Chapter 61 – The Truth
“I have a question… It’s okay to just do that later. It’s not like I don’t have time.”
The state of the Horde was not normal in the eyes of a warrior who did not know the inside story of the Horde because he did not know the inside story at all.
Out of the blue, he brought up an embarrassing story, and at the warrior’s words, he collapsed on the ground gasping for breath.
The hero suspected that the Horde might have touched something wrong while handling the rubble and fell under the curse of the demon king.
‘I need to call Martha soon…’
When the hero thought so and tried to get out, even by shaking off Horde’s hand, Horde spoke a little louder.
“Hero! I’m really fine! Just… ! It’s just that I’m a little short of breath…”
As if to prove that the words were true, Horde’s breath gradually calmed down and the hero’s feet stopped.
“Really… Are you okay?”
“Yes… That’s really fine. With me… The day we first met…”
When asked why he laughed at Horde that day, the hero answered as if it were natural.
“… Smile? Ah, I think I laughed involuntarily because I was happy that people of the same age did not give up and lived hard.”
“Well, then… Why didn’t you say that we had the same hometown back then…”
“When I came for the interview then, there were other co-workers next to me. I didn’t say anything on the spot because rumors might circulate that I was hired because I was hired because I was a person from my hometown despite my poor skills.”
“… You did.”
When it all turned out to be just a misunderstanding, Horde forgot what to say and just stared blankly at the hero.
No, in fact, it’s funny to say that it’s a misunderstanding. The Horde just maliciously accepted all of the hero’s actions.
“… Are you okay?”
Horde’s expression darkened as if a demon king had appeared before his eyes, and the hero became worried again.
Horde, who had been staring into space like a fool, came back to his senses at the hero’s question and asked in a trembling voice.
“… Finally, I have a question for you.”
“… I don’t know what it is, but try it.”
“To me… Why did you do it so well?”
Hearing Horde’s last question, the hero stared blankly at Horde for a while, then tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.
“… What does that mean? It’s only natural to be nice to your co-workers, isn’t it?”
As if it was natural to get burned if you touched fire, the hero said with the attitude of asking what is so obvious.
“No, I am different from the others… I don’t have any skills…”
“Everyone has their rightful place. It’s just that Mr. Horde’s abilities weren’t suited to combat, but they didn’t help us.”
“Still… Compared to other people, I don’t look that good…”
“Appearance… ? I’m sorry, I’ve never judged a person’s likes or dislikes based on their appearance…”
Horde looked at the hero with an expression asking if he was serious, but the expression on the warrior’s face when he said that was unmatched.
“Is there anything else you would like to ask?”
“No, not anymore. Thank you…”
“Then… I’ll talk to the foreman, so please take a break here. You look very tired.”
“No, but…”
When Horde tried to rise again, the hero forced Horde to lie on the floor and said.
“No, it’s because you look really bad. I’ll be on my way, so take a break here and go in. Did you know?”
*****
Horde, who was left alone in the tent, lay there and stared blankly at the tent ceiling.
In the meantime, memories of the past kept popping up in my head.
The days when I felt a trivial sense of superiority by blaming the warriors behind the scenes and crushing them.
Horde, who couldn’t even be a bad person properly, was a wicked man, but he wasn’t a terrible villain like a commander or an officer in the Demon King’s army.
He had a normal sense of guilt and anxiety that he might be contributing to the destruction of the world.
And that guilt or insecurity the Horde has avoided by turning its champion into a hypocrite.
The hero was actually a hypocrite who only thought of himself and pretended to be good, and he could not endure all his good deeds unless he made them hypocritical.
If it wasn’t hypocrisy, he couldn’t stand the fact that he was nice to himself when the other party members were cold towards him.
If that’s not hypocrisy, all the things you’ve done…
“Ouch… !”
Realizing that fact, Horde felt like he was going to vomit at any moment.
How many hours had it passed since she stared endlessly at the ceiling and hated herself?
“Warrior! I’m resting…”
Lina, who entered the tent with her luck, saw Horde lying there and stiffened as it was.
“Uh? Why are you here?”
“…”
As her horde kept her mouth shut, Lina began to fantasize on her own, and Lina’s knowledge of her horde matched her imagination so well that she wondered if she was watching it right next to her.
“You… Did you really ask?”
To be honest, Lina said she expected the Horde to ask the champion about it, but she didn’t think she would.
Since she is a timid Horde, I thought she would struggle without being able to ask, but I never thought she would really ask.
“Hey… To be honest, I saw you a little bit again. You really had the guts to ask.”
“… As you expected, he is from the same country as me.”
“I guess. Actually, from the first time I heard you say something, I thought it was strange.”
Unless they are the trash of the world, there is no way they would laugh at the demon king’s army for losing their hometown, let alone other people and the hero couldn’t be like that.
“… He must have gone through that hellish escape route too, right?”
“Not even a nobleman, he must have suffered.”
“However… Why can he be like that?”
On that hellish evacuation route, Horde saw the bottom of a human being that could never be seen in everyday life.
