《Lackluster Adventure of a Side Character》 Prologue: The Lackluster Opening My name is Hiraku. No last name, it¡¯s a sad life. Though I started in a very clich¨¦ opening, my life itself couldn¡¯t even be more far from it. I say this because I¡¯m not a [Hero]. People with the title of [Hero] are, as you might have guessed, the ones who¡­ Saves the world. Gains an impossibly large harem. Defeats the one chosen to be the [Demon King]. Will always have that ¡®Divine Blessing¡¯ of the goddesses where they always get out of a pinch in one way or another. But most importantly, they receive some kind of cheat-like ability. Well, what am I then? Sorry to disappoint you but, I¡¯m merely a side character. That title doesn¡¯t even have the brackets or capitals for the emphasis effect. =-=-=-= When I was twelve years old, I was just an ordinary kid on a random countryside town, who spent his life doing house chores and helped his parents on whatever they¡¯ve asked me to. I have a little sister, though contradictory to the usual, she doesn¡¯t like me. Not in the slightest. You can even say she despise me. She¡¯s a devilish kid who uses her charm and cuteness to manipulate our parents. For example, blaming me for a broken plate, or spreading rumors that I peek on her while she¡¯s taking a bath. Also, I do not have the thing you call abchildhood friend. What do I have then? A bully. Yep, she¡¯s also a girl too, but a bully nonetheless. Since she¡¯s the daughter of the Duke of our medium-sized town, she¡¯s quite rich. And bratty. She spends her whole day criticizing my looks and social standing (Commoner). That or either she¡¯s cooking up a plan to humiliate me in front of a crowd again. All in all, my life had been terrible that time. But now that I¡¯m already eighteen years old¡­ ¡°Hey! Hiraku! You smell like a pig! Get away from me!¡± It¡¯s even much worse than before. Nothing changed much from that time. I¡¯m still a commoner, my sister curses me on a daily basis, and this brat kept on making my daily life a living hell. ¡°Midget¡­¡± ¡°Wha¡ª I heard that! I can execute you for that, you know?!¡± ¡°No, I was saying your name, Bridget. You might have misheard it.¡± I smiled the most sarcastic one I could ever make. Before I really get myself executed, I ran away from that rabid dog. I personally know how truly dangerous that girl is. Though she looks younger than my sister, she¡¯s actually just a year younger than me. Becoming an adventurer is an option for me of course, but I quickly shot down that idea when I appraised my status on some wandering priest. Name: Hiraku Gender: Male Level: 6 Job: Hunter Strength: F Speed: F Defence: F Dexterity: F Mana: F Magic Attack: F Magic Defence: F F and F and more F. As you can see, the average for a fifteen years-old kid is even higher than me. Such is the stats of a mere side character, I guess¡­ ¡°What are you staring at?¡± The one who said that was my fifteen years-old kid sister, Sachiko. Her friend calls her Sachi-chan, but I¡¯m forced to call her Sachiko-san (even Sachiko-sama, sometimes). ¡°I wasn¡¯t staring. I was just thinking about something.¡± ¡°Ah! It¡¯s something perverted again, isn¡¯t it? You lolicon!¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. She ran away as if she¡¯s running from a real pedophile. This is a daily occurrence to me, so my heart had stopped aching after she did it a hundredth time. Enough to say, I hate her too as much as she hate me. Okay, maybe not as much¡­ Just a little bit¡­ Ah. Naah, I still care for her. She¡¯s my little sister all and all. Also, she¡¯s really cute, if she keeps her mouth shut. ¡°Agghh! I hate my life!¡± I yelled that while stomping the ground in frustration. Sometimes I wish I¡¯ll be reincarnated into another world without monsters or those [Heroes]. That would be great! Laughing pitifully at myself, I busied my hands on assembling another trap for my and Dad¡¯s hunt this coming afternoon. It looks like a simple beartrap, but it¡¯s actually doused with a paralyzing poison. A nifty feature I added on it. So even if some durable monster withstands the initial damage of the beartrap, it won¡¯t be moving for a minute. It¡¯s nothing special though. I¡¯m sure some Trap Maker in the Capital can do much better than this thing I¡¯ve made. ¡°There, finished.¡± I marvelled at my handiwork. It looks decent enough! ¡°Hiraku!¡± Mother is calling me. For some reason, she¡¯s angry. ¡°I¡¯m at the workshop, mom!