Chapter 23
As expected, the nobles gossiped about Millie.
Millie, trembling as if she had heard every word, tried to leave.
Then she saw something and froze in place.
I noticed the person approaching her and understood the situation.
To be precise, the person wasn’t heading directly toward Millie.
I approached Millie and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hii, hiiik—!”
“Are you alright, <Phantom Thief Reset>?”
“Ah, Ma-Mage.”
At that moment, the Baroness also came over.
“It’s been a long time, Mage.”
“It’s been a while, Madam.”
The Baroness spoke to me, not to Millie.
That’s because we had already met before.
“I’m truly lucky. I can’t believe I was able to come here. Come to think of it, I should have bought ‘Maple Leaf Story’ back then too. If I had, could I have been a member of the expedition?”
“If it were you, of course. Did you manage to get one now?”
“Fortunately, I was able to buy one during the third release.”
After chatting with the Baroness for a bit, I moved Millie away from the spot.
The Baroness didn’t recognize Millie.
“I apologize, <Phantom Thief Reset>. The screening is about to begin. Please take your seat.”
“Ah, ah… Yes…”
With a blank expression, Millie returned to her seat.
It was a front-row seat reserved for the expedition members.
And with grand music, the ‘Zatum Raid Screening’ began.
Although the footage was originally four hours long, we trimmed it to thirty minutes by editing out the less exciting parts.
The audience held their breath, watching the expedition’s battle.
Some even shed tears of joy.
Millie, however, still seemed unable to grasp the situation and couldn’t focus on the video.
From time to time, she glanced nervously at me and the Baroness.
I considered explaining things to her, but I decided not to.
I recalled the time right after the first batch of copies had sold out.
.
.
.
“There’s a commoner among the buyers.”
“What? That would have been a hefty sum for a commoner.”
“Yes. It’s definitely an amount that a commoner couldn’t gather on their own. I looked into it and found that the commoner used to work as a maid at a rural lord’s manor. It seems she quit and moved away afterward.”
“Hmm… That’s suspicious.”
“Yes. I also thought it was strange when I sold it, but I remembered what you said, Mage. That you wanted to give everyone the chance to create their own lives, regardless of what they were born with.”
After hearing the story from the head of the Blue Head Merchant Guild, I headed to the rural lord’s territory.
By the time I arrived, a maid was about to be punished for allegedly stealing the Baroness’s ring.
But that maid wasn’t the one who had bought ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
It seemed like another maid had been wrongly accused.
I paid the Baroness in her stead.
The one who stole the ring was probably the maid who bought ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
It was like I was paying for her.
That’s how I first became acquainted with the Baroness.
And soon after, I learned that <Phantom Thief Reset> was the maid who had stolen the ring.
Despite choosing the difficult Dagger Thief class, <Phantom Thief Reset> played harder than anyone else.
Rather than saying she played, it would be more accurate to say she ‘lived her life’ harder than anyone else.
It was as if she were living a new life.
As if she were enjoying her new life.
She worked harder than anyone to shape her own life.
Watching her, I decided to bury the incident of her stealing the ring.
I had a vague understanding of why she made that choice.
I understood her longing for an equal life, one unbound by birth.
I simply wanted her to continue enjoying ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
The reason I created ‘Maple Leaf Story’ was to give people who weren’t born with it a chance to live such a life.
And now, she was a member of the expedition that defeated Zatum.
.
.
.
While reminiscing about the past, the video reached its climax.
It was right before <Phantom Thief Reset> used Mesos Explosion.
The scene where <Phantom Thief Reset> scattered all her mesos.
“Here it comes. The iconic moment.”
Eventually, when <Phantom Thief Reset> ran out of money.
And only one last coin remained.
Ting—
<Kaito Reset> flicked the coin, and a tremendous explosion engulfed Zatum.
-Ooooooh!!
The audience, watching as Zatum’s HP rapidly dropped, erupted in excitement.
Of course, there were still those who harboured resentment toward her as a commoner.
After that, the remaining members managed to finish off Zatum, who barely had any HP left.
And at the same time, items and mesos poured out.
That scene was also spectacular, and the audience sighed in amazement.
“Ah… So that’s how Zatum’s Helmets drop.”
“One, two, three… A total of three.”
“I suppose there are three helmets because there are three members with Zatum’s Helmet. It seems not everyone can get one just for defeating Zatum.”
As expected, people were interested in Zatum’s Helmet.
The drop rate for Zatum’s Helmet was set to be random, between zero and five.
This time, three helmets dropped, and each one went to <Backroom Tower Master>, <Light of the Empire>, and <Phantom Thief Reset>.
“Huhuhu… JeBbit got a Zatum’s Helmet.”
Watching the video, JeBbit muttered proudly.
And on cue, the video showed JeBbit running around the map, proudly wearing the Zatum’s Helmet.
There seemed to be a lot more stories regarding Zatum’s Helmet afterward, but I’d have to hear about those from Hina or Rikal later.
Anyway, the screening ended like that.
The audience gave thunderous applause, as if the banquet hall itself would collapse, to the historic footage of the heroes defeating Zatum.
The expedition members took turns greeting the audience amidst cheers and applause.
It was like a stage greeting.
“Th-Thank you…!”
But when <Phantom Thief Reset> greeted, there was noticeably less applause and cheers.
It meant that there were still people who disapproved of her as a commoner.
Even after seeing such a great performance, could they still be jealous?
Well, there are always people like that everywhere.
Moreover, she even got Zatum’s Helmet, so it would only make it worse.
Of course, there were also many who admired <Phantom Thief Reset>’s performance.
But it seemed that Millie had already shrunk under the weight of the negative stares.
She had done something worthy of full recognition.
For some reason, seeing her like that left a bitter feeling.
