15 - Memory Of Heroes (1)

"Eri, wake up." Eriu felt a light tap on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Ariadne and Eros laughing at him. Sensing that something was wrong, Eriu touched his face and found that drool had fallen from the side of his mouth with his disheveled hair.

"Pftt..."

"Haha, Ekhem." Ariadne tried to hold back her laughter and reminded them that it was almost night, "Here's your dinner, finish it, okay?" Eros nodded and took the two boxes that Ariadne had given to Eros and Eriu. Eros put the two boxes next to him and reached into his pocket.

Eriu felt that his hair was messy and tidied it up as much as he could, but he was soon stopped by Eros wanting to help him comb his brown hair with his hands. Eros also gave Eriu a handkerchief to wipe up the saliva that was still on the side of his mouth.

"Thanks..." 

"Hehe, you're welcome!"

4 days had passed and they were now on their way to Transwarp, a recently invented teleportation device that was very popular among the nobility and middle class.

Yesterday, Louise had told him their current destination, which was to go to Loss Paradise, like the game's origin story. The beginning of everyone meeting and the beginning of everyone falling in love until they couldn't forget the protagonist.

I don't know why it changed.

He had tried to persuade Ariadne and Louise to go to Peacon Kingdom instead of Loss Paradise, but they immediately rejected the idea. 

Well, maybe the original story cannot be changed. This was already very much a sign of his death...

"Eri, open your mouth." Eros pointed the spoon at Eriu's mouth and Eriu happily ate the food on the spoon.

After they managed to get away from Te Amo Village, the four of them walked along the path Grace had shown them, eventually meeting a kind old merchant willing to take them and his entourage in exchange for the payment they had to make to protect the old merchant. 

It's not like Grace said that there are people who like to explore... Perhaps it's because Grace is old enough to think so?

I have no idea.

At that moment, Ariadne unceremoniously took her favorite great sword out of the bag, which looked as if it could hardly hold a sword of that size. They still couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Ariadne lift the sword as if it were a feather duster. Because of this, no one dared to approach her, let alone talk to Eros or try to approach Louise, who they thought was the most useless person there.

Everything went smoothly and they managed to arrive just in time for the train to leave.

Even though it took only one full day to get to the train, it took another day for the train to get to Transwarp.

Because they were on the train for 3 full days unless the train found a nearby village where passengers and drivers could buy food to eat on the train. Because of that, Eriu felt his butt hurt for 3 full days when he just sat down and decided to sleep to relieve the pain in his butt. 

After all, there was magic in this world, and with that magic, people could heat their food. Especially if someone has a magic stone, even though it is quite common to find magic stones, but for the time being, magic stones are very useful.

Magic stones are also the evolution of ordinary stones that are exposed to one of the mana and mixed with that mana causing the stone to have magic in it, but unfortunately the stone is very useless because even though the stone is called a magic stone, the stone cannot flow mana for magic users, and most magic stones are stones with fire elements and plant elements.

Therefore, the magic stone is the most useless stone compared to the mana stone, which actually comes from the coagulated mana, making it a beautiful colored stone rich in mana.

Whispers.

"It is said that the power of Deus appears from the north!"

"Really?"

"I've heard from merchants passing through the north that they can't use magic, and even the priest there can't use his divine mana!" The man who originally spoke immediately gathered his thoughts, "Surely one of the Deus has already chosen his incarnation!"

"Isn't that Deus brave enough?"

Perhaps because it was night, the train was filled with the sounds of passengers eating and gossiping, so Eriu could hear things that happened in the year before the game's original story began.

Like I want to enter the tower where the strongest wizard is, or I don't want to enter the Shadow's territory, which is full of wild people who like to eat human flesh.

And of course, the main story that is often heard now is the appearance of the power of Deus, which can be said to have happened in the village of Te Amo. But the problem was that they didn't find anything there except a bunch of rocks and a ravine. That's why they couldn't guess who was chosen, even the 12 churches tried to find out who the child was.

Who knows what would happen if they found out that the child in question was eating happily next to him, and it was likely that Eros would be taken by them by force.

