♧♧♧
It has been two years since I was transferred to this world, during which I have stopped numerous stampedes and saved many cities and villages. Around this time, I was level 124, and had grown strong enough to wipe out a stampede of monsters on my own using my Guardian skill. However, it wasn’t as if I always made it in time to prevent any casualties. The threat of monsters was increasing in various places, and many people were being attacked and killed by them, even when there wasn’t a stampede.
I want to save at least the people within my reach. With that in mind, whenever I heard about the appearance of high-ranking monsters or the occurrence of a stampede, Tina and I would rush to the scene. I would go to the front lines and hold back the monsters. In the meantime, Tina would go around healing the injured and defeating any monsters I missed that had entered the city. That was our recent strategy. And this time, it wasn’t just Tina and me who had come to this city of Gareth.
“Oh, the monsters are already wiped out. You’re pretty good, Haruto.”
The Hero, Takatou, who had been transferred by the Creator God of this world from the same world I was from, arrived from outside the city. Behind him were the Paladin Daichi, the Sage Kana, and the Saintess Yuri.
“Yeah. We managed to make it in time.”
“But Haruto, you really go all out every single time. There’s not much of a benefit to pushing yourself to fly around and save the people here, is there?”
Takatou is a Hero, but he doesn’t proactively try to help people. Of course, if someone is being attacked by a monster right in front of him, he’ll save them. That’s because it’s the role imposed on a Hero. But when he heard that a horde of monsters was attacking a city or village far away, he didn’t try to rush over. Daichi, Kana, and the others were the same as Takatou. Even now that they had jobs like Hero, Paladin, and Saintess, anything that didn’t happen right in front of them was none of their business.
“It’s fine. I’m doing it because I want to. More importantly, was it there?”
“Oh, right! A pretty strong one showed up, so my level went up thanks to that.”
Normally, they wouldn’t respond to a stampede unless they were there when it happened. But this time, they had come all the way to the city of Gareth from a country hundreds of kilometers away.
“Still, these Majin are no big deal.”
Takatou was fiddling with a black horn in his hand. It probably belonged to the Majin he had defeated.
“No, that thing’s killing intent was seriously insane.”
“Yeah, yeah. Takatou might not flinch because of his skills, but we can’t handle it.”
“I-It was scary.”
The stampede that invaded the city of Gareth had several monsters with clearly unusual strength mixed in. Therefore, there was a high possibility that this stampede was being directly commanded by a Majin under the Demon Lord.
At this time, Takatou had already surpassed level 260. Although he had the Hero’s bonus that made it easier to level up, he had reached a point where his level wouldn’t increase no matter how many monsters he defeated in the area. However, some Majin were powerful enough to control S-rank monsters, and defeating one of them would raise even Takatou’s level. That’s why they came all this way for the purpose of subjugating that Majin.
Honestly, I think he’s already strong enough to defeat the Demon Lord. I wish he’d just hurry up and defeat the Demon Lord and bring peace to this world—that’s what I was always thinking.
But Takatou was moody. If he wasn’t in the mood, he wouldn’t fight even if monsters attacked the city he was staying in. Moreover, he especially hated being ordered around by someone. Because of his overwhelming strength, no one could complain to him. If Takatou didn’t fight, Daichi and the others wouldn’t go to the battlefield either.
That’s why I decided to leave the Majin, the only thing Takatou showed interest in, to him, and I would take care of all the other enemies. Tina agreed with my decision, so recently the two of us have been flying around the world, subjugating monsters.
We had been eating and sleeping together for so long that I realized I had fallen in love with Tina. I had thought she was cute since we first met. Two years had passed since then, and she had become even more lovely. Every casual gesture of hers seemed precious to me. But, being hopelessly pathetic, I couldn’t confess my feelings to Tina.
“Haruto-sama! Are you alright!?”
Just as I was thinking about Tina, she arrived after finishing healing the vigilante members.
“I’m fine. It seems no one died either.”
“I see, that’s a relief.”
“Tina-chaan. We’re here too, y’know. I defeated a Majin, y’know?”
As if begging for attention, Takatou called out to Tina.
“A Majin… As expected of you, Hero-sama.”
“You call Haruto by his name, so why am I always ‘Hero’?”