¡± ¡°Hiraku, you perverted young man. Sachiko said you touched her breasts!¡± My lips formed into a thin line. That girl doesn¡¯t have those, mom. Gaaah! =-=-=-=-= The sun had set, and the moon is atop the sky right now. I¡¯m supposed to be sleeping already with the rest of the townsmen, since it¡¯s already midnight, but this night seemed to be an exception. I just couldn¡¯t sleep. My mind¡¯s as awake as it can be. I don¡¯t remember drinking the energy herb at the kitchen, so why am I awake? I noticed the black pendant hanging on the wall to my right. I remember picking up that thing randomly on the street. It¡¯s nothing special, though since I¡¯ve gotten it, I¡¯ve been hearing strange voices at night, telling me to pray to the pendant three times a day. It sounded pretty shady, so I did it. I¡¯m a little curious, okay? Anyways, the problem of me being deprived of my precious sleep is still present. Just when I started to think about bashing my head on the nearby wall, the light of a torch passed through the gaps of the window in my room. I say window, but it¡¯s merely a flat straw with a stick to hold it up when opening. That¡¯s strange. Is there a patrol going on outside? Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to peek outside. ¡°Why are we the one who¡¯s tasked to pillage the smaller houses?¡± ¡°Just shut up and do your job.¡± These guys are¡­ bandits! The town¡¯s being raided! And it isn¡¯t only these two. I can see numerous more torches from afar. What happened to the guards guarding the townsgate? This is bad¡­ I need to wake everybody inside the house. Just in case, I grabbed my trusty beartrap lying on my table to the left. Better ready than not. For some reason, I also grabbed the black pendant from the wall, and stuffed it inside my pocket. Since Sachiko¡¯s room was the nearest, I decided to wake her up first. I mildly knocked on the door to her room. I don¡¯t need the bandits outside to notice me too. ¡°Sachiko! Sachiko!¡± I heard shuffling from within her room, then some light curses. Seriously, this kid¡­ ¡°What is it?! I was sleeping! Geez, how idiotic can you be?!¡± Her glare could make a bandit¡¯s a run for its money. ¡°Come with me. We need to wake Dad an¡ª¡± ¡°Stop touching me! Mooooom! Mooommyy!¡± Sachiko suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs. Sachiko! Tch! ¡°Don¡¯t yell! There are bandits outside!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± She just wouldn¡¯t stop! Come on Sachiko, even just for once, obey me! I heard the door at the front yard being forcefully opened. They¡¯re inside now¡­ ¡°Everyone line up here in the living room!¡± The bandit yelled. What am I gonna do now?... I noticed that Sachiko¡¯s legs are trembling. I warned you! But, this isn¡¯t the time for blaming each other. I need to think¡­ ¡°H-Hiraku¡­¡± Sachiko tugged on my hand. I know, I know¡­ ¡°We heard you outside! Come out or we¡¯ll kill you if we find you ourselves!¡± Think, think¡­ ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Dad was the one who said that. He¡¯s with mom¡­ I can see his fingers forming into different signs. It was our sign when we¡¯re hunting. Go. Outside. Backdoor. That¡¯s what he¡¯s saying¡­ Dad, Mom¡­ I urged Sachiko to stop staring at our parents, and pulled her away from them. She¡¯s crying quietly. Endure for a while longer, Sachiko. When we arrive outside, everything was burning. Maybe they were surprised by Sachiko¡¯s yell, so all the bandits forced theirselves instead of sneaking in one by one. Some townsguard are fighting here and there, but they¡¯re obviously outnumbered. ¡°H-Hiraku, w-where are we going now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we should get out of the town for the meantime¡­¡± We need to get away from the bandits. At least, when the thieves get out of the town, we can go back and look for survivors¡­ though I doubt it¡¯ll go as smooth as that. We hid on the back alleys. With the help of the natural darkness the night brings, we were able to go near the gate. I ran into some townsguard corpse earlier, and borrowed a sword. I didn¡¯t forget to cover Sachiko¡¯s eyes. She had enough of this nightmare, and I¡¯m almost at my limit too. ¡°Help me! Help, anybody!