A Veteran of the Hero Academy

Luna’s eyes were eagerly anticipating my answer.

It would be difficult for a man to decline an invitation to dinner with such a beauty, but I am not deceived.

“That’s why I decided to eat with a friend…”

Said a plausible excuse.

It was okay for an excuse to think in a hurry.

Also, I am good at improvisation.

Luna’s eyes grew cold when she heard my answer.

“friend?”

Luna said as if spitting out one letter at a time.

what why

I have friends too.

The problem is that he only has one friend.

“Yes. With that friend named Kayle…”

Even though I felt anxious, the desire to have dinner comfortably prevailed.

Even at lunchtime, I ate only a piece of grass due to discomfort, but let’s eat a little more comfortably for dinner.

“Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? So when the friend is gone, can we have dinner together? I will. I will.”

After hearing my answer, Luna looked at the ground and began to mutter.

But even at first glance, it was brutal.

Suddenly, I felt a chill and my body shivered.

If I let it go, I thought I’d see kale that turned into a bean cake at any moment.

It wasn’t bad either, but then I would have no friends.

The difference between 1 and 0 is larger than expected.

“But! It’s better to have dinner with the beautiful Luna-san than friends! Haha”

I said as if swallowing dirt.

Of course, I had never swallowed dirt, but I was sure it would be similar.

The chill that I felt all over my body disappeared in an instant like a lie.

“Ah! Ehh! I like having dinner with Aiden too! I know Aiden’s favorite restaurant! Let’s go there!”

After hearing my answer, Luna smiled brightly as if she had ever done that.

I’m Aiden, how do you know my favorite restaurant?

Even I was on a tight budget, so I never went out to eat at the Hero Academy.

But it’s my favorite restaurant.

Is it the same person?

Well, my name was a common name.

I thought it was Luna’s own humor.

Luna’s eyes were shining brightly as if waiting for my answer.

“Haha yes.. let’s go”

I forced out the words that didn’t come out.

“Yeah! I’m glad!”

Luna smiled brightly at my answer and held out her little hand.

Are you going to catch it?

It was the first woman’s hand to hold other than a woman’s hand he had held while fighting.

Luna’s hand was soft and warm.

A woman’s hand is so soft

While feeling the soft touch, the surrounding landscape changed in an instant.

Before long, we arrived at the bustling market.

“Wow?!”

It must have been a dormitory until recently?!

A stupid sound came out of my bewildered mouth.

Looking at me like that, Luna covered her mouth and smiled.

It was pretty cute to see Luna smiling like that.

I was startled and pinched my thigh hard.

Don’t get me hooked. That’s a crazy woman.

Luna smiled and took my hand and led me.

The market in the capital city, the first time I visited, was lively.

There were people who looked like warriors, and the races they saw for the first time wandered around.

Wow, that’s a dwarf.

a real dwarf

The dwarves swarmed around with an ax larger than themselves in one hand.

“Soo-wool~ So-wool- Today, we’re sad too!”

In the other hand, he was singing a strange song while holding a glass of beer the size of his body.

As he passed by, the dwarf seemed to smell like dirt at first glance.

I followed Luna’s lead, watching intently.

Luna moved quickly, as if she was not interested in her surroundings.

After walking for a while, Luna stopped in front of a shabby restaurant.

At the restaurant, a small sign read ‘Soy Sauce Ramen’.

What is Ramen?

It was an unfamiliar food name.

Luna opened the door and entered the restaurant.

People in shabby armor were sitting inside the store that followed.

At first glance, it looked like the low-ranking warriors who were taken with them for errands and miscellaneous mobs in the hero group.

Seeing that twisted look, I vowed not to become like that.

Of course, those lesser warriors will be stronger than I am now.

The eyes of the people in the store gathered on Luna who opened the door and entered.

After all, Luna’s appearance was one that could not help but attract attention wherever she went.

Luna took my hand and went to the empty seat without paying any attention to the gazes around her.

As Luna stopped in front of an empty seat and flicked her hand, the chair and desk were noticeably cleaner.

Wow – that’s really comfortable.

I followed Luna and sat down.

The waitress who came to take the order was a young boy with a twist, and he glanced at Luna’s face.

“Two Soy Sauce Ramen”

Luna said dryly without taking her eyes off me.

“Yep!!”

The employee who secretly saw Luna’s face one more time went back.

“You know. What grade is Aiden now?”

Luna asked with twinkling eyes.

It was a sensitive question for me who had been paid, but there was no hesitation in Luna’s voice.

“I’m in third grade now.”

A blunt answer came out of my mouth.

“Huh… That’s right. Aiden is now in the 3rd year.”

Luna chewed my answer to herself.

Since then, Luna has asked me about me.

