Chapter 83 – It seems to be the Hero and the Goddess

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“Let’s once again reincarnate you who regrettably died, fortunately you possess the strength of a powerful soul. It truly is strength suitable for a hero. I’d like you, who holds that strength, to save the world.”

“For me… for me such power is……”

Listen properly, I mutter in my mind.
In front of me a fool is staring at his own hands while trembling all over with a feeling similar to “the power that was hidden in my hands” … er, rather, it’s this time’s hero-kun. However, the strength of his soul, how to say it, doesn’t even possess a glimpse of mysterious power.
There’s also no particular reason for him to have been chosen either.
To begin with, his intellect is a bit lacking since he died young. He’s also only one among the 100 souls I tried to pick out from by setting the selection criterion to fairly decent facial features.
Among the possible selection criteria, this one works well for transferring a person after telling them they’ve died.
There’s often a god who tells them “If you go to the world over there, your previous existence in your former world will be deleted.” However, that’s really exhausting.
Being able to make such efforts so frequently, they have my admiration.
At any rate, it would be bad if not all their karma is erased from their former world. If even a speck of it is left behind, in the corner of someone’s mind, a memory like “Which reminds me, what happened to that fellow at that time, I wonder?” would end up remaining.
If that happens, it would be a disaster.
There’s a proverb stating, “A single ant hole is also just a dike of 1000*.” Because if one person remembers, it will cause a chain reaction of everyone remembering little by little. It would likely develop into a major incident. (T/N: “Because of a small carelessness and negligence, something serious will happen”)
If it’s the soul of a person who has already died, this means that said person doesn’t exist in their world anymore. Therefore, what happens afterwards is no problem either, because they will have to move fairly actively at the place they are reincarnated.
On top of that, they will have to do various things like making acquaintances, lovers and children in that world.
If one considers these points, I have no idea what the merits of sending an old man into a different world would be.
Expressly reincarnating such a soul in a different world; do you do that just, so he can bask in the sun?
If there was a being doing something like that, wouldn’t that being be a big idiot, I wonder?
All of a sudden, I had a feeling as if something just now travelled down my spine, but… I guess it’s my imagination?
Putting that aside, currently hero-kun, who is trembling out of excitement in front of my eyes, is important.
He’s slightly dim-witted, or to put it in other words, it’s fine to call him quite the idiot. But if he was too smart, he would see through my plan or make unpredictable demands.
Sometimes those called humans outwit even us who are beings that are called gods.
There’s even a religion where it’s described that they ate the fruit of wisdom after being lured by a snake in ancient times, but as a single individual I fully want to agree with that.
Regarding the matter of retaining the facial features at his last moment’s, I don’t feel like there’s even a need to explain.
Not a chance, if hero-san had a face as if it was crushed after being run over and moreover looked like a toad… No way! Who would be able to regard such person as brave?
He likely wouldn’t be approached by someone acting as a heroine. The heck, he wouldn’t even be able to make friends he can rely on either.
Humans prattling bullshit such as “the heart is more important than the outward appearance” while looking like they were sent flying somewhere with their loose teeth are doing that just for their own convenience. In the end, first impressions are determined by one’s face.
Besides, since I myself have to add gifts and skills, the so-called cheats, to that person afterwards, I would be reluctant to do so if the other party had a face as if it was cut in three and had parts of orcs, goblins and slimes added to it. It would be unpleasant for me, right?
However, if I had limited the beauty factor too much I wouldn’t have been able to gather as many souls this time.
That’s because beauty in itself is actually a fairly rare skill. Thus, reasonable beauty is enough.

“Currently, the world to which you are heading is living in fear of the shadow of a wicked demon king. In order to dispel the distress of the people and to ignite the light in the world once again, your power is needed.”

“I see, this is a different world transfer… so that means I will receive cheat skills from here on out, have a large mana pool, fight repeatedly with a holy sword, yield large quantities of profits by making money out of my other world knowledge and lead a rose-coloured life with beautiful women swarming around me.”

That a somehow amazing dream, is this guy alright?
No, well, I will give it to him though, cheat skills or such.
I will raise his stamina and mana to the limit of humans. However, I will leave his vitality at approximately the same level.
Also, as for holy swords, if I remember correctly there should be many of those since they were used by previous heroes and then left behind over there.
However, as the one fighting will be you yourself, there won’t be any meaning if you can’t master the technical skills.
A three-year-old child won’t be a match for an elementary schooler that’s riding a bicycle, even if he’s placed inside a F1 racer, but does this guy understand this?
Moreover, as for profiting largely with other world knowledge, judging from what I’ve seen after lightly peeking at the contents of your head, I feel like there’s no stock of knowledge that can be turned into money. So, what is this person planning to sell in order to make money?
Although I felt like he’s somewhat no good, let’s simply proceed as it would extremely bothersome to restart the selection once again.

“Goddess-sama!”

“Huh? Ah, yes? How may I help you?”

Hero-kun called out to me while I was brooding.
For some reason he is looking this way with sparkling eyes. I wonder just what the hell happened.

