Vol. 4 CH. 14 — If push comes to shove.....

PART #1

Dwvargo Kingdom. The kingdom of dwarves. Surrounded by mountains and cliffs, it was a place abundant of natural resources such as ores and coal. The city was built at the center of four mountains facing the four cardinal directions, and the roads that lead to the city was narrow and steep. The natural inclination of the roads heading towards the city became a natural wall against some monsters.

Monsters like goblins or slimes or monsters that has no claws and whatnot are having difficulty climbing such slopes once the dwarves decided to pour oil on them. Added by fire, it was good place take out some weak monsters.

Still, bigger ones are a problem and so are the ones that can fly. Bigger monsters has thick hides or skins and flying monsters like harpies and two-headed crows are too agile to shoot with muskets. In cases like this, the adventurers take turns in taking them down using long range weapons like cross-bows or ballistas. Magic shot by mages are often helpful but magic potions are scarce in a place where there's only mountains and cliffs. Added by the fact that most dwarves are blacksmiths and not alchemists, the production of potions aren't that much great.

Added by the consumption of potions of the two heroes, potions are hardly enough for the soldiers, much less the adventurers.

It was only thanks to the supplies sent from Ambrosia that Dwvargo Kingdom managed to keep up their fight against the monsters.

"How goes the battle outside the city walls?"

"Fortunately, there aren't much monsters this time. The report from the south outpost is still being investigated but there were no signs of giants coming to attack the city"

A winged-demi-human officer gave his report to his superior. Upon hearing the report, the superior sighed and nodded.

"Good, report any immediate changes of the situations to me. Send a message to the other outposts to stay on guard"

"Yes sir"

The winged-demi-human gave his salute before leaving through the balcony. athe superior was once again alone in his office.

This man is the General Ugtarth Jargo. One of the loyal retainers of the king of Dwvargo Kingdom. An dwarf that was over 200 years old and one of the oldest leaving dwarves left in this kingdom. General Ugtarth Jargo was tasked to oversee the command over the four outposts as well as the heroes by the king himself as the skills and loyalty he presented was one of the top class.

However, this old dwarf was having troubles containing the dissatisfaction among the soldiers and adventurers. One of the reasons was because this king was in a spot where monsters constantly attack and in random times even. Making it even harder to defend.

Still, considering how much changed since the heroes came, it wasn't all that bad. Just that, there was a steady line of complaints always waiting for him because of the behavior of one of the heroes in this kingdom.

Kouga Misumi was a problem. Not only that he was always drunk, he never leaves his quarters unless he visits brothels or he was personally requested by the Dwarf king. Though he still fights in most occasions, there are some quite questionable times where he would just disappear out of nowhere, leaving the entire force to deal with the monsters.

At first, when the half brothers came, the Dwvargo Kingdom was very happy. Because not only one but two heroes came to helped them. The capital city was well defended even while the heroes were just training to get used to the place but, couple of months later, it just became a problem.

A problem where one hides in his room drunk and horny and the other hides because he was a coward and afraid to die.

Yuuya Mizushima was as helpful as he was back when he first came though. General Ugtarth Jargo doesn't have any complaints about that. But the young hero always running away in the midst of a battle was a problem in itself. Because of his actions, the amount of casualties increases day by day. It wasn't even enough that Dwvargo Kingdom lost some of it's best knights defending the hero from death, General Ugtarth Jargo had lost two of his sons protecting Yuuya Mizushima and a daughter being played with by Kouga Misumi.

It was hell for the general to spend his time with those two heroes. As such, General Ugtarth Jargo stays inside his office commanding and relaying orders to the soldiers and adventurers to the four outposts.

Though due to staying behind the walls costs him his reputation in the end. General Ugtarth Jargo sighs once more and massaged the bridge of his large nose.

"Haaaah.... it's good that there's no attack but... what do I do with this?"

There on his desk laid a letter, the envelope was torn open next to it. Written on that letter was about Ambrosia's wish to make an alliance with Dwvargo Kingdom and that they would like to send a magic ship there with the materials needed to make a gate. That once Kyoushiro Kagami was done with his business with Oceanus Empire, he would be able to work immediately upon arrival.

