Chapter 72 – Hero

…

I didn’t know how to be a hero.

It just the world declared me the hero. And so, I took the mantle with an ignorant mind.

The sadness in the eyes of the fallen orc was surreal. Shouldn’t I be shouting in honor of the victory? But instead of joy, I didn’t feel well.

Just because the orc had tusks, a large snout, green skin, and yellow eyes? We might be vastly different in our appearance, but they had their culture, intelligence, feelings, and emotions.

They were like us humans.

I felt a heavy burden. The hero – it wasn’t a symbol of hope and compassion I thought it was. It was just an excuse to kill.

After further digging, I discovered that the internal crisis of the orc race was manipulated by someone.

A trace only a human would leave.

It might be coincidental or circumstantial. But the event that followed put the last nail in the coffin.

People oppressed and enslaved the entire orc specie. They assuaged my doubts by saying it was normal. It was the fate of the loser, they said. This continued and I did everything to save as many orcs as possible.

But when a green-skin yellow-eyed winged creature appeared before me, my will was shaken once again.

The dragon raged and claimed many lives in its wake. Even my strongest attack couldn’t dent its hard armor! I could only watch its back swaggering to the sky.

I felt uncomfortable because of the hate starting to sprout in my chest. Was this a positive change? Should a hero feel hatred?

Once again, I came face to face with the dragon. But this time, I was stronger and faster. Its hide could only protect itself for a while longer before my blow finally did the damage. The damage accumulated until it could only try the last hurrah.

At last, the dragon fell to the ground. It didn’t beg for mercy. I stared at its calm eyes and I felt like it was looking straight through my soul. This made me hesitate to deal with the killing strike.

The dragon smiled. Or more of a sneer. I didn’t know. But I somehow noticed a hint of ridicule from its large eyes.

And mixed with it was a touch of surreal sadness.

A shout sounded on my back. The owner of the voice urged me to kill it. I closed my eyes and cleaved the dragon’s neck.

…