I Was Reincarnated As the Strongest Protagonist Who Would Eventually Become a Hero, But It Seems the Burden Was Too Heavy For Me - Chapter 2

A few days had passed since I was reincarnated as Luke.

 

During that time, I had gathered information from the villagers and had confirmed that this world was indeed the Legend of Spirit.

 

This was Limer Village, in a corner of the Kingdom of Larenpia.

 

Aisha and I were born and raised in an orphanage here called Venthema Orphanage.

 

That was why my name was Luke Venthema. Aisha and I shared the same family name, but we were not related by blood. We were more like childhood friends.

 

An event would probably occur in a while,  and I’d set off on a journey from the village. Aisha would come with me at that time.

 

As preparation for that day… I was practicing my sword swings behind the orphanage.

 

“Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…”

 

After counting to one hundred, I took a break.

 

The third set of one hundred practice swings was complete. The wooden sword was light, but swinging it this much was starting to hurt my hands. Looking at my palm, I saw some blisters.

 

‘According to the setting book, Luke would practice every day before he set out on his journey… but how much should he do? Is about five hours a day enough?’

 

It wasn’t until he left the village and started living in the royal capital that Luke’s talent for the sword was discovered. But I knew Luke’s talent from the beginning, and I could feel his innate talent every time he swung his sword.

 

(…Even just practicing makes his sword skills clearly improve.)

 

His sword skill was so high spec that I wanted to cry.

 

Since I was an ordinary person in my previous life, I could feel the difference in talent.

 

At first, each swing seemed unsteady, but now I was able to practice with a beautiful sword slash that even I could admire. Since I had never practiced kendo in my previous life, the wooden sword didn’t fit my hand well, but now I felt the handle sticking to my palm, as if it had become one with my arm.

 

A left upward slash, a right sweep, a step in, and a cross slash.

 

Just by swinging the sword, I knew the optimal next move. I could intuitively understand how to use my whole body for that move.

 

‘Maybe I’ll be even stronger than in the original.’

 

Luke’s talent with the sword was the real deal.

 

With my knowledge of the original, there was a chance I could make better use of this talent.

 

“Luke, are you practicing again?”

 

A voice called out from behind.

 

As I was about to resume practicing, Aisha came to check on me.

 

“Yeah, I guess.  It’s become sort of a habit for me.”

 

Aisha giggled when I answered.

 

“Geez… Luke, you’re using ‘boku’ again.”

 

Damn it, I made another mistake.

 

Luke’s first-person pronoun was ‘ore’. I sometimes made mistakes because of my habits from my previous life.

 

(TL note: ‘Boku’ is more polite and formal while ‘ore’ is more brash and informal.)

 

“Does it sound that weird?”

 

“Yeah. It’s really weird when Luke talks like that.”

 

It was not just the first-person pronoun. Aisha had been pointing out my way of speaking a lot these past few days.

 

Luke had always been a strong-willed, passionate guy. As if matching with his bright red hair, Luke’s heart burned bright. He could be a bit of a fool, but his straightforward, pure personality made up for it.

 

It was a bit difficult for me to imitate him, since I was an indoor person and a game nerd in my previous life.

 

I’d like to keep using ‘boku’ as my first-person pronoun at least, but if Aisha laughed that much, I’d have no choice but to change it.

 

“Luke, you really love that sword, don’t you?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll use this sword to become a hero. It’s a promise.”

 

Luke’s dream was to become a hero.

 

It was something Luke himself said on a daily basis, and he always worked hard to achieve it.

 

Every man dreamed of being a hero at least once. Luke would make that dream a reality.

 

“Become a hero… huh? I guess it’s no wonder you’re so obsessed with it then.”

 

Aisha looked at me with a somewhat sad look on her face.

 

Luke certainly wanted to be a hero, and he worked hard to achieve that goal. But I was not Luke, and I didn’t intend to follow everything exactly like the original.

 

“Aisha, are you free today?”

 

“Yeah. I’ve finished the farm work, so I don’t have anything else to do today.”

 

“Then why don’t you come on a picnic with me? You like relaxing on the bench by the lake, don’t you?”

 

“Eh?”

 

Aisha’s eyes widened.

 

“I-Is that okay? Whenever I invite you, you always say you want to train, and turn me down…”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Just being with Aisha made me happy.”

 

“…! Then, I’ll be ready soon!”

 

Seeing Aisha return to the orphanage with a very happy look on her face, I felt satisfied.

 

‘Luke in the original was indifferent towards Aisha…’

 

Perhaps because they were childhood friends, Luke often treated her a bit carelessly.

 

In the original, Luke met various types of heroines. Such as a pure and compassionate saint, a noble and cute princess, etc… Compared to these heroines with rich personalities, Aisha, who was just a childhood friend, tended to be overshadowed.

 

But I had to confess—I was on Aisha’s side.

