The Return Hero’s Bitter Excuses
“Shuhei-kun, what were you like in the other world?”
“He was the ultimate hero—strongest of the strong. Absolutely unbeatable.”
“Wow, that strong?”
“Compared to the legendary heroes recorded in the Church’s texts, he was on a whole other level. They even called him ‘The Invincible Hero,’ and ‘The Second Coming of the Goddess Athena.’”
Riena spoke about my past self with unmistakable pride.
“Whaaa, that’s incredible. Oh! Come to think of it, I remember hearing ‘Invincible Hero’ somewhere before—wasn’t it at the school festival? Shuhei-kun kind of let it slip, didn’t he?”
“That’s surprising. Our ever-humble Hero-sama bragging about his past achievements?”
“N-No, I mean… that was—anyway, never mind that—”
I quickly tried to steer the conversation away from the school festival. Not exactly my favorite memory.
“Oh! But but! Speaking of the festival—remember how I beat you in the Mini 4WDs race? Three wins in a row!”
“Wait, no way… Hero-sama, you lost?”
Riena’s proud expression flipped to one of pure disbelief.
“W-Well… yeah… a little… it was complicated, okay? But that was just for fun—it doesn’t count. It does not count.”
Even as I said it, the sting of that unexpected loss came back, and I bit my lip.
“Ahhh, that makes sense now. That’s why you were so weirdly obsessed with winning back then, huh? Totally adds up.”
Hasumin gave a nod, finally understanding the mystery from her perspective.
We each reacted to that single memory in our own completely different way.
“Well… you know, back in Orphermaus, I fought in situations where losing just wasn’t an option. So maybe that carried over. Even here, I couldn’t let go of that need to win.”
“Mmm, yeah, I get it.”
“But losing to Hasumin at the festival helped me shift my mindset. When the sports festival rolled around, I could actually enjoy it like a celebration instead of obsessing over winning. So yeah, in a way, that loss was a really good thing for me. Thanks to it, I was finally able to set down the weight of being the ‘hero who can never lose.’”
“Um, Hero-sama? That’s a really, really nice thing to say, but when you say it with that frustrated face and speak at lightning speed, it just sounds like sour grapes.”
“It’s not sour grapes!”
“Oh no, Shuhei-kun just regressed into a toddler.”
“Wow, how long has it been since Hero-sama acted this childish? That loss must’ve stung more than we thought.”
“Grrr…! Enough already, okay? This whole topic is officially done. It’s utterly unproductive. I’m a forward-thinking guy now.”
“Sure, sure.”
“Yes, yes.”
Hasumin and Riena exchanged glances—then both broke into soft giggles.
And just like that, we kept chatting and laughing right up until it was time for them to head home.
I’m sure we’ve got a lot more coming our way.
Maybe even more incidents involving other worlds.
But I’ve got Hasumin, the person I love most, right by my side. And Riena’s here too, always ready to lend a hand.
Most of all, I’m still the one who saved the other world—Orphermaus’s one and only ‘Invincible Hero.’
So really, there’s nothing to worry about.
My second life as a student, interrupted by Demon King Kanan, is back on track—and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.
Christmas and winter break are just around the corner.
My school life reboot is only just getting started!
(Complete)