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

Everything was going well- after Karsten joined, everyone took her into the conversation without problem and added her into the group dynamic seamlessly, and seeing all of it come together made me feel happy that I was lucky enough to have these guys as friends.

 

And I do know that it’s not like there were problems to begin with since no one from our class really hated Karsten outright or even shunned her for that matter but since she didn't want to willingly go out of her way to talk to anyone, the class kind of ignores her most of the time- and that’s adding into the fact that her hair glows by the way.

 

If that sort of thing continued, I’m sure that the pious girl would slowly push herself out of the social circles forming inside our classroom and she would be the same as she was back in the game- a loner who's known by the class as the girl with a mysterious Pledge.

 

And knowing what I know now, I don't think that- no matter how much the ingame Karsten said she was fine with the way things were, - Karsten liked that kind of thing because…

 

… well it's because right now, I'm watching her laugh, get excited, and just overall look happy as she spoke with everyone else.

 

It wasn't the image of the loner that I always saw in the game, it was… Karsten. I guess. Free from anything that was socially holding her back- her anxiety maybe, or something.

 

And I don't know why she didn't want to talk to anyone- well, I do, it was because of what she experienced while she was still living back in the church but… you know?

 

I'm… starting to regret not going through with everything related to Karsten when I was playing the game.

 

If I did, I would've saved a girl from her personal life or social life, I don't know- I’m thinking that I should’ve met her in the past and helped her out but that wouldn’t have worked right?

 

Right.

 

Still, people like her exist out there, living the same as Karsten and even if I miraculously saved the world from the Demons tomorrow, even if I got everyone to feel safe and happy knowing that our enemy won’t come back for another half a century, there are still problems that are like Karsten out there.

 

Problems like mine- problems that are caused by either someone making a mistake they can't take back or ones that come from other people just being assholes in general.

 

And I know that Karsten would've been fine even if whatever it is she's going through isn't solved, just like back in the game- oh who am I kidding? I'm literally a piece of shit for thinking like this.

 

She'd be fine? Really?

 

I reached out and held Karsten’s hand and she stopped giggling and faced me, “Saintess?” She tilted her head to stare at her hand as a rosy tinge colored her face, “what brought this up?”

 

“Nothing,” I answered casually, “I… just wanted to hold your hand, it's a heat of the moment thing,”

 

I chuckled nervously as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the two of us, my reputation as being straight is about to plummet straight to the ground but it's fine, I'm willing to pay the price.

 

And I'll do it if it means that I can save this particular girl, and get Karsten- my friend to start opening up to others.

 

I grinned cheerily to hide the embarrassment washing over me right now, “I don't know- I just watched you laugh and talk, and be happy and thought that it looked nice, that… it suited you, I guess,” I looked away when she blushed- okay, this is probably not romantic.

 

Probably.

 

My own face started heating up at the thought of what I was about to say, “I think you looked great when you were happy while talking with everyone else,”

 

I felt Karsten's hand clamping down on mine, “... I- thank you,” I faced the bowing girl and pushed her up, halfway through, her hair parted and we locked gazes, “I guess-” she laughed and her face went even redder, “uhm… I don’t know what to say,” the giggle that followed her words was soft, “is my hair glowing right now?”

 

“No.” I shook my head, “I don't think so,”

 

“Really?” Karsten turned to everyone else who were covering their eyes, “... is it not glowing?”

 

“I have no idea, it looks normal to me,” my words got her to laugh and I grinned, I didn’t know this was a thing.

 

Still, I was glad that she's feeling happy now and if her being like this gets everyone to think that I like girls then so what? I do like seeing the smile that Karsten has right now.

 

Also, a person I'm starting to care about feels happy and that, to me, is more precious than my reputation.

 

Someone cleared their throat and I let go of Karsten's hand and lightly glared at Charcoal, who shot me a winning grin, “well, that aside, where were we again?”

 

“We were talking about the myth of Valcragg,” Korbinian answered.

