Era of Heroic Spirits: I Was Exposed by Alaya

Dammit, why would Alaya do something like this?

Souma stopped in his tracks, feeling a dull ache in his liver.

He had originally been just an ordinary otaku, living in a world without heroic spirits.

Then he accidentally crossed over into a world where heroic spirits existed.

Back then, he was just a regular student who, on a whim, went to donate blood for free.

After donating, as Souma was about to head home with the carton of milk they gave him, he never expected to be chosen as a Master.

Becoming a Master was one thing—there were still forty-seven candidates ahead of him, so it shouldn't have been his turn.

But then, that Grand Order bomber Lev, with a single explosion, took out all forty-seven Masters ahead of him.

Leaving him as humanity's only Master!

It was all fate's arrangement—

Screw that! It was clearly Alaya trying to make things difficult for him!

From then on, Souma was forced onto the path of saving the world, becoming a savior against his will.

He walked through human history, helping heroic spirits follow the correct course of events.

He even wondered if he'd been turned into some kind of cheat-code grandpa, there to give those heroic spirits a power boost!

From Uruk to Britain, to the lands of his homeland.

From the age when gods and humans coexisted, to the modern era where mystery gradually faded.

Every historical scene, every singularity bore traces of his battles.

The endless fighting had long since worn him down to the bone.

But all that was in the past now.

After completing his mission to safeguard human order, he returned to Fuyuki City, where it all began, to settle down.

From then on,

Everything returned to ordinary daily life.

Now he was 17 years old, unmarried, attending school in Academy City.

He made sure to be home by 8 PM at the latest every day.

After helping Roya with her homework, he'd drink a glass of warm milk before bed,

Do some push-ups and stretching exercises.

Only after completely relaxing his body would he go to sleep, ensuring he slept soundly until morning.

He never carried fatigue or stress into the next day, and everyone around him said he was the picture of health.

So why did Alaya post this edited video?

He stared at the golden-haired girl in the video, countless memories flooding his mind.

"Nameless Heroic Spirit" had been his codename.

A faceless hero who walked in darkness, silently saving the world—it had seemed incredibly cool to his middle-school self back then.

Those cringeworthy chuunibyou days were somewhat hard to look back on.

Jeanne d'Arc had been the first target of his Human Order Preservation mission.

When she refused salvation, choosing death to awaken the ignorant masses of France...

Souma had deliberately chosen to experience the burning at the stake with her, just for a dramatic exit.

Seeing this scene now filled him with the shame of public humiliation—being watched and commented on by countless people!

Damn it!

He'd already fulfilled his mission of preserving the Human Order. Now he just wanted to live as an ordinary high school student—why disturb his peaceful daily life?

Alaya had definitely done this on purpose, editing and exposing everything like this. Damn it!

After Souma sacrificed his own spiritual foundation to reboot the world, it had effectively erased his presence.

Wiped from the memories of all humans and heroic spirits, he'd become a truly "Nameless Heroic Spirit."

But now...

By releasing this video, Alaya had restored his "existence"—which meant it would reawaken the lost memories of those who once knew him!

If Alaya kept releasing more videos, it was only a matter of time before all the Heroic Spirits remembered him and came to settle their debts.

Those strange, countless grudges—just thinking about them gave him a headache.

At that moment.

His friend beside him was eyeing him suspiciously up and down.

The young man had short black hair, blue eyes, and wore black-rimmed glasses, appearing tall and slender.

This was Julian Ainsworth.

"What are you staring at? I don't swing that way!" Souma snapped irritably.

This guy should have been his enemy, but now they were the best of friends—a twisted fate, really.

Julian tilted his head slightly. "I can't help but feel like you resemble that Nameless Heroic Spirit in the video a little."

"Then hurry up and worship me!"

Souma admitted it outright.

However.

Most of the time, even when you tell the truth, people won't believe you.

Julian adjusted his glasses. "Mortal intellect. With your otaku lifestyle, if you could become a Heroic Spirit, then I'd already be invincible."

"Tch, suit yourself. Don't come crying to me later." Souma didn't bother explaining further.

This was a little trick of his.

The more openly you acted, the less likely others were to suspect you.

Right now, the only question was—

Had Jeanne d'Arc remembered everything they'd been through together after watching the video?

If she had, who knew what she might do…

Just then.

Julian suddenly spoke up in surprise. "It seems the French government is about to issue an official response to the video!"

"That fast?"

Souma was slightly taken aback.

The video had been up for less than two hours. Given how lazy Europeans were, they should've taken at least a few days.

Could it be… that the Emperor of France had truly remembered everything?

...

Palace of Versailles.

Originally, the French presidential residence was the Élysée Palace.

But after the arrival of the Holy Maiden Jeanne d'Arc, she had forcefully taken over Versailles, turning it into her imperial palace.

With a 99% approval rating, no one dared to argue with Her Majesty.

Inside the opulent palace.

Her Majesty wore a pitch-black cloak, her silver-gray hair adorned with a horseshoe-shaped ornament.

Her amber eyes swept aimlessly across the assembly below.

The once-noisy parliament members now only dared to whisper under her gaze.

Even stealing a glance at her filled them with nothing but reverence and awe.

Twelve holy knights—men and women alike—stood solemnly on either side of her, clad in white-gold armor.

Except.

One knight stood out like a sore thumb.

A petite, adorable, and impossibly perfect pink-haired "girl."

While everyone else maintained a grave demeanor, "she" hid in the shadow of another knight, sneakily pulling out "her" phone—likely scrolling through videos.

This was Astolfo—affectionately known as "Asto"!

One of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins, a famously beautiful man.

Though perhaps too beautiful.

Astolfo stared at the video title, his cute face full of astonishment. "This is… a video about Her Majesty?"

A story of the Holy Maiden Jeanne d'Arc and a Nameless Heroic Spirit—

[Chronicle of the Nameless Heroic Spirit!]

[Your name may be forgotten by history, but your deeds will echo through eternity!]

"I'll just take a peek!"

Astolfo stole a glance at Her Majesty before tapping on the video.

And then.

He watched it all the way to the end!

In the video, a young and powerless Holy Maiden was saved by that mighty, Nameless Heroic Spirit.

The two fought side by side, leading France to victory.

But.

The French betrayed the Maiden, sending her to the stake!

That nameless heroic spirit was actually willing to die with her.

Countless people were spamming comments about romantic love and such.

But Astolfo only felt an endless chill creeping over him.

Something terrible was happening!

How dare these people fabricate gossip about Her Majesty!

Given Her Majesty's iron-fisted methods, weren't they practically begging for death?

On the throne, the Dark Maiden calmly looked at him: "Astolfo, what are you watching?"

"I-I'm watching... a little video," Astolfo replied weakly.

With unquestionable authority, she commanded: "Bring it here, let me see!"

***

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