NOVEL NEXT chapter 1
1. When I woke up from brainwashing, my childhood friend had become the hero?
Long ago, a fierce battle raged on the surface due to the conflict between the goddess and the demon god, staining the land with the blood of humans and monsters.
As time passed, the war did not cease. The battle continued between the Demon King’s army, composed of demons and monsters, and the allied forces, made up of humanoid races.
◇◇◇
“One, two! Cheers!!!”
In the lively tavern, we led the toast.
“Chug, chug, gulp!!”
I downed my ale with gusto.
Our party’s priestess, Elcia, frowned and admonished me.
“Hey! Elg! If you drink that fast, it’ll affect tomorrow’s A-rank badge ceremony!!”
Our party’s magician, Kelt, intervened.
“Well, well, it’s a celebratory day, so we should let loose a little to truly relax, right?”
Thus, we became the youngest to achieve A-rank.
At first, it was just me and our party leader, Hal.
Then our group grew to four.
It has been a long journey; I became an adventurer at thirteen,
and it has been eight years since our current members came together…
We fought against a massive chimera created by the Demon King’s army
and emerged victorious. In light of that achievement, we were
promoted to A-rank party at the youngest age!
At that moment, I heard a loud thud as a glass was slammed down beside me.
“Hey, hey! Are you even listening to me?”
It was our party leader, the swordsman Hal, leaning in to listen.
“Ah, sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
I said it without any malice.
“Hey! Ignoring Hal like that—what kind of sentiment were you lost in? Spill it!”
Suddenly, Elcia leaned forward, eager to hear.
“Well, I was thinking about how far we’ve come; it feels both long and short at the same time.”
As soon as I said that, Hal exclaimed,
“Still saying things like that? Our adventure is just beginning!”
He raised his voice towards the tavern, and the atmosphere grew even more lively with revelry.
The next day,
I thought we had successfully made it through the badge ceremony despite a hangover when suddenly,
“Emergency! Emergency! The Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army are marching towards this city!!”
A guard shouted, breathless, his voice echoing through the square.
“What?! That’s serious! Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
The lord, who was overseeing the situation, raised his voice.
I called out. We immediately returned to the waiting room, prepared ourselves, and headed to the scene.
It was hell.
The city’s defense forces were already fighting, but
the situation was dire, with a massive horde visible all the way to the horizon, and then there was that Four Heavenly King.
The puppet master, Melgiah, was a wicked b*stard who sent the fallen soldiers back at us as puppets.
The sight of this made the adventurers want to retreat,
their spirits crushed.
Seeing this, Hal raised his voice.
“We will carve our path! And we will take the head of the Four Heavenly King! Follow me!!”
His words inspired courage in everyone, generating an inexhaustible strength.
◇◇◇
We gave it our all and reached Melgiah, but at the last moment, Hal was defeated.
“Ku ku ku… Ki ka ka!”
Melgiah laughed, all of his many compound eyes fixed on Hal.
Our party was already in shambles.
The disparity in strength was overwhelming.
Elcia had already collapsed from magical exhaustion.
The only ones still able to move were Kelt and me, who had been protecting our comrades.
“This is bad, Elg. Hal is going to be turned into a puppet…”
Kelt said, trembling with fear.
Seeing this, I steeled myself.
“Kelt, you can use flight magic, right?”
I asked, suppressing the tremor in my voice.
“Yeah, I can, but it’ll take at least 15 seconds…”
I understood it would take 15 seconds.
“Kelt, I’ll be the decoy. You use your magic.”
Kelt was taken aback and immediately replied,
“No way! What about you, Elg?!”
I said no more and stepped in between Hal and Melgiah.
—
Seeing that, Melgia looked at me and smiled defiantly.
Ah, another toy has come. I felt that kind of intent.
I had made up my mind to protect with all my might.
“Immovable Holy Wall!”
A thin, glowing membrane enveloped me and Haru.
Melgia, seeing this, tried to use the soldiers to destroy it.
Gagiiiiiiiiin.
The sound of metal bending overlapped.
Seeing that, Melgia mobilized the nearby soldiers to try to break the wall.
“Th… this is tougher than I expected.”
I endure; this skill will continue to hold the wall until my magic runs out.
But I can buy time—just barely in time!
“Giiiiiiii!”
Melgia grew increasingly frustrated with the formation of the flight magic circle.
Melgia gathered magic power and swung it toward us.
In that moment, the Celtic magic circle was completed, but I—
Ran out of magic and was hit head-on, sent flying.
In the instant I lost consciousness, I saw Celt’s face.
That face was a mess of panic and tears.
Ah, don’t cry like that; we’re not defeated yet…
◇◇◇
And when I woke up, I found myself on some kind of rubble.
“Eh? Where? What is this place?”
I couldn’t maintain my composure as I looked around, but all I could see was a mountain of collapsed debris, with nothing in particular around.
“What’s going on?”
I had been knocked out by Melgia… so that’s it!
—
“Could it be… I was brainwashed…?”
After being hit so hard in a fit of rage, I thought I might have been killed…
“So, I survived after all…”
For now, I needed to escape this place and entered the nearby forest.
After a while, I found a road within the woods, and as I walked along it, a village came into view.
What I saw was an incredible festival atmosphere.
People were eating and drinking as if they were going to devour all the food in the town, and I had no idea what was happening.
Then, a person who seemed to be a gatekeeper spoke to me, standing there frozen at the entrance of the village.
“Oh! Are you a soldier of the Allied Forces? From your gear, it looks like it!! Come join us! It’s a festival today!”
It seemed he had already been drinking and was quite tipsy…
“W-why is there a festival happening?” I asked cautiously, and the gatekeeper replied,
“What? That’s obvious, isn’t it? The hero defeated the Demon King!!”
I was so shocked that I froze in place.
Without caring about my reaction, the gatekeeper continued,
“Moreover, that hero is none other than the S-rank party’s Holy Swordsman, Hal of the ‘Oath of Adventure’!!”
I was so taken aback that I let out a strange sound.
“Ugh? What?!”
The gatekeeper looked at me curiously but quickly turned away, returning to the festival with a bottle of alcohol in hand.
“No way…”
While I was being brainwashed, my childhood friend had become a hero…