Chapter 18

 The Hero, Izumi (1)

It was quite a sly request.

A saint who never acts spoiled suddenly saying such a thing—it wasn’t easy to refuse. As expected, Cedric hesitated, but eventually held out his hand to me.

“……”

Naturally, I stayed still.

Grabbing his hand here would only expose me as a fake blind person.

Ten years of acting experience. I’m not falling for such a simple trap.

As I stayed silent for a while, Cedric’s expression changed to one of realization. Then he slowly reached out and took my hand.

“I shall escort you.”

His hand was firm. It felt different from when he had touched my face.

As I let him lead me gently, I added playfully,

“Your hand is cold.”

“Ah, if that bothers you—”

“They say people with cold hands have warm hearts. What do you think, Sir Cedric?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“I must disagree.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not a good person.”

What the hell?

Didn’t I leave you with a farewell message (not a will!) to become a decent adult? What have you been doing for the past ten years?

…Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud, so I simply tightened my grip on his hand.

Then I said,

“Then just become a good person from now on. Right?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Whether or not someone is a good person is something they decide for themselves.”

I smiled brightly.

“Please become a good person, Cedric.”

His face went blank, as if he’d just been smacked in the back of the head.

“…Saint.”

“Yes?”

“Actually, I… actually…”

Yes! YES!

His hesitant tone made my eyes sparkle, as if he were about to confess a secret at any moment.

“Actually, I—”

Yes, that’s it! You’re doing great! Come on!

“There’s something I haven’t been able to say—”

“Saint!”

Oh, f**k.

The curse slipped out instinctively but was filtered into silence. The automatic filter of the “kind tone,” now evolved into “holy speech,” had kicked in.

“Priest Eric?”

“His Holiness is asking for you. You should hurry.”

I swallowed my annoyance, then closed my mouth upon hearing the reason.

‘Zephyros is calling for me.’

It had only been a short while since he last spoke to me about Cedric.

At the time, I thought it was part of the original plot, but it turned out to be a twist that left me reeling.

‘…This time, it must be the real thing, right?’

The timing was perfect.

If Zephyros brought up some unrelated topic again, I’d take the lead myself.

When I entered the room, Zephyros was basking in joy.

“Saint! I just received a prophecy from Lady Aether. Unlike the last time, this one wasn’t some vague dream.”

It was rare for the usually calm man to be this excited. He was truly overwhelmed with joy and reverence at hearing the voice of the god.

‘Is this what a real clergyman is like?’

Unlike me, who only pretended to believe. Totally different.

Still, I had to play my part.

“I received it too.”

“Truly?”

No. I’m lying.

“As expected of the one loved by Lady Aether!”

…Ahem.

I tried to soothe my growing embarrassment.

“The sword that descended with the stars shall find a man. I name him the hero who shall save the world, and my chosen representative… That was the prophecy, wasn’t it?”

“Good heavens.”

He gaped.

“That’s exactly what I heard.”

Well, yeah. I literally quoted it from the original story. It’d be weird if it didn’t match.

“But this is troubling. ‘A man who receives the star-fallen sword’—without knowing where he is, it won’t be easy to find him.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea.”

“Eh? Really?”

I nodded.

“Baron Poli’s youngest son in the southern province. He’s the man from the prophecy.”

“You even know what I don’t… Perhaps my previous dream really wasn’t a prophecy, but just my own imagination?”

Nope. I read the original.

That dream… well?

Considering the ‘dark-haired man’ in the dream was Cedric, it did seem genuine.

It’s clear the real priest has a better hit rate than the fake one.

“If we know who he is, that’s a relief. The southern province isn’t too far. I’ll send the holy knights to bring him here.”

“No.”

I cut off Zephyros, who was rambling excitedly.

“I plan to greet him personally.”

“Eh? You, personally?”

“Yes.”

“But—”

“If he is someone chosen by the gods, then it’s only proper that I be the one to go.”

Zephyros’s face lit up with admiration, clearly thinking, ‘The Saint is so responsible!’

Of course, I wasn’t doing this out of some noble sense of duty.

It was simple, really.

‘How could I let this opportunity slip by?’