"Eat a lot!" Eros happily gave all the meat in his food box to Eriu, even Ariadne laughed. Ariadne even thought that Eros could be a better mother than she was now. Louise, who had returned from the nearby village, immediately walked over to his place and handed him a large bag of water. 

"Did something happen outside?" Ariadne asked as her hand took the water bag from Louise, "Nothing, just some people asking for directions to the village to the north."

"Ah."

Eriu pretended not to be affected by their conversation and continued to eat with Eros. In the small backpack Eros was carrying, Eros took out a bottle of milk and gave it to Eriu.

"Uhh, I'm full..." Eriu patted his stomach happily, perhaps because it was late at night, no one noticed that there was a child who was so beautiful that he could be called the most beautiful child in the world. 

The hood that had covered Eros' face was off, and Eros didn't seem to mind. When daylight comes, Eros will definitely put the veil back on, and Eriu, his best friend, will also imitate him so that everyone will think their parents are overprotective.

It was better to be inconspicuous now.

***

A few hours had passed when Eriu still opened his eyes and looked at the window, which showed a dark sky full of sparkles. Looking at the darkness outside, Eriu guessed that it was still 2 in the morning.

In front of him, there was a thin white wall that prevented people from looking in, especially if they had evil intentions by trying to break through this thin wall, because if a stranger touched it, a loud noise would wake everyone in this train.

This magical tool is truly unique. Just looking at the strange magical tools that his family had added to his belief that what Ariadne and Louise said about them being doomed if they were caught was true.

So this could be the reason why the parents of 'Eriu Grith' were never seen in the game, even after the death of their child.

They were probably captured or already gone.

001 never revealed the whereabouts of 'Eriu Grith's' parents after his death, but it was once said that his father was in a mysterious organization. It was very likely that they were captured by that mysterious organization.

Eros, who had been silent, immediately raised his voice to startle Eriu, who was thinking about many things, including why he was sent to this game, "What's on your mind?"

"!!!"

"You often don't sleep and sneak out, that's not good, you know." Hearing this, Eriu immediately turned his head and furrowed his brow, "Uh, how do you know that?"

"Because you are very loud every night."

"..."

"I'm afraid you might get hurt and not come back, so sometimes I follow you, but you don't even notice."

"...."

Haa...

Hearing Eros' sarcastic sentence, Eriu sighed and looked at Eros out of the corner of his eye. Lazily, Eriu leaned back on the passenger seat. 

The train was still moving at a speed that could be described as slow, but also fast. Every time the train moved, the surrounding trees became blurred, as if they were projecting time.

"...Eros," Eriu played with his hands and went straight to the main point, "please don't tell mom and dad about this."

"Did your mother ever scold you during those times?" With his sharp tongue, Eros answered Eriu, who immediately made a sour face. ".... Hehe." Eros, who still looked normal despite those scathing sentences.

"You haven't told me about the cave yet." Seeing how Eriu was staring at him waiting for his answer, Eros immediately warned him "Don't blame me if you regret hearing it." Eriu nodded and gave his answer.

"Well then."

Eros closed his eyes and told the story of someone's life with a soft voice that sometimes could make people feel the feelings of the story just by hearing it.

"Once upon a time, there was a young girl who was called the Mad Judge. She punished people very cruelly and indiscriminately, saying that the law exists to bring order to living beings and to punish the guilty."

"The sinner commits adultery, the sinner's genitals will be cut off."

"If a sinner lies and cheats, his mouth will be sewn shut."

"Even the powerful are not exempt from these articles. One of the victims is the Crown Prince."

"The day she convicted the Crown Prince of many sins was the day she was called a mad judge and a hero of the weak."

"Not even kings and queens can stop her from saying that the law should be fair, whether they are in power or not."

"The God of Hope, Ramiel, seeing the justice and ambition she brought, made the God choose her as his incarnation. The second generation incarnation, along with the other 13 incarnations, stood above all creatures in the world."

"The 7 virtues and 7 evils were chosen. To create a terrible war between the two, dividing the two sides. Destroying one by one."

"The war was called the Catastrophe."

"The war, which lasted 52 years, ended without anyone winning, leaving only those who managed to survive. The girl who survived that terrible war soon traveled with the followers of the God of Hope."

