NOVEL WEB Chapter 1
“Ellie, today I’m going to read you a different story from all the fairy tales I’ve read so far.”
“New fairy tale! Yay! Hehe.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
A girl with pink hair tied in braids was snuggled in her mother’s warm embrace.
She is the princess of the Eustetia Duchy.
‘Eliaernes Eustetia’ listened intently to her mother’s gentle voice as she prepared to read.
Ahem.
Elegantly clearing her throat, Eliaernes’s mother, ‘Julie Eustetia’, started reading slowly so that her daughter would not miss any details of the fairy tale.
“400 years ago, four people gathered to defeat a very evil Demon King who descended into this world. They were called Heroes.”
Heroes?
Ellie tilted her head at the unfamiliar word ‘Hero’.
But she didn’t interrupt her mother.
Smart and kind Ellie thought that there would be an explanation of what a Hero was in the story she would hear next.
“What is a Hero? It means those who were chosen by the Holy Relics granted by ‘Yurpia, the Sky God’ who watches over this world and many people.”
Ellie’s expectations were confirmed.
Despite reading many fairy tales, at just 10 years old, Ellie was quite clever and wise. She even had a patience that was unusual for her age.
But, pat-pat—
Her short legs and pink twin-tails shook even more than before.
Yet, Julie found even that adorable, gently tickling Ellie’s hair.
“But not all of them were Heroes. Only some of the four were chosen by the Holy Relics.”
Tit-tat—
Once again, Ellie’s head tilted.
Julie paused for a moment.
Why were they called Heroes if they weren’t?
Her lips moved slightly.
Her cheeks were puffed out.
Her fingers wiggled.
Julie watched with much affection as Ellie, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, exclaimed, “Waa… Mama! If they aren’t Heroes, then why—”
As Ellie’s head whipped around to look at her mother, Julie continued reading.
“Even so, they were all called Heroes, because they were braver and shone more than anyone else.”
“Ah…”
Her eyes sparkled at the mention of bravery and shining.
“Heroes… are awesome…”
Then, she snuggled deeper into Julie’s embrace, repeating the word ‘Hero’ like a mantra in her heart.
And then, she exhaled gugugug-, feeling Julie’s warmth envelop her.
“The first Hero was ‘Paulo Prandis’. Paulo, the second son of a small farm in the Empire’s outskirts, became a Hero after being chosen by the Relic of Humility, the ‘Sacred Sword Humble’.”
Just then, an illustration in the fairy tale book filled Ellie’s view.
It was an unremarkable sword, looking too plain to be a Sacred Sword.
Seeing a sword that seemed easy to find even in a local blacksmith’s shop, Ellie examined the illustration closely, appearing disappointed.
But Ellie was a clever child.
She glanced back and forth between the word ‘Humility’ and the Sacred Sword as if understanding why, and gently caressed the illustration with sparkling eyes.
“Chosen by the Relic of Humility, Paulo was indeed a humble and kind Hero. Those who admired him praised Paulo wherever they went, placing his reputation higher than the stars in the night sky.”
“Higher than the stars in the night sky… wow…”
“The second Hero was Luna, the Saint of the Pranecia Holy Kingdom. Luna was chosen by the Relic of Diligence, the ‘Holy Mark Sacred’.”
The illustration of the Holy Mark Sacred filled Ellie’s view.
The Holy Mark Sacred had no physical form.
It was a mark, resembling a scar— a Holy Mark.
Light, radiating and spreading out.
The symbol of the Sky God Yurpia.
Unlike before, Ellie carefully touched the mark with a pious heart.
“The Saint Luna, chosen by the Relic of Diligence, was incredibly diligent and sincere. No matter which village she went to, she did not shy away from injured people, and despite any hardships she faced, she healed everyone’s wounds with a kind smile.”
Tit-tat?
Ellie tilted her head again.
…Saint Luna of Pranecia?
That name felt quite strange.
“Next. Though not chosen by a Holy Relic, he was braver than anyone else and constantly opened paths for the Hero Paulo, the Weapon Master.”
Weapon Master.
The moment Ellie heard those words.
Her face turned pale.
Pat-pat – Ellie’s shaking legs and twin-tails suddenly froze.
Her previously smiling cheeks stiffened.
Ellie.
She knew that name.
Though he hadn’t been chosen by the Holy Relics, he stood proud, one step ahead of any Hero, pouring his all into his battles.
The Weapon Master.
His name was—
Ronan.
Ronan Luzarack.
“Arisa Eustetia.”
“…Huh? U, Eustetia? Mama! Eustetia is our family name—”
“And the last Hero.”
“Wha?”
Ellie constantly tilted her head at Julie’s unbroken flow of words.
Wait, hold on?
What was that? What? What was it?
Huh…? What did Mama just say?
Mama? What’s that, no, hold on.
Arisa Eustetia?
My name is Eliaernes Eustetia, right?
Same Eustetia?
Plus, Weapon Master Arisa?
“Among the four Heroes, the most violent and impatient. He was narrow-minded and selfish, easily angered, and received endless criticism and persecution, yet he refused to bow his head. The world mocked him simply for being a Martial Artist, but he always stood proudly. He was the strongest Martial Artist. His name is—”
Martial Artist. Martial Artist. Martial Artist. Chimpanzee.
