Plans for the Future

I open my eyes and feel sore all over. It isn’t where Zero hit me. This soreness is the backlash from how much I used Ascalade. I doubt I’ll be able to have a proper fight again for at least another day. The demons still shouldn’t be too close.

I’m near the small fire that the soldiers were resting by. I try to look around and find Zero. He’s placed the cloth over his eye again, and he sits there drinking tea as one of the soldiers keeps the parasol over him. He’s acting like nothing happened again. One of the soldiers looks between the two of us.

“Sir Hero, Sir Sage…” He doesn’t seem to know what to say to us. Of course he doesn’t. We showed him something that shameful, after all.

“Forget it,” Zero says. “Forget everything you’ve seen from the two of us. And all of the pathetic things our hero said too.”

“I’ll do that. But… I heard you two were young, but… I suppose I hadn’t considered you really would just be kids. Right now, you really do just seem like regular kids. Even I was better at your age.”

“That’s right, sir. We’re sixteen now. And… we really don’t act like this normally! Especially not Zero!”

“Well, we all have our moments. But it really drove it home for me. How much we’re asking for when we tell you to save the world for us. We really shouldn’t be putting that on you.” Zero stands up and yanks the parasol from the soldier’s hands. He walks right in front of me, putting me in the shade.

“What sort of nonsense were you spewing, Dust?”

“Just the truth. I can’t become the hero. I’ve decided to find a way to give Ascalade to somebody else, too.”

“I see, I see. The loss shook you that badly? So? Were you planning to die before or after Alice scolds you?” I look away from Zero. Ascalade is a spirit, after all. If anyone would see through me, it would be him, it would be the Sage of Spirits.

“I can’t see her.”

“And I’m the one who needs to face people properly.”

“It’s different for you. Nothing will happen if you just go home.”

“Can’t you listen properly? I already told you what will happen. My family will abandon me and my engagement will be over.”

“That’s practically nothing. If I went home then there wouldn’t be a hero. If I keep wandering then there will be a wielder of Ascalade. If I die then there can be a new hero. I can’t do either of those things if I go home. If I see her again then I won’t be able to leave again, I won’t be able to die, and I doubt that I’ll even be able to fight.”

“Your plan is shit.”

“It’s the only way I can protect Alice. Will you come with me, Zero?”

“Of course I won’t! What do you take me for?”

“Please, Zero. I need somebody to take me back to Alice once I’m dead. And to apologize to her for me. You’re the only one I can ask, Zero.”

“Seeing your body won’t make her feel better. And she won’t accept that stupid apology either… But I’ll go with you. I lost the fight, after all. I promised I would listen to you if you won.”

“Thank you. But I don’t think I really won.”

“Fine, we’ll call it a draw. So we’ll kill whatever monsters we can on the way. And I’ll make the plans.”

“Alright.”

“First question: what is our ultimate destination?”

“The capital? We need to reunite you with your fiancee.”

“Do we really?”

“We do. And I can finally meet her.”

“Damnit, fine. Any idea how you’ll pass Ascalade off to somebody else?”

“I’ll… ask?”

“Talking like that… you won’t find somebody better than you.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t act confused. Ascalade loves you so much that you really just think you can ask and it will do what you say.”

“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever asked for anything unreasonable. And I’m sure there’s a better place for Ascalade to shine than with me.”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’ll just kill yourself in the end no matter what happens, won’t you. Well, let’s think about what route we should take.” Zero looks at the soldiers, who barely seem to be able to process what we’re talking about. “Which way to the capital do you think is getting it worst?”

“You mean from the demons?”

“Yeah, that’s it. If we’re going to the capital anyway then we might as well blow them up. It would be that mountain pass, wouldn’t it?”

“Ah, no, Sir Sage. The demons wiped us out there, so there’s only a tiny force left behind to keep us from recapturing it.”

“Zero, we can’t just leave it—”

“Shut up! We need to be pragmatic this time. I won’t let you leave behind some mess for this hero you’re trying to make. But passing through that damn wasteland again!”

There are two routes to reach this side of the continent. One is through the mountains, which takes a long time. The other is through the wasteland, a desert in even worse shape than this battlefield. It’s faster through the wasteland, so that’s the path we took.

“You don’t want to either! Let’s just resolve the problems in the mountains, Zero!”

“You were the one rushing us around on our way here. We could’ve done that if you let us slow down. If there’s a real army invading through the wasteland then we need to stop them. And we need to kill whatever Princes of Evil they have with them. That’s our duty now, so just obey.”

Zero is right. I thought killing the Demon King as fast as possible was the best way to protect everyone. But that’s why we’re in this mess now. We really are in a rush. I don’t have time to waste.

“You’re right… We’ll go through the wasteland… but…”

“Did you really wear yourself out that much?”

“I did.” It’s embarrassing to admit.

“Fine! We’ll leave tomorrow.” He looks at the soldiers around us. “You protected me all of last night, so leave it to us now. Go to sleep. We’ll keep watch.”

“That’s good. I really wanted you all to be able to sleep well, at least once.”