271 An Eccentric Hero
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Arafunn was a strange and almost eccentric man, I didn’t know what he was up to, but he seemed to be a good person... Because he was a hero like my parents. They trusted him, and I decided to lower my guard for that reason. Thankfully, I had the memories and experience of my previous life, giving me a better maturity than someone like Aquarina, who was still surprised and a bit wary of him, thinking he was strange. Her powers should be able to detect some sort of emotion or something else coming from him, right? I wonder what it could be.
Well, if she doesn’t say it out loud, he probably doesn’t have bad intentions, but that Aquarina is still on alert could mean she’s still just very shy to strangers she had never seen before or that there is something more to him. I hope it is the first one.
“How about we eat dinner? I got some meat bread, and eggs, how about I make some meat loaf?” He asked.
“Oh, I like that! I’ve been missing your cooking, Arafunn...” Sighed Nepheline.
“Haha, is that so? I guess I wasn’t as useless as I remember!” He said.
“You were never a useless member, Arafunn, don’t take what the Witch said to you to heart, she was always messing around.” Said Shade.
“Okay, okay! I was messing around, don’t worry about me you guys, I am completely okay.” Said Arafunn with a charming and relaxed smile, this man was certainly someone interesting.
“After all, I think she was into you, but you never reciprocated it.” Said my mother.
.....
“She was?” Wondered Arafunn, looking a bit flabbergasted at everybody.
My parents and Aquarina’s parents looked at one another in silence, and then, as if this was some sort of comedy act, they all facepalmed at the same time.
“Arafunn you’re so philosophical sometimes, but you’re really, REALLY dense!” Said Allan.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe this man...” Sighed my mother.
“Incredible, you’re still the same air-headed elf we all remember.” Said Shade.
“Hahahahaha!” Nepheline just laughed.
“E-Everyone, stop messing around with me! Shouldn’t you be happy we got to reunite, what sort of nonsense are you laughing for now?” Sighed the elf, as he crossed his arms and raising an eyebrow.
“The Witch of the Blue mountain had romantic interests for you for a while, Arafunn... It has been over 10 years since then now. Have you ever seen her again?” Asked my mother.
“She had...? Agh, I am so bad at this...” Sighed Arafunn. “Living so much really just broken my perception of human’s emotions. Also I already had someone in that time.”
“Eh? All that philosophical talk and you can’t empathize with people?!” I asked in disbelief.
“It is not that, he can. But not at the level of depth that he can notice romantic interests. Or more like... he’s generally way too oblivious. Eh, kind of reminds me of you.” Said my mother.
“Me?! I am not dense!” I said angrily. “Right, Aquarina?”
Aquarina looked at me while raising her eyebrows and then calming down, glaring at me expressionlessly, as if she was a bit bored.
“Huh, sure.” She said while crossing her arms.
“Eh? Why are you angry out of nowhere?” I wondered.
“Nothing!” She said.
“Eehhh...” I was left a bit surprised, my best friend suddenly got angry at me! W-Was I also oblivious of something about her?
“Sylphy you’re just as dense as you’re strong.” Said Zack. “But anyways... Erm, sir elf, are you really... a legendary hero that defeated the demon king?” Zack asked rather boldly. “You really... Erm, how to say this... You don’t really look strong.”
“Oh?! Hahahaha! Young man, you really don’t know that elves can’t really grow buffed like Shade or Allan, right? We are nimble fairies of the forest; we move swiftly and strike at our enemies’ weak points! ...But more importantly, I was actually a supporter. My songs possess magical properties. It is not for nothing that I was given the title of the Hero of Soothing Rivers and Songs! On all of this Realm, my songs knows no equals.” Said Arafunn pridefully, as he puffed his chest and raised his chin, he was really cartoony.
“S-Songs? So you’re really a bard... A bard hero, I never thought such a character would join the party to defeat the demon king... But there is indeed some tales about you as well.” I said rather surprised, being reminded that I had heard around the town about the heroes. There were no statues of them but also my mother told me there were statues of them in major cities of this continent.
“I sing beautiful songs sometimes, but songs alone are boring, I often just add melody to stories, to epics. After we defeated the Demon King, everyone ended overly gloomy, so I dedicated myself to make songs and stories about our journey so the people would be able to also experience and... empathize with us.” Said Arafunn.
“Empathize?” I asked.
“Well, you see... People don’t see heroes as people.” Said Arafunn.
“...What? Why?” I wondered.
“Isn’t it obvious? Heroes are an idolized figure, an idol that people look towards by rising their heads, a person... no, a being that embodies the justice that everyone believes on. They do everything that normal people would only dream to accomplish, and they are said to be able to even save the world if they work together... Heroes are a device for people to unify their thoughts and emotions into an idol. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that they treat us like saints or gods. Some aristocrats used us as near-god-like figures to control the masses.” Sighed Arafunn. “People grow desensitized about the heroes, and they see us as almighty, all-powerful people that can solve all the problems of the world... It is far from the truth.”
“...”
“So, he dedicates his life to tell our stories and our journeys, so the people can learn that... we are just the same as them...” Said my mother, as she seemed rather... depressed out of nowhere.
“Mom...”
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