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Long ago, the world was on the verge of being swallowed by a great darkness.

Wars raged without end across the land, a Demon King appeared, and hordes of monsters rampaged throughout the kingdoms. The earth split, mountains crumbled, and forests were lost.

The gods mourned for this world and sent their divine messenger to save it. This divine messenger was called the Hero, who wielded great power and struck down the forces of evil.

To gain even greater strength, the Hero traveled to the dwelling place of the gods. There, he underwent the gods’ trials and obtained the Holy Sword.

The power of this sword was immense—it struck down all who dared to oppose it. It shone with seven colors, cleaving mountains in a single swing and annihilating swarms of monsters.

Just a single blow sliced through an evil dragon, cutting it down together with the clouds in the sky.

The Hero said to the Demon King, “If you continue this tyranny, I will cut down your demons and their land with my Holy Sword.”

On the high plains, the Hero faced the Demon King, trying to force him to declare the demons’ surrender.

The Demon King was cornered. As a last resort, he tried to release the Evil God that the gods had sealed away. If the Evil God were freed, the world—and even the five goddesses who formed its foundation—would be destroyed.

After a fierce battle, the Hero defeated the Demon King and confronted the Evil God as it began to emerge. Borrowing the power of the seven gods of the world, the Hero used all the strength of the Holy Sword to repel the Evil God.

The battle lasted for seven days and seven nights. When the dawn of the seventh night broke, the Hero stepped before the people, long hair fluttering, boots planted firmly upon the earth.

With eyes black and deep as the night sky, the Hero declared, “The Evil God has been sealed away.”

Bathed in the morning sun and dyed in the colors of dawn, the people looked up at that figure and gave him a name.

The Hero of Dawn.

***

The picture books about the Hero that one could find in villages were usually something like that.

(The Hero of Dawn, huh? Cool name. Yeah.)

If I were called that, I’d probably roll around in embarrassment until I died from it.

As a story, it was not all that unusual. The Hero defeats the Demon King and achieves peace—it was pretty orthodox, right? Maybe even cliché?

Honestly, it was the sort of plot you could find in an old-school light novel or a web novel. I might have read something like it somewhere before… it was that kind of ordinary tale.

But it was not entirely fictional. Though I wasn’t sure how much of it was historically accurate. The war against the demons probably referred to the Continental Great War that ended in the year 2203 of the Celestial Calendar—the one we learned about in Aurora’s history class. That was over 200 years ago.

Even the scholarly books on Hero research I had borrowed from Mr. Henry matched that date.

The thing about him being able to cut a mountain in a blow that was described in those books as likely just an exaggeration or metaphor… but considering what I had done myself, I couldn’t exactly say it was impossible. Yeah… it was a past I’d rather forget. It was possible the Hero was a former high-level player. But I couldn’t be sure from just that.

The Holy Sword was also intriguing. If the Hero were an ex-player, it could have been a game item. If I could see it directly, I might be able to tell—but of course, I had no idea where it was now.

Honestly, I didn’t even know the Hero’s name or gender at this point. The research books didn’t list a name, and the only vague hint of appearance was from the picture book illustrations. In several books, the Hero was drawn with long, feminine-looking hair. But that was not proof—there were men with long hair, too. The illustrations of the Hero were androgynous, and even the hair color changed depending on the book. The only consistent feature seemed to be their black eyes.

And so, the mystery only deepened!

Next time I return Mr. Henry’s research books, I will try asking for more details.

◆◆◆◆◆

“Tomorrow is the trial! Shouldn’t you be at home getting ready or resting?”
“Mhm, but I’ve already finished preparations.”

I closed the book and sighed, while beside me Bibi—who had been reading her literature textbook—spoke up.

“…‘Hero Tales’? You actually came to school just to read that?” She glanced at the title, sighed again, and looked at me with a kind of exasperation. “…Are you interested in the Hero?”

She furrowed her brows and gave me a suspicious look.

(Ah—wait, does she think I’m some kind of “Hero otaku”? Is being interested in the Hero seen like that?!)