“A hero is popular with women, right?”

“Th… That is, umm, I expect that you will receive gratitude from very many people.”

What is he is talking about all of a sudden, this hero-kun?
Maybe ‘that kind’ of desire is strong in him.
If he properly does the things he has to do, I don’t particularly care. However, how to build a harem or a garden of roses in our world isn’t something that I know about.

“Then, then!”

“Haa?”

“First as reward in advance, in this place with Goddess-sama, one ti…”

Before he was able to finish his sentence, I flung a right straight with all my power at hero-kun’s face.
My prided blow, which has quite the cutting edge by using my hips properly, clearly seized Hero-kun’s face and pulverized his head in one go.
Since he’s still in the state of being just a soul that hasn’t incarnated, he will return to his original shape with the passage of time even if his head is scattered in all directions or his limbs are torn off.
Even so, given that his actions and thinking are suspended, let’s remodel him now so that he can be guided in his thinking, in order to not come up with unnecessary things.
Good grief, talk about investing time and effort.

“Ha!? Just what the heck…”

“You apparently lost yourself due to the heavy responsibility imposed on you. That’s something inevitable.”

I solemnly convey to Hero-kun who reformed after a while.

“Rather than that, as you will enter the world as a hero, I think that you want to be granted blessings by me.”

“Finally, I will be given cheat skills!”

Hero-kun is delighted and his eyes sparkle due to my words.
However, does he understand, I wonder?
In the beginning I told you that you have the power of a strong soul. That in itself is enough power in order to be called a hero. So, why do I have to deliberately grant further blessings of a goddess to hero-kun who should already possess such power?
If one thinks about it for a bit they will realize that it’s strange, though the majority don’t notice it.
Maybe he conveniently understands it as something that’s necessary for him to display his innate power.
In reality, I have to grant at least a few blessings onto him, as he is an existence that would otherwise quickly end up dying .

“First <Swordsmanship> as power for the sake of fighting. Then, the highest levels of the <Sorcery> and <Magic*> skills for all attributes. And <Different World Language> which is necessary to lead a life in the different world. And then, let’s raise your stamina and mana to the limit.” (T/N: 法術 – houjutsu – Kind of tricky to find a good word for it. It’s not the usual meaning of magic as used in the West but more the chinese understanding along the line of taoistic thoughts e.g. alchemistic pills etc.)

“Goddess-sama! I would be happy if I could make slaves though.”

I, who firmly endured wanting to say, “This low-life”, was successful at facing him with a somewhat forced smile.
Even though I have been telling him that I want him to save the world, he wants to make slaves. Just what’s inside that head of his?
I also have the feeling that it’s pointless even if I mention it. In the first place, the slogan of saving that world in itself is a lie.

“Got it, let’s grant you the skill of <Slave Creation> as well.”

It will be troublesome if he can bend their will even if they decline.
As expected, the skill being used limitlessly without any restriction will be problematic, thus I will secretly add the condition that it will only show its effect if the other party consents.

“As for weapons, since there are items called holy swords in this world, it will be alright if you use those. They can’t be used by anyone but those possessing the <Hero> skill, which is your inherent skill.”

That’s the truth.
On each of these hero events, which have happened several times until now, I allowed the heroes to keep weapons, named holy swords, that possess broken skills, but since the weapon itself was always left behind once the hero died, holy swords are actually quite common over there.
However, since they are nothing more than sturdier and heavier weapons, for someone who doesn’t possess the hero skill they have no practical use.
In my eyes they are items which don’t leave the region of oversized garbage, but royalty and the priests over there seem to be extremely happily collecting them.

“What about armour?”

Now that he mentions it, I wonder why there’s no holy shield or holy armour even though there are holy swords.
I try to remember, but I can’t think of any specific reason.
I believe It’s because a good offence is the best defence… or it’s just too bothersome to create them.

“Let’s see… it’s fine for you to use things that already exist, but… let me give you <Armour Growth> as well. You will have to gather the raw materials by yourself though.”

Since I hate the fact that the things I create take time and effort, let’s have him make it by himself.
It’s a lovely skill that allows one to make armour with a single action, without doing something bothersome such as blacksmithing.
Contrary to my expectations that he will be pleased with it, this hero dissed it in an outrageous manner.

“Eeh? Its usability is bad.”

I swallowed down the words “I will beat you to death” since, hero-kun looked like he wanted to say that it’s a really troublesome skill.
I’d like someone to praise me for somehow bearing it, with only the area around my cheeks cramping for an instant.
It looks like both of us think that it’s too troublesome.

“Well, since you will have to defeat monsters and such in order to raise your level, it will be fine as I feel that you will gather the raw materials on the way. What else can I get you?”

