In the boys changing room–
I was changing for gym class when–
“What’s that on the back of your hand, Souta?”
Shimizu noticed that mark and it made me a little nervous.
“Eh? This, this is just that, you know! It’s just a little squid ink.”
“Ah, so it’s just squid ink.”
This thing will sometimes invoke the Hero’s Will, forcing me to do Hero-like things… I couldn’t just say something like that. In any case, I did not really feel like going to meet the King, saving villagers in trouble or collecting gemstones at the moment.
Looks like the Hero’s Will didn’t activate all that often. Sadly, the mark did not seem to fade with time. I did try to erase it with an eraser, but unfortunately, nothing happened.
I really have to get rid of this mark, but what am I supposed to do?
“Souta, why are you carrying that?”
Shimizu questioned me again with a doubtful look.
“That?”
“You know, that. Why are you carrying a mop and a bucket?”
“Eh? Oh, since I have to change, my defence may drop, I was thinking of equipping these…”
–Wait a minute. Why was I planning on using this mop as a sword and this bucket as a shield? Even I have no idea what these equipments could be used for.
“Defence?”
Shimizu wracked his brains, trying to figure out what I was saying.
Wait. Isn’t this the work of the Hero’s Will?!
“It’s nothing! I-I made the floor sticky and wet just now, and I’m just about to clean it up!”
“Oh, so that’s what it was. Did you spill something?”
“Eh? M-My body just secreted some sort of liquid.”
“What the heck did you secrete?!”
Shimizu and the other boys quickly finished changing and exited the changing room.
Crap, I said something weird again. Now it just sounds like I pissed on the floor. This is all the Hero’s Will’s fault.
I glanced at the mark on my right hand. If I don’t get rid of this soon, the Hero’s Will will make me do something weird again, right? But it doesn’t look like it is going to disappear naturally, and I had no idea how to get rid of it either. Do I really need to do as Mano said?
Well, this is no time to be thinking about this. The next class is going to start soon. I changed into my gym clothes and headed towards the gym.
“…Eh?”
There was no one there.
The gym was completely silent, not even a single soul in sight.
That’s strange. Didn’t everyone leave before me?
Just when I was about to look left and right for someone–
I heard the door of the gym close.
‘Wh-What?”
“Success! Looks like I managed to close it!”
Cheering noises came from somewhere in the gym.
“Who’s there?!”
A girl clad in black hurriedly appeared from the shadows on the stage.
“Muahahaha! I’m the Demon King!”
“Eh? Oh, it’s just you, Mano. What are you doing?”
“What? I wanted to lock you in here for a while.”
Mano stopped her Demon King act and replied normally.
She seems to have realised that there was no point in acting like the Demon King anymore. She probably just wanted to say that for fun.
“Er… You want to lock me in the gym?”
“Yup.”
“But it’s gym class now.”
“Ah, that can be easily solved with one of my commands.”
“So you’re the one who made this place completely empty!”
“Yup. It would be dangerous if there was anyone else here.”
Mano glossed over her reply.
So, can this be considered a trap?
“W-Wait a minute! Why are you locking me up?! What are you going to do to me?!”
Why am I so calm?! Didn’t I just land myself into an extremely dangerous situation?!
“To make you more like a Hero, of course.”
“Eh?! You’re still thinking about that?!”
“Yup! I won’t give up so easily! I will do this till the end! I have decided to give it my all in making you a magnificent Hero!”
Mano declared so powerfully. Even though she was the one who ran away crying yesterday.
“Hmm… Looks like I was a little too harsh yesterday. Sorry about that.”
“Eh?! I don’t mind it, so are you willing to become the Hero now?”
Mano suddenly started smiling.
“I have absolutely no intention of doing so.”
“Wait, what?! So you didn’t feel motivated all of a sudden…”
Mano slumped in despair once again.
“I have no interest in becoming a Hero, so I don’t care about any of this.
I was far more interested in making myself the popular protagonist of an H-Game.
“That’s strange, why do you not want to become the Hero…?”
“What’s so strange about it?”
“I heard that human males all aspired to become a Hero at some point in their lives.”
“Oh, that’s quite true, actually.”
“There also seem to be humans who would be delighted to be a Hero. So that they can say things like ‘I’m the Hero so I’m extremely strong!’ and ‘I’m the Hero so I’m extremely handsome!’”
“Well, I can understand that feeling………Eh?”
Wait.
Wait a minute.
The Hero is extremely handsome?
I thought that becoming a Hero in today’s society could only be described as “weird”.
But come to think of it, the coolness that is associated with heroes did not really change that much.
So I don’t need to fantasise about becoming a Hero that tries to save the world, but I just need to do some Hero-like things? That way, won’t I be able to save girls and let them witness my bravery and handsomeness?
What’s more, Mano seemed willing to make me into a Hero. If things go well, girls will be charging towards me in droves, shouting “How cool! Hug me!” Isn’t this something that only happens in H-Games?
With this, I might just be able to achieve my dream of an H-Game school life!
“Souta, what’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”
“…I think that becoming the Hero is a great idea!”
“Eh?! What’s with the sudden change of heart?!”
“Th-This is, you know, since you already asked me so many times, it might be good for me to try being the Hero for a little while. Can’t be helped then, just a little while, OK?”
“…I somehow feel like something’s weird, but everything’s fine if you are aspiring to be the Hero.”
