Chapter 2: Episode 2

For the third requirement to become a hero, waiting was paramount.

In this world, the conditions for hero selection were simple.

From the age of fifteen to twenty. Selection happened within this period.

I didn’t know the exact reason either.

Anyway.

One thing was certain: the hero selection took place on one’s birthday.

And on my fifteenth birthday.

Around midnight.

‘…When things go too smoothly, it’s actually frightening.’

I was not chosen by Eleonora.

Still, it was fine.

Because I still had five chances left.

****

The past year.

It had been incredibly arduous days.

Especially my master, Helna, was the biggest problem.

“Run!”

“Run as if you’re going to die!!!”

“Hmm? You say you’re really going to die? Aren’t you perfectly alive? Hurry up and keep running!!!”

She said my body wasn’t even ready to swing a sword yet, so she only made me do basic training.

Running. Push-ups. Squats.

To exaggerate a little, I trained so hard I felt like I was shitting blood.

As a result.

‘…It’s not bad.’

My body itself had improved tremendously.

They say a merchant’s wealth is measured by their belly fat, but now, I didn’t look like a merchant’s son at all.

And I had no excess fat whatsoever.

‘Honestly, at this point, I should be chosen, right…?’

Last year’s birthday.

Although I wasn’t chosen as a hero, I now think it couldn’t be helped back then.

Because at that time, though I wasn’t as fat as Father, my belly was starting to get a bit flabby.

There was no way a goddess would appoint such a dull body as a hero.

So, I’m quite hopeful now.

‘…Goddess Eleonora, please!’

Just before midnight.

I knelt down and earnestly prayed, but.

‘Again…?’

I was not chosen as a hero.

****

Seventeen years old. Now, I genuinely felt confident I would be appointed as a hero.

This was because I had finally learned swordsmanship from Master Helna.

Did I become this confident just because I learned swordsmanship? Absolutely not.

“Oh-ho…!”

“…You have talent.”

“Amazing! You might even possess talent comparable to my daughter’s.”

“Hmm? Perhaps you have more talent than my daughter…?”

I had such outstanding talent in swordsmanship that I was acknowledged by Master Helna.

Upon hearing this, Father was incredibly pleased, and I too was very happy.

Swordsmanship talent for me, of all people.

And outstanding talent, acknowledged by a non-virgin of the sword, no less.

At this point, even Goddess Eleonora wouldn’t be able to resist appointing me as a hero.

‘…Hehe, Goddess, you know, right? I’m totally hero material!’

And then, around midnight, as my birthday arrived once more.

I knelt and prayed in the same posture as last year.

‘…This is truly too much.’

On this day too, I was not chosen as a hero.

****

Eighteen years old.

Along with my perfecting physique, my growth ignited.

My growth curve was almost vertical, one might say.

I grew stronger so quickly that I even wondered if I had used cheats.

Seeing me like this, Master Helna didn’t hesitate to give excessive praise.

“You monster…!”

“…Are you truly human?”

“Is this what happens when effort and talent meet…! I’ve learned something new. I might be able to push my daughter a bit harder.”

“…Yuren, do you perhaps have any intention of taking my daughter as your wife? You just need to sow your seeds like a stud horse.”

For now, I pretended not to hear that last remark.

Anyway.

Thanks to my effort and talent, which disgusted even Master Helna, I was able to become much stronger than last year.

This time, I would surely be chosen as a hero.

If not me, then who on earth would be the hero?

‘…Goddess, this time, I truly believe.’

On my birthday, which came around again.

Contrary to such expectations.

‘Ha….’

…I was not chosen again.

And my nineteenth birthday was the same.

Soon after, as my twentieth birthday, which could be considered my last chance, approached.

I bid farewell to Master Helna.

“There’s nothing more I can teach you. Strive onward.”

“Yes, Master.”

Actually, I wanted to learn more from my master, but since she made a ‘confession of conscience’ that she had nothing more to teach, anything further was impossible.

Indeed.

Because I felt as if my growth was blocked, like a huge wall stood before me.

This wall couldn’t be overcome by learning.

My own choice was important.

In fact, if I just focused on swordsmanship, it seemed I could easily leap over this wall.

However.

‘Goddess… This is my last chance… Really…!’

Due to the urgency of not yet becoming a hero, I couldn’t concentrate on swordsmanship at all.

‘Phew… This time will be different, right.’

Sighing deeply, I saw my master off and then immediately went to see Father.

“Yes. Did you send her off well?”

“Yes.”

“She was a woman truly befitting the word ‘heroine’. Yuren, thanks to you, I’ve been able to forge a good connection.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Just the fact that she is your master means no knight will dare disrespect our Garcia family.”

“That’s true, I suppose.”

A master respected by knights. Master Helna was one of them.

