The Hero's Sword
Early the next morning.
Rienta and Frieren formed one team, while Fern and Stark were led by the village chief.
They began clearing out the monsters around Sword Village.
The monsters weren't very strong, but there were plenty of them. It took the group all morning to clear out most of them.
But they hadn't encountered the Mountain Lord.
And the monsters were all converging on a cave.
By now, dozens of monsters had gathered in front of it.
After the two teams finished their respective clearing tasks, they met on a cliff above the cave.
Puzzled, Stark asked the village chief, "Things have gotten this bad, so why haven't you put out a request to have them exterminated?"
The village chief sighed. "I'd like to put out a request, but..."
"Because Himmel is a hero," Frieren finished for the chief.
"?"
Seeing that Frieren and the village chief had no intention of explaining,
Rienta and the others turned their attention to the group of monsters in front of the cave.
Looking at the monsters clustered together, Stark had an idea.
"Rienta, cast a Defensive Magic spell on me."
Rienta didn't understand, but he cast Rho Aias on Stark anyway.
This Defensive Magic was far more effective than ordinary Defensive Magic.
Ever since Stark had experienced it, he would ask Rienta to cast it whenever he was around.
Three pale blue petals surrounded Stark, shielding him.
"I'm going in!"
The moment the Defensive Magic was in place, Stark raised his axe and leaped down.
It had to be said that Stark, as a warrior, had an excellent sense of timing. Even Rienta didn't react in time.
With Stark's leaping slash, the vast majority of the monsters in front of the cave were wiped out.
From the cliff, Rienta and Fern cast ordinary Offensive Magic to clear out the fleeing monsters.
Once they were done, the two didn't rush to investigate the cave, because the Mountain Lord the village chief had mentioned still hadn't appeared.
Stark looked into the cave, then froze for a moment.
Just then, a monster dozens of times larger than those they had killed earlier suddenly sprang out.
An enormous claw slammed straight toward Stark. A blue light flashed, and Rienta's Defensive Magic held firm against the blow.
Stark gripped the handle of his axe tightly and stared at the enormous monster before him.
Looking at the huge demonic wolf that had appeared, Frieren said calmly:
"You're new here, aren't you? You've only been here eighty years, and you already think you're the boss?"
As she spoke, her wand was already gathering mana.
Seeing this, the Mountain Lord ignored Stark in front of the cave and swiped another claw at Frieren.
But it failed again. Fern cast Defensive Magic and blocked the blow for Frieren.
A white light flashed, and the Mountain Lord hitched a ride to another world as well.
Only then did Rienta and the others bring the village chief down to the cave entrance. Pointing at a sword inside, Stark asked:
"What's going on? That's the Hero's Sword, isn't it?"
Following the direction of Stark's finger, Rienta also saw the sword embedded in the stone.
But it gave off a strange attraction.
It was faint, but it was definitely there.
The village chief explained, "That sword is probably the reason the monsters gather here. Even with a powerful barrier, it still can't suppress the monsters' urge to destroy the Hero's Sword."
Seeing that it could no longer be concealed, Frieren exchanged a glance with the village chief. After receiving an affirmative look, she said:
"Himmel couldn't pull this sword out back then."
"But even without it, Himmel still defeated the Demon King and saved this world."
"He was a true hero."
"The reason this was kept secret was probably because people wanted to make Himmel into a hero. Later generations always embellish the image of heroes according to their own ideas. For a hero, failing to draw the Hero's Sword isn't something that needs to be recorded."
Fern and Stark fell somewhat silent. They didn't understand why things were this way.
As Frieren spoke, the Hero's Sword's attraction to Rienta grew stronger and stronger.
In the end, Rienta asked the village chief, "Chief, may I give it a try?"
Everyone stared at Rienta for asking.
The village chief was startled at first, then thought for a moment. "You may, but the Demon King is already dead, so you most likely won't be able to pull out the Hero's Sword."
"Yes, I understand. I just want to try."
Seeing this, the village chief said no more and opened the barrier around the cave.
As the barrier opened, the attraction grew even stronger.
Rienta took a deep breath and walked toward the Hero's Sword, which was said to have never been drawn.
He placed his right hand on the hilt and pulled gently. The Hero's Sword offered no resistance, rising partway out of the stone as though it could hardly wait to emerge.
Realizing that the Hero's Sword would come free if he used even a little more strength, Rienta stopped.
Only a hero capable of defeating the calamity that will destroy the world can draw the Hero's Sword.
The village chief's words came back to Rienta.
Himmel defeated the Demon King but couldn't draw the Hero's Sword, yet I can do it easily. Is that right?
Could it be because I can live forever, and I'll still be alive when a calamity of that magnitude appears?
Then elves should be able to meet that condition too.
Perhaps, to the Goddess who created the world, all races—the demons, humans, elves, and so on—are her children.
If that's really the case, it would explain why Himmel couldn't draw the Hero's Sword.
Then does my drawing the Hero's Sword now mean a calamity capable of destroying the world will appear?
While Rienta's thoughts ran wild, the panel reacted.
[Anchor four: Hero's Sword] Reward: "Goddess's Blessing."
Rienta: "???"
Because of the angle, Rienta's body blocked the view of everyone behind him.
Seeing that Rienta had been still for so long, Stark said, "Rienta, don't be too upset."
After some thought, Rienta let go of the Hero's Sword and walked back to the others.
"Looks like I'm not a hero either. Haha."
With the monsters dealt with, the blizzard stopped too.
The group prepared to continue their journey.
The village chief and the villagers came to see Frieren off.
"I always believed Lady Frieren would visit here again. Thank you very much."
"Those were also the last words of the village chief before my predecessor."
Stark muttered, "Just what did that village chief leave as last words?"
Rienta elbowed Stark, feeling quite helpless.
Why are warriors all so oblivious, with no understanding of social graces?
Frieren smiled. "Well then, see you in half a century."
"Please don't be late next time."
With those parting words from the chief of Sword Village, Rienta and the other three set out once again for Äußerst.