Takatou, who was offended by Tina’s somewhat blunt reply, said so and glared at me. He seemed to have a thing for Tina, and would grant any of her wishes. However, Takatou would ask to sleep with Tina or for a kiss in return, so Tina made it a point not to ask him for favors. I was happy about that.
Go ahead, Takatou. Take out your frustration on me as much as you want.
At least Tina admires me more than she admires Takatou—because I thought so, I didn’t mind when he said harsh things to me.
When Tina wasn’t around, Takatou called me the “wannabe Hero.” Well, it wasn’t wrong, so I didn’t particularly argue back. Besides, if we were to argue and get into a fistfight, I wouldn’t be able to beat the level 260-plus Takatou even if I activated my Guardian skill.
“Takatou-sama, I apologize. For those of us in this world, the title ‘Hero-sama’ is the most respectful way to address someone. I have no other intention.”
Takatou seemed to be pleased by Tina’s words. He was called a Hero, while I was not. Tina was also implicitly saying that I was a failure—that’s how he seemed to have interpreted it.
After that, Takatou led Daichi and the others into the city.
“Haruto-sama, are you offended?”
Tina spoke to me after Takatou was out of sight.
“About not calling me a Hero?”
“…Yes. If you wish, Haruto-sama, I will call you Hero-sama from now on.”
“I’d like you to keep calling me by my name, Tina.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Besides, you don’t think I’m a wannabe Hero or anything, do you?”
“O-Of course not!!”
“Then there’s no problem. Well then, shall we go get something to eat?”
“Yes. I hope some place is open…”
The safety of Gareth had been secured, and people were already beginning to return. There were a few eateries open. Walking alongside Tina, we watched as the light returned to the city we had saved, and we rejoiced together that we were able to protect this city.
──＊＊＊──
Two years and seven months had passed since I came to this world, and I was now level 180. On the other hand, Takatou had only been in this world for about five months, but he had reached the limit where he could not get any stronger—level 300.
I had been busy stopping stampedes all over the world, mainly defeating B-rank and lower monsters, so my level didn’t rise very quickly. I left most of the Majin and high-level monsters to Takatou, so he got stronger much faster.
Well, that doesn’t really matter. As long as the world where the girl I love, Tina, lives becomes peaceful, I don’t care who defeats the Demon Lord—that’s what I thought.
Then one day.
“Tina. I love you. Be my woman.”
Takatou confessed to Tina. I was quite irritated by his condescending confession, but it was still an advance from the strongest Hero in this world. I was tempted to punch him, but I thought I should also hear Tina’s feelings, so I held back.
“I am greatly honored by your offer. However, I’m sorry. I must decline.”
Tina flatly rejected Takatou’s confession.
I was rejoicing in my heart. On the other hand, Takatou—
“Huh? W-Why!? I’m the strongest in this world right now, you know? If I wanted to, I could have everything in this world. Why would you refuse my offer!?”
What the hell are you talking about… Are you planning to become the Demon Lord?
“That is because I am in love with Haruto-sama.”
“Huh? T-That means.”
“I am saying that I am in love with Haruto-sama.”
“What!?”
Shocking words came out of Tina’s mouth.
Surprised, I froze. Tina, who was facing Takatou, had her back to me, but I could see that her ears, visible through her hair, were bright red.
Tina likes me—I was sure she had never shown any signs of it. I tried to think back a little.
──＊＊＊──
‘Ehehe, I defeated a lot of monsters again today! Please pat me, Haruto-sama.’
Whenever Tina did something impressive like defeating monsters or healing people, she would always pester me to pat her head. When I patted her where no one could see, she would look incredibly happy.
──＊＊＊──
During our journey, we had many opportunities to cook for ourselves. And the food Tina made was incredibly delicious from that time on.
‘Eh, another helping? I’m sorry, this is the last of it. So please have some of mine. Here, say ’ahhh’.’
When I asked for another helping, she would say there was none left and offer me a spoonful of her food. Of course, it was from Tina’s spoon…
After that, when Tina’s plate was also empty, she would often say, ‘It turns out there was still some left,’ and bring more food from the kitchen.
──＊＊＊──
‘Haruto-sama, is it alright if I sleep with you again today?’
Even if we saved a city or village from monsters, we never accepted the rewards the residents tried to give us, and we were always broke because we were flying all over the place. That’s because neither Tina nor I were good at dismantling monsters to get their materials.
