THE FOUL-MOUTHED GIRL AND THE TOO-FRIENDLY BOY HERO

Hey there, this is Aurel, everyone’s favorite eight-year-old.

That damn geezer isn’t back yet.

What the hell is he doing, leaving a lovely young lady like me all alone?

I mean, I know Master Ronandt is a super-talented mage and all, but I don’t think that makes it okay to just ditch an eight-year-old in some far-off land to set off on a journey or whatever.

What am I supposed to do?

You can’t blame me for calling him a geezer instead of “Master” right now.

Anyway, since he left me without any directions, I got that Empire big shot Tiva to give me some work to do for now.

The town I’m in at the moment has some Ohts Army people as well as a few Empire Army guys.

I’m basically doing grunt work for them.

Good thing the geezer at least introduced us that first day.

Otherwise they probably would’ve chased me out, being like, Who the hell’re you?!

This town is being occupied by an invading army, and I’m just a kid from the Empire, who is an ally of that army.

If I had to go it alone here, I’d probably be killed in some damn back alley.

Not my idea of a good time.

“Oh, Aurel, perfect timing. I was just heading out for a bit of shopping. Would you mind coming along to carry my things?”

Mister Tiva asks me to do odd jobs pretty often.

Well, it’s phrased like a request, but I mean, he’s looking after me because I’ve been dumped by my old employer.

It’s not like I can say no.

“Yeah, ’course.”

“You could at least say ‘yes, of course,’ you know.”

The older man smiles gently.

Sorry ’bout that.

I’m from the sticks, so I ain’t about to start talking all proper.

But Tiva’s a real good guy, helping out a foul-mouthed brat like me.

He’s so nice, I might just have to switch masters from that old geezer.

I follow the older man into town.

“I’m sorry, Aurel. I hate to make a small child like you help carry things for me, but as much as it pains me to say it, nobody else is free.” Mister Tiva apologizes.

“Stuff like this don’t bother me at all, Mister. In fact, if anyone complains about doing their damn job, you oughta just shove a boot up their ass.”

My crass remark makes Mister Tiva grin.

I know he really is shorthanded.

It can’t be easy running a town that’s just been taken over.

Technically, Ohts is in charge of the operation, so the Empire shouldn’t have to do much, but Mister Tiva is still hard at work every day.

In fact, Ohts is a pretty weak nation, so they’d do a shit job of running this town by themselves anyway.

That’s why the Empire people are running around nonstop even though this shouldn’t be their job.

Works out for me, since it means Mister Tiva was able to pick me up after the geezer ditched me.

But it must be a pain in the ass for the Empire people in this town.

Makes things pretty tense around here.

“Hmm?”

Mister Tiva knits his brow.

A big crowd of people has formed up ahead, shouting and jeering.

Uh-oh. Looks like trouble.

“What are you doing?” Mister Tiva addresses the crowd.

Even without shouting, his voice rings out loud and clear.

The crowd of people freezes in place and turns to look at us.

As soon as they spot his uniform and realize he’s a knight of the Renxandt Empire, they scatter in all directions.

The only person left behind is a young boy who looks like he’s been beaten.

“To think so many adults would do such a thing to a child like this… How cruel. Are you all right?”

Mister Tiva offers a hand to the boy.

The boy, however, stands up on his own without accepting it.

Whoa. Now that he’s standing, this kid’s actually pretty good-looking.

“Are they really the cruel ones here, I wonder?”

Tiva looks confused at first; then his eyes widen, apparently realizing something.

“Compared to what we’ve done to them, it’s only fair that we allow them this much in return,” the boy continues sorrowfully.

I think I know what he’s getting at now.

Ohts ransacked and took over this town.

Not to mention, they did so by attacking innocent townspeople while their fighters were away at a separate battlefield.

The town’s beloved lord and his wife were assassinated, and most of them think that was Ohts’s doing, too.

It’s natural that the surviving citizens of this town have a deep hatred for Ohts.

So much that they attack Ohts’s men on an almost daily basis.

But there’s one thing I still don’t get.