¡± I heard a familiar voice behind me. That¡¯s Bridget¡­ yes, that¡¯s Bridget alright. Only she possesses that bright blonde hair here after all. She¡¯s being carried on a shoulder of a bandit. She kept on pounding the man¡¯s back, but I imagine that the bandit barely felt that. Gah, I can¡¯t leave my sister alone here¡­ As if Sachiko can hear my thoughts, she¡¯s looking at me with her eyes full of fear. Really, my life had always been terrible¡­ It¡¯s as if the Goddesses themselves hate my very existence. Here I find myself in yet another hopeless situation again. Goddesses, I hate you. Here comes my choice! ¡°Iyaaa! Don¡¯t hurt me!¡± That¡¯s me, yelling. ¡°I¡¯ll give you this cute little girl, just spare me!¡± I pointed at the shivering Sachiko. Sorry! Yosh, the bandit heard my shameless shouts. Sachiko¡¯s crying nonstop, but like I¡¯ve said, sorry¡­ for using you as a bait! The guy stepped on the exact spot I wanted. Right there, on that pile of haystack. Clank! That¡¯s the sound of my trusty beartrap biting my victim. Bridget was thrown on the ground by the guy, but I quickly snatched her while she¡¯s on midair. She¡¯s really light! I left the writhing bandit on the ground. Even Sachiko might have not noticed it when I put it there. Actually, one might ask why I¡¯m possessing such a thing inside my bedroom. Well, a real hunter¡¯s always prepared, that I guarantee. Some might prepare handy tools such as knives, but I prefer indispensable traps. Finally, we¡¯re outside. We rested under an oak tree, away from the burning sight of our town. I breathed a heavy sigh. We barely made it. To keep our bodies hot, I made a campfire from the various dried twigs around. ¡°Hiraku¡­ you scared me.¡± Sachiko glared at me again. ¡°You diss me everyday, you know?¡± ¡°B-But that¡¯s!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Heh.¡± I sighed. Sachiko, not now, okay? I looked to my far right and see Bridget. Sachiko, follow the example of that brat. She knows how to read the mood, and is keeping silent since she knows she¡¯s in debt to me now¡ª ¡°Stop staring at me while panting. You make my skin crawl.¡± I growled like a hungry lion at her. She¡¯s so hopeless! But seriously, isn¡¯t this the time where they¡¯re supposed to open up to me and thank me with all they have? What¡¯s wrong with these two? Or am I the wrong one? Huh? Oh yeah, that only happens to the [Heroes]. Now I¡¯m depressed again¡­ I¡¯m all alone with my sister and a girl in the forest. It sounds pretty good the first time you hear it, but¡­ ¡°I¡¯m hungry! Food. I want food.¡± Bridget whined like the pig she is. Ugh. ¡°We don¡¯t have any money now¡­ Maybe I should sell Hiraku¡¯s kidneys on the black market¡­¡± I heard that! Where did you even learn that, Sachiko?! But, deep inside though, I understand them. Unlike me, they¡¯re still teenagers, but they already experienced such terrible things. I know this is just their way of forgetting it. It can¡¯t be helped. ¡°We¡¯ll go the next town. Imperial guards are sure to show here, but that¡¯ll take weeks at best. If we want to survive, we need a place where we can get food and water.¡± And the bandits doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯re going away anytime soon. They¡¯re still busy with the things a bandit usually does, I guess. Follera Town isn¡¯t that far from here, but if we go by foot, I don¡¯t think these two ¡®sheltered¡¯ girls will survive. It would have been alright if my stats were a bit higher than normal, but as you can remember¡­ I can hunt those monsters, but in a straight up fight? No. And add to that that I have two more people to take care of. This trip will be long, but¡­ I looked at Bridget and Sachiko sleeping soundly at the other side of the campfire. ¡°This Hiraku will do his best.¡± And thus, the lackluster adventure of a side character began. Chapter 1: Showing My Cool Side!... Or not. At the crack of the dawn, we immediately started our travel towards Follera Town. That¡¯s what I wanted to do, but¡­ ¡°Five more minutes¡­¡± Sachiko said half asleep. Do not disturb or else, a wooden sign read beside the sleeping Bridget. My eyebrows twitched. Okay, calm down. Since I know from personal experience that these two won¡¯t like it if I were to do the exact opposite thing they wanted me to do, I decided to spend my time in doing another task. Let¡¯s see, I can make a sharpened wood with my ¡®borrowed¡¯ sword. A pit trap with some pikes at the bottom should be good enough to kill a wild boar or two. While I¡¯m at it, I think I¡¯ll make some useful tools and weapon whilst the materials are available around me. I snatched the black pendant inside my pocket. Closing my eyes, I wished for good luck on the weird-but-cool-looking necklace. =-=-=-= After making another fire, I cooked the single boar I caught earlier. It¡¯s just one, but it¡¯s pretty big. I think it should be enough for the three of us. If there¡¯s something left, I¡¯ll turn it into dried meat. I may not have salt since it¡¯s expensive, but I do know some alternative plants for it. So far so good. The two sleepy heads must have woken up from the nice smell coming from our meal. I think I can even hear their stomachs¡­ but like hell I¡¯ll tell them that. ¡°Breakfast¡¯s ready.