episode_0005

In a room where the purple aura of magic slowly bloomed,

a small girl with black hair and crimson eyes was sitting on the edge of a massive throne, swinging her legs back and forth.

This young girl’s name was Bersella.

After the defeat of the previous Demon King by a hero, she had ascended to the position of one of the five Demon Lords.

Bersella’s residence, the Demon King’s castle Kutranux, was a chaotic maze filled with powerful demons of all kinds.

It was a terrifying place that most adventurers wouldn’t even dare to approach, yet Bersella was still filled with unease.

“Ugh… so the hero still hasn’t been found…”

Bersella murmured, biting her lower lip.

The memory of her father, the former Demon King, falling to the hero in front of her was still vivid in her mind.

A Demon King would always fall to a hero.

And a new Demon King would rise in a world that had found peace.

It was a cycle that had repeated four times already.

The moment one ascended to the throne of the Demon King, they had to wait for the day when the hero would come to kill them.

Bersella found this fact unbearably terrifying.

Of course, the previous Demon Kings had not just sat idly by.

They had prepared the defenses of the Demon King’s castle and summoned powerful demons to counter the hero’s appearance in their own ways.

But such methods could never stop the hero.

The hero was a being who appeared under the protection of the goddess solely to defeat the Demon King.

No matter how strong the demons they summoned or the traps and barriers they prepared, it was all in vain.

“I will never become like my father.”

So Bersella, one of the five Demon Lords, deemed it pointless to confront the hero with force.

Instead, she came up with a plan to quickly find and kill the hero before they grew too powerful.

Bersella had infiltrated a demon using transformation magic into the human realm to learn how the hero appeared in this world.

The churches serving the seven goddesses gathered for a regular meeting, where they selected a holy maiden through divine revelation.

This chosen holy maiden would receive the goddess’s message and seek out the hero in the world.

That was the process of the hero’s appearance.

The hero was not initially strong enough to confront the Demon King.

A young man from a rural village who seemed insignificant could actually be the hero.

But as the hero began their adventures and gained experience, they would grow exponentially stronger, enough to defeat even the Demon King.

Bersella knew she couldn’t win against a hero who had become that powerful.

So decades ago, she had sent the high-ranking demon called the Deceiver Lord Javiel to a human village.

Javiel had entered the church as an apprentice priest in the guise of a young boy, gained the trust of humans, and eventually rose to the position of bishop in a diocese.

Moreover, now that a holy maiden had been chosen from Javiel’s diocese, Bersella thought it was only a matter of time before the hero was found.

However, no news came, no matter how much time passed.

The holy maiden had not found the hero.

She could have waited a little longer, but Bersella’s patience was running thin.

In the end, she ordered Javiel to kill the holy maiden.

Hoping that the next holy maiden would find the hero more quickly.

* * *

On the evening when I persuaded the holy maiden Sistina in the alley behind the general store.

I hastily prepared to leave this village.

Given the uncertainty of when Bishop Javiel’s plan would be executed, I deemed it dangerous to continue staying at the church.

Even though I knew of the bishop’s plan to kill the holy maiden, I had no way to deal with it at the moment.

So the best course of action was to flee.

Fortunately, Sistina was more than willing to agree to the escape plan than I had anticipated.

From the start, she was someone who wanted to get rid of the saint, so once she had a clear motive, there was no hesitation.

After getting Sistina’s approval, we decided to execute the escape that very evening.

As I was originally a beggar with nothing to pack, I sneaked out of the church and waited at the entrance of the village.

After a short wait, Sistina appeared in a long robe with a hood, just like when she met me in the alley behind the general store.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just arrived.”

Sistina still looked somewhat anxious.

“The money for the carriage…”

In response to my question, she quietly nodded and showed me a hefty purse.

“Let’s go then.”

I hurriedly led Sistina to where the carriage was waiting.

* * *

The carriage was slowly moving through the thick darkness.

I expected that money would be needed, but I didn’t expect such a high fee for traveling at night.

