I Am Hailed As A Hero

“I see. That was rather thoughtless of me to ask. My apologies.”

“N-not at all.”

I was surprised that the ruler of an entire kingdom had apologized so readily.

I’d always assumed that royalty weren’t the sort of people who apologized so easily.

“Ah, in a small kingdom like Tilt, we can’t afford to fuss over the king’s dignity at every turn. If I think I’ve done something wrong, I’ll apologize. And sometimes I lose my temper and end up arguing with people, too! Hahaha!”

He seemed like a very approachable king.

But perhaps someone like him suited me better than the stiff, formal atmosphere of Elmeda.

“Once again, I look forward to working with you, Aerial and Flare.”

“Likewise, Your Majesty.”

Flare and I bowed simultaneously.

Later, during the banquet, the king summoned me to the stage.

“Allow me to introduce Aerial Wind-dono, the hero who saved our royal capital. I hope he will continue to distinguish himself for many years to come as a member of the defense force tasked with confronting the mysterious monsters known as Apostles.”

That was how he introduced me to the assembled guests.

As thunderous applause filled the hall, I almost felt as though I’d truly become a hero.

Me, the one who’d been banished from his family for being “useless” and “incompetent”—

Me, who’d grown up suffering abuse, perhaps because I wasn’t their biological child, and who’d been coldly banished a second time even after acquiring [Skill Appraisal: Ultimate]—

A hero who’d saved a kingdom, huh?

It felt a little embarrassing, but I was proud all the same.

“I’m glad we came today.”

I smiled as I said that to Flare on our way home.

“I’m proud of you as your little sister, too.”

Flare smiled brightly.

“And we received a generous reward, so we won’t have to worry about living expenses for quite a while.”

“Thank you, Brother.”

“You helped me a lot with earning Skill Points, after all. We might as well consider this money something we earned together.”

I said to Flare.

“So I’m the one who should be thanking you, Flare.”

“Brother…!”

Flare threw her arms around me.

She really was an affectionate little sister, I thought, as I wrapped my arms around her in return.

Then, the following day.

“Now then. We’ve got another monster extermination quest today, but—”

Flare and I had accepted a monster extermination job at the Adventurers’ Guild.

Of course, our main objective was to accumulate even more Skill Points.

After all, I’d spent 90,000 points evolving nine skills during the battle against the Apostle.

“So you’re coming with us today, Zels?”

That’s right. Normally, Ram accompanied us, but she wasn’t available today.

Apparently, she had some joint training exercises that she absolutely couldn’t miss.

So Zels, the mage, had agreed to accompany us instead.

“By now, you could practically be called the main fighting force of the Shield of Hope. I’m rather jealous, I must admit… But I’ll lend you a hand in becoming even stronger.”

Zels gave a dismissive snort.

“You should be grateful.”

“Yeah, that’s a big help. Thanks, Zels.”

“D-don’t thank me so directly! You’re embarrassing me!”

He snapped at me, but I was sure he was just terribly embarrassed.

All right, time to work hard on another extermination quest today!