This World Needs a Hero

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HELHEIM SCANS

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"I just installed the bomb in the engine room."

Those words echoed in hero’s ears like thunder, making hik feel faint.

Suddenly, he recalled a nickname Yussi had in Rosenstark a long time ago.

Crazy woman.

No.

Hero shook his head immediately.

No matter how reckless Yussi was, she wouldn't go to such extremes.

Blowing up the mobile fortress on which all of humanity's hopes and dreams depended?

Hero spoke with certainty.

"That's a lie."

"Yeah."

Yussi answered breezily.

"I lied just like you."

"…I thought so."

"Right, why would I blow it up after investing so much in this? That'd be unprofessional."

Then she casually knocked on the captain's room door with her hand.

"Open this for me. We can't just stand in the hallway."

Her nonchalant attitude on unfamiliar ground was unexpected, even for me, who had replicated her not too long ago.

It seemed a lot had changed in her mindset over time.

Bzzz—

Yussi walked through the opened door with steady steps.

A voice whispered in my mind.

[Are you still not going to replicate her? Aren't you curious what's in that little head of hers?]

'Not now.'

[You really like taking the hard way, don't you?]

As Yussi headed towards the round table in the captain's room, she suddenly spoke up, her back still turned to me.

"By the way, there's something I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"A few weeks ago, at the bar."

"……."

"That was you, wasn't it?"

Hero decided not to lie anymore.

"Yes."

Surprised by his straightforward answer, Yussi's steps slowed for a moment before resuming their normal pace.

"Seems like you're done with lies now."

Thud—

Yussi sat down at the round table and stared at the hero.

Her gaze urged him to sit across from her.

They exchanged silent glances for about ten seconds.

Hero broke the uncomfortable silence first.

"You said it's a deal."

"Yeah, I brought something quite valuable. If the deal goes through, I'll give it to you."

"…Something valuable?"

She was confident.

Yussi had never lost her identity as a merchant.

If she considered it valuable in such a situation, it must indeed be useful.

'She said she went into the demonic realm to find me over the past three years. Did she get it there?'

But after a moment, hero shook my head slowly.

"You have a debt to me. If there's something you want, just say it. You don't need to offer anything in return."

"…A debt, huh."

Yussi's usually calm expression trembled slightly at that moment.

"I told you, I'm here for a deal."

"……."

"I don't want any favors without a return… anymore."

Her stubborn expression seemed to reject any objections.

Hero nodded and sat across from her.

"If you're that insistent, then let's hear your terms."

"First…."

She pointed her slender finger at his face.

"Get rid of that hard-to-look-at face."

"……?"

"Show me the hero."

He froze for a moment at her unexpected request.

He didn't expect Yussi, of all people, to ask him to polymorph into Ted.

'I thought she hated me taking his form.'

But at the same time, he understood.

…Humans sometimes seek irrational comfort.

he complied with her request without further questioning.

"Turn around for a moment."

"Okay."

Without a word, she turned her chair around.

Hero polymorphed into Ted for the first time in a long while.

The height of his perspective increased suddenly, and gray hair covered my vision.

Crack—

Only the sound of bones cracking echoed in the now quiet captain's room.

After transforming his robe into the suit Ted usually wore in Rosenstark, I was about to call Yussi… but he hesitated.

Her shoulders were trembling slightly.

"Yussi."

At the familiar voice, her trembling increased.

Slowly, Yussi turned her chair back to its original position and spoke calmly.

"This is just as hard to look at."

With that, she began to cry suddenly.

It was a strange and sad sight.

Her cold expression remained the same, but transparent blue tears flowed continuously from her eyes.

Quietly, but relentlessly.

The tears ran down her cheeks and soaked the collar of her uniform.

Hero said nothing as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and took a deep breath.

Her reddened eyes looked at him.

She seemed filled with both longing and confusion.

It was as if she was reminiscing about old memories for a moment.

"What I want…"

Before he knew it, she had switched back to formal speech.

But he had no intention of correcting her.

Hero nodded quietly.

"Tell me about the Ted Redymer I don't know."

"The Ted you don't know?"

"Yes. I've been away from him… for too long."

Indeed.

Eight years ago, Yussi had to leave the Dawn Knights due to her injuries.

Worried about her forcing herself onto the battlefield, Ted had ordered her to Rosenstark after much deliberation.

That's why she begrudgingly took on the role of principal.

…And it was around that time that he met Ted.

By a twist of fate, he had experienced the years she hadn't, the years she didn't know about Ted Redymer, up close.

Desperately, she bowed her head, seeking that piece of him.

