Is this Hero for Real? - Chapter 21

  

Is this Hero for Real?

 

Chapter 21

[Act 6] The Green Pig

 

It all started with the evil goddess’s involvement.

[Hero]

Fantasy humans couldn’t understand my yelling, but the fantasy pigs could understand me word for word.

I was pretty loud, so the orcs around that area must have heard everything.

The demon was flabbergasted.

“You think that will summon the orcs?”

“It’s worth a try.”

“Who would believe your words?”“What would an orc believe if not the orcs’ language?”

“You really think orcs…”

Demon Kogmos slurred his words while trying to stubbornly disagree.

I grinned.

“The gnolls are bad liars. What about the orcs?”

I looked around me.

—An empty plain without a single obstacle to block my field of vision.

According to my observations from hunting the orcs, they didn’t lie about what they found. 

They’d get caught red-handed right away.

They couldn’t get away with it like the ‘boy who cried wolf’ on beautiful Earth.

So my conclusion?

“The beautiful female pig is mine!”

“Are you kidding? She’s mine!”

“Move! Move over, weak orcs!”

Thud thud thud thud.

Orcs riding cows and horses came from all directions.

They saw us on the way, but was it because they thought of matchmaking as more important?

“Male pig! Wait right there!”

“We’ll be back soon! Skinny pig!”

They whizzed past.

Demon Kogmos muttered with a flabbergasted expression.

“You’re using your Curse as a Blessing…”

“Now then! Let’s hurry.”

“Hm? Wasn’t the plan to save the female human right when all the mercenaries are down?”

“Of course not.”

I wasn’t obligated to bring danger upon myself just to help fantasy natives.

But that time, I was responsible for cornering them in such a situation.

That was all.

[A certain god suggests leaving them to die.]

“Dear outsider god, we gotta help those in need~”

“In need? You’re one to talk!”

“Shut up, weak demon.”

“…”

The fantasy natives, taken aback by the orcs’ charging, rebuilt a line of defense around the carriage.

Ladies A and B got up from their seats as soon as they sat down and fought vigorously like before.

“$ @#$! @#!”

“%#, $#!”

But their expressions and moods were not as composed as before.

It was obvious from how visibly slower Lady A’s magic and Lady B’s swordsmanship had gotten.

“The female pigs are worn out!”

“For our strong offspring!”

“Ahahaha! Go harder!”

The orcs, certain of their victory, didn’t even fear death.

They acted completely different from when they were going after the humans’ carriage and belongings.

Their obsession was shocking.

“#…?!”

It would have been better if I walked in like the main character right before Ladies A or B were defeated, but I rushed into it for the sake of the innocent fantasy savages.

That was my undoing, after all. I’d feel uneasy if someone died because of that.

[Outsider]

[Fairy]

With those two blessings and the ‘Power of Meat’, I swung at an orc’s spine.

Crack.

“Oooiink?!”

The orc burst into desperate cries right before it was about to stomp on a fallen mercenary’s head.

“Let me borrow that for a bit.”

I pulled the orc’s spinal joint from its back and threw it full force.

Pow-!

“Oiink?!”

—It put a hole right through a nearby orc’s flat nose.

Plop.

That was all in one breath.

That came to me as naturally as breathing after slaughtering countless orcs who called a cultured Earthling a pig.

“The strong pig is back!”

“It’s a male pig. We lose even if we win.”

“Get rid of him quickly, and get the female pig…!”

The orcs were unfazed by the sudden death of their comrade.

They were quick to surround me and attack from every direction.

“Geez.”

‘They’re looking down at me a bit too much because I’m level 1.’

I wouldn’t have caused any of that trouble if I thought it would be dangerous.

Neigh!

Using much of my force, I swung the blue dagger sideways.

“Oink…?”

“Ooiink…?”

The orcs, who were making a pretty good attempt to put me down, all collapsed as they got cut in half.

They didn’t seem to understand how they died.

No need to be embarrassed. They all died like that.

“@#!”

“$ @!”

“@ $!”

The people talked all at once towards me.

Who are you? Thanks! Thank you! What a relief! Help us! Hand over your bag! What are you?!

—I guessed it would be something like that.

“Kogmo. What are those people say—”

“Watch out!”

Pow!

I collided headfirst with an orc charging like a bull.

* * *

* * *

The legendary Hero chosen by the gods was the hope for humanity.

But what would happen if said Hero showed a disappointing act to the fantasy natives?

The groups in power that sponsored or supported the Hero would get politically attacked.

To prevent that?

“Hero Oh Hanwoo, you have three choices.”

Hero Oh Hanwoo, who took care of food and housing with a meddlesome young girl’s money, didn’t have anywhere to go.

So, on his way to ‘his room’…

Clang! Clang!

He was stopped by the guards at the Temple’s lavish dorm entrance.

“What is this?! I’m a Hero!”

“But you are a failed Hero.”

“What-?!”

Oh Hanwoo was at a loss for words from the cynical words of the hierarch standing behind the guards.

“Let me explain again. You have three options now that you are no longer sponsored. First, accept your independent fund and give up. In this case, you cannot call yourself a Hero in informal settings. If you get caught doing so, that is an immediate death sentence.”

“D-death sentence?!”

“Second, go back to your training, but you will not get any sponsorships until you give knight-like results.”

“What’s the third?”

The second one wasn’t even worth thinking about. He’d rather die than train while getting laughed at by the other Heroes.

“Third, entrust yourself to the Temple. We will be responsible and take care of you for the rest of your life. Marriage and old age included, but you cannot step foot outside the temple until the day you die.”

“Um…”

The third was the worst too. 

Forever stuck in a Temple without an adventure, the whole point of a fantasy world?

It was no different from a death sentence.

“We cannot give you time to think for too long.”