Ellie was very familiar with that chimpanzee’s name. But it didn’t roll off her tongue.
She had called her chimpanzee instead of by her name.
Still, she hadn’t forgotten that name.
She couldn’t forget it.
Her comrade for 14 years.
She heard that name just moments ago.
That Martial Artist.
No, the name of the chimpanzee was—
Arisa Eustetia.
“Ronan Luzarack. Soon, Ronan, the Martial Artist.”
What?
What??
What???
“M-Mu… Mu-mumu, Martial Artist Ronan?!”
“Oh, Ellie? Why all of a sudden—”
“Ugh, agh… N-No, no, noooo!”
Upon hearing ‘Martial Artist Ronan’, Ellie began to screech chirp-chirp- and twisted her body, only to feel a crack in the nerves at the back of her neck.
“I’m not a chimpanzee…”
And just like that, she lost consciousness.
*
I opened my eyes.
A pink canopy filled my view, greeted by a pink ceiling that I could never get used to.
“…Ah.”
A tiny voice slipped through my slightly parted lips.
A delicate and lovely voice.
“Damn it…”
I let out a heavy curse.
It didn’t fit.
It didn’t fit at all.
It couldn’t be helped.
This body, this voice, belonged to a mere 10-year-old child.
Chubby cheeks and a short stature.
The voice of an incredibly adorable girl.
“Ha…”
I gathered my thoughts as I sat up straight.
First, let’s go back to the moment before my death.
We killed four of the seven Legion Commanders, only to find out that the Demon King’s seal had been broken for some reason.
So, on our way to defeat that Demon King, our comrade, the Mage Kaloso, betrayed us.
To make matters worse, he shot a spell at the chimpanzee, Arisa.
Arisa, who was bandaging my wounds at that time, didn’t see it.
What happens then? I’d just get hit and die.
If Luna, Paulo, and I had been facing forward, we would have easily blocked it, but Arisa, who had her back turned, couldn’t do anything.
So, I pushed the chimpanzee aside and took the hit instead.
Actually, I had tried to block it, but my stance was unsteady, and my condition was terrible, so I ended up getting hit.
Still, even with that, Luna’s divine power could usually heal me, but that cursed spell filled with dark magic was utterly hopeless.
So I died.
And.
And.
And…
Now I’ve returned.
Sucking on a squishy pacifier.
Giggling at the mobile hanging from the ceiling.
Wearing a frilly dress and adorable twin-tails.
As a lovely little daughter, I had spent a decade charming the whole world.
Mama… no, damn it.
Mother. Cradled in Julie’s embrace, listening to her read a fairy tale, I fainted.
And upon awakening, read the fairy tale again to faint once more.
Opening my eyes, reading, fainting.
Opening my eyes, reading, fainting.
I repeated this cycle four times in a row upon seeing the words Martial Artist Ronan, until finally, in Papa’s Study, or rather, ugh!
Father, Turius’s study, I read various types of books and materials, regaining all my memories.
Thanks to that, I understood the situation I was in.
I was.
A member of the Hero party fated to defeat the Demon King.
In the eyes of the world, I was called the Weapon Master.
I, Ronan Luzarack, was—
The only heir of the Eustetia Duchy.
Known by everyone in the family as Ellie.
As Eliaernes Eustetia.
And the descendant of the chimpanzee.
Arisa Eustetia.
I had been reincarnated.
…Yeah.
Reincarnated as a girl?
After giving a hundred, a thousand, a ten thousand allowances for that, fine.
But—
Why, in front of my name.
Why is there ‘Martial Artist’ before the name ‘Ronan Luzarack’?
Why am I a chimpanzee?
Moreover, why on earth am I the descendant of that chimpanzee?
At the very least, I could deal with being a descendant of Paulo or Luna… both options suck.
And another thing!
Why did that ridiculous and slanderous story turn into a fairy tale? Huh?
Moreover, the part about that bastard Kaloso betraying us is completely left out.
Of course, it was content unsuitable for a children’s fairy tale.
But still, it doesn’t make sense.
‘Martial Artist’—
No, the chimpanzee was Arisa.
That dense, kind-hearted girl had been the Martial Artist.
But I—
Ronan was the Weapon Master.
So why…?
Who the hell wrote such a ridiculous fairy tale? I’ll find them.
Find them and I—
What can I even do…?
With this squishy palm and this cute appearance, what can I do…?
Especially given that it’s a story from 400 years ago.
The world must already know it well.
The bastard who originally wrote that fairy tale is probably already dead.
“Ha…”
I turned my head back painfully as a throbbing headache emerged.
There, in the mirror was a reflection.
The mirror reflects an adorable girl.
In that mirror, the girl wore a bright lavender dress.
Trembling slightly with her disheveled pink hair.
Her wide-open eyes were moist with more vibrance than cherry blossoms.
Her tiny lips, too small to fit even a little strawberry in, were chewing on her own hair.
“Ptooey, ptooey.”
She was cute.
Way too cute.
So annoyingly cute.
So cute I could just bite her to death.
Ah, I’m angry.
I’m really, really angry.
“Hahaha… Huh, hic, huh…”
I brushed my face with small hands that might just struggle to grip a sword properly.
Tears began to well in my eyes.
My cheeks were puffy.
And my palms were soft.