JULIUS
Hyrince has returned.
I just found out yesterday.
I was eager to talk to him right away, but there’s a time and place for everything.
It took a while before Hyrince could meet with me.
I was so anxious about it yesterday, I couldn’t sit still.
Today, I can finally speak to Hyrince face-to-face.
I’m waiting on the edge of my seat in the room where we agreed to meet.
“Looks like I’ve kept you waiting awhile.”
Hyrince enters the room at last.
He looks a bit thinner than the burly man I remember.
“Shun…I’m sorry!”
Hyrince bows his head deeply.
“Julius shouldn’t have been the one to die. He should’ve survived, not me.”
“What do you mean…?”
I can barely speak, my mouth running dry.
“It was this…”
“What is it?”
Hyrince holds out a tattered red feather.
“It’s a phoenix feather. An item that makes the holder temporarily invincible.”
“What happened exactly?”
“It was the hero, Julius, who was supposed to have it. But he said it would be better for me to have it, since I’m the tank, so he gave it to me…”
“You mean…”
“Yeah. I’m only alive because of this item. It’s lost its effect now, but…Julius should have been the one to have it, not me. Julius was the one who should’ve survived.”
Hyrince lowers his head again as if in penitence.
“Hyrince, please raise your head. There’s no reason for you to apologize.”
“No, I…”
“Hyrince, I’m sure my brother forced you to take it against your will, didn’t he? I bet he said something like, ‘I’m not going to die—don’t worry.’”
“Ha-ha… You really are his brother. That’s exactly right.”
Hyrince looks up with a bitter smile.
“‘I’m not going to die. Since you’re our shield user, your chances of dying are much higher, right? So it’s better if you take it, Hyrince.’ No matter how much I argued with him, he refused to take it.”
My lips wobble at Hyrince’s horrible imitation.
Steadying myself, I force out the words I need to ask.
“Hyrince, please tell me…about my brother’s last moments.”
“All right.”
Hyrince straightens up.
He sits facing me across the table.
“But just so you know, I might not be able to tell you much. It pains me to admit it, but I didn’t understand much of what was happening even at the time…”
And so, Hyrince tells me from start to finish about how the war broke out.
Julius and his party were guarding one of the fortresses.
Refusing to stay holed up inside, he went out to directly join the fray.
With his incredible range of combat skills, he defeated several elite members of the demon army in battle before finally entering one-on-one combat with the enemy general.
The general was strong but not as strong as my brother the hero.
Julius magnificently defeated his opponent, then advised the rest of the demon army to surrender.
“And that was when it happened. When that…thing…showed up.”
The “thing” in question was a white little girl.
“Just a pure-white girl. There’s no other way to describe it.”
The girl walked onto the battlefield as if taking a leisurely stroll.
Her eyes were closed.
“That’s the last thing I remember. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. Looking back, I don’t think I was out for very long…but by the time I woke up, it was all over.”
When Hyrince came to his senses, all that remained of his friends were their clothing and equipment.
It was as if the people themselves had simply disappeared.
“I think I know what it was, though. A Rot Attack.”
“Rot Attack…”
“Yeah. They call it the attribute that governs death. Anyone hit with a Rot Attack will become dust and perish.”
Is that kind of thing really possible?
My brother Julius was the hero, the strongest human alive.
And he was turned into dust…?
That’s impossible.
And yet, that’s exactly what Hyrince says happened in my brother’s final moments.
“I can’t believe it…”
As I sink into silence, Hyrince produces something from his pocket.
“That’s…the one my brother always wore.”
“Yeah. I don’t think he ever told you, but this was your mother’s last gift to Julius before she died.”
Hyrince hands the object to me.
It’s a pure-white scarf.
“I’m sorry. That was all I could bring back with me.”
“Not at all. Thank you very much.”
I can’t say anything else.
My vision starts to blur.
I remember the first time I saw my older brother.
I was still a baby then.
My brother came to the nursery room with a few attendants.
He kept looking between Sue and me, tears streaming from his eyes.
That was the only time I ever saw my brother cry.
He murmured something as he patted our heads, then left the room.
At the time, I didn’t know this world’s language.
So I didn’t understand my brother’s words.
Even now, I don’t know what he said.
But I think he must have come to some kind of decision at that moment.
Later, I learned that his and my mother had passed away the day before.
To be honest, knowing that my mother made this white scarf doesn’t carry that much weight for me.
I mean, I never even met my mother.
But my brother was different.
I’m sure that for him, our mother was an important person who could never be replaced.
Losing his beloved parent at a young age and learning that he had to fight as a hero…
I wonder what kind of decision my brother made in the midst of all that suffering.
“Nice to meet you. I’m your big brother Julius. I might not look it, but I’m the hero.”
I clearly remember my brother’s smile that second time we met, our first real interaction.
His smile surprised me. It was so composed for a child around grade-school age.
If you include my previous life, I was theoretically the older one, but I remember thinking I could never smile like that.
It was a smile that seemed to be hiding something deep underneath.
