Since the attack of the Two-Headed monster, a few days went by quietly. The townspeople had to camp outside while the mayor requested for professional magicians from the capital to come by and arrange for the town’s repairs. So, several magicians came by from the capital city of Rodfox Kingdom and began working on repairing the damages.
Meanwhile, Lucky was back home continuing with his daily routine of training in the morning with his father, studying through the day with Mariana, and training with Sumara in using magic. Nothing had changed in the slightest to what he was doing, except that the townspeople considered him now a hero.
During the aftermath of the monster’s defeat, everyone came to inspect the damage and then turned to look in amazement at the kid sleeping on Sumara’s lap. The Demon girl simply told them to leave as he was tired and needed to sleep. Unable to say their thanks, they left, but they were grateful that they still had a town left to live in. The repairs might cost them their money, but at least they would not be left without a home to return to.
From then on, whenever he visited the town, people would stop and notice him. Some even wave at him with smiles on their faces while others nodded at him in greeting.
While Lucky simply smiled wryly at them, the Decisive Player said in his mind, “They’re treating you like a hero.”
“They think I’m a hero, but I don’t think I did much,” commented Lucky sardonically. “After all, I arrived at the last minute to deliver the finishing blow. It’s really Miss Sumara that should be praised as a hero.”
He thought back to the events that occurred a few days ago.
[ ====== ]
When he woke up next, he found himself lying in his room with Sumara sleeping with her head on the edge of his bed. He was surprised and confused as to how he got there, and his restlessness woke up his teacher. She then told him how gallantly he defeated the monster before passing out from tiredness and later when she brought him to the house.
“And the monster? Is it really gone?” He had asked to make sure he heard her correctly.
“Yes,” she replied simply and smiled while placing a hand on his head, making him smile happily in return.
Later that day, Indra arrived at town to hear the news of the monster attacking and a certain boy destroying the monster for good. So, he immediately rushed home with great happiness and joy.
By then, Lucky was awake and was sitting in the hall with the rest of the family. When he arrived, Indra immediately walked over to his son and scooped him up into giving him a big hug.
“I always knew you were meant for greatness! I’m so proud of you!” Indra had said at that time.
“Dad!” Lucky said, tried to break free from his father’s grip.
A moment later, he was released and stood massaging his arms while looking indignantly at him.
“I didn’t do much, dad,” he said and turned to his teacher. “It was Miss Sumara who fought and weakened it that much. I just blasted it with my Energy Force. That’s all.”
At his words, Indra widened his eyes in shock and turned to look at Sumara, who smiled wryly.
“You did it?” He asked incredulously. “Then, how come people are praising Lucky?”
Lakshmi answered his question with, “Indra, you should realise by now; she is not human. There’s no way those people would praise a Demon for saving them, would they?”
Her questioning him made him realise the truth and looked disgruntled before he turned to the Demon girl and spoke apologetically to her.
“I’m really sorry for the trouble the town’s people are causing you. On their behalf, I am truly sorry for the inconvenience.”
“It’s fine, sir,” she replied, waving her hand to dismiss his apology. “It’s not necessary because it was sort of my fault the monster ended up attacking the town,” and she explained about how Lucky first encountered it when the monster was chasing a cat.
Once she finished speaking, he nodded in understanding and said, “I understand, but that doesn’t make it your fault, Sumara. Rather, it’s our fault as adventurers for being slack when we should be putting in extra work dealing with such dangers.”
“But you were away on a mission, sir. How can you know a monster would come this far?” She asked him curiously.
He shook his head and replied, “I might not know about it, but it’s still my fault that I wasn’t around when my family needed me. It’s thanks to you that nothing happened here, but as a result, the town got destroyed.”
“Perhaps, but—?” She began hesitantly.
“I think it’s best we don’t talk about to with anyone,” suggested Lakshmi by speaking over her. “She’ll be in danger if they find out that she sent the monster flying there and right now a lot of emotions are running high due to the loss of their homes.”
“You’re right,” agreed Indra and nodded in agreement.
“The same goes for you, Mariana. You too, Lucky,” said Lakshmi, addressing both Mariana and her son. “This has to be a secret only between us and should never be spoken of again.”
“I understand,” replied Mariana coolly and bowed her head in acknowledgement.
