I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Becoming a Hero by Laying Out a Flower Path for My Cousin — Episode 15
“Uncle!!”
As soon as Alex drew near the House by the Lake, Leo’s voice rang out. It seemed the boy had been standing at the door this whole time, waiting for him to arrive.
Thump-thump! Leo came running and wrapped his arms tightly around Alex’s legs, then looked him over with those sky-blue eyes, checking for any sign of injury.
[Lucky I cleaned up on the way back.]
That was certainly true.
He’d wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth from excessive Mana use, and brushed off the scorch marks beforehand—he was glad for the foresight.
“Uncle, are you hurt?”
“Not at all. I’m perfectly fine. Your uncle took care of all those goblins with Magic—zap, zap!”
“Wow!!”
Leo’s eyes sparkled.
“I heard about it! The mage was really strong! A soldier told me—the one Cain went to the Temple with!”
Alex took Leo’s small hand firmly in his and headed toward the Inn.
“Sophia went to the Temple with her mother. To see Cain.”
“And the elder? Matthew?”
“We stayed here with Leo.”
Harron, who had been sitting in a chair outside the Inn with Leo, spoke up. Matthew was beaming.
“Alex asked us to look after Leo!”
“Thank you, elder. I’m grateful, Matthew.”
“I’m the one who’s grateful. Thank you truly, Alex, for saving my son.”
Harron’s rough features were brimming with gratitude.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“I’m fine.”
“Then you’re not hungry?”
Seeing Harron about to lay out a full meal, Alex hastily declined. He’d eaten lunch not long ago.
“Oh, come inside quickly! You must be exhausted!”
“That’s right! Uncle! Rest up!”
Led by Matthew and Leo’s hands, Alex entered the Inn.
The other guests inside, having already heard the news, watched the mage with sparkling eyes.
“Um…”
They started to open their mouths to ask various questions, but fell silent under the sharp stares of Harron and Leo.
[I thought only this cousin was a complete fool for his nephew, but Leo’s the same way about his uncle.]
Though Ibek teased him with a chuckle, Alex felt nothing but joy.
Then, at that moment.
The Inn door burst open.
“Grandfather! Father will be fine in two days! Oh! Uncle Alex!”
It was Sophia.
Beside her stood a woman who appeared to be Sophia’s mother. He noticed her slightly rounded belly.
“Thank you so much! Uncle Alex!!”
Sophia rushed over in a single breath and hugged his legs while crying; Alex bent his knees and held her.
“My dad… you saved him… sniff! I’m so grateful!”
Leo comforted the weeping Sophia while laughing proudly about his uncle.
“Thank you so much for saving my husband.”
Jena, Sophia’s mother who had followed behind, offered her thanks with reddened eyes.
“You’re too kind.”
Alex smiled brightly in reply.
This was simply repayment for the kindness that Sophia’s family had shown him and Leo in both the present and the future.

* * *
“Uncle will be resting on the second floor, so play with Sophia, Leo.”
At Alex’s words, Leo looked up at him.
“Are you really sure?”
“Absolutely sure.”
“Leo! Let’s call the other kids and play Mage!”
“…Okay. I’ll be the mage.”
“I want to be a mage too.”
“Then we can both be mages!”
After sending Leo and Sophia off to play, Alex climbed the stairs to the second-floor room.
He needed to check his condition in a safe place.
[I’ve burned through the Circle’s Mana, and my Mana Circuit took some damage.]
“You won’t be able to use Magic for a few days.”
Ibek, who already knew the state of Alex’s body, spoke matter-of-factly.
“I know.”
“You should be grateful for your talent.”
“Normally, if a First Circle mage had deployed that much Magic, they wouldn’t just be unable to use it for days—they’d never be able to use it again.”
“Actually, wait.”
“You didn’t completely lose your mind, did you?”
“Leo was there.”
Even in the moment consumed by trauma and rage, Alex’s instinct had protected his body.
He wouldn’t push past his limits. Not for Leo’s sake.
“I’ll tell you why tonight.”
If he was going to receive Ibek’s help going forward, it seemed better to tell him everything.
“Understood.”
“Let’s focus on recovery for now.”
A long breath escaped him.
Listening to Ibek’s voice, Alex slowly drew Mana into his body.

* * *
Before long, it was time for dinner.
Harron’s carefully prepared dishes filled the table, and Alex, Leo, and Sophia took their seats.
“Let’s start with the roasted chicken, Alex!”
“Incredible! It’s even glossier than what we had yesterday!”
Listening to Ibek’s voice, Alex carved the roasted chicken and served it onto Leo and Sophia’s plates.
