I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 7

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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 Flowers for My Cousin — Episode 7
The Fire was larger and hotter than Alex had anticipated, forcing him to retreat a couple of paces.
Still, he could feel the heat radiating outward.
“I think I used too much Mana.”
[No, that was the right amount.]
[For 1st Circle mages, anyway.]
Ibeck examined the enormous ball of flame and Alex’s body with evident curiosity.
[Try it again.]
“Got it. But how do I get rid of this?”
[Think of it as scattering the Mana. Since the fire is made of Mana.]
Following Ibeck’s instructions, as soon as the Mana dispersed, the roaring fireball vanished like smoke.
Alex cast Fire exactly as he had moments before.
“Fire.”
Another large flame appeared before his hand.
[That’s strange.]
[Normally, when 1st Circle mages first learn magic, they waste Mana.]
“Waste it?”
[Well, when you cook for the first time, you don’t know the right amount of ingredients, right? So you waste them.]
[But cooks who are used to cooking use exactly the right amount of ingredients.]
Alex understood what Ibeck meant.
It had been the same when he first tried cooking. He’d eaten it all anyway since he hated wasting ingredients.
“So magic is like cooking?”
[Yeah, that’s right.]
[There’s such a thing as proficiency for a reason.]
[The more you use magic and get accustomed to it, the less Mana you waste and the more efficiently you can use it.]
Ibeck continued.
[But this is your first time using magic.]
[So I, being clever, calculated exactly how much Mana would be wasted and told you.]
[But strangely, there was no wasted Mana at all. Because you used it all without any waste, the Fire appeared that large.]
“Is this also because of talent?”
Since he could move Mana easily thanks to his talent, Alex reasoned it must be the same reason this time.
[No.]
[Even if someone’s a genius at cooking, it’s impossible to make a dish perfectly on the first try without wasting any ingredients, right?]
From the fact that all his examples involved food, Alex could sense just how vast and profound Ibeck’s obsession with eating truly was.
[This is, well, how should I put it.]
[It feels like you’ve been using my magic for over ten years and mastered it.]
“I used your magic?”
Alex was puzzled—he’d never touched magic in his twenty years as a human, nor in his twelve years as a spirit.
[No, I mean it feels that way.]
[Which is why it’s so strange. This is my magic, after all.]
[Magic that doesn’t exist in this world.]
Even Ibeck, an otherworldly Lich who had reached the pinnacle of magic, couldn’t fathom why he felt this way.
“It’s not a bad thing, though?”
[It’s actually good.]
[It means you can use my magic efficiently without wasting Mana.]
“Then that’s fine.”
Alex decided not to worry about it as long as it wasn’t a problem.
After all, having an otherworldly Lich inside his body was problem enough.
[I’m curious, though.]
[But we can figure it out slowly.]
Since Ibeck had time to spare, he shelved the matter for now.
“So I just use less Mana to make it smaller?”
[That’s right.]
[Let’s reduce the size this time and create multiple flames.]
Following Ibeck’s instruction, Alex reduced the amount of Mana and cast the spell while focusing on where the magic should appear.
“Fire.”
Three smaller flames materialized before him.
[Good. No wasted Mana again this time either. It’s remarkable.]
[Next, let’s try using Mana at maximum capacity.]
Following Ibeck’s words, Alex channeled all the Mana from the ring and cast the spell.
“Fire!”
More than twenty flames erupted across the backyard.
[Wow. If someone said this was 2nd Circle, even early 3rd Circle, I’d believe them!]
His head had begun to spin slightly as his Mana depleted, but when he applied the Mana Cultivation Method that Ibeck had taught him, his heart began to fill with Mana again.
[And the recovery is fast, too.]
[This is impressive.]
Alex exhaled lightly, gazing at the fires he’d summoned that now filled the backyard.
His decent swordsmanship, the magic Ibeck was teaching him, and the memories of the ‘future’ besides.
With his heart steadied, Alex made his decision.
“We’re leaving.”
No more waiting. They would depart at once.
