I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 12: Why Am I Not a Hero?

Ah.

Yes, only such an exclamation could barely break the silence.

The building.

As if it never existed in the first place, the massive building disappeared without a trace, leaving only its foundation.

Aaaahhhhh!

And then, screams erupted amidst it all.

I only realized when I finally came to my senses that only one person, who had just come up from the basement and was outside the range of another inexplicable phenomenon, had barely survived.

What, what?! What the hell happened?! Where are where are the others? Cough!

But before he could fully grasp the situation, she somehow closed the distance and began to look down on him.

Person.

The survivor.

Facing the sole survivor of the completely vanished criminal organization, she smiled in front of him.

Hehe, yes, yes. For now, we need someone to ask.

What what are you? Dont dont come closer huh?

Blood spurted from his flailing hand.

His eyes trembled as he saw the empty space, and a dazed breath escaped his mouth.

My my hand where where did it go?

As if he couldnt feel the pain despite his hand being gone, he was just staring blankly at the empty space.

There, you see.

But she gave no quarters.

Even now, seeming unable to control her emotions, she breathed heavily and pointed her finger elsewhere.

My research, you took it, right? My research, where is it?

What what is? Aaah!

My research, my research

With each mention of research, a limb disappeared.

Next, the side, then the shoulder

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And then, the moment her finger pointed at his head.

Aaah! Stop stop it! The.. the stolen stuff is in the underground, so stop now!

The survivor, left with only his chest and head, screamed in terror.

Is it even appropriate to call him alive now?

With only his mouth remaining open, hes soon to be no different from the corpses in that puddle.

So, i-its in the basement?

She, looking down at the man in such a ghastly state, retracted her interest from the spot with a bitter smile on her lips.

So if I go there, its done, so youre useless now?

What what?

Splash!

As soon as her finger snapped, his head vanished.

The remaining body collapsed with a thud, and soon only silence pervaded the area.

That was the end.

The headquarters of Blood River and all its members

Failed to even become a river of blood, as their name implied, completely erased from this world.

Woah.

She was the only one left in the now empty scene.

Woo Hyo-sung, right? Thats your name, Housekeeper.

Although she mentioned my name, I couldnt grasp the reality of the situation.

Even as I felt my heart beating and the rain from the sky drenching my body.

Sorry, Im not good at remembering peoples names All these guys here looked like bugs to me.

Bugs

Compared to the woman in front of me, I was nothing but a bug.

There was only one difference between me and the still-twitching corpses.

Whether I was remembered by her or not.

Hehehehe. Strange, isnt it? That the name of the Housekeeper sticks in my memory like this

Just that one difference.

It felt so incredibly surreal to me that this one difference could decide life or death in this tragedy that she committed so nonchalantly.

Yeah. Now that its all over lets just take what we need and go back.

I couldnt even process the idea of going back

Right, going back, do I even have such a place to return to?

Stronger than me, countless others died of a phenomenon I couldnt comprehend; was I really allowed to live alone in this place?

Why are you shaking so much?

It was something so indescribable.

Perhaps the emotion known as fear was dominating me, and a realization came through the voice that reached my ears.

I regained my composure not long after that.

Yes, yes?

Your body, its trembling.

Ah, thats. That

Her finger pointed to my hand, and I gripped it with the other, and realized that my hand was still there.

Yes, it hadnt disappeared yet. Not yet.

But it might soon.

If I upset her.

I-its because the weather is cold Hahaha. And its raining too, so thats why.

So, I tried to maintain composure, pretending to act like before.

I had to do that to survive.

Being just a human, to survive in front of a woman who could cause phenomena that even those called heroes might not handle, I had to cater to her whims.

S-so then. W-we should go back now. Yes. Maybe drink some hot tea t-to cool down the body

I scared you, dont I?

She whispered to me in a low voice, facing me.

As if she were unraveling my true feelings that I tried to hide.

Because you cant understand.

She said with half-closed eyes and a faint smile on her lips, encapsulating the emotions I felt towards her at that moment.

Because you cant understand, I scared you, right?

Pitter-patter.

The rain poured.

Despite the cold and pain that should open ones mouth, my frozen lips showed no sign of parting.

Because, as she said, I couldnt understand what happened.

Just pointing a finger to erase a persons head, snapping to wipe out an entire area

I, a mere human, couldnt possibly understand her, who caused such absurd phenomena that cant even be called magic.

Housekeeper, do you know what a witch is?

As I shivered in silence, she began to introduce herself.

A witch, you see, is a race that did terrible things in the past.

A story I didnt know.

What a witch was and what they had done.

So, they were all caught and killed in the past, and I am the only one who inherited that blood, according to the people of the Mage Tower.

But I just now understood the danger they possessed.

Perhaps they posed a threat to humanity greater than demons or vampires, necessitating their complete eradication when the opportunity arose

It doesnt matter. I just want to see my mom again So, Im lending them my power, but theres always some kind of interference from somewhere, isnt there?

