Chapter 81

“What is a hero?”

The man cloaked in black lifted his hood, speaking with a calm voice.

“Guardian of life. Protector of civilization. Blade that slays evil. Demon king slayer.”

Each word was spat out coldly by the emotionless man. Though his entire body seemed shrouded in darkness, there was a faint glimmer of feeling behind his words.

“These are the titles praised in many ways, but in this current age, their meaning has been corrupted into mere butchers.”

Contempt.

He held nothing but disdain for the heroes praised by all.

“The nameless heroes from ancient times truly deserved such praise, but things are different now. Look at this era. Look at this tragedy.”

Scattered around the man were countless corpses.

Each had died in various ways – these were the remains of false heroes who claimed the title for themselves.

“If only the gods still chose heroes directly, we wouldn’t have this problem… But now it’s an age full of foolish trash falsely claiming the title.”

With a kick, he moved a fake hero’s severed head out of his way.

The decapitated head stared back as if unable to comprehend its own death.

“Trash belongs in the garbage can. Even if it dirties my hands, I will clean up this world of filth.”

Drawing his sword from his waist, his voice growled like a beast.

“So tell me, are you also one of these false heroes pretending to be something they’re not?”

– Excerpt from “Hero Hunter”

Though based on a mass murder case that occurred years before the novel’s release, the truth of the incident remains uncertain.

However, due to the extreme public anger against fake heroes at the time, the book faced no significant censorship.

—

I sat at the table watching a small boy munching cookies with delicate bites.

“Well, you seem to have calmed down a bit.”

“Yes, I feel more settled now.”

An ordinary brown-haired boy with no particularly distinguishing features – the kind of face that would easily fade from memory.

Just… like some kind of background character. And his presence felt unusually weak.

Perfect for infiltration work, it seemed.

“Would you tell me your name then?”

“My name?”

At my question, the boy hesitated briefly before answering cautiously.

“I don’t have one. There’s no name for me.”

Hmm? No name?

So his parents never gave him one?

“Did your father not give you a name?”

“There is no father.”

“Then what about your mother?”

“There’s no mother either. I’ve been an orphan since I was little.”

Ugh! Terrible…

“That’s right. Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m used to it by now.”

A frail child, barely ten years old, saying he’s used to having no parents – heartbreaking.

Clearing my throat quietly, I looked at the boy and spoke.

“Since you’ll be our first hero, let’s just call you ‘Hero.’ It doesn’t seem right for me to give you a name.”

If the parents didn’t provide one, perhaps he should choose his own name.

Rather than receiving it from an outsider like myself.

“It’s just a title anyway, but as long as you live and don’t abandon the path of heroism, ‘Hero’ will mean only you. So it’s fine to use that title.”

“Hero… What exactly is a hero?”

Ah, so we need to start with that? Shouldn’t the divine oracle have explained this already?

I replied briefly.

“A hero is someone who protects.”

“Someone who protects?”

“Yes. One chosen by the Beautiful Goddess to protect life from monsters that seek to harm it.”

While minor monsters were handled by others, those tainted by pieces of darkness were too dangerous for regular humans to deal with without great sacrifice.

Elves, dwarves, lizardmen, or giants might handle them easily, but humans and beastmen were quite fragile in comparison.

“Protect life from monsters…”

The boy repeated my words thoughtfully. For such a young child to become an orphan, his parents must have fallen victim to monsters.

In a way, I might be using his desire for vengeance to manipulate him like a tool.

What a despicable thing to do.

“Can I really do it?”

“It depends on you.”

I looked at the boy.

His trembling hands showed a lack of confidence and excessive caution.

Let me offer some encouragement then.

“But if you wish to try, you certainly can.”

“If I want to…”

“If you need strength, I’ll provide it. If you want to learn swordsmanship, I’ll teach you. As the one guiding the hero, it’s my role to assist you with whatever you need.”

“Of course, it won’t be easy. There will be times when your life is in danger. Moments when you might want to give up everything. But if you persevere until the end, you could become a legendary figure remembered in history.”

The boy’s trembling hand slowly steadied.

“Would you like to become a hero?”

After pondering deeply, the boy nodded slightly and spoke.

“I’ll try. It’s scary, but I’ll give it a shot. To protect others, so no child has to grow up never knowing their parents’ faces like me.”

Good. That’s the spirit.

I simply smiled at his determination.

—

“By the way, I have a question.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

The boy looked at me curiously, specifically at my horns.

“What are those horns? From what I know, female beastmen don’t have horns.”

Ah, is that so? Don’t cows and goats have horns on both genders? Or maybe beastmen are different? Not sure about that.

Let me come up with an excuse. What should I say…

Ah, right.

“These horns are completely different from beastmen horns. Besides, I’m not a beastman.”

“Not a beastman… Could you possibly be a dragon from legends?”

Gotcha!

No, wait. Let’s use this. We won’t be seeing each other every day anyway. If I establish myself as something special now, it’ll be useful later. Plus, being just a regular beastwoman while claiming to be the representative of the Goddess of Life and Creator Dragon God seems a bit lacking.

“More precisely, it’s a body created by infusing dragon power and vitality into a human form, personally crafted by the Goddess of Life. That’s why dragon horns appeared on my head.”

Actually, it was the Goddess of Life and Creator Dragon God herself! But such trivial details aren’t necessary for this child.

“Dragon power… Amazing…”

“Yeah, it’s incredible.”

“Then… how should I address you?”

“Hmm? Me?”

“Yes. I can be called Hero, but… you’re not my sister, right?”

…Sister?

Never heard that title before. My thoughts paused momentarily. Sister? Sister…

“Ah! I, I’m sorry! I was taught to call all adult women ‘sister’…”

“Eh, it’s fine. Doesn’t really matter. But let’s keep that between us. I’d prefer not to be called ‘sister’ in front of others.”

Really, being called ‘sister’ after being called ‘mother’… Which is more shocking? Why am I more surprised by ‘sister’ than ‘mother’?

“Alright, I’ll call you sister then. But what should I call you in front of others?”

“Hmm. In front of others…”

Representative of the Goddess of Life? Sounds too long and awkward with two ‘of’s. Uncomfortable.

Then just ‘representative’? Feels too distant.

How about… Priestess? No, priestess sounds too much like a main heroine who will sacrifice herself at the last moment for dramatic effect. Not what I’m aiming for. More like a mysterious mastermind pulling strings behind the scenes.

Cough. Anyway, not a priestess! Definitely not!

Then… Shaman? Shaman… Sounds good.

Let’s add something distinctive. A shaman with dragon power… Dragon Shaman. Yeah, that works.

“You can call me Dragon Shaman in front of others. That seems appropriate.”

“Yes, understood. Sister.”

Sister… Doesn’t sound bad actually.

That’s how I came to spend time with the future hero in the hidden chamber of the Temple of Life.

…

By the way, I later learned that some female beastmen do have horns.

But at this point, it doesn’t really matter anymore!