 

'Valcragg was the biggest Vigolith ever recorded right?” Laceresta asked as if what we were talking about were facts instead of myth. Personally, I believed that Valcragg wasn't real, because if a Vigolith could reach the rumored Mountain status then their current King, and the supposed son of Valcragg, would have been bigger ingame.

 

“I don't know who told you the tales of Valcragg were records but I assure you, they weren't, they were just myths and the Vigolith that took over the role of Shield in Gracias’ party was smaller than what's been said,” Charcoal pointed out with a shake of her head.

 

“I'm sure that it has an inkling of truth to it,” Karsten rested her chin on top of her hand, she gave me a side glance, “what do you think, Saintess?”

 

“It's probably true,” I replied immediately.

 

“Probably?” She asked.

 

“Yeah, Vigoliths have no limit in their growths but also, they start to slow down after a while,” I answered, “if a Vigolith can become a mountain, then I’d say the closest one that we have would be Kagron, who's a hill that’s taken over the entire Royal Library hundreds of years before I was even born,”

 

As everyone shot me curious looks, I continued, “but so far, he said that he's never grown much more than that and we've been giving him a lot of resources and any luxury that a Vigolith can possibly ever want,” I ranted, “so if there's ever a Vigolith that can reach the Mountain status, it would be him but he never told me about it so…”

 

“What if he's lying?” Zath suggested.

 

“I dunno, have you seen signs of his growth?” I asked she and I have spent a lot of time inside the royal library and if there’s someone who can confirm Kagron’s growth, it would be her, Goddess knows that I’m not qualified.

 

“Sort of,” she answered positively, “sometimes, when I want to look for something and we're in a rush, they seemingly appear on the table nearest to me, maybe that's him influencing the castle?”

 

“Sorry, but what?” I chuckled, Zath couldn’t possibly believe that right?

 

Zath looked offended, “it's true,”

 

“Oh come on Zath, you're diligent in your work, maybe you just forgot about it and your body guided it to you by instinct?” I shook my head, “Kagron said he'd never lie to me,”

 

“Well, maybe he did lie, this seems important enough that he’d do it to protect himself,” my maid shrugged, “because I know I wouldn't forget where I put things and I've tested it out, the items only appear when it's obvious what I was looking for like if your dress is missing a sash it would suddenly appear or if they aren't, then they pop up after I mutter what they are out loud, otherwise I have to search for them,”

 

“Yeah… I don't believe you,” I grinned, so Zath has had entire adventures without me huh? Now I’m starting to feel hurt, “but moving on, I think that it should be possible for a Vigolith to get that big, theoretically speaking of course.”

 

“If it's possible then doesn’t it mean that it already happened once then?” Korbinian asked.

 

I nodded, “yeah, it should have, maybe at some point in this world’s history there was a Vigolith who reached that size but in this current era? Pfft, I don’t believe it,”

 

“Okay, assuming that a Mountain did appear in the past, then they should be alive now right? Maybe they’re just sleeping?” Korbinian looked around, “where do you think they are? I don't- the white spines maybe?”

 

I pursed my lips in thought, “maybe…”

I don’t think that one of the mountains in the White Spines mountain range is a Vigolith but there should be one out there, given that Krakens the size of towns and old, really powerful vampires are out there as well, just hidden. So maybe a Vigolith that’s reached the state of Mountain does exist?

 

“You look like you’re thinking it through,” Sleet smirked, before she blinked and adopted a serious expression, which then understandably twisted into fear, “wait- don’t tell me that there’s actually a Mountain out there?”

 

“Who knows?” I shrugged, “maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. It’s a 50/50 chance honestly,” but I am now starting to lean on the fact that they exist.

 

And if that’s the case then what else is out there? Long lived Dragons? Fault Crabs the size of houses? There are a lot of species in this world that can infinitely grow and given the right circumstances, they can reach sizes that would have otherwise been thought of as impossible.

 

The Raid Boss Stone Troll that’s trapped inside of a closed off part of the Underground Forestits is a good example of such a thing happening naturally.

