My eyelids felt faintly warm. When I slowly opened my eyes, a clear blue sky stretched out before me.
I thought it might be heaven or Valhalla, but something seemed off. A gentle breeze blew softly, carrying a nostalgic scent.
"...It smells like burning fields."
Thinking I'd smelled this often back home, I sat up. It seemed I'd been sleeping on a grassy plain, but... huh? I'm not wearing armor. I'm wearing the hemp cloth clothes (Defense +2) I always wore back home?
"Is this... my village?"
Though confused, I stood up and looked around. There was Tom's house, old woman Kaede's house, and the village chief's house. There was a sheep pen, and the familiar windmill. It really was my hometown. No specialties, no tourist attractions. Its only feature was how peaceful it was. Even when the world was being dyed in darkness, the villagers were laid-back.
I used to find it boring. After traveling, I understand what it's worth.
"Travel... travel? That's right, I was traveling the world!"
I ran to a nearby stream. The water's surface reflected me from before I set out, and my face twisted.
"Eh? What does this mean?"
I-I don't understand... I thought I'd traveled the world as a hero and defeated the Demon King, only to be dragged down with him, and thought I'd died.
"...Was everything up until now a dream?"
Being worshipped as a hero is such a convenient dream.
...Is it a convenient dream, though? Every day spent with my stomach in knots, trying not to buckle under the pressure of meeting everyone's expectations. Days with no freedom, where my human rights were practically nonexistent. That's nothing but a nightmare.
Besides, I can vividly remember the sensation of dying. The searing pain like my skin was being peeled off, and the sensation of heat being drained away... Heat?
"Whoa, th-that's hot!?"
My chest grew hot as if a branding iron had been pressed to it, so I frantically fumbled at it. The cause was a pendant set with a purple gemstone.
I dangled the pendant from my hand and observed it. The center of the gemstone writhed as if swirling. It seemed I'd been wearing it around my neck, but this was definitely...
"Definitely Twin Wing Circulation, right?"
A secret treasure that exists only one in the world. A gemstone passed down through the royal family for generations, said to hold the effect of [making misfortune never have happened when one faces death] or something like that.
"Misfortune never having happened... Could it be that the gemstone's effect activated?"
Did the world rewind to before I died because I died?
Holding up the gemstone radiating strong light, I looked back on the events before the final battle. As I headed to my death, the princess handed me the pendant with teary eyes.
'Hero, this pendant.'
'What is this?'
'Twin Wing Circulation... A secret treasure passed down through the royal family for generations. Apparently, when its owner faces death, it makes misfortune never have happened.'
I said I couldn't accept such an extravagant item, but...
'I cannot be by your side.'
'Princess...'
'I hear that pure feelings activate the gemstone's power. Please, think of this gemstone as me, and accept it, Hero.'
The princess had eyes that believed without doubt that our love would activate the power.
Sorry, Princess. A vulgar wish set it off.
It seems it activated from [I want to build a harem and spend every day just shaking my hips1].
Hahaha! I can only laugh at myself!
Or rather, I don't think there was any love between me and the princess. Call me trash or heartless, but we barely had any contact.
Our first meeting was when my name gradually became known and I was invited to the royal palace, just a brief glance exchanged there. The next time we met was when I became a hero in both name and reality. The princess treated me like a fiancé from childhood and kept sending me passionate words.
...Honestly, fear was stronger than bewilderment. What was scariest was that the king, the ministers, and the guards all acted like it was natural, and there was even an atmosphere of 'after defeating the Demon King, it's immediate marriage.' No one can understand my terror at having both the outer moat and inner moat erased.
I am sincerely grateful to the princess for the things she saved me from, though.
"Hm?"
The radiance of Twin Wing Circulation faded. It turned dull gray, and then crumbled into ash and scattered in the wind. It seems it was a one-time use item.
With my confused head settling down, I took a breath.
"Phew... I roughly understand the situation. Time rewound to before I set out. Which means Demon King Chronova is still alive..."