But that wasn't what General Ugtarth Jargo was staring at. It was an orb that directly delivered by a nightmare under the rule of the Demon Lord Crats. It was an ancient artifact that stores in magic power. It's purpose was simple, use it against the two heroes and seal away their powers. General Ugtarth Jargo know that the skills of the heroes Kouga Misumi and Yuuya Mizushima weren't really much of a threat at all and neither did the General Ugtarth Jargo had any idea why a Demon Lord would make contact with him.

But it was playing as day that a Demon Lord was trying to make a deal with him in order to thin out the number of heroes in this world.

Demon Lords and Heroes have always been at each other's neck. It was obvious that each side will do whatever it takes to weaken their enemies. However, General Ugtarth Jargo doesn't see any reason to weaken the heroes Kouga Misumi and Yuuya Mizushima. Compared to the hero who have reportedly took down two Demon Lords already, wouldn't he be more of a threat to Demon Lords?

The old dwarf sighs as his face crumpled with his thoughts a mess. There was no need to think about this right now. More so, if ever the Dwarf king were to learn about this, it would be general Ugtarth Jargo's head that would come flying.

In the end, General Ugtarth Jargo decided to hide the orb for the time being until he comes to a decision of whether to use it or not.

—

Within the chaos outside the city walls of Dwvargo Kingdom, Yuuya Mizushima's blade slashed through the thick scales of buffed lizardmen. Green blood spew all over, making a mess of the footing. But as Yuuya Mizushima utilizes wind magic to wrapped his legs with a thin layer of air, it was like was sliding through the mud while taking down monsters.

Adventurers and Soldiers alike were all preoccupied with the amount of monsters gushing out from the forest. Archers shot down winged monsters with bows and crossbows. The shielders pushing down ogres back with their strength and healers and mages providing support all throughout this battle.

Yuuya Mizushima's jaw was trembling. Although he was doing well in battle, the fear of dying was still getting to him. When a goblin jumped from behind him, he quickly turned and parties the rusty knife heading towards his back before moving away from that place. The goblin was then torn apart by an incoming Demon wolf with three eyes as it land. Yuuya Mizushima then sucked in air as hard as he could and pushed through with wavering eyes and swung his blade at the Demon Wolf's third eye.

The Demon wolf yelped as it's third eye was cut in half. Taking the opportunity whole the Demon wolf was stunned for a second, Yuuya Mizushima yelled as he charged forth and cut down the Demon wolf's neck.

"Hah....ha...."

Yuuya Mizushima crouched down as his legs gave out. Though one of his skills was providing him good maneuverability and movement, it was still taxing to keep the skill up for a long time. Nevertheless, Yuuya Mizushima was not trying to be careless. He kept his attention to his surroundings like he was trained months ago.

From his position, he could see a six-man party of Adventurers efficiently taking down monsters. Ogres, giant wolves, Demon Spiders, Gargoyles, Large Bat, and more. The soldiers who had taken the job of hauling the injured back inside the castle gates were busy and the healers buffing the Adventurers and Soldiers behind the others looked as though they were already at their last legs.

This was another day for Yuuya Mizushima. Another war of attrition against monsters and another day trying to survive.

At first, Yuuya Mizushima believed that this was his duty as a hero. He fought as much as he could thinking that he was doing a service to this world. However, upon witnessing Kyoushiro Kagami's end, Yuuya Mizushima's thoughts of being a hero wavered. 

When the world that called you a hero and hailed you as one just took down another hero that came to the same world as you just because there was a difference in culture, seeing that classmate of his be beaten down like a dog, Yuuya Mizushima thought that being a hero wasn't such a grand thing after all.

Since they could treat such a hero like that, what's stopping them from doing the same thing to the other heroes? Yuuya Mizushima's worries begun to spread like that. Then when they were rejected by the elves because of that incident, Yuuya Mizushima had finally realized that his role as a hero wasn't so different from Kyoushiro Kagami.

Unlike Taiga Kurosawa that was welcomed with open arms and supported from the very beginning by the kingdom of Travestin, other heroes like Yuuya Mizushima and Kouga Misumi aren't so much respected and welcomed.

"Kuh..."