I, however, found it more remarkable that Father had managed to bring such a person to be my master.

“By the way… I’ve wanted to say this several times, but I held my tongue, thinking you must have your own reasons for doing so.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew solemn.

Father’s expression changed to something unusual.

“Yes?”

What on earth was he going to talk about?

“…Yuren. You’ve been making offerings. And recently, twice as much as last year.”

Ah, that talk.

As the urgency grew, I poured even more money into it, hoping to gain the goddess’s favor.

Because this was my last chance.

I had to make sure!

“…Still, isn’t it just a drop in the bucket?”

The money I offered was a substantial sum that Jomaenggyo would welcome with open arms, but to the Garcia family, it was merely pocket change.

Moreover, it was only a portion of my allowance that I poured into offerings.

It wasn’t something Father should react to like this.

“That’s true. However, I want to tell you this. A merchant, by nature, should never make offerings.”

“….”

“If you believe in a god, money naturally flows out. And that money only fattens the cult leader’s belly. There’s only one thing I want to say.”

I realized what Father was trying to say midway through.

“…You mean I shouldn’t waste money.”

“Exactly.”

In truth, I knew it too.

That the money I was offering was as good as being wasted.

Indeed, over the past five years, Jomaenggyo’s leader had started adorning himself with flamboyant accessories.

I didn’t need to be told what money he bought them with.

Perhaps I had been repeating meaningless acts.

Still, with the feeling of grasping at straws, I wanted to believe.

That by making offerings, I could gain the god’s favor.

But I couldn’t keep making such meaningless offerings my entire life.

I promised Father.

“Twenty years old… No, I will make offerings only until my birthday.”

I also had no intention of making offerings after becoming a hero.

“Until your birthday, you say… Hmm?”

For a moment, a peculiar gleam appeared in Father’s eyes.

Only then did Father realize.

The reason I had been making so many offerings.

A hero.

Father recognized this but showed no outward sign, nodding lightly.

“…I understand.”

****

Midnight approached.

It was my last remaining chance.

For the last time, I offered a sincere prayer.

Completely unlike my previous materialistic prayers.

With a truly devout heart.

‘…Please, grant me this opportunity.’

Immediately after realizing this world was that of ‘Raising a Saintess,’ I thought.

That there must be a reason for my reincarnation into this world.

And that reason.

I presumed it was for me to become a hero and save this world.

No, there was no doubt.

Otherwise, there would be no way I’d have such a great talent for swordsmanship, achieving mastery in such a short time.

I believed that fact without a doubt.

Nor did I have any intention of abandoning the hero’s duty.

Although I harbored the irreverent thought of adventuring with attractive saintesses, I still genuinely intended to save the world.

The hero’s mindset.

Saving the world and becoming a servant to its people.

I kept this in mind.

Why?

Because that’s what a hero is.

Having become a hero, I intended to emulate a legendary hero, one who would appear in fairy tales.

Righteous, brave. And courageous.

I conveyed to the goddess, once again… and for the last time, that I would become such a hero.

And then, midnight.

“Ha… f*ck.”

Ultimately, I never became a hero.

****

Perhaps it was because I had lost my dream in an instant.

Due to recalling memories of my past life, the adolescence I hadn’t experienced arrived late.

I also stopped the daily training I used to do.

The scoundrel of the Garcia family.

That became the moniker used to refer to me.

I drank heavily and enjoyed gambling.

I went out in the morning and returned at dawn.

There wasn’t a single day I came home sober.

Even with my sudden transformation, Father said nothing.

I secretly guessed the reason.

Father had noticed that I wanted to become a hero, and he also realized that I ultimately wasn’t chosen.

It must have been out of pity, or perhaps comfort, for that.

Anyway.

Thanks to Father not particularly stopping me, my delinquent behavior quickly reached its limit.

At the last moment.

I stepped into a place that, as a person who had lived in modern times, I should never have gone.

“Brother Yuren. Just once, let’s go, okay? Why don’t someone as wealthy as you go to a place like that?!”

“Even if you have a lot of money, there are things you should do and things you shouldn’t.”

“Aw, come on, Brother. Think about it. Wouldn’t it be a blessing for that s*ave to be sold to a good person like you? Just once, shall we go? Please?”

The s*ave market.

My younger brother, Hans, who had contributed to my becoming a scoundrel, suggested we go there.

‘…Hmm, should I go just once then?’

In truth, I was curious too.

Because in ‘Raising a Saintess,’ I had heard a few times about saintesses who were of s*ave origin.

If I was lucky, couldn’t I even pick up a saintess?

‘…Even though I couldn’t become a hero.’

Even if I couldn’t be with an attractive saintess as a hero, how great would it be to just have her as a s*ave?

With such a twisted thought, I pretended to be reluctant and was dragged by Hans’s hand towards the s*ave market.