Chapter 0 – The Hero Regrets the Past
“You really won’t regret it, will you?”
Regret?
I let out a self-deprecating laugh at the goddess who asked me the question.
If it’s regrettable, I already got tired of it.
So even if I regret it now, nothing will change.
“Of course.”
At my short reply, I saw the goddess looking at me with a puzzled expression.
Of course, it wasn’t that the goddess’ reaction was incomprehensible.
Because the hero he chose was about to revive the demon king he had killed and eliminated.
Perhaps, I also felt that this situation was very absurd.
“After… Why the hell did you make that choice?”
The goddess said so to herself with an expression that she did not understand my decision.
But even if she didn’t agree, she couldn’t refuse my request.
One wish obtained instead of defeating the demon lord.
Because that was a contract between her and me.
“Allen. I like you more than any other human being. You have always been sincere in your role, pure, and just.”
“…”
“Of course, I can understand the disappointment you felt when you saw your fallen comrades, or even the humans, but this is not it.”
The goddess looked at me with a sad expression and said so.
True to her words, I was disappointed in my comrades and human beings.
All the colleagues who had been together to protect the world had changed unlike the beginning, and those who supported the warrior gradually felt uncomfortable with the existence of the demon king when he disappeared.
“… So are you going to break your promise?”
I asked as I looked at the goddess who was trying to persuade me somehow.
Of course, according to the contract, she had to grant me any wish.
But a contract is literally just a contract.
If she turns her words around, there’s nothing I can do about it.
“No, it can’t be. I’m just giving you advice so you don’t make the wrong choice.”
The goddess looked at me with a rather impatient face and said so.
“Under. Wrong choice? Isn’t that what I’ve been doing all along? One day, he suddenly became a hero and, like you said, fought the demon king more diligently than anyone else. And you saved the world as you wished. At the same time, you took my power back.”
“Yeah, that couldn’t be helped. If the power you possess remains in the human world, the balance will fall.”
At the words she uttered with an angry face, the goddess hurriedly made excuses.
Balance of power?
That stuff, I didn’t know.
Perhaps if only that strength as a hero had remained, I wouldn’t have become like that.
“Haha. Thanks to that, I became a half asshole and ended up being used and abused by my former colleagues. That was the price of risking my life to save the world.”
“Is that why you decided to grant your wish?”
“It did. That’s why I’m telling you that wish now.”
At my words, the goddess let out a deep sigh.
“If you want to get revenge on them, there are other ways. If you want, you can apply force in a suitable line. If you don’t like that, you can change them to respect you.”
It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about the method the goddess suggested.
However, the first thought was that it would be annoying even if he regained his strength and tried to take revenge on his comrades.
Because during the long adventure to defeat the demon king, I was old and tired as much.
More than anything, I wondered what it would be like to feel so relieved if I condemned my colleagues who had already gained everything and enjoyed it enough.
And the second proposal proposed by the goddess was nothing to think about.
Even if you get God’s help and earn their respect, it’s just like playing with dolls.
“No, that is my only wish. To go back to the past.”
“… So at what point do you want to go back?”
In the end, realizing that she couldn’t convince me, the goddess asked me that.
Fortunately, it seems that he has no intention of breaking his promise to me.
“Oh, of course. Before being chosen as a hero.”
“… Could it be that you want to live a normal life this time?”
The goddess looked at me with a troubled expression and asked.
It was me who learned quite a lot thanks to living as a warrior chosen by the goddess for nearly 20 years.
Even if it wasn’t me anyway, it was clear that the goddess would use someone else to defeat the demon king.
“No, I must have misunderstood something.”
But contrary to the goddess’ expectations, I had no intention of rejecting the path of a hero.
I thought that living a normal life wasn’t bad, but that’s why I wouldn’t be able to take revenge on the crown prince, the saintess, or the leader of the elves.
Above all, the body close to immortality bestowed by the goddess was an ability that could not be given up.
‘It’s inevitable that the continent will be stained with blood anyway.’
While me and my colleagues fought the demon lord, countless people on the continent lost their lives.
And, of course, it was commoners who had no ability or power to suffer the most.
And before becoming a hero, I was just one of those commoners.
So, even if I wanted to live a normal life, the reality was that I couldn’t live it.
“I will become a warrior again. And I’ll defeat the demon lord as you wish.”
At my words her, the goddess tilted her head with an expression that I did not understand.
“… Now, does that mean you’re going to walk that hard road again? Why?”
At the words of the goddess, I slightly raised the corners of my mouth.
Of course, the long fight with the demon king was painful.
No, to be honest, it was so painful that I wanted to die myself.
The blessing of immortality bestowed by the goddess healed any wounds I had suffered, but it did not erase the pain.
Thanks to that, at one point, I thought that the blessing of the goddess was not a blessing, but a curse.
“Well? Do you just think you can live a little more fun in this life?”
That’s how I responded to the goddess’s words of hers.
He was the demon king who was caught once anyway.
Even if I did not live with the goal of killing the demon king as fiercely as before, it seemed that I could catch the demon king without difficulty.
No, as long as I had immortality in the first place, it was a game where I had no choice but to kill the demon king one day.
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, you can see it from there. How can I live again?”
I said so to the goddess.
But it was clear that even if I didn’t say it anyway, she would be observing my life.
Because all the goddess can do is choose a hero to represent her and look at his life her.
“Like. Your second life. Let’s see how different it is.”
Saying so, the goddess came over to me and lightly kissed my forehead.
With the feeling of a soft touch on your forehead, the world went dark.
And.
“Allen. What are you thinking?”
I slowly turned my head at the familiar but nostalgic voice.
And there, the ghetto old man who raised me, who was wandering without parents, looked at me and clicked his tongue.
“… Inspiration.”
“This damn bastard. Can’t you stop talking about inspiration?”
At my reflexive words, the ghetto old man frowned and replied.
Looking at such a ghetto inspiration, I strained my eyes.
It was because if I didn’t do that, I felt like I was going to burst into tears without even realizing it.
In my previous life, my inspiration was as good as dead because of me.
Because I am a hero, the Demon King’s men cut off his head and sent it to me.
And I only found out about that after a while.
Why?
Because my co-workers thoroughly hid the fact because they were worried about me.
“Hey, you crazy bastard. Did you turn suddenly? What are you doing?”
As I silently hugged myself, the ghetto old man struggled in disgust.
But I put strength in my arms and hugged him even tighter.
Then, the struggling inspiration slowly stroked my head.
“Why? Did something bad happen?”
“… No.”
That’s how I answered the ghetto old man’s words.
After all, what I’ve been through has become something that doesn’t happen anymore.
‘This time it will be very different from before, old man.’