Mano looked at me with eyes that said “Nothing’s wrong with this guy, right?” I dismissed her questioning glance.
I just want to become as cool as a Hero and start my new H-Game school life.
Despite thinking all that, I realised that I forgot the most important thing.
“…You know, even if I want to be the Hero, what should I do? There aren’t any monsters here or anything.”
I didn’t believe that it was possible to do things like in RPGs in this modern day and age.
“Fufufu! Leave it to me!”
“Leave it to you…? Why do I suddenly feel uneasy…?”
“Eh?! W-Wait! What do you mean?!”
You are a klutz Demon King– I think it’s better if I didn’t say that.
“Ah– I was just thinking what you were going to do with me by locking me up here.”
“To let you fight some monsters, of course.”
“What? I told you there aren’t any monsters in this world, didn’t I?”
Mano smiled confidently regardless of my repeated protests.
“I’ll just summon some then.”
“You… Summon…?”
An unexpected phrase came out of Mano’s mouth.
“I’ll summon a monster using my summoning magic and make you fight it.”
What– So there’s such a method.
“…But isn’t it strange for you to summon monsters for me to just defeat them?”
Since there are no monsters, we’ll just summon monsters to defeat– Somehow this process sound’s strange.
“If you don’t defeat monsters, you will never become like the Hero. You must practice fighting, you know?”
“Now that you put it that way, it does make sense…”
“Not only that, what happens when the Hero’s Will makes you want to kill monsters? Are you OK with walking around town holding a weapon?”
“Uh… Why are you interrogating the Hero all of a sudden…?”
“Only weak monsters will appear in the beginning, so why not take a shot?”
“Even if you say they are weak…”
I have never fought a monster in my life, so how would I know how strong a ‘weak monster’ is?
“Then what about a weak monster of a different colour?”
“I have a feeling that it would make it stronger…”
“It’s OK. No matter what kind of monster it is, they must obey my commands.”
“Really? That’s good then.”
“If you get eaten, I will order them to spit you out.”
“Think of the solution before I get eaten!”
“Anyways, there’s no use if we keep talking, let’s just bring out some monsters!”
Mano spread her arms and put on a magnanimous pose.
“Ah, Mano, wait a minute.”
“Eh? Wh-What is it?”
Mano glared at me as if I disturbed her at a very critical moment.
“Uh, I-I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be good if you summoned some famous monsters…”
In this once in a million chance, I’d rather see those monsters that appeared in stories like dragons or golems. Ignoring the fact that I would have to fight them later.
“Famous monsters? I guess it’s possible.”
Mano spread her arms again, concentrating.
Something that looked like a summoning circle appeared on the floor, glowing brightly.
“Oh! This looks like a real summoning!”
“……It’s here!”
With Mano’s shout, something appeared in the middle of the magic circuit.
The gradually appearing silhouette made my heart skip a beat.
“Th-This is…!”
A piece of meat on a bone.
Why did something like that appear?
It made me want to barbecue it on a stick.
“……”
“……”
“……It’s a piece of meat on a bone.”
“……It is a piece of meat on a bone.”
“……Where’s the famous monster?”
“……This is the meat of a famous monster.”
“Eh?! I can’t accept that!”
I wanted to see them when they were alive, before they become this!
“Then, let’s move on–”
Mano removed the meat she had summoned and reactivated the spell.
Can she really summon a monster? She’s just a cute klutzy Demon King. I became increasingly uneasy as time passed.
“About that… If it’s too difficult, any monster will do, you know?”
“Mumu! No problem! Shut up and look!”
I originally said that for her sake, but I seem to have made her angry instead.
Mano glared at the summoning circle as if she held a grudge against it.
Light once again flooded the room as something started to appear.
“It’s coming!”
“Yup! This time…”
I glanced at the summoning circle.
I saw something like a hamburger.
“……”
“……”
This time, it immediately disappeared with a ‘Fwoosh’.
“Er… Mano, that was–”
“I-It’s almost here!”
“No, I thought I saw–”
“I’m concentrating! It’s going to appear!”
“Don’t tell me you can only summon meat…”
“It’s here! It’s here it’s here!”
She’s trying to pretend nothing happened!
I guess it’s not good to be too stuck up about it, I should just pretend that I didn’t see anything.
But what if she said that she actually had no idea how to summon monsters, but just wanted to act like she could? Nope, it’s just her being clumsy again, right?
Just as I was thinking about all these things, the summoning circle glowed again.
“That’s awesome! It really worked this time!”
Skeletons, armed with swords and shields, appeared from the circle.
These are called Skeletal Warriors, right?
The skeleton’s eyes glowed an eerie light. The way they moved with a creaking noise made them seem a little disgusting.
But I was relieved that something proper came out this time.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Mano suddenly let out a wail.
“Uwa?! Wh-Why are you screaming?”
“S-S-S-Skeleton?! This is a skeleton?!”
“Erm, yup. That’s what it is. A skeleton.”
“Scary! Skeletons are scary!”
“What?! You’re supposed to be the Demon King, right?”
Shuddering, Mano quickly withdrew the skeletons back into the summoning circle.
Ah… And it took so much effort to get them out too.
“Uwawawawawa……… So scary……”
“…Er, I think that normal Demon Kings shouldn’t be scared of monsters.”