At that moment, <Fallen Power Warrior>, Galliard, stood up and began to speak.
***
After all the screenings ended, Galliard stepped forward in front of the crowd.
He was about to say something that Rai had asked him to mention in advance.
‘It’s true. After all, there were people like that back then, too.’
Galliard thought that he probably would have said it even if Rai hadn’t asked.
Because there had been comrades in the past who were disregarded as commoners, despite being heroes who saved the world.
“We have finally defeated ‘Zatum!’”
The people cheered at Galliard’s strong shout.
“A long time ago, I had a similar experience. It was during the battle against the Demon King. The excitement from this expedition could compare to that time. ‘Zatum’ was a formidable foe, and this time, it took more allies and a longer fight than back then.
The footage was condensed, but in reality, we fought continuously for about four hours. It was fiercer and more desperate than any other battle I’ve experienced.”
People started to focus on Galliard’s speech.
“The joy of victory was the same then as it is now. The gratitude toward comrades and the glory of heroes remain unchanged. But just as back then, a similar situation has occurred this time, and I want to talk about it.”
Galliard pulled out an arm from his coat.
It was a real severed human arm, gripping a dagger tightly.
“This is the arm of ‘Reset,’ a former comrade of mine. Everyone knows what kind of person ‘Reset’ was. He sacrificed himself during the battle against the Demon King, and because of him, we were able to win.
After the battle, we searched for ‘Reset’s’ body, but all we could find was this one arm. To remember him, we cast preservation magic on this arm.”
It was a famous story.
As always, ‘Reset’ still hadn’t let go of the sword in his hand.
No one knew why he held on to that dagger so tightly.
It might have been to protect someone, or it might have been for some conviction.
But whatever it was, it was clear that the reason suited a ‘hero.’
“As you know, ‘Reset’ was a commoner, and before joining the Hero Party, he was a thief and an assassin.
When I first accepted him as a comrade, everyone pointed fingers at us.
But I was certain at the time. Although he wasn’t born with anything, he was a thief and an assassin, he was more fitting to be a hero than anyone else.
The money he stole was all taken from corrupt means, and the people he assassinated were all vile criminals.
If there’s still someone who points fingers at ‘Reset,’ then that person must be just as evil.
Even if you ignore all that, the fact remains that he was a hero and saved this world.”
Galliard turned his gaze to Millie.
Millie had her head down, staring at the floor.
“And in this raid, we had a comrade who reminded me of ‘Reset.’ You all know who I’m talking about, without me having to say it. As you just saw, without her performance, this raid would have failed.
And she sacrificed all of her mesos to achieve glory.
The amount of money she used to cause the explosion is worth about this much in real value.
In fact, she sacrificed almost all the mesos she had earned while playing the game.”
Galliard spread out his fingers.
People’s jaws dropped at the amount, which was even larger than they had expected.
“Even I wouldn’t have been able to sacrifice that many mesos.
But she didn’t hesitate and did it for the greater good.
Seeing her actions reminded me of ‘Reset.’”
Galliard grabbed Millie’s arm and pulled her forward.
Millie was startled, but she couldn’t overcome Galliard’s strength.
“How could we not praise someone like her?
How could we not call her a hero who sacrificed almost everything to defeat ‘Zatum?’
She is a commoner, and it’s certain that she lives with far less than us.
But can any of you here, without hesitation, give up everything you have for the greater good, like she did?”
Silence filled the banquet hall.
Probably no one here could have made the same choice as Millie.
“She became a hero before she became a commoner.
So how could anyone dare point fingers at her?”
Galliard looked around at the nobles and spoke loudly.
He was probably the only one who had the courage and conviction to speak like this in front of so many nobles.
“I will dedicate all the glory of this successful raid to <Phantom Thief Reset>.
Without her, the raid would have failed.
I believe it’s only right that ‘Zatum’s Helmet’ went to her.”
Millie still had her head down.
The banquet hall was deathly quiet, and Millie thought that people still looked down on her because she was a commoner.
She thought that everyone hated seeing a mere commoner act so boldly.
Millie still couldn’t lift her head.
Her eyes remained fixed on the floor, hidden behind her long brown hair.
[Lift your head.]
At that moment, words appeared on the floor she was looking at.
It was an illusion.
An illusion only Millie could see.
Very slowly, Millie raised her head.
Under the dazzling lights of the banquet hall, she could see the faces of the nobles.
They were all looking at her.
But their expressions were slightly different from what Millie had expected.
“Ah…”
“Hu, huuuk…”
“Reset-nim…”
Some were looking off into the distance, as if remembering Reset.
Some were wiping away tears, and others were frowning in awe.
Clap- clap clap-
The silence was broken by the sound of someone’s applause.
It quickly spread and soon filled the entire hall.
No, the thunderous applause resounded across the entire continent.
“Uh…?”
“You did an amazing job, <Phantom Thief Reset>.”
Galliard looked down at Millie with a satisfied expression.
Only then did the anxiety that had been filling Millie’s heart start to melt away.
At the same time, a tear welled up in Millie’s eyes.
One tear became two, two became four, and soon they turned into a stream, flowing down her cheeks like rain.
“Huu, huu… Huaaaah…”
It was an emotion she thought she’d never feel in her life.
And no one would have thought such a moment would come again.
That a commoner who was born with nothing would stand on such a grand stage and receive such thunderous applause.
It was an impossible event.
But Millie’s hard work made it possible.
Millie cried for a long time in the midst of the overwhelming cheers and recognition that she had received for the first time in her life.
“…It’s good.”
Rai, clapping for her from the corner of the hall, smiled and then quietly left the banquet hall.
And so, the ‘Zatum Expedition’ incident came to an end.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Comment