Arthur Bellmont (The hero)
"You know, it's weird…" A tall, well built guy sporting short brown hair and carrying a giant shield and a sword on his back said while we were all eating dinner around a fire under the starry sky. "We've been on this campaign against the demons for what? Two weeks or so, yet just look how far we've come."
"I know, right?" A tall, red haired boy with sharp eyes said, slightly slurring his words. "It's like those damned demons aren't even trying at this point." He gave a satisfied smile. "If things go on like this, we'll be able to return home in no time."
"I don't know… Something feels off." A black haired girl in priestesses clothing spoke up. "I am not saying that we are weak in any way, but if taking out the demons is this easy for us, the Chelyan kingdom would have demolished the Icathian kingdom long ago and there would not have been any need to summon us here."
"Hold on, I'm confused." The red head said, scratching his head. "Remind me which is the kingdom of humans and which one is getting destroyed? I tend to mix up these things…"
"Yeah, tell me about it, Wade…" The guy with the short brown hair said. "Do you still remember that time when you were left behind and almost decimated the reinforcements that you were supposed to lead to the main force?"
"Oh fuck off, Eugene," Wade protested. "They were wearing armor and I got confused when they said that they were from the kingdom of Icathia."
"They said that they were from the Chelyan kingdom, you dunce." Eugene said, A bit irritated. "And how many times have I told you to never call me that again?!"
"Or what?" Wade stood up and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword."
"You really wanna go?!" Eugene stood as well."
"Guys, enough. Save it for the demons." I finally said. "Have you forgotten the reason we are here today? We fulfill the goddesses' will and we can go back home, don't waste your strength meaninglessly now."
"He's right, you guys." The priestess said. "You should drop it."
"Look at you, Lina, after Alex died, you suddenly became Arthur's number one fan" Wade snared.
Lina gave him a death glare. "You know that we don't talk about that, right? It was an accident, we were too weak to do anything and he died saving our lives, why would you bring that up again?"
"Is that what you keep telling yourself? Have you forgotten…" Wade was interrupted with a punch to the gut by Eugene and went limp.
"Sorry, Arthur, you know Wade, he starts drinking whenever there's nothing to do and when drunk, starts spitting out bullshit that he won't even remember the next morning." Eugene said, hoisting the drunk over his shoulder. "We should get going, it's late." He began walking away. "You guys should check out early as well."
"For a guy nicknamed the 'Immovable shield', he's fast." A relaxed blond guy, wearing green said. "I still can't believe that you all." He pointed to me, Lina and a silver haired girl - Daria, sitting with us. "Have actually been given titles by the people. I mean how cool is that?"
"You would get one as well, if you weren't so laughably ordinary, Caleb." Daria said with a deadpan voice, sipping soup. "But, if you really want one, I can think something up. I think that the 'Green pretty boy' would suit you well, no - 'The green mediocrity'."
"Oh come on!" The blond guy said. "Your titles are cool, so why would you give me such a lame one?"
"If you want a cool title like ours, achieve something." Daria snared. "There's no need for mediocrities on the battlefield and there is even less need for children that cry about something as stupid as not having a nickname."
"Listen, Daria…" I interrupted. "Isn't that a bit much? We're all on the same team, so we should get along."
"I don't care about classroom politics here and I certainly do not approve of taking all of us on this mission. The fact that you are our leader pisses me off even more." Daria said. "If I went alone, or if I had a small team of elites - true elites like myself and the other named ones - that I could command, I would be home sipping Cola right about now." She gestured around us at the other campfires scattered around. "We have so many people and yet, most of the fighting is done by the ten, or so, named ones and with this amount of people, we're moving at a snail's pace." Her voice stayed steady through the whole rant. "Not to mention 'The priestess of life and death' and her possie."
"Still, we're a team, we should stay together." I tried to object.
"Don't give me that 'strength in unity' bullshit." Daria said. "Do you know why the people of the Chelyan kingdom didn't give nicknames to all of us? Let me answer that for you, that is to distinguish those of us that are truly strong and worth remembering from those that are not. When we kill the demon king, do you think that the people will write tales about every schmuck that participated, or do you think that they will write about the named ones - the ones that did all the work?"
"Let's be real here, those that are named are all 'A' class or higher - blessed by the goddess with immense strength." She continued. "If there was a need for all of us to go on this journey, wouldn't the goddess have blessed us all equally?" She was looking around at everyone around the fire, but no one returned her gaze. "The goddess weighed our worth and gifted us with enough power to match it when we came here. She clearly divided us into those that are worthy and those that are not and to take those that are not worthy with us will simply hinder us."
Everyone around the fire was silent. "I should get going." After a suffocating while, one of us said, stood up and left. "Same here." Another. One after the other everyone except me, Daria and Lina left.
"I'll warn you 'Hero'." Daria spoke. "When we go up against the demon king, don't get in my way." She stood and left.
I sighed and turned to Lina. "I really don't know what to do with that one. She's strong, almost as strong as me, but after coming to this world, her personality… How should I put it…"
"I get what you mean." Lina said. "Point out a single one of us that hasn't changed. The nickname 'Saint of swords' fits her well. Her personality and words are as sharp as a sword and her fighting style is terrifying even when she's not using her tricks."
"Wade used to be quite diligent before Alex died, but look at him now - a lazy drunk that relies on his gifts and doesn't train, Eugene used to be the gentlest guy I ever knew and Kara… She doesn't leave her room anymore." Lina continued.
"You aren't yourself as well." I said. "From what I've heard, you used to be quite outgoing and cheerful, but…"
"I've grown up." She interrupted. "When we faced the Devil snake, when Alex sacrificed himself to protect us, I finally realized that this whole thing wasn't a game, I realized just how powerless I am and just how near death is."
"Is that why you began specializing in two completely opposite styles?"
Lina gave an ironic smile. "Death is everywhere, I learned that the hard way, why not use it? Whether I am able to heal them in time, or not, they will stand up and they will fight. I know that my methods aren't acceptable by most, that is why they tend to keep away from me, but I know better than anyone else the sacrifices that we all made and will make and I will use any way that I can to push through towards our goal, no matter how immoral or wrong it is." She turned to me, our eyes locking. "Do you hate me for my methods?"
I thought for a minute, then shook my head. "The hero trait is said to belong to one that is the paragon of justice - just that. But most people believe that the one marked by that trait should be the idealistic dream chaser with lofty ideals and unbreakable morals, the one that does not waver in front of danger and will gladly sacrifice himself to save someone else."
"That is not me." I continued. "I feel fear, I do not wish to die and I understand that the world isn't perfect. There is no perfect solution, in order to uphold those lofty ideals you either have to have power equivalent to that of a god, or make sacrifices."
"I understand how the others feel about you and your methods and, somewhere deep inside my heart, I feel the same, but at the same time I understand just how many lives your methods have saved, so I can never hate you for them. The fact that we began this mission with less than 50 people and we not only didn't lose a single soldier, but our army had grown to tens of thousands, makes you a core win condition in our mission."
"It's just that I worry about you." I draped my arm around her shoulder, Lina rested her head on my chest. "With an army of that size… Controlling them all must be incredibly taxing…"
"There's no need to worry." She said. "My technique has to be active the whole time, but unlike that of Daria's, it doesn't require as much focus and it doesn't drain that much mana after being initiated."
"I see…" I said. "It's getting late and we march at sunrise, let's get some sleep." I began to stand up, but was stopped by Lina."
"Let's stay like this a bit longer." She said. "It's nice spending time with someone that understands me."
"Very well…"
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