Chapter 370: Chapter 370
The cat’s food bowl flew through the air.
It was because of Adel and Whale’s rampage as they charged in, demanding a duel.
Luna caught the airborne bowl and shouted.
“Hey! You two, cut it out already!”
“What’s with this mean-eyed lady?”
“…Fine. Then let this lady kill you once and for all!”
With Luna joining in, the house descended even further into chaos.
Maybe the cat had experienced its bowl flying before, but never being used as a weapon.
At that moment, Granny opened her mouth.
“Adel, Whale. That’s enough.”
“Sorry, but we can’t stop. This is the second duel that will make us famous as future heroes!”
“That’s exactly why I’m stopping you. A duel between future heroes taking place in such a shabby home… isn’t that an embarrassing setting to be talked about by others?”
“And you might even be criticized for smashing up the house of an old woman who lives alone. Of course, if you want to, this rundown place can be broken down all you want—cough, cough…”
“Granny! Are you okay? Tch… there’s no helping it. I’ll let it slide this time. But wait for it—we’ll send a formal duel request at a proper venue!”
Adel and Whale obediently lowered their wooden swords, caught in Granny Peggy’s act.
But it seemed her schemes weren’t done yet.
“The house is dusty… cough! If the dust gets in my lungs, my chronic illness could…”
“No! Just wait a second, we’ll clean it all up right away! Guys!”
At Adel’s cry, Whale and Acela quickly got to work.
They opened windows, put fallen decorations back in place, swept, wiped…
“Indeed, experience cannot be ignored.”
As we admired Granny Peggy’s continuing performance,
“Don’t just stand there watching—help out! What if Granny dies or something?”
“Ugh… this is all your fault.”
Luna muttered as she placed the cat’s food bowl back where it belonged.
Perhaps because the bowl had gotten a bit dented, the cat howled toward the sky.
“Keke, let’s help out for now. Earning goodwill is basic when it comes to obtaining quality information.”
“That’s a very calculated statement. Not that I’m opposed to helping.”
“Helping the elderly is also the duty of a good ruler… no, as a servant of the Goddess, I must step forward willingly.”
The cleaning began unexpectedly.
The house wasn’t large, so with everyone helping, it was quickly done.
Granny Peggy, having completed a full cleanup with her superb acting(?), smiled faintly and spoke again.
“So many guests. Children, could you go bring out some tea?”
“Hmph! Why should we?”
“A hero who doesn’t help an old woman… that’ll be the only stain in your chronicle. What a shame that would be.”
“W-Who said we wouldn’t? I was just asking why, that’s all! Just wait! I’ll bring out the perfect tea! Trash Sprout Defense Squad, move out!”
Adel, Whale, and Acela suddenly rolled forward as they headed to the kitchen.
Acela had a minor accident bumping into the wall, but it didn’t look serious.
Granny Peggy watched them fondly, then turned her gaze toward us.
“So, what brings you to this old woman’s house?”
“As you probably know, we’re looking for someone who made a contract with a Demon. Has anything strange happened in the village lately?”
“Strange things… a lot of kids have come to visit. Like you lot.”
“I did hear some people went missing. Other than that, I’m not sure. I haven’t been well and rarely go outside.”
The kids looked down quietly. They instinctively knew they wouldn’t get much more information here.
“It’s ready! 80 degrees! The perfect temperature where tea tastes best!”
“You’ve completed your mission so perfectly! Truly impressive. I guess that’s what it means to be a future hero!”
“Ahem! Of course. Heroes are good at everything.”
The children walked around, placing a teacup in each of our hands.
“Is it okay to leave Dolores alone?”
“There are instructors watching her. And resting is important. You have to eat and sleep well to protect others!”
Perhaps considering it a reward for their mission, the kids carried the entire snack box away from Granny’s stash.
If Luna hadn’t quickly grabbed a handful, we would’ve had nothing but bitter tea to sip.
Just as we’d taken a few sips, Alex spoke.
“Has anything new come to mind?”
“No. I’d like to help, but… what could an old woman who hardly ever leaves her house possibly know? At best, the same things everyone else does.”
“There’s a rumor that a story has been passed down among the village elders only… is it true?”
“Where did you hear that? Well, it’s true. Though it’s not a story related to this matter.”
“Would you be willing to share it with us?”
Granny Peggy looked at each of us one by one.
After silently watching us for a while, she set down her teacup.
“All right. I suppose it’s time to tell it.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to force yourself.”
“Hm… once you hear it, you’ll be surprised. It’s a very ordinary story, hardly something you’d call a secret.”