¡± I rotated the stick with the boar on it. ¡°Boar meat¡­¡± Sachiko, your saliva¡¯s dripping out. ¡°That¡¯ll do, I guess.¡± I know you want it, Bridget. We sat there in silence, eating the delicious meat hungrily. In the end, nothing was left. So much for dried meat. ¡°Bridget.¡± I called out to her. ¡°What?¡± She seems pretty tame today. Good. ¡°Do you have any sentimental attachments to that dress of yours?¡± I pointed at the frilly dark violet dress of hers. It¡¯s her Tuesday dress, if I remember correctly. ¡°N-No, what of it?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to sell that at the town.¡± ¡°Noooo!¡± She yelled so loud that I¡¯m afraid the bandits might have heard us! You¡¯re overreacting! ¡°You want to see my naked body?! Waaah!¡± Oi, shut up. Sachiko¡¯s eyes are turning stone cold, you know?! ¡°That¡¯s not it! It¡¯s because we need money, okay? We¡¯re broke now. And that dress of yours look expensive. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll buy you a new set of clothes there. I just wanted to mention it beforehand.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you sell your clothes?!¡± What¡¯s with the teary eyes? Do I really look like a pervert to you? ¡°It won¡¯t cost that much. Sachi¡¯s too.¡± Bridget looked below her one last time, then averted her sight to the side. ¡°I¡¯ll, think about it¡­¡± Sorry. We don¡¯t have any other choice. I¡¯m really sorry! ¡°For the meantime, you two should go take a bath. I found a stream over there while I was hunting. And oh, be careful of the pitfall on the way there, okay?¡± The two nodded. They¡¯re somewhat obedient to me, and that¡¯s nice. Sachiko suddenly stopped though. ¡°Hiraku, why don¡¯t you sell your kidne¡ª¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Go take a bath.¡± =-=-=-= As I was fuming silently to myself, I realized that I forgot to tell them something. Crap. They don¡¯t have changes for clothes, so they need to dry the ones they¡¯re currently wearing. I planned on drying them myself here at the campfire but, I can¡¯t just go there at the stream now¡­ Another dilemma, and it¡¯s so early in the morning. Ugh. Oh well, here¡¯s my choice! Uoooo! ¡­ After a while, I sat there beside the campfire, with Bridget¡¯s dress and Sachiko¡¯s nightwear. And two stinging red slap marks on both of my cheeks. ¡°Ow, ow.¡± My crotch hurt too. =-=-=-= After that squabble earlier in the morning, I somehow managed to get the two off their butts and leave. We still have a long trek to go, please endure it. ¡°Hiraku.¡± Bridget called out to me from behind. I slowed my walking pace to hers, but I¡¯m not really curious on whatever she¡¯ll say. ¡°Bridget?¡± ¡°What¡ª, what do you think happened to the rest of the townpeople?¡± Sachiko must have heard her, as she too lowered her pace. I wasn¡¯t expecting that kind of question from her though. I thought she was just a selfish girl who doesn¡¯t think about anyone other than herself. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but if I¡¯m gonna take a guess¡­¡± The men were probably killed, while the women were, well¡­ I won¡¯t say that though. ¡°They must be hiding somewhere there.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we rescue them then? Dad might be also one of them too, he must be still somewhere ther¡ª¡± Bridget grabbed my shirt. Sighing, I stopped. I restrained myself from saying this. I tried my best. ¡°Bridget, they¡¯re dead.¡± Her breathing hitched. I expected her to yell at me or even kick me to the ground like usual, but certainly, her crying wasn¡¯t on my list. ¡°L-Liar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. That goes the same for you too, Sachiko. Mom and Dad are probably dead too.¡± I need to make them understand what¡¯s really happening. I can¡¯t lie to them forever. I know I¡¯m being a bit mean, but I¡¯d hate to see their hope getting shattered at the end. ¡°I already understand that!