Word from the author: this chapter will be placed from the hero's point of view and will quickly retrace his point of view on different subjects as well as his various encounters.
I was nothing, not a great nobleman, not an intelligent person, not a strong person, I only had a loving family and not too difficult living conditions and good friends on whom I could count.
Like many children, I sometimes dreamed of becoming a hero, maybe it was to escape my life full of boring habits, maybe because of all those captivating stories about heroes in the legends.
Or was it just because I wanted to be able to help my family and friends, I just wanted to be able to do something in this sometimes unfair world.
A kid in a street : "Pleas give me money"
Another one : "Please me too"
Young hero : "Dad can't we give them some money"
In this world you could see everywhere poverty, sadness, fear and other emotions everywhere, how could I watch that without doing anything about it.
As a young man I always wished for everyone to be the most happy possible but as I learnt with time their is always thing that you cannot do, no matter how powerful you are.
Hero's dad : "See how many they are even us don't have the money to make them all eat like they want"
Young hero : "What do we do then ?"
Hero's dad : "I don't know"
When I saw my dad face, very sad, I knew he was as angry at me at the situation and at himself as he couldn't afford to help them all.
At the end he stull decided to feed the most skinny ones but they were so many...it just seem as if he just delayed the problem, not really solved it.
Soldier : "Sir he is here"
Hero's dad : "Arther stay behind me"
Viscount : "Oh so you are finally back, now it's time to pay what you owe me"
In the small nobility, I sometimes had to live complicated situations, where the other noble families took us for foot steps, for underlings, for less than nothing.
I have never liked this behavior of the nobles against people weaker than them, it was something that initially I had simply ignored but which, having touched me, had really made me want to vomit.
Hero's Father: "You can't do this to us, we've only just opened a business"
Passager : "What is happening ?"
Another one : "seems like a conflict between nobles again"
Passager : "Let's get away then"
My father, a small baron of very low nobility lived from his trade and his sales, he had just set up a trading point here (basically a small shop) on which he sold all kinds of goods both from the kingdom and abroad.
It is this scarcity of foreign products that made his business work quite well.
Viscount : "You have just opened a business so you must pay me part of the goods"
He was under the jurisdiction of an other noble, a viscount, which was notoriously known for scamming people, trying here for example to use the law to profit from other people when he knew for a fact that he had no right to do so.
But did he care, no, he really didn't, nobody would tell him that he is wrong, nobody would go against him apart from higher ranking nobles that didn't care about those things.
Father of the Hero: "But let's see, we haven't even had clients, how do you want me to give you money?"
Account: "If you cannot pay, we will therefore close your business"
My father tried hard to talk to him but nothing to do, as for me, when I was 6 years old, I watched them from the house we lived in, knowing full well that I couldn't do anything.
Helpless was the word that perhaps best described my state of the moment, frustrated too, I would like them to disappear, why can't we have an egalitarian society, why does the world have to be so corrupt?
Viscount : "He can't pay, ransack his stable for me"
Hero's father : "No don't touch it, I'll pay you, give me some time"
Viscount : "You had all the time, it's too late"
My father tried to get in the way to save some of the items that my mother had brought back from her many trips (basically his mother travels and brings stuff back and his father sells them dearly).
This attempt, as senseless as it was desperate, had earned him beatings and ridicules, from which I could only cry at that moment while looking hatefully at the scene.
Viscount : "Let's go again, don't you dare even try to put a shop back on this point"
Soldier : "Ah that was fun"
Hero's father : "Atleast I could save some of it"
My mother and her travel hours had just been ruined, not that we couldn't live without it, that being the great passion of my parents, seeing the viscount destroy it like this had therefore honestly hurt me very much.
And such unpleasant behaviors were more than commonplace between high nobles and low nobles, our family was rather preserved since we managed a rather remote corner, near the orc borders but was still a bad thing.
Hero's father : "I really have no luck they destroyed some of the items"
Young arther : "Dad they broke mom's Items"
Hero's father : "Your mom will be very sad, she found that with very hard work"
Insults and the like of that were very reserved for us, in the nobility either you are for the king or for the nobles, my father being a great defender of royalty really had no luck.
Later, this kind of behavior had not diminished in the least and had even worsened, the viscount allowing himself more and more things, clearly seeing that my father could not really resist him.
He did it of course when my mother was not there, knowing full well that being an adventurer he would risk problems and knowing my mother she wouldn't just let it go.
Viscount : "You little nobles disgust me, always playing the big ones, but when there are problems there is no one left"
Hero's father : "Stop bullying us for no reason"
Viscount : "Then listen to what I say"
Hero's father : "But you ask nonsense again"
Viscount : "That's not my problem"
He knew that we couldn't do anything, he played it very well, he just looked down on us, and that not only with me but with all the little nobles around, that's how I made friends not out of common passion but out of common hatred.
Except that if they didn't expect something, it's that I would become the hero, myself not expecting it, the day it fell on my head I was just as surprised as shocked.