I looked coldly at the pale-faced Mano.
“B-B-Because…… I-It can still move even though it’s dead…”
“That’s how they’re supposed to be, right?! You’re supposed to be the one controlling them!”
“It’s not like there’s a rule that says that I must be the one controlling them.”
Mano turned away from me as if she was throwing a tantrum. How old are you? Is it OK to be scared of skeletons even though you’re the Demon King?
Let’s ignore this for now. The skeletons just now made me realise something.
I don’t have a weapon.
“Mano, do you have any weapons?”
“……Eh? Weapons?”
Mano glanced at me as if she was still afraid of something.
“The skeleton warrior just now made me realise. I want a weapon.”
“You want to fight with a bone?”
“Not that. It was holding a sword and a shield, right?”
Why would I want to fight like a caveman?
“Oh, a sword? Yup, I have one that fits you, I’ll give that to you!”
“Eh? Really? Thanks!”
Mano stretched her arms outward, causing a sword to suddenly appear out of empty space.
Why did she look like a natural only when she was doing that?
“Go on, take it.”
I took the sword from Mano and raised it slightly.
“Oh! This… This makes me feel like a real Hero!”
The longsword had a razor-sharp blade, which glowed slightly against the light. It felt exceptionally solid and light-weight, so much so that it seemed like I could swing it with one hand.
More importantly– This thing is cool!
I really did feel excited when I got something like this.
It suddenly felt like I was becoming more Hero-like.
“That sword is a bit special, you know? If you use it to attack monsters, you can defeat them without harming them.”
“What? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Why don’t you try it for yourself?”
Mano started summoning monsters again while telling me that.
This time, a mummy wrapped in bandages appeared from the summoning circle.
“…You brought out another undead, you know?”
“Go on, try using that sword to attack that monster.”
“Wait, you’re not scared of mummies?”
I thought she would definitely be trembling in fear like the time she had summoned the skeleton just now.
“Well, this just makes it look like a severely wounded person.”
“I don’t think that’s what the bandages are supposed to be for though…”
I still didn’t get Mano’s basis of fear, but whatever.
Let’s try slashing that mummy first.
Maybe it was because of the sword, but I seemed to become sharper.
I took a proper stance. The mummy was standing there without moving a hair. Mano probably ordered it not to move. Calm down, take a deep breath–
“Ha!”
With that shout, I stepped forward and swung my sword at the mummy.
The mummy trembled violently and slowly collapsed, disappearing with the light.
“…Er, looks like it disappeared… So I defeated it just like that?”
“Yup, monsters killed by that blade will return to their original world.”
“Ah, so that’s how it works. This sword is quite powerful.”
How good is this? It looks like I don’t need to hack the monsters into pieces now.
Somehow chopping down monsters into pieces doesn’t seem like what a Hero would do, sending them back to their original world sounds better, right? Although for the monsters, it seemed like they just came here for nothing.
“That sword is actually used when the Hero fights the Demon King. But it seems a little strange to be directly attacking the monsters I summon, so I thought that it would be fine for you to use it this time.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is…”
After hearing this, I was slightly curious about something.
I slowly pointed the longsword towards Mano.
“Eh? What? What’s wrong, Souta?”
Mano stared at me quizzically.
“Erm, I remember that as the Hero, I need to defeat you in the end, right?”
“Ah, yup. That’s right.”
“Then, I was thinking, how strong are you actually, Mano?”
Just as I was going to say ‘Maybe beating you will be a breeze’–
“Hoho. Souta, what are you talking about? Don’t tell me you think you can defeat me?”
Mano laughed while saying “You’re a strange one.”
“…Are you really that strong?”
“With your abilities right now, it’s impossible for you to defeat me.”
She smiled as if she was explaining something to a five-year-old.
Hey, wait a minute. What’s with this klutz Demon King’s confidence despite her frail body?
“Hmm… I won’t know until I try!”
I pointed my sword at Mano.
Holding the cool-looking sword made me feel a little stronger.
“Sigh, can’t help it then…”
Mano shook her head in disappointment and raised her arms.
A magic staff appeared in her hands. It looks like she was going to accept my challenge.
Well, it’s Mano after all. She’ll probably fall down accidently while casting a spell or something again.
“Mano, here I come!”
I mimicked my pose when I attacked the mummy just now and slashed towards Mano with a flash.
“Ha!”
Mano waved her staff disinterestedly with unexpected speed and dexterity and blew my sword away.
“…Eh?”
What was that? My attack seemed to have been deflected completely.
No, calm down. She just happened to have gotten the right timing.
“Is that all?”
“Take that!”
I swung my sword at full speed once again.
Fwoosh.
It was deflected easily.
“What…!”
I was being toyed with here.
What’s this…? What’s happening?
“Well, that should be good enough for you, right? Then–”
Mano approached me with an unbelievable speed and waved her staff elegantly.
“Uwa?!”
An inexplicably large force sent both me and my sword flying.
What was that just now?! I can’t believe it! She’s in a completely different level!
There’s no point in fighting like this!
“Muahahaha! Goodbye, Hero! Regret for foolishly challenging the Demon King Mano!”
Was Mano in her zone now? While continuing her Demon-King like lines, she created a large fireball with her staff. Crap, this is bad! If that hits me I will really die!