For Leo’s happiness.
To burn the Demon Race’s schemes and ambitions down to the roots before they could grow any further.
[Leaving? Where to?]
The lich dwelling in his body would prove useful as well.

* * *
Lunchtime.
Alex listened with genuine pleasure as Leo chattered excitedly about playing with his friends, then opened his mouth to speak.
“Leo.”
“Hmm?”
Leo looked up at him with eyes that held his sister’s face and his brother-in-law’s sky-blue gaze.
The face of Leo that Alex had seen whenever he missed his sister and brother-in-law.
But now, even before that, he saw the face of ‘Hero Leo’ — the one who had died to the Demon King in the ‘future’.
That was why Alex had decided to leave, to prevent such a ‘future’ from coming to pass.
He’d been wondering how to convince Leo, when a suitable reason presented itself.
“What if we went to find your mother and father?”
‘Sister, brother-in-law, I’m sorry.’
Though truthfully, he meant to find them too.
Of course, even ‘Hero Leo’ had never managed it, so it would be terribly difficult.
Leo’s eyes widened at Alex’s words.
Mother. Father.
Names he’d only heard in stories from his uncle and the village people,
‘Leo!’
‘Leo.’
The owners of those voices calling his name with such tenderness — voices he could barely, dimly remember.
But their faces, he could not recall. My….
“Mother and… father…?”
At the unfamiliar words he so rarely spoke, Leo’s small heart began to race.
“Yes. You’ve grown so much, and your uncle has become strong too.”
[Oh! We’re going to find Mom and Dad!]
[I’ll help you!]
Alex let Ibeck’s words drift past him as he watched Leo’s face.
“How would you feel about going to find your mother and father?”
“But they said Mom and Dad… were dead.”
Alex’s expression clouded.
The village people wouldn’t speak such things in front of a child — he must have overheard them somewhere.
Though Alex couldn’t blame him for it, since he himself sometimes thought the same thing.
“Yes. But they might still be alive….”
His voice wavered without his meaning it to.
“They might be waiting for you and your uncle, alive somewhere.”
Even after all this time, he missed his sister and brother-in-law. That longing, though faded, was still longing.
Leo listened quietly to his uncle’s words, then looked up at him. In his uncle’s face, alongside the yearning and sorrow he’d seen so many times before, he saw hope for the first time.
And that hope passed to Leo as well.
Leo wanted to see his mother and father just as much as his uncle did.
Even though he couldn’t remember them.
“…I want to go!”
For parents he’d never once called by name.
“I want to find them!”
Leo spoke through tears that suddenly filled his eyes.
“I want to see Mom and Dad too!”
The thought of this child longing for his parents, now about to lose his uncle as well, made Alex’s chest tighten with emotion.
Alex pulled Leo into a firm embrace.
“All right. Let’s go find them.”
In his uncle’s warm arms, Leo cried out—a wail that came from missing his mother and father, from wanting nothing more than to see them again.
As Alex patted the boy’s back,
‘I’ll find them for you, I promise,’
he thought, listening to Ibeck’s own quiet sobs. ‘He doesn’t seem like a rich man at all.’
“We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Alex spoke to Leo, whose eyes were puffy from crying.
“Really? But where are we going, Uncle?”
“First to Lord’s Castle. And then to other countries too.”
“Lord’s Castle! Other countries!”
Leo’s eyes sparkled with wonder.
“That’s why we need to pack. We’ll be traveling by cart, so let’s bring only what we truly need.”
“Okay!”
Leo answered with enthusiasm shining across his face.
‘What a spirited boy.’
‘He’s grown so well.’
Alex smiled warmly at these thoughts about his nephew.
“And you should say goodbye to your friends too.”
“Yep!”
“Won’t you be sad parting with them, Leo?”
“I’ll be sad, but we’ll see each other again!”
Just as Ibeck had said, Leo possessed a true spirit of courage.
“Everyone! I’m going to find my mom and dad!”
And there was no hesitation in him.
