Chapter 8: The Man Who Deviated from the World
Will’s village, the village of Ishi. There, Will was doing his early morning training as usual today, even though Hero Dan wasn’t there.
After working up a sweat, he returned home to prepare for his trip to the Elf country.
“Will, good morning.”
“Men-men, good morning!”
“You’re going to Fairy Country Frontier today, right?”
“Yeah! After all, there’s a festival for the fifteenth anniversary of Hero Dan defeating Curse King Daedalus! I’m planning to buy all sorts of things!”
“Ah, I see… um, well, I’d like to go too…”
“Then, want to come with me?”
“Is that okay?”
“There’s no way I’d say no.”
“Hmm… I see, I see.”
Without noticing Men-men turning away while blushing slightly, he prepared himself. In his head, rather than thinking about the cute girl his age, all he could think about was whether new interpretive books about Hero Dan might come out at the Hero Dan festival, or if there might be stories about the hero he didn’t know about.
Will and Men-men set off together toward Popo Town, where Hero Dan first registered as an adventurer. They chatted about trivial things, walked for a while, and when Men-men’s legs got tired from fatigue, Will carried her on his back and ran… after various events, they arrived at the town.
“Today there’s supposed to be a unicorn carriage running to Fairy Country Frontier.”
“Wow, they do things like that because it’s a festival.”
“But it’s incredibly convenient and popular, so normally you can’t ride it. But I already made a carriage reservation half a year ago!”
“Ooh.”
“Hero Dan has ridden a unicorn carriage before too! So I had to make a reservation!”
My childhood friend really does love Hero Dan, Men-men thought with a wry smile. Without noticing her expression, he hurried toward the carriage.
As he walked briskly, he noticed something. Tamika, the magenta-haired girl he already knew, was already at the carriage.
“Ah, you’re Will-san who made a reservation, right? This person also made a reservation and will be riding together.”
The unicorn carriage owner said this while looking back and forth between Will and Tamika. Will had thought it would be fine to share seats in the carriage, but he hadn’t expected to meet her again.
“It’s you.”
“Tamika-san made a unicorn reservation too.”
“It’s the hero’s festival. I judged there would be much to learn.”
“I see, I feel the same way… ah, would it be okay if my friend Men-men rides along too?”
“You don’t need to ask me.”
Tamika got into the carriage without refusing. After seeing this, the other two got in and the carriage started moving. Unicorns are faster than ordinary horses, and the scenery outside the window changed at tremendous speed.
“Wow, Will, it’s really fast!”
“Yeah, it really is amazing… I heard Hero Dan rode one before… I wonder what he thought about it.”
While the two enjoyed the scenery, Tamika sat with her arms crossed and eyes closed. Seeing her like this, Men-men whispered quietly in Will’s ear.
“Hey, that person said her name was Tamika, right? She’s the First Princess. You seemed to know her.”
“I got to know her during the recent adventurer exam.”
“I see.”
“I was personally lucky to become acquainted with a descendant of the hero.”
“A girl acquaintance… eh? You don’t have a deep relationship, right?”
Tamika reacted to her comment, which mistook her for a romantic rival. She turned sharp eyes toward them.
“Like hell that’s the case.”
“Ah, sorry.”
Tamika is a descendant of the hero, the First Princess of this country. When exactly had he become acquainted with such a person? Men-men wondered.
“Tamika-san admires Hero Dan, right?”
“Admiration… that’s certainly true. I’ve never actually seen him fighting the Demon King, but from the history and achievements he’s built up, I can’t help but admire him.”
“More than the previous heroes?”
“That’s a troublesome question. Given my position, if I say I admire Hero Dan more, it becomes complicated in various ways. The Trelvarner royal family worships the previous heroes. We’ve even incorporated excellent bloodlines to produce heroes. We’ve devoted enormous effort to producing heroes.”
“I-I see. Hero Dan was a commoner with no relation to bloodlines.”
“Ah, just so you know, I’m also a descendant of heroes and royalty. My father and older brother—well, except for one—hate Hero Dan, so it’s even harder to say.”
“Ah, sorry for asking a difficult question.”