“Wait a minute! I’m sorry, I surrender! I went too far! I’m normally a nice guy! So nice that I will hold an umbrella over a cat trapped in the rain!”
I quickly surrendered, abandoning my sword.
“Didn’t I already tell you that there’s no chance of you winning?”
Mano returned to her usual behaviour, keeping away her staff and stopping her chant.
That was close.
I didn’t expect Mano to be this strong. How’s that possible when she’s a total klutz all the time?
“Can I ever beat you…?”
“You don’t need to defeat me now. What’s more, if you defeat me now, won’t it to be too short? You just need to fight monsters and gain experience for now.”
What exactly is going to be too short?
“So there’s no other choice but to fight monsters?”
“Of course. Then I’ll continue summoning now.”
Whatever. There aren’t Heroes who can defeat the Demon King so suddenly anyway.
Mano restarted the summoning process, ignoring me who was just a little depressed.
This time, something that was more than double the size of everything that she’s summoned so far appeared.
It was a cyclops two or three times my height.
“Woahhh! This thing looks like it can flatten me in one hit!”
It looked super strong, holding a large stick and sporting horns.
The cyclops roared excitedly, which was a little too much for me.
I’ll give it to you straight… I can’t fight that!
“I made sure it can’t move this time, just try!”
“Impossible, impossible! Its muscles look super strong!”
“It’s fine. These type of monsters always have a weak point at their eyes.”
“I can’t reach its eyes even if I execute a perfect high jump!”
“Then… Erm… Wait for the monster to kneel down?”
“That will only happen when I defeat it right!?”
No, this is not the time to be talking about this.
The cyclops glanced at me, sending tremors through the ground as it turned towards me.
What the heck is this, why is it so clumsy?
“Good luck, Souta!”
“It’s impossible! This thing isn’t even human!”
“Of course it’s not! It’s a monster.”
“Make it stop! Stop! Stop!”
I desperately begged Mano to make the cyclops stop. Then the cyclops suddenly froze.
Ah, that was scary. It’s impossible for someone like me to fight those monsters that would usually appear near the boss room. Mano grumbled to me with an annoyed expression:
“Souta… Can’t you come up with some way to solve this?”
“Even if you say that…”
“Ah, I know. Why don’t you try to at least have the aura of a Hero?”
“Hmm… The aura of a Hero…”
So she wants me to imitate her act as the Demon King?
Despite having no confidence whatsoever, I guess I will just give it a shot.
I took a deep breath and calmed my heartbeat.
Concentrate, believe you are the Hero.
The Hero.
I am the Hero.
“………Monster who dares disturb the peace of this land…!”
I drew my sword and stared straight at the cyclops before declaring:
“As the Hero, I am going to take you down!”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Eh?
What happened?
Why did it become quiet all of a sudden?
“Eh… Mano? What’s wrong?”
She stood frozen to the ground.
Did I say something weird?
“………So Hero-like…”
“Eh?”
“W-Wait! H-How do I put this…? I-I was shocked, I was shocked at how good you– No, that’s not it! What’s this?!”
She stammered out something incomprehensible.
“Er… Was is really that strange?”
“I-It’s not strange! That was so cool! It will definitely work! Do it again! Quick, try fighting it!”
The cyclops who had started to move, stared at me once again.
“Wait, wait! That was an act! There’s no way I can defeat this thing!”
Ignoring what I said, the cyclops continued charging at me.
It was extremely fast considering its extremely large size.
There’s only one choice now, run!
If I’m caught, I’m a goner!
“……Err… Souta? That’s not good. What happened to your spirit?!”
“L-Like I said, th-that’s just an act…”
I was panting and laying down on the ground after I ran around the gym for quite a bit.
“Eh? Is that so…? But you being able to act so Hero-like, makes me feel that you’re a little… a little handsome? Or is it…”
Mano was stammering about something again. I couldn’t really understand what she was saying.
“Phew… Wh-What?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! I-It’s about time I summoned the next monster!”
Mano hurriedly started summoning the next monster.
There wasn’t even any need for her to be so rushed…
“How cruel… Let me rest for a while…”
“You’re really unreliable, you know? Why are you always like this…”
Mano tilted her head and was muttering under her breath. For some reason, I felt that she was glaring at me.
What happened? Does she want me to stand up because she’s summoning a monster?
To be honest, I’m tired of fighting. But if there were any H-Game elements, I will definitely be able to get up…
Ah, I just thought of something good.
“Er, I want to try fighting a specific monster.”
“What is it?”
“Er… How about a succubus?”
I definitely did not have any lewd thoughts. It was definitely not because I wanted to see a sexy, busty female monster that would usually appear in an H-Game, OK?
“…………It feels like your gaze just became perverted. Rejected.”
Oh.
“Th-There’s no such thing! I just wanted to touch– Wait, I just wanted to meet an opponent stronger than me! That’s right, I just wanted to meet an opponent stronger than me!”
“Really now?”
Mano’s glare was freezing cold. How mean of her, she even made me say the cool part twice.
“I get it! Then it’s fine! Any female monster without a top is fine!”
“Why do you make it sound like you’ve made a compromise or something?! It became even worse!”
“Eh? Then it’s OK if it’s the bottom half?”
“This…… There’s no hope for this guy…… Why is he always like this…”
Mano exhaled deeply, retaining her shocked expression.
…Would it be better if they were completely naked?