 

Sleet, for some reason, went pale so I thought that it was a good idea to reassure her that if a Vigolith of that state and size did exist, they wouldn’t do anything but sleep the centuries away like most Catastrophes.

 

And just as I was about to open my mouth, Charcoal spoke ahead of me, “Well, even if they do, it’s not like giant Vigoliths will do anything to influence the world around them, chances are, they’ll probably just find a spot somewhere and sleep their years away like most of their kind so… eh? Worrying about them feels pointless,”

 

I smirked, “no one said they were worried about a giant Vigolith sister,” Sleet smiled and tried to hide the fact that she was worried just now by chuckling while Charcoal glared at me- heh, two birds with one stone.

 

Charcoal scoffed, “but it was implied? Hello~?” She shook her head, “but moving on, so apparently Valcragg had the chance to potentially exist which begs the question, what kind of other myths do you guys think are also real?”

 

Going along with the welcome change in topic, I idly stared at the ceiling and thought my answer through, myths that were real huh?.. There were a lot of those back in the game, quests that were nothing more than “hints” and “myths” but were actually real and I can say those here but I don’t want to, I wanna find something that’s actually false while also being interesting enough that everyone will talk about it.

 

"How about the myth of the God of the Sea?” I looked around to see how everyone reacted to my chosen answer.

 

“What’s that?” Fafnir asked.

 

“A being whose upper half was that of a chitinous cow and whose lower half was a fish?” I answered and now that I think about it, this is one odd looking mermaid I’m describing yet at the same time, I've always wondered what it would look like…

 

I paused and remembered an odd tidbit from a documentary that I watched in my first life. It's only resurfaced now but I can still remember the narrator saying that the sailors of the 1800s thought Dugongs and Manatees were mermaids and with the description of the God of the Sea…

 

It's a manatee, isn't it? Wow that’s actually kind of weird- even weirder than the original sailors mistaking the animal for mermaids of all things.

 

“You look like you have the answer to your question already, sister,” Charcoal shot me a smug grin, “so? What's the God of the Sea?”

 

I shook my head, yeah, I’m not gonna answer since it’s so lame, “let's move on-”

 

“Nope~~” Sleet wore the same grin as Charcoal, “what is it actually? The God of the Sea I mean.”

 

My face turned hot and I looked away, did I have a choice in this? “Well… you won't believe this but have you guys seen a Dugong before?”

 

“Lower half of a fish and the face of a cow-” Karsten’s eyes widened as she murmured those words before snapping her fingers, “Goddess.” She said, breathless, “that's what the myth actually is?”

 

I laughed- the embarrassment flowing away at Karsten's reaction, “yep!”

 

“A Dugong?” Laceresta asked.

 

“A sea cow, to be specific,” Charcoal sounded like she was holding back her laughter- and ultimately failing as she giggled hysterically for a scant few seconds before schooling herself, she focused back on the Lioness, “you've never been out to sea before Laceresta?”

 

“I have but all we did was hunt food there,” the Lioness replied in a murmur.

 

“Well that's no good,” Charcoal shook her head, “remind me after the second quarter exams to bring you to the beach, I'll show you how fun the place actually is when you're not hunting for food,”

 

I nodded in agreement, “she's right, it’s actually pretty fun,” Laceresta didn’t look like she believed the two of us, “we should definitely go there when the mid year break comes around,” I grinned, “it sounds like a good idea, also, Charcoal, do you think there are enough rooms in the Golden Sands hotel for all of us?”

 

“Probably- but we shouldn't plan too soon,” Charcoal shook her head, “so, a Dugong huh?” She giggled, “I can't believe people think-”

 

“... or maybe it's a whale?” I said, not willing to let everyone think that the origin of the myth is that lame, “do you think one came here?”

 

Korbinian chuckled and stared at me like I had gone insane, “what would one of those want to accomplish by going near land?”

“Exploration?” I answered after a pregnant pause.

 

“Exploration?” She said, grinning still, “a whale wants to explore the land? Is that it?”

