Marvelous! What a great ruler! Truly, I could not have chosen a better master!
Or so I thought. Only then I poked around some more myself and noticed the shady character scurrying around in Ariel’s shadow. That somebody was Rudeus Greyrat. It didn’t take me long to work out that he was a follower of the Dragon God—Ariel was happy to tell me the whole story. She said that Dragon God Orsted was supporting her.
I’d heard of Dragon God Orsted’s unsavory reputation. One person said he’d stabbed an ally of theirs through the heart without warning. Another said he’d suddenly pushed them off a cliff. Another, that he’d snatched the prize they were after out from under their nose. Yet another, that he’d stolen a magic item they’d just gotten their hands on. I don’t usually pay much heed to reports from onlookers, but every story I chanced upon repeated his misdeeds.
I have had the privilege of being in the presence of the individual in question on one occasion… Just one look at him struck fear into my heart. The Dragon God and the North God are sworn allies, and the bond of friendship between North God Kalman and Dragon God Urupen will never be broken. It was unthinkable that I should feel fear towards the man who bore the name of Dragon God, even as I was grateful to him. On the contrary, I wanted to nurture a friendship with this generation’s Dragon God. Yet I felt fear.
I speculated that perhaps it was a curse—a curse that made everyone who saw him fear him… It wasn’t until later that I learned I was right, but that is a story for another time. Because of that heavy curse, this was the first time I’d encountered anyone who served him. This Rudeus Greyrat… You want to know my first impression of him? Well, all right. I thought he looked weak. There was cleverness in him too, but it was more base cunning than intelligence. He seemed trivial. After what Queen Ariel and Ghislaine had told me, I’d expected someone impressive, but in person, he was fully mundane.
Despite that, he didn’t strike me as the type of weasel you’ll often find toadying up to great warriors or people in power. The contrast between the man and the esteem he inspired intrigued me, and I wondered if he might actually turn out to be hero material. As such, when Queen Ariel sent me to be his backup, I eagerly accepted the task.
Then I took part in a thrilling battle, one that featured the Abyssal King, the Ogre God, the Sword God, and my own son, North God Kalman III. It began with schemes smoldering, then exploding into open conflict… It was just like one of the battles from when I’d been trying to be a hero. Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to find a fiery battle like that one in the modern day. It was on the level of the battles I’d fought in the past.
Little did I know there was far more to it than even that.
Enter the Fighting God. The ultimate being who, long, long before the Laplace War, had ended the Second Great Human-Demon War. I’d never imagined that he’d turn out to be Uncle Badigadi, but thinking about it, it wasn’t out of character. That musclehead was always acting like there was more to him than met the eye. My mother used to say, “Badi puts on a smart guy act but he’s really a moron.” Isn’t it the opposite? I’d thought. Isn’t he putting on a moron act? Don’t people think you’re an idiot because you get this sort of thing backward? But now that we’d come to this juncture, I sort of got where she was coming from. A moron pretending to be clever—yes. That was fair.
In any case, back to Fighting God Badigadi. If the legends were true, he was the ultimate being, wreaking havoc during the Second Great Human-Demon War and entrenching his position as Number Three of the Seven Great Powers.
Facing him down, I thought, I really never did have what it took to be a hero.
You see, no legendary being like him had ever made an appearance in my tale. There’d been challenging opponents, of course, and others whose strength had impressed me. I’d held them in esteem. But after I picked up the magic sword, I’d never found another opponent who outclassed me. It wasn’t until I’d set down the sword, my name, and my title, not until I’d given up on being the protagonist of my own story and committed myself to someone else’s fight as a side character, that a legendary opponent finally appeared. Maybe Rudeus Greyrat was hero material. He probably wouldn’t like me saying it, but that’s what it’s like for heroes. They encounter the enemies they’re meant to defeat.
And I encountered ones destined to defeat me.
“Things never turn out how you’d like…” I muttered. In my hands now wasn’t a magic sword, but an unremarkable staff. You couldn’t ask for a weapon more unfit for going toe to toe with the Fighting God. It wouldn’t even make a good scene for the heroic epic that would be written later.
“Fwahahaha! Such is the nature of life and death!”
“That doesn’t carry much weight, coming from you.”
“Fie! Nothing in my life has turned out as I would have liked it!”
“Is that right? Please, do tell me. I’m riveted.” Back when I’d been trying to be a hero, I hadn’t gone in for banter like this. I’d become a side character. Even when their goal is simply to buy time, a legendary warrior strives for it as best they can. Badigadi was the Wise Demon King. Contrary to his appearance, he was very learned, and he liked to impart his knowledge to people. Saying I was interested should have been enough to get him talking.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. The monkey-faced demon at his side interrupted our conversation.
“We ain’t got that sorta time. C’mon, bud, stomp this guy already and head after the boss.”
I had the feeling I’d seen his face before, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember where. I didn’t sense any threat in the way he held himself. He didn’t seem all that important. In his face, though, I saw extraordinary resolve. That wasn’t so surprising, given he’d accompanied the Fighting God into battle.
“Fwahahaha! Very well! But this fellow here, he’s a former hero and he’s got an ardent following across the world. You can’t just treat him like riff-raff.”
“I know that, jeez. Only I know another thing too, pal. The chances of North God Kalman II beating Fighting God Badigadi in this fight? They’re pretty close to zilch.”
“Oho! Zilch, is it?”
“Look, I know how this goes. The silver-tongued North God’s gonna have you twisted round his little finger if you let him talk.”
“Fwahahaha! Never in my wildest dreams would be taken in by the likes of Alex!”
“Big talk from a guy what got taken in by the likes of me.”
“There’s no ‘likes of’ about it. I’d take you and your resolve a thousand times over a wishy-washy good-for-naught who ran around kicking up a fuss about how he was going to be a hero until he ran into a setback, dropped the idea, and settled for a bit part.”
The Fighting God turned back to me. My plan had failed… It hurt a little that Uncle Badi thought of me as a “good-for-naught,” I admit. I liked to think I’d put some consideration into where I was now.
But more importantly, perhaps this meant that the monkey-faced demon had made a serious effort to woo my uncle. That must be Geese. I’d better watch out for him. He was the man Rudeus Greyrat had been hunting for, after all.
“Fwahaha! Then prepare yourself!” Suddenly, the golden armor lurched toward me with ferocious power. I hadn’t felt such raw might since I faced off against the King Dragon Blade Kajakut—back before I had the magic sword.
This could well be my final fight. I might have been wanting for strength, but life was giving me a worthy rival. It was time to fight and let fate decide who I was.
“Come on then!” I bellowed, facing down Badigadi. “I, Alex Rybak, North God Kalman II, shall be your opponent!”