Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

1 – Abandoned by childhood friend

The power that ignites the fire in my heart is anger and It was helplessness.

As a child, I was one of the common children in rural villages. A child from a common farmer’s family who yearns for the hero or knight in the book and dreams of becoming one.

The twig I picked roughly was my sword, and the brass bowl I stole from the kitchen without my parents’ knowledge was my helmet. Like that, the boys formed a group and had a lot of fun playing on the back mountain stage, who was the warrior and who was the demon king.

It’s funny when you think about it now, but among the boys who played like that, there was a girl who played the role of a princess.

Her name is Ella. She was the daughter of the only inn in town.

Ella’s mother was a lady-in-waiting from an aristocratic family and returned to the countryside with her father, Ella’s grandfather. Ella inherited her mother’s looks and was the prettiest girl in the village.

Perhaps because she was from the capital, her skin was white and free of blemishes, unlike the freckled children in the countryside. She, of course, was not at the level of a real noble lady, but it meant that she was like that in the eyes of a ignorant country idiot.

Ella didn’t get along well with the girls in her village because of her unusual looks. Perhaps she was jealous. In her childhood, I couldn’t leave her Ella alone, so I took her and somewhat forcibly put her in a group of boys, and Ella seemed to be happy with my actions.

Because I was the strongest and had the best stamina among the boys in the village, the role of a warrior to protect the princess was always my share. Of course, the role of the princess was always Ella. When she placed a flower ring made from a flower on the ring finger of her left hand, her shy smile was enough to steal the heart of an ignorant country boy.

Ella did not hide her longing for her capital city. Whenever she had a chance, she would often tell me how beautiful the streets of the capital were, what the friends she was hanging out with there were like, and how the people of the capital wore fancy clothes.

As I listened to her story, I drew the city with her lack of imagination. She imagined Ella walking in a beautiful city, not in this grassy village, and herself next to it.

I wanted to wear her real sword and armor, not these twigs and brass bowls, be her wonderful knight and take her to her city like her princess.

“Someday I will take you to the capital.”

“Really? Will you promise me?”

“Yes. They say there are castles and balls in the capital. I’ll take you all. It’s a promise.”

It was an immature daydream of a country boy who would never go to the imperial castle or a ball, but at that moment, Ella’s dream was my dream. Ella smiled broadly and nodded her head at my sincere assertion.

We crossed our little fingers together. A promise made between the two of them without the knowledge of adults. He sincerely believed in that promise and devoted himself to training to become a knight.

In such a rural village, there was no one to teach me a sword, so I climbed the back mountain every day with the idea of building up my physical strength first. It was an ignorant training, but after repeating it steadily, I became strong enough that no one in the village, including adults, could beat me. I thought that if I became stronger like this, someday I would be able to keep my promise to Ella.

As time passed, Ella….

One day, Ella fled from the village at night, following her mercenary group who stayed at the inn. Leaving only one letter from her asking not to look for her as she will start a new life in the city.

‘Tell Ion to be well.’

All I had to say was that short line.

No matter how much she denied the reality, Ella never came back. The promise she made when she was young was something she naively took seriously. She is no longer Ella, but she is distressed to be there as only traces of Ella remain throughout the village.

Unable to endure the feelings of resentment and loss, I eventually left the village and enlisted in the army. And he hoped to be deployed in front-line units near the border. It was because he wanted to get as far away as possible from his hometown, where he had memories of Ella, and from the capital, where Ella might be.

Originally, recruits did not have the freedom to choose where they were assigned, but since the frontline was always a place that soldiers avoided due to lack of manpower, they could be assigned to the frontline unit as they wished.

I acted like a guy who couldn’t die there. During the day, he fought against monsters coming from outside the human realm, and at night, he devoted himself to training, wielding his weapon to the point where his muscles trembled. Even a veteran soldier in the same unit stuck out his tongue, saying that he had never seen a poison like you.

Everyone said that if you fight like that, you will die soon, and that even those who lost their parents to monsters won’t fight like you. There were people who sincerely gave advice and cared about me, but at the time I couldn’t afford to accept favor as favor. It was only natural to be alone, pushing away everyone who approached.

I didn’t know why I was so desperate. Did I want to make Ella look back on my success, or did I want to make her regret it, did I just want to become stronger because I was disappointed in myself, or did I just want to die because I was discouraged by everything….

Maybe all of that could have been the right answer. The anger and sadness that had nowhere to go became a driving force to constantly push myself.

I lived like a ghost in the unit. It was only natural that no soldier would want to be friends with someone who would soon die. Even more so when he’s famous for being a b*tch.