"Tell me."

"……."

"Anything. I need to know."

He nodded.

The Ted Redymer that Yussi didn't know...

Many things came to his mind.

It was a side of Ted Redymer that many people, not just her, didn't know.

'Yes.'

Even before the final battle began, he had wanted to leave this with someone.

"Ted was…."

* * *

It was after the battle ended and Ted returned to the hideout as usual.

"Oswell, Veloke, Rikart, Aelgar. Remember these names."

I held the needle.

It was the first 'inscription' he entrusted to me.

The crooked letters he had inscribed himself were on the upper part of his back.

I moved the ink-soaked needle to the center of his back, where his hand couldn't reach anymore.

'Not much space….'

But even without the tattoos, there wasn't much room.

New wounds, like fish scales, covered his back.

Carefully, I started inscribing the names Ted had mentioned, avoiding the wounds.

"Uh… let me know if it hurts."

There was no way a needle would hurt him.

But Ted clenched his teeth as if the tiny letters hurt more than the wounds that were a few handbreadths wide.

Then he quietly murmured.

"…It hurts."

At those words, I would stop the needle and look away.

Because I wasn't skilled enough to inscribe neat letters on a trembling back.

.

.

.

"Would things have turned out better if it weren't for me?"

The hideout had a lot of alcohol.

"There must have been someone more suitable to be the hero."

"Not really."

"If he had led my comrades, the outcome might have been better. Maybe I took the opportunity from such a hero by stepping up hastily."

"That's not true. Who could do better than you?"

"…Sometimes, I envy your certainty."

These were the kinds of drinks that brought out someone's weaknesses, focusing more on inebriation than flavor.

Sometimes Ted would drink them straight from the container, as if feeling a deep hunger.

"No, I don't even have to go that far."

"Uh, you're drinking too much."

"If I had thought things through more carefully and made better strategies… if I had trained harder with my sword."

"How could you train harder here?"

"Many things would have been different."

Ted flailed towards the unreachable spot on his back.

"My incompetence… my lack of ability killed them."

…Recalling up to this point, I thought about how Yussi remembered Ted.

An indomitable leader.

A man who never lost his decisiveness and composure, even under the worst conditions.

Always presenting the best solution, leading the organization with iron determination.

…One sad thing about Ted Redymer was that most people in the world believed he was an unfaltering superhuman.

What's sadder is that he intended it that way.

"……."

Yussi couldn't continue her words.

The hand clutching her chest tightened, as if suffocating.

"I… I…."

I could tell what she wanted to say without hearing it.

It was unreasonable despair.

How could someone who wasn't a god take responsibility for all the world's tragedies?

There was no need to, in the first place.

More people were saved by your competence than were killed by your incompetence.

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HELHEIM SCANS

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But I also couldn't say those words aloud.

Because I thought my shallow words wouldn't be enough to comfort the despair he felt from such a high and deep perspective compared to mine.

Anyway, those occasional laments gradually decreased in frequency.

When his broad back was finally filled with the names of his comrades.

Ted seemed to shake off all his worries and pains and began heading to the battlefield… and not long after, he died in the battle against the Demon King.

* * *

The silence in the captain's room lasted long.

"……."

"……."

Yussi, not being a fool, must have vaguely guessed the pain hidden behind Ted's strong exterior.

The other comrades must have too.

But hearing it from someone who had observed it firsthand was a completely different experience.

"……."

Yussi's expression was hidden by her hair falling forward.

After a long while, she spoke.

"You've met the condition, so I'll give you the reward."

"…Alright."

She brushed away the hair covering her face and said.

Her face was as dry as when she first entered the captain's room.

It didn't seem like she intended to share her feelings with hero.

'I hope she doesn't blame herself too much.'

He wasn't foolish enough to think she would be unaffected.

Of course, Yussi was fundamentally ruthlessly indifferent to others.

…But her empathy, narrow and rare, ran very deep when it did surface.

Especially if the subject was Ted.

"It's fine…."

Yussi cut me off, turning her head.

"That's enough. Change back to your original form."

His original form.

He pondered whether to replicate Ignotus's appearance or the original, choosing the latter.

Crack—

Yussi stared at me intently for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"The Three Sacred Treasures."

"……?"

"You must know about them."

…Back to business.

He nodded.

The Three Sacred Treasures were relics from the First Era, the most powerful among all relics.

The Black Hope, a greatsword that granted the highest level of gravity magic, "Domain."

The White Despair, which had belonged to Larze but was now destroyed by Theo, offered positive effects to all types of magic.

And lastly, the re-colored peace, known only as an armor artifact with unknown location and detailed abilities.

