Itās just because āmy friend is participating in thisā though?]
Haptiās answer was completely unexpected for the three of them.
[ā¦ā¦Oh my. Thatās an answer more surprising than saying youāre doing it āfor the worldā. So, what, youāre going along this journey all because of Hikari?]
[Thatās right. Simple as that.]
Nodding in response to Forsā question, Hapti took out some dried meat, skewered it, and roasting it over the fire, she began to speak in a leisurely tone.
[ā¦ā¦This is just my personal opinion, but I think that money can buy almost anything in the world. Some people say that you canāt buy pride or heart, but in my opinion, thatās ridiculous. In fact, I think pride and heart are the only things that can be bought for a reasonable price.]
[ [ ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ ] ]
Haptiās words were met with a look of obvious displeasure from Laguna and Fors. It was obvious why they were displeased, the both of them bore the feelings and were proud of their own race. Thatās why Haptiās words sounded like an insult to their ears.
However, in such a slightly tense atmosphere, Hikari slightly smiled and turning her head towards Hapti, she muttered.
[ā¦ā¦āAlmostāā¦ā¦ huh.]
[ā¦ā¦Thatās right. Almost. Things that money canāt buy and things that canāt be exchanged for moneyā¦ā¦ āThey certainly existā. Of course, what it is that canāt be bought with money are different for each personā¦ā¦ Even the pride that I find ridiculous must be something important to Laguna and Fors that money canāt buy.]
After saying this, Hapti cut the roasted dried meat in two with a knife and handed the skewered side to Hikari. Eating the meat pierced on her knife, Hapti continued.
[ā¦ā¦There are certainly things that money canāt buy. However, they are far fewer than the things that canāt be bought. I believe that in oneās lifetime, the number of such things would be so few that it could still be counted by hand.]
As soon as she finished eating the dried meat, Hapti pulled out a large cloth from her backpack, leaned against a nearby tree and as she was getting ready to sleep, she spoke.
[Thatās whyā¦ā¦ I decided to take good care of such things, whenever I find something like that.]
With those words, Hapti closed her eyes and didnāt continue the conversation any further. However, those words were very warm to Hikariās heart.
At the very least, she was happy to know that Haptiās friendship with herā¦ā¦ was something that money couldnāt buy and something that money couldnāt replace.
Perhaps, because of this conversationā¦ā¦ Hapti became āsomeone she could complain toā and became a great pillar of support in her life.