CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81: THE HERO LOVES THIS WORLD [1]

"Am I being scammed?"

Lying on the bed, preparing to enter the land of dreams, Kael glared at the ring that was still on his finger.

"No."

He shook his head.

If he was scammed, Kael would have lost something, but in the end, he didn’t lose anything.

’Whatever.’

He thought.

If this Artifact was really useless, then at least it could be used as an ornament.

Drowsiness began to creep in, slowly taking over his mind.

Kael yawned, then turned to Hans.

"Turn off the lights for me."

"Alright."

Not long after, all the lights in the room disappeared.

It felt good to be able to command the protagonist of Tower of Glory.

With a satisfied smile, Kael slowly closed his eyes.

***

’...How long has it been?’

Exhausted, Kael slowly opened his eyes.

His mind felt heavy.

But, that wasn’t the worst thing.

’Huh? Where am I?’

Kael wasn’t blind, thus, he was certain that he was in an alley, not in that inn.

What the hell?

Only then did he fully wake up from his sleep.

Panicked, Kael glanced around.

Hmm, this really was an alley.

"Where is everyone? Hey! Alaric, Kaede, Hans, Erza! Can anyone hear me?"

That was what he wanted to shout, but, unexpectedly, nothing came out of his mouth.

Kael wanted to leave this alley.

But...

For some reason, he couldn’t control his body.

It was as if this wasn’t his body.

’Wait...’

A crazy and terrifying thought popped up in his mind.

Then, without hesitation, he looked down at his body.

This was a body that had been trained extensively, but at the same time, there were quite a few wounds, scratches, and scars.

This was definitely not Kael’s body.

If so, whose was it?

And where was he?

Suddenly, he remembered the Artifact - [The Old Days], that he had found this morning.

’Could it be because of that?’

It was just a guess, but the possibility of it being true was very high.

Realizing that, Kael relaxed a little.

’But whose past is this anyway?’

While he was trying to figure out the answer, suddenly, the sound of leather shoes rang out not far away.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Curious, he turned towards the source.

And there, a man, about 24 years old, with a handsome face was heading towards him.

"Hello, nice to meet you."

His voice was especially pleasant.

"Hello."

Kael’s current body spoke automatically, without even needing his permission.

"Who are you?"

It could be heard that the owner of this body did not have much sympathy for the person in front of him.

But even so, that person still smiled politely.

"I am Dix, the captain of a hero party."

Dix?

Wasn’t that the name of one of the seven heroes?

"Oh, then why did someone as noble and wonderful as you look for a piece of trash like me?"

The owner of the body replied sarcastically.

"Haha, I’m not that noble. There are many other hero parties in this world, and compared to them, my party is just like a grain of sand in the desert."

"..."

"Well, I’m not one to beat around the bush, so I’ll just say it. I think you have talent, a lot of it."

"So what?"

"...Do you want to join my hero party?"

"I refuse."

An immediate reply.

"May I ask why?"

But it seemed that Dix hadn’t given up yet.

"...I’m a piece of trash, so I’ll just get in your way. Furthermore, it’s troublesome, and I don’t want to bet my life."

"...Then what do you plan to do in the future?"

Dix’s tone suddenly changed.

It was no longer polite, but now... more serious?

"Continue to live like a piece of trash? Is that really what you want?"

"..."

The owner of this body was speechless.

"Moreover, you always say that you’re trash, but I don’t think so."

Dix continued.

"No one is born a trash. They just haven’t found their talent yet."

"..."

"I’m just like you, I used to think that I was a person without talent, but now I’m standing here."

Dix smiled brightly, as if it could dispel all of a person’s worries.

"You haven’t even tried, so how can you be so sure that you’re useless?"

"...If I agree to join your party, what can you give me?"

It seemed like the body’s owner was wavering.

Just waiting for that, the other party’s smile became even brighter than before.

"Everything. Food, clothes, a place to sleep, a better life, and most importantly, glory."

Dix extended his hand towards the body’s owner.

"Now, if you agree, shake my hand."

"...I agree."

Sure enough, the body’s owner took Dix’s outstretched hand.

"Ah, and by the way, I still don’t know your name."

"Kaelus. No last name, just Kaelus."

[End.]

***

It was morning.

Kael immediately opened his eyes, then sat up with a mess of hair.

’What the hell just happened?’

Why did it end right then?

He wanted to continue watching!

He was starting to get interested!

"Sigh."

’So this is what it feels like to watch an anime, only to have it end just when it’s at its peak, and then make you wait until next week?’

Kael thought, then glanced at the golden ring.

Indeed, this Artifact wasn’t useless.

But why was he able to find it?

What a coincidence.

Kael stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the scenery outside.

Or rather, at that graveyard.

He had already determined his mission for today.

"It seems like you want to go somewhere today, Kael."

Hans, who just came out of the bathroom, said.

"Will you be back in time? After all, we have to set off today to escort Erza to the Dicathen Kingdom."

Kael glanced at the system notification.

[Time on the 23rd floor: 1 week 6 days 11 hours and 29 minutes.]

"We have about 2 weeks left. What’s the rush?"

He replied, his voice indifferent.

"...Fine. So, where are you going today?"

The protagonist walked up to Kael, and together with him, he looked out the window at the scenery.

Slowly, Kael opened his mouth:

"Where I have to go."