Chapter 1 – The Hero’s End

Published by Shujinkou on February 23, 2018

I’ve done something irreparable.

There should have been another way to do it, but I had chosen the worst possible path.

That’s right. I certainly saved the world. I was called the strongest hero in history. I killed the demon king single handedly.

But there were too many things I had lost.

So this might be a punishment given to me.

＊ ＊ ＊

Today, I also wash the dishes while being scolded by the store manager. No matter how many times I’ve done this, he will always find a fault or two in me.

“YOU REALLY ARE USELESS, Nakamoto!”

“I’m sorry.”

“This is because you’re a former shut-in….. I guess people like you could even kill their parents, right? You will go and do it at one point in time.”

He spat out sarcasm with a voice loud enough for everyone inside the store to hear.

A shut-in? I couldn’t deny it.

If you look at the blank area in my resume, everyone would interpret it that way.

My background was rather unique. Because at the age of fifteen, I was summoned to another world. It was the so-called Medieval Europe Fantasy-esque world of sword and magic. In addition, it was in a strange space-time with a game-like system.

I spent the past 17 years in that land. Teens to twenties, I dedicated myself for adventuring, and before I noticed it, I was already 32 years old.

This was a story of last year, I went through such a long journey and I successfully defeated the demon king at last. Speaking of what happened after that, I returned to Japan.

“This is enough. Thanks for the hard work. Hero-sama should return home.”

It was more or less like that, a sort of lukewarm parting. I returned to Japan with a snap.

I thought it was a dream at first. Naturally, my parents were very surprised when they saw me suddenly appear in front of the house.

Well, of course. If their son who had disappeared for a long time showed his face for the first time in seventeen years, it would be normal to jump up.

“You were alive!?” and “Where have you been!?”

Those words came out of my mother and my father’s mouths. Well, that kind of thing happened.

The priests told me that they were going to manipulate the memories of those in my world before sending me back to Japan.

If possible, I wished I could go back to normal when I returned to Japan. Now I’m too strong and it’s difficult to adjust my strength. I need to pay close attention so I could act within the range of an ordinary person. It was a terribly restrained life. Thanks to dropping and splitting the dishes, I was known as a clumsy clerk.

Different from a cute girl, it was just unacceptable for an uncle older than 30 to have such a trait.

If they were in the category of my “owned items”, I could just grant them enhancement magic. If I increase their durability with magic, they won’t break even if I handle it roughly. I did that to my own belongings but the dishes here were the property of the shop. So, because I couldn’t strengthen it, this kind of situation happened.

I left the house just to be an annoying destroyer. None of the work lasts long.

I’m nothing right now. The majesty of a hero or the likes, not even fragments were left.

I’m at the bottom of society.

But I deserve it.

Because I’m a sinner.

When I think of what I did in that world, I have to keep on making amends forever.

“—–Hero-sama, you can finally beat the demon king with this, right? Our lives are not wasted, are they?”

Apologizing to the voice that resonated inside my head, I finished today’s work.

Two broken dishes. It was the smallest record ever.