“Uncle, can’t you tell us what happened in the dungeon?”
Leo, chewing the chicken his uncle had given him, spoke with eager anticipation written across his face.
Leo knew well that while a tired uncle couldn’t be pestered, an uncle who’d had a good rest was fair game for whining.
At Leo’s words, Sophia’s eyes sparkled with excitement too.
“Of course you can. Why wouldn’t you be able to?”
Alex smiled and recounted what had happened in the dungeon that day.
“In the end, I threw Magic at the Goblin Shaman and took it down.”
“Leo, isn’t he being modest?”
“Your uncle’s eyes were completely rolled back then.”
Ignoring Ibek’s commentary, Alex finished his story.
Wow!
Leo and Sophia, and even Matthew and Harron, along with the other guests who’d begun listening in, let out exclamations of wonder.
“Uncle Alex, can you show us some Magic?”
“Sophia!”
Harron quickly called out to Sophia. As she pouted, Leo quickly spoke up.
“I want to see it too!”
Uncle had shown them something during the day, but it’d been far too brief.
“It’s difficult right now. I’ve used so much Magic that I’m low on Mana.”
Alex replied with a smile.
“If you don’t have Mana, you can’t use Magic, Uncle?”
“That’s right. Just like you have no strength when you’re hungry, you can’t use Magic without Mana.”
“Oh, I see!”
Alex added, seeing the children’s disappointment.
“In a few days I’ll be fine again, so I’ll show you then.”
“Really?!”
“That’s wonderful!”
Matthew’s eyes lit up at the children’s cheers. Harron sent a look of apology, but Alex laughed warmly.
After finishing dinner that way, Alex and Leo headed upstairs to their room.
“Thank you for saving Sophia’s father, Uncle.”
Leo, freshly bathed and buried in his soft blanket, spoke the words. Alex, lying beside him, patted Leo’s belly gently.
“He’s your friend’s father. When your friend is sad, you’re sad too, aren’t you?”
“That’s true. But if you get hurt, I’ll be even sadder.”
“Such a kind nephew!”
At Ibek’s words, Alex wore a proud expression.
“You worried a lot, didn’t you? Thank you for believing in me and waiting.”
“It’s okay! You said you’d always be by my side!”
Alex forced a smile at the sight of Leo’s eyes, so full of trust and affection.
The Alex from that ‘future’ had failed to keep that promise, having been killed by a wolf.
“Right. I’ll always be by your side.”
From now on, I promise.
No matter what happens.
By the time Alex finished patting Leo gently, the boy had drifted off to sleep.
Alex was a little tired too, but had no intention of sleeping just yet.
The moment Alex rose from the bed, Ibek startled.
[Training already?!]
[Can’t you rest today?]
[Rest is training too, Alex.]
“I’m not training. You said you’d tell me something earlier, remember?”
[Oh, right?]
Alex sat down at a chair before the table by the window and finally told the story he could never share with anyone.
“The truth is… I—”
[You regressed?]
At Ibek’s words, Alex’s eyes went wide.
“…How did you know?”
[You were making it so obvious. How could I not notice?]
[At first, the main candidates were a Regressor, a Vessel, or a Reincarnate. Regression, Possession, and Reincarnation are the basics!]
Ibek explained, sounding oddly excited.
[First, it couldn’t be a Vessel because you care too much about Leo. You could be kind to a child you didn’t know, sure, but you’d never love them like family the way you do—unless you actually are family!]
[So Vessel is ruled out!]
Faced with this avalanche of reasoning, Alex felt dazed.
[Second: Reincarnate.]
[If you had memories from childhood, you’d definitely be capable of loving Leo like that.]
[But a true Reincarnate would be missing a certain uniqueness. A real Reincarnate would unconsciously mention or even create artifacts from their past world without realizing it!]
[So Reincarnate is also ruled out!]
Alex couldn’t make sense of a single word.
[And finally: Regressor!]
Hearing something that concerned him directly, Alex sharpened his focus.
[At first, I thought it was strange that a simple farmer knew about Liches and Life Vessels. Well, someone who loves Magic could know about those things, I suppose.]
[But when you heard the word ‘Lich,’ you said ‘Let’s die.’ That’s not something an ordinary farmer would say. Normally people say ‘Please save me,’ right?]
Oh.
[Then there was the part about learning Swordsmanship. What business would a simple farmer have learning not just Magic, but Swordsmanship too?]
[You must have something you need to do in the future!]
Hmm.