I’d like to think that it’s no crime for me to have really considered for a moment whether to turn this guy down and transfer someone else.
Rather, I hoped he would die to a critical hit from a goblin or slime around the first town, but since that would then result in me losing the game with that creepy demon supervisor, I’ll have him duke it out with the demon king. I’ll just limit myself to just putting a curse on him.
Ah, that’s no good, I ended up attaching the <Supervisor Curse> on him.
It’s a simple curse that lets one fail things that anyone else does successfully, so to speak it’s something that causes an enforced fumbling, but since it’s impossible to take it back now, let’s have him deal with it as is.
It might become a great source of joke material after all.

“Oh hero, greed is no virtue. Rather than that, for the sake of saving the troubled people quickly…”

“Eeh! Since you are telling me to save the world, it’s only fair to give me at least this much service, right?”

You have to go. Losing your ego inside the circle of reincarnation will just turn you into a different kind of living being, is what I want to tell him, but I will endure it with a goddess-like smile.

“Then, oh Hero, what kind of skills do you desire? I shall grant you only two. However, please acknowledge that it’s impossible to grant you a request, that will disturb the world’s balance too much, for I am who maintains this world.”

“Just two?”

“I’m sorry, but this body is one that preserves the world and thus I cannot afford to spare too much energy on it.”

“Guess it can’t be helped then, I will tolerate only having two.”

You have quite the guts to confront a goddess with an arrogant attitude.
Let’s pray that the demon king makes this guy suffer nicely.

“First, I’d like to have an enhancement in ‘that’ specific area of night activities.”

“… Got it.”

Aside from the request’s repulsiveness, this is nothing too difficult to realize.
I pondered whether I should attach a horse’s thing to him as harassment, but let’s pass on that since it will only cause trouble to the residents over there.
I have a feeling that it will be really hilarious to see the troubled looks of the ojou-sama’s, who grew up as sheltered princesses, after being told to do it with ‘that’ one way or another. But as one would expect, that would be too pitiful.
Well, it’s fine as they will suffer quite a bit from making children at a mad pace either way.
I don’t have any intention to hold a sense of responsibility though.

“Then, please give me some amazing ability that belongs only to me.”

There should be some illness for such a behaviour, but I forgot what it was called.
Because it’s something trivial, I wondered whether I should have him emit noxious gas or such, but if I allow him to have something too powerful, the demon king’s side and the other race’s heroes will bring out powerful skills in order to compete and that will result in inflated combat abilities. As that will only lengthen the interval until the next event, I have to grant him a skill with a bit of thought.
Or rather, that whatever-works viewpoint, I wonder, just what kind of ability does he want?

“Then, hero-sama, according to your wish, I shall grant you the skill <Crusade>. As it’s a skill that will raise the abilities of those who are recognised to be under your command by several times, it will be extremely useful at the time of battle. Of course, if you were to join a party, hero-sama, it will be possible to use it on the members of that party. Since it’s quite the powerful ability, it has the limit of working only 3 times per day attached to it.”

“Goddess-sama, how stingy.”

I raised my head with the gloomy emotion of “don’t think that I will forever be your smiling goddess”, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I just have to endure until I transfer this guy. If that wasn’t the case, my emotions would have been reflected on my face.

“Hero-sama, the time for you to set off will come any time now. The people of the other world are continuing the ceremony of praying for the descent of a hero-sama.”

The ceremony, which should have originally finished a lot faster, took an awfully long time this time.
The obstruction from somewhere is… likely master’s deed.
Since that lady has said that we own the regulatory authority of the world over here, I’d like her to stop meddling in strange ways soon.

“I see, then I have to go, I guess.”

“Yes, hero-sama. Please, save the…”

“It’s alright, leave it to me. Having been given so many cheats, I’m peerless and invincible.”

I don’t think that’s the case though, is what I thought but I didn’t voice it out.
With the descent of the human’s hero in the world as key, the heroes of the other races will probably appear, too.
If this hero moves about as he likes with his character as it is, he will likely get into a conflict with the heroes of the other races. The subjugation target, the demon king, should possess abilities to the degree that a single hero won’t stand a chance against him.
However, there’s no necessity to pass this information onto the hero.

“Well then, hero-sama… ah, that reminds me, I think I still haven’t heard your name yet.”

“Me? I’m Yatsufusa. Yatsufusa Yuuki.”

“I see, then, Yuuki-sama, may the fortune of war be on your side.”

With a timing making it unknown whether he finished hearing my words or not, hero Yuuki’s figure vanished as if it was erased.
After making sure that he was gone, I sighed very deeply.
Somehow, he’s a hero that makes me feel like he won’t last very long.
If he doesn’t last, so shall it be. I don’t really care either way.
As long as the human countries have enough spare energy remaining to summon another hero, it won’t turn into a game over.
It might be a good idea to make some kind of oracle and call the next hero before the current hero retires.

“I won’t lose this time!!”

Likely the supervisors of the other races are now hurriedly searching for hero candidates from among the races they are in charge of.
This event generally ends with no winner, as the overall exhaustion becomes too much. Afterwards we will be given a rank by assigning evaluation points, but this time I have to win no matter what.
I reaffirmed my determination by firmly clenching my fists inside the space where only I exist.

 

 

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