¡± Sachiko yelled at me. ¡°I know I¡¯m the cause of all this mess! Blame me i-if you want! Come on, blame me!¡± Trying to act tough¡­ Next time, learn how to control your tears. Geez, now I feel like I¡¯m the bad guy here. Being surrounded by two crying girls¡­ I¡¯m the one who made them cry though. How pathetic, Hiraku! ¡°Now now.¡± I placed my hand on both of their head, then rubbed them. ¡°I¡¯m here. As long as I¡¯m breathing, I¡¯ll get you two to the next town. I promise on my life!¡± They quieted a bit. ¡°That¡¯s not reassuring at all.¡± Bridget glared me down. Hey, weren¡¯t you crying earlier? ¡°Our stats is stronger than yours, you know?¡± ¡°Yes, and Hiraku is a hopeless pervert. I¡¯d feel safer if an orc pledged his loyalty to me.¡± Sachiko too?! This two¡­! As expected, they can switch emotions from one to another like a stone-hearted monster! They left me in the dust as they ran forward. They¡¯re even sticking their tongue out to me. H-How cruel! Now I¡¯m the one who feels like crying! That day, I wasn¡¯t able to see the small smile they gave me for a second. =-=-=-= We finally got out of that forest, and are currently following the dirt path leading to Follera town. Two large plains lay on either side of the trail, with the endless amount of green going as far as my eyes can see. If we strictly follow this track, we should arrive on our destination in three days. We¡¯re back to normal now. By normal, I mean Bridget harassing me every five minutes, and Sachiko calling me names whenever I talk to her. Yep, we¡¯re back to normal. I¡¯m glad. Off to the far north, a small speckle of green was blocking the road. The moment we got close enough for us to see it clearly, we made out what looks like a goblin. Goblins, eh? A demi-human type monster. They¡¯re small fries individually, but is a formidable opponent when in group. Their skin is green, with only a rag for clothes. Luckily, this goblin seems to be alone. It doesn¡¯t even have any kind of weapon. No problem, even I could take it on. ¡°I see a goblin.¡± Alright, time to show my cool side! I raised my sword then ran like an idiot towards the monster. ¡°Uwaa!¡± That¡¯s the sound of goblin crying after it was hit. It wasn¡¯t me though. It was¡­ ¡°Hmph!¡± Bridget?! Did she just flying kick the hell out of that goblin?! I looked to my left. Sachiko isn¡¯t even fazed at the slightest. Could she have done the same thing like what Bridget did?! I kneeled on the ground. ¡°No, my spotlight¡­¡± In front of me, the two girls seemed more imposing than ever. I could even imagine their eyes shining a bright crimson. ¡°Stop relying on us, you weakling.¡± Bridget spat at the ground near me. ¡°Tch. You made a girl defeat a monster for you? How pathetic!¡± Sachiko looked down on me as if she was looking at a trash. S-Scary! =-=-=-= Of course, when we defeated the goblin, we got a loot. It¡¯s an empty bag made out of animal hides. Though it¡¯s empty, it¡¯ll be big enough for me to store some other things to it. Sadly though, my sword and my newly made wooden spear couldn¡¯t fit on it. Noon came, and we rested under the shade of a large tree. It was a perfect spot, since a nearby stream was just a few steps away from it. I think it¡¯s connected to the stream we saw before. It¡¯s a pretty long stream, huh? Unlike the last one though, this one appear to be larger and deeper, but only by just a small margin. Nevertheless, it was enough for life to strive on it. I can see some fish swimming here and there. Readying the wooden spear I made back at the forest, I marvelled at the exceptional sharpness the tip of the weapon had. This should be enough to pierce a mere fish. I didn¡¯t forget to pray at my black pendant. Actually, I think I should wear it around my neck now. It looks pretty cool with the black sun and moon, really! Starting today, I will consider this necklace a lucky charm. Lucky charm, please give me good luck! =-=-=-= ¡°Meal¡¯s ready! We¡¯re having toasted fish today.¡± I smiled at the five pieces of medium-sized fish I caught. The lucky charm¡¯s working nicely. Thank you very much, lucky charm! Bridget looked at it blandly. ¡°Fish¡­ they aren¡¯t tasty as meat.¡± Sachiko nodded in agreement. ¡°We want meat! Everyone wants meat! Meat! Meat! Meat!¡± This ungrateful kids! ¡°I think you two forgot that we¡¯re broke right now!¡± I took a chomp on my fish. It¡¯s still delicious. You should really taste it first, you girls. ¡°If you won¡¯t eat it, then I¡¯ll eat it!