Then I have no choice but to defeat him again. If left alone, the world will be dyed in darkness.
Stand up once more as the Holy Hero Haruya Arden, stand up...
"Once more... as a hero...?"
A chill ran down my entire body. I froze as if my very soul had been frozen solid.
The upright hero. The ideal hero everyone demands.
As my name became known, the expectations around me grew, and the burden became more than one person could bear. My companions still urged me to be a hero, the goddess forced a cursed holy armor on me, and my own will had no place anywhere.
"Once more... as a hero..."
I looked around the peaceful village once more. I know I have to protect this peace. Depending on the continent, there were wretched villages too. That kind of thing must never become the norm.
But first of all, why did I return to before I set out?
When facing death, make misfortune never have happened.
Misfortune... huh. Didn't I think the journey as a hero was misfortune?
To begin with, I'm not cut out to be a hero. My reason for setting out was also, 'I want to become famous and be popular with girls. I'm an orphan anyway, so I've got nothing to lose!' It was a completely empty-headed, idiotic reason. But because I had the aptitude, I was eventually elevated to hero...
What was my pure wish, again?
"Build a harem... and spend every day just shaking my hips2..."
Hero or harem. Hero. Hip-shaking. Hero.
Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.
...HELL YEAH!
Trivia:
- The Twin Wing Circulation activates from pure feelings, but the narrative hints the definition of pure is whatever the owner genuinely desires, not romantic love, which is why Haruya's harem wish triggered it.
- The pendant turning to ash suggests the treasure is consumed permanently, meaning there is no second safety net for Haruya in this rewinded timeline.
- Haruya's body returning to its pre-journey state, including the Defense +2 clothing, implies the rewind reset his physical growth and gear along with time, not just his memories.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ An onomatopoeic Japanese phrase describing a repetitive hip-thrusting motion, used here as crude slang for sexual activity; the title's wordplay hinges on this versus the word for hero (勇者).
2 ↩ The chapter title is a pun contrasting hero (勇者, yuusha) with hip-shaking (腰へこ, koshiheko), a vulgar gag reflecting the protagonist's choice.
Notes:
• Demon King Chronova - A powerful demon lord who fell from grace while serving Goddess Flora. Attempted to plunge the world into darkness. Bound his soul to the Dark Temple to drag the hero down with him in death. Speaks with archaic, grandiose diction. Ruler of the Dark Temple who wears high priest-like garments. Possesses defensive and offensive magic including Chronowall and Chronosfang. Dignified yet easily flustered, particularly by the intruder's nudity. Values formality and tradition.
• Haruya Arden - Former Holy Hero who defeated the Demon King Chronova and died in a mutual kill, only to awaken back in his home village before his journey began. Resurrected by the Twin Wing Circulation pendant's power, which rewound the world in response to his impure wish. Carries the pendant, now reduced to ash. Deeply traumatized by the pressures and expectations of heroism, he dreads being forced back into the role. His original motivation for adventuring was shallow: to become famous and popular with girls. The Sacred Hero who defeated the Demon King Chronova. Wields the Sacred Armor Flora, a divine armor that only those with pure hearts can wear. Maintains a flawless hero persona through rigorous self-discipline, suppressing his true desires for a harem lifestyle. Has secretly never been with a woman due to constant surveillance and the pressures of his heroic image.
• Haruya - Solo adventurer in the trading city of Gran Neal, formerly the Holy Hero who defeated the Demon King Chronova. Maintains a bronze-rank adventurer status deliberately to avoid responsibility and attention. Slim-built young man in plain breast armor with a longsword and a large hip pouch of adventuring tools. Harbors a singular life goal of losing his virginity at a high-class brothel and building a harem, a dream he loudly declared at guild registration, earning him infamy among female adventurers while being well-liked by male adventurers for his candid lewd talk. Secretly a returnee from death who deliberately destroyed his hero-route reputation.