Hearing my answer, Luna smiled and rejoiced.

Luna nodded her head vigorously and sometimes tilted her head.

Luna looked like that of a normal person, so I laughed along without knowing it.

Unlike the previous Luna, it seemed that it was okay for me not to swear.

Of course, he mumbled words that were difficult to understand in the middle, but it was good compared to the intense first meeting.

When Luna called me, she called me ‘now’, but it seemed like a habit.

As we talked, it was funny that Luna became a little more comfortable.

“Here are two soy sauce ramen!”

The waitress who brought the food placed it in front of us.

The employee glanced at Luna’s face one more time before leaving.

If you just look at it openly, Luna wouldn’t care, but she didn’t bother to tell the employee.

“Has the current Aiden ever eaten soy sauce ramen?”

Luna asked, tilting her head.

“No. Try it for the first time.”

The broth was a bit black, so it didn’t make me very appetizing. It was a little disappointing to see it, but it still smelled good.

“Look at this! Look at this! Like this! Eat!”

I don’t know why, but Luna, who was very excited about my answer, showed me her chopsticks and explained.

Luna was a little clumsy with chopsticks, so the soup was a bit fried, but she was quite stingy.

I followed Luna and moved my chopsticks to eat ramen.

salty taste.

It was very tasty.

As soon as I took one bite, I was fascinated by the taste and ate it without thinking.

Do all the people with the name Aiden have similar tastes?

It was even more delicious because I ate only a piece of grass for lunch earlier.

When I emptied the soup and looked up, I saw Luna smiling brightly at me.

“The current Aiden also likes it.”

There were tears in Luna’s eyes.

It was an emotional line that I could never understand.

Is it so moving that I enjoy this ramen deliciously?

Is she the daughter of the owner of a ramen restaurant?

With that thought in mind, I glanced inside the restaurant, but couldn’t answer my question because the boss was nowhere to be seen.

Luna’s soy sauce ramen didn’t decrease at all except for the first one I ate earlier.

“Did you eat it all?”

Luna nodded her head violently at my question.

“Would you like to eat this too?”

Luna pushed her bowl toward me.

I did not refuse because I was hungry.

In the end, I ate all of Luna’s ramen.

It’s been a long time since I ate something delicious.

He patted his thick stomach and enjoyed the satisfaction.

“It’s too bad a woman to go out with such an ugly guy.”

I heard a mumble from the table next to me.

This is such a clichéd development…?

Even though I wasn’t handsome, I wasn’t ugly at all.

Not being ugly is my last pride.

Frustrated, I frowned and turned my head.

At the next table sat three men in arms.

The man who spoke had blonde hair and a pretty half-faced face.

There were scars everywhere and he looked quite old.

okay. If it looks like that, it’s acceptable.

At the acceptable defeat, I relaxed and turned my head.

Seeing that he was armed, he was a low-level warrior, but he was not yet at the level I was able to face.

I’m tolerant of guys stronger than me.

“The bastard doesn’t even have a belly button.

“Haha, do it like that. They still look like kids.”

“Hey, leave that bastard and come back to work!”

When I curled my tail, the men openly scoffed at me.

But the sarcastic lines were too banal.

Uncreative sarcasm couldn’t hurt me, surviving as a paid student at the academy.

When I looked at Luna, she was looking at those who had spoken harshly to me.

Then, as if she felt my gaze, Luna looked at me again.

My eyes met with Luna who turned her head toward me, but Luna’s eyes were not in focus.

what the f*ck

Startled, I quickly shook my head.

Then Luna looked at me with a bright smile as before.

Did I see it wrong?

Luna smiled brightly again and tilted her head.

“Then let’s go.”

He said lightly and stood up.

“yes!”

At my words, Luna held out her small hand again.

I hesitated a little and took Luna’s hand.

Then the landscape around him changed again.

When I opened my eyes, I was in front of my door again.

This is really convenient.

My thoughts on Luna have changed a bit.

Unlike before, Luna smiled and released my hand.

Surprisingly, it is sent smoothly.

“Then thank you for today.”

The words came out softly with a thick feeling of satiety.

“Yeah! I had fun too!”

Luna smiled and waved her hand until the door closed.

The first meeting was a little bit like that, maybe not completely crazy..?

The dinner we just had together was a bit odd, but tolerable.

When the tension was relieved, the fatigue returned again.

I moved my heavy body and laid down on the bed.

It was quite a fun time.

I remembered Luna smiling brightly.

Then the chest area tickled slightly, and when I scratched it, it was fine.

There were a lot of problems, but the day that seemed like it would never end came to an end.

Tomorrow, I wish I could return to my normal air again.

But did we pay for the ramen?

***

“Huh?! Where have these guests gone?!”