I barely managed to persuade the coachman with money that he wouldn’t operate at night.

Fortunately, Sistina had enough money to cover it.

The destination was a city called Kubel.

I didn’t know much about the geography of this world, so Sistina chose the destination.

Kubel was a trading city and also known as a free city.

Sistina chose this place as our destination because there were no churches there.

“I feel strange.”

Since the carriage had no windows, Sistina took off her stuffy hood and spoke.

“It’s a matter of life and death, so there’s no choice.”

“Yes. By fleeing from the church, I am no longer a saint.”

Sistina looked melancholic.

Although she got what she wanted in giving up being a saint, she probably didn’t want to give it up like this.

“Thinking back now, Bishop Javiel’s attitude was strange.”

“How so?”

“Yes. Since I didn’t receive any revelations, he once came to my house. He asked if I was praying properly at home, and suggested that I receive saintly education again at the holy site.”

“That must have been… awkward.”

Bishop Javiel seemed really anxious.

“From now on, please call me Tina.”

Sistina looked at me and said.

“Tina?”

“If my identity is revealed, it will be troublesome.”

Well, if it’s known that the saint suddenly disappeared, Bishop Javiel won’t just sit still.

To live comfortably in the future, it’s better to change my name as well.

“What will you do when we arrive in Kubel, Tina?”

I asked, changing her name immediately.

Tina still seemed uncomfortable being called Tina and answered with a slightly awkward expression.

“I’ll have to find work. Kubel has many job opportunities, so it should be fine. And what about you, Yunoa?”

Tina asked.

I want to be an adventurer! But then I remembered how expensive the swords were at the weapon shop.

I need to get basic equipment and learn swordsmanship before I can even step into the guild.

Thinking about it, in this world, adventurers need capital to start.

Well, there’s nothing I can do.

I have to do something to earn money.

“I need to find work too.”

“Of course, that makes sense.”

“And save up money to become an adventurer.”

Indeed, I can’t give up on my dream.

* * *

The free city of Kubel.

As soon as Tina and I arrived in Kubel, we exchanged brief greetings, wishing each other luck, and parted ways.

Although we had fled the church together for our own reasons, there was no reason for us to stick together in a new city.

“Yunoa regretted missing the opportunity to accompany a beauty like Tina.”

If you want to be with a beauty, it is obvious that you need the corresponding ability, but Yunoa thought about it without even knowing the subject.

Now all that was left for him was a little silver and a useless body.”

As soon as he was alone again, the narration mercilessly threw insults at me.

“Well, that’s how it is.”

I didn’t feel particularly bad.

It was just as the narration said.

It was almost like a personal attack, but strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with it.

My life before reincarnating in this world could be summarized in two words.

Knit, hikikomori.

So, the means I chose to escape reality was to be reborn in this world.

I didn’t know it would actually happen like this.

I thought that coming to this world would mean living a cheat life where everything would work out just by breathing.

But living here was just as difficult.

No, it might even be a scarier and tougher world with many elements threatening my life.

At first, I couldn’t accept that and couldn’t hold back my anger at the narration’s insults.

Whenever I tried to do something well, it felt like it would inevitably appear and remind me, ‘Remember, you’re originally just a useless piece of trash.’

But after working hard cleaning the church every day and sleeping in an uncomfortable warehouse, I eventually realized.

The words of the narration were an uncomfortable truth.

It took me a long time to accept and admit that to myself.

But I did accomplish something by coming here.

Although the narration helped, I am the man who saved the life of a saint.

I think it’s okay to take pride in that.

“Well, then, let’s try to make some money by doing something.”

I stretched and looked at the lively scenery of the free city of Kubele in front of me.

Despite everything that happened, I somehow felt like I had just arrived in this world.

“Yunoa reflected on how he had lived like trash and had a time of reflection.

But just thinking about it didn’t change anything.”

Yeah, I get it.

I can do anything, right?

With that thought in mind, I walked into the streets of Kubele.

Thinking that someday, I would make that narration praise me.