The Author Is Speechless
Chapter 227: Hero title

Chapter 227: Hero title

The same day in the afternoon.

Keya walked inside Viktor’s room and asked, "Sir Viktor, I’ve escorted the demon lord into the realm of demons."

Viktor closed the book he was reading and said, "Make sure to treat him well. He’s a shy kid."

"We will take good care of our lord. But the question is, how long do you intend to stay in my house?"

"I will leave today since my job is done. I am a working, busy man. Aren’t I? How can I stay inside a young lady’s house without paying her any money?"

Viktor stood up and handed her a small note "I’ll be staying in this inn for a few weeks. After that, I will move into my new house."

Keya stayed silent and at that moment, a servant of the house came inside the room after knocking on the door. " Sir Viktor, you have a guest."

’A guest?’ Viktor opened this record book and saw it was Akira, one of the hero party was waiting in front of the house. So he put some clothes inside his suitcase and said, ’Keya, let’s meet again..."

Viktor then approached the door and opened it.

"Good afternoon, professor. May I ask for some of your precious time?"

Viktor walked out of the house and said, "Good afternoon, kid.’

"It’s my first time seeing professor in other outfits. You look pretty handsome in a white shirt. But, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, I still don’t have a house I’m planning to stay in town inn for a few weeks. Shall we take a walk?"

Viktor followed the path towards the town. Since Keya’s house was far away from the town, it was near the monster forest. On that path, there was an inn that was only open for adventurers. But the area was so underrated that the inn was nearly empty. Only a few merchants who were passing by had stopped for the night.

Viktor took a seat and ordered two meals. He then took off his robe and said, "Tell me Akira. What do you want to know that made you follow me all the way outside the town wall?"

"Professor, what do you think about demons?"

"Demons? That’s an interesting question. In my eyes, they are the same as humans but born with different features."

"Aren’t they barbaric?"

"If you’re talking about that, elves are more barbaric than any beings that exist on this planet. Have you ever seen an elf after you came here?"

"N..no?"

"Of course, you didn’t. They hate us just like we hate demons."

"Oh..."

"So, what do you want to ask now?"

"When you said that heroes must abide by the god’s words. What did you mean by this word back then?"

Viktor drank his glass of beer and replied, "You heroes were not summoned here directly. Before coming here, you were summoned in front of a god, Right?"

"H..how did you know? God told us not to speak about it. Even he cast a mouth spell on us so we can’t talk about it to anyone. Perhaps, you are also a summoned hero from another planet?"

’He ate the bait...’

Viktor smiled and replied, "No. The king is hiding a secret from you. Actually, there are countless heroes who were summoned centuries ago on this continent from different planets. They said they were blessed with something called a system and godly abilities. After they were summoned, the god gave them a mission. They never mentioned what kind of mission they were but they were able to complete it. But soon after the mission was over, they became corrupted because of the unbeatable strength they had. After they began to act arrogantly, their title called ’Hero’ turned against them and crushed their hearts. A title is a blessing but also it’s a curse. That’s why the king hid the records of the previous heroes and kept them secret inside his hidden vault. It’s been 600 years since the last summoned heroes died. So it’s natural that nobody knows anything about them."

Akira was shocked. He didn’t expect the truth to be that harsh. It was true that everyone had a hero title that allowed them to win any battles. But he didn’t expect it to be a curse.

"The hero title. What does it mean to be a hero?" Akira asked.

"A hero huh? A hero is a person that stands up for his people by sacrificing everything. He is the symbol of trust, freedom, power, holiness and glory. A hero is a person who would sacrifice himself for the betterment of his nation. Also, a hero would never hesitate to sacrifice his loved ones for the greater good."

"Then, why would the system kill a person who’s a hero?"

"Having a hero title doesn’t make you a hero. A murderer can also get summoned and have a hero title. So, after achieving the title hero, you must walk the path of a hero. Or else, the thing called the system will kill you by itself. So why did you come to this planet, Akira? What is your mission?"

"To defeat the demon lord and become a true hero, that’s my mission."

Viktor looked at Akira’s record and saw he was lying. Half of his words were true and half of it was false. It was true that the god told him to defeat the demon lord. But there was more to it. God never told the heroes to become true heroes.

Viktor smiled gently at Akira and said, "A true hero, huh? I doubt all seven of you will stay alive before the demon lord appears."

Akira was so angry that he started to yell at Viktor, "What do you mean!!!"

"Kid, do you really think that saint girl is suitable for her position? A saint is the symbol of holiness, peace and friendship. I am his teacher so I know about my students. She’s far away from being a saint. Not to mention, she might also have the title hero. So I will advise you to control your friends. This thing called the ’system’ you possess is not your friend. It observes you, manipulates you, makes you do what you don’t want to. It kills if you don’t abide by it. That’s what I learnt from the records of the previous hero’s records."

Akira was frozen because of what he just said. To make sure he was telling the truth or not, he opened his status screen and scrolled down to check the quest given by the god thoroughly.

*Congratulations on accepting the hero quests.

Quest: Defeat the demon lord that lives in the realm of demons.

Quest completing reward: Title ’The greatest hero,’ ’Essence of longevity.’

Quest failing penalty: None.

Quest duration: None.*

*You’ve received the title ’Hero’. Once the title is synchronized with the host, the host must follow the righteous path. Otherwise, the system will take action against the host.*

Akira asked, "Professor, what does it mean that the system will take action against the heroes if they don’t follow the righteous path?"

"I just told you, didn’t I? That system thing is not your friend. If you don’t become the hero just as the system sees, you will be erased by it."

Akira fell to his knees. He was trembling in fear because he also did so many bad deeds after he came to this world. He scolded his maid, tortured monsters because they didn’t give him enough experience points to level up and messed with maids at night.

That was the complete opposite of what a hero should do.

So he begged Viktor, "Professor, what should I do? Please, help us. We.. we don’t want to die."

Viktor smiled at his miserable state and said, "As a teacher, it is my job to take care of my students. That makes you my student too. Get up, the inn owner is staring at us, it’s embarrassing to see a hero begging me-_-."

Akira stood up and said, "Professor, I want all of us to stay alive and defeat the demon lord together. But we are still young so we need a guardian to help us train and teach us more about this world. Will you become our saviour?"

’Ah?... He’s trusting the demon lord that easily? When did the kids become easy to deal with?’

Viktor tapped on his shoulder and said, "Akira, a saint or a healer is a very important part of a hero’s party. You must make her your ally and bring her back to the right path. Or else, she’ll die quickly."

"I will, professor. You can leave it to me" Akira smiled brightly and then said, "Well professor, it’s almost night. I must head back to my house."

"Yes, a young man shouldn’t stay outside at night. Be careful on your way back, kid."

"I will, professor. See you tomorrow!!"

Viktor then looked at the floating screen in front of him that popped out right after Akira left the inn.

*Conversations on starting the main quest. The quest has progressed to 15%. Please become closer to every hero to complete the quest.*

’15%? Not bad. I still have 5 years until my death flag shows up.’