Episode 1: The Hero Takes His Own Life (1) – His Beloved Who Was Stolen Away from Him

　　One evening as winter approached and the weather turned chilly, the hero Alberic took his own life on a hilltop overlooking the royal capital. It was less than a month after the triumphant return to the capital following the defeat of the demon king Grær.

"Raoul. After I'm no longer here―――I want you to see what happens."

　Those were the last words left behind by the hero Alberic.
　He looked troubled, and lonely......with a sorrowful smile that was filled with mixed emotions, he pushed the hero's sword against his own neck right in front of my eyes.
　He was a hero who defeated the Demon King and saved the world, and a fellow traveler with whom I shared a year-long journey. And above all, he was my best friend, a boy I had to protect after being granted the ability to use the "Celestial Sword"  by the goddess.
　There was no time to stop him...... I don't have any excuses. I just couldn't stop him.
　I couldn't move because I understood the sorrow in his eyes.
　Knowing the despair that overtook Alberic after he had saved the world...... there was no way I could stop him.

　As I kneeled in front of the corpse of the dead "hero," I thought about everything that had happened.
　It was about five years ago that a powerful demon calling himself the Demon King appeared in the world.
　Over the years, the demon king's army grew in power, terrorizing the world and attempting to rule it with violence.
　In order to stop the tyranny of the Demon King, a party of five, including myself, was chosen by the Goddess's trust, led by the hero Alberic.
　It was a journey that lasted about two years, but we defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the world. It was about a year ago that we, the hero's party, defeated the Demon King and made a triumphant return to the kingdom.

　After returning to the capital and reporting to the king that we had defeated the Demon King, a victory celebration was held to commemorate our victory.
　Not only the nobles and ministers of the kingdom, but also the royalty of neighboring countries were invited to the grand event, and many voices were praising the party members, including Alberic, the hero, Raoul, the celestial knight, Falty, the archer and princess of the Elven kingdom, Roger, the great mage from the Empire, and Irene, the healing saint sent by the church.

　……And among these were marriage proposals and the like.
　That being said, Falty was not very interested in the mundane affairs of others and was attracted to Alberic, and Irene was less interested in those who courted her because of her unfortunate inclination to find joy in adoring young children.
　I had just lost a girlfriend on the trip, so I made it clear that I would not accept such "frivolous talk," but Roger was a money-grubber who only cared about his own success and wealth, so he was elated! ...... Roger had a reputation for being trash and a scumbag, so it's no wonder.
　Alberic had a childhood sweetheart and fiancée, Mireille, to whom he had promised his future, so he politely declined any offers of marriage from royals and other nobility.
　Originally, the "hero" Alberic was an ordinary boy living in a remote village.

　When the victory celebration was over and the members of the hero party returned to their respective homes, Alberic received a small reward of gold and wished to return to his village. Because my childhood friend is waiting for me, he said.

　I was an adventurer in the guild before I was chosen for the "Celestial Sword," so I decided to accompany Alberic, as I had nothing in particular to do.
　Everyone in the party wanted to attend the hero's wedding, but due to Alberic's desire to live quietly and modestly and their own complicated positions, they were unable to do so, so he wanted to celebrate on behalf of his fellow travelers.

　Alberic was born and raised in a village at the foot of the mountains, a short distance from the royal capital, which could be reached after a day's ride on a horse-drawn carriage.
　However, when the villagers saw Alberic back in the village, their expressions were all tense and distant. I felt uncomfortable because this was not the attitude towards a hero who had saved the world, but I soon learned the reason why.

　Waiting for Alberic was his beloved Mireille, who had married the son of the village chief while he was away on his journey to defeat the Demon King and carried their child in her swollen belly.
　The love of his life, his lover and fiancée, had been easily seduced in less than a year despite the promise that he would return.
　……The treatment towards the hero who defeated the Demon King and saved the world was too harsh.
　A boy who had never shown any signs of giving up in his journey to defeat the Demon King, who had never faltered in the face of adversity and who had inspired his friends, was now faced with the sight of the girl he loved carrying the child of another man in her womb, and the expression on his face was one of despair.

　Mireille was a beautiful girl, the kind you don't see very often even in the royal capital. As a top-class adventurer, I often met with noble daughters and royalty, and I can say that she was one of the five most beautiful women in the kingdom. Such a girl rubbed her swollen belly and repeatedly apologized and berated the hero.

"I was lonely."

"I dreaded every day that you were gone."

"I loved you, but he was there for me and supported me."

"Please forgive me."

"Because I will be happy for you."

Such an argument was 10% apology and the other 90% was excuses and quibbles of justifying her actions.
I would have been happy if that had been the end of it, but after a while, it turned extremely sour.

"I wish you hadn't become a hero and stayed by my side."

"You don't understand how I felt when I was left behind."

"I wish someone else would have taken care of the Demon Lord."

"This is all your fault, so you don't have anything to complain about."

　……She alternated between making excuses that suited her and apologizing, and insisted in her own words that "it was not my fault".
　The sight of her made me want to throw up, and I was about to draw my sword, thinking that I would take the punishment and slay both mother and child, but Al put his hand on top of mine and stopped me.
Mireille was also momentarily frightened by the unsettling atmosphere I had created, but she was relieved to see Alberic stop me while shaking his head sadly.

　After having dealt with their childhood friend in such a way, and perhaps deciding it was now safe to appear, the son of the village chief, the man who had stolen the hero's childhood friend, came out―――― His name was Porcas, and he came out of one of the houses with great enthusiasm, welcoming the hero on his return. While praising his achievement with his mouth, the childhood friend was very haughty in his attitude toward Alberic, saying that he would take full responsibility for making her happy, without hiding his sense of superiority behind his apology.
　He was a petty man who came out of the house when he was sure it was safe, and I was already fed up with the fact that both the childhood friend and the trashy husband were scum, wondering what the small-town rich guy was getting off on.
　If Alberic had not defeated the Demon King in the first place, this provincial village would have been destroyed by monsters and everyone here would've died.
　I looked around to see what the knight stationed in the village was up to, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him looking disgruntled, so I clicked my tongue and wondered if he had been given some money to keep him from reporting this.
……So the only one who didn't know was the hero.

　But Alberic only told them that he understood and turned away.

……In hindsight, perhaps this moment marked the beginning of Alberic's giving up.

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