 

She was kind and caring, and above all, she was devoted to Luke from the beginning until the end.

 

Many players were touched by Aisha’s pure-heartedness.

 

If I could… I would like to take the fateful route that led to being united with Aisha.

 

“Luke, sorry to keep you waiting! I’m ready!”

 

Aisha came out of the orphanage dressed up nicely. Her pale blue skirt suited her well. Her simple village girl look was elevated by her innocent charm.

 

“I made some sandwiches! Let’s eat them together!”

 

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Looking at Aisha’s carefree smile, that answer came out sincere.

 

But then—

 

“Luke, Aisha. Are you here?”

 

“Headmistress?”

 

The woman who was the headmistress of the Venthema Orphanage called out to us.

 

She was like a parent to us. She must be around sixty years old, but she looked young as if she was only in her thirties. …I knew the reason, but it didn’t matter now.

 

“Oh… fufu, are you going on a picnic or something? Sorry to interrupt.”

 

“Y-Y-Y-You didn’t interrupt anything!!”

 

Aisha was visibly embarrassed.

 

“I’ll keep it short. …I just spoke with the village chief, and we’ve decided on the trial you two will face in order to leave the village.”

 

Trial.

 

The moment I heard that keyword, I clenched my fist.

 

‘Here comes the first event.’

 

Aisha and I were about to leave Limer Village.

 

That was because a month ago… we received a letter.

 

—An invitation to Sigurd Royal Magic Academy.

 

It was an invitation from a prestigious school in the royal capital.

 

Sigurd was the hero who brought an end to the world war ten years ago. There was no way Luke, who aspired to be a hero, wouldn’t be interested in the Sigurd Royal Magic Academy that Sigurd founded.

 

I didn’t know why it was given to Aisha and me.

 

But when we received the invitation, we immediately thought, ‘We want to go!’.

 

Even though we were invited, we had to pass the entrance exam to attend the academy.

 

Perhaps the invitation was simply sent by mistake.

 

Even so, we decided to go.

 

To experience a new world outside the village.

 

And to find out why we were invited.

 

‘…Well, I already know all about it, though.’

 

Legend of Spirit was famous for its foreshadowings.

 

It would be a while before these plot twists were resolved.

 

Anyway, we wanted to get out of the village.

 

In order to do that, we needed to overcome the trials of this village.

 

“Director, what was the content of the trial?”

 

Aisha asked the director.

 

“Recently, a boar monster has been rampaging in the eastern forest. Please go and exterminate it tomorrow.”

 

“Eh… W-We have to exterminate the monster?”

 

Aisha and I would be turning 15 this year.

 

In this village, the matter of dealing with monsters was often left to adults over 18, so Aisha looked worried. Neither Aisha nor I had ever fought monsters.

 

“I’m sure you two can do it.”

 

“…In that case, that’s fine.”

 

Hearing the director’s words, Aisha regained a little of her energy.

 

At that moment, I suddenly realized.

 

‘Damn it… This was supposed to be the moment Luke encouraged Aisha.’

 

Luke should have told Aisha, ‘We can do it,’ to give her courage.

 

I accidentally forgot about that exchange, but… well, this should be fine.

 

“But it’s still a pain to have to go through such a trial just to get out of the village.”

 

“Don’t say that, Luke. It wouldn’t be bad to go along with the village tradition at least one last time.”

 

This time, the conversation flowed just like in the original.

 

In the past, dangerous monsters lived around this village. However, the children of the village often wanted to go out to make a name for themselves. So the village chief at the time decided to test the children’s strength by assigning them a trial to leave the village.

 

This event became a tradition and had been passed down to the present day.

 

The headmaster gave a wry smile at my bold statement. …Since she said it would be the last, she probably believed that we would pass the trial.

 

After the trial, the headmaster would suffer an unfortunate fate.

 

Knowing such a future, I wanted to live up to the headmaster’s trust.

 

“Well, that’s all from me. …I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

 

The headmistress went inside the orphanage building.

 

I looked at Aisha standing next to me.

 

“Aisha, shall we go?”

 

“Y-Yes. …Do you think we’ll be okay for tomorrow’s trial?”

 

“We can do it. I have my sword, and Aisha has magic.”

 

“…Yeah. Yes, we can do it!”

 

I decided to say the line I forgot to say earlier.

 

It seemed I had successfully given Aisha courage.

 

At that moment–

 

[Danger… It’s close…]

 

I thought I heard a voice from somewhere.

 

“Aisha, did you say something?”

 

“Eh? I didn’t really say anything…”

 

I tilted my head, thinking that this was strange.

 

‘…I know what this is though.’

 

There was no way I didn’t know.

 

This was what made Luke the main character.

 

‘Please wait a little longer, Salamander.’

 

The time for Luke’s power to awaken was coming closer.

 

[A threat… is approaching.]