Episode 22
“…Is that so?”
The Saint said she believed in me.
…Even though she always teases me for being useless, she knows how to give me strength at times like this.
“Then I’ll be going. You must protect Chloe too, Hero♡”
“Yes.”
The Saint quickly moved away. She disappeared faster than any warrior.
“…She’s amazing.”
Seeing that, I wonder when I’ll ever get my revenge.
“Groaar!! When my brothers come, you’re dead meat… Groar? One of the girls is gone!”
They say Ogres are dumber than Trolls, and it seems he just now noticed the Saint is gone.
…What an absolute idiot.
“Your brothers might not even come.”
“What are you talking about, groaar!!!”
“Is that thing on your neck just decoration? Try using your brain for once.”
…Huh, what I just said feels oddly familiar.
“Groaar!! Human, are you done talking!?”
The Ogre seems a bit angry. I should provoke him more to make him lose his cool.
“Hey Ogre, did you know you’re the ugliest monster I’ve ever seen? Even Goblins are better looking than you. You look like crap, and your brain’s just for show. You’re a total loser.”
“Groaaaar!!! How dare a human mock me!? I’ll kill you, groaar!!!”
Recalling the insults the Saint used to throw at me, I spat them out, and it worked like a charm. The Ogre’s face turned bright red as he swung his mace with his right arm. He’s really pissed.
*Clang!*
“…Impressive.”
This time I blocked it properly, but the Ogre’s strength was so immense that I was pushed slightly to the side. The Ogre raised his mace again and started swinging it wildly at me.
*Clang! Clang!*
“Damn, he’s not giving me a break!”
He’s different from a Troll. Sure, he falls for cheap taunts just like those blockheads, but in terms of strength and speed, he far surpasses a Troll. When I blocked a Troll’s club, I never felt overpowered, but now…
“Ugh!”
Even when I block the mace, his strength pushes me back, and my body gets flung away. Isn’t he too strong?!
“Ice Blast!”
Chloe used magic to assist me. Countless ice shards pierced the Ogre’s flesh, but he brushed them off like crumbs from a snack.
“What the…”
Come to think of it, I heard his skin is incredibly tough. I guess I can’t expect much from Chloe’s magic.
“I need to deal with that mace first.”
Whether the Ogre finds Chloe too precious to kill or simply doesn’t see her as a threat, he’s only targeting me.
His strength is insane, and the speed at which he swings that mace is terrifying. If it weren’t for the Blessing, I would’ve been crushed by that mace already…
I need to cut the chain connecting the mace’s head to the handle. The chain is thick, but with the Holy Sword’s cutting power, it should be possible.
“Flame Buster!”
At that moment, Chloe cast a fairly large spell. A fireball hit the Ogre’s head directly, melting his skin.
Oh, that one actually worked.
“Groaaaar!!! You bitch!!!”
The Ogre’s gaze shifted to Chloe, his face half-melted.
“…Eek!”
Chloe, though scared, immediately prepared to cast another spell, but the Ogre wasn’t gentlemanly enough to wait.
The Ogre swung his mace down at Chloe.
“H-Hero! Help me!”
His attention wasn’t on me, and now that he’s targeting something else, this is my chance. I don’t need to focus on the mace right now.
I crouched low, gathering strength. My muscles tensed up, like a bowstring pulled to its limit.
*Thud!* I kicked off the ground and dashed forward. My muscles, fully tensed, released like a fired arrow, propelling me forward.
“Kyaaa!!!”
*Slash!*
Before Chloe could be crushed by that massive mace, I sliced through the Ogre’s ankle.
“Grooar!?”
Thanks to that, the Ogre’s body tilted, and the mace he was swinging at Chloe slammed into the ground beside her.
*Boom!!!*
“Eek, H-Hero!”
The mace hitting the ground kicked up a cloud of dust. Chloe, coughing through the dust, ran toward me. She looked flustered, so she must’ve been really scared.
“Haa… I knew you’d save me…”
“You’re hurt over there.”
I gave Chloe a quick response and tried to dash forward, but something flew past me, forcing me to stop.
*Thwack!*
“…A tree?”
I cut the flying object with my Holy Sword, and it turned out to be a tree. A tree ripped out by its roots.
Looking closer, the Ogre, with his ankle cut, was lying down and throwing trees with one hand.
“Groaaaar!!! Damn human! Where are you!!?”
He’s throwing them blindly without even knowing where I am. Honestly, it’s almost impressive how he’s ripping out trees with one arm.
“Still, it’s easier to deal with him when he can’t move.”
I cut down the incoming tree again and leaped forward, landing on the Ogre’s body. I drove the Holy Sword into his neck.