In the boys changing room–
I was changing for gym class when–
“What’s that on the back of your hand, Souta?”
Shimizu noticed that mark and it made me a little nervous.
“Eh? This, this is just that, you know! It’s just a little squid ink.”
“Ah, so it’s just squid ink.”
This thing will sometimes invoke the Hero’s Will, forcing me to do Hero-like things… I couldn’t just say something like that. In any case, I did not really feel like going to meet the King, saving villagers in trouble or collecting gemstones at the moment.
Looks like the Hero’s Will didn’t activate all that often. Sadly, the mark did not seem to fade with time. I did try to erase it with an eraser, but unfortunately, nothing happened.
I really have to get rid of this mark, but what am I supposed to do?
“Souta, why are you carrying that?”
Shimizu questioned me again with a doubtful look.
“That?”
“You know, that. Why are you carrying a mop and a bucket?”
“Eh? Oh, since I have to change, my defence may drop, I was thinking of equipping these…”
–Wait a minute. Why was I planning on using this mop as a sword and this bucket as a shield? Even I have no idea what these equipments could be used for.
“Defence?”
Shimizu wracked his brains, trying to figure out what I was saying.
Wait. Isn’t this the work of the Hero’s Will?!
“It’s nothing! I-I made the floor sticky and wet just now, and I’m just about to clean it up!”
“Oh, so that’s what it was. Did you spill something?”
“Eh? M-My body just secreted some sort of liquid.”
“What the heck did you secrete?!”
Shimizu and the other boys quickly finished changing and exited the changing room.
Crap, I said something weird again. Now it just sounds like I pissed on the floor. This is all the Hero’s Will’s fault.
I glanced at the mark on my right hand. If I don’t get rid of this soon, the Hero’s Will will make me do something weird again, right? But it doesn’t look like it is going to disappear naturally, and I had no idea how to get rid of it either. Do I really need to do as Mano said?
Well, this is no time to be thinking about this. The next class is going to start soon. I changed into my gym clothes and headed towards the gym.
“…Eh?”
There was no one there.
The gym was completely silent, not even a single soul in sight.
That’s strange. Didn’t everyone leave before me?
Just when I was about to look left and right for someone–
I heard the door of the gym close.
‘Wh-What?”
“Success! Looks like I managed to close it!”
Cheering noises came from somewhere in the gym.
“Who’s there?!”
A girl clad in black hurriedly appeared from the shadows on the stage.
“Muahahaha! I’m the Demon King!”
“Eh? Oh, it’s just you, Mano. What are you doing?”
“What? I wanted to lock you in here for a while.”
Mano stopped her Demon King act and replied normally.
She seems to have realised that there was no point in acting like the Demon King anymore. She probably just wanted to say that for fun.
“Er… You want to lock me in the gym?”
“Yup.”
“But it’s gym class now.”
“Ah, that can be easily solved with one of my commands.”
“So you’re the one who made this place completely empty!”
“Yup. It would be dangerous if there was anyone else here.”
Mano glossed over her reply.
So, can this be considered a trap?
“W-Wait a minute! Why are you locking me up?! What are you going to do to me?!”
Why am I so calm?! Didn’t I just land myself into an extremely dangerous situation?!
“To make you more like a Hero, of course.”
“Eh?! You’re still thinking about that?!”
“Yup! I won’t give up so easily! I will do this till the end! I have decided to give it my all in making you a magnificent Hero!”
Mano declared so powerfully. Even though she was the one who ran away crying yesterday.
“Hmm… Looks like I was a little too harsh yesterday. Sorry about that.”
“Eh?! I don’t mind it, so are you willing to become the Hero now?”
Mano suddenly started smiling.
“I have absolutely no intention of doing so.”
“Wait, what?! So you didn’t feel motivated all of a sudden…”
Mano slumped in despair once again.
“I have no interest in becoming a Hero, so I don’t care about any of this.
I was far more interested in making myself the popular protagonist of an H-Game.
“That’s strange, why do you not want to become the Hero…?”
“What’s so strange about it?”
“I heard that human males all aspired to become a Hero at some point in their lives.”
“Oh, that’s quite true, actually.”
“There also seem to be humans who would be delighted to be a Hero. So that they can say things like ‘I’m the Hero so I’m extremely strong!’ and ‘I’m the Hero so I’m extremely handsome!’”
“Well, I can understand that feeling………Eh?”
Wait.
Wait a minute.
The Hero is extremely handsome?
I thought that becoming a Hero in today’s society could only be described as “weird”.
But come to think of it, the coolness that is associated with heroes did not really change that much.
So I don’t need to fantasise about becoming a Hero that tries to save the world, but I just need to do some Hero-like things? That way, won’t I be able to save girls and let them witness my bravery and handsomeness?
What’s more, Mano seemed willing to make me into a Hero. If things go well, girls will be charging towards me in droves, shouting “How cool! Hug me!” Isn’t this something that only happens in H-Games?
With this, I might just be able to achieve my dream of an H-Game school life!
“Souta, what’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”
“…I think that becoming the Hero is a great idea!”
“Eh?! What’s with the sudden change of heart?!”
“Th-This is, you know, since you already asked me so many times, it might be good for me to try being the Hero for a little while. Can’t be helped then, just a little while, OK?”
“…I somehow feel like something’s weird, but everything’s fine if you are aspiring to be the Hero.”