¡± For the added threatening effect, I grabbed another fish then opened my mouth near it. Suffice to say, that the two hurriedly sat on the soft grass below them. After that, we ate lunch in a blissful silence. ¡°Now my breath smells like a fish.¡± ¡°Ack, fish-bones! Fish-bones in my throat!¡± Silence, yeah. =-=-=-= Just when we were about to leave the tree, I managed to see a glimpse of red around the tree¡¯s canopy. Oh, it¡¯s an apple tree! How lucky! I seriously didn¡¯t notice earlier. Snipping some for our coming travel, I then thanked my lucky charm once again, and walked off with the two. I got fourteen apples. Sweet. They snugly fit the now cleaned goblin bag we have. As I was lost in my own world, I then noticed that my two companions were already behind me. It looks like I walked past them since they¡¯ve stopped. Why did they do that though¡­? I looked in front of me. There, a pack of silver wolves stood before our path, growling. I mentally took note that there are an exact twelve wolves there. Silver wolves. An intermediate level monster, capable of killing newbie adventurers faster than a horde of unarmed goblin, alone. Their fang makes for good materials in making swords, as they are really sharp. This goes without saying but, we¡¯re screwed. Even if there was just one silver wolf, I don¡¯t think I can handle it myself. I also think the two girls behind me won¡¯t be able to do it. Silver wolves are just simply too strong. What is such an enemy even doing here?! I rooted my feet on the ground, brandishing my sword in front of me. At the very least, my corpse can busy the wolves long enough for Sachiko and Bridget to run away¡­ ¡°Sachiko, Bridget, go!¡± I yelled back to the two. They¡¯re frozen in fear too. This is bad¡­ Before I considered yelling at them to scram, a blur flew past me. Slash! Slash! Two long streaks of white passed through the pack of silver wolves, then they were dead. A lone man stood there, slowly sheathing an expensive looking sword. ¡°Hey there, are you okay?¡± He asked us. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything¡¯s okay. I¡¯m Satou Koutarou by the way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a [Hero].¡± Chapter 3: Redeeming This Ungrateful Brats!... or not. This guy, he¡¯s a [Hero]? He did defeat the silver wolves in just two attacks, so he must be at least a powerful guy. I should feel indebted to him but, I can¡¯t. I won¡¯t. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve already said this, but I hate these guys. They¡¯re too lucky and powerful for their own good. Not to mention they all get the girls. ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Bridget¡¯s eyes sparkled. T-,This is¡­ ¡°H-Hero-sama, please touch my hands!¡± Sachiko, no! Aaaah! This guy, I wanna kill him! ¡°Ahaha, I just did whatever anyone would do.¡± He smiled at us--, no, them. My companions continued to swoon. Grrr¡­ ¡°Well, my brother wouldn¡¯t have been able to do that!¡± Sachiko pointed at me. I shrunk smaller while fuming. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s pathetic after all.¡± Bridget, guh! I can hear my heart shattering into a million pieces¡­ And you, stop staring at me like you¡¯re looking at someone so pitiful, you bastard! Go die in hole, ¡®Hero¡¯! ¡°Alright, you save us, thank you, now we gotta go. See you later.¡± I grabbed the two before they got too enchanted to the bewitching [Hero]. ¡°Hey, Hiraku, are you getting jealous?¡± Bridget¡¯s smile turned into a smug one. ¡°Aw, you poor little thing. Maybe you¡¯ll get to be as strong as Satou here a hundred years later.¡± ¡°I did hear him say once that he hates [Heroes].¡± Sachiko snorted, then showed me an upturned eyes. ¡°Brother, I¡¯m in love with Hero Satou¡­ Please attend our wedding when the time comes, okay?¡± Ahhhh! My heart, my heart! Nobody asked for a netorare* moment, Sachiko! How spiteful! Without me noticing, my body was writhing on the ground from the phantom pain of my heart getting torn apart. ¡°So that¡¯s the case. Well, want to be my apprentice for the meantime?¡± He¡¯s grinning, isn¡¯t he? He¡¯s really grinning, isn¡¯t he?! I wanna punch this guy¡¯s face. I probably had a feral look, but he just lightly laughed at me. To make it worse, even my two cohorts were giggling with him. ¡°Curse you!¡± I ran away from those three and over the corpses of the silver wolves. I might have been even crying. Not embarrassing at all. =-=-=-= After a few minutes of walking by myself, Bridget and Sachiko were finally here. And thankfully, the dream-guy of all girls was gone. ¡°Have you had fun talking to that guy?