Anxiety spread inside Yuuya Mizushima's stomach, making him groan in pain.

"K-Kouga..."

Yuuya Mizushima called his brother for helped. However, as he looked around, Kouga Misumi was nowhere to be seen. It was like in any other battles, Yuuya Mizushima was alone fighting.

"Hero! What are you doing there?!! Retreat if you're injured!!"

An adventurer spotted Yuuya Mizushima on the ground, covered in monster blood holding his stomach. That adventurer must've thought that Yuuya Mizushima was injured so he ran towards the hero in order to provide aid. But when that Adventurer took his eyes away from the battle, a lizardman just severed the Adventurers head.

*Aaaaarrrrrnnnngg!!!*

The Lizardman roared in excitement then resumes running into battle. 

"..........."

Yuuya Mizushima sat there with his eyes wide open, staring at the fallen head of the Adventurer that died trying to helped him.

"No...."

Yuuya Mizushima's face slowly darkens. His heart sunk as another person died because of him.

"Not again....!! No!!!"

Like that, another panic attack came. Yuuya Mizushima suddenly sprinted away from the battlefield, ignoring the monsters that took notice of his voice and chased after him. This made a train of monsters chasing after Yuuya Mizushima.

"Wha—?!!"

"H-Hey wait!!!"

"Stop!! Don't go here!!"

Blinded by the fear of death, Yuuya Mizushima ran towards allies, bumping into them and dragging them into the train of monsters. The soldiers that were fighting a single monster was instantly mutilated by the hoard of monsters chasing Yuuya Mizushima.

"UWAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!"

Yuuya Mizushima kept running as he screamed. The soldiers heard him and quickly noticed that he was leading another hoard of monsters towards the defense line.

"Tsk! Not another panic attack!! Mages! Left side! Target the monsters chasing after the hero!!"

The soldier shouted his order even while defending against a monster. The mages heard the order and hastily aimed their magic attack behind Yuuya Mizushima.

Fireballs, lighting and rock spears was shot right at the hoard of monsters chasing Yuuya Mizushima. Instantly, the monsters were shredded and shockwave generated by the impact and explosions of the spells shot earlier, tossed Yuuya Mizushima forward.

"Uwa—guh!!?"

Yuuya Mizushima rolled on the ground, his mind rattled. His fuzzy vision slowly became clear as the sharp noise in his hears disappeared.

A soldier then came to Yuuya Mizushima's aid and picked him up and carried the young boy on his back.

Like that, the everyone were forced back into a seige until sunset. The number of casualties, were numerous.

PART #2

It was a nightmare. Trap inside a room that spawned monsters one after the other, Yuuya Mizushima curled up into a ball as the rest of his classmates fought against the waves of monsters that never seemed to end.

When the whole hero group got trapped in a dungeon for days, surviving with only what's left of the supplies they've brought, everyone felt safe. That was because they had Taiga Kurosawa to protect them as well as the Knights, in case they were overwhelmed. In the eyes of everyone in class, Taiga Kurosawa was this heroic figure that would never fall no matter how much is thrown at him.

Yuuya Mizushima was originally an introverted person. Aside from his family, he never got to talk to other people or had any friends to hang out with before he met Kouga Misumi. Back then Yuuya Mizushima spent his middleschool days as a loner in school and lived inside his room until he was forced to leave by his step-father.

After he left, it was soon found out that Yuuya Mizushima was the son of Kouga Misumi's father out of an affair with Yuuya Mizushima's biological mother. Because of this, his position in the house became rather estranged and soon later, he was kicked out.

Kouga Misumi's father then took in Yuuya Mizushima since he was his son. But Kouga Misumi's mother disliked the idea of bringing in the bastard son her husband into her house so Kouga Misumi's mother decided to cut ties with her husband and left the house.

It was then that Kouga Misumi and Yuuya Mizushima became close as they lived together under one house. They both had the same taste in music, shows and even toys. It was almost like they were twins born from different mothers.

Just that, everything changed when their class was suddenly summoned into another world. Although Yuuya Mizushima was somewhat happy of the event, Kouga Misumi wasn't so accepting in leaving behind his life back on earth. He had just gotten a girlfriend before the summoning happened so he couldn't get the chance to enjoy the life he wanted to have.