Yuridia and Victoria’s shoulders slumped.
The hope that they might get useful information had completely vanished.
“This is the story of Trash Village’s hero… the truth behind it.”
Was it an interesting story? The Trash Sprout Defense Squad perked up their ears.
And Yuridia and Victoria were no different.
“There was really a hero from this village? That story is true?”
“It is. But, there’s something a little different. You could say it clearly reveals a uniquely human desire.”
“A uniquely human desire… that makes the story more believable. Human desire is always an ugly thing.”
“You young ladies are clever. I only came to understand that truth recently.”
With Granny Peggy’s cheeky smile, the story began.
The protagonist of the tale, surprisingly—
“There once lived a woodcutter in a village.”
“Yes. According to the letters passed down from long ago, he was just one of those common woodcutters you’d find anywhere.”
If there was anything special about him—
“He carried a glowing club.”
“Yes, not a flashy flame like a torch, but a wooden club that glowed softly.”
He had found the glowing club by chance in the mountains.
Thanks to that, the woodcutter could cut trees late into the night, unlike others.
“One day, knights and soldiers from the domain came to him.”
Today, Trash Village has dozens of mines, but in the past, there was only a single small iron mine.
No one back then could have imagined the entire mountain would one day be full of iron.
Anyway, that lone mine had run dry.
To find new deposits, the lord of Trash ordered a full investigation.
“The reason they sought out the woodcutter was simple. The inside of the mine was full of unknown trees that blocked the way.”
It was a matter that affected the domain’s fate, so the lord even declared he would personally take part.
The woodcutter had no choice.
He was forced to join the expedition and spent several days in the mine cutting down trees.
“It was exhausting, but not impossible since it was the work he always did. And the glowing club lit the way through the darkness. They said the light brought great comfort to everyone.” The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NovєlFіre.net
He chopped trees, built supports, dug tunnels.
Little by little, they progressed. But accidents always happen in a flash.
“They were attacked by a monster. It was completely unexpected, and everyone was too exhausted to fight back properly.”
The soldiers, knights, and lord fell one after another, and just as everyone had given up and awaited death—
“Someone landed a blow, and the monster fell. Who do you think it was?”
“The woodcutter, right?”
“That’s right. The woodcutter’s clumsy strike actually worked. The writer of the letter described it this way: luck. Incredible luck.”
Of course, it wasn’t just luck.
The damage inflicted earlier by the knights and soldiers was significant, and the monster had let its guard down.
No, in truth, the knights and soldiers had done most of the work.
“But the fact remains that the woodcutter saved everyone.”
“It can’t be dismissed as mere luck. That action would’ve been impossible without courage in the first place.”
“I think so too. The person who wrote this letter mentioned shaking so badly they couldn’t do anything.”
“Wait, then Trash’s Hero wasn’t a knight, but a woodcutter?”
Adel jumped to his feet in disbelief.
The hero was a woodcutter? From the perspective of someone who believed a hero had truly existed in Trash, it was naturally baffling.
“The Demon! What about the Demon?”
“There was no such thing. What was there was a medium-sized monster, about three meters tall.”
“Then the story about a deal with a Demon…?”
A hero who offered, ‘If you’ll spare them, I’ll be forgotten by everyone,’ to save the villagers taken hostage by a Demon—
“It’s all lies. If that had really happened, the fact that we even know about it now wouldn’t make any sense, would it?”
“This is where your version of the story starts to differ a bit. I’ll tell you why.”
After the mine expedition ended in failure, the lord struggled to find a way forward.
Today there are many options, but back then, there were only a few ways to survive.
Selling raw materials, farming, trade, territorial wars, and one more thing.
“Back then, slaying a monster was incredibly difficult. So they tried to make the village known by claiming a monster had been defeated.”
“Exactly. But how would it look if just a woodcutter had slain it? That wouldn’t bring fame. So the lord at the time made a request—a sort of request—to the woodcutter.”
Let’s say it was the domain’s knight who killed the monster, not you. In return, we’ll give you a reward.
“The woodcutter accepted. After all, he himself felt it was pure luck that he’d brought the monster down, and he wanted to save the village too.”
With the woodcutter’s permission, the lord immediately summoned a renowned storyteller to craft the tale.
They changed the woodcutter into a knight.
Changed the monster into a Demon.
Changed courage into sacrifice.
“And so, the story of the woodcutter spread across the world.”
Under the name of ‘Trash’s Hero’—the one who sacrificed himself for the world.
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