I Am Not the Heroine

How many can pierce the heart of a giant of fire that seems like it will burn everything to ashes in one leap?

Most people wouldn’t be able to do it.

Even with a will full of determination, the intense heat crushing flesh would make it difficult to even approach.

But he was not like most people.

Swoosh!

With surprising ease, he leapt onto the giant, darting straight to its heart and stabbed the giant’s chest with the Holy Sword.

“Is he really the Hero…?”

No matter how much I gave him a heat-resistant robe, that feat was not easy.

It was the will that only a Hero could possess and the influence of the sun’s mana that only a Hero could use.

“Nia Bella…!”

“Rozen, just wait a little longer. Then your friend will come out.”

“Y-yes… huff!”

As I said, the Hero was about to bring someone back from the giant’s heart.

The girl with red hair cradled in the Hero’s arms was none other than Nia Bella.

And the giant of fire, stripped of Nia Bella, began to collapse.

“No!”

The heavy head of the giant fell, crashing down on the Hero and Nia Bella.

It was practically like being covered in molten lava.

I took out the Master Key, preparing to respond to the next situation.

But it turned out to be unnecessary.

“Ah!”

‘I was counting on you…’

The reason for the burn in the original work was probably because of the giant’s head.

But this time, thanks to my robe, the Hero’s body bore no scars.

I let out a sigh of relief as I secretly patted my chest.

“Rui, can you check on his condition?”

The Hero doused the flames clinging to him and carefully laid Nia Bella down.

Only then could I face her properly.

Long waves of red hair.

A petite nose and red eyes that seemed to twinkle.

And beneath that… her chest.

‘Small.’

It was small.

But that was only when compared to Ariya, Serelin, and Rapirie.

“………”

Looking down subtly, I again glanced at Nia Bella’s chest.

No matter how I compared it to the three, she was significantly smaller than me.

To put it simply, she was bigger.

Just bigger.

I had felt reassured because the original described her as small.

So it must be that she was just a little smaller than the three.

Deciding to ignore this absurd truth, I slowly examined Nia Bella’s condition.

“Mana exhaustion. No significant wounds or scars.”

Her breathing was shallow, her chest rising slightly as she was merely unconscious.

“Thank goodness…”

Rozen, relieved by my words, plopped down to the ground.

“Hero, please stay with them for a moment.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because I have to deal with that giant.”

The giant of fire began to collapse upon losing Nia Bella, but it did not stop its advance.

Before the moon’s mana could be entirely absorbed into the ground, I had to gather even a single grain and inject it back into Nia Bella.

“Master Key.”

I took out a large pipe-like mana absorption device from the Space of Space and synced it with the Master Key.

Since I already knew the mana absorption principle through the Ultimate Star-spear, it didn’t take long to create it.

“Absorb.”

Kugugug…

A strong wind began to suck the remnants left by the giant through the pipe.

The giant reached out to the city as if to resist but couldn’t escape its fate of being sucked into the pipe.

Hoo…

There was a slight issue with the pipe melting from the heat emitted by the giant, but still, I was able to absorb all the mana safely.

‘Is it Nia Bella’s strength in creating flame coated with mithril-likeness, or the Hero’s strength in enduring such heat?’

Well, the answer was that both were oddly strong.

I used magic to process the moon’s mana obtained with the Master Key into a more easily transferrable form and returned to the Hero.

“Hero! Hero! Hero…!”

“………”

“Ah, no. I mean, first, loosen your arms… Rui, Rui.”

And there, I found the Hero wrapped around Nia Bella.

“Ah, no! It’s not like that! Nia Bella suddenly woke up and…!”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“Huh?”

“Finish up and come join us. I’ll go ahead.”

“Wait, wait a second…!”

Seeing the two, who had barely spent 5 minutes together, in a show of affection, I turned away and hopped onto Knight Lux with Rozen.

‘Well, she’s a heroine after all.’

Nia Bella had admired the heroes from fairy tales since childhood, and since she was the official fourth heroine, it made total sense.

Thump.

“Let’s go. The city is probably in chaos by now.”

“Yes, yes…”

For some reason, as if sensing my presence, Rozen sighed toward Nia Bella, and we soon arrived back in the city.

