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“… He shows the best talent?”

“Not in all fields, but in language, mathematics, and strategy, he is said to be talented enough to surprise or even surpass his teachers.”

“Hmm.”

“As for language, they said that he knows more interpretation methods than even the tutor, his mathematics is at the level of an Academy senior, and as for strategy…”

Duke Eisen reread the contents of the report.

“Overwhelmed?”

“Yes… Sir Camelson, Vice-Captain of the Black Wyvern Knights Force, suffered ten defeats in a row with the Strategy Artifact. Because of that, Lord Camelson is currently locked in his room, rejecting food...”

“I don’t think I need to know that much.”

"Yes, I’m sorry."

“What about the rest? History, emperorship, swordsmanship, and etiquette?”

“He doesn’t seem to know much about history, but they said he is a fast learner. He has basic common sense but is currently being taught the more important lessons.”

“Hmm...”

“He will start having etiquette classes tomorrow. They said… there are many things to fix.”

“There probably are. He has never been taught manners before. What about swordsmanship?”

Though he had yet to master mana, the abandoned child had showed his talent when he defeated Hals.

“Lord Colorance said he seems to have mastered the Spirit Break.”

“Spirit Break...”

The butler and the Duke knew about the power of Spirit Break.

Those who had mastered mana were unable to learn it, but only those with a Mana Rejecting Body were able to put their hands on the Spirit Break.

In the past, it had been a common skill, but it had become an uncommon martial art.

It was looked down on in the aristocratic world, and only bad things could come about if rumors spread that the son of a high-ranking duke had learned it.

“Good.”

But Duke Eisen didn't care about that at all.

He had talent, and he was determined to climb up the ranks.

The Duchy of Widia's philosophy was harsh at times, but it opened up infinite possibilities to those with talent.

“I should apologize, right?”

Duke Eisen knew that while belated, he must apologize for abandoning his child without checking his talent simply because he had a Mana Rejecting Body.

“Evan.”

"Yes, sir."

“Make sure to bring Locke tomorrow.”

“When would you like me to bring him?”

“Hmm… Locke has never seen his siblings, has he? Bring him to dinner tomorrow evening.”

“…All right."

Evan quietly bowed his head.

The youngest master hadn't learned the etiquette yet and probably didn’t know how to eat correctly.

If he was brought to dinner, he would only be laughed at.

'What is he thinking?'

Evan stepped back and quietly closed the door.

***

-Ring!

「G: Efforts of the Cleaner」

「E: One Shot, Sure to Hit」

「F: Animal Connection」

"Hmm...”

These were the three abilities I picked in the previous Hero Draw.

「Efforts of the Cleaner」 was an ability corresponding to disposition, while 「One Shot, Sure to Hit」 and 「Animal Connection」 were abilities corresponding to martial arts.

‘I think 「One Shot, Sure to Hit」 is the most useful?'

『<≪E: One Shot, Sure to Hit』

Effect: Once per day, you can hit anything you see.』

It may have been the most useful of them, but it didn’t look particularly useful either.

<The King of Heroes urges you to select B- and A-Grade quickly.>

"Okay. All right."

I tapped the B-Grade card first.

-Ring!

[You have won the B-Grade hero <Hero of the Nameless Battle>.]

'A battle without a name?'

What did this mean?

That thought didn’t last long.

“Ughhhh!”

A familiar pain went through my head.

I'd been through it several times, but I was still not used to it.

-Ring!

[Going into the memory.]

***

#(When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a group of people praying for a girl in an eyepatch who was tied to a tree.

Hundreds of what appeared to be villagers were facing her and clasping their hands.

[Is it a religion? What are they trying to do?]

The villagers continued to pray toward the girl as she cried.

"Oh, God!"

“Here we are offering a sacrifice!”

“Please calm your anger!”

[…!]

From the villagers' words, I could infer the situation.

[Sacrifices...]

I didn't know what had happened, nor did I know if it was just this town or if the whole world was suffering, but if these people were trying to escape their despair by offering a girl to God, then they were clearly desperate and grasping at straws. 

[Why… the heck?]

It is easy for a person to abandon reason when they are in despair.

People show their true nature when they’re desperate.

These people needed to put their hope in something.

-Pop!

I gritted my teeth until it seemed like they might break.

The situation wasn’t at all unfamiliar.

On the planet Haytons it was taboo to sacrifice a living human being.

In cases where culture or tradition required the sacrifice of a living thing, an animal was selected for the task.

[Damn.]

However, after we started being attacked by unknown enemies, I watched humans being sacrificed in countless villages.