“Sure. I have no problem with that,” said Lucky with a smile.
Everyone then turned and looked warmly at her while she stared at them with a look that showed the many different emotions she was experiencing. She was happy that they felt so strongly for her, and was sad that they had to keep it a secret just to protect her. Then she looked at them and spoke her mind openly for all of them to hear.
“I might’ve done the most damage to the monster, but Lucky saved us all by putting an end to it’s rampage. Even if I cut the monster in half, it wouldn’t have been an achievement when it could regenerate its body parts at will. That’s why, I believe it’s justifiable that Lucky is the hero for defeating the monster and saving everyone, including me. For that, I thank you very much.”
With that, she bowed to him in the presence of his family. Lucky was started by her actions and looked at his father and mother for some kind of advice. They smiled and nodded at him, giving him the indication to simply accept it,
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So, he smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment while saying, “I just did my best.”
[ ====== ]
“I just did my best,” repeated the Decisive Player once his memory playback ended. “That’s the best line you could think of?”
“It was sudden and unexpected!” Lucky retorted indignantly in his mind. “What would you have said?”
“Me?” The Decisive Player asked in surprise. He remained quiet as he thought about it before saying, “I would’ve said: I appreciate your words, miss, but it’s not necessary. I didn’t do it to receive thanks, I did it to save people. That’s all there was to it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Lucky asked, sounding amazed.
“No, I am not. It’s always pays to make a good impression to the other person!”
“More like show off your arrogance.”
“Huh?! How is it that I’m showing off my arrogance? To be honest, people would think you’re just an idiot with that simplistic dialogue.”
“No! Simple is better than complex stuff!”
“Suit yourself, but speeches sound more professional when you sound like you know what you’re saying.”
Lucky groaned, which made Sumara ask him, “Is something the matter?”
“Ah. It’s nothing,” he replied quickly and sighed before facing the front.
The two of them were walking side-by-side along the street filled with people going back and forth. They were in town to shop at the grocery store, which opened very quickly considering the owner had paid a large sum to have his shop repaired first. They heard that he was complaining how his shop sold the greatest amount of food and vegetables and could not stay closed for too long lest the profits dwindle.
“He sure has his money where his mouth is,” commented Sumara upon hearing about it and sighed wearily.
“At least, he paid for the repairs from his own money to get it done, and it’s good for us, miss,” said Lucky, looking at things the bright side. “We now are able to buy groceries without needing to pay extra to the guy that brings the food directly to our house.”
“So, you say,” she replied with a chuckle.
Once they completed getting their groceries and were on their way out of town, they saw the town mayor standing near the entrance. He appeared to be waiting for them because the moment he noticed them, he quickly came forward with a smile on his face.
“Lucky, my boy!” He said in a booming voice and caused everyone’s attention to turn to them.
“Yes, sir?” Lucky greeted him politely, feeling nervous that he was speaking to an important person.
The mayor pulled out a large bag that jingled from the sound of many coins stuffed into it and held it out for him.
“For your services in saving us from the murderous monster, I, as the mayor of this town, reward you with an amount of 10,000 coins.”
The moment he announced the amount, there was a collective intake of breath from everyone around him before a buzz began to spread everywhere.
“What?!”
“10,000 coins?!
“That’s a really large amount!”
“Yeah! One could live five to six years with that amount without doing anything!”
“Wow! That’s a lot of money!”
“Isn’t that a bit too much?”
“He did save us so it’s only natural to reward him with a large amount of money.”
“Yeah, but still… 10,000 is too much…!”
Lucky listened silently to the people muttering around him and heard their chattering despite them trying to keep their voices low. He knew his collective parent’s income per month was around 150 coins to 200 coins, and since there were nine months per year, the total amount they’d earn per year was nearly 1,500 to 1,800 coins. So, looking at it from the number perspective, an amount of 10,000 coins was like the amount his parents would have earned by working hard for five or six years.
The thought of such a large amount did amaze him, but the thought of making his parents feel relieved to not work so hard for him made him feel even happier. He glanced sideways at his teacher to see what her impression of the situation was, but she merely smiled at him. However, he could tell that she was pretending because her eyes were slightly narrower than when she normally put on a smile.
