I Am Not the Heroine

Rosenz seemed genuinely surprised that someone his age would step forward.

“Hero, there’s something I’d like to tell you…!”

“Hero! You don’t need to listen to that kid!”

As Rosenz attempted to speak, the middle-aged man hurriedly intervened to grab the hero’s attention.

Then, he pointed a finger at Rosenz and continued,

“This kid is always making paranoid claims! That’s why he tells lies every day…!”

“I am not mentally ill!”

“Shut up! I saved you when you came begging every day!”

Of course, Rosenz was perfectly sane.

He just said that to wriggle out of the situation.

“Is that so? Lady Ariya.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sure you can handle sacred magic that can heal the mind, even if just for a moment, right? You should use that.”

Me?

Ariya asked back while pointing at herself with her finger, hidden beneath her robe. I subtly signaled her with my finger.

It was a signal to match my rhythm.

“Yes, yes! That sounds right. We’ll know for sure if you try that.”

Even so, lying seemed awkward for Ariya, as she sweated a drop.

The middle-aged man and the citizens also looked distinctly flustered, as if they couldn’t imagine the saint would lie.

“C-Could it be that the saint can do that…?”

“Could it be that we’ll be dragged off for blasphemy…?”

As the citizens’ opinion turned negative, the middle-aged man hurriedly gestured to defuse the situation.

“S-Sorry! The truth is, that brat is close friends with a witch in this town, so he tends to resolve everything in favor of the witch….”

“When have I ever? All I did was ask Nia to sell me some bread!”

Because I was standing behind him, Rosenz shouted energetically at the middle-aged man.

“Hero! Let me tell you! The reason Nia has come to this state is that this person requested a false quest!”

“A false quest…?”

“Nia has solved a ton of quests without any rank improvement, and when I brought it up, I heard from this witch that it’s a blessing to even be accepted at the bottom level, so what’s she even up to targeting adventurers!”

“…!”

“And this person told Nia that he’d raise her rank if she did a magical creature extermination quest. I should have prevented that…!”

Tears dripped from Rosenz’s eyes.

‘There’s no way around it.’

The fact that Nia Bella was trapped by the Fire Giant meant, at least, she was alive.

In the original story, there were no mentions of her getting hurt fighting magical creatures, so it’s safe to say she must have awakened prior to sustaining any attack.

“These people! They conspired to kill Nia! She worked so hard for the city!”

“…”

“No, Hero… It’s a misunderstanding!”

“What misunderstanding! You uncovered the embezzlement conducted by Nia’s mother, and now you’re making her hate Nia too!”

“How did you know that…!”

“Embezzlement? Now that’s an interesting story.”

The one who reacted to Rosenz’s words wasn’t the hero.

Serelin laughed quietly and stepped forward, hand on her sword.

‘Come to think of it, she was a lesser nobility.’

A minor nobility, but still nobility, and Serelin was filled with loyalty to the Empire.

“Embezzlement happening on such a city-wide scale… That sounds quite entertaining.”

I decided to add a line for her.

“By the way, Lady Serelin, the main source of income for this city is the Jewelry Flower that grows in the nearby forest. It’s a precious gem shaped like a flower. And it seems like even the Emperor has a fondness for it.”

“Hm~.”

“You said Rosenz, right? So, do you know where Nia’s mother is now?”

The hero slightly bent down to align his gaze with Rosenz’s.

Perhaps because Rosenz was short, I too ended up making eye contact with the hero.

“… She’s dead. That’s why the embezzlement story was brushed aside.”

“… I see. Thank you.”

The hero, after finishing his recount, appeared colder than before, the subtle anger evident in his visage.

Serelin, Rapirie, and Ariya all worked to calm him down.

“Aswel, you don’t need to focus on this. Concentrate on rescuing the witch named Nia Bella.”

“Right, I’ll look into the embezzlement case with Serelin. I’m royal too, so I know all the ins and outs.”

“… I’ll need to check on the church in this town.”

Ariya expressed her anger towards the priests of the church, who might have been involved in the city-wide embezzlement.

Perhaps due to the fact that the opponent was a clumsy witch, Aswel didn’t seem keen on offering help with the rescue of Nia Bella.

“Thank you. I was about to ask you anyway.”