“Don’t apologize for every little thing… but personally, I prefer Hero Dan.”
“M-me too!”
“I know all too well what my ancestors were like, but there’s no doubt that the one currently active is him. He’s overwhelming. And he’s also a servant to the world.”
“I-I see.”
“That’s what a hero is. Devoting oneself to someone, devoting oneself to the world is natural. He embodies that.”
Tamika spoke of the hero as a servant to the world, saying he embodies this. However, it was Will who felt a slight sense of discomfort with her words.
“I see… you’re certainly right… but…”
Men-men, who had been watching their debate in the same carriage, felt the atmosphere grow tense. Will pulled back slightly, but sparks of clashing ideologies could be seen flickering.
“A-ah! Speaking of which, there were rumors that Hero Dan was lovey-dovey with Great Sage Rin-rin, but what happened with that?!”
Men-men forcibly brought up the love story between the hero and sage to change the subject. Both Will and Tamika realized their discussion was gradually heating up. Understanding that continuing would only create parallel arguments and worsen the atmosphere, they decided to stop this conversation.
“Um, that’s right. I actually thought they would get married too. And Sword Master Sakura too, like polygamy?”
“Eh? Isn’t Sakura a man?”
“Ah, people like Men-men sometimes misunderstand, but if you read the heroic tales about Hero Dan, you’ll realize she’s actually a woman.”
“I see… I had no idea.”
“Tamika-san knew too, didn’t you? That Sword Master Sakura is a woman.”
Will directed the conversation to Tamika sitting across from him.
“I knew. Being royalty, I hear various things about the nobility.”
“Nobility?”
“Sakura Alretia. The Alretia family is one of the four great noble families of Trelvarner Kingdom, incredibly prestigious nobles.”
“Wow… I had no idea. Will, you’re surprisingly knowledgeable.”
“Well, only about Hero Dan-related things.”
“But I had no idea Sword Master Sakura was a woman. She certainly had a beautiful and cute face. Maybe she likes Hero Dan too?”
“I’m sure that’s the case. You can feel that from the heroic tales.”
“Hmm, ah, I see… so that’s why during the parade, she was touching him so much.”
“Body contact means you like someone?”
“Probably… like this.”
Men-men lightly tapped Will’s shoulder, mimicking what Sakura had done to Hero Dan during the peace parade.
“I see.”
“Ah, that kind of reaction. I figured as much.”
She gave a slight wry smile at dense Will and lightly brushed it off.
“I don’t suppose Hero Dan surprisingly didn’t realize Sword Master Sakura was a woman?”
“That’s impossible. Hero Dan would definitely see through that at first glance.”
“That’s true. After all, there’s no way someone who couldn’t recognize a beautiful woman he’d been traveling with for years as a woman could be a hero.”
While they were having trivial conversation, the unicorn carriage arrived at the Elf country, Fairy Country Frontier.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“Wow, I don’t see fairy folk very often, so this is refreshing.”
Men-men looked at the elves with wide eyes. Seeing so many elves, who tend to be born as beautiful men and women, made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
“I wonder if Hero Dan books are sold anywhere…”
Will looked around while gazing at the many stalls set up for the festival. He found a shop with stacks of books.
“Excuse me, what kind of books are you selling here?”
“We’re selling Dan-Rin-Rin-Dan here.”
“D-Dan-Rin-Rin-Dan?”
“Yes, it’s a romance novel about Hero Dan and Great Sage Rin-rin.”
“I see… they sell that kind of thing too.”
“It’s not officially endorsed by the people themselves, but… it’s quite popular. Whenever we release a new work, led by a certain elf, many people always come to buy them.”
“I-I see.”
Will bought it because it seemed somewhat interesting. Then, as he went around to other stalls, he found a book about the battle between Immortal King Ifrit and Hero Dan.
“Will, are you buying it? Didn’t you have it? The heroic tale of the Immortal King and the hero.”
“But there might be another interpretation I don’t know… I still don’t understand how the hero ultimately dealt with a supernatural opponent who brings himself from the past to the present, so maybe it’s written in this.”
Will bought both Dan-Rin-Rin-Dan and the book about Immortal King Ifrit and the hero.
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