Chapter 17: I Want to Be Helpful

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Translator: Soafp

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When Nonoa was still a child, the Demon King appeared in her village.

The Demon King broke the Great Tree that stood in the village, and then left.

It all happened in a single day, yet it became the village's great incident.

The damage to the village itself was small.

Some villagers were injured by monsters, but there were no deaths.

In order to achieve that outcome, a funeral was held for the hero who sacrificed his own life to protect the village.

There were many things young Nonoa did not fully understand.

But from the atmosphere of the adults around her, she could tell that this person had done something incredible.

She asked someone who said they had been his companion.

“How can I become… someone amazing like this person?”

Looking back now, it was probably a question they did not want to answer, having lost their comrade and being deep in grief.

Even so, one of them—a man holding a sword—gently patted her head and replied.

“Little miss, you see… this guy was someone who could give it his all for the sake of others, not himself. You should grow up to be someone who can do their very best for your father, your mother, and the people of this village. That's what he would want too.”

To give it your all for someone other than yourself.

Those words are something she still remembers even now.

After that, the adults told her many times.

“We were saved by the Sword Saint.”

The villagers always said,

“We must never forget our gratitude to that man.”

Nonoa's parents impressed this upon her again and again as she grew up.

Before she realized it, she had begun to think, “I want to become someone who can protect others, just like the Sword Saint.”

But when she finally came of age, the skill she was granted was “Accounting.”

She was disappointed.

It was hardly a skill suited for fighting the Demon King's army.

Even so, recalling the words she had heard at the Sword Saint's funeral, she used her “Accounting” skill to support her parents, who ran an inn.

She took over managing the inn's income and expenses, reviewed suppliers, and handled price negotiations.

She stocked the inn with the village's local specialties and negotiated with travelers staying there to sell them.

Not just the inn, but the village's economic activity as a whole came under her guidance, and the village's income increased.

Before long, villagers began coming to Nonoa with their problems.

“I'm being useful to the village.”

That realization gave her confidence.

And just as she was beginning to accept that way of life,

A rumor was told to her by one of the guests staying at the inn.

“The son of the Sword Saint who protected this village apparently became an adventurer recently. They say he's aiming to defeat the Demon King.”

After hearing that, she found herself unable to settle down.

The reason she could now live with her parents, even while facing some danger from the Demon King's army, was because of the Sword Saint.

And yet, the man who had lost his precious father was risking his life to fight.

That thought filled her with guilt.

But if Nonoa were to leave the village now, the villagers would surely struggle.

Thinking about such things, she walked through the village.

On a whim, she went to look at the trunk of the broken Great Tree.

Until then she hadn't noticed, but new, small branches had begun to sprout from it.

When she saw that, the swirling feelings inside her finally took shape.

“Dad, Mom… there's something I want to talk about.”

That night, she spoke with her parents.

She wanted to help the Sword Saint's son.

As a representative of this village, she wanted to support his quest to defeat the Demon King.

She said it, fully prepared to be opposed, but…

“All right. Go.”

Her father readily agreed.

He said the villagers would handle persuading everyone else.

“After all, it's about helping the son of this village's savior. We won't let anyone complain.”

Her father had always told her, over and over, “If someone does something for you, you must properly repay them.”

She thought that her decision this time was probably influenced by those words.

Her mother worried about her traveling alone as a woman, but when Nonoa firmly insisted that she would disguise herself as a man and take the safest routes possible, she finally said,

“All right. I know you're the kind of daughter who follows through once you decide something. But you must think about your safety properly.”

“We've received nothing but kindness from the Sword Saint. Do your best to repay even a little of that debt. And even if you're turned away, don't give up so easily. Just prove that you can be useful.”

Her father's words made her realize something.

She hadn't even considered the possibility of being refused.

What if I'm turned away? she thought, far too late—but there was no point worrying.

If that happened, she would join another adventurer party and prove that Accounting could be useful.

Having decided that, she left the village.

That was why she was happy.

“Sure.”

Erius accepted her into his party without hesitation.

She had never been that happy before.

She would be useful to him—she would show that she could be.

She renewed her resolve.

In reality, she believed she had been of some use in her areas of expertise.

But when it came to combat, she was still a burden.

There were many times when Erius saved her from danger.

“Really… he saved me so many times.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Erius would sometimes move as if he could see what was coming next. Even now, I can't imitate that.”

As she spoke to Erius's mother, memories from that time resurfaced.

Erius accurately read his opponents' actions, struck at their weaknesses, and seamlessly supported his companions.

“He would casually say things like, ‘I've already dealt with this one.' When I first heard that, I thought, someday I want to say something like that too. I still haven't managed it, though.”

“Hehe. Actually, that was his father's favorite phrase.”

“The Sword Saint's?”

“Yes. He used to say it all the time. People often said he was cheeky, but it suited him.”

Erius's mother narrowed her eyes fondly, lost in nostalgia.

After both of them spent a moment reminiscing, Nonoa continued.

“Then I was expelled from his party… At the time it was painful, but I realized something. I came to help Erius, yet I was being helped by Erius far more than I helped him. And even so, I'd been indulging in the thought that ‘I'm useful because of Accounting.'”

Being expelled was hard.

But she remembered that she had originally thought it would be fine even if she were refused—that she just needed to show where she could be useful.

“I had already shown that I could be useful as an accountant. So even if I couldn't help in combat, I wanted at least to stop being a burden. Thinking that, I trained harder than ever. Once I was freed from accounting work, I could actually focus more on training.”

So in terms of awakening her skill, that incident had been necessary.

Now, she could think that way.

The awakening of “Master of Numbers.”

It brought a great change to Nonoa.

How she should move her body in battle.

Even before that, how to train most efficiently.

Sleep duration, the amount of food she should consume.

Everything was calculated in fine detail as “numbers.”

She could feel herself growing stronger day by day.

The back she had been chasing was rapidly drawing closer.

And because of that, she became lonely.

She realized it one day when she joined a temporarily formed party made up of kingdom knights.

No one could keep up with her.

And more than that…

A high-ranking officer of the Demon King's army they fought at the time.

Even though she had grown stronger, Nonoa was still in the middle of that growth, and she struggled.

And then she became certain.

If others were caught up in this fight, no one but herself would survive.

That was why she had to fight alone.

It was then that she received an invitation to return from her former party, “Dragon Fang's Bite.”

She had heard the rumors.

That after expelling her, Erius and the others were now in dire straits.

She wanted to go back.

More than anything, Erius—the one who accepted her when no one else paid her any attention, when she was nothing, and who gave her the chance that led her to where she was now.

The debt she owed him was too great to ever fully repay.

She wanted, even a little, to repay it.

But.

If she returned, Erius would fight alongside her.

She wanted to fight together, wanted to show him how strong she had become.

Those feelings were real, but if she returned—he would surely die in the battle against the Demon King's army.

If she saw Erius's face, if she met him, homesickness would surely arise.

That was why she firmly refused any meeting.

And with a heart torn apart, so as not to leave lingering attachment, she coldly conveyed through a third party, “It's too late now.”

She would fight alone.

She renewed that resolve.

At least… until the Demon King was defeated.

If she could defeat the Demon King.

Then, at that time—

She would return.

She would return again, to that place…

Defeating the Demon King became, for Nonoa, the same thing as rejoining the party.

Thinking that way, she was able to persevere even alone.

“This loneliness is only for now.”

She kept telling herself that, again and again.