NoveLight ™
[Master.]
“Hm?”
The quiet voice of Aria.
I couldn’t read anything from her expression, but I could discern something from the tone of her voice.
That was the expression she got when something bad was about to happen.
[It seems like a warrior will be coming out soon.]
“A warrior?”
There couldn’t be a war without casualties. No matter how great the Galactic Empire was.
So, it was an unexpected comment.
“What’s going on?”
[One of the invited guests from the World.]
“If it’s an invitation…”
That referred to the transcendent beings invited into the community.
“…I see.”
They were chosen talents, after all.
Currently, the base in the World had nearly completed the installation of defense and interception facilities.
It shouldn’t be easy for any ordinary enemy to breach it.
“Swing by. Make sure everything I asked for is prepared.”
[Yes, understood.]
Tzzpat-
***
“Cough... I am the owner of the 32nd Holy Sword... the hero... Versia…”
“Stop talking. You’ll only shorten your time.”
“I... Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Cough.”
Blood spilled from the man’s mouth.
Most of his vital organs had already been destroyed in the process of trying to keep him alive, and the lower half of his body, which had been cut diagonally in half, was no longer visible.
Even in this state, his ability to speak, without letting go of his breath, was due to his transcendent willpower and the syringe lodged in his heart.
Versia, the hero, barely holding onto his life with the emergency medical supplies of the Galactic Empire.
“…It’s alright. I’ve already... made my peace.”
“In that case...”
The spirit master decided to see his final moments through.
“At least you can leave peacefully. ‘He’ will surely grant your wish. You’ve done well. I’m sure you, like us, came to support with a wish of your own.”
The spirit master gently wiped Versia’s forehead. A sense of relief filled Versia’s fading eyes.
“Cough... I’m sure they’re all the same.”
“Right. So, if there’s anything you want to say... feel free. I’ll listen. I’m still kind enough for that.”
The spirit master, as if used to these situations, calmly and quietly stayed by Versia’s side as he approached his final moments.
“Cough. I see. Then, would you listen to my story?”
Around them, the battlefield was still being tidied up.
They all knew that, if not for Versia’s final sacrifice, they wouldn’t have been standing there at that moment.
Knowing this, they were all focused on their duties, honoring his sacrifice in their own way.
“I am the owner of the 32nd Holy Sword, Versia.”
“I know.”
“A terribly ordinary hero’s name.”
“Hmm. I don’t think ‘ordinary’ suits a hero.”
“Haha. Is that so?”
Versia let out a faint laugh.
***
He was ordinary.
In his school days, he could get decent grades, but he wasn’t the type to achieve anything through studying.
The same went for sports. He could play with others, but he wasn’t good enough to pursue it as a career.
At the time, being ordinary might have frustrated him, but as life went on, he found that it changed. He had become so used to his ordinariness that he thought of it as just another way to live.
However, his death due to an unexpected accident was probably not so ordinary.
But if you look at the human race as a whole, it wasn’t that special either.
And then, he was summoned to another world.
Ah…
He had become special.
But that illusion lasted only briefly. He, who had been so ordinary, would not become special just because he was summoned to another world.
Training, exercise, and discipline were all tiresome, and after just two hours, he couldn’t focus anymore.
With his knowledge of soap, cooking, systems, science, and math from his previous life, he tried to use it to do something, but he didn’t know enough to apply it properly in this new world.
He couldn’t build a computer out of thin air to apply his skills.
He was clumsy with swords.
His head wasn’t good enough for magic.
He had no political sense to manage a territory.
He didn’t have the sense of justice or the self-sacrifice needed to be a hero.
Was it just that ordinary people were destined to be useless in another world too?
Still, he didn’t give up on being a hero. Maybe giving up also required courage.
But he didn’t want to live fiercely like that.
After all, the expectations for him weren’t that high.
There were other heroes from different dimensions in the world too.
He was an incapable hero without nobility or any clear purpose.
But he met companions who suited him.
A wizard who hadn’t graduated from the magic tower.
A priest who had been kicked out of the church.
A dwarf who preferred using equipment to making it.
An archer who was better with daggers.
A cowardly barbarian.
They were companions with talents just as ordinary as his, and lacking the qualities needed for greatness.
But to him, they were a blessing.
Despite their ordinariness, they gave him new adventures.
A boring but enjoyable daily life.
Not grand, but meaningful.
It was because of them that he could empathize with those who had no power to ask for help.
They shared in the pain and, together, rescued others.
A hero party that took on petty requests from the poor, hunting low-level monsters.
It was hard, but they could still laugh.
There were always people who needed help.
The petty requests that other heroes, who were obsessed with public merit, ignored, were overflowing.
The companions who cherished each small adventure, helping people and bringing smiles back to their faces.
To him, they were more than enough.
But, in a world that wasn’t ordinary, their fate might have already been decided.
They were truly wonderful, but the world was too harsh for those who were meddlesome and too kind-hearted to survive.
“Cough…”
“Breathe deeply and calm your heart. There’s still time.”
Versia’s eyes were growing dim.
He was probably looking back at his past companions with blurry eyes.
“Cough… I lost... all of them…”
“Is that so?”
“Haha. But… I didn’t leave... so easily. I’m... proud of them.”
To save the sick girl caring for her mother.
To save the child who should have been with their parents after birth.
To save the young soldier who joined the war to find his brother.
To save the women who risked their lives to protect children.
One by one, they died.
Smiling, they left one by one.
They worried about the ones they left behind as they closed their eyes.
To Versia, they were true heroes.
Even someone like Versia, who couldn’t understand the value of sacrifice, was embraced by them.
And so, he was left alone.
“It’s just my turn now.”
Versia’s eyes slowly closed.
“You were a great companion.”
“Haha... I was undeserving.”
“Really...?”
“It was still fine, though. That’s all there was.”
“All the way to the end?”
“…No one remembers them.”
He thought it could be because he didn’t achieve a great feat, or didn’t defeat a notorious monster.
But…
“I couldn’t... stand being disrespected and insulted.”
An incapable hero party. The troublemakers. The misfits.
He was showered with all kinds of scorn.
“At that time... I thought it was all my fault.”
The constant disrespect thrown at him after being left behind.
As the situation in the continent worsened, the criticism aimed at him, the incapable hero, intensified, as did the scorn toward those who had supported him.
“If I had died instead, they wouldn’t have had to face that scorn…”
His eyes closed. He spoke faintly.
“The rest of the story isn’t much. It’s ordinary.”
“Why is that?”
“To not let their names be forgotten... that’s all I tried to do.”
“You must have gone through a lot to become this strong, right?”
The legendary Holy Sword granted only to the strongest heroes.
But...
“Haha. Compared to the adventures with my companions, it was all so trivial. Cough.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
His voice was unwavering.
The spirit master smiled.
“Then, didn’t you fulfill your wish? As your fame rose, the evaluation of them must have changed.”
“Haha…”
Versia weakly shook his head.
“Their survival wasn’t about me becoming special.”
His voice grew faint.
“The continent is on the verge of destruction.”
“If it’s hard for you...”
“Yes. It’s not an easy situation. It’s beyond my ability.”
“I see…”
The spirit master didn’t argue with him.
“What about their survival?”
He just asked what remained of the past companions Versia had been following.
Versia’s lips curled into a slight smile.
“An ordinary... life... for all of them...”
He could say no more.
“You were already a great hero…”
The spirit master closed his eyes for him.
Now, his name was Versia.
Their laughter greeted Versia.