[And there’s also the fact that you’d witnessed a mage in training. A common farmer meeting a mage? And one in the middle of training, no less? Most people don’t get to see that kind of thing.]
Right.
[And then the Swordsmanship. At first I thought you were clumsy, but then you suddenly became skilled? Except your body couldn’t keep up with what your mind knew.]
[Your head understood the technique, but your body hadn’t caught up yet.]
…
[The most important thing was that you knew information no one else could possibly know!]
[Like telling the village chief it would snow heavily, and that the South Gate Dungeon is a Corrupted Dungeon where Demons would appear.]
[Information from the future, right?]
Even setting aside the information from that ‘future’ he’d mentioned last, the other details had apparently been revealing enough.
“Yeah.”
Alex scratched his cheek and nodded.
“I came back from the future to the past.”
[Ohhh!]
[A Regressor! How fascinating!]
[But how did you even regress?]
[Did the world really end or something?]
Alex let out a heavy breath.
“Yeah. The world ended.”
[Oh my.]
[Please, accept my condolences for the… world.]
[Wait, but if the world ends later, what happens to me?]
“You’ll die with me, obviously.”
[Well, dying is inevitable anyway… but how many years from now does this happen?]
“Twelve years.”
That’s too short!
Ibek asked, startled.
Why is the world being destroyed?
“The Demon King and his demons invaded.”
Demons! So there must be a Hero too, then?
“There is. A magnificent one, actually.”
Wait—were you the Hero, Alex? Singing your own praises?
“No.”
Alex glanced toward the back of the room.
A six-year-old Leo, sleeping peacefully on the bed with soft, rhythmic breathing.
“Leo was the Hero.”
That suits him perfectly!
When he grows up, he’ll make such a splendid Hero! He’ll be popular too!
At Ibek’s words, Alex smiled, picturing the noble and handsome ‘Hero Leo’ he remembered.
“That’s right.”
But why didn’t Leo Regress? Why did you instead?
Were you chosen from among the Hero’s companions as the one most suited to going back to the past?
At that question, Alex laughed bitterly.
“I wasn’t the Hero’s companion. I was just… a useless Ghost that followed along.”
A Ghost?
“Yes. I died long ago. Do you remember when we first met?”
Ah, the wolves?
“Right. Before the Regression, I didn’t discover you in time and died to the wolves instead. Then I became a Ghost.”
Alex recalled the past.
It had been only days ago, yet it felt like something from a distant time, because the present was so happy.
“I was a Ghost that no one could hear, see, or touch. Even the God of the Realm couldn’t perceive me. A god ought to sense every being in their own world, yet even he did not.”
Neither the God of the Realm, nor the Demon King, nor the Hero—none of them were aware that Ghost-Alex existed.
That’s truly tragic.
But how did you manage to Regress?
“I don’t know either.”
Alex continued, his face darkening.
“Leo was fighting the Demon King. For the first time in all my uselessness, I managed to block one of the Demon King’s attacks, but… it wasn’t enough. Leo was struck instead… and in the end, he died.”
Leo died?
Our Leo!?
Ibek didn’t know when Leo had become “ours,” but the spirit’s shock made even Alex’s eyes redden.
“And then the Demon King departed for the last city, and while I was beside Leo, I suddenly Regressed.”
Leo died…
Ibek murmured as if choked, then asked again.
But suddenly? Just like that?
A god or your companions didn’t send you back?
“No. I did hear a voice just before the Regression, but it wasn’t the God of the Realm’s voice.”
A voice? Oh, is that what you asked me about?
Ibek recalled what Alex had asked a few nights before.
“Stone, grab it,” wasn’t it?
“That’s right. And it sounded more like your voice, actually.”
Hm?
Ibek tilted his head, confused, and pressed on.
But how are you going to defeat a Demon King that even the Hero couldn’t overcome?
“I’ll do everything I can based on what I know of the future. Since this is twelve years before the invasion, we should still be in the early stages of their plans.”
Alex spoke with quiet conviction.
“If you’re willing, I’d like your help too, Ibek.”
Of course!
For the sake of our Leo’s Flower Path, I’ll help however I can!
The tone was light, but the emotion transmitted through the spirit bond was unmistakably true. Alex felt his shoulders lighten as if he’d gained a reliable ally.
“But what does Flower Path mean exactly? A path made of flowers?”
When you walk a path of flowers, doesn’t it feel good?
It’s a wish that the future of whoever walks that path will be beautiful, peaceful, and filled with only good things.
“Flower Path… Flower Path…”
Alex murmured softly, then broke into a bright smile of satisfaction.
“I like that. Leo’s Flower Path.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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