The city we arrived at was… as expected, a mess.

*

“The evidence goes here, the clearly guilty ones there.”

“Yes!”

“Move quickly!”

Serelin was commanding the city guard and resident adventurers with impeccable precision.

“Serelin.”

“Ah, Rui? Is everything done?”

“Yes. I was able to rescue Nia Bella safely. The giant is gone too.”

“Ah… but what about Aswel?”

“Seems like he’s too busy, so I left him.”

“Uh…? Anyway, I’m almost done too. These people are really helping me ‘kindly.'”

The nearby guards flinched at Serelin’s menacing words.

It looked like she had used a carrot-and-stick approach to get their cooperation.

Using leniency for minor crimes as a bargaining chip, perhaps.

In a way, I felt like I was seeing more of Serelin as a noble than as a swordswoman since coming to this city.

“But are you going to leave all this here?”

Evidence of embezzlement and criminals lay scattered on the ground.

It was far too much for the Hero party to cart away.

“Ah, there’s Count Kalkan’s house nearby. He’s a renowned smith who has dueled with me often.”

“Ah ha.”

Unlike Serelin, who was merely a minor noble, a true count would make a difference.

He’d now be using this evidence for something tasty.

“And Rapirie and Ariya are…”

“They’re over there.”

As I turned to the direction Serelin was pointing, I saw the two glaring icily at people.

One was berating city officials, and the other was near some church authorities, almost in a state of rampage.

‘If the Hero party disbanded, they could easily get jobs as tax collectors or inspectors…’

Honestly, they seemed more lively than when they were hunting the demon race or magical creatures.

But even so, I couldn’t say such a thing to the Elf Princess and Saint of the Hero party, so I tucked that thought deep down.

“Oh, you’re back.”

At Serelin’s words, I turned to see the Hero stepping down from Tempest with Nia Bella.

The Hero perfectly escorted her down by holding her hand gently.

“She’s pretty…”

I felt a sense of agreement with Serelin’s words as I approached the two.

“Rui…”

“Nia Bella, please take this.”

“What is this…?”

I handed her the moon’s mana I successfully processed with the Master Key.

The sparkling pill made from the moon’s mana would settle properly back into her body as soon as she swallowed it.

“Ah… thank you…”

Nia Bella accepted the pill with both hands, looking like a big baby bird.

A quiet yet firm presence—Ariya.

Strong yet shy—Serelin.

Cheerful yet serious—Rapirie.

Nia Bella had a different atmosphere and personality from the three heroines.

With a soft impression, a matching calm voice, and speech filled with hope.

If someone saw her for the first time, they’d mistake her for a foreign saint.

It was easy to be confused about whether she was the sorceress controlling the giant of fire and calamity.

“Aswel, I’ve already tidied up things here. Everyone was really cooperative.”

“Ah, yeah…”

Whenever Serelin spoke, the Hero kept glancing my way.

That gaze was oddly distracting, and I eventually approached Nia Bella, who was awkwardly standing there.

“Nia Bella.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Ah, a… yes…”

I turned back to Serelin and the Hero.

“I’ll be right back after talking with her for a moment. It won’t take long.”

“Okay, understood.”

“………Right.”

A moment later, I led her into an alleyway.

“Nia Bella!”

“Ah, Rozen!”

The blue-haired girl and the red-haired girl embraced each other with joy.

For a while, they held onto each other tightly, tears streaming down.

“I’m sorry… I should have listened to you…”

“You fool! Why did you go out in the early morning…! Hiccup, don’t do that again!”

I quietly waited until they finished talking, refraining from interrupting.

After a while, the two gathered themselves and came over to me.

“Thank you, Rui-nim.”

“I also thank you.”

“What for? The Hero did all the work.”

I had only given him the robe.

Thump.

“Anyway, I wanted to propose something to Nia Bella, which is why I asked to talk separately.”

“A proposal…?”

“Yes.”

I cleared my throat and launched into the lines I had practiced repeatedly.

“Nia Bella, would you like to join the Hero party?”

“Ah…?”

I was asking if she wanted to become a member before the actual recruitment even began.

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