Volume 2 Chapter 4 What Adventurers Should Hold in Their Hearts
"Ugh, I dunno. There's a lot of Adventurers who look down on us, right?"
"I get it. The Demon Lord who was invading the world wasn't just strong. Her 'abilities' were extreme. It's true, there are strong men, and it's natural to think something's up."
"Yeah, but..."
"What's bothering you?"
"I just wonder if people in the world have any sense of 'balance'."
The first-floor lobby of the Hero's mansion.
Ellie is holding documents, and Ramella is munching on sweets while they talk.
...By the way, Horace is sleeping on the lobby sofa.
He looks kinda worn out.
"...Balance, huh?"
"Guys who can't balance what they 'want to do' and what they 'can do' became Demon Lord's minions. We've seen it, right?"
"Yeah. I hear things like, they underestimated the Demon Lord's power to control men. They thought they could beat her with magic items for mental defense."
"...I wonder how many got caught. And then, we get blamed for dealing with it. I don't really get that, either."
Ramella looks unsure.
...The day Rangella was 'praised for her achievements as a hero' at the world conference, it had actually been 'half a year' since the Demon Lord was defeated.
The reason was that they couldn't even properly handle the 'cleanup'.
The Demon Lord's control of men continued even after he died.
In short... a lot of 'royals', 'nobles', and 'high-ranking priests' who were imprisoned, thinking that 'if we defeat the Demon Lord, everything will go back to normal'.
But even after the Demon Lord died, many people kept offering their loyalty and love to her.
And even after they were told the Demon Lord was dead, they started saying, 'I will build the world the Demon Lord wanted to create', and started going wild.
...They had no choice but to keep them locked up, or kill them.
Some ended up as underlings, not prisoners, turned into monsters by the 'potent drugs' the Demon Lord had, becoming Rangella's financial lifeline.
But to be blunt, Rangella has a history of 'killing men they captured on their travels.'
True, they defeated the Demon Lord, but that doesn't mean they 'saved' all the 'hope.'
"There’ve been plenty of cases where a close guy got brainwashed by a Demon Lord and we ended up having to kill him. Honestly, there's no cure except time. Until then, all they can really do is hate us to distract themselves — and yeah, I get that... but still."
"Don’t go bragging just because you beat a weak-ass Demon Lord that's only special in weird ways, not strength. Some rookie girl pops up out of nowhere and gets cocky — and I'm supposed to just nod along with that?"
"Ellie, are you seriously okay with that?"
"I understand where they're coming from, sure."
"But look, the same Adventurers talking crap are the ones going around saying, 'We beat the Demon Lord, it's our time now!' right? Doesn't that just feel... kinda pathetic?"
"You're wrong, Ramella."
"Huh?"
"'Let the cowards boasts as long as they make a peaceful world'... that's what heroes are for. I'm not feeling great, but I think that's what we're seeing. 'The world is at peace,' they say."
"There's a limit to being too cynical."
Ramella sighed.
"In times of crisis, cowards who don't fight and spout ideals get criticized. Nobody's got the luxury for that. But now, they speak their ideals without caring what others think. Isn't that okay? I kinda wanna dump them in a mine and leave them in debt."
"You're letting your true feelings slip. Stop talking like that with a straight face."
"I get it, but I'm not convinced."
"Ah, well..."
Ramella sighed again.
It's like Ramella's got this 'murky, unsettled' thing about her, but Ellie's got her own way of dealing with it.
Maybe because of that personal way of dealing, it doesn't seem like their conversation will ever be all that smooth.
So, let's change the subject.
"...by the way, why does the master look so weak?"
"The hero community has, like, ten maids. They all 'jumped' him, apparently."
"Jumped him, huh... Ah, even the master finds ten at once too tough."
"I don't think he's completely drained, but his usual drive isn't all that strong."
"Ah, so that's why he looks like a ghost without a soul."
"He's practically fading away."
"But the current master isn't far off either."
"True enough."
* * *
"Don't just assume I'm dead."
"Oh, master, you were awake after all."
"Good morning, master."
"...I wonder, don't you guys have, like, a bit of shame?"
"What are you saying, master? Reality is just like this."
"Yeah, we've been on a harsh journey fighting demon lords, so it makes sense we'd be a bit off."
"Feels like there's a gap in logic between you two... but whatever."
Horace felt more confused.
"Oh, by the way, master. What do you think about the Adventurers getting a bit too cocky lately?"
Ramella asked Horace.
It's just that... the hero community is easily influenced by Horace and has a tendency to accept it.
Especially about 'thoughts' and 'directions', it shouldn't be brushed off lightly, but...
"...I've only learned to silence people with just my glare because if I knocked out a cocky one, I'd get criticized for it. Just putting that out there."
"Ahh hahahaha!"
Ramella laughed heartily.
"Well, I think what Adventurers should aspire to isn't 'perfection' but 'admiration'. You won't find the right answer for what kind of person you want to be, but it's better to decide who you admired to become an Adventurer, even if just in your heart."
"Admiration... huh."
"Ideals are something you compromise on while living, but 'admiration' is something that probably won't fade away. That's what I think."
"Hmm."
"So, there must be women who became Adventurers because they admired hero communities. The point is, don't do anything that makes you look bad; you should be able to hold your heads high."
"Got it! Sort of!"
"Good."
Horace nodded, then fell back asleep.
One way to avoid looking bad is to realize that 'there are people who admired you and jumped into the world because of you.'
That's true too.
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