The hero is now gone, but I’m still here, now what? (Undergoing editing)

I grabbed the scalp of my hair and squeezed, pushing the water out and going downward until my hand reached the end of my silver strands.

The quick shower has helped me sort out my thoughts- well, singular, it's only one thought and it comes from Inferno’s pathetic attempt at taking my hand in marriage. I mean really? Sending people to insult me in the worst way possible and making me fight them to tire me out? All that fucking chivalry at the dinner table and it ends up like that.

What a piece of shit.

And how does that help him marry me? If there was even a chance to begin with, that is.

I twisted the knob of the shower and turned it off.

Everything- the hot water, the steam, and my running thoughts died down. Slowly, I stepped out of the bathroom and closed the glass door behind me, the tiles beneath my feet were ticklish from the way they shifted from being warm to cold.

I held out my hand and grabbed a towel to wipe myself with, starting with my hair- god it felt way too long now, I should probably ask for a tie, - then my face, down my neck, and the rest of my body. When I was done, I wrapped the towel on my head and walked into the locker room naked.

I was greeted by 4 maids who passively walked over to me before they dragged me into a nearby mirror to start changing my clothes.
Underwear first- a pair of bra and panties, all white, - then my corset, then finally, my white and purple dress, including the golden bow tie, and seeing as I literally took it off seconds after I entered the ballroom, the thing didn't have a single speck of dust on it.

With the maids’ numbers, it didn’t take that long for them to change me and even add a bit of powder to my face, and just as they were about to finish, I faced one of them and asked for a hair tie, she obliged and walked off briefly before coming back and handing me a thin, circular band that I used to tie my hair into a ponytail.

I stood up and gave the maids my thanks, then because I’m a noble and it’s practically an obligation to give tips, I made my way over to a small stack of empty cheques hanging by the wall- evidence of this obligation stuff by the way, - grabbed one, wrote a number, and signed it. I put a bit of my Light into it for good measure before handing it to their leader?.. Or was she just the one who walked forward first?

Whatever, she took it with a bow all the same, I gave nodded gratefully, “Thank you for helping me change, the dress would’ve been a pain otherwise,”

“Again, off with the pleasantries, mistress, we were only doing our job,” the middle aged woman said and I nodded weakly, usually I would smile at their reaction but my mood was too sour for that. “Do you need anything else? Our services extend to the venue,”

“Uhm… I guess I want someone to deliver a small table of meat to me, protein, all of it, is that okay?” They nodded, “And add a few fruit and vegetable shakes to it as well, thank you,”

The maid bowed and said, “it is our job, mistress, no need for pleasantries.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I waved them off with a smile before walking to the doors of the locker room.

Now, I was only a hallway away from going back to the ballroom, the same one that had Inferno in it- here comes the politics, just… face the music Neo, there’s nothing you can do about it other than be passive aggressive towards that piece of shit. It’s all politics, like always, you’re part of the noble society so-

To my pleasant surprise, I found a distraction: A girl was standing outside the bathroom door, face sullen as she looked down on the ground and rolled the wine glass she held in her hand, she had autumn brown hair, a slender neck, and a small, non-puffy green dress that showed her petite figure- I took another look at her and immediately recognized her face.

“Capscaria?”

The girl looked up, “Neophyte,” she greeted with a shaky smile, “I… can I talk to you for a while? I don’t think I can trust myself,”

I reluctantly nodded, wondering if this was some sort of ploy- Nobles can never have enough of those for some reason, - but decided to give her a chance to be genuine because if she was, then she needs my help to keep her image and more importantly, her body safe.

And I want to help, no two ways about it, I already fucked up hard enough.

I gestured to our left, where the exit of the hallway is and where groups of nobles and other rich people can be seen socializing through the small circular windows on the upper part of the double doors.

“Come on.” I jerked my head and started walking, Capscaria tailed behind me, a few feet off so I slowed down and waited until she was walking right next to me before talking, “is anything wrong?” Well of course something is wrong, that was probably a bad question to ask, “sorry, force of habit- what’s bothering you?”

She gulped down her wine. All of it. In a single go. “so… I’ve been turned into an outcast,” I blinked and bit back a retort- oh bohoo, “and Pearl and her friends thought that it was a good idea to spread the word that I… you know,”

Said the name of the Demon Lord when he’s out there genociding entire Kingdoms? Yeah, not the best of ideas now, is it? It’s like saying Hitler was fucking a jewish girl you hate when World War 2 is still happening- sure it’s a great insult but it’s a bit insensitive. It also makes you look like an asshole.

I held back my tongue, “you’re gonna be fine!” I assured with a smile, “it’s fine,” I said again for better effect, “you’re gonna be fine,” third time’s the charm!

“Will I?” She asked, a bit uncertain. I nodded.

