I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life… So Why Do Heroes Worship Me?

Morning in the sanctuary began with the scent of freshly steamed buns, the sound of Lynna scolding Zephyr for trying to skip meditation, and Fluff trying to sneakily hide a stolen carrot in Rei's boot.

A normal, peaceful start.

But nothing about today would stay normal for long.

Rei stood near the sapling that had recently sprung from the sanctuary's heart. Its leaves shimmered faintly in the soft breeze, still young but already pulsating with life that felt… different. Ancient, almost.

"Did you feel that last night?" Lynna approached, tying back her hair, eyes narrowed.

Rei nodded. "The pulse?"

"Yes. Something shifted. It wasn't the sanctuary—it was beneath it."

He crouched down, placing a hand on the soil. A gentle warmth pushed back, like something far below had stirred.

"Something's waking up," he muttered.

Zephyr suddenly sprinted over, panting. "There's a glowing rock in the southern field! It's… humming. And I think Fluff tried to eat it."

"I didn't!" Fluff shouted from the distance, guilty and covered in soil.

—

The 'rock' turned out to be a fragment of crystal, half-buried and pulsing with pale gold light. Rei dug around it carefully, exposing a small sliver of a rune-etched surface—clearly not natural.

Ellyn gasped. "This is old. Older than the sanctuary. Look at the script—this is precursor language. Pre-Magefall."

Lynna's eyes narrowed. "So something was buried here long before Rei arrived."

He traced the edge of the rune, and the moment his finger touched a particular line, the crystal let out a low hum—and projected a flicker of a map in the air.

Everyone stared.

"It's showing locations…" Ellyn whispered.

"Treasure," Fluff said, drooling.

"No," Rei said softly, narrowing his eyes. "It's showing what remains."

—

Meanwhile, far beyond the sanctuary, at a war table lit by arcane candles…

"We've confirmed the surge," said a woman clad in crimson, one hand resting on her curved blade. "Something ancient just moved in Sector Twelve."

Her superior, a noble with rings encrusted in soulstones, leaned forward. "Sanctuary."

Another voice chimed in, this one older and raspier. "Didn't that cursed place devour every expedition sent into it?"

"Until now," the crimson woman smiled. "One man lives there peacefully. Rei."

The noble raised an eyebrow. "That recluse?"

"He isn't what he seems."

"Of course he isn't," said another. "No one survives a living territory unless they've made a deal… or are more terrifying than the land itself."

A final voice, low and amused, spoke from the shadows. "Then perhaps it's time we send someone in."

—

Back in the sanctuary, the group gathered around a sketch of the projection. Ellyn had transcribed as much as she could before it faded.

"It points to four sites," she said. "All outside the sanctuary. One of them was in a city destroyed over a century ago. The others are still active zones—ruins, sealed temples, and… this one says 'Tyrant's Crown'."

Rei's brow furrowed. "That's in Empire territory. It's a fortress now."

Lynna leaned in. "This isn't just treasure hunting. These are remnants of a failed experiment. This feels like a weapon… or a prison."

"And the sanctuary was built on top of its remains," Rei muttered.

Everyone fell silent.

Fluff suddenly broke the tension by dropping a heavy fruit into Ellyn's lap. "Peace offering. I didn't try to eat the crystal."

"You licked it."

"Scientifically."

—

That night, around the campfire, Rei found himself cornered by an unusually flustered Lynna.

"So… I've been thinking," she started, arms crossed. "If we're going to be leaving the sanctuary more often, we'll need proper supplies. And formation training. And designated tent pairings."

Rei blinked. "We're camping?"

She blushed slightly. "Don't make it sound weird. I just don't trust Zephyr to not snore in someone else's ear."

Zephyr shouted from a distance. "I have noble snoring!"

Lynna elbowed Rei. "Also, maybe we should… coordinate outfits."

He blinked again. "For…?"

She coughed. "Symbolism. Team cohesion. Look, just shut up and say yes."

He smiled. "Sure."

"Good."

"…Are you blushing?"

"No."

—

Elsewhere, in the ruins of an old border town, a cloaked figure stood beside a cracked pillar. He reached down, brushing aside moss and revealing a faintly glowing stone.

"Another fragment," he murmured, voice barely a whisper.

Behind him, a winged shadow stirred. "You really believe the Heart of the Root still lives?"

The man smiled faintly. "It does more than live. It's growing again."

He held up a stone identical to the one Rei had touched.

And crushed it in his palm.

The pulse that followed was brief but unmistakable.

And the sanctuary felt it.

So did Rei.

He stood up abruptly from his seat by the fire, eyes narrowing toward the sky.

Lynna stood with him. "What was that?"

"Someone just touched the same network."

"And?"

"And they weren't gentle."

—

From far away, the ruins stirred. And a fragment once sealed by time opened for the first time in centuries.

Inside, metal whispered against stone.

And something ancient opened a single, golden eye.