“Am I the first?”

“No.”

At least that was a relief.

But Oh Hanwoo, angry at himself for getting relieved at not being last place, answered promptly.

“I’ll go with the first option.”

“Alright. Then please sign here.”

“This is…?”

“It’s a contract. It would be troublesome if the reputation of the other Heroes got tainted because of your impudent judgements, you see. This is a safety measure.”

“…”

Hero Oh Hanwoo carefully read the contract the Hierarch gave him.

He was going to pick on anything that sounded unreasonable, but everything was logical and fair. 

“Please tell us if you think anything is unfair.”

“…It’s alright.”

It might have been different if an expert looked at it, but what reason was there to go through all that trouble to scam a level 1 Hero? It would be better to just assassinate him.

Oh Hanwoo, coming to that conclusion, didn’t hesitate to sign the paper.

“We will provide you with an I.D. shortly. It has much more credibility than your current slime rank mercenary ID, so it will be helpful when you cross national borders and settle down.”

“That’s so different…”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh! Don’t mind me, I was just talking to myself.

It was much too different. 

In the fantasy genres, the temple or kingdom that throws out the main character were supposed to be hypocritical, evil forces.

They were the ones the main character was supposed to yell, “I’ll make you regret all of this!” at. 

But this was…

“You shouldn’t have any problems until retirement with this amount. That is if you don’t live largely or get scammed.”

“Okay.”

“There are many noble families who want a Hero’s bloodline. We can arrange it for you if you plan on getting married.”

“Uh… I’m good.”

He was tempted for a moment, but Hero Oh Hanwoo had a clear goal in mind.

A harem!

He wanted to live happily with pretty girls who liked him.

Oh Hanwoo and the Hierarch chatted as they quickly arrived at the temple gates.

Clink.

“Here are your promised independence funds and ID.”

“Can I use these however I want?”

“Of course.”

“Nice, hehehe.”

“…we will not help you if you get scammed.”

“Yeah yeah, of course.”

Former Hero Oh Hanwoo headed towards the slave market on the outskirts of the city with his heavy pouch.

Towards his big win!

[A certain immature god of dice follows with popcorn in their hands.]

***

“What do I have to be careful about?”

“That red orc… never mind, don’t worry about it…”

There was a massive hole in the stomach of the orc who ran into me.

After its green skin turned red like a maple leaf, it got faster than the others.

—A similar ability to the gnolls’ after their eyes turned red.

I would have subdued him for observation if I’d known anything beforehand, but I killed him in shock.

It was clearly a mistake of my half.

‘Should I investigate the orcs’ lifestyle this time?’

“[email protected]# # %…?”

“$ ^%. I thought ^$ die.”

“@^$ for saving us.”

I was proud I could understand some of it.

My studying paid off!

[A certain god is displeased.]

[A certain god suggests killing them all to be fair.]

“…”

‘This god gets displeased as soon as I get a little closer with my species.’

What was I supposed to say?

Before that, I decided to take care of the chaos around me.

“What the hell is that male pig?!”

“Just go for the female pig!”

“How dare a mere pig…!”

‘A fantasy pig calling me a pig, I feel like a damn pig!’

I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t wipe all of them out.

“Hey, turn red.”

“How does a skinny pig know the orc’s lang— oink?!”

“Never mind if you can’t.”

The orcs attacked endlessly hoping I’d tire out.

[Outsider]

The gnolls got completely destroyed because they couldn’t let go of that hope, but the orcs were quick to give up.

They let go of the instinct to leave behind strong offspring and started to run away chaotically. 

“You won’t get away with this, male pig!”

“We’ll take your female pigs from you next time! Beware!”

“Skinny pig! Next time— oink?1”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

I slaughtered every single one of the orcs that wanted to see another day.

“…Are you okay?” Demon Kogmos asked. 

I was covered in orc blood.

“I’m totally fine.”

“Not you.”

The people, still surrounding the fancy carriage, were struck in horror watching me, not the orcs. Why?

…Ah!

I’d unintentionally hid the edgy effect while I was hunting the orcs. 

It was too late, but it was better than leaving it as it was.

“Kogmo. You explain.”

“You cause all of th… ahem! Excuse me. I am Kogmos the Mage. This is knight Kang Hansoo. You may have already guessed from the unique name, but our friend here doesn’t know the Western language.”

‘Woah! Not bad.’ 

I guess he wasn’t lying when he talked about his long travels to find a partner—that’s how incredible demon Kogmos’ quick wit was.

He used an odd, ancient language with me to hide the fact he was a ‘demon’.

If he hadn’t…

“@$# Kang Hansoo #$ ^$#. %$ ^$% &^$.”

“As Miss Lasha pointed out, he does have the Hero’s Curse, but he’s not a bad person at all. Look at his Fairy’s Blessing.”

“$#@ % $%? $ %#$ @# ^$#…”

“You’re correct. A C rank, in fact. Keeping in mind that a human married to a fairy is an E rank, it is an unparalleled level of faith.”

Oh? It was?

It looked like the sexual assaulter who kissed me had at least some conscience.

[Fairy]

[Hero]

It counterbalanced my Curse that was no different than a criminal’s mark.

“Damn goddess…”

She really went all out to bury me, a good cultured Earthling, alive in this fantasy society.

“Kang Hansoo #.”

Lady A, who was suspicious because of my Hero’s Curse, approached me.

“$#@ # %#.”

“…”

“She says she’s really sorry for doubting a savior.”

“Aha!”

So…

Kang Hansoo, a good Earthling, could finally gain the trust of the fantasy savages!

[A certain god is displeased.]

[A certain god despises how things are going.]

[A certain god drills that betrayal means death.]

“…what a difficult life.”

Guess I didn’t have a choice.

I made a major decision to calm the wrath of god.

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