“Of course! You just need to… you know, apologize later, the bigger the spectacle, the more it will stick to the minds of the people, I say you go up the stage, grab the amplifier, and then say you are sorry and bow! I’ll be there with you,” I winked at her.

“I-is that a good idea? That’ll turn me into a laughing stock!” She looked horrified and I could get her but-

“A laughing stock is better than an outcast,” I said, “trust me,”

“... if you say so,”

I tapped her shoulders, “of course!” I gave her a beaming smile, which oddly made her blush, huh, didn’t she have a fiancee? Whatever- “Now come on! Let’s go start socializing!”

She nodded, “Mhmm! Let’s,”

Even with my… words of encouragement, me and Capscaria didn’t really talk to anyone, and actually, we found ourselves sitting somewhere in the back of the ballroom, far away from the groups of nobles yet still visible to the servants tending to the food, I was waiting for my meat and shake to arrive with my cheek pressed against my palm, humming, I turned to my temporary companion, who still looked conflicted, so you know what? Fine. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Capscaria stopped staring at the socializing nobles and faced me, she tilted her head, a faint blush on her cheeks, “whatever could you mean?”

“I mean-” I gestured to the table, “this.”

The girl who I thought was a hard socialite averted her gaze and meekly looked at her feet before saying something that I could barely catch, “I’m fine with it,”

I turned away from her, okay, so she’s fine with staying low and away from the hundreds of nobles on the distance, I don't get why she's staring at them so hard but honestly I’m fine with it as well, having spent most of my past life just sitting in front of a computer, obsessed with video games and other fictional shit to the point that I didn’t even eat that much, and that sort of repeated in this life since I did nothing but train to repent for my grievous mistake.

And I mean, it’s not like I hate talking to people, I just… don’t feel like it, I guess.

See right now where I’m talking to someone, or trying to. I need to find a topic first though-

I started tapping the table, “I wonder, what do you like to do in your free time? Capscaria?”

That’s good right? All noble girls like to ask about what they do in their free time.

“I-” she furrowed her brows, “like to weave? My mother knows how to make banners so she teaches me, she also has a hobby of making dye so I kind of followed along,” she answered.

I saw her in a new light after that and I tried not to look at her fingers but I couldn’t resist it- well… they looked dainty and without any damage so that either means that the dye she's making isn’t that acidic, or she has servants to do them for her.

But as for weaving… yeah, most noble girls do that, so I wouldn’t be surprised that she does too. That probably also means that she’s pretty dextrous with her fingers, enough that she wouldn’t get pricked by a needle even when it’s her first time trying to weave. Hence why her fingers are spotless and without a single scar- no surprise there.

“What about you? Do you have anything interesting you do on the side?” Her wording was aggressive and felt like it would come from Pearl and her cronies but her tone was soft, which was enough for me to shrug my suspicions off and give an obvious answer-

“Yeah, I like to train, either with my Light or my Pledge.” As for why I do? I keep training because I know that the Demons won’t stop growing more powerful and numerous when I’m not, this isn’t a game where the world waits for the player to finish their side quests and get stronger before defeating the main storyline to continue the plot, here, time will go on no matter what.

Capscaria’s giggle broke me out of my thoughts, “I knew you’d say that,” she tilted her head affectionately and stared at me, “I… know because I…” she looked away, “saw and liked your performance back at the ring, defeating all those guys back to back while looking no worse for wear, and when you did look tired, the…” her face turned pink and her gaze turned to my stomach, “... uhm. Sweat only made you look better.”

She looked away, “it uh- shows how hard you've been working on yourself. Or something.” She sipped her wine.

I grinned, well I did work hard didn't I? A bit of ego stroking isn't so bad. “Awww, thanks!”

“Y-you’re welcome, Neophyte.” Came the reply.

“Just call me Neo, alright?” I corrected her.

“Okay, Ne-Neo.” She stuttered and looked away while I focused back on waiting for my meal.

Yeah… I do notice but I’m not planning on taking her from her fiancee, even when I’m a Pledge Bearing princess and will probably get win over him no matter what he does, most of that is because I'm not that interested in girls but also it's because things are kind of complicated.

It’s not well known but the word “Pledge Bearer” is actually just code for ‘politics will always follow you no matter what, dumb bitch.’

I got out of my head and beamed when a waiter pushing a cart full of meat came our way and Capscaria, noticing my happiness, followed my gaze and frowned, “Neo…” I turned to her with a smile, “are you gonna eat… all of that?” I nodded and she looked insulted, “what? What about your figure?!”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, waving her off, “I’m gonna burn it all down by tomorrow and besides, I went over the top on myself tonight so this much food is only natural,” I shrugged when she shot me a disbelieving look, “fighting with that much speed doesn’t just burn my calories Caps-” she blinked, either because of my sudden use of a nickname or the fact that I can burn my calories easily, both of those can get that reaction, “- my brain also has to keep up with the speed and goddess knows that our brains burn so much energy already from their regular, day-to-day functions alone.”

