CH2: Behold! The Almighty Sword Excalibur!

My name is Albert Von Kassariss, the third prince of the Georlian Kingdom and a hero candidate. It's been two years since the havoc caused by the Dark Lord of the Dracon Tribe, and as a prince of the Kassariss bloodline, my task was to be the hero who will save the world from that evil threatening to extinguish humanity.

But I'm not the hero.

Despite what people and my supporters call me, it seems like I'll never become the true hero. I'm such a disappointment.

"Hey, guys, wake up; we're already there."

Theo woke Agatha and the rest up, but my party was unflinching. This is just the typical scenario that plays out every day, and much of that scene is about disrespecting Theo. It seems like he's used to it, and I respect him for his patience.

"Shut up, Theo. Don't bother us," Niel grunted.

"Ahh... So good. This is paradise," Agatha ecstatically moaned.

"I said, this is not how you should use a cucumber, but well... This is good enough," Misty complained.

All of them had a slice of cucumber on their eyes. Their faces are painted with a white substance said to moisturize the face. I didn't expect them to use a cucumber this way aside from eating it and using it as shampoo. It just means that I'm still ignorant about the world. And I don't have any clue about what Misty had to complain, but I'm afraid to ask. She's green after all, and green is such a frightening color.

"They said that cucumber could make you prettier," Basilisk smirked widely, though Theo didn't agree.

"Guys, you look hideous. Please, don't embarrass us by showing your faces to the citizens."

"What did you say!? Do you want to die!?" Niel violently retorted. But not much of her hissing affected Theo too much, and he just closed his ears and ran away from the carriage.

It seems like Theo's insult made them self-conscious, and they immediately washed their faces off with water magic.

The caravan continued to move as we prepared ourselves to enter the city. The merchant suggested that I drive the first carriage so that my image would become close to the heart of an ordinary civilian and become the center of attention. This will benefit the merchants as well by showing that they are related to me and raise their reputation in the city.

We entered the gates, and the guards bowed their heads as they saw me. Then flower petals acted as confetti with the cheers of the citizens who supported me. It was a parade. It seems like the news of our victory already reached this place before we even realized it. But Theo might have predicted this, that's why he already warned the others to prepare.

"Basilisk, hurry up! The citizens are cheering for us! Do you still remember what we practiced?"

I heard Theo say that inside the carriage, and there was hasty thumping going on inside. Basilisk and Theo climbed to the roof of the carriage, and I didn't have any idea what was going on inside their heads, so I clenched my fist in suspense. The way they smirked, I already knew they were onto something stupid.

"Who the heck are they?" the citizens started murmuring amongst themselves. Hearing what they said made me feel pity for those two.

"Theo, are you ready?"

"Any moment, pal."

They inhaled deeply, their chests bulging. Then as they exhaled, they screamed.

"RECTUS ABDOMINIS!!"

I had to close my eyes with my hands in embarrassment when their clothes exploded, leaving them buck naked. They were striking strange poses that highlighted their bulging muscles. What the hell are those attention-seeking creatures thinking!?

They continued posing on top of the roof, and mothers were forced to close their little daughters' eyes before their pupils were tainted by their balls of steel. Look, little boys are crying! Elder people are having heart attacks!

"Deltoids!"

"Abdominal Muscle!"

"Side Chest!"

"Erector spinae!"

Oh god, please help me stop these fools.

"Huh? Why is everyone silent?" Finally, Theo noticed!

"Maybe, they are left speechless by our muscles."

NO, YOU FOOLS, THEY ARE DISGUSTED!

"Wow, look who's embarrassing themselves in front of the citizens," Even Niel is dumbfounded by what they are doing!

Theo is sharp enough to notice that something is amiss, but Basilisk is just thoroughly an idiot! Look, Theo is about to cry! He realized that his sword is the size of peanuts! Agatha is even laughing about it, oh, poor Theo.

Seems like I don't have any other choice. I need to save the dignity of these two idiots. I climbed up on the roof as well and handed the driving to the merchant's son. You better thank me afterward.

I inhaled, and as I exhaled, I flexed my muscles, and they swelled so much that my clothes exploded, leaving only my stretchy underwear.

"WOOOH!! SHOW THE D! SHOW THE D!"

"THE BIG D! THE LONG D! THE HEROIC D!"

The women were cheering for me. Even men are blushing. It seems like I didn't have any choice but to show it. I need to concentrate to harden my genitalia and destroy my remaining clothing. HUGH!

Oops... I overdid it. My underwear flew out to the citizens, and it just became chaotic. They scrambled to be the ones who would take my brief. But overall, there was loud cheering for me as I showed my body. Even babies were laughing for joy, and the flowers were starting to bloom...

Theo just knelt there and punched the roof with tears in his eyes. "Tell me, Basilisk. Why are we here? Just to suffer?"

"It's okay, Theo. We don't have any chance against him to begin with."

Did I just make it worse? I don't want to hurt their ego, but it seems they are looking at me now like I'm a mortal enemy.

...

"I'm here, Father. We successfully protected the fortress against the invaders."

In the throne room, I kneeled in front of the king. Currently, he's the strongest human in the whole country. He's not a hero candidate but rather a blood holder who accumulated the strength of the ancestor through crossbreeding. By breeding with my mother, a former Saintess, he created me. But he also bred with other strong people with unique skills to create other hero candidates, my siblings.

There are only five candidates in total. The king didn't focus on quantity but on quality through extreme training. Currently, the strongest candidate is my oldest sister, Frieda, who is currently assisting in evaluating my growth as a candidate.

"You did as expected, but that's not something to note about," she said.

"Big sister..."

"Your big brother Leonard had destroyed three enemy barracks and drained their supplies. Kerial brought down the enemy's flying fortress and slew a parasite dragon. Your little sister, Amanda captured, tortured, and interrogated the Dark Army's Second Division General, Semath. Compared to you, they did much better."

I bit my lips at the fact that I'm the lowest quality among my siblings. I know I need to be stronger, but I already hit my limit. I don't have any hope to begin with, I can't be any stronger.

"Despite being a show-off, your standing among the hero candidates is the lowest. You're not going to have the divine fruit."

According to the prophecy passed from generation to generation, the divine fruit shall be eaten by the hero candidate to become the true hero. It will give them power to be on par with the Dark Lord. However, the divine tree can only bear one fruit, and it only does so when it senses a very concentrated essence of evil. When the Dark Lord is born, the divine fruit is also conceived.

However, I've already given up on trying to obtain that power. I'd rather use my own power to protect everything that I care about.

"Even so... even if I don't become the true hero, I will act like one. Heroes are not the ones who are the most powerful, but the ones who have the desire to protect what they must. I might not be the one who's going to slay the Dark Lord. But I will protect everyone I care about."

"Your haughty speech doesn't mean anything to me. You're just being too egotistic. Someday, your arrogance will kill you," my sister may have spoken the truth. But even so, I had to commit to my pledge.

"You're not a hero."