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CHAPTER 5 – A STORY THAT’S STARTING TO CHANGE
PART 02
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The “Hero’s Sword” was sealed in a tiny room, no more than two-by-two meters in length and width. Part of the stone floor in the middle of the room had been carved into a sort of pedestal, into which a two-handed sword was buried.
“Is this the ‘Hero’s Sword’?”
“Yes. It’s ze legendary sword zat zousands had tried to retrieve, zough none of zem had succeeded so far.”
That was probably the reason why no guards had been posted outside the door; the sword could not be stolen. It had been easy to break through the door’s lock with a single toned-down blast from the laser gun.
Now, I just had to retrieve the Sword and travel to the Demon King’s fortress.
Grabbing the Sword’s hilt, I pulled…and nothing happened?
“Huh?”
I took the hilt in both hands and tried again.
“Uurrgh!”
The Sword shifted with a grinding noise, but I couldn’t pull it out.
………Oh dear. What was going on here?
“S-So you really are a fake hero,” the woman sobbed.
Wait a minute. I might be an ordinary human, but I was definitely the one who saved this world. So why couldn’t I retrieve the Sword?
Just as I had done everytime I couldn’t understand something, I turned to R for help.
“I don’t know. I can’t think of an exact reason why, but maybe it’s an adverse effect from you becoming the protagonist of too many ‘stories’?”
What did that mean…? So I didn’t have the right to retrieve the Sword because I wasn’t a protagonist loyal to this one “story”!? Or could it be that I wasn’t the protagonist after all, and had only taken the real protagonist’s place!?
I hadn’t anticipated this at all. Things were looking bad.
At the worst, maybe I should just proceed to the execution grounds with proof that I had defeated the Demon King?
No, if they accused me of producing false evidence, it would all be over. Ever since its revival, the Demon King had never left its fortress, so nobody in Abraham had really seen it before… In truth, that dragon’s majestic appearance would have convinced anyone, but in its current dead state, there was a high chance that noone would believe me.
Seems like producing proof that I was a hero was the only way to convince the King and his subjects.
“Madam! Do you remember when and how this Sword was sealed, and by whom?”
I needed more information to resolve this issue.
“Of course it was sealed by ze legendary hero-zama for use when ze Demon King revived itself,” the woman answer between sobs, her face a mess of tears and snot.
“Then why was it stuck into stone, instead of being placed into a treasure room or armory?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to prevent it from being used for evil purposes?”
I didn’t seem to be getting anything out of the woman’s answers.
Was I going to be stuck here…!? But I really needed the “Hero’s Sword” in my Meteor Interception Battle Plan…! Shit, why did the legendary hero have to seal the Sword in this manner? …Wait. Sealed?
“Hey, you said the Sword is sealed. Does that mean some magic is preventing me from retrieving it?”
“Zat’s right. If it was physically sealed, zen any strong man would have been able to remove it.”
I was unable to remove the Sword because I was the protagonist of numerous “stories”. Thus, the Sword’s magical seal had revoked my right to retrieve it.
However, I recalled the one most important thing; my only advantage in this situation.
I didn’t have to retrieve the magically-sealed Sword by force.
I just needed to bring the “Hero’s Sword” out of this place, and I had a scientific tool, manufactured in Phenerita, that Iris had thoughtfully brought along.
Retrieving… Moving… Transporting… And the tool I needed was…
“Iris! Pass me the warp watch!”
“OK!”
I put on the warp watch and grasped the “Hero’s Sword” in my free hand.
“Please help me key in the coordinates. I just need to shift about one meter away from this spot.”
“Understood.”
In less than a second, Iris had keyed in the coordinates.
[Checking coordinates. Warp commencing in 10, 9, 8, 7…]
An electronic voice started the countdown, as I impatiently kicked at the floor.
The warp took just ten seconds to complete. As I had moved only one meter from my original spot, I hadn’t even left the room’s confines.
However, the “Hero’s Sword” was still grasped tightly in my hand.
“Alright!”
Back in the spaceship, Iris had told me that the warp watch was capable of transporting small items together with my person. As the pedestal was carved out of stone rising from the floor, only the “Hero’s Sword” had been transported together with me.
“W-w-what just happened!?”
The woman appeared hysterical, but I had no time for explanations.
“Iris, I’d like to go to the Demon King’s fortress next.”
“I can calculate the coordinates once I have a map of this world.”
“Then it’s to the resource room. Let’s hurry!”
Carrying the “Hero’s Sword”, I left the room together with Iris, but before that,
“Madam! I’ll definitely rescue Harissa!”
I called over my shoulder as we dashed towards the top of the Western tower where the resource room was located.