Assassinating the Hero - Chapter 4
“I’m heading off now.”
“Okay. Please be careful, Titus-san. I know it’s unnecessary for me to worry, but still..”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks”
The Hero Daichi… now named Titus shook his hands with the captain of the port town guard. It had been a year since Daichi became an adventurer under the alias, Titus Light. The folks from the port town warmly welcomed him and nursed him back to health after he was seriously injured due to him falling from the sky. As a gesture of gratitude, Daichi promised to protect them from pirates, a common nuisance for the port town.
Since then, many things had happened.
He repelled the pirates who had attempted to ransack the port town. He also launched a counterattack, which caused the destruction of pirates’ stronghold. The female pirate captain fell in love with Titus and pursued him.
And then, he destroyed a cult of an evil god, who were responsible for controlling the sea serpent. During that battle, Meesh’s talent as a spirit user had awakened. The reason being, the water god that was sealed by the cult was freed from their prison and gave Meesh their blessing.
He had spent an intense year, rivaling the journey he had taken to defeat the Demon Lord.
Reflecting the morning sun of the port town, Titus’ armor and gauntlets shimmered faintly with a rainbow hue. It was an armor crafted from the thick scales of the sea serpent slain by him. The rest of his equipment was provided by the guard captain of the port town, who had rummaged through their warehouse to prepare it.
A dull steel full-face helmet with narrow slits for the eyes and mouth. A scarred, rugged rectangular heart shield. Though worn, they were more than capable in real battle.
Lastly, there was hammer with a gem embedded in its handle. There were runes engraved on it, but its effects were unknown. Maybe it was just a decoration.
Lifting it proved to be difficult, so it had been gathering dust for a long time. However, when Titus effortlessly swung it around and declared that it felt right, it was decided that he would take ownership of it.
“Sorry for the wait!”
Titus turned his head towards the cheerful voice and saw Meesh running towards him. Her healthy tanned skinned was glistening with sweat, as she was gasping for air.
“Okay, Meesh. Do you remember our assignment?”
“Yes!”
Meesh responded with an exaggerated salute to Titus.
“We’re going to the water city, Aqua Bright… and eat a lot of delicious food!”
“Eeerr… S-Spot on!”
Titus smiled wryly and gently patted Meesh on the head.
Meesh blushed a little in turn while grinning.
The actual purpose of going to the water city was to visit the great temple there and find out more information of the blessing that was bestowed by the water god on Meesh.
However, there was no complications currently in Meesh’s physical condition. On the contrary, she was full of energy, so it was not an urgent matter to attend to. Furthermore, Aqua Bright was known as a city of fine dining and its abundant seafood. It was one of the key trading hubs.
In the span of a year, Titus had became well renowned throughout the port town. There were no complaints about him being Meesh’s travel companion to the water city.
“A journey, huh….”
Titus murmured, suddenly feeling a sense of nostalgia. He recalled what had happened at the Demon Lord’s castle a year ago.
“I never thought, that the talisman would actually work.”
He had obtained the talisman from the Demon Lord’s castle. It was an ancient artifact that had an ability to revive its owner at the moment of their death, teleporting them to another location.
There was a chance that the talisman itself would get damaged. The transfer destination was completely random. While its resurrection effect was quite powerful, the talisman was considered a gamble when it comes to its reliability as an equipment.
“Well, I’m glad that I didn’t respawned in a troublesome location like in a pool of lava…”
Moreover, the talisman even came with a “last words” recording function.
Titus deeply regretted that he recorded some rather embarrassing lines, typically spoken by an edgelord, that he had kept a secret from his companions.
“I’ll be coming for you all~! …. What the hell, I’m sure they must’ve heard it.”
Far from revenge, he had no desire to come back to that kingdom. He would die from embarrassment, after all.
Fortunately, the location where he had been transferred to was the Valcania Oceanic Alliance. It was a distant land far to the south of the Eldaine Kingdom where Titus was summoned and the Thundering Spirit peak, where the Demon Lord’s castle was located. The means of transportation in this world was primitive, so traveling in far distances was a difficult task.
“Moreover, considering that I had left those painfully embarrassing lines, perhaps they would be scared enough that there won’t be any pursuers? Or maybe, they might actually do the opposite, and they would search for me desperately instead? Haha, now I’m kinda worried?”
Titus’ other concern is that the kingdom might summon another hero and sic them against him. But, in the end he concluded that there was no need for worry. The reason for that was because of the state of his body.
Apparently, the talisman’s revival was imperfect.
Titus confirmed that his overwhelming physical abilities was still intact. But, a portion of his vast magical power and some of the unique abilities specific to the hero class were lost.
Moreover, a part of his memories was also fragmented. Maybe he was no longer considered a hero, he wondered.
All he could now was to laugh it off, since pondering about it wouldn’t provide any answers. Besides that….
“I wonder if that girl is alright…”
He muttered to himself. The Talisman of Sacrifice, he recalled that the girl had one too. Since he was able to confirm that it worked, most likely the girl was still alive somewhere unless something drastic had happened.
Fragile, suicidal, and obstinate, that was the Demon Lord. Titus had the opportunity to destroy her talisman the moment it was activated, but in the end he chose to overlook it.
What would she thought once she was resurrected? Would she blame Titus for not finishing her off? If he could meet her again, he would rather take the opportunity to have a leisurely conversation with her instead.
“Who’s that girl you’re talking about?”
Meesh looked up at Titus as she puffed her cheeks. He chuckled as he patted her head.
“Well, there was a girl that I wanted to help. Just like you, Meesh.”
“Hmph.”
Titus chuckled once more at seeing Meesh’s reaction. It was best to not dwell on the past. In this world, there was no end of adventures to be had.
“Okay, let’s eat some delicious food?!”
“Oooh?!”
The two exchanged smiles as they bid farewell to the folks of the port town who saw them off. The midday suns shined brightly, as if it was blessing their journey ahead.
The End