After going through so many fierce battles that it wouldn’t be strange to die, and surviving as the only member of the squad, rumors spread that he was cursed and that he was bringing bad luck.

So no one tried to approach me. Except for one person.

Warlord Sister Charlotte. She was the only person in her unit who cared about me.

Charlotte is a pure citizen, not from the court, but her sincere faith in God and her magical skills are not inferior to those of the priests of her court. She had never met the priest of the law, but she was so much that even I, her country boy, could tell that she was amazing, as her soldiers under Charlotte’s treatment put her mouth together.

I don’t know why she is such a great nun, but she cared more about me than the other soldiers. During the day, if she suffered her wounds in battle, she would prioritize me over other seriously injured people, and at night, she healed her muscles torn by overexertion with s*xual magic. If she hadn’t had Charlotte’s last name, I would have died long ago or been her asshole.

Her At first I pushed her away, but the more I pushed her Charlotte, the more she clung to her tenaciously, citing strange reasons such as her doctrines and her clerical duties. He was so caring and kind, but I wasn’t so stupid that I didn’t notice it, and I wasn’t so ungrateful that I would wash my mouth after receiving only my voice when needed. We naturally became close friends.

Little by little, Charlotte and I started talking about things we hadn’t told anyone. She lost her parents to her monsters at a young age and grew up in her orphanage, so she volunteered herself to be on the front lines so that no more children like her would be born.

It was Charlotte’s dream to create a world where there was no need to fear monsters.

I also confided in Charlotte about the past that I had never told anyone before. She didn’t have the confidence to bring up the story of Ella until now. If anyone knew that the only reason she pushed herself so hard was her broken heart, she would be laughed at, whether it was Ella or me, and that wasn’t what I wanted.

I regretted it for a while after I said it. I said it for nothing, and I didn’t mean to say it. I was afraid of how she would look at me. Compared to her noble mission to protect people, she is an immature child who came to her battlefield only because of a broken heart. She thought maybe she would be scorned.

Charlotte did not laugh.

“Was it very difficult?”

She gave me a sad smile and hugged me.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

No. My fault is right If I had been stronger, if I had been more trustworthy, I wouldn’t have been abandoned by Ella like that. However, she cried for a long time like a child at the affection and warmth of others she hadn’t felt in a long time. She doesn’t believe in God, but at that moment, as if she had been saved, it felt like the old lump in her heart was being washed away.

From the next day, she had a different mindset. Taking the lead on her dangerous mission didn’t change, but she didn’t risk her life because she had a place to return to. As she abandoned her pushy attitude, she gradually gained recognition from those around her, and gained honor and promotion for her achievements.

I didn’t become a knight, but I became a decent soldier. It’s not a stable job even on empty words, but he’s been rolling for years on the front lines, so he’s saved up money to buy a decent piece of land and livestock. Maybe it’s okay to go back home. If I had only one wish, I hoped that only one person would be by my side.

Charlotte.

“I decided to follow the hero.”

Charlotte was invited to join the warrior party.

“… Let us never meet again ion.”

She left me with only one word left.

The demon army has crossed the border. The war between mankind and demons has begun, and the prince of the empire and the warrior chosen by the holy sword gathered his allies to defeat the demon king.

The joining of a nun who excelled in magic, revered as a ‘saint on the battlefield’, received cheers and praises from all the people of the empire. Except for me.

What went wrong? Was it wrong to wish for stability? Was it wrong to try to be happy with a weak subject? Was it wrong to give your heart to someone? She left Charlotte’s empty seat, and she was left alone, endlessly blaming herself, regretting, and being angry.

If I were as strong as her champion, she wouldn’t have left me. Because she was weaker than the hero, she couldn’t catch Charlotte leaving. Her helplessness against herself rekindled a fire in my heart.

I crossed the front line and entered the territory of mankind that had been taken away by the demon king’s army, and the territory of demons that humans had never set foot on. And stabbing, slashing, killing, and killing every enemy in sight.

The reason is still unknown. Even if I killed more monsters than the hero and stained her hands with blood, it wouldn’t change the fact that Charlotte left me. Even if she came back and looked at me now, nothing would change. In the midst of unanswered questions, she just constantly pushed herself.

I went through many battles. I have seen many deaths. Most of them were made with my own hands. He made unbelievable achievements for a mediocre soldier. Some called me a hero.

Several years have passed, the war has ended, and many more years have passed.

I didn’t feel anything when I thought of Ella and Charlotte anymore. I didn’t feel the pain in my chest that seemed to be ripping apart, the sense of loss that felt like my heart was empty, or the intense anger that burned my heart.

The lingering fire in my heart was finally extinguished.

“… I must be discharged.”

That was the first thought I had.