Hope sparkled like a star with his Hero Time ability, from memory, Hero Time was a technique that gave some Hero class people an immense boost. It was said that if the most powerful Hero in the world used it, he would become the most powerful person in the world, in all areas, ahead of all other classes. But the hero in front of me was not a hand, but a real Avatar, an Avatar who multiplied the power of his movements at the sacrifice of greater consumption of his energy. To put it simply, cheat a cheat.

"Since when?! Since when are you an Avatar???"

"Listen... I'll tell you everything... Once I'll beat you.

"Forget it, how did you get a skill of a higher class, in this village?! There are barely any E-rank monsters, where did you find it???"

"Oh... You're right to fear me... That power is too much for an E-rank emissary, isn't it?... It's... Wait, stop distracting me!"

"Huh?... I'm not even trying..."

"Hero time can make me the strongest, but the downside is huge... I have to defeat you now."

My ears trembled.

"What kind of downside? With this power you will crush me, I have no way out, aren't you being a little too careful?"

"No, right now I can only use it for a maximum of 5 minutes, and after that I... Well whatever!" Are you done talking?"

"… Yes, my apologies and… Thank you."

Hope grabbed his sword and lunged at me, shooting through the air like a bullet. Hero Time had boosted his techniques, so Acceleration had become terribly deadly. He swung his sword as soon as I came within range, not noticing my sinister smile until the very last moment.

The ground exploded, and a cloud of smoke impregnated with debris rose.

"You won't get me with this anymore!"

Hope spun around, swinging his sword into space, the cloud of smoke dissipating.

(Concentration... Feel the universe...)

He closed his eyes and his aura took on a less agitated form, becoming more and more like a bubble.

"With this, you can't hide anymore, I can sense you anywhere! I can... Huh?!"

He stopped abruptly, and as the cloud lifted, his eyes widened.

"Where? Where?! Where the hell are you?!"

Meanwhile, in a luxurious bedroom, I put my torn clothes in a basket and walked into a bathroom, drink in hand.

"Ouch-ouch-ouch... My fingers are numb, I shouldn't have gone to melee."

I took a quick bath and sat on a couch, pouring myself a cup of coffee, then staring at a clock on the ceiling.

"So... 1 equals 5, so 5 equals... 25. Let's go to 30 just to be sure."

I was sipping my coffee while watching one of my favorite cartoons on TV. And so, time passed. A few minutes later, while I was dozing, an alarm sounded. I jumped to my feet, then changed into more comfortable clothes and headed for a door. I reappeared in a faint flash of light and surveyed the surroundings carefully. Hope was sitting further away, a wooden sword stuck in the ground and looking down. I walked towards him.

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"Are you crawling yet?"

"... Bastard."

"Hey, come on, don't look at me like that, it's going to hurt me, haha... So? Ready for round 2?"

" Never talk to me again! You're not my friend anymore!

"What? I'm only cheering you up, your determination is bigger than my dreams, you can do it... Oh? My bad, you used Hero Time, you're helpless now... Are you crying, bro?"

I could see the tears welling up in his eyes, what a wonderful world.

"Now that looks like bullying."

"Am not! Leave me alone!"

Tears flowed profusely. That's why I can't hate him, he knows what I like.

"There, there, I can't leave you here alone, your mother would kill me."

"... I'll tell Mr. Albert that you keep calling him my mother."

"Why is he wearing lipstick then?"

We laughed together as I used a small healing skill on him.

"So what happened to you? It's not like you to pick a fight like this."

"Say, why did you leave your team?"

I raised my eyebrows puzzled. Hope continued.

"Everyone in the village is making fun of you, Erick was saying everywhere that you were weak and that you were cheating on Sana... It's unbearable."

I rolled my eyes, how could that idiot say all that bullshit so fast?

"They say you're weak... But we both know that's wrong. I'm almost stronger than Leon, but I've never beaten you, you know how I feel? I'm not a liar so I won't say that I beat you if I didn't. So people laugh at me too."

"You're much stronger than me, and with Hero Time, even Leon couldn't hold a candle to you. I only beat you because I'm smarter."

" Really? Like when you kept spamming magic attacks from a flying deckchair until I passed out?"

"*chuckle* You had no way to counter that, it was too tempting."

"And when you used copies of yourself to attack me in multiple places at once while the original ate eggs on a nearby farm?"

I laughed loudly, no longer able to maintain my healing.

"W... Wait, stop! You're killing me! Hahahaha!"

" You see? You are much stronger than us. Why do you let them insult you?

I stopped my healing when Hope was able to stand. We watched the sunset in the distance.

"Tell me, what do you want most in your life?"

Hope looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

"What I want is... To be the strongest man in the world, I want to become the one who will be talked about in legends, to save the world from the most powerful monsters. I want to be called upon every time an S-rank rift appears... To be the strongest, and I want to gain recognition from you and my sister."

He started blushing in embarrassment, I smiled back.

"I see, it's a good dream, one that will keep you active for years, not really my thing but I respect it."

"... So... What's yours? What's your dream?" He looked at me with interest, waiting impatiently for my response.

"My dream is... I don't know."

"Hey, that's cheating, I told you my..."

He stopped when he saw the look on my face.

"Do you know that the people I live with are my adoptive family?"

"You... You mean Mrs. Malia and Wendy?"

"Yes, it was my adoptive father, Mr. Raoul, who took me in when I was 6 years old, and since then we've all been living together. I don't know where I come from or who I am, the only thing I remember, it's the name Anesidora."

"Well... It's... Deep?"

"You want to ask me why I'm suddenly talking about all this but you hesitate because I mentioned my father, right?"

"Ah! No! I... Huh..."

"Haha, don't sweat it, I'm not a child, I won't cry over it. I was too young to understand when he died, but thinking about it, I'm glad I didn't. Right now, I'm not interested in fighting for the world or for fame, I just want to live happily with my mom and my sister, nothing else."

"... Is that why you don't want to become an emissary?"

I smiled and started walking.

"I'm already an emissary, but I won't try to be the strongest, I just want to see my family happy. So a small village with monsters at maximum E-Rank is enough for me. If I go further, I would have to leave them."

Hope followed me, and we started our way to the village, under the rays of the setting sun. Suddenly, a sound of applause startled us.

"Magnificent! It was simply magnificent!"

We turned around and saw, sitting on a rock, a charming young woman, a little taller than us, with long black hair and bright sapphire blue eyes. A haunting yet familiar figure, impossible not to recognize in this kingdom. Before us, stood the one considered as the most powerful emissary of the entire Kingdom: the hero's advanced class emissary, the Legend Elizabeth.

"S...Sister?"