However, as there was no other way home, everyone was forced to stay in a world far from their home. A place where they were called heroes that was chosen by the Divine beings.

Just that, not everything was smooth sailing. Yuuya Mizushima was forced to undergo military training and had to kill monsters. As someone from a peaceful country, experiencing something like taking the life of another living being caused some serious trauma to him. Especially due to his introverted nature back in the past. 

Then days went on, Kouga Misumi and Yuuya Mizushima followed behind Taiga Kurosawa and raised their levels and gained experience in taking down monsters and conquering dungeons. They went to lower rank dungeons in order to gain some experience before raising the difficulty.

But this cause some overconfidence to cloud the judgement of the leader and caused them to be trapped inside a room with an endless supply of monsters and no exits.

Seeing death so closely at that time had seared a deep scar inside Yuuya Mizushima's heart. One that acknowledges the fact that, although they were heroes blessed with amazing skills and high stats, even they could die. Because they were normal humans.

And those thought created a wall inside Yuuya Mizushima's head and made Yuuya Mizushima slowly lose his confidence in himself.

Because in the Monster house, that was the first time he has seen death so close.....

"No.... I...."

A soldier had protected Yuuya Mizushima. Pushed him to the side in order to protect him. That soldier, looked old enough to have his own family, had his chest ripped out by monsters. How easily a human's chest caved in from a swing of a club, how easily his heart was pulled out along with one of his lungs and.... how easily life can be taken.

"I...."

That person's blood, splattered all over Yuuya Mizushima's face.

"I....!!!!!"

Yuuya Mizushima woke up. Back inside his room inside the barracks located right beside the Royal palace.

He was taken back to base in order to recover his strength after being knocked out by shockwave caused by the explosion. His body was cleaned and his armor was removed. There didn't seem any sign of external injuries thanks to the healers. All that's left was for Yuuya Mizushima to recover his stamina.

"Ugh...."

Yuuya Mizushima groaned. His naturally curled up as he hands tightly pulled his hair. It was the same as before. Someone died saving him. He couldn't do anything when his life was threatened. The fear of death made him run away and caused another train wreck.

Many people died today again. The blood of those people was smeared all over his hand. Yuuya Mizushima understood this. It was his fault and yet....

"Gh....ugh....."

Once more his stomach churned and what he ate this morning was about to come back out through his mouth. Just recalling those ghastly scenes made Yuuya Mizushima unable to calm down his thumping chest.

"Excuse me, Mizushima-sama?"

A healer had come by to check on Yuuya Mizushima's condition. As he was brought back unconscious, there were others that were worried about his state. Though that said, as this happen so often, it did not come a surprise to the healers that always take care of him.

Yuuya Mizushima responded weakly at the healer that entered the room. 

"I'm... fine..."

"I can see that buy your mental state is not good right now. I shall cast some mental recovery spell to alleviate your state of mind"

".........."

Yuuya Mizushima did not say anything. The healer quietly went to his side and cast the mental recovery spell. Still, it was obvious to Yuuya Mizushima that the healer was not in a very good state as well. From what he can remember, he caused much more death than needed necessarily. In fact, the redness of the healer's eyes as well as the dried up tear stains on her tunic showed that she had cried earlier. Was one of her relatives or even lover among those who died earlier? Yuuya Mizushima doesn't know. No, he doesn't have the capacity to even think about the death of others right now. 

Recalling what he did again on the battlefield, Yuuya Mizushima unconsciously bite down his lower lip.

"Injuring yourself again will just make this harder. Please avoid from doing anything that will do any harm to yourself"

The healer seemed to have noticed Yuuya Mizushima's frustration and spoke to him. Yuuya turned his head slightly then cast it back down as he can't find the words to say.

Like before, he panicked again. The trauma done to him in that monster house as well as the memories of people dying before his eyes was something that was eating away his mind. His hands and feet froze in front of death. Although he can take down enemies with ease, however, when the shoe was on the other foot, he cowers and runs.

It was something a hero shouldn't do. Yet, as a normal young man, he still couldn't help but run away in front of death.

"I'm sorry....."

"........."