“Ah—well, um, it’s just… in the kingdom’s history class, we just covered the events from 200 years ago, so I thought maybe this was… related?”

(…Yeah, that sounded stupid. Not convincing at all.)

Even Argernon, perched on Bibi’s shoulder, tilted his head and squeaked at me.

“…So it’s not like you admire the Hero or anything?”

(Ah! She’s giving me that doubtful look! Does she think reading Hero stories at my age is… cringe?! That I’m a weirdo?!)

“No! No, no! I don’t admire the Hero or anything! Not at all!”

I couldn’t have her thinking I was some weirdo! I didn’t need to be adding more black marks to my personal history right now—my emotional HP couldn’t handle it!

… Although, if I balanced one kind of emotional turmoil with another… maybe it would even out? Would that be… better? No! No, no, that was not the point right now!

(Maybe I’ll do that tonight… I’ll do a lot….)

“Really? Well, if you’re not interested, then fine.”

Whoa—almost drifted into the wrong train of thought there. That was close. At least the “Hero otaku” suspicion seemed to have passed… maybe.

“But if you just want to learn about that era—” She glanced over my shoulder. “Why don’t we just ask over there?”

“If it’s about the time before and after the Great War, Dana’s struggling with that right now.”

I followed her gaze and glanced back to see Dana clutching her head, while Corin, pushing up her glasses, lectured her like a patient school monitor.

“Listen, this is an important part of medieval kingdom history. You can’t just ignore it.”
“But come on, I can’t remember names of people I’ve never even seen!”
“Don’t give me that! The exam’s next month! You finally got your Mana practical under control—if you fail the written test, it’s all over!”

There they were, just like the typical “muscle-brained athletic girl” and the “glasses-wearing class rep” who took care of her.

“First off, this is General Balbal—”
“General Baldemonte! You only got the first three letters right!”
“Hey, three letters right is close enough!”
“No, it’s not! Just try to remember General Baldemonte. He’s sure to appear!”
“And I’m telling you that his name is stupid. I’m calling him Balbal from now on!”
“That’s not even a name! It sounds like some kind of growl!”

Dana was clearly very frustrating to deal with. I could feel Corin’s pain from here.

“Listen. General Baldemonte was a general in the Continental Great War. In the first Red Moon of 2203, he led the operation to reclaim the Altum Plateau. In the fourth Red Moon of the same year, he was a key figure in ending the war. This date will be on the test—do you remember it?”
“Ahhh… can’t you let me skip the numbers?”
“No, I cannot! After the peace treaty was signed that year, cultural exchange between nations flourished. What was the most active exchange?”

“Food culture! The diversification of cuisine!”
“Correct. You do remember that sort of thing…”
“Of course!”
“Don’t seem that proud over this!”
“Come on, praise me just a little.”
“I will. Once you learn the dates!”
“Ugh… numbers…”

What was she, some kind of Great Demon King?

“At least try to memorize the names, okay?”
“I’m bad at remembering those!”
“Dana, stop being so selfish! This is for you! I’m done helping!”
“Noo! I’m sorry, Corin! Don’t be mad!”
“Stop clinging to me! That won’t solve anything!”
“Please don’t abandon me!”
“Stop rubbing against me! Ugh… fine, I’ll help—but you’d better learn it!”
“Ehehe, thanks! That’s why I love you, Corin~”

(Whoa… that’s some top-tier yuri right there… beautiful.)

“Anyway, after food culture, magic technology exchange also grew, leading to the personalization of magic tools, and at the same time, democratization movements rose. Who was the central figure in that?”
“Uh… what’s their name again?”
“Baron Kanoe! Don’t you know him? He’s famous!”
“Oh! I know! Baron Kanoe! The ‘Hero of Dawn,’ right?”

…Wait. Did we just get a sudden name reveal here?

***

“Dana, how long are you going to cling to me? Do you really want to study?”
“Mmm… hm?”
“What? What is it?”
“Hm? What? Hmmm?”
Dana! What’s wrong?!”
“Hmm? That’s weird… the space around my arm feels… farther away?”
“Wh—! What?!”