 

I mean, I think my answer just now makes sense, so I don’t get why Korbinian would think otherwise.

 

“Or maybe it got stranded after a harsh fight with an Angler Kraken?” I added, there were a lot of reasons as to why a whale would come here, and if those reasons suck then I can’t imagine what kind of reasons everyone else would come up with for a Dugong.

 

I crossed my arms, “or maybe the whale was just bored and thought that going to the only piece of land in this world was a good idea to relieve its boredom?”

 

“Well, the head of a cow and the body of a fish… can describe a whale,” Naviri replied softly, the heat of excitement in her voice long gone, making me feel glad that she at least believes my insanity- er, I mean, my completely valid reasons as for why a whale head for land.

 

Naviri shuddered, “also, anyone thinks that whales are going to invade us?”

 

“I'm pretty sure the last sighting of this particular Sea God happened 1500 years ago so if the whales wanted to Invade us then they would've done it already,” Karsten tried to reassure everyone but it didn't have an effect so she only sighed, “whales only live for 50 years at best, according to the church records I read about so it's kind of impossible for them to do a long term invasion,”

 

“And… everyone is still feeling weirded out,” Sleet blew a raspberry before slouching down her seat, she turned to me with a bored look, “so, a whale huh? Guess you managed to convince everyone,”

 

I didn’t react to her jab and even went along with it, “I just thought it made sense,” I replied, “but a whale coming here is definitely a horrifying thought now that I've put some thought into it,”

 

“Uhuh,” Sleet nodded, but she didn't look like she believed me, “that's great to hear but can I know why everyone's scared of them?”

 

“Because they're powerful,” Laceresta replied seriously, which to the Lioness might as well be an emotion of fear, “Dad fought one once, he told me the story while we were fighting a particularly large sea serpent,”

 

Much like everyone else, I listened to Laceresta's story with rapt attention, “and he was comparing everything the giant snake to the whale and he did that by saying that the waves that consumed entire forests, the strong winds, and the storm that the sea beast we were fighting called forth were nothing compared to what the whale was capable of.”

 

“And you believed him?” Korbinian asked to the Lioness’ nod, “huh, I thought that you'd think that he was trying to get you to feel scared or something,”

 

“Dad never lies about fights,” Laceresta rebuked, “and if he says that he fought a whale till he was exhausted before eating its heart, then he did,” her expression was, again, completely serious, “he has the bones to prove it too, those helped convince me even more,”

 

“Huh,” Charcoal responded dully, “a whale fought a Beast King- of a past generation mind you, and almost won.”

 

“Damn right.” Laceresta grinned proudly, “whales shouldn't be messed with- no, anything from the deep oceans shouldn’t be messed with, it’s why no one ventures out there after all,”

 

“There’s really no reason to,” I said, “but if there was, for example, another continent that’s ripe for the picking then I’d say that someone would have gotten a Griffon or a Dragon and flew off into the skies,”

 

“Good point there,” Korbinian agreed, “the whales wouldn’t be able to touch us if we took to the skies and conquered it,”

 

“Right?” I smirked, “they can call all the storms they want but they’re not gonna do anything to us if we fly above them,”

 

“Wouldn’t they just shapeshift?” We all faced Fafnir, who was gesturing at herself, “can a whale turn human? And would they have the same power as they would have if they were a whale?”

 

“... maybe,” I replied, not really aware if one of those things could change the way they are and become another being entirely. But in a world of magic, there’s a high chance that they could so the answer is a big maybe.

 

“It’s a good thing that they’re too busy fighting Angler Krakens honestly,” Satti said, finally joining the conversation, “I can’t imagine what would happen if they dedicate their time anywhere else,”

 

“Agreed.” Charcoal nodded, “which is why we’re changing topics- so, how do you guys feel about hunting on the first week?”

 

“I’m actually going out with Fafnir this weekend, we’re going to hunt down an Omegafauna,” I answered.

 

“Huh, so it’s not just us huh?” Korbinian faced Sleet, “see? I told you Neophyte would also go out to hunt,”