Runaway Hero and the Dying Village

As I enter the village, I notice that it is empty. When I was the Hero, in any village I went to, the people would crowd around for the honor to see me. But now there’s not a soul in sight. It’s quiet, and I can finally put people out of my mind. It’s relaxing in a way I only ever knew on the side of the road as I traveled. I suppose that this is another benefit to having stopped being the Hero.

The village is in a state of disrepair. Although it shows no signs of being attacked, the buildings are dishevelled and broken. The wood has snapped, revealing the interiors empty of anything but dust. In some, the most extreme cases, the wood has broken and rotten away so heavily that the roof has collapsed, making it impossible for the structure to serve as even the most rudimentary of shelter. The village looks to be completely abandoned. I can’t imagine a village possessed by so deep a lethargy for there to be not a single sign of life.

I suppose that the root cause of this sad state of affairs is the location. They have a well, even if it’s falling apart as well, so water shouldn’t be too big a problem. However, I’ve been walking through a great plain, wide open and clear, for the past several days. I haven’t seen a tree for days. Even if they had intended to fix those houses, they had no materials to do so. All they would be able to do is sit and watch as their village slowly crumbles and falls to ruin.

Even the nature of the village is wilting in ruin. The grass is a dull, lifeless green, patches of dead brown interspersed. Anything else just barely grows beyond the reach of the grass, looking as though it will wither the moment I look away. And again, not only is there a severe lack of any human presence, there is a startling lack of any creatures at all. The village, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, is desolate and dying. It is dying quickly too. If there are any survivors still hidden here, it would be wholly unsurprising if they were to die out within the next year, without any action from the Demon King.

As I go deeper into the village, it looks as though life is returning to the village in some small amount. The buildings are no longer falling apart. However, I still find no people. Eventually I reach a large open space encircled by houses. It must be the center of the village. In the center of this space is an empty square lot partitioned from the rest. As I begin to walk towards that partitioned area, a young woman approaches me. Her body is skinny, her bones protruding, and her face gaunt and pale. When she reaches me, she drops to her knees and begins to plead in a weak voice.

“Sir, please can you spare some food for us? I’ll do anything you ask.”

I reach down and pick her back up, dragging her to her feet. She’s terrifyingly light.

“So there are more people in this village? Can you bring me to them?”

“No sir, I’ll bring them all to you. You can just wait here and relax.”

“No, I—”

She doesn’t listen to me, and runs off before I can finish. I decide to turn my attention to the village around me, hoping that everything will be okay. I try to figure out the cause of this squalor, but I can’t piece it together. I can’t find a reason this land should be so barren, yet it is.

The woman returns with twenty or so other people. They all look to be in a similar condition to her. I address them.

“Is this all of you? Or are there others too weak to come?” The young woman bows deeply to me.

“Don’t worry sir, this is everyone.”

“I’d like to ask some questions about this village, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, anything for you sir.” The young woman looks back to the group following her. She helps a shriveled old man hunched over a walking stick reach me. “This is the Chief, sir.” I look down at him.

“Sir, can you tell me what happened to this village? Why has it reached this state?” The old man takes a moment to recollect.

“It was fifteen or so years ago. Back then, our village was in a great forest. Soldiers passed through our village. One of them started to uproot the trees with his magic, and ever since then nothing has grown here. He even took the symbol of our village, planted at the time of its founding.” He looks longingly at the empty plot of land we stand in front of.

It was fourteen years ago. Although I have no memory of it, the soldiers remind me often. I was just taken to the capital and I started to have a recurring nightmare. In it, I saw a village drained of its life. The soldiers tried to calm me down, and I didn’t think of the nightmare much once I stopped seeing it. That was when the full extent of my powers was unknown. The nightmare was a premonition. A premonition of the disaster that would befall this village. The old man now requests food from me.

“Please sir traveler, if you can spare even a little food. I want to protect this village’s future.”

“Even though it can’t sustain life?”

“It is our home.”

“Even if the Demon King will come in just a year?”

“I’m sure the Hero will save us.” He won’t.

“But the Hero’s been defeated?”

“Why should I believe in the words of a demon? The Hero is the one chosen by the God of Light, the strongest of us all. I’m sure he’ll save us.” He won’t.

“What if the Hero ran away, or chooses not to fight the Demon King?”

“Don’t be foolish. The Hero is our salvation. He would never abandon us.” He will.

I open the pocket dimension and reach inside, pulling out the bag of supplies the farmers gave me. I place it on the ground and address the crowd.

“This food should last you long enough.”

I turn towards the empty plot and stab my sword into the dirt. If the old man is aghast, I don’t see it. A great tree sprouts out from the once dead earth, reaching far into the sky. As it solidifies and takes root, life pulses through the village. The vitality fills the grass and color returns to them. Already trees have begun to sprout around the village in great numbers. Already has the forest begun to return.

I turn to the people and bow my head to them to bid them farewell. I turn away and begin to leave. To continue on my path to the edge of the world. I walk away and allow the village and its people to become just another memory of success.