Hero's dad : "You really became tall, now it's time to get your talent"
15 yo Arther : "Yeah I am so ready for that"
Hero's dad : "Let's no get ready to discover it"
It is customary for the hero to be born into a very noble family, even in the royal family, that he comes from a small noble was in fact very unexpected.
Maybe I had wished until now to have a 4-star talent, in any case enough power to protect those I love from those who want to hurt them.
Hero's dad : "Arther you have the talent hero...hero...even in my wildest dream I wouldn't think about that"
Arther : "I am the...hero"
One priest : "Their is no mistaking it...I did the test 4 times"
I never thought my dream of becoming a hero would be achievable, I was the most shocked out of that and my father was speachless.
I then remembered the stories that my mother told me on each trip, these heroes who traveled and saved the world fascinated me, their fights for good, for their ideas, and now I was one of them.
A high ranking priest : "There is no mistake, he is the Hero"
King: "What great news, the Hero finally appeared"
Counselor: "my king, perhaps we should allow him a minimum of education if we want him to be useful for the kingdom"
King: "Be it so, the Hero and his whole family will be elevated to the title of 'people's hero', so they will receive all the advantages of this position, as for the heroes he will receive the position of 'divine knight' and will be considered a national hero until his death"
In all this only compliments, full of gifts from people who worship you who respect you, full of things that make anyone's ego bigger, but not for me.
All I saw were corrupt people who turned their jackets over as soon as the right time came, to put all thing behind if they can get some advantages from it.
Noble 1 (whispering) : "Maybe we can get his help as he know nothing"
Noble 2 : "Yeah it's gonna be very easy"
Conselor : "My king I would like the hero to have some help to preserved him from some unwanted attention"
The same is true for the king, despite the fact that my family has supported him for decades, he has never given us any help, now he gives attention but it sounds so hypocritical.
Even the viscount that not even a few days ago martyred us had just complimented us and trying to gain things with my name, some nobles made all the way to the capital just to try to win some advantages.
The king : "You are right, the hero will be for now on the responsability of general Gilfard"
A noble (who dont like the king) : "Why him"
The king : "He is the only general really available and he is pretty neutral"
Other nobles : "That's a good decision"
He was forced to swallow what he has left of self-love, our family clearly having a higher rank than his now, he clearly could not do what he did before and could even be punished if we wanted to.
My father, my mother and I were now considered on the same rank as a family that had saved the kingdom, which is almost equivalent to the rank of duke.
Arther : "Father why don't we ask for punishment"
Hero's father : "Arther if we used our new rank to punish we wouldn't be better than him"
Arther : "Yes you are right but now atleast we can relax in piece in a big mansion in the capital now"
Hero's father : "About that...you know that your mother and me really like our home in the south, we are gonna stay there"
Even though I gain power it seems that by doing so I also got away from the normal people so also from my family.
As now I could really not gonna be seperated from the thing in the kingdom where my parents aren't really interesting for the kingdom.
For that I have to stay at the capital, alone and my parents being away, I knew I was always welcomed to go see them, I knew it was as if I was forgiven.
General of the army (there are several): "hero, I am honored to serve you, from today it is me and my guard who will supervise you, if you have any need do not hesitate to call us"
Hero: "Already you are going to call me by my first name and dress up, there is no way that you will scare my family in this outfit"
General: "Well Sir Arther, it will be done according to your preferences"
He was definetly narrow-minded and didn't want to stop complaining when he was himself an army hero, having spent more than 15 years on the battlefield and having killed countless beasts.
His power is such that he alone holds the entire border against the orcs and that he has no difficulty repelling multiple attacks from them.
Arther: "You don't have to be so polite general, you saved my mother a long time ago, I owe you that"
General: "In that case, call me Gilfard, I would find it inappropriate to tutor the hero"
The general Gilfard is probably the most recognized general in the army and no w even he shows me a lot of respect, that's the power of rank.
Even when I returned to the room and the nobles were scanning me up and down whispering on my back, he had said nothing, not asking anything, nothing.
I also knew that in his army there were undoubtedly the largest number of commoners (or low nobles) in important positions.
The King : "As nothing is happeining right now in the territory of the south, general Gilfard you are to help the hero until he is 20 yo"
Gilfard : "I will do my best"
Counselor : "I even got a entry for the academy for the hero and everything"
The King : "It seems everything is in order, now we have to look over for demons and make preparations"
Everyone: "Yes my king"
He was not like all other nobles when he was the son of a great nobleman, generals from generation to generation, who learnt respect towards everyone and was respected for that.
No, he was much better, he and my friends from my past were the only ones who were sincere with me and did not change just because I was the hero.
Hero : "General do you want to ask me something"
Gilfard : "No I really don't"
Hero : "You sure ?"
Gilfard : "I hate those type of things so no"
It was then that even if this desire to save the world, to do my best for humans was the first thing in my mind, all that prevented me was that deep down humans, this world in general, was basically just a world of corruption.
But my time with Gilfard and at the academy would maybe change my mind, with my power came responsability and I now had some of the future on my hand.
Next chap: "power and money"