¡± I dryly asked them. ¡°Very!¡± They both yelled happily. I was smiling, but my eyes were narrowed as small as slits. ¡°Good for you.¡± I sighed. I guess they¡¯re theirselves. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m their parents. Actually, why am I even getting jealous? It¡¯s not like I have the rights to be jealous for anything. I¡¯m just a mere side character after all. Without me noticing, I emitted a depressed aura around me. Bridget must have noticed it, since she was nearer to me than Sachiko. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re face look sourer than usual. You really look ugly that way.¡± As I was about cry out a retort, she continued. ¡°It doesn¡¯t suit you. Can¡¯t you just grin like an idiot as usual?¡± She smirked at me, then looked away. ¡°Stay strong.¡± Is she comforting me or insulting me? You¡¯re confusing, Bridget. Somehow though, I feel a little bit better from that. ¡°Okay¡­¡± I stared at her while she was looking away. This girl, she actually cares for others, doesn¡¯t she? Come to think of it, everyone in the town likes her. I didn¡¯t really believe it that time, but they did say she was a nice girl¡­ ¡°Well, I can only expect so much to you being ¡®strong¡¯ though. I mean, my stats are stronger than yours.¡± She snorted. Why is she so brutal to me though?! =-=-=-= After a few hours of walking and arguing, night has finally set in. We chose a spot for our temporary camp tonight. We found a place where there¡¯s a convenient wall made up of giant boulders. If we camp near it, our behind will be guarded, leaving us to just guard the three remaining sides. We had fresh apples for dinner. Not really appetizing, but we didn¡¯t really had any other choice. The two surprisingly didn¡¯t mind it too. Now, we¡¯re gonna choose who¡¯ll stay up first and guard. Sighing inside my mind, I know this two will unlikely volunteer. As I was just about to raise my hand, Sachiko suddenly stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll stay up first. I¡¯m not really sleepy yet.¡± Eh? What? I found myself sleeping on the comfy grass all of a sudden. That was unexpected. I thought she¡¯d like for me to suffer again, albeit not verbally like she does usual. I glanced at her back secretly. She¡¯s yawning. She lied about not being sleepy¡­ I wonder why she did that¡­ Ahh, I didn¡¯t notice, by I myself am sleepy now too. Goodnight, me. =-=-=-= ¡°Mom¡­ foun¡­ ¡­er ¡­ utsid¡­ wha... sho¡­ ¡­ do?¡± ¡°Aww, sh¡­ ¡­ute! But, ¡­as she ab¡­n¡­?¡± ¡°Poor kid.¡± =-=-=-= I woke up to a light shaking from my shoulder. I groggily looked up to see Sachiko leaning near me. ¡°Your turn, lazy.¡± ¡°What¡­ Ah, yes. Alright.¡± I yawned while rubbing my eyes. I looked up at the sky. The moon¡¯s already near the horizon. If I had to guess, I think it¡¯s almost already five¡­ This girl. Look, she¡¯s even already asleep at the ground. Though she offends me every day, she is a hardworking girl, just like my parents used to say. She¡¯s a diligent girl who, although always refuses my help on anything she does, she finishes her work even faster than mine. She¡¯s my cute, independent little sister. Whenever she does something better than me, she always rubs it on my face though. I sat on a large stone. I don¡¯t think Bridget would like it if I were to wake her up, so I¡¯ll finish the remaining guard time by myself. I still have two hours left to burn. Hmm¡­ Oh, now that I think about it, we don¡¯t have food for this coming breakfast. I need to hunt, but I can¡¯t leave this girl here. Wait, that flower over there¡­ =-=-=-= I grinned at the couple of boars I caught. Earlier, I saw a wildflower called Ghestas, which is popular for its unique trait of attracting monsters with its extract. Popular to hunters, at least. With this amount, surely I can make some dried meat with the leftover. I didn¡¯t forget to pray to my lucky charm while roasting. I¡¯m so lucky to have picked this charm off on the street! Anyway, time to wake these two up. On second thought, I think I¡¯ll let Sachiko sleep a little bit more¡­ ¡°Bridget. Hey.¡± I tapped her forehead. It¡¯s a pretty irritating and effective way for waking people up. It worked. Now she¡¯s glaring at me. After some minutes, I asked her to keep her voice down as to not wake my sister up. I explained what happened last night for her to understand more. