The Former Hero Begins to be Re-evaluated

As I was leaving the Empire, I checked my possessions.

An already worn-out sword, a little bread to eat, a few gold coins, this was all my property.

“If I had known it would come to this, I would have looked out for myself.”

I couldn’t help but think that I had really lived without greed…

In fact, being a hero wasn’t just anyone’s job, and of course, if one wanted to fill their pockets, it was a position where you could fill them as much as you wanted.

Starting from potion costs, equipment costs, rewards for requests, support funds from nobles, and so on.

There were many ways money could come in, and there was no one to monitor that money.

It could be said that it was a very good condition for embezzlement.

But I didn’t embezzle anything.
Even though I could have, I didn’t touch even a hair’s breadth of it.

“I’m the fool for trusting such people. Sigh.”

The reason wasn’t that I didn’t have greed for money.

It was just because I believed that the Empire would take care of my share on their own.

In the past, I believed that even if I didn’t bother to take care of this and that myself, if I worked hard, they would naturally take care of things for me.

That’s how hard I worked as a hero, and how much I trusted the Empire.

I thought that if the Empire had any sense, they would give me appropriate wealth at an appropriate time.
I was confident that I didn’t need to commit crimes like embezzlement.
I believed that any normal person would naturally take care of things for me.

“Ah, I’m starting to get angry again.”
But this was the result. After all that effort, to be exiled.

Looking at my empty wallet, I felt my heart emptying as well.

Should I just go back to the imperial palace now and beat them all up? If I wanted to, I could certainly do it.

It was a moment when I felt somewhat agitated, but I decided not to do it.

Because anyway, what I was planning to do from now on was to farm moderately in the countryside. Of course, I didn’t need money for such a thing, and even if I needed money, it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Although I had been stripped of my hero status and exiled from the Empire, my body was still that of a hero.

If I put my mind to it, I could earn money anytime.

And also, I didn’t want to go back to the imperial palace just to get a few coins, and for various other reasons, I gave up on returning to the imperial palace.

“For now, let’s leave the Empire right away.”
Dirty and petty bastards.

Rather, I was filled with the desire to leave this place right now.

Because I hated being in the same place as them.
Money wasn’t important anyway, so let’s just leave right away.

“Excuse me. Can I ask for directions? What’s the nearest village around here?”

“The nearest village from here would be Helena Village, are you going there?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

I went to a coachman resting in a carriage and asked.

The coachman answered my question, but his expression wasn’t very good.

When I left the imperial palace, I returned the armor and weapons worn by heroes, so my current appearance was no different from an adventurer wearing old clothes.

So looking at my shabby appearance, he couldn’t have had a very good impression.

The coachman was also someone who takes money to carry passengers.
I understand his feelings because I know my appearance is terrible.

“Here. Is this enough?”

“Gasp… I’ll serve you comfortably.”

I threw a gold coin to the coachman.

The coachman’s eyes widened at the sight of the gold coin, and his expression towards me completely changed.

It was the moment when I changed from a insignificant adventurer to a customer he must serve.

Money seems to be good after all.

The coachman got up from his seat and told me to get on the carriage quickly.

He seemed to want to carry me quickly, afraid that I might change my mind.

I didn’t dislike the coachman’s behavior. Because I wanted to leave this place quickly without delay too.

I got on the carriage, and immediately the coachman drove the carriage out of the Empire.
The horse started to run vigorously towards the next destination.

“By the way, what did you do, sir? Why are you leaving the Empire?”

“Well, I have my reasons.”

After driving for about 30 minutes, the coachman, probably bored, spoke to me.

Asking me what I did, well, I was a hero until yesterday.

I could tell the truth without any problem, but I decided not to.

If I said I was a hero, he would be surprised and ask this and that, and such reactions would be annoying.

As I gave a vague answer, the coachman brought up the story of the hero.
Huh…? He’s bringing up a story about me?

