Published at 26th of December 2025 7:39 am

Chapter 461: Assisting Someone Who Isnt in Trouble Is More Difficult Than Saving the World

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About two months had passed since we arrived in this small, nameless village. Today, as usual, I was about to do some odd jobs to maintain connections with the villagers

Hey, Ed. Do you have a moment?

Hm?

Just as I was about to leave the room we were borrowing from the village chief, I was called from behind and turned around. There, Tia stood with a troubled expression, her eyes wandering as if she found it difficult to speak.

What is it, Tia? Is something wrong?

Um you see. For a while now, Ive been debating whether to say this or not

? What is it?

Its not that! I dont want to deny your approach or anything like that! I dont want you to misunderstand that, but

So what is it? If you have something on your mind, just say it clearly.

Okay, Ill say it Dont you think were not becoming companions with Magna-san at all? Is that okay?

Guh!

Confronted with the reality I had been desperately trying to ignore, I collapsed on the spot. Tia hurriedly rubbed my back as I stared at the floor on all fours.

Are you okay, Ed!? Im sorry, I guess I shouldnt have said it after all.

No, its fine I know. I know, so

Even though two months had passed, we hadnt become particularly close with Magna. We exchange greetings when we meet in the village, but thats about the extent of our relationship.

Damn, I knew it would be difficult, but I didnt think it would be this hard

Thats right. We dont even have many opportunities to talk normally.

Magnas family consists of three people: Magnas father, Magna himself, and his sister Ruruka. It seems their mother passed away from illness about 10 years ago, and since then, the three of them have been living together, helping each other.

And Magna is engaged in farming with his father, but farming is basically everyday and there are no days off. They work from morning till night every day, and if we went there just to chat without any business, wed probably be scolded for interfering.

Even if we thought about meeting after work, theres no convenient place like a tavern in this village. The villagers all eat and drink at their own homes, so we cant even join them for casual conversation, let alone ask, Ill treat you to a meal, so please tell me about the village.

I could borrow the kitchen and cook, but our relationship was almost non-existent to invite them for a home-cooked meal.

So, as a result, we could only talk to Magna when he wants to talk even if it means interrupting his work, or when theres something we need to talk about even if it means interrupting his work.

And such urgent matters dont occur in this peaceful village. We did go to his house once for tool maintenance, but that was just once. I forged without using [Master Smith] because being too skilled would be suspicious, but even so, unless you use them recklessly, farm tools can easily last 10 years or so after one maintenance.

I knew I couldnt help with the fieldwork, but I didnt expect even your help to be refused

When you think about it, it cant be helped. I dont have knowledge about agriculture, after all.

It was clear from the start that I, an amateur, couldnt help. There might have been room to help during the busiest harvest season, but its natural that they wouldnt let strangers handle important crops when they have enough manpower.

But it was unexpected that even Tias spirit magic was refused. I thought it would be super convenient to easily water a wide area or quickly remove weeds, but it seems Magna and the others adjust the amount of water finely based on the condition of the soil and crops, and select which weeds to pull and which to leave. They said it would be faster and more reliable to do it themselves than to teach Tia and have her make fine adjustments each time.

Ugh, I completely underestimated agriculture Theres really no room for us to lend a hand. Even if we hunt big game and share it with the whole village, we just get a word or two of thanks and thats it. I really dont know what to do.

For appearances sake, were living at a pace of spending three days in the forest and one day in the village. And when we do, we hunt things like bears or wild boars as gifts, but even that cant be said to be a means to quickly become close with specific individuals. The overall favorability of the village is probably increasing, but conversely, we cant expect more than that.

Its so difficult to be useful to people who arent in trouble. To be honest, I thought wed become closer by now.

Yeah. Well, as a real last resort, we could aim for a special relationship but thats really

Thats not okay! Besides, I dont want to do that either.

Yeah, youre right.

If we pretended that Tia fell for Magna, or I fell for Ruruka, we might gain understanding from others even if we provided somewhat exaggerated favors, and if we succeeded in that and were accepted as family, it would be sufficient as a condition for expulsion.

But its unthinkable to pretend to fall in love and then break up for some arbitrary reason if the other person accepts it. If someones life depended on it, or if there would be a major problem in the flow of fate if we didnt do it, wed be prepared to bear the mud and go through with it, but its too heavy and too cruel to choose as a mere catalyst. I dont want to do it, and I dont want to make Tia do it either.

An even more inhumane method would be to intentionally cause some incident or accident and then help to earn their gratitude, but if we did that, I think I would no longer be able to enjoy traveling through different worlds with Tia, so I havent even considered it as an option. Well, thats obvious.

I mean, yes. A catalyst, thats what we need. After all, to suddenly become companions with strangers, we need some kind of catalyst.

Ah, [Flag Maker] really was an amazing ability, huh.

Muttering this wistfully truly wistfully, I slowly stood up. This is the only ability thats not my own power, but one forced upon me by God, so to be honest, I cant reproduce it no matter what I do with my own power.

You dont know what youve got till its gone. Well, it would be fine if there wasnt that shitty condition of not being able to leave the world without being banished in the first place, and furthermore, being made to travel through different worlds No, lets stop here. This is the kind of thing that becomes more and more futile the more you think about it.

So, what are we really going to do? Do we have no choice but to slowly become friends over time from now on?

Well, for now, I guess so

Given that the hero was no longer a hero, the knowledge from the first run was not useful at all. All the various circumstances that Magna originally had were probably nullified since he was not fighting as a hero.

By the way, why isnt Magna-san a hero in the first place? No, the opposite? Why did Magna-san become a hero?

Ah, that. I dont know the details either, but the reason Magna became a hero was

As I spoke, I recalled the content of what Magna had told me during our travels. Those words, spoken bit by bit, were an ordinary tragedy that turned a mere villager into a hero.

Its because this village was attacked by Night Walkers the Demon Kings minions, and was completely wiped out.

That was a past that existed, and a future that never came. This place, filled with tranquility, was once a graveyard where death and despair lay.

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