Chapter 27: The New Hero
When she came to, Nelly was already in the initial space where she had first arrived in Wildia.
She was silent for a moment, then asked, word for word, “So what am I supposed to do now?”
“Mission failed. Please start over.”
Ninety-nine attempts had come to naught. An even earlier entanglement of love and hate was summed up in the simple word “failure.” Nelly’s fingers trembled, and she clenched them into fists to barely maintain her composure. “Is this all the explanation you’re going to give me?”
“We can guarantee that the previous situation will not occur again.”
Nelly lowered her eyes, her lips moving twice, but in the end, she swallowed the questions that were about to spill out. The system had summoned her to this world and held her soul. For now, she had no room to resist.
With that thought, a hint of mockery crept into her soft voice. “In the end, I don’t have any other choice. But I have a question. Since this world isn’t virtual to you, why do we have to go back to the past after the Demon King dies?”
The calm, female voice did not sound for a long time, clearly unwilling to answer.
Nelly stared into the void before her, sighed, and shook her head. “Forget it. Let’s begin.”
The white light gradually dissipated, and a peaceful novice village appeared before her. Nelly skillfully opened the system interface. The red dot on the map moved to the front of the village’s temple, and soon she found a female hero looking around. She was tall and slender, with hair like spun silver and charming violet eyes. Her face was beautiful, and she stood with her arms crossed at the temple entrance, attracting many gazes.
A comparison with the character file confirmed it.
She put on her system spirit work face and walked over with a smile. “You must be Melissa, right? I’m Nelly, the spirit assigned to you by the temple. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me!”
The tall, silver-haired female hero nodded kindly and extended her hand. “Please take care of me.”
Melissa’s palm was strong and dry, with calluses from years of holding a sword, giving one a sense of security. For some reason, Nelly suddenly remembered that although he also used a sword, Karsus’s hands had no trace of practice… She quickly pushed the thought away and turned her attention back to the hero in front of her. She began to guide her through the controls step by step. Melissa learned quickly and seemed eager to try.
In Nelly’s experience, this type of hero was often the easiest to handle.
As expected, Melissa got into the swing of things immediately after Nelly’s introductory explanation. She flicked her high ponytail of beautiful silver hair and said cheerfully, “Then let’s go to the village chief’s house and accept a quest now!”
Nelly’s mood, which had just begun to relax, was completely shattered after seeing Melissa’s heroic posture as she swung her novice sword.
Hey, hey… this is too ridiculous, isn’t it?!
“Aaaaaah! D-don’t come over here! I’ll cut you! What’s going on! Damn it, ow, ow, ow!”
Melissa, who had been so confident just a moment ago, now had no image to speak of. She was being chased all over the place by the most basic of foxes, her shiny silver hair a mess. The sword she tried so hard to swing only shaved off a barely visible sliver of the monster’s health bar. Nelly couldn’t help but wonder if the calluses on her hands were the product of some other skill.
Soon, this unconventional hero had attracted many curious gazes. Nelly was a little embarrassed, but Melissa was still tirelessly fighting the fox.
“Melissa, don’t forget to use your skills!” Nelly reminded her anxiously.
“I am using them!” she replied innocently. Distracted, she was bitten by the fox again. “Damn it!”
Nelly covered her face, unable to watch. “G-good luck!”
Melissa replied in a drawn-out voice as she ran, “I’m trying! Yah-haaa—”
By the time they finished the first quest, it was almost dark. Nelly was a little speechless, but her mood was undeniably lighter. She sincerely patted the dejected Melissa. “The chowder at the village inn is the best on the entire continent. Even the chefs in the royal capital can’t compare. If we’re late, we won’t get any.”
At the mention of food, Melissa immediately perked up and excitedly pulled Nelly along.
“Wait, the inn is in the opposite direction…”
“Is… is that so? Hehe.”
To be assigned such a weakling hero who looked noble and aloof on the outside but was actually a boisterous personality, Nelly couldn’t help but worry about whether she could maintain her previous one hundred percent success rate. She even began to suspect that the system had deliberately assigned her such a troublesome partner to distract her.
But who cared? It was fun to be with a girl like this, although… it was also quite a hassle.
