* * *

When I abruptly struck up a conversation with the Hero, everyone around us sent me curious glances as if to commend my audacity.

It wasn’t surprising; the Adventurers’ Guild was full of people who had tried to get close to the Hero and been ruthlessly rejected.

As soon as the Hero deemed me “a human not even worth acknowledging,” everyone lost interest and turned away.

Predictable.

But did that mean I’d give up?

Not a chance.

The fate of humanity was at stake here!

“Hey, don’t be so cold. We’re not total strangers, are we?”

I mustered every ounce of courage to stop the Hero, who was already prepared to leave me behind.

Honestly, this Hero had an overwhelming presence.

Even without emitting any killing intent, his aura was so intense it prickled my skin.

If I annoyed him even slightly, I had no doubt he could kill me with a mere glance.

That’s probably why everyone else gave up after a couple of words.

Thankfully, I’d gotten somewhat used to the Hero’s presence after traveling together later on.

“I don’t even know your name,” the Hero said, after thinking for about five seconds, throwing the words at me like a stone.

It stung.

Couldn’t he at least pretend to deliberate a bit longer for someone he’d met before?

The Hero’s response, as if to say, ‘how would I know that?’, was frustrating.

But I’d introduced myself already.

It wasn’t like he had bad memory, so forgetting was out of the question.

What could I do?

The person in the wrong had to lower their head.

I forced a bright smile.

“Ah, you’ve been busy lately with all the rampaging monsters, right? I introduced myself last time, but I guess it’s understandable if you forgot. I’m Raul!”

“I don’t intend to remember.”

…What an absolute jerk.

It wasn’t that he was pretending not to know me—he genuinely didn’t care enough to remember.

He hadn’t even tried to remember!

Did he really despise the idea of sparing even a sliver of effort to recall the name of some lowly adventurer who wasn’t even worth his attention?

I knew the Hero disliked people, but this was outright ruthless!

I’m trying to be nice here!

Let’s save humanity together, okay?!

Ugh.

Even as I persisted with a ‘friendly’ approach, the Hero’s sharp aura grew more intense.

What was a mere prickle earlier now felt like needles stabbing my skin.

It wouldn’t surprise me if I accidentally screamed.

I shut my mouth.

Meanwhile, the Hero walked out of the Guild, leaving me behind.

“Still, I managed to get three sentences out of him! That’s progress!”

Heros, a long-time Guild regular, clapped gleefully and laughed.

Ever since some newbie adventurer confessed their love to me—mistaking my awkward attempts at small talk for a romantic connection—Heros had been thoroughly enjoying my misfortunes.

“No matter how many times I tell you that woman newbie only talked to me for information, you don’t listen,” I grumbled.

“But what’s with you cozying up to that monster all of a sudden? You never cared before.”

Well, I didn’t have a reason to push myself onto someone who clearly didn’t like me.

But now I did.

Every second wasted felt like a loss.

“Why do you keep calling him a monster? It’s because of people like you that Zerbin hates humans!”

Granted, the nickname “monster” could be seen as a compliment, given his extraordinary strength.

But more often than not, it was hurled at the Hero by insecure idiots.

Calling the Hero—the one destined to save humanity—a monster was just too much.

“Eh? What are you even talking about?” Heros looked confused as I followed the Hero outside.

Since our interaction had been brief, I caught up quickly.

Thankfully, his intimidating aura had eased slightly.

“You just leave in the middle of a conversation? That’s really cold.”

I knew he’d ditched me on purpose, but I feigned lightheartedness.

The Hero’s aura flickered again, but this time it was manageable.

“You are…”

The Hero’s gaze turned oddly contemplative.

Just seeing his expression shift made my heart skip a beat.

What were they going to say?

Something like, ‘Are you not afraid of me?’

Maybe he’d finally upgrade me from “random adventurer #1” to someone worth noticing.

I dared to hope.

“Do you have nothing better to do?”

My hope was misplaced.

“Talking to you is more important than anything else,” I replied earnestly.

And it was true.

Saving all of humanity was on the line here.

That, and I genuinely didn’t have much else going on.

Unlike the clueless masses going about his busy lives, I knew the Demon King’s invasion was imminent.

No matter how many accomplishments I racked up, it’d all mean nothing if we died.

So I decided to prioritize the most critical task first:

Becoming friends with the Hero.

Introducing the Hero to someone he could fall in love with.

Helping the Hero fall in love.

None of which looked remotely easy.

The Hero stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

At least he didn’t leave me behind this time.

A tiny victory.

Unfortunately, I was at a loss for what to say next.

Heros had been right—at this point in time, I really didn’t care about the Hero personally.

I was someone who believed in spending time with people I liked rather than forcing connections with those who disliked me.

Running into the Hero had always been like passing by a statue: brief and inconsequential.

Now, all of a sudden, I was throwing awkward, burdensome words his way.

Of course, he’d find it absurd.

But if I said, ‘You’ll become the Hero in six months and save the world,’ they’d think I was crazy, right?

I knew better.

“Ah, well. That… uh…”

Wow, I probably looked like an absolute idiot.

I almost wanted him to just walk away and put me out of my misery, but the Hero was still listening intently to my pathetic rambling.

What if he decided my nonsense wasn’t worth the trouble and drew his sword on me?

The thought left me breathless, but for the sake of humanity, I forced myself to keep talking.

“You know, back when you were lying in the forest because you were hungry… The more I think about it, the more human you seemed in that moment.”

“I wasn’t lying down; I was resting.”

You were sprawled out on the forest floor without even a blanket!

Who rests like that?

The Hero firmly corrected me, but I felt wronged.

I’d thought he was dead and was preparing to collect his body when I realized he was breathing.

When he said he was starving, I’d given him every scrap of food I had.

I couldn’t just leave him to die of hunger.

But apparently, he hadn’t even been starving for days.

Just a skipped breakfast and lunch.

He’d only told me that to downplay the situation, but I knew the truth.

For someone so famously wary of others, he’d readily accepted the food I offered.

What if I’d poisoned it?

It must’ve been that desperate.

Rare, but not unheard of.

Some people collapse if they miss meals.

It’s an inconvenient trait for an adventurer, but the Hero overcame it with sheer talent.

Still, I thought it was a surprisingly humanizing moment for the so-called “monster.”

Back then, I even found it a little endearing—at least until he lectured me afterward about how unnecessary my help had been.

He ate it all and then told me that?!

* * *