Chapter 132

Chapter 132. The Village Where Hope Was Born

“Ingwang! I can see Hopeborn over there!”

The coachman, who looked several years younger ever since receiving the carriage as a gift, had been chatting about this and that as usual when he announced that we were almost at Hopeborn.

“Oh, we got here faster than I expected.”

“I used to travel this road to Hopeborn all the time, so I know it well! Haha!”

“Wow~ Is it really that popular?”

“Of course! Of course! Anyone aiming to become a Great Hero passes through this place at least once!”

At that, I turned to look at our active knight.

She was acting like a kid who had just entered puberty, convinced she was already an adult and looking down on everything in the world.

The children's eyes followed mine and landed on Aien as well.

Aien, who had recently started acting like a completely different person.

“Our dear knight~ Surely you're not interested~?”

“……”

“No way! Aien is the Knight of Diligence, you know? She's someone who'll work harder than anyone else to chase her dream! There's no way she wouldn't be interested in Hopeborn, the village where hope was born!”

Malleangi joined in after me.

Usually, this kind of role belonged to the Village Chief, but right now, words from Malleangi, who was more like a friend to Aien, would probably work better.

I had also heard about it on the way here.

Apparently, after obtaining that traitorous woman's body, Aien had started acting somewhat cold toward everyone except Pie and me, even trying to keep her distance from them.

Maybe that was why Malleangi sounded a little angry.

And perhaps Aien was more shaken by Malleangi's tone than she wanted to admit, because she couldn't even meet her eyes and simply stuck out her lips.

Aien, I don't think you're doing it on purpose.

It wasn't simply because she had learned that this world was a game.

The memories and emotions of that traitorous woman were probably mixed together inside her head as well.

Even back in reality, Aien was the kind of kid whose tone, expression, and entire mood could change in an instant.

So how could she possibly remain unaffected now?

She must have been having a hard time understanding her own feelings.

She couldn't simply be happy, because the excitement rising inside her was mixed with plenty of the traitorous woman's bitter and prickly emotions.

“I understand. Our knight must have all kinds of emotions swirling around inside her, right?”

“……”

Aien glanced at me several times.

Then, with an awkward expression, she stuck her head out of the carriage window and looked toward Hopeborn.

Slowly, more and more of her body leaned outside.

“Seriously. She made everyone worry so much.”

“Exactly!”

Fortunately, it seemed Aien's admiration for the Great Heroes and her desire to follow in their footsteps were stronger than the worn-down feelings of that traitorous woman.

“Waaah…!”

“What? Is it worth looking at?”

“It's not just worth looking at! It's sparkling!”

“Haha! Hopeborn certainly is a dazzling place! But young lady, it's dangerous, so please come back inside.”

Aien leaned dangerously far out of the carriage with her face glowing in excitement as she stared at Hopeborn in the distance.

Her admiration escaped naturally.

The children smiled as well when they finally saw the familiar, innocent Aien again.

These little guys.

Seeing them getting along so well made this old man's heart feel strangely full.

It was a little… ticklish too…!

“The village where hope was born. A holy ground for knights who have awakened their mental power. Every trainee who graduates from the academy visits this place at least once. Ingwang, if you had remained at the academy, you would have probably visited after graduation as well.”

Inside the carriage, which wasn't particularly bumpy but was still noisy because of the children chatting, I tried to focus on the Village Chief's explanation.

Unfortunately, that was difficult.

Not because of the noise.

It was because the Village Chief was sitting there shirtless while cleaning his firearms.

Recently, he seemed to have gotten interested in tattoos as well.

Fantasy-like patterns had been carved across his bulging muscles, making him look even more impressive.

From what I'd heard, the tattoos made it easier to control his strength or something like that.

Apparently, ancient boxers used to carve them into their bodies too.

I just understood it as him learning another passive skill that strengthened his body.

Still, they looked damn cool.

The shape of his muscles.

Their size…

Damn it.

I started exercising before him…!

Curse that naturally gifted bone structure…!

“I used to visit that place often in my younger days as well.”

“Huh? Village Chief, were you a knight too?”

“No. Their local specialties were very popular. I'm talking about when I was in my teens, so that was nearly fifty or sixty years ago.”

Grandpa Alo, who was around the same age, had also asked me to buy him Hopeborn sausages and beer.

They really must be famous.

Sausages and beer were the famous specialties of the birthplace of the Great Hero of Hope?

Just what the hell was happening in that place?

Wasn't it supposed to be some sacred land?

“The Hopeborn I remember was a complete mess.”

Pie muttered while looking toward Hopeborn in the distance.

She had traveled all across the continent during the twenty years I had been gone, so among us, she probably had the most recent memories of Hopeborn.

“The Great Hero of Hope is more controversial than you'd think. He worked alongside Madness, and some of the spears he possessed were even made by grinding away parts of his own body. Because of that, some people say a Great Hero who had already been infected by Madness shouldn't even be called a Great Hero.”

“Ah, I've heard about that too. They said he was definitely a legendary figure and had an enormous influence, but people wondered whether he was really someone who deserved to be praised.”

Well, just from the story of the past I'd seen inside that castle, it was obvious that the Great Hero of Hope had gone through one hell of a life.

Imagine some guy who wasn't even a Great Hero yet ignoring everyone around him and walking out while holding hands with Madness, an Absolute Evil.

Of course people would lose their minds.

And despite all of that, he still became a legend.

That's pretty damn impressive.