Horde gradually loses trust in humans as they watch people who are normally friendly kill each other just for a loaf of bread.
But how can a warrior be like that even after seeing something like the Horde?
Like himself, he must have lived with the insult of being a citizen of a ruined country, but why…
“That guy and I… What the hell is so different… Is it power If you have power, can you be so confident and compassionate?”
“No, the strength of a hero might have had some influence on the formation of a hero’s character, but that would not be all.”
“Then what…”
To that question, Lina, instead of answering her, clenched her fist and pounded her own chest.
Horde then looked at Lina and said, frowning at her.
“… Surely you’re not trying to sound like your heart, are you?”
“Why? Shouldn’t we discuss the strength of the mind while discussing the strength of the body?”
“Well, it’s not like that…”
It wasn’t that Lina couldn’t understand what she was saying, but she just thought it was a bit childish when all of a sudden she was talking her mind and all.
“Lets think. Did Yuri or Mirian act as your sex slaves because they were weaker than you? Even if one’s own strength is insignificant, if the heart is strong, people can sometimes show amazing results.”
There are people who are strong but whose hearts are broken over trivial things, and there are people who are weak but do not break down even after going through countless sorrows and pains.
Lina has lived for quite a few years, and she has seen many such human groups.
Meanwhile, hearing Lina’s words, Hod remembered Mirian, whom she once caught and lifted herself up.
That night, in the tent, Horde was unable to move, but after somehow seizing her heart, she stubbornly resisted Horde.
Could that be the strength of the mind, not the strength of the body that Lina is talking about?
To Horde who was thinking that way, Lina continued.
“Because you were weak-minded, you despaired and gave up on the existence of a human being on the evacuation route, but the hero had a strong heart and was able to see ahead without giving up. That’s the difference between a hero and you…”
“Just because of that… Then, if I had a stronger heart, I would…”
“It’s disgusting, I can’t listen to it any more.”
Horde and Lina’s eyes turned toward the entrance by themselves at the sudden sharp voice.
“Martha? What are you doing again?”
Martha, the owner of the voice, said as she slowly entered the tent with a look of genuine displeasure.
“I didn’t come because I really wanted to come. But the hero asked me to look at Mr. Hod’s condition, so I had no choice but to… Fortunately, you look fine. No, in this case, maybe it’s better not to be okay?”
Horde didn’t say anything at Marta’s sharp attitude, which he couldn’t normally see, and just stared blankly at Martha.
“Originally… I was going to take a good look outside the tent, but… I heard words that I couldn’t just pass by, so I came in like this.”
“… The rhyme about the strength of the heart is a bit hot-tempered, but is it that annoying?”
“No, on the contrary, I deeply sympathize with Rina-san’s thoughts as a body that trains the mind. But… I can see her signs of trying to use her own weakness as an excuse…”
After saying that, Marta said to Hod, who was lying on the floor with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
“Mr Horde… Unintentionally, I overheard from outside and found out that your past history was unfortunate. And, of course, we are well aware of the great influence that childhood memories and environments have on shaping character.”
“…”
“But that doesn’t mean that you can be forgiven for doing bad things.”
Unlike Lina, Marta couldn’t forgive Hod’s self-justification.
“You are not for the faint of heart. To be precise, he is a wicked man with a weak heart.”
Of course, he is not such a villain as a commander or an officer in the demon king’s army, but at most a small villain who becomes stronger in front of people weaker than himself.
“Think about the consequences of your rash actions without even knowing it. That’s great for me, but think of what you’ve done to the lives of two young people with bright futures.”
Since the two talented people even got a sign that they are members of the Hero party, it is clear that they will be great as swordsmen or wizards in the future.
But can only success in work be called happiness?
At least, Yuria and Mirian were drawing a future together with the hero rather than success in work.
However, because of the Horde, in a sense, Yuria and Mirian, who were closest to the warriors, lost their positions to Martha and became suckers.
Even if the two were not without fault, the fact that the cause of all the incidents was the Horde did not change.
“In the first place, I don’t think that an ordinary person would rape a woman who likes him just because he was laughed at. I hate to say this because my mouth is dirty, but you are the 8th most disgusting human being I have ever met. If possible, I don’t want to mix her words up, nor do I want to see that face.”
Number 8 seemed like an ambiguous number at first glance, but considering that Martha had seen many criminals, including the officers of the Demon King’s Army, it was a truly surprising number.
“You are tormented by guilt, but… In my opinion, that guilt lasts less than three days. In a few days, I’ll forget about today’s work, make up some excuse, run away from the guilt, and go back to normal.”
“…”
Even if he thought about it, the Horde did not say anything, as if such a future was looming.
Marta let out a deep sigh as if feeling sorry for Horde, and spoke one last time.
“… It’s up to you whether you stay at the party or not, but please don’t let me see your face in the future. Those sluts have a taste for bullying, and you’re just offended. Miss Rina… Then I will go alone.”
“…”
Lina and Hod looked at Martha with her dazed expression as she walked out of the tent.
With Martha gone, Lina muttered in the tent where nothing was left but silence.
“And… It beats without stopping, I will break my bones.”