“...” Silence, “... you know, my younger sister tried to imitate your fighting style.”

“Uhuh,” I replied as I helped the Waiter prepare the dishes, it was everything I could dream of; plates of roasted steak, poultry, pork, and a small bucket of sauce, this is one of the few things that I appreciate in being a Pledge Bearer because this much food wouldn’t even get me fat, it’ll just refuel my body and prepare it for my exercise tomorrow morning.

“She said her head hurt after a while of doing it,” I took a bite out of a lamb, the mutton was soft on my teeth and texturous on my tongue, “did you have the same problems?”

“Thell hwer thu bhreathe-” I answered briefly before cutting myself off when she looked at me dryly, I swallowed my food, “tell her to keep breathing as she moves, if she doesn’t, it’ll just make her head hurt and also get her to tire easily,”

“Really?” I nodded, she looked pensive, “I thought you’d hide it honestly,” I finished the mutton and shrugged, “you know, since it’s… training stuff?”

“What do I care?” I asked, “my trainers didn’t bother hiding shit from me, even went as far as extended their teachings from their regular pay when they saw how good I was,” I placed a plate full of pork chops in front of me and started eating, “any effort to fight the army of Demons descending down on us should be nurtured, it’s our survival we’re talking about, and there’s no point feeling good about being unique when like, it’ll only last for 10 or more years, not because everyone would do it, but because… you know.”

“Why 10?” She asked.

“That’s supposed to be the estimate of humanity’s extinction.” Her eyes widened and I nodded, “yeah…”

“That’s…”

“Horrifying? Pretty much, but I’m pretty sure we can hold on for another 30 at best, there are a lot of prodigies in my current generation, and all of them are from different houses, too, which means less competition between them and a lot of resources given to them by their respective houses.”

That was my go to coping mechanism whenever I think about the Hero’s death because it is sort of true, all the game characters, from the members of House Eruptia to Whirlia, are here and would continue the fight even when the Hero is gone, so there’s a chance that a new one would rise before humanity gets fully wiped out.

“That’s…” she trailed off, “you're right!”

“I am, yeah,” I shrugged.

“And not to mention you as well, I bet you can fight a Demon Baron one on one,” I raised an eyebrow, thought it through, and nodded.

“I can fight three at the same time,” I replied and finished the rest of my chops, “if I use Light.”

“That’s pretty arrogant,” she called out.

“Eh, it is the way it is,” I shrugged. I’ve been training non-stop for what? 10-ish years now? I started weak after I got my Pledge but 2 years after the start of my training and results were starting to show, and after that? I just increased the intensity of my training.
By now, if I estimate my strength using in-game terms, I would be around level 28-ish and even stronger when I include my Light and my Techniques, definitely more than enough to fight 3 level 25 Demon Barons at the same time.

“You sound confident so you’re probably right…” she pursed her lips, “can I ask you another question?” I nodded, “how does one get a Pledge?”

“You don’t,” I answered simply, “Pledges aren’t gotten they’re received from the Goddess herself,” that was the in-game lore and mechanic of the damn things, which is confusing because there are evil people who have Pledges but what do I know? The Great Goddess is nigh omnipotent and I’m just a girl.

But going by the lore on how to get them… “so if you want a Pledge, you gotta prove to the world that you’re kind, and not just once either, but you need to keep it up for the rest of your life,”

“What… does that mean?” She asked.

“It means that for you to have a powerful Pledge, you need to have a savior’s mindset,” I replied, if I remember correctly, the opposite would weaken the Pledge until it becomes so weak and useless that the weapon just snaps and falls apart, “and you need to promise yourself- convince yourself that you will forever and ever use that Pledge for the good of mankind,”

“Is that so?” I nodded, “then… how did you get yours?”

I knew I’d get mine but that wasn’t a proper answer- “I wanted to repent and kept telling myself that if I could fight the demons, I would do it non-stop, train till I bleed and could not walk, and then sacrifice myself if it means that I can save the rest of humanity,”

“That’s harsh.” She said.

“But it worked,” I shrugged, “and I’m keeping my promise, I’ve worked till I couldn’t walk and Zath was forced to carry me back to bed, and when I was bedridden, I also trained, this time mentally by increasing my reservoir of Light,”

She looked at me with sadness, like what I said means that I wasted my life and it's sort of true, but I didn’t care because- “it was all worth it in the end,”

“How so?”

“I’m considered as the strongest Pledge Bearer of my generation, and that’s putting into account all the prodigies of the different families,” I started chewing hard, enough to break bone. Where I am now still didn’t feel enough. Nothing did. “And when I go out there, you bet your ass that I’m gonna kill as many Demons as I could,”