Hero Shall Be Seized

"HAA."

I groaned.

Every muscle in my body hurt.

My arms felt like they had been beaten with a hammer.

My legs were worse.

I dragged myself across the training field, my sword hanging loosely at my side.

Olriad walked beside me.

He looked annoyingly fine.

"You'll get used to it," he said.

"I've been training for two months."

I stared at him.

We walked toward the castle.

The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky orange.

Tomorrow.

The thought crossed my mind again. Tomorrow, everyone would know who I was.

The Hero.

For some reason, that still felt strange.

"You'll probably be leaving the castle soon," Olriad said.

I looked at him.

"Leaving?"

"Once the announcement is made, you'll have plenty of places you'll want to travel."

"Sounds exhausting."

"It will be." Olriad laughed. "You'll need experience outside the castle eventually. Training here can only take you so far."

I nodded.

He was right.

I knew that already.

In the game, Araleon spent very little time sitting safely inside the royal castle.

He travelled.

He explored Dungeons.

He fought monsters.

He met people.

He gathered allies.

And, eventually, he became strong enough to challenge the Calamities.

Maybe this was the beginning of that journey.

"Tomorrow," I muttered.

Olriad glanced at me.

"Hm?"

"I'll finally be the Hero everyone knows."

He smiled.

"You already are."

We reached the castle entrance.

The guards stationed outside immediately straightened when they saw us.

I barely noticed.

My mind was somewhere else.

I was thinking about tomorrow.

I stepped through the entrance.

Then—

**"SEIZE HIM!"**

I froze.

"What?"

Dozens of guards rushed toward me.

Their weapons were drawn.

For a moment, I genuinely thought I'd heard wrong.

One guard grabbed my arm.

Another raised his sword.

"What are you doing?"

I pulled my arm away.

"What's going on?"

More guards poured into the hall.

There had to be twenty.

Thirty.

Maybe more.

Their expressions were serious.

Like they had been waiting for this.

My heart dropped.

"Olriad?"

He looked just as shocked as I was.

"Wait!"

He stepped forward.

"What are you doing?!"

A guard shouted.

"Seize the Hero!"

Hero?

Me?

My eyes widened.

"Wait, I'm the Hero!"

I instinctively reached for my sword.

A mistake.

The guard directly in front of me immediately raised his weapon.

"Don't move!"

My hand stopped.

"What the hell?"

I looked around.

Nobody was explaining anything.

Nobody was even looking at Olriad.

They were all looking at me.

Like I was dangerous.

Like I was a criminal.

Like—

"Araleon!"

Olriad shouted.

I turned.

A guard stepped in front of him.

"Stay back!"

"He's the Hero!"

"We know!"

"Then what are you doing?!"

The guard didn't answer.

My heartbeat hammered against my chest.

This wasn't part of the game.

None of this was supposed to happen.

I took a step backward.

"Wait."

My voice came out quieter.

"What did I do?"

Then the guard in front of me moved.

Fast.

I barely saw his hand.

Something struck the side of my head. 

Pain exploded through my skull.

The world tilted.

"What..."

My knees buckled.

I reached out instinctively.

The floor rushed toward me.

The last thing I saw was the blurred face of the guard standing over me.

Then everything went black.

...

..

.