A noisy, small employee shouted next to him.

When I looked to the side, the couple we had teased about had disappeared.

“Even if men are like that, women don’t look like people who will just eat and run away!!”

The waitress cleared the table with courage.

“Huh? When did they go?”

Plato looked back at my words.

“What the hell did you run away? It was a pity to see a girl’s face.”

said Pla murmuring.

“Hey! I didn’t leave quickly because you picked me up for nothing!”

Brooks said as he tapped Pla.

“Ah, I didn’t even ask your name…”

I have never seen such a pretty woman in my life.

“If you ask me, I’ll tell you well. He couldn’t take his eyes off that ugly man.”

As usual, Pla was bewildered by my words.

“Honestly, I’m more handsome.”

I have lived my life with confidence in my own face.

The reaction of the women around me was also good.

“Kick-kick, yes, better than her. You.”

“I thought I’d ask that bastard about the secret to meeting such a woman with that face.”

We started talking nonsense again.

We didn’t know that the employee was whining next to us.

I was able to rest for a while because I had been working on a big job for a long time.

At first, we too wanted to become more than a high-ranking warrior admired by people, but we ended up being a low-level hero.

In the end, it was talent.

We didn’t have the talent to escape from the lower ranks.

Still, at first he struggled to climb up, but to no avail.

The passion that remained was also lost as we watched the children who were far younger than us climb up.

We now earn a day and drink every day.

The only thing I learned was a knife, so there was nothing else I could do.

A lower-class life where only the name was a hero, that was a lower-class hero.

We drank hotly and left the store shoulder-to-shoulder.

“Keah- But we are still us, aren’t we?”

Fla screamed drunkenly.

Ironically, we were comforted by those words.

“Yeah! We survived like this!”

“It’s great to be alive!”

I guess I’m drunk, but I’m not sure why the boys are saying such unfamiliar things to each other.

As I was passing by, I saw a woman I had seen before.

“Huh? Wasn’t she the one she was before?”

My friends seemed to have seen her too.

“Oh- did I see you waiting?”

“Heh heh, we’re better than that ugly kid earlier”

“Look! I’m going!”

Brooks, who doesn’t normally have charcoal, walked up to the woman, probably because he was drunk.

Brooks had a habit of bumping into women when he drank.

Of course, no woman had accepted Brooks, who had that ugly face and the smell of alcohol.

Brooks, who spoke boldly to the woman, came back to us again.

“Puhahahaha! Because I knew that!”

“Is this the tenth time I’ve been cheated on by a girl? Congratulations, you hit double digits!”

We looked at stupid Brooks, held each other’s stomach and laughed.

Even Brooks’ gait as he walked towards us was funny, perhaps because he was drunk.

“Hey Brooks, don’t be too embarrassed! Ha ha ha”

Brooks, who arrived in front of us, raised his head.

“Do… ruin it”

But the place where Brooks’ eyes were supposed to be was empty.

“What.. what the f*ck!”

Brooks’ head exploded and shards splattered at us.

We woke up in an instant as if we were covered in cold water because of the hot blood that was poured out on us.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in love.”

A high-pitched voice came from behind Brooks.

The woman was standing behind Brooks earlier.

Her eyes were unfocused and her gaze was not directed at us.

Gam, who had been a low-level hero for decades, was screaming at me to run away.

“You crazy bitch Brooks!!!”

Plaga was indignant as he drew his sword from the side.

no. Ironically, Fla could not draw a sword.

The hand that was about to draw Pla’s sword separated from his body and fell, spewing blood.

“Ahhhh!!”

Plaa screamed in pain.

“It’s a first date. It’s a first date. It’s a first date.”

The woman was constantly muttering and chewing her nails, and so deeply that blood was dripping from her nails.

The overwhelming fear I experienced for the first time in my life turned me around and fled desperately.

Pla’s screams continued to be heard in his ears.

I covered my ears and kept running.

‘Still, we still have us!’

The sound of Pla’s words echoed in my ears.

Nausea came up, but I persevered and ran.

I couldn’t help it.

Even if I am there, there will be only two to three corpses.

If you were me you’d be like this

I’m sorry for the two of you, but the one to live must live.

As I was running, I lost strength in my leg and fell.

It seemed to move a little farther away.

Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of being alive.

To catch my breath like that-

I heard something small.

“…it’s our first date…it’s our first date”

I lifted my inaudible head in fear and saw a mad woman looking at the sky right in front of me.

The woman was constantly muttering.

“Sa… please help me…”

The sky was spinning round and round.

The last thing I saw was my body, which had lost my head, torn apart.

“It’s our first date… Ah… Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I love you. It’s our first date…”

The woman who was muttering disappeared.