"To gather them in one place and create a small village that would be called 'home' where they could return to a peaceful life."

"The wounds of that cruel war are still upon her, resulting in only a few years of life. But the girl smiles as always, enduring the pain of the curse she has received."

"The girl went about her usual routine, waking up early, gathering with the other villagers, playing with the children, and praying to her god, Ramiel."

"The girl knew that one day she would die, so before death took her, the girl prayed at the largest and most majestic tree in the village. The tree she planted with the seeds she received after the first time she was considered a hero."

"The tree grew so big that it could shade everyone from the sun and give them coolness every time they sat under the tree, so she named the tree Banyan Tree."

"Death came while she was praying to her God, the tired girl soon fell into a deep sleep under the protection of the big tree, saying that she would love her God forever, even in death."

"You are the one who gave me the meaning of life, so I will give you the meaning of life by planting a tree seed that represents my new life. Thank you for being with me all this time, my God and my beloved."

"Perhaps because of this sad story of the young girl they called Hero, her friends and closest living companions named the village Te Amo, which means I love you."

The train soon entered the tunnel and the whole train became very dark, except for Eros' eyes, which glowed faintly. Hearing this story, Eriu came up with another answer, which was probably the truth about why this game was so incredibly sadistic and had such a sad story.

The person sitting next to him was probably a god.

"The third incarnation of the God of Hope was chosen, the God of Hope used all his power to choose his incarnation to save the small village."

Ramiel, ostracized for Lucifer's sin, found a girl full of ambition. At first the girl was just 'his incarnation' before Ramiel's feelings changed every time this girl prayed for him.

"With his power, his 3rd incarnation destroyed the entire kingdom. Thinking of ways to find one of them, the 3rd incarnation, with the permission of the god, used the banyan tree as the protector of the village."

The girl who always accompanied the lonely god.

"Bodies were piled up and rituals were performed, guilty or not, those who dared to threaten the safety of the village were guilty."

Ramiel, saddened by the girl's death, hid for centuries and was punished for daring to appear while the guardian were still awake. 

"A great cave covers the existence of the banyan tree, and if anyone dares to enter, his soul is slowly sucked in as food for the tree.

Finally, he found the reincarnation of his incarnation and decided to deceive the world by making himself the incarnation of the God of Hope.

So this could be the reason why the protagonist can replay time, but the player doesn't realize it. Until the secret route is revealed.

"..." 

Eriu, who had been quietly listening, immediately asked a question to which he knew the answer himself, "Is that why you told me to write that they would be fine?" 

"Um, it's better for them to feel fine than to continue to feel guilty."

His red eyes closed after hearing this answer. 

"If no lives are sacrificed, the barrier will be destroyed and the place will become the target of other minor gods to raise its level, or it is possible that all the events of the past will be repeated."

"So, Knight Grace was the last victim of the cave before this problem arose, right?"

"Yes."

"The Grace Knight used all her last strength to dedicate herself to the tree, and she ended up becoming the tree's memory. Therefore, the Grace Knight you saw that day is the memory of that tree."

Eros thought for a while before reminding Eriu of the past history, "Didn't you see the atmosphere in that village 5 years ago? It was very chaotic."

"That's true."

They were using the god's name, but they didn't know what it meant.

When Eros first appeared, the villagers immediately wanted to kill Eros because they thought he was a disaster and also because they thought my mother was having an affair.

So Eros and I were not allowed to leave the house. I'm not even sure why and how they wanted to kill Eros so badly, but suddenly within 5 month all the villagers' perspectives on Eros changed.

From the son of adultery to the favorite son of God.

"That day, the God of Hope, Ramiel, gave me a message, and at that moment I proved that I was chosen to be the incarnation of the God of Hope." 

"No wonder!" The surroundings of the carriage were so dark that Eriu could not see his surroundings, but he could only see Eros giggling and smiling. He could even feel his heart beating faster and faster.

"That is why Knight Grace came out and solved all the problems there. "

It seems that the quote about sacrificing one life for another is appropriate for this issue.

'May hope be with them until the end...' 

It was the last thing he could do for that poor family.