*Stab!* The Holy Sword pierced through the Ogre’s tough skin effortlessly. No matter how tough his skin was, it was useless against the Holy Sword.
“Grooar!”
He’s tough. Even with a sword in his neck, he still thrashed around. I gripped the Holy Sword with both hands and twisted it sideways.
*Crack!*
The sound of bones breaking finally stopped the Ogre’s movements.
“…Phew.”
He’s tough, really tough.
I pulled out the Holy Sword with all my might, and the Ogre’s blood gushed out like a fountain.
“…Ah.”
Just like with the troll, I ended up covered in ogre blood.
“Damn it.”
…It’s so freaking sticky.
#
“…As expected of the Hero.”
Chloe was watching Abel from behind, marveling at him. He was swinging that massive Holy Sword with ease, calmly facing the ogre without losing his composure.
He started by cutting off one of the ogre’s arms in a surprise attack, but ogres are still among the stronger upper-tier monsters. Abel managed to defeat it without even taking a fatal blow.
Especially when Chloe herself was about to be smashed by the ogre’s mace, Abel instantly cut off the ogre’s ankle and saved her. It was like something straight out of a fairy tale.
“…Will I ever be able to be like that someday?”
Abel checked if the ogre was really dead and then approached Chloe. He was drenched in ogre blood, his entire body stained red.
“Chloe, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Thanks to you saving me, Hero. But you look worse than me…”
“Ah… this isn’t my blood.”
“Not that. You got hit by the mace earlier.”
“…It hurts a bit, but I can ask the Saint to heal me later.”
Even though he had a Blessing, it must have hurt a lot, but Abel didn’t show any sign of pain. Maybe it’s because he’s a Hero. Even this aspect of him was truly heroic.
Looking at Abel, Chloe recalled a Hero she had met at the Magic Academy.
Levius Grosspel. That man with short red hair was the Hero of the Minerva Kingdom.
When he, the legitimate son of the prestigious Grosspel family, was chosen as the Hero, the kingdom was in an uproar.
Chloe had once admired him too. It was only natural for a younger Chloe to look up to Levius. How many people wouldn’t admire their country’s Hero?
But that admiration shattered one day.
On the day she enrolled in the Royal Magic Academy, Chloe was thrilled to hear that Levius would be giving the welcome speech.
To have the Hero she admired congratulate her on her enrollment—nothing could have made her happier. Filled with excitement, she entered the campus and, to her surprise, came face to face with the Hero she had looked up to.
Nervously, Chloe greeted him. Levius smiled warmly and asked,
-“Nice to meet you. Are you a new student?”
-“…Yes, yes! That’s right. My name is Chloe!”
-“…Chloe? What’s your surname?”
-“Huh?… Oh, well… I don’t have one. I’m a commoner.”
But as soon as Levius heard that Chloe was a commoner, his attitude changed. The warm smile disappeared, and he looked at her as if she were something dirty.
-“…Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, he gave her a disdainful look and walked away.
Shocked by being ignored by the Hero she had admired, Chloe couldn’t leave the spot for a long time.
After that, Chloe no longer held any illusions about Heroes. Even when news came of the country’s Hero performing great deeds, she always remained indifferent.
But the Hero she knew, Levius, and the Abel before her now were different.
Maybe it was because Abel was also a commoner, but he always spoke politely to Chloe and never ignored her. Even though Chloe was essentially freeloading off them.
Moreover, the way he calmly fought without backing down… honestly, it was really cool. Sure, his good looks helped, but still, he was the epitome of what a Hero should be.
As Abel shook the blood off his Holy Sword, Chloe softly said,
“…You’re different, Hero.”
“How so?”
“You feel like a real Hero.”
“Huh?”
Seeing Abel’s confusion, Chloe chuckled lightly.
“Now I get why the Saint calls you an idiot.”
“…Please, Chloe, don’t start that too.”
Chloe giggled, and seeing this, Abel thought to himself,
‘…I hope she doesn’t make things harder for me.’
Misinterpreting Chloe’s laughter, Abel felt a sense of foreboding.
Then it happened.
*Boom!*
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed, and the ground shook. It wasn’t just once. *Boom, boom!* The repeated loud noises made Chloe exclaim,
“There must be more ogres left!”
“Hmm… but the Saint went ahead…”
“…Does that mean the Saint failed!?”
Actually, there was something Chloe hadn’t understood from the start.
The plan was to leave one ogre to Abel and have Estelle handle the rest. But realistically, was that even possible for a Saint and a Hero?
But Abel, stroking his chin, muttered,
“…That can’t be.”
“Huh?”
*Boom!* This time, the noise came from quite close. But after that, there were no more sounds, and the ground stopped shaking.
Instead, there was a rustling sound as something moved through the bushes. The bushes shook as something approached.