Mano looked at me with eyes that said “Nothing’s wrong with this guy, right?” I dismissed her questioning glance.
I just want to become as cool as a Hero and start my new H-Game school life.
Despite thinking all that, I realised that I forgot the most important thing.
“…You know, even if I want to be the Hero, what should I do? There aren’t any monsters here or anything.”
I didn’t believe that it was possible to do things like in RPGs in this modern day and age.
“Fufufu! Leave it to me!”
“Leave it to you…? Why do I suddenly feel uneasy…?”
“Eh?! W-Wait! What do you mean?!”
You are a klutz Demon King– I think it’s better if I didn’t say that.
“Ah– I was just thinking what you were going to do with me by locking me up here.”
“To let you fight some monsters, of course.”
“What? I told you there aren’t any monsters in this world, didn’t I?”
Mano smiled confidently regardless of my repeated protests.
“I’ll just summon some then.”
“You… Summon…?”
An unexpected phrase came out of Mano’s mouth.
“I’ll summon a monster using my summoning magic and make you fight it.”
What– So there’s such a method.
“…But isn’t it strange for you to summon monsters for me to just defeat them?”
Since there are no monsters, we’ll just summon monsters to defeat– Somehow this process sound’s strange.
“If you don’t defeat monsters, you will never become like the Hero. You must practice fighting, you know?”
“Now that you put it that way, it does make sense…”
“Not only that, what happens when the Hero’s Will makes you want to kill monsters? Are you OK with walking around town holding a weapon?”
“Uh… Why are you interrogating the Hero all of a sudden…?”
“Only weak monsters will appear in the beginning, so why not take a shot?”
“Even if you say they are weak…”
I have never fought a monster in my life, so how would I know how strong a ‘weak monster’ is?
“Then what about a weak monster of a different colour?”
“I have a feeling that it would make it stronger…”
“It’s OK. No matter what kind of monster it is, they must obey my commands.”
“Really? That’s good then.”
“If you get eaten, I will order them to spit you out.”
“Think of the solution before I get eaten!”
“Anyways, there’s no use if we keep talking, let’s just bring out some monsters!”
Mano spread her arms and put on a magnanimous pose.
“Ah, Mano, wait a minute.”
“Eh? Wh-What is it?”
Mano glared at me as if I disturbed her at a very critical moment.
“Uh, I-I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be good if you summoned some famous monsters…”
In this once in a million chance, I’d rather see those monsters that appeared in stories like dragons or golems. Ignoring the fact that I would have to fight them later.
“Famous monsters? I guess it’s possible.”
Mano spread her arms again, concentrating.
Something that looked like a summoning circle appeared on the floor, glowing brightly.
“Oh! This looks like a real summoning!”
“……It’s here!”
With Mano’s shout, something appeared in the middle of the magic circuit.
The gradually appearing silhouette made my heart skip a beat.
“Th-This is…!”
A piece of meat on a bone.
Why did something like that appear?
It made me want to barbecue it on a stick.
“……”
“……”
“……It’s a piece of meat on a bone.”
“……It is a piece of meat on a bone.”
“……Where’s the famous monster?”
“……This is the meat of a famous monster.”
“Eh?! I can’t accept that!”
I wanted to see them when they were alive, before they become this!
“Then, let’s move on–”
Mano removed the meat she had summoned and reactivated the spell.
Can she really summon a monster? She’s just a cute klutzy Demon King. I became increasingly uneasy as time passed.
“About that… If it’s too difficult, any monster will do, you know?”
“Mumu! No problem! Shut up and look!”
I originally said that for her sake, but I seem to have made her angry instead.
Mano glared at the summoning circle as if she held a grudge against it.
Light once again flooded the room as something started to appear.
“It’s coming!”
“Yup! This time…”
I glanced at the summoning circle.
I saw something like a hamburger.
“……”
“……”
This time, it immediately disappeared with a ‘Fwoosh’.
“Er… Mano, that was–”
“I-It’s almost here!”
“No, I thought I saw–”
“I’m concentrating! It’s going to appear!”
“Don’t tell me you can only summon meat…”
“It’s here! It’s here it’s here!”
She’s trying to pretend nothing happened!
I guess it’s not good to be too stuck up about it, I should just pretend that I didn’t see anything.
But what if she said that she actually had no idea how to summon monsters, but just wanted to act like she could? Nope, it’s just her being clumsy again, right?
Just as I was thinking about all these things, the summoning circle glowed again.
“That’s awesome! It really worked this time!”
Skeletons, armed with swords and shields, appeared from the circle.
These are called Skeletal Warriors, right?
The skeleton’s eyes glowed an eerie light. The way they moved with a creaking noise made them seem a little disgusting.
But I was relieved that something proper came out this time.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Mano suddenly let out a wail.
“Uwa?! Wh-Why are you screaming?”
“S-S-S-Skeleton?! This is a skeleton?!”
“Erm, yup. That’s what it is. A skeleton.”
“Scary! Skeletons are scary!”
“What?! You’re supposed to be the Demon King, right?”
Shuddering, Mano quickly withdrew the skeletons back into the summoning circle.
Ah… And it took so much effort to get them out too.
“Uwawawawawa……… So scary……”
“…Er, I think that normal Demon Kings shouldn’t be scared of monsters.”