The hero didn’t seem to be looking for help forcefully.

“From now on, I’ll begin inspections of this city. I have the authority, so inquiries will be left to your majesty the Emperor.”

“…!!”

Special inspection authority.

Another mission entrusted by the Emperor to Serelin’s party, who were wandering within the Empire.

Burst through the Empire’s corruption and destroy it.

“If you want to resist, go ahead.”

How could one oppose her, who had already reached the Swordmaster level?

The middle-aged man, along with everyone’s complexion, turned pale.

Then, I decided to take care of Rosenz…

“Rui, could you help?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think I can pull out the witch named Nia Bella by myself. I’d appreciate it if you could assist me…”

In the original story, the hero succeeded in pulling Nia Bella out by himself.

That’s why I planned to implant a spell similar to fireproof gear before he rode Tempest…

“Yes. I’ll help you.”

After all, it was a request from the hero; I had no choice but to comply.

I called over Lux, who was overpowering the guards with his gaze from afar, and mounted up.

“Rosenz, come here. Let’s go save Nia Bella together.”

“Ah… yes…!”

Wiping away her tears, Rosenz jumped energetically onto Lux’s back at my words.

‘…Jumped?’

I was pretty sure she was about the same height as me.

“Let’s go!”

Holding the reins of Lux, who began to dash after Tempest, I was somewhat astonished.

*

The most important thing was to stop the Fire Giant and prevent the flames from spreading as it passed.

In the latter case, people from the nearby village we were staying in were out in full force putting out the flames.

“You’ve come! Cough cough! Most of the flames have been contained, but every time the giant moves, new flames get ignited, and everyone is exhausted!”

“Thank you for your hard work. Please wait a moment; I’ll resolve this shortly.”

Saying that, the hero drew forth the Divine Sword and dismounted from Tempest.

I also got off with the hero’s help and pointed towards the opposite direction from the giant to Lux.

“Keep Rosenz safe for a moment. I’ll finish this soon.”

With a swish, Lux charged in the direction I indicated.

I felt relieved standing beside the hero.

With each step the giant took, the ground trembled.

Even though I knew it through the original story, the sense of pressure was remarkable enough to make my body tremble.

At least it was good that it wasn’t attacking everything in its vicinity.

Although the immense heat emanating from the giant wasn’t pleasant either.

“Rui.”

The hero didn’t seem to mind the heat much.

“Is that giant… magic?”

“To be precise, it’s a little different, but you could consider it magic.”

If magic is something created by using and converting mana, then this was more like the moon’s mana condensed in the form of fire.

In other words, it’s a matter of whether a process was followed or not.

“Then, it means the entire body isn’t Nia Bella.”

“Correct. The real body must be hidden somewhere. For now, it’s a creation made from Nia Bella’s mana.”

In the original story, it was described that the heart was located somewhere near the chest, and there’s a good chance that’s still the case here.

“Hero, what are you planning to do?”

“For now, I’m going to try cutting it. Ah, I hope that cutting won’t have a big negative impact on Nia Bella…”

“It shouldn’t. The mana forming that giant is practically separated from Nia Bella. She’s likely in a state of mana exhaustion right now.”

Though it wasn’t what she wanted, she must have exhausted all her mana to create that giant.

‘Let’s hope she doesn’t faint.’

Because that way, she could directly see the hero rescuing her.

At that moment, I saw the hero adjusting his feet slightly to prepare to leap.

“Hero, wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

I hurriedly opened a Space of Space and pulled out a robe adorned with black and white symbols.

“Could you bend down for a second?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Ugh… This is a robe I made a long time ago. Also… I’ve inscribed a heat resistance spell on it, so you won’t get burned or anything.”

I slightly stood on my tiptoes to drape the robe over him and then inscribed the spell.

Scratch scratch.

The sound of the pen carving golden letters pierced through the silence as it inscribed the spell.

“…”

“…”

After finishing the inscription and turning my gaze, my eyes locked with the hero’s.

Was it one second? Or one hour?

“… It’s done.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Now go. And please save that girl.”

“Got it. Since you gave me the robe… I’ll make sure not to get hurt.”

“… Yes.”

I kicked the ground, watching the hero dart away in an instant.

What was he thinking when our eyes met moments ago?

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