For example, right now, Melissa had drunk quite a bit because she had hit it off so well with the innkeeper. She was dizzy, her face was flushed, and she was talking nonsense, looking like she would pass out drunk at any moment.
After settling the unconscious Melissa, Nelly sat down by the window and slapped her cheeks hard. It was anyone’s guess how long it would take to reach the Demon’s Lair this time. As for other things, she decided not to think about them for now.
“Nelly? You’re… not sleeping yet… hmm? The moon is so big and white!”
Nelly looked at the “moon” Melissa was talking about. “That’s your shield.”
“Oh, oh, oh! Watch me smash that dead fox to pieces with the moon tomorrow!”
“Go to sleep…”
“Mhm… so soft, so comfy…”
※
The next morning, before the sky was even light, Nelly was shaken awake by a vibrant Melissa.
“Time to get up! A new day has begun!”
Nelly, who hadn’t slept well due to someone’s sleep-talking all night, rubbed her eyes. “Melissa… the sun isn’t even up yet…”
“What’s that saying again? The early worm… gets the leaf!”
“It’s the early bird gets the worm.”
Melissa stood with her hands on her hips, smiling triumphantly. “Well, you’re awake now, aren’t you? Let’s go!”
She… she actually tricked me!
Nelly scrambled to get up, running her fingers through her hair, but Melissa had already brought a towel and a basin of water for her to wash her face. After dizzily washing up, Nelly finally realized: Eh? Wait a minute, was I just served by the hero while I washed my face and brushed my teeth? This is… too chaotic.
Her face a little hot, Nelly cleared her throat a few times. “Today, let’s go find the blacksmith, Mr. Schwert, and then visit the armor master, Hilde, to strengthen your shield.”
“Alrighty!” Melissa walked out of the inn with her head held high.
“Ah, Lord Hero! I have indeed prepared a suitable sword for you, but… it’s really hard to say. The damned weasels have been appearing nearby recently, and they actually stole the runestone for forging the sword. Could you please retrieve the runestone?”
“No problem! Let’s go, Nelly!”
Ten minutes later.
“What do I do, Nelly? Nelly, what do I do?! It’s biting me, ow, ow, ow! I’ll smash it!”
Nelly facepalmed. It seemed they wouldn’t be leaving the novice village today. It was better to grind some levels to ensure the hero’s safety.
They were busy again until dark. Melissa had a new set of equipment, and although she was tired, her spirits were still high.
“Innkeeper, five bowls of chowder!”
Nelly’s mouth twitched. “Five?”
“One for Nelly, the rest for me.” Melissa smiled as if it were the most natural thing in the world, plopped down on a wooden chair, and emptied her coin purse, nodding solemnly. “Mhm, there’s still enough money, don’t worry.”
What you should be worried about isn’t whether you have enough money to buy four bowls of ancestral chowder, but how you’re going to defeat the Demon King!
Nelly thanked the smiling inn waiter and sullenly poked at her bowl with her wooden spoon.
Slap. Her hand was hit by the end of the hero’s spoon.
“Don’t play with your food!” Melissa was already rapidly finishing her third bowl of chowder.
“Alright, as you command.” Nelly was helpless against the optimistic big sister Melissa and could only obediently eat her food.
After dinner, Melissa still seemed to have no intention of going upstairs. “I want to chat with everyone.” She poked the yawning Nelly. “A system spirit being sleepier than a hero is just not right. Go to sleep!”
Nelly was a little embarrassed. She made a few excuses and reminded the hero not to come back too late before saying goodnight to Melissa and going back to her room to sleep first.
The next morning, in the pitch black, Nelly was shaken awake again. “Time to get up!”
“Y-yes…” This time, Nelly obediently submitted to the hero’s discipline. Before long, she was following the long-legged big sister Melissa into the ground floor hall of the inn.
Melissa looked around, and her eyes lit up. “Hey! You’re here!”
Nelly, completely bewildered, looked in the direction Melissa was waving and froze.
It was a person in a black mage’s robe, tall and straight. The hood was pulled down to the tip of their nose, revealing only a beautifully lined lower face and white hair at the side of their cheek.
But Melissa had already strode forward and familiarly clapped the mage on the shoulder in a brotherly greeting. In her excitement, her movements were a little too big, and she pulled down his loose hood.
It was a face Nelly was all too familiar with, with deep and charming red eyes.