I looked coldly at the pale-faced Mano.
“B-B-Because…… I-It can still move even though it’s dead…”
“That’s how they’re supposed to be, right?! You’re supposed to be the one controlling them!”
“It’s not like there’s a rule that says that I must be the one controlling them.”
Mano turned away from me as if she was throwing a tantrum. How old are you? Is it OK to be scared of skeletons even though you’re the Demon King?
Let’s ignore this for now. The skeletons just now made me realise something.
I don’t have a weapon.
“Mano, do you have any weapons?”
“……Eh? Weapons?”
Mano glanced at me as if she was still afraid of something.
“The skeleton warrior just now made me realise. I want a weapon.”
“You want to fight with a bone?”
“Not that. It was holding a sword and a shield, right?”
Why would I want to fight like a caveman?
“Oh, a sword? Yup, I have one that fits you, I’ll give that to you!”
“Eh? Really? Thanks!”
Mano stretched her arms outward, causing a sword to suddenly appear out of empty space.
Why did she look like a natural only when she was doing that?
“Go on, take it.”
I took the sword from Mano and raised it slightly.
“Oh! This… This makes me feel like a real Hero!”
The longsword had a razor-sharp blade, which glowed slightly against the light. It felt exceptionally solid and light-weight, so much so that it seemed like I could swing it with one hand.
More importantly– This thing is cool!
I really did feel excited when I got something like this.
It suddenly felt like I was becoming more Hero-like.
“That sword is a bit special, you know? If you use it to attack monsters, you can defeat them without harming them.”
“What? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Why don’t you try it for yourself?”
Mano started summoning monsters again while telling me that.
This time, a mummy wrapped in bandages appeared from the summoning circle.
“…You brought out another undead, you know?”
“Go on, try using that sword to attack that monster.”
“Wait, you’re not scared of mummies?”
I thought she would definitely be trembling in fear like the time she had summoned the skeleton just now.
“Well, this just makes it look like a severely wounded person.”
“I don’t think that’s what the bandages are supposed to be for though…”
I still didn’t get Mano’s basis of fear, but whatever.
Let’s try slashing that mummy first.
Maybe it was because of the sword, but I seemed to become sharper.
I took a proper stance. The mummy was standing there without moving a hair. Mano probably ordered it not to move. Calm down, take a deep breath–
“Ha!”
With that shout, I stepped forward and swung my sword at the mummy.
The mummy trembled violently and slowly collapsed, disappearing with the light.
“…Er, looks like it disappeared… So I defeated it just like that?”
“Yup, monsters killed by that blade will return to their original world.”
“Ah, so that’s how it works. This sword is quite powerful.”
How good is this? It looks like I don’t need to hack the monsters into pieces now.
Somehow chopping down monsters into pieces doesn’t seem like what a Hero would do, sending them back to their original world sounds better, right? Although for the monsters, it seemed like they just came here for nothing.
“That sword is actually used when the Hero fights the Demon King. But it seems a little strange to be directly attacking the monsters I summon, so I thought that it would be fine for you to use it this time.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is…”
After hearing this, I was slightly curious about something.
I slowly pointed the longsword towards Mano.
“Eh? What? What’s wrong, Souta?”
Mano stared at me quizzically.
“Erm, I remember that as the Hero, I need to defeat you in the end, right?”
“Ah, yup. That’s right.”
“Then, I was thinking, how strong are you actually, Mano?”
Just as I was going to say ‘Maybe beating you will be a breeze’–
“Hoho. Souta, what are you talking about? Don’t tell me you think you can defeat me?”
Mano laughed while saying “You’re a strange one.”
“…Are you really that strong?”
“With your abilities right now, it’s impossible for you to defeat me.”
She smiled as if she was explaining something to a five-year-old.
Hey, wait a minute. What’s with this klutz Demon King’s confidence despite her frail body?
“Hmm… I won’t know until I try!”
I pointed my sword at Mano.
Holding the cool-looking sword made me feel a little stronger.
“Sigh, can’t help it then…”
Mano shook her head in disappointment and raised her arms.
A magic staff appeared in her hands. It looks like she was going to accept my challenge.
Well, it’s Mano after all. She’ll probably fall down accidently while casting a spell or something again.
“Mano, here I come!”
I mimicked my pose when I attacked the mummy just now and slashed towards Mano with a flash.
“Ha!”
Mano waved her staff disinterestedly with unexpected speed and dexterity and blew my sword away.
“…Eh?”
What was that? My attack seemed to have been deflected completely.
No, calm down. She just happened to have gotten the right timing.
“Is that all?”
“Take that!”
I swung my sword at full speed once again.
Fwoosh.
It was deflected easily.
“What…!”
I was being toyed with here.
What’s this…? What’s happening?
“Well, that should be good enough for you, right? Then–”
Mano approached me with an unbelievable speed and waved her staff elegantly.
“Uwa?!”
An inexplicably large force sent both me and my sword flying.
What was that just now?! I can’t believe it! She’s in a completely different level!
There’s no point in fighting like this!
“Muahahaha! Goodbye, Hero! Regret for foolishly challenging the Demon King Mano!”
Was Mano in her zone now? While continuing her Demon-King like lines, she created a large fireball with her staff. Crap, this is bad! If that hits me I will really die!