“You’re pretty clever, Schlain. Maybe you could be a good politician when you grow up.”
“Sue, don’t hang off Schlain so much.”
“You’ve got talent with a sword, too, Schlain. How about it? Want to join me someday? Ah, Sue, don’t glare at me like that. Fine, fine…you can come, too.”
“Hey, Schlain. I hear you have a girlfriend now? So you call each other by nicknames and everything, huh? Can I start calling you Shun, too, then?”
“Shun. I know Sue’s cute and all, but don’t spoil her too much, okay?”
“Shun, our father is very kind, you know. It’s simply that his position as a king comes before his family. He’s doing his best to fulfill his duties to his kingdom. Try to understand, okay?”
“Shun, if anything happens, just talk to Leston. He’s always in the castle anyway. He’s got the most time on his hands of anyone in our family, so I’m sure he’ll help you out.”
“That’s just how our eldest brother is. He might’ve lost sight of himself a little bit, but he still cares about our kingdom just as much as I do. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“If you ask me, Hyrince is getting to the age where he should be thinking about marrying and carrying on his bloodline. But I’ve never heard him mention it, so I’m a little worried… Me? If I got married, I wouldn’t be able to give my spouse anything in return. Why marry if it’d just make both parties unhappy?”
“My master? Yeah, that person’s not human.”
“Heh-heh-heh. With my Evasion skill, your snowballs will never hit m— Oof! Hey, Sue, that’s against the rules! Ow, ow… Sue! That’s not snow! I told you, no throwing rocks! You’ll hurt someone!”
“The hero is humanity’s greatest hope. So I won’t ever lose. I swear it.”
Memories of Julius flood my mind.
My older brother was always smiling.
A smile so full of kindness that it brought peace of mind to all who saw it.
To me, my brother will always be the hero.
Am I really supposed to succeed him in that role?
I don’t know if I can do it.
But I can’t abandon the goal my brother was pursuing just because I don’t have confidence in myself.
“A dream’s a good thing to have. Some people might laugh at you or say it’s impossible. But all you have to do is keep chasing your own goal. A world where everyone can laugh and live in peace… I’ll keep on chasing that ideal, even until the day I die.”
I know I can be naive.
But my brother was even more so.
Still, I want to carry on those naive ideals.
I doubt I’ll ever become as good a hero as Julius was.
I can’t fight purely for world peace like he did.
Half my motivation comes from fulfilling the obligations that come with the Hero title.
But now, I think the other half comes from my true feelings.
“Shun…no, Hero Schlain.”
Hyrince speaks to me in a different tone.
“I wasn’t able to protect Julius. I’m a failure as a shield. But if you can settle for such a pathetic tank, please allow me to serve as the shield bearer for the new hero.”
“Hyrince…”
“Since I couldn’t protect Julius, let me protect you instead.”
“Thank you, Hyrince. I would be honored to work with you.”
Hyrince and I exchange a firm handshake.
Instead of trying to save the world, I’m carrying on my brother’s will to do so.
No true hero would think that way, I’m sure.
I’m nothing but an impure imitation of my brother Julius.
But that’s all right.
This is how I’ve found my resolve as a hero.
Even Hyrince doesn’t know the identity of the “white girl” who defeated my brother.
Apparently, no one has ever seen her in any previous battles.
Hyrince speculated that she could be a very high-ranking demon who usually doesn’t participate in combat.
Or that she might even be the Demon Lord herself.
If so, as the new hero, I’ll have to face her someday.
Even if that’s not the case, I still won’t be running away from her.
My brother, the hero, was a wonderful person who pursued his ideals.
Crumbling into dust is definitely not an ending he deserved.
I’m sure his last moments were full of regret that he was killed before he could accomplish his goals.
Or maybe he didn’t even have time to think about that.
Just like Hyrince passed out with no idea of what was going on, my brother might have died before he realized what was happening.
I want to clear away those regrets.
More than anything, I know I can never forgive that girl.
“So it might still be some time before you begin work as the hero?”
“Yeah. The Church still needs to determine the new saint, so I think it won’t be until after that stuff gets set up.”
“I see.”
“Sue…I’m sure you know this, but once I start working as the hero, we can’t be by each other’s sides like we always used to be.”
“Mm-hmm. I knew you would say that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I am not a child anymore.”
“Right. You’re a strong adult, I know that. But I can’t bring you with me. I don’t want to put you in danger.”
“I know.”
“It’s selfish of me, I know. I’m sorry.”
“As I said, you don’t need to apologize.”
“Okay. You should just keep enjoying yourself at the academy until graduation. You’ll be safe there.”
“I suppose.”
“Even when I do start working as the hero, I’ll try to see you whenever I can. Just like Julius did.”
“Brother, are you going to try to avenge Julius?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I can, but I have to try.”
“Either way, I don’t think you need to worry about that for a while.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“I see… All right. I’ll try not to think about that for now.”
“Good.”
“All right, I’d better go. Good night.”
“Very well. Good-bye, Brother.”
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