Women, old people, children, and young people. I had seen people do anything they could to cling to their hope, regardless of their age or gender.

<The King of Heroes carefully tells the chosen one to calm himself.>

[…Yes. Thank you.]

I looked back to the villagers.

"Oh, God!"

Then the oldest-looking man stepped out with a cleaver in hand.

[No!]

I tried to move, but my body wouldn’t listen as we played out the hero’s memory.

-Poo-wook.

A series of harsh, ripping noises made my head go blank.

The girl, probably not even six yet, was stabbed in the chest near her heart.

“Kyaaahhhh!”

“Stay still!”

The old man’s strength was too meager to plunge the cleaver deep into the girl.

He gripped it with both hands and pressed harder until the knife lodged in her breastbone.

-Crack-!

The bone caved under the knife.

"Ugh...”

Blood oozed from the little girl's body.

Only then did the old man back away from the dying girl.

"Mom… dad… I’m… scared...”

The child coughed a few times, spitting up much blood before her head fell over her chest.

The old man confirmed that she was dead, before raising both of his hands to the sky and crying out.

"Oh, God! Please accept this sacrifice and save us from despair...!”

The old man stopped speaking suddenly.

-Whoosh!

A light fell, passing from his head to his crotch, and the old man's body split in two.

[…!]

A man dressed all in black with scars and burn covering his face suddenly perched in front of the dead girl.

His scars were so severe that he resembled a monster more than a man.

However, the man's eyes were clearer and deeper than those of the villagers that surrounded him.

He sobbed and looked at the girl while everyone else kept staring at the sky.

"Why… why does Heaven want something like this...!”

The man raged at the sky.

But there was nothing he could do.

It was because God, the sky…

…was too absurdly high to listen.

His anger echoed helplessly around him.

“…I'm sorry. As an adult, the reality of having to put a child to death... it’s too painful.”

The man untied the ropes and took the child’s body into his arms.

“This child is not a witch. I will absolutely prove it.”

The corpses of the villagers piled up behind the man as he released his rage, and as the man carried the child away, I finally woke up from the memory.)#

***

-Ring!

[You returned from the memory of <Hero of the Nameless Battle>.]

[The knight Caodin was abandoned because of his ugly appearance and was prevented from becoming the knight he had dreamed of. He was instead consigned to travel as a wandering knight.]

[Caodin traveled to rich, poor, and desperate places.]

[When chaos such as droughts, storms, and earthquakes hit the world at once, people believed it to be the wrath of God and resorted to killing poor or orphaned children in sacrificial offerings that they hoped would appease the heavens.]

[Caodin shed tears as he saw those children die.]

[He dreamt of becoming a knight to defend the weak, to stand against the strong, and to overcome the world's adversity. He despaired that he could do nothing in this hopeless reality.]

[Caodin began to rescue the children called Majin, or witches, who were sacrificed to appease the wrath of God.]

[This was an act of rebellion against God’s will that should not have been attempted.]

[Caodin saved 75,214 people destined for death.]

-Ring!

[Acquired the skill 「Killing Aura Toward the Sky」.

“…This is why it was a nameless battle.”

<The King of Heroes says that Caodin was a hero to the surviving children, but no one knows his face.>

<The King of Heroes says that Caodin had an ugly appearance and that no one knew who he was because he always wore a mask when he rescued children.>

<The King of Heroes says that the act of saving the sacrifices meant for God was, at the time, a ‘rebellion against the will of the gods,’ and Caodin was called a villain on his planet, not a hero.>

Caodin had been fighting a battle that no one knew about just to save the weak and defenseless.

I checked the ability by turning on the status window.

-Ring!

『《B: Killing Aura Toward the Sky》

Effect: You can exhale the pure killing aura of Caodin.』

I would not know what effect it would have until I had used it, but one thing seemed clear: Caodin likely possessed the fundamental killing aura that no human was supposed to have.

He was the only one who tried to overcome the hopelessness in his world rather than lose his reason.

The memory of Caodin trying to protect the children who were pointlessly sentenced to death lingered in the back of my mind.

It was the most bitter memory of a hero I had seen so far.

“I thought heroes were always considered good.”

I thought they were only admired by the people.

<The King of Heroes says that Caodin wasn’t admired, but he was a true hero who was faithful to the fundamentals.>

“Sigh...”

I was confused.

After calming down a bit, I tapped the remaining A-Grade card.

“Let’s open the next card.”

When I clicked on it in the status window, a cheerful sound rang in my ears.

-Ring!

[You have won the A-Grade <Living Magic Hero>.]

‘…Magic?'

Was this one a fail?