The Former Hero Begins to be Re-evaluated

While casually reading a newspaper in the village, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

After kicking me out, the Empire recruited Herald as the new hero?

No matter how I thought about it, this was illogical.

‘I had a friendly match with Herald before.’

I know how much power Herald has.

Because I fought him before.

In the past, when I was actively working as a hero, Herald once requested a friendly match, saying he wanted to learn from me.

It was bothersome, but I couldn’t refuse when an elderly Knight Commander with a name in the Empire asked me like that.

And in that friendly match that started, I dealt with him moderately.

In the process, it might have looked like I was being pushed back at a glance, but that was just me going easy on him.

After all, who would take responsibility if something went wrong while seriously dealing with an old man over 60?

Of course, I had no choice but to deal with him moderately.

‘The result was a draw though.’

In South Korea, the country where I lived on Earth, respecting the elderly was a basic culture.

Herald hadn’t done anything bad to me, and as he was working hard as the Empire’s Knight Commander, it wouldn’t be bad to boost his pride a bit.

So I dealt with him moderately and the result ended in a draw.

I was satisfied with such a result.

Although I wondered if I had given him some unnecessary misconceptions while watching Herald rejoicing over winning the battle, but what did it matter?

Herald was a knight who would retire soon anyway.

Since knights sometimes have confidence and arrogance that can be poisonous, I don’t deliberately slack off in matches, but since he was about to retire, I didn’t bother to care about such things.

‘No, what were they thinking making Herald a hero?’

But looking at the current situation, it seemed like something was going wrong.

Did Herald perhaps misunderstand that he was as strong as me? Is that why he applied to be a hero?

I was quite bewildered by the fact that Herald had become a hero, and I couldn’t understand the Empire’s action of accepting him either.

No, more than that, what on earth was the Empire doing?

How blind do you have to be to make an old man over 60 a hero? How is Herald a hero in any way…

“Huh…”

Of course, there’s no one to replace the hero even if it’s not Herald.

At the point where I left the Empire, the knights in the Empire would never be able to stop the Demon Lord.

But even so, Herald really wasn’t it.

Isn’t he just an old man who knows how to use a sword a bit?

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand making such an old man a hero.

Even if the possibility is very low, there should be at least some possibility, right?

If you send Herald to the Demon Lord’s castle, you could say the chance of winning is just 0%.

It feels like the Empire guys are determined to perish…

‘Forget it. Why am I caring about the Empire’s affairs.’

But I decided to lose interest.

I keep getting interested because news about the Empire keeps coming, but it has nothing to do with me now.

Whether the Empire defeats the Demon Lord and prospers, or fails to defeat the Demon Lord and perishes completely, it’s none of my business.

Of course, looking at how the current situation is unfolding, the latter is very likely, but am I going to save the Empire now?

There was absolutely no reason for me to protect the Empire that betrayed me.

I might even look forward to its downfall.

Thinking like that, I closed the newspaper.

Looking outside, it had already become completely dark.

If I’m going to farm with the villagers tomorrow, I should start going to sleep.

I was just about to fall asleep lying on the bed.

Knock knock.

Who could it be at this hour?

I heard a knocking sound from outside.

In the quite late night, who could have come to see me? Is it the village chief?

I couldn’t guess who had come, but I should go out and check.

I got up from the bed and went to the door. And I opened it.

“Huh…? You are? That. That.”

When I opened the door, I saw a face I didn’t quite expect.

It was the girl who was watching me from afar when the village chief introduced me to the villagers earlier.

That girl had now come to my house.

What was her name again? The village chief just introduced her as a child being taken care of by the church, I should have asked for her name if I knew this would happen.

What should I call her…

“My name is Ria. Hello. I’m sorry for coming so late at night.”

While I was making a slightly troubled expression, the girl spoke first, telling me her name.

The girl who introduced herself as Ria greeted me with a slightly trembling voice.

“I see. So you’re Ria. What brings you to my house?”

I greeted Ria appropriately and then got to the point.

What could be the reason Ria came to see me in the middle of the night like this?