It was as if she did not like what was going on at that moment but decided to keep her silence for reasons he did not understand. He was suddenly riddled with doubt from her expression alone that told him that he was going to be making a mistake if he accepted that money. Sure enough, he began receiving advice from the Decisive Player on what was the right thing to do at that time.
“Don’t accept the money,” said the Decisive Player in a quiet voice.
“Huh?” Lucky thought, sounding surprised. “Why? This money is like the amount my parents would earn after working hard for five or six years, Decisive Player! I’d be putting less stress on them like this.”
“Maybe, but you’ll also become an enemy to everyone here.”
“Huh? I don’t understand. How can I be their enemy when they are treating me as a hero?”
“You don’t understand, Lucky, because you’re much too young to realise how dangerous these people are. They will treat you like a hero and will look up to you, but that will change eventually. Soon, they expect you to do heroic things for them, saving them, rescuing them, and working for them. Soon, you will be someone as a hero in name, but in reality, you would become their slave.”
His words shocked Lucky, who remained silent for a moment while digesting what he just heard before replying, “T-They will? Are you…? Are you sure, Decisive Player?”
“Didn’t you hear their mutterings earlier?” The Decisive Player asked, and Lucky did not say anything to it. “They thought it was a large amount of money, but you just accepted it since you were a hero because they believe you would do the same in the future. By accepting that reward money, you’re signing an indirect contract that you would protect this place with all you got.”
“Isn’t that bad? I mean, isn’t that that the job of the Phoenix Titan?” Lucky asked curiously.
There was a moment of pause before the Decisive Player said, “No, Lucky. You are wrong. The duty of the Phoenix Titan is towards the world, not to the people. Never misunderstand that part. Anyway, we can talk more about this later. For now, just decline his offer and just tell him it’s better he spent that money in getting the town repaired instead.”
Lucky was alarmed to hear that and looked hesitant at the large pouch before thinking, “But… What about my parents? Shouldn’t I do something to decrease their burden?”
“Yes, but not like this. I know you’re much too young to understand my advice right now, but it’s okay. You’re only seven and there’s a lot of growing up to do, so it’s okay. I’ll teach you everything you need to learn by the time you turn fifteen! For now, just decline the gold and leave in peace. That’s the best thing you can do to yourself and your family right now.”
His words hurt Lucky, but he somehow got the feeling that the Decisive Player was giving him a good advice. So, he proceeded to shake his head at the mayor and decline the reward.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t want the money.”
The mayor was surprised and so was everyone around him, who began whispering again in amazement.
“He’s declining?”
“What is wrong with him?”
“I would’ve gladly taken it!”
“It’s like a dream come true!”
“So arrogant.”
Lucky ignored the muttering and went on saying, “Sir, I appreciate your offer to reward me for my services, but I didn’t want any of this. I chose to save you all because it was the right thing to do, not for the money or for fame, but for everyone’s sake. So, please, instead of rewarding me with that money, I think it’s best if you use it towards the town’s repairs. That would be the best for all of us.”
When he said that, more muttering occurred that he just could not ignore even if he wanted to.
“Oh?”
“He’s declining because of that?”
“What a great guy; thinking about us over his welfare!”
“I understood him wrongly. Damn.”
“This kid’s good!”
As he smiled, the mayor coughed and asked, “Are you sure that’s what you wish for?”
“Positively,” replied Lucky and grinned at him. “It would please me to see the town go back to the way it was.”
The mayor continued to look at him serenely for a moment in silence before he nodded in understanding.
“Very well,” he finally said and smiled. “I’ll accept your suggestion and will use this money towards the repairs.”
“That’s great!” Lucky said, smiling cheerfully up at him. Then he turned to Sumara and asked, “Let’s go, miss?”
“Yes. Excuse us,” she replied and spoke to the mayor briefly before the two of them walked past him.
As they went, the people began applauding to Lucky’s decision of not accepting the money. He smiled weakly at them because moments before, he was on the verge of taking it. While he still felt a small twinge of regret for not accepting the money, he knew that there were things he was not yet fully aware of in this world and would learn about them soon from the Decisive Player.
“That was a good decision, Lucky,” said Sumara quietly to him and beamed at him.
He grinned at her and said, “Thank you,” and they walked together back to his home with smiles on their faces.