The protagonist loved by the world.

The hero destined to save it.

And—

‘The driver of the quest bus!’

My eyes sparkled.

Time to go fetch my point generator.

Yuushi Izumi (勇士 泉).
28 years old.

He was a thoroughly ordinary doctor, who died of acute myocardial infarction after a 48-hour ER shift.

Then, he was reborn—

“Congratulations, Baron! It’s a healthy baby boy!”

“Waaahhh!”

—as the youngest son of a minor noble family in another world.

“Thank you for coming into our family, Izumi. Grow up healthy.”

A gentle father. A wise mother. Two loving older brothers.

It was a warm, happy home. Thanks to them, Izumi quickly adapted to his new life, even after the disorientation of reincarnation.

Showered in familial love, he grew steadily. Twenty-one years had passed since his rebirth.

Now twenty-one, Izumi lay like a slacker on top of a tree and mused:

‘Twenty-one years as a mob character in another world. Not a bad life, really.’

Mob: A slang term derived from “mob” in video games, referring to background or extra characters.

His parents were kind, his much older brothers adored him, and his eldest brother would inherit the family title. Izumi could live the rest of his life leisurely without a care.

Besides, Baron Poli’s domain was peaceful. Even when plagues swept across Terra, their land remained untouched.

He paid no mind to rumors like “A saint has appeared,” or “The crown prince has turned into a delinquent, so they’re seriously considering female succession.”

Those were the matters of protagonists. Not background characters like him.

And yet—

‘Is it really okay to live like this forever?’

Somewhere deep in his heart, a faint discomfort lingered.

As Yuushi Izumi, the university student, he had entered med school to save lives.

Doctors in anime and dramas had looked so cool. He’d felt a vague but passionate admiration for their dedication and dreamt of being like them.

But med school was incredibly hard. Getting in was difficult, but graduating was even worse.

He studied relentlessly, reviewed endlessly, took exams nonstop. And even after graduation, the real challenge began.

His dream of becoming a miracle-working surgeon collapsed in the face of reality. As a rookie, there was little he could do in the ER.

People died every day.

When a patient died, families howled like wounded animals. The worst was when children came in.

Kids who hadn’t even bloomed. Parents who wept as if their hearts were torn out. The guilt of failing to save a life.

Doctors aren’t gods.

He wasn’t a hero.

He wanted to quit.

But he couldn’t allow himself to, so he pushed on—and died.

When he was reborn and lost the surname “Yuushi” (勇士, meaning hero), he had honestly felt relieved. He never liked that name much.

The only thing that haunted him was the sister he’d left behind.

“If it’s too hard, you can quit, Onii-chan. You can do anything.”

After their parents died, they had supported each other. She had worked from age twenty to help pay his tuition after he said he wanted to be a doctor.

“Anna…”

Izumi murmured her name unconsciously and immediately regretted it. Even after 21 years, the ache of longing hadn’t faded.

This life was objectively good.

Unlike before, he was now part of a wealthy noble family—even if he was just an extra. A grand mansion. A loving family. Peace.

Izumi Poli was thousands of times happier than Yuushi Izumi had ever been.

And yet, he still missed home.

He still wanted to go back.

‘Impossible.’

His old body was dead.

With a look of resignation, he gazed up at the night sky.

Unlike Earth, this world’s sky was always clear. The Milky Way and falling stars were visible from anywhere.

He reached out his hand.

It felt like he could almost catch the stars.

Then—

“…Huh?”

A falling star grew larger and larger.

He didn’t even have time to react. The meteor, now a flaming ball, crashed right beneath the tree he was resting in.

He jumped down in shock.

Next to the tree, something was glowing brightly—embedded deep into the ground.

A sword.

“What the…”

Izumi reached for the sword in disbelief. Surprisingly, the weapon that had fallen from the sky wasn’t hot at all.

It merely radiated a brilliant light.

It felt like he was holding a star in his palm.

He ran his fingers along the blade.

Holy Comet

“Holy Meteor…?”

The moment he uttered the words engraved on the blade—

[Main Quest]
Save the world.
Progress: 0%
Reward: Return

His green eyes widened.