Drip, drip.

The blood flowing from the now still corpses was washed away by the rain, fading into obscurity.

Despite this, she pointed her finger at the remaining puddles, expressing her doubt.

Is it because Im trying to achieve a goal that I shouldnt?

Snap!

With the snap of her finger, the remnants disappeared.

All that remained was just an empty lot.

Or is it just because Im a monster that shouldnt be welcomed?

That was the end.

Those who provoked her had disappeared without a trace from this world, a mere inconsequential outcome.

Well, theres no way the Housekeeper would have an answer.

She chuckled and reached her hand out into the air.

Like unzipping something, she moved her fingers and caught something that fell through the split she created.

Here, take this.

What dropped in front of me was a leather pouch.

The gold coins inside were equivalent to what I had earned over the past two years.

No, perhaps even more An amount that could influence a persons life even in such a collapsing world.

Ive given you more as compensation. Youre the first to have helped me to this extent.

But to her, it probably didnt matter.

She wouldnt feel it was a waste nor expect gratitude for the additional help.

But now, it would be too much to ask for us to continue together, wouldnt it?

On her face, there was disappointment, regret

A bitter feeling stemmed from the realization that I, having known her true nature, could no longer stay with her.

Yes, what youve done so far is enough. Its better to end it like this.

With those feelings, she turned her back and began to prepare to leave the place.

A goodbye.

Perhaps a farewell that might last forever, leaving just that as she seemed to end our connection.

W-wait!

My mouth opened before such a farewell was uttered.

Just a moment. Wait! Please, Vivian.

Even though it might provoke her to the point of taking my life, I wanted to say something to her.

Unable to pick up the money pouch dropped on the ground or flee from the spot

N-next time.

I wanted to convey to her words that could not be postponed.

If, towards the walking disaster that a normal human couldnt dare to understand

If, by some chance, I were to encounter her again

If theres a chance next time, could I could I clean your room again?

If a day comes when I, insignificant as I am, could truly stay by her side

Yeah, if theres a chance.

Responding to my words, Vivian moved her hand in the air without looking back at me.

With a voice chilled by the continuing rain

If theres a chance later, lets meet again.

With a promise lacking any concrete assurance, she disappeared from my sight, vanishing without a trace.

That was the end.

I had survived once again.

From a disaster more terrifying than any monster I had faced before, known as a witch.

Disaster?

As these thoughts filled my mind, I grasped my face in a sudden return to rationality, shaking my head.

No, its not a disaster. Just

Before I found out her true nature, she was someone I even wanted to be with.

After that, I felt joy in being someone she could rely on, needing support.

Even after she left, I was willing to pause my steps, not caring about my own life.

Shes just a person, after all.

Because she was one of the few who remembered me and showed kindness towards me.

The desire to stay by the side of such a person remained in a corner of my heart, even now that I knew her true nature.

But I

I just felt a sense of regret.

Because at this moment, I realized how powerless I was as a human.

Why am I?

Simply because of bad luck.

Because I felt disillusioned with this pitiful situation, where I could only feel relief for surviving.

Why am I not a hero?

In a world where you couldnt even muster the courage to speak to a woman you like if you were powerless.

Isnt that truly the worst?

-

The Mage Tower.

A place where all the knowledge humanity in this world had achieved was recorded, and the culmination of research based on it was accumulated.

Entering there was the secret wish of all mages and scholars, and such a perception had even spread beyond these times of humanitys existential crisis.

Indeed, they themselves must be humanitys hope. Thus, to become that hope, they believed anything was permissible.

Among those with such thoughts, even the idea that anyone who hindered them, even if they were the Emperor of the Empire, deserved to disappear existed.

Aaah

However, there was one being that even the leader of such individuals dared not defy.

A woman who had entered the Mage Tower just three minutes ago, destroyed all defense systems, and erased from existence the heads of all the guards she encountered.

Literally erased them.

Not cut, not burned to ashes, but isolated from this world forever.

Tower Master.

Had he not previously retreated from all the defense forces and confronted her himself, the casualties wouldnt have been minimal.

Realizing this while observing the bodies strewn across the towers plaza, his gaze turned to the woman standing amidst the twitching corpses.

Toward the woman looking up at him, standing on the stairs with a pointed hat, like a witch from a fairy tale.

I heard the culprit who ordered the theft of my research is here.

But the words that came from her mouth were anything but kind.

Like a fruit laced with poison, the beginning was not even sweetly deceptive showing that a real-life witch was not a vague entity like in fairy tales.

Speak now.

Vivian Platonis.

The only surviving descendant of the witch hunts from when humanity thrived, and considered the last hope invited by the Mage Tower in the face of humanitys impending doom.

If you dont speak before I find it, Ill erase everything I encounter from now on.

If her demands were not met, humanity would face extinction.

At the hands of a living disaster known as a witch.

Or perhaps by thwarting the salvation, she could bring through humanitys own doing.