Sometimes we would break off easily obtainable parts like monster horns and sell them for lodging expenses. However, we weren’t at a level where we could live luxuriously, so we still slept in the same room.
When we slept, Tina would always cling to me. I didn’t feel bad about a beautiful girl clinging to me, so I never complained.
…Yeah. Tina might have been in love with me for a while now.
There were several words and actions that made me think so. We were of different races, and Tina was a beautiful girl. I had thought she wouldn’t be interested in someone like me, but I realized that wasn’t the case.
I love Tina. I loved her very much. I was happy to know that my feelings for Tina were mutual. Though it was in the form of Tina confessing to me… I was feeling happy.
And then an idiot came to ruin that happy mood—
“Haruto is just a small fry below level 200! Even if you call him a Hero, he’s just a lesser version of me!!”
“Haruto-sama is not weak! Do you know how many villages and towns Haruto-sama has saved, and how many people are grateful to him!?”
Takatou made a fool of me, but Tina defended me.
“Haruto-sama is the true Hero!!”
Takatou fell silent at Tina’s words.
“…Haruto. Fight me.”
“Huh?”
W-What are you saying? You’re level 300, and I’m level 180, you know?
The outcome is obvious.
“If you don’t fight me… I will never defeat the Demon Lord.”
“What!? What are you say—”
“If I win, you’ll give me Tina.”
In the first place, I’m not even dating Tina yet, so it’s impossible for me to give her to him. Well, even if we were dating, I wouldn’t give her to someone like Takatou.
“The Demon Lord can’t be defeated without me. Now Haruto, fight me!!”
He said as he drew his sword. It seems he’s serious.
…It’s no use, anything I say to him now will be pointless. I considered just going to defeat the Demon Lord with Tina, but that would put her in danger. That’s why I needed Takatou as part of our forces.
“Alright. If I win, you’ll help me defeat the Demon Lord.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Daichi and the others tried to stop him, but when Takatou glared at them, they didn’t say anything more.
The battle between the level 300 Hero and the level 180 wannabe Hero began.
“Die!”
Right at the start, Takatou attacked with serious killing intent. It was an attack powerful enough to kill even a danger level S-rank colored dragon in one blow. That attack, I—
I parried it lightly.
“What!?”
Takatou was shocked. But this much was to be expected.
An attack that relies solely on stats is easy to dodge, no matter how fast it is. Of course, if it hit me directly, I would take a lot of damage. The black sword given to me by God, and the experience of fighting thousands—no, tens of thousands of monsters, filled the 120-level gap.
Takatou’s attacks didn’t hit me, and conversely, my attacks wounded his body.
“Dammit!”
Takatou was getting irritated that his attacks weren’t landing.
I can push through like this.—Just as I thought that, a large amount of magical power was released from Takatou.
“You’re strong, Haruto. So if you can withstand this, I’ll acknowledge you. Of course, I’ll help you defeat the Demon Lord too.”
Takatou created a giant spear of lightning. It was one of the two ultimate lightning magics. Unlike the wide-area annihilation type Ultima Thunder, it was the strongest magic specialized for individuals. Considering our status difference, he was definitely trying to kill me. And he taunted me so I wouldn’t dodge the attack.
Furthermore, Tina was behind me. In our exchange, I had ended up in this position. If I dodged, the attack would hit Tina. It seemed he had aimed for this position so that I absolutely couldn’t dodge the attack.
“…Alright. Bring it on.”
“—!? Y-You conceited bastard! Die with regret!!”
Takatou, enraged by my provocation, unleashed a magic that should never be used on a person.
The lightning spear flew at super high speed. I—
I knocked it away with my right hand.
“Huh?”
Takatou was shocked by this and froze.
The maximum level in this world is 300. It is the limit that a Hero, transferred by a god and fully blessed, can finally reach after defeating countless demonic beings—that is level 300. Being level 300, he is undoubtedly the strongest being in this world. And I easily defended against the strongest attack magic of that strongest Hero.
Because there was someone I had to protect behind me—Tina.
With my Guardian skill activated, all my stats doubled, and I was in a state equivalent to level 360, ignoring the laws of this world. As long as there is someone to protect behind me, no one in this world can beat me.
Now, shall I reform the fallen Hero?
I moved to Takatou’s side. I just ran, but my level 360 stats were so incredible that he was shocked by my sudden appearance in front of him. Towards Takatou’s face, I—
I slammed my fist with all my might.