"If only I can fight like a proper hero.... Then..."

Then he would've been a proper hero. One like Taiga, who fights headstrong against whatever enemies he has and like his brother, who was always confident that he can take down anyone without breaking a sweat. 

"I...."

"I wished that you and Misumi-sama were not the heroes that came to this city"

As the healer stopped her mental recovery spell and pulled back her hand away from Yuuya Mizushima's head, her thoughts came out. Yuuya Mizushima, who heard those words, snapped his neck and turned to face the healer. There, he saw a young lady on the verge of tears.

"Today..... my husband died trying to protect you"

"Ah....."

Yuuya Mizushima recalled the adventurers and soldiers that came to stop the monster train that was chasing after him in the battlefield. He saw many bodies that got mangled and thorn to pieces as he ran. Was her husband one of those people? The more Yuuya Mizushima thought about it, the more his chest tightened. It was like his heart was being crushed by a vice.

"Many of my friends and their friends and families died protecting not only this city but you as well..... You're supposed to be a hero... just why do you need our protection...?"

Small drops of tears fell from the healer's cheeks. As her emotions we're flooding our of control, her words slowly showed how much pained she was at the lost of her husband and her friends.

"If only..... if only the hero in Ambrosia were the one that came here instead.... I... We wouldn't have lost so much....."

At that point, Yuuya Mizushima just realized how much problem he was causing. Kouga Misumi was always drunk and couldn't be counted on in the battlefield while he was always having a panic attack whenever his life is threatened.

He had always seen so much death but, Yuuya Mizushima never saw what kind of pain he was inflicting on others.

Kyoushiro Kagami. He was being compared that classmate of his that tried to kill them once in a dungeon. The news of his feats as well as his influence in the wasteland had gone far and wide. The supplies that came from Ambrosia had saved Dwvargo Kingdom from the verge of starvation from the lack of supplies coming from outside the kingdom, the large ships that brought them and even the army that came to deliver them.

All were from someone that was treated harshly by this world and everyone else around him. Compared that Yuuya Mizushima and Kouga Misumi was having an easy life....

"......I"

Yuuya Mizushima, who was silent until now, slowly opened his mouth. He looked away from the Healer as if trying to hide his expression from her. Yuuya Mizushima's voice cracked as he tried to talk.

"I...I want to be someone better. I've always wanted that even before coming to this world. I was sent away from my own family because my mother had an affair once and right after that, the guy who wrecked my family took me in as a family member of his...."

Although it wasn't obvious to others, Yuuya Mizushima was trying so hard to become the perfect son and a brother to Kouga Misumi's family.

"It... It might not be the same pain as you are going through like the others but.... it still hurts trying to become something I'm not and yet it's still not enough..."

Was it bad to run away if you're life is danger? Was it bad to give up the fight and just hide away somewhere? It was his fault that they were sent to this world and neither was it his fault that he was burdened by the title of hero. Still, he tried his best to become a good hero for others. He tried to satisfy everyone's expectations of him and became a fighter that protects the weak. That's how Yuuya Mizushima sees himself but....

"I lost someone to damn it.... I'm scared of dying! I don't want to die! I'm still young! I want to live long and have fun... But this world kidnapped us from our world and expected us to become the perfect hero for them!!! Is it really that bad if I ran away from a fight?!! I just don't want to die in a place where I don't even know if I'll live till the next day?!!"

It wasn't anything like a glorious purpose nor it was like he will be getting a reward from being a hero. In fact, it was obvious that only Taiga will receive many things thanks to to his deeds. Now, another one is getting a reputation that shines brightly than the others than came with him. Being compared to Taiga Kurosawa or Kyoushiro Kagami, Yuuya Mizushima had enough.

"I didn't want to be a hero in the first place!! I just said I'll fight because the others said they'll do it too!!"

Swayed by the flow of things that Taiga decided on his own, Yuuya Mizushima had to agree with the others or he would've been left out. Because of that, Yuuya Mizushima suffering right now.