[PR/N: The true name of ‘re-colored’ peace will be revealed soon.]

He muttered, a thought crossing my mind.

"Could it be…."

Yussi nodded.

"While searching the demonic realm for you, I found a clue about the re-colored peace."

A giant anticipation stirred in his chest at that moment.

'Re-colored peace.'

Though its exact abilities were unknown, he had personally experienced how extraordinary the Black Hope and White Despair were.

If the re-colored peace was of similar caliber, it would be a tremendous help in the upcoming battle.

'Another stroke of fortune, after Arpheus.'

At that moment, the voice whispered again.

[Hmm, I don't know the details about the re-colored peace either. Intriguing.]

'…I was already anxious about the battle with the Demon King, but this is good news.'

[With your current level, a head-on confrontation is impossible. You'll need artifacts like these just to survive.]

He immediately asked Yussi.

"You said you found a clue. Do you have the actual item?"

"Half of it."

"Half?"

"The Re-colored Peace consists of two parts."

Hero tilted his head in confusion.

"Two parts?"

He knew the Re-colored Peace as an artifact similar to the 'Boen' my comrades had made for me in the past—a ring that transformed into armor when its owner infused it with magic.

By the way, Boen was damaged beyond repair in the battle with Yol.

"No. The Re-colored Peace isn't armor. That was a misunderstanding passed down because its previous owner had a similar artifact. It's actually a ring and a necklace. Two parts."

"…A ring and a necklace?"

Clink—

Yussi, as if she had nothing more to say, pulled a black necklace from her pocket and placed it on the round table.

It was exactly the same color as the Black Hope.

At that moment, an eerie intuition crept over him.

Yussi continued in a calm voice.

"You already have the other part."

An incomprehensible statement.

But he quickly realized the truth.

"…Nouvelmag told you."

"I repaired 17 of the 18 artifacts in the key. I couldn't touch one."

When the hero first received Valber's Key from Nouvelmag and explored its contents, he found a ring that had no function.

Nouvelmag couldn't identify it either, but it was carefully stored in Valber's subspace for some reason.

The color was…

"It was pure white."

Clang—

Yussi pushed the black necklace towards the hero.

"Combined, they become Recolored."

Herp slowly picked it up and asked.

"Do you know its function?"

Yussi hesitated for a moment before speaking, her face contorted strangely.

It was a look of regret and longing for an impossible scenario, which he only understood after hearing her explanation.

"It will prevent unavoidable death."

"……?"

"I'm not sure if it's a recovery artifact, a defensive one, or something that causes an incomprehensible miracle. But that's what the record said."

He looked at the necklace in my palm.

A thin chain and a circular medal.

Aside from the color, there was nothing special about it, just like the ring in the subspace.

The design and aura were simple.

Maybe the function would activate when worn together with the ring.

'An ability to avoid destined death, what could it be?'

[…A human who gives an extra life to a doppelganger]

While hero and ??? were lost in different thoughts, Yussi suddenly stood up with a dry expression.

Hero hurriedly spoke.

"Thank you…."

"I refuse any thanks or any kind of significance."

"……."

"I'm a rational alchemist and a calculating merchant. I judged that the Re-colored Peace would be most useful in your hands."

After saying that, she strode across the captain's room with her long legs.

But instead of leaving immediately, she stopped in front of the door.

Her fists clenched tightly at the seams of her pants.

"…You said you tried to replicate not only the hero's appearance but also his actions perfectly."

"That's true."

He was surprised that Yussi brought up such a sensitive topic, but he affirmed it.

"Then what was that act of healing my limbs with the Divine Touch?"

"…What?"

"Did you do it just because you can heal any wound and because there was no better use at the moment? Or…."

He knew exactly what she was asking and what she was curious about.

So he cut her off.

"There is something called understanding."

"…What?"

"It's a value that increases the more accurately and deeply you grasp your subject. As it rises, doppelgangers gain many advantages in replication."

He briefly explained the concept.

"When I used the Divine Touch to heal you."

Yussi still faced away.

But hero could vividly picture her expression as if it were right in front of him.

"My understanding of Ted increased."

"……."

"Just because he left you and couldn't be with you during tough times didn't mean he didn't think of you as a comrade."

There was no response.

Thud—!

The captain's room door closed.

Hero continued speaking calmly.

"And I also want you to stay with us until the end of this journey."

The sound of her footsteps faded a few seconds later.

* * *

The next day.

As soon as all the warriors boarded the Avalon, preparations for the final decisive battle began in earnest.

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HELHEIM SCANS

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