“Reasons, I don’t know what reasons, but leaving this place doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. It’s been quite turbulent these days.”

“What do you mean by turbulent?”

“You know. The hero of this generation, it seems he couldn’t defeat the Demon Lord. This has never happened in the history of the Empire. Thanks to that, we, the people of the Empire, are the only ones suffering.”

“…”

The hero you’re talking about is right in front of your eyes?
As expected, it wasn’t a good story. Logically, there’s no way good stories would come out after being exiled.

Still, it was annoying.
I felt a slight irritation rising as I listened to the coachman’s words.

At first, I was a bit surprised that the fact that I couldn’t defeat the Demon Lord had spread so quickly that even a mere coachman knew about it, but thinking about it, it wasn’t that surprising.

No doubt, the people of the Empire had already spread rumors before kicking me out.

They’re really spreading all sorts of rumors.

There was no trace of respect for the former hero who had worked hard all this time.

I was already disgusted, but now I feel disgusted to the bone.

“Sigh. Why is the hero of this generation so weak…”

“I’m not weak!!!”

“Pardon…?”

“It’s nothing.”
Calm down… calm down.
Realizing that I didn’t need to reveal that I was the hero, I quickly turned my head.

The coachman was startled by my sudden outburst, but I quickly brushed it off as if it was nothing, and the coachman just tilted his head and moved on.

The coachman seems to think something is strange, but he doesn’t seem to think I’m the hero.

Well, it’s a natural reaction. Logically, how could he think I’m the hero? He’ll just think he misheard. I seem to have managed to get past it somehow.

But regardless of that, the words I just heard are really unbearable no matter when I hear them.

The word ‘weak’, it was a word that made me angry to an unbearable degree.

I am objectively not weak. This is not just my own thinking, but I am truly strong for a hero.

I’m strong enough to slaughter any ordinary Demon Lord alone. I’ve never been called weak anywhere.

But the reason I couldn’t defeat the Demon Lord was because the opponent was as strong as I was.

The Demon Lord was the real deal. I had never encountered such a being before, and it was a strength that I would never encounter again.

It ended in a draw because it was me. If someone else had been the hero? They might have been slaughtered and the Empire conquered long ago.

‘Can the Empire handle that?’

But I, like this, was exiled from the Empire?

To be honest, I can’t picture the future of the Empire at all right now.

Now that I’m gone, no matter what the Empire does, I could only see a future where they’re destroyed by the Demon Lord.

I wonder how the Empire will overcome this situation? Do they have some kind of secret plan?

Such thoughts crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly dismissed them.

What’s the point of worrying about the future of the Empire now that I’ve already left.

It seems I’ve unnecessarily broadened my concerns while doing the hero’s work.

I’m no longer a hero, nor a person of the Empire.

They should take care of their own business.

“Sir. We’ve arrived. This is Helena Village.”

From now on, I just had to live my own life.
Whether the Empire prospers or falls, flourishes or perishes, it no longer concerned me.
I was no longer a hero, and I no longer had the obligation to solve the Empire’s problems.
From now on, I will live a new life in a new place.

#

Meanwhile, at that time in the Empire.
“Everyone, regrettably, the former hero failed to defeat the Demon Lord. He has tarnished the name of the past heroes.”
After Han Soo the hero was exiled, a chaotic atmosphere continued.
After all, exiling a hero is never a light matter, so it was unavoidable.
However, there was no time to be sentimental about it.
The Demon Lord was still alive, and there was still work to be done by a hero.
So, the Empire decided to select a new hero immediately.
“However, the new hero will not do that anymore. From now on, we will select a new hero. First, those who want to become a hero, please step forward.”

The chancellor gathered all the knights and said.

From now on, they would select a new hero, so those who want to apply should come forward.

He said he would give them the solemn opportunity to become a hero.

The knights knew how weighty it was to be able to become a hero, so a moment of silence followed.

However, that silence didn’t last very long.

Soon after, three people stepped forward.