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t just force her to guard that long?¡± She raised an eyebrow. I raised an eyebrow too. She completely lost the point that I didn¡¯t wake her up for her turn. Ungrateful brat. ¡°Next time I¡¯ll specially catch a really small fish for your share¡­¡± I murmured. =-=-=-= Breakfast and bath time passed, and we¡¯re already walking once again to this long road towards Follera. Like usual, I didn¡¯t have anything to do, so I was planning on naming this sword of mine¡­ Every [Hero]¡¯s weapons has their own name. Though I¡¯m not a hero, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a law that says I can¡¯t name my sword! Huh, it should be a cool name like those popular ones. Excalibur? Muramasa? Masamune? Chunch*maru? I can¡¯t choose one! ¡°Hey, Sachiko, what do you think I should name this sword?¡± I made a slashing motion with my manly sword. ¡°A name huh? How about, ¡®The Stolen Sword¡¯?¡± She shot me a haughty look. ¡°I was stupid to ask you.¡± Bridget chimed in. ¡°How about, Forsaken--¡± Oh, sounds pretty cool! ¡°toothpick. Forsaken Toothpick, has a nice ring to it, right?¡± I was a real idiot to expect something! ¡°Oh shut up!¡± Nevermind. I guess I¡¯ll save the naming when I found an actually strong sword¡­ =-=-=-= As I was walking forward absentmindedly, we saw what looked like a carriage ahead of us. It¡¯s¡­ oh, a merchant wagon. It¡¯s basically a travelling store, if you don¡¯t get it. I wonder if there¡¯s also a priest among them. That way, I can ask them to appraise me again¡­ Something must have change this past one year, right? ¡°Excuse me!¡± I yelled at the guy in front of it. ¡°Do you have a priest there?¡± ¡°Ahh, you want to appraise yourself, right? You¡¯re lucky, I¡¯m a priest.¡± He smiled at me. He seems like a nice guy. Alright, let¡¯s see how much I¡¯ve grown! ¡°Hey Bridget, Sachiko, this¡¯ll be the point where my true strength will be revealed.¡± I coolly glanced at them. ¡°Sure.¡± Bridget scratched her fingers. ¡°What? I didn¡¯t hear what you said.¡± Sachiko blinked at me. Heh, they¡¯re so nervous that they¡¯re acting like they don¡¯t care. I moved my wobbly legs near the priest guy. All of a sudden, I¡¯m sweaty. And it¡¯s hot now too¡­ I¡¯m blinking too fast¡­ Butterflies inside my stomach¡­ Ugh. I can hear those two giggling behind me. You¡¯ll eat your laugh after I¡¯m finished here! ¡°Let¡¯s see, you name is Hiraku, okay¡­¡± The priest muttered to himself while touching me in my forehead. ¡°A screen will pop up in front of you, so don¡¯t be surprised okay? It¡¯ll be only visible to you too, but you can show it to anyone if you want to.¡± Here we go! Name: Hiraku Gender: Male Level: 9 Strength(STR): F¡­ Just from the strength stat, I already gave up. ¡°¡­ Heh.¡± I looked to the side while thanking the nice priest. I walked lifelessly forward. ¡°¡­ Heh.¡± Bridget and Sachiko caught up to me. ¡°Nothing changed huh?¡± Bridge kept on nodding her head while grinning. ¡°Yep, nothing.¡± Sachiko patted my back. ¡°¡­ Heh.¡± Adventurer¡¯s life is nothing but a dream for this pitiful guy, huh? Goddesses, do you really hate me that much? ¡­ What did those [Heroes] do for them to receive blessings like that? Why are they the ones chosen? Why couldn¡¯t it be me? ¡°I guess, I¡¯m really hopeless¡­¡± I looked down. Both of my companions are silent. They must think I¡¯m really pathetic. Hah¡­ ¡°Hiraku, why would you want to be strong?¡± Bridget asked me. ¡°I want to be strong, so that I can protect those around me.¡± I answered truthfully. Looking back, if I was a strong guy, I could have singlehandedly killed all of those bandits. Mom and Dad would be still alive if I was just stronger. I really want to be strong someday¡­ ¡°Hey, stop brooding.¡± My little sister called out to me. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s the end of the world now, right?¡± Well¡­ ah, you¡¯re right, Sachiko. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll just forget that.¡± I motioned to rub her head. Sachiko just stared at me, but not doing anything to stop my hand. While we were close, Bridget tapped my shoulder. ¡°Hey, can I see your status screen?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, sure.¡± I willed it inside my mind. Looking at her expression, I deduce that she can already see it. She¡¯s shocked after all. Eh¡­ shocked? ¡°Is there something wrong in it?¡± I asked her. ¡°Hiraku, since when did your job turned into an [Evil Cultist]?¡± Evil¡ª what? Ehhh?