Chapter 2 - And so, 10 years have passed.

Chapter 2 – And so, 10 years have passed.
Recap of last chapter: Nothing but fighting devils.
I wonder how long I’ve been fighting. It was way too frantic so I don’t really know.
I feel like it might be a few weeks, or even a few months.
It might even be over a year.
 
I picked up the Devil King’s magic sword.
 
「My clothes are all torn up…… and I don’t have any money either. I’ll just sell this」
 
It was a fierce battle. My clothes have long since gotten torn.
They had magic and physical resistance, and was really expensive, so it’s really a shame.
 
Right now, I’m basically naked with my clothes all torn up.
I also lost my adventurer’s card. My magic bag which I put my money in is also burned up.
I am currently penniless.
 
Though if I have my adventurer’s card reissued, I can withdraw the money I deposited with the guild.
Nothing to be worried about.
 
I left the gap between dimensions triumphantly.
 
◇◇◇
「……This is?」
 
When I exited the space, I was greeted by a broad prairie.
It is currently night time.
 
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact place I come out from when I exited the space.
I can only select the general area.
It should be quite close to the capital.
 
「Well, I’ll probably reach town if I walk around」
 
I wandered around basically naked with just a magic sword on my shoulder.
While defeating monsters on my way, I walked for a while.
 
With a stroke of fortune, I arrived at the town as dawn broke.
 
「This is…… the capital, right?」
 
It feels a little different than the capital I know, but it seems that there’s no doubt this is the capital.
I headed towards the gate.
Two guards called me to halt.
 
「Wa, wait a minute」
「What’s wrong?」
「I should be the one asking. What happened to you?」
 
The guards stared at my figure. I was so close to fully naked, so they were probably curious about why I was in such a state.
 
「I was in a fierce battle……」
「I see. A robbery, huh……. The number of bandits have been decreasing recently, but of course they’re not completely gone」
「No, I wasn’t robbed…… I just lost them in a really fierce fight」
 
As I said that directly to them, the guards placed their hands on my shoulder.
They then showed a comforting expression.
 
「Yes, yes. We understand」
「You’re an adventurer, after all. Don’t be too frustrated」
 
I denied that it was a robbery, but it seems that they think I was putting on airs because I’m an adventurer.
Adventurers are the ones protecting ordinary people from bandits.
 
If someone were to know that an adventurer was mugged, he wouldn’t be able to continue being one.
That is why the guards aren’t believing me.
 
「What’s wrong?」
Several guards came gathering.
The guard who I had been dealing with explained it to his comrades.
 
「Umu. You’re lucky that you got to keep your life」
「No matters how good you are, there were too many of them, huh. That happens」
「Do you have acquaintances in the capital?」
「Ah, yes. I do.」
 
The Hero Eric and warrior Gran should be living in the capital.
 
「That’s good. Do you have your ID?」
「I’ve lost them」
「Yes, yes, I see. They took your wallet as well, didn’t they?」
 
The guard is sympathising with me.
 
「I’ll issue you a temporary ID so tell me your name」
「My name’s Rakku」
「Rakku. Good name」
「Thank you very much」
 
My temporary ID was created right away.
I politely rejected the guard’s offer in lending me money.
 
「However, you can’t just go in like this」
「It’s quite possible that you’d be arrested if you walk around naked」
 
After discussing for a while, one of them fetched some cloth from the back.
It seems like secondhand clothes.
 
「These are just rags…… but it’s better than being naked」
「Sorry for only having these」
「No problem, thank you very much」
「It was going to be thrown away, so you don’t need to return it」
 
Thanking the kind guards, I entered the capital.
It feels a little out of place. I feel like the town’s changed too much.
My intuition’s probably all messed up after fighting for too long.
 
I decided to go meet Eric and Gran before going to the adventurer’s guild.
To me, greeting friends is priority.
 
I tried asking some passers-by.
 
「Eric-sama? Ah, he’s――」
「The warrior Gran-sama? He’s――」
 
They’re famous as expected. I knew where they lived right away after asking.
It appears that Gran’s house is nearer. I decided to head towards Gran’s house.
 
What I saw when I arrived at the Gran Residence was a staggeringly grand mansion.
 
「H, huge」
「May I help you?」
 
Surprised by the gigantic size of his house, the Gran residence’s guard called out to me.
 
「I want to meet Gran. Is he in the house right now?」
「Huh……. Do you have a reservation?」
「Not really……」
「In that case, you cannot meet him」
「Just tell Gran that Rakku’s here. He’ll know」
 
Even though I said that, the guard did not care.
 
「I’m sorry but I cannot do that」
「No seriously. If you tell him that Rakku’s here, he’ll definitely understand」
「I’ve heard that quite a lot……」
「It’s true, though」
「No can do」
 
Probably it’s because I’m dressed in rags that he doesn’t allow me to go in.
 
「I’ll come back right away!」
「Please do not come anymore!」
 
I decided to make a fresh start.
Right now I’m just a man in rags carrying a large suspicious sword.
There’s no way the guard would just let me in. It’s good to be dedicated to your work.
 
「I’ll buy some clothes, wait, I should get my adventurer card reissued before that」
 
On my way to the adventurer’s guild, I passed through the capital’s centre plaza.
Right in the middle of the plaza is a splendid statue.
It should be 10 times taller than the average human. It’s really huge.
The carving is really realistic. It’s probably a statue of a mage. He has a robe and a large staff equipped.
 
「At any rate, he’s quite the handsome guy, isn’t he……」
 
He’s an extremely gallant and handsome man. I wonder whose statue this is.
I decided to try asking some people near me.
 
「Excuse me. Who is this statue depicting?」
「Eh? You don’t know?」
「No, I don’t. Sorry for asking」
 
That person looked at me as if looking at a suspicious man.
He then looked for a while and seemed to have understood something.
 
「Ah, I see」
 
Looking at my ragged clothes, he must have thought that I’m some country bumpkin.
His face lit up in smiles all of a sudden. It might be some policy like ‘Be kind to strangers’.
 
「This is the statue of Rakku-sama, the hero」
「Rakku-sama?」
 
I was surprised hearing my name coming out from his mouth. Wait, it’s not like Rakku’s an uncommon name.
It must be a coincidence for our names to be the same.
 
「Yes, 10 years ago, within the gap between dimensions, he sacrificed his own body holding back a large army of devils」
「What did you just say!!」
「Thanks to Rakku-sama, our world is safe, so we have him to thank」
 
It was about me. However, it doesn’t look like me at all.
He’s too cool. I’m not this handsome.
 
「He, He’s not this cool……」
「Ah, you. That’s rude. If you say such things, you’ll be killed by Rakku’s fans!」
 
It seems that my fans are very ferocious. I’m scared.
While looking up at the my handsome statue, which is far from what I actually look like, I stood still dumbfoundedly.
To think that they erected a statue of me.
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