He shouted the news as if broadcasting it to the entire village, racing toward his friends.
“You’re going to find your mom and dad?”
The other children blinked at Leo’s words.
“Yes! With my uncle! We’re going to Lord’s Castle and other countries too!”
As Leo spoke with a radiant smile, light seemed to pour from him.
“Wow! Lord’s Castle?!”
“Other countries too? That’s incredible!”
The children envied their friend Leo, unaware of just how long and far he would be traveling.
“Mom! Dad! Leo’s going to find his mom and dad!”
“Leo’s going to Lord’s Castle with Uncle Alex!!”
The news spread quickly throughout the village.
“He’s going to search for Serena and Glick?”
Before long, Alex found himself surrounded by villagers who had heard the news and come to find him.
They still vividly remembered when, eleven years ago, the sixteen-year-old girl Serena and the nine-year-old boy Alex had first settled in this village.
And they remembered Glick, the mercenary Serena had brought when she married him years later.
Whenever they recalled Glick’s stern face brightening with unmistakable joy, smiles still came unbidden.
And when Leo was born.
The sight of Alex and Serena and Glick smiling radiantly had looked truly happy.
So though the villagers’ faces grew worried, none of them tried to stop Alex.
“I had a feeling.”
Mark spoke, looking at Alex—now a grown man of twenty.
“Every time I saw you watching the village entrance, waiting for Serena and Glick, every time I saw you practicing swordplay alone—I always thought the same thing. That one day you would go searching for them.”
Every villager had thought the same whenever they saw the lonely figure of young Leo cradled in Alex’s arms.
At this, Alex let out a quiet laugh.
‘That’s right.’
Before the wolves took his life.
Alex had planned that once Leo grew older, he would set out to find his sister and brother-in-law. That’s why he trained with the sword every day once the farm work was done.
The villagers seemed to know this about him too.
“What about Leo? Is he going with you?”
Alex nodded at the villager’s question.
“Yes. I’m planning to take him with me.”
“That will be difficult.”
Traveling with a six-year-old child wouldn’t be easy, but seeing how unexpectedly grown Alex had become, the villagers offered only their advice.
“Be careful of strangers too, not just monsters.”
“Right. Don’t let yourself get kidnapped!”
“Yes, I will.”
Alex likely understood the dangers beyond the village better than anyone.
“Wait here for just a moment.”
“Yes, stay right there!”
The villagers hurried toward their homes, clearly intending to give Alex something for the journey ahead.
Mark was about to head home himself to gather a few things when Alex stopped him.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“Just say it! Whatever it is!”
Mark answered as if he’d already agreed before hearing what it was. Alex smiled and spoke.
“I’d like to ask you to look after my house.”
Our house.
The house full of memories with Leo.
When Alex finished everything and returned someday, he wanted the house to remain exactly as it was now.
“And please manage the fields together with the villagers too. You can divide all the crops that come in after taxes however you like.”
It was better for the villagers to work the fields than to leave them abandoned.
[Thorough, isn’t he.]
Mark quickly waved his hand.
“Don’t worry about it! I’ll do it anyway!”
“It puts my mind at ease this way.”
When Alex was young and Leo was just a baby, none of this would have been possible without the villagers’ help.
After a few rounds of back-and-forth, Alex ultimately won out.
“But you should pay the rent…”
“It’s fine, really.”
In the meantime.
The villagers came out, each carrying something.
“This is emergency medicine—take it when you’re hurt.”
“This is dried meat.”
“Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”
Before long, Alex’s arms were full of gifts.
“Will you be able to carry all this?”
“What are you planning to ride? It’d be difficult to walk.”
“I’m thinking of buying a cart and a horse.”
At that, Mark, who owned a cart, and the man who owned a horse both shouted loudly.
“Buy? Nothing of the sort!”
“Just take it! No need to pay!”
In the end, Alex managed to acquire a reasonably sized cart and a brown horse to pull it at an incredibly low price.
[This really is a good village.]
Alex laughed in agreement with Ibeck’s words.

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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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