If it were me, I'd have probably flipped everything upside down and ended my life on the executioner's block.

Hopeborn seemed almost like a tourist destination.

The closer our carriage got, the more people appeared, and the louder the atmosphere became.

There wasn't even a special festival happening right now.

If it was already this lively, I felt like I'd lose energy just by standing inside the village.

I turned my gaze away from the scene that was exhausting me just by looking at it and slowly recalled the documents I had read in Grandpa Alo's office.

[Hopeborn is currently struggling due to frequent monster attacks! However, many people who wish to protect Hopeborn have gathered there, and the village is now so crowded that it's difficult to even set foot inside!]

[The monsters appearing are insane Orcs! Originally, they were not such a powerful group, but their strength increased greatly after an Orc leader obtained a fragment of the Tower of the Hall! They have now become monsters that cannot be easily subdued!]

The game system really was convenient at times like this.

If I couldn't remember exactly what was written in a document, I could simply read it again.

After quietly reviewing the information, I stepped down from the carriage once we arrived at Hopeborn.

I inhaled deeply.

Then exhaled.

“Hmmmm~! What a pain!”

It would be really convenient if those Orcs appeared with perfect timing like—

Ta-da!

But instead, we had to either run around looking for monsters whose exact location wasn't even known or sit around waiting until they decided to appear.

“Adults! What's a good way to lure out the Orcs?!”

I asked the adults, Pie and the Village Chief.

Technically speaking, Levi was the oldest based purely on the number of years she'd lived.

But her mental age was way too young.

I didn't want to call her an adult.

The Village Chief thought for a moment.

“Hmm… The first thing that comes to mind would be constructing an altar piled high with food. Then we could have people nearby desperately crying out for the Orcs to spare their lives, as if they've completely lost hope. That should work nicely.”

Oh.

That was a pretty good idea.

We could spread out our trained mouse soldiers around the altar and surround the area.

Then, once the Orcs entered—

Bam!

We'd jump them immediately.

But would the Orcs really fall into such an obvious trap?

The one possessing the tower fragment was supposedly almost a named monster at the level of a Hero.

Would something like that really be fooled so easily?

It wasn't a bad plan, but we'd have to make plenty of preparations if we wanted to fool them properly.

Going through all that trouble just to catch some Orcs sounded annoying.

Pie spoke next.

“Orcs worship Paokwe, the God of War, Destruction, and Festivals. If they hear things exploding and breaking apart, they'll come charging toward it like pigs in heat.”

“Oh… So what you're saying is that we should destroy Hopeborn?”

“…I've never liked the people of this village. Always strutting around and bragging that they're the descendants of Hope.”

I'd remember that option.

But definitely not right now.

If we destroyed Hopeborn, Grandpa Alo would immediately become our enemy.

And if that happened, we'd die before we could even squeak.

The adults weren't coming up with anything easy, so I turned toward the children.

They were always asking me questions, so hopefully they wouldn't throw this one right back at me.

Because honestly, the plan currently inside my head wasn't much different from Pie's…

Malleangi spoke up.

“If they worship the God of War and Destruction, what if we completely seal off Hopeborn and make it look like we're preparing for a siege? Then, just like Lucy said, wouldn't they come charging at us like crazy?”

“Ohhh… That sounds reasonable. But how would the Orcs know we're quietly preparing for a siege? And how long would it take for them to come?”

“……”

Right.

Malleangi seemed to become depressed.

Her round body sagged and slowly began sliding down from my head.

Seriously.

Everything she did was adorable.

And as time went on, she was becoming more than just a purely kindhearted kid.

Watching her personality develop was surprisingly entertaining.

Then Levi raised her hand.

“Then how about we prepare for the siege, and I shoot water cannons into the forest? No matter where they're hiding, if we hit even one of them, they'll come looking for us, right?!”

“Levi… Why have you been so useful lately?”

Levi proudly puffed herself up.

“Hmph! This is what I'm capable of! Every day, I work harder and harder to become an excellent maid! One day, I'll make sure Ingwang can live while completely depending on me without ever needing to lift so much as a finger!”

“Uh… Hmm… No. That's not happening.”

Levi's eyes were sparkling far too brightly.

I lightly nudged her with my elbow to shut her up.

Meanwhile, Aien, who had somehow bought herself a sausage skewer without me even noticing, spoke in a calm voice.

“Why don't we do what you usually do, Mister? Stir up the users and bring them here. And if we actually hold a festival, the Orcs might think we've let our guard down and attack.”

“……”

“…Ohhh…”

“Oho…”

“That's a brilliant idea!”

The plan was accepted.

Now we just had to spend the remaining time looking around the village, hunting nearby, and maybe picking up a few quests while we were at it.

But how exactly were we supposed to hold a festival in this village?

That was probably something I needed to think about myself.

I couldn't leave everything to everyone else.

…Should I just throw Grandpa Alo's name around and call it some kind of eve festival?

Yeah.

While we're at it, let's hold some kind of competition too.

When I imagined the people of Hopeborn smiling happily during the festival, my heart strangely grew warm.

They had been suffering from constant monster attacks and all kinds of other incidents lately.

Their hearts must have been exhausted.

Haah…

Yeah.

This was what pride and satisfaction were supposed to feel like.

Except for Karantlia, this might be the first time in this game that I earned a truly pure and positive reputation.

Surely the Great Hero of Hope would also want everyone here, in the land where Hope was born, to laugh together with smiles on their faces.

Let's help them!