“Wait a minute! I’m sorry, I surrender! I went too far! I’m normally a nice guy! So nice that I will hold an umbrella over a cat trapped in the rain!”
I quickly surrendered, abandoning my sword.
“Didn’t I already tell you that there’s no chance of you winning?”
Mano returned to her usual behaviour, keeping away her staff and stopping her chant.
That was close.
I didn’t expect Mano to be this strong. How’s that possible when she’s a total klutz all the time?
“Can I ever beat you…?”
“You don’t need to defeat me now. What’s more, if you defeat me now, won’t it to be too short? You just need to fight monsters and gain experience for now.”
What exactly is going to be too short?
“So there’s no other choice but to fight monsters?”
“Of course. Then I’ll continue summoning now.”
Whatever. There aren’t Heroes who can defeat the Demon King so suddenly anyway.
Mano restarted the summoning process, ignoring me who was just a little depressed.
This time, something that was more than double the size of everything that she’s summoned so far appeared.
It was a cyclops two or three times my height.
“Woahhh! This thing looks like it can flatten me in one hit!”
It looked super strong, holding a large stick and sporting horns.
The cyclops roared excitedly, which was a little too much for me.
I’ll give it to you straight… I can’t fight that!
“I made sure it can’t move this time, just try!”
“Impossible, impossible! Its muscles look super strong!”
“It’s fine. These type of monsters always have a weak point at their eyes.”
“I can’t reach its eyes even if I execute a perfect high jump!”
“Then… Erm… Wait for the monster to kneel down?”
“That will only happen when I defeat it right!?”
No, this is not the time to be talking about this.
The cyclops glanced at me, sending tremors through the ground as it turned towards me.
What the heck is this, why is it so clumsy?
“Good luck, Souta!”
“It’s impossible! This thing isn’t even human!”
“Of course it’s not! It’s a monster.”
“Make it stop! Stop! Stop!”
I desperately begged Mano to make the cyclops stop. Then the cyclops suddenly froze.
Ah, that was scary. It’s impossible for someone like me to fight those monsters that would usually appear near the boss room. Mano grumbled to me with an annoyed expression:
“Souta… Can’t you come up with some way to solve this?”
“Even if you say that…”
“Ah, I know. Why don’t you try to at least have the aura of a Hero?”
“Hmm… The aura of a Hero…”
So she wants me to imitate her act as the Demon King?
Despite having no confidence whatsoever, I guess I will just give it a shot.
I took a deep breath and calmed my heartbeat.
Concentrate, believe you are the Hero.
The Hero.
I am the Hero.
“………Monster who dares disturb the peace of this land…!”
I drew my sword and stared straight at the cyclops before declaring:
“As the Hero, I am going to take you down!”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Eh?
What happened?
Why did it become quiet all of a sudden?
“Eh… Mano? What’s wrong?”
She stood frozen to the ground.
Did I say something weird?
“………So Hero-like…”
“Eh?”
“W-Wait! H-How do I put this…? I-I was shocked, I was shocked at how good you– No, that’s not it! What’s this?!”
She stammered out something incomprehensible.
“Er… Was is really that strange?”
“I-It’s not strange! That was so cool! It will definitely work! Do it again! Quick, try fighting it!”
The cyclops who had started to move, stared at me once again.
“Wait, wait! That was an act! There’s no way I can defeat this thing!”
Ignoring what I said, the cyclops continued charging at me.
It was extremely fast considering its extremely large size.
There’s only one choice now, run!
If I’m caught, I’m a goner!
“……Err… Souta? That’s not good. What happened to your spirit?!”
“L-Like I said, th-that’s just an act…”
I was panting and laying down on the ground after I ran around the gym for quite a bit.
“Eh? Is that so…? But you being able to act so Hero-like, makes me feel that you’re a little… a little handsome? Or is it…”
Mano was stammering about something again. I couldn’t really understand what she was saying.
“Phew… Wh-What?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! I-It’s about time I summoned the next monster!”
Mano hurriedly started summoning the next monster.
There wasn’t even any need for her to be so rushed…
“How cruel… Let me rest for a while…”
“You’re really unreliable, you know? Why are you always like this…”
Mano tilted her head and was muttering under her breath. For some reason, I felt that she was glaring at me.
What happened? Does she want me to stand up because she’s summoning a monster?
To be honest, I’m tired of fighting. But if there were any H-Game elements, I will definitely be able to get up…
Ah, I just thought of something good.
“Er, I want to try fighting a specific monster.”
“What is it?”
“Er… How about a succubus?”
I definitely did not have any lewd thoughts. It was definitely not because I wanted to see a sexy, busty female monster that would usually appear in an H-Game, OK?
“…………It feels like your gaze just became perverted. Rejected.”
Oh.
“Th-There’s no such thing! I just wanted to touch– Wait, I just wanted to meet an opponent stronger than me! That’s right, I just wanted to meet an opponent stronger than me!”
“Really now?”
Mano’s glare was freezing cold. How mean of her, she even made me say the cool part twice.
“I get it! Then it’s fine! Any female monster without a top is fine!”
“Why do you make it sound like you’ve made a compromise or something?! It became even worse!”
“Eh? Then it’s OK if it’s the bottom half?”
“This…… There’s no hope for this guy…… Why is he always like this…”
Mano exhaled deeply, retaining her shocked expression.
…Would it be better if they were completely naked?