Well, it’s not like she fell in love with me at first sight and came, right?

I waited for Ria’s answer, and I could hear a somewhat surprising answer.

“Oppa. You’re the hero, right?”

“Huh…?”

It seemed that the girl called Ria knew me somewhat.

How on earth does she know my identity?

@ @ @

The first thing Herald did after being appointed as the new hero was to talk with the party members.

Although they would be party members he’d be with for only a short time until defeating the Demon Lord, they were still party members he had to work with.

It was natural for a hero to get to know these party members by talking with them.

As Herald, who had experience leading groups for decades as a Knight Commander, knew the importance of relationships better than anyone.

“Ahaha. The alcohol here is really delicious, right?”

“This is a bar we often go to, we’re regulars here.”

In the drinking party that started under Herald’s initiative, they shared quite a lot of stories with each other.

The party members were pleasantly drunk and sharing various stories, from trivial things to important matters related to the hero party, all to Herald.

Of course, since all the hero party members were in their early 20s, there was a generation gap for 60-year-old Herald to understand.

From Herald’s perspective, it wasn’t without some awkward aspects, but it wasn’t bad.

It certainly felt like they had taken one step closer as party members through this drinking party.

‘They’re not bad party members.’

Herald looked at the party members and thought that the party members who treated him as a hero weren’t bad.

He was worried they might not acknowledge him because of the former hero Han Soo, but there was no such problem.

He thought it was fortunate in that aspect.

They didn’t particularly show any exclusivity, and their personalities didn’t seem that bad at first glance.

Of course, at first the party members were a bit wary of Herald, but even that changed when Herald treated them well, they reciprocated in their own way.

The mage called Luna still seemed to be shy towards Herald, but basically treated Herald as a hero.

Seeing these aspects, Herald felt that they weren’t bad party members.

‘But they’re quite vain.’

However, it’s not that there were no problems at all.

While drinking, Herald naturally couldn’t help but notice what they had.

Equipment that looked extremely expensive at a glance, the equipment they were wearing or the weapons and accessories they had, every single one of them was an extremely expensive item.

Moreover, not just that, but the meat and alcohol they ordered at this restaurant were also top-class, and from what he heard from them, they often ordered such menus.

Even if the hero party receives generous support funds, Herald wondered if it’s okay to spend like this.

‘I’m not sure about their skills, but they’re not good party members to be with for a long time. The former hero Han Soo didn’t seem to have such vanity…’

Because of that, the remaining funds of the current hero party were almost running out.

Despite receiving so much support from the Empire, for the financial situation to be this bad, Herald wanted to point out this problem on one hand.

He wanted to manage the finances himself and prevent such luxuries, but he decided to give up on that idea.

After all, as mentioned before, the hero party was a party that would be disbanded once they defeated the Demon Lord.

What does it matter if a group that will soon lose its reason for existence has vanity?

It would be better not to point out such trivial issues.

Unnecessarily pointing this out could only spread discord in the party.

What’s important was their skills.

‘Their skills should be sufficient. Since Han Soo had them with him.’

For Herald, as long as the party members had skills, nothing else mattered.

Whether their personality was bad or they were vain, skills were the most basic thing that should be there.

And he didn’t need to evaluate those skills himself.

Because isn’t it already proven by the fact that former hero Han Soo had them for a year?

Han Soo only failed to defeat the Demon Lord, but he defeated all the other Four Heavenly Kings and high-ranking demons.

The party members must have been with him in that process.

Even the most talentless soldier becomes a reliable veteran if you take them to the battlefield for a year.

So, he decided not to evaluate their skills.

They would do well on their own.

“Hehehe…”

“Phew. Let’s all go to sleep now.”

“What are you saying? I’m… not drunk…”

Before long, the drinking party reached its peak, and the party members started to collapse one by one.

Herald personally carried such party members to the lodging rooms on the second floor of the inn.

“We should depart right away tomorrow.”

And Herald also entered the remaining lodging room.

He had no intention of delaying.

Herald plans to take the party members and depart for where the Demon Lord is tomorrow.