"If push comes to shove, I'll do my best. I'll fight for others. But still.... I don't want to die... I want to be a hero but I'm to scared to die..... "

Yuuya Mizushima, he was only 17 years old. His birthday has passed two months ago. He thought that everything would be like Taiga Kurosawa said before. That they'll be heroes in this world. Earn fame and fortune, power beyond belief and recognition that their parents would be proud of.  However, all those were just false pretenses. A make believe goal that Yuuya Mizushima conjured up in his mind to keep his mind sane and keep up with his brother Kouga Misumi.

"I'll fight.... I'll fight but please.... I don't want to die"

It was a laughable contradiction. He was a hero yet he wished to avoid fighting. In this world where killing makes you stronger, Yuuya Mizushima's mind were flawed.

"Coward...."

"What....?"

"You're a coward"

Yuuya Mizushima couldn't believe what the healer was saying to him. His eyes then turned to see the face of the healer but unlike her tear stained face before, now, it was like self-loathing.  In her eyes were pity to the young man that didn't knew of the heavy burden of being a hero but get heart was seething with hatred and anger for his selfish words.

Both of them know what they were saying were contradicting each other. Yuuya Mizushima wanted to be a hero but wishes to be safe and on the other hand, the healer wanted Yuuya Mizushima to become a proper hero and fight without considering his life for others and this world as well as wanting him to just disappear for good.

The healer closed her eyes and placed her trembling hands on her tunic. 

"Did you know why there are still people helping you? It's because we're ordered to do so"

He slim fingers untied the sash binding her tunic from her left shoulder down to her skirt. 

"Even right now, like the others before me, we're ordered to cater your needs and take care of you. Ease your mind with our bodies and heal you body with our magic....."

Slowly the healer got naked. Her eyes slowly lost the light inside them.

"Just like Misumi-sama, this kingdom does not want to let you go.... Even after all the problems you've made for us to clean up"

Yuuya Mizushima stared at the Healer. He had knew before that it was odd why there was still people trying to protect him. Why he and Kouga Misumi were considered as heroes in Dwvargo. It was weird, considering that there's so many complaints about them from the citizens and the soldiers.

"For the sake of this place, we were ordered to make sure you heroes will always be grateful for this kingdom"

The healer then sat down beside Yuuya Mizushima and slowly leaned closer to him.

"So do your job.... oh great hero"

Like that, Yuuya Mizushima had lost something inside his mind. One that kept him away from turning the same way Kouga Misumi ended up. He too fell for this kingdom's horrible trap.....

—

Kouga Misumi had tried to be a hero once. He fought monsters and raised his levels. However, it always felt like it wasn't enough. So he fought and fought once more until he became strong enough to fight all by himself.

"Urp—bleghhh!!!"

Yet why he was still falling behind?

"Damn..... skeleton... Just where the hell did you bastards come from?!"

It was in the middle of the night. After the monsters were dealth with by sunset, Kouga Misumi went to the far side of the east part of the border to clear out the remaining monsters. After that, he came back to his room.

He wanted to visit Yuuya Mizushima after hearing that he returned back unconscious due to a panic attack. But he was caught off guard by skeleton soldiers and some corpse eaters in his room. He managed to destroy at least a dozen of them but new ones appeared and the fight dragged on. He was drunk, so his capability in defending himself fell quite a bit. That's why, when a corpse eater lunged at Yuuya Mizushima, he vomited what he had eaten earlier..

Surrounded by the undead, Yuuya Mizushima glares into the back of those monsters. A sillohuette stood behind them as the flash of lighting illuminated the room for a split second.

"I was thinking of raising my forces using undead heroes but.... I guess even someone like you would be useful alive"

"Ptoey.... damn you Taiga!! Just what the hell is all this about?!!"

The undead made way for Taiga Kurosawa to walk through as they stepped away. Yuuya Mizushima glares at Taiga. He didn't understand why Taiga Kurosawa was doing this to him when they were quite close back on earth.

"Who cares about that. I'm making up a new group of heroes. You interested in joining Mizushima?"

With the sound of rain and thunder, there was no one that could notice such meeting. The battle just now was muffled by the thunder and lighting and even the tracks of those who stepped inside got washed away by the rain.

Taiga Kurosawa outstretched his hand, offering it to Yuuya Mizushima, whom was trying to make heads of what Taiga Kurosawa was planning.