Why is this boy talking like he wronged them personally?

He doesn’t look much older than me, so I doubt he was part of the attack on the town.

“There is no need for you to do any such thing, Sir Julius the Hero.”

Mister Tiva’s words hit my confused little brain like a ton of bricks.

Hero? Hero?!

“Whaaa—?!”

It’s not my fault if I yelled a little bit, okay?

I mean, this is the hero we’re talking about!

Who wouldn’t be shocked if humanity’s best hope against the Demon Lord turned out to be some little kid?!

“You were only brought along in order to experience the battlefield firsthand. Not a single ounce of blame for what happened in this battle should lie with you.”

“But from their point of view, I’m one of the perpetrators. Since the hero went into battle against them, even if I didn’t participate, they’ve lost all sense of what is right. That is why Ohts has acted so unjustly. With the hero on their side, the Ohts Army felt they must be in the right. Nothing they do can be wrong. Even if I didn’t do those things myself, my very existence is what put the town in this position.”

Whoa, sounds pretty complicated.

“Untrue. Whether you were technically a participant or not, the Ohts Army attacked this town, not you.”

“Even so, I can’t forgive myself.”

The hero looks around sadly.

His gaze lingers on the houses that have been burned down and all the restoration that still needs to be done.

Those eyes are full of remorse and, even more so, determination.

Aah, now I get it. Okay.

This one’s definitely a hero.

He might look close to me in age, but I’ve barely ever seen adults look that determined, never mind kids.

“Sir Hero…”

Mister Tiva looks sorrowfully at the boy, seeing the same thing in his eyes that I did.

I can tell he feels responsible as one of the adults who made this little boy feel such intense determination.

I don’t really know what’s going on behind the hero boy’s determination or Mister Tiva’s complicated expression.

“I came here without thinking, and now I deeply regret it. From now on, I will think and act on my own. Never again will I let myself be used simply because I am a child. Child or not, I am the hero. I have no intention of being a puppet who does not live up to my title.”

“Then please take care of yourself. If you wish to become a true hero, you mustn’t throw away your life like this.”

Mister Tiva gives the warning in a gentle tone.

“But I must help the people of this town somehow.” The hero looks discontent.

“And so you would silently let them strike you? That will not help you or them in the least. Hurting you will only ease their suffering for the briefest moment. Then they will feel the pain in their hands from having struck you and in their hearts from hurting such a young child. Eventually, they may forget their sense of virtue entirely. You must not let anyone strike you, for their sake as well as your own.”

Good one, Mister.

Looks like the hero is surprised, too.

“But…what can I do for them, then?”

“Why don’cha hunt monsters or something?” Oops. I answered him without thinking. “Oh, um, sorry ’bout that!”

“No, it’s all right. What do you mean, ‘hunt monsters’?”

The hero smiles at me kindly.

“Oh, uhhh… Well, y’know how parts of the town’s defense wall got broken and stuff? They’ve got guards watching the worst bits, but there are other areas that look like they’d break real easily. So what I hear is, a lotta the townsfolk are so worried about monsters breaking down the walls that they can barely sleep at night. There are a lot more monsters outside than there used to be, too, prolly ’cause they’re attracted to the smell of death or whatever, right? If you defeat those monsters, that’d help the folks here, wouldn’t it? Although I guess that’s more of an adventurer’s job than a hero’s.”

The hero’s eyes start to sparkle as he listens to my explanation.

“An adventurer?”

“Sorry, uh, did I offend you or somethin’?”

“No, no, just the opposite. You’re right. Maybe I could try something like that. Thank you.”

With that, the hero runs off.

Mister Tiva and I watch him leave, then finish our shopping like we planned.

From the next day on, I hear tell that the little hero is out fighting monsters to keep the townspeople safe.

If you ask me, it sounds like he’s got the makings of a real good hero.

Y’know, the kind who really lives up to his title.

Speaking of titles, when the hell is that so-called “court mage of the Empire” gonna come back anyway?

He might have a fancy job and a lot of power, but he’s not good on the inside at all.