Where did it all go wrong?
How did my party ever cross paths with the Hero Kael?
Was it that devastating loss against the Hero Valerius?
I don't know.
People call me a stupid, incompetent fool, driven by nothing more than a sense of justice. But even a fool like me knows exactly when the fall began.
It started with Elara.
Our party's wizard. The brilliant strategist who made up for my own lack of cleverness.
It was the night we camped alongside Valerius's party, after clearing out the Serpent's Pass.
I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. And that's when I saw them.
Elara and Valerius, kissing in an open field. The moonlight was picturesque, but the sight soured any beauty it held. I turned away and went back to my tent.
Next was Seraphina. A Saint Candidate from the Church of the Goddess Luminara, a woman with a naturally warm and kind heart.
I found her with a clerk from the mill, her expression one of shameless pleasure as he fucked her from behind. I'd never seen her look like that. But… even that was fine.
It had nothing to do with me. Who they dated, who they slept with—that was their own private life. My gut twisted… no, it hurt like hell, but in the end, I told myself it was okay.
But Fiora.
You…
You, who looked after me when I was just an orphan back in the village, always with a warm smile…
You, who swore you'd become a knight just to protect me… When I saw you on your knees, your eyes vacant while you licked Kael' cock… you'll never know what that felt like.
In that instant, every moment we had ever spent together shattered.
It was a complete and utter rejection of my entire being.
I couldn't stand it. My heart was torn to shreds, and there was no one left to piece it back together. I felt like that lonely orphan all over again, the one I was before I met you.
I wanted to die.
But I couldn't.
'Cause I'm a Hero.
I have a duty. A responsibility to save people from the monsters that plague them.
But you know what?
That duty I had always been so proud of… from that day on, it felt impossibly heavy.
It was a crushing weight I longed to set down, but couldn't.
That's why.
That's why I'm here, performing this strange ritual, clinging to the words of a suspicious old woman.
She said if I spill my blood on this magic circle, my existence will be erased. A new soul will inhabit my body in my place.
…I feel sorry for whoever that is.
But I can't go on. I'm just so tired.
From the persecution for being a commoner to the scorn for my lack of skill… you were the only reason I was ever able to laugh.
Not anymore.
Now… there's no one left.
So I can't stop.
The dagger sliced open my palm, and my blood dripped onto the magic circle. The old woman's sigils flared with a sickly light, and my consciousness began to blur.
Ah… it's finally over.
The promise of eternal rest drew a smile from me for the first time in a long, long time.
A new Hero will take my place.
Please… just don't make the same mistakes I did.