The hero and I stayed in the village for a few days and helped with the reconstruction of the village.

We rebuilt the destroyed buildings and recovered the food that had been swallowed by the snake.

Honestly, it became a hassle to hunt, so we just butchered the snake and used only the meat as food. We purified all the poison, so the meat became clean enough to eat. It was enough for the villagers to eat for a few days.

After about 7 days, the village was organized enough to be livable again.

"Then, it's time for us to leave."

"Hmm.. Have you finally felt the urge to move?"

"Yes. I have deeply realized that if I don't move, many people will suffer like in this case."

I nodded at the hero's words.

It was something like "great power comes with great responsibility", a famous line from a heroic story.

Since the hero has great power, he also has great responsibility.

Well, that saying also applies to me, but my responsibility might be to somehow keep this world going. Un.

"By the way, was it a dragon? It was spitting fire from its mouth and flying around freely... If I had failed to cut off its wings, it would have been difficult to defeat. It must be the strongest creature on the ground."

"Dragon?"

Could it be that he still thinks that wyvern was a dragon?

"Are you talking about the monster you fought?"

"Huh? Yes. Wasn't that a dragon?"

I shook my head at the hero's words.

"That couldn't have been a dragon. Dragons are a bit more noble, a bit more beautiful, and a bit more dignified than that."

There's a world of difference between that wyvern, which didn't have a shred of intelligence, and a dragon!

"Huh...? So that wasn't a dragon...?"

"The flying lizard you fought was a wyvern. It was a bit strong, but it's still not qualified to be called a dragon."

The hero seemed a bit disappointed at my words.

Honestly, even with the hero's power, a dragon would be difficult to defeat. Oh well.

"Then... Let's take the wyvern's corpse with us. The wyvern's hide could make a fairly sturdy armor. And the membrane, teeth, claws, and bones could also be useful."

A wyvern would be the highest-quality material, excluding dragons. I should make some clothes out of that hide and give them to the hero.

Plate armor provides almost invincible protection, but there are still gaps that are not protected, so...

I cut the wyvern's wing membrane to make a pouch, cast a magic to connect it to the subspace, and stuffed the entire wyvern's corpse into it.

Hmm.. A much larger thing is sucked into the pouch. It's strange but useful.

Moreover, since it's made from the wyvern's wing membrane, it's unlikely to tear easily.

"Then, let's be on our way."

"Hmm... Shouldn't we say a final farewell?"

"Huh?"

"You won't be a hero forever. Someday, you'll have to put down your sword and live a normal life."

The hero couldn't give a proper response to my words.

"Well, you have time, so think about it leisurely. And don't forget to say a proper farewell. If you part without a proper goodbye, you'll end up regretting it."

With a determined expression, the hero ran towards the village.

Let's see, while the hero is finishing his farewell, I'll make some clothes from the wyvern's hide.

I'll make boots from the thicker parts of the hide and gloves from the softer parts.

Each piece will be a garment that protects the hero's body. I'll have to work hard on it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you leaving?"

The girl said to the hero.

"Yes."

"As I expected. It wouldn't make sense for a hero like you to stay in this small village for a long time. It wouldn't be strange for you to leave at any time."

The hero couldn't say much in response.

"Un. I'm a little bit sad, though. I don't know why, but I felt a strong familiarity with you. If you weren't the hero, I might have want to live in this village together."

"I... Anyway, I'll be on my way now."

"Okay. Safe travels. Thank you for helping our village."

The hero gave a small bow and started walking away, and the girl began waving at his retreating figure.

Even as the hero's figure grew more and more distant, she continued waving.

Her waving hand slowly came to a stop as the hero's figure faded into the distance.

The girl was holding something back.

She kept holding it back while watching the hero's back.

No, she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Hero!!! If-if you have nowhere to go after your duties are done!!! Please come back to the village!!!"

Would the hero's voice reach her? The girl didn't know.

But she shouted.

"I'll prepare a place for you to stay!!! I'll have a place ready for you to come back to someday!!! So, please come back someday!!!"

Uncertain words. Words that may or may not reach him.

But the only thing the girl could do was to shout.

Shouting with all her heart.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"When the hero's duties are done, huh..."

"Hmm? Why do you say that?"

The hero just shook his head slightly.

"No, it's nothing."

"Hmm.. You're a silly fellow. Here, try wearing this. I made it while you were saying your farewells."

I handed the hero a pair of gloves made from the wyvern's hide.

I made them a bit hastily, but since the raw material was such high-quality leather, they turned out quite well.

The clothes and boots will require more effort to make properly. I'll have to work on them slowly.

The hero put on the wyvern hideoves I had given him, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times.

"Is the movement alright?"

"Yes, they fit my hands perfectly."

Hmm. I made them roughly by eye, but they seem to suit him well.

"Alright, then let's be on our way. The faster we move, the more people we can save."

"Yes, let's hurry."

Where we needed to go was already decided.

I had already located the positions of other dangerous monsters through the wind spirits.

And so, the nameless hero and I set out on our journey.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The nameless hero and the Dragon's Priestess traveled the world, defeating the monsters that plagued many people.

Endless transformations. They subdued shape-shifting beasts, split apart the ice giants they encountered in the north, beheaded the massive beasts wrapped in rock, and sliced through the monstrous fish swimming in the poisonous swamps.

Nothing could stand in their way.

Many praised their adventures and extolled their achievements, so it was only natural that news of them would spread to others.

The title of hero will be forever sacred.

It was only natural that news of them would spread to other races as well.

After burning countless swarms of locusts, two messengers arrived to the hero and Dragon's Priestess as they rested in the village.

They were messengers sent by the elves and dwarves respectively.

"As a representative of the noble elven clan, I invite the human hero. It would be better to grasp the hands of us elves rather than those dirty-handed dwarves."

"As a hero, you must surely know the importance of weapons and armor! We dwarves will hand over our equipment, so don't listen to the babbling of those pointy-eared fellows!"

Why are they so at odds with each other again?

Did they get into a fight or something? Yggdrasil and Sagarmatha didn't say much, did they?

Ahem. Let's assess the situation first. The decision can come later.