WKTH Chapter 3

“The guy isn’t a hero, he’s just an idiot,” said the man who was hailed as the Great Sage with disgust. The man wearing a purple magician’s robe was skinny and had a stern expression, and his appearance seemed very nervous. His way of speaking was also rough, making people not want to get too close unless they had a reason to. That was Solon Berkeley.

He had been hailed as a prodigy since childhood, and it was said that he was more skilled in magic than his teachers when he entered the Falum Academy. To this day, he has made many contributions to the world by creating new magic and making magical discoveries.

“What exactly is a hero, anyway? Someone with exceptional strength? Someone with powerful magic?” – Someone who defeats the demon king?

“Is defeating the demon king what makes someone a hero? Or does being a hero mean defeating the demon king? It’s ridiculous. It’s like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. He had no strength or magic. He had none of the necessary qualities of a hero. Yet they entrusted the fate of the world to him? That’s insane. He shouldn’t have been the one to do it, and the people who left it to him were out of their minds.”

But he defeated the demon king.
“That’s just the result. He was lucky… no, that’s not it. Anyone could have done it with the amount of effort he put in. Leon, Maria, and I should have put in more effort too. The others are out of the question. They did nothing and yet they continue to live carefree lives. It’s truly frustrating.”

But Leon said that his effort was abnormal.
“Abnormal? Do you think you can defeat the demon king just by swinging your sword a thousand times a day? Do you think you can become proficient in defeating the demon king by casting magic a hundred times? That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

“The goal is not to aim for the position of knight commander or court mage. We have to put in the effort to defeat the Demon Lord. It’s only natural to go beyond the norm to accomplish that. ──You taught magic to Ares, didn’t you?”

“He was persistent. He kept pestering me to teach him magic. The teachers of the magic department refused to teach him. And rightly so. They don’t teach magic to warriors because it’s inefficient and a waste of time. That’s why he came to me and said, ‘You know more about magic than the teachers, so please teach me magic.'”

“It was just a simple lesson. It was like killing time. But teaching magic to people led to various discoveries. Well, it wasn’t a bad experience. Now, I have disciples because of him. If it weren’t for him, I would have continued to look down on others and never taught anyone anything until I died.”

“Did Ares have any talent in magic?” “No, he didn’t. He had the least magical aptitude of anyone I’ve ever met. You met Leon and Maria, right? Didn’t they say the same thing? He had no talent for anything, not even swords or magic. He was just an ordinary person.”

“But it’s said that the Hero Ares used magic.” “Sort of… If he were to use a fire spell, using a flint and steel would have been faster. That’s all it was. He trained to death to get that far. I thought it was useless.”

“But it was useful?” “It was. He had such crappy magic, but it worked. And not just once or twice. He was good at using magic. Or maybe he was resourceful? For example, instead of using a fire spell directly on the enemy, he would use oil as a fuel source. He would use wind magic to get into the enemy’s eyes while fighting with swords. He used magic in such a way that even weak magic was effective. I learned a lot from him. Magic can become 1 to 10 times stronger, or it can become 0, depending on how you use it. In the battle of Rozorof Forest, my first battle, I tried to use my strongest magic against a demon, and it didn’t work. I was so embarrassed. At that time, he told me, ‘Use weaker magic to buy some time. That’s all you can do right now.’ If it had been a normal day, I wouldn’t have listened to his orders. But I was so stunned at the time that I acted like a puppet and did what he said. And it worked.”

“And that’s why you decided to form a party with Ares?” “I was arrogant at that time. I thought I could defeat the Demon Lord alone without forming a party. I thought, ‘I’ll team up with Leon or Maria if I have to.’ Maybe Leon and Maria thought the same way? But after spending time with Ares, I realized that I was wrong. I couldn’t have done it alone.”

“They may have the appearance of saintly people, but deep down, they should have the same arrogance and disdain for others as I did. But in the Rosoroff Forest, they were confronted with their own helplessness and were crushed, and that’s when they teamed up with me. Without them, we would have each joined different groups like followers and would have died early. Each of us was certainly excellent, but without them, we couldn’t have united.”

Did you display your power because of Ares?

“I don’t know. But one thing I can say is that even if Leon, Maria, and I weren’t there, someone else might have become the hero and defeated the Demon King, but if Ares wasn’t there, the Demon King wouldn’t have been defeated.”

Can’t that be called the quality of a hero?

“Don’t be ridiculous. I already told you, he’s just an idiot. Being a hero isn’t a big deal. Ordinary people should just behave themselves. We were certainly geniuses. But we were arrogant bastards who rested on our laurels. However, he had nothing. He was a big stupid jerk who was called a hero for nothing. It’s easy to say ‘hero-sama.’ But what do those people really know about him? Do they think he defeated the Demon King just because he was a hero? Do they know what he did and what he sacrificed for it? There were many people more talented than him. Including me. It’s because we didn’t do anything that he had to become a hero.”

You fought the Demon King as a wise man. You didn’t do nothing, did you?

“Of course, it was natural for me to fight the Demon King. I’m a genius, you know. Leon and Maria also fought because they had to. It was like a duty and destiny imposed on us. But he was different. He twisted fate and fought the Demon King. Even if that’s what he wanted, I don’t want him to be called a hero.”

Why did the hero die?

“I don’t know. Is that all you wanted to ask? Then leave. Our conversation is over.”

What was the cause of Ares’ death?

“…Is that really what you wanted to know?” Solon, who had seemed sullen until just now, laughed with interest. “As we reported, Ares was killed by a demon. That’s for sure. But we didn’t see him die.”

Did he die at the hands of the demon king’s subordinates, even though you defeated the demon king?

“Well, that’s how it turned out,” said Solon.

“Why weren’t you there at the time?”

“We were just unlucky, that’s all.”

“It could be speculated that you killed him based on the circumstances.”

“Well, you could certainly think that way. But it’s impossible. Even if we wanted to kill Ares, we couldn’t.”

“Was it because Ares was strong?”

“No, it’s just that it’s impossible.”

“Lastly, what was Ares to you?”

“He was a friend. Just a friend. My only friend. But I lost him in that battle. He was just an ordinary and humble man… oh, but he did have one obsession.”

“An obsession?”

“When we set out on our journey to defeat the Demon King, the king had an artist draw us. Ares gave the artist detailed instructions. ‘Make my nose a little higher,’ ‘Make my eyes a little bigger,’ he said. Even though the artist would have beautified us without any instructions, we laughed at how picky he was. At that time, we thought he had a complex about his ordinary appearance, which was not befitting of a hero.”

Solon’s lips twisted into a small smile. “If you want to know more about Ares, go to his hometown of Taris Village. If you want to document the hero, you can’t afford to miss that.”