It Is a Tool of Humanity

In the end, the Hero refused Julian’s suggestion to set off on the journey immediately.  

As expected, he said we still needed more time.  

He said that in my current state, I wasn’t good enough to be of use.  

As a result, I’m drinking potions again today.  

I’m fighting a monster called a High Orc.  

The Imperial Army’s elderly magician, who was summoned again this time, sighs every time he sees me.  

His expression stiffens every time he watches me drink a potion.  

Is he worried about wasting resources?  

I feel strange about it, too.  

Just how diluted did they make this for my single horn to produce so many potions?  

Anyone would think they had ground up about ten of my horns.  

Since alchemy is advanced in the Empire, maybe they can extract a huge effect from small ingredients.  

I don’t know how many attempts this makes, but I failed again.  

A little stab isn’t enough to kill this opponent.  

Thud!  

"Khagh!"  

A dull impact sent my body flying.  

I was struck by the High Orc’s fist.  

The only reason I didn’t lose consciousness immediately was thanks to the armor I was wearing.  

They had given me better armor than last time.  

It was a silver full-body suit infused with magic, excellent at absorbing impact.  

At a glance, I looked similar to an apprentice knight.  

Well, that made sense, since I was wearing armor that only an apprentice knight or higher would normally use.  

I just couldn’t wear a helmet because of my horn.  

"Get up."  

As always, they made me drink a potion.  

I could feel my body recovering.  

"Ugh..."  

I got back on my feet to fight again.  

Even the sword in my hand was better than the one I had before.  

"I knew it. Fighting like this has its limits."  

Oh, do you finally understand?  

I wish you'd stop forcing me into reckless fights.  

These potions are too valuable to waste.  

I sincerely hope you would consider a better way for me to grow.  

"Let’s change your equipment."  

Equipment?  

But what I have now is already good enough.  

In my past life, even this level of gear would’ve let me take down a knight or two in an instant...  

"Huh?"  

I realized what they meant by changing equipment.  

That’s a cursed sword.  

It might be a low-grade one, but it was still classified as a magic sword.  

A banned weapon.  

"Toss that sword away and use this."  

A sinister-looking black sword.  

"It messes with your mind a little, but that’s all. You’re already messed up, so it won’t make a difference."  

Excuse me?  

No, I’m perfectly sane.  

Anyone can see that I’m completely normal.  

I don’t want my mind messed up.  

"Here, take it."  

But if they tell me to use it, I have no choice.  

I hesitated but eventually grabbed the sword.  

It fit snugly in my hand.  

Weapons like this provided their user with convenient power, but their side effects were severe.  

For example, just like right now.  

I suddenly wanted to slash something.  

Or wipe out humanity.  

If I were the Demon King, these would be perfectly reasonable thoughts—but I’m not.  

This is dangerous.  

Dark emotions are welling up inside me.  

There’s a reason cursed swords are called cursed swords.  

I want to let go of it as soon as possible.  

I just need to cut down the monster in front of me.  

To bring down that massive bulk, I need technique.  

Technique…  

Should I use it?  

Even just holding the sword makes me feel off.  

The desire to kill the Hero and everyone else starts creeping up on me.  

Since I’m still sane, I’m weak against this kind of mental attack.  

I don’t want to keep holding this sword.  

I don’t want to use any skills with it, either.  

But I also don’t want to just charge in blindly.  

This is bad.  

Why would they hand me such a terrifying weapon?  

"What’s wrong?"  

"Ah... U-Uh, Hero... sir..."  

"Hm?"  

"A different… weapon… please..."  

The weapon I mainly used in my past life wasn’t a longsword like this.  

It was a massive greatsword—so big that people even questioned if it was really a weapon.  

So if I want to fight properly in this life, just give me one of those instead.  

"Huh? You have a weapon preference?"  

I nodded my head eagerly.  

If I keep using this cursed sword, something will definitely go wrong.  

"What do you want, then? A spear? A bow?"  

"A greatsword..."  

"A greatsword? You mean a two-handed sword?"  

I shook my head.  

Not that.

Something even bigger.  

Something I could probably use for surfing if I threw it in water.  

I stabbed the cursed sword into the ground and drew a picture on the dirt with a stick.  

A sword that might be bigger than me.  

If you ask whether I can wield it or not, I absolutely can.  

It’s better than this cursed thing.  

Drawing pictures in the middle of a fight feels weird.  

The High Orc patiently waits, just as the Hero ordered.  

Just wait a little longer.  

If I can wield the right weapon...  

"Oh, something like this? Can you even lift it? Sounds fun. There's an armory nearby, so let’s go pick one out."  

Since this was an Imperial training ground, of course, there would be an armory.  

But is it really okay to just take whatever we want?  

The mage who summoned the orc looks increasingly troubled.  

***  

Only the Hero was allowed inside the armory.  

It was only natural that lesser species weren’t permitted entry.  

I was ordered to wait in the training ground.  

More time passed than I expected.  

Was he having trouble finding the greatsword I wanted?  

"Here."  

The Hero came back carrying something ominous.  

A greatsword, even darker than the cursed sword from earlier.  

It looks expensive.  

"This is an Ego Sword. Try using it."  

…What did he bring?  

He picked up a sword with a will of its own.  

Did he take this from a treasure vault?  

It’s rarer than my horn—if not more.  

"It’s a bit noisy, but the quality is good."  

The moment I gripped the hilt with both hands, I felt its considerable weight.  

What the hell, indeed.  

The sword spoke to me.  

No.  

They already have their own exclusive weapons.  

Unfortunately, someone like me ended up with you.  

I’m the user.  

"Do you like it?"  

I nodded.  

It was time to fight.  

I could see the High Orc’s muscles swelling.  

It sure is noisy.  

I planned to finish this in one move.  

The opponent overwhelmed me in physique, strength, and every other way.  

My only advantages were intelligence, knowledge, experience, and technique.  

"Let’s start right away."  

At the Hero’s signal, the Orc began moving again.  

Kugh.  

I drove the tip of the greatsword into the training ground floor.  

Since my body was small, I could even hide behind the blade.  

So, that’s exactly what I intended to do.  

Tilting the sword diagonally, I hid behind it as if using a shield.  

I crouched slightly, looking as if I was carrying the sword on my back.  

Turning my back to the enemy was a foolish move, but this time, I had no choice.  

To swing a sword properly, strength was necessary.  

Without strength, I needed some other form of power.  

I had nothing.  

The Orc let out a strange growl and charged.  

It must have looked like I was cowering in fear.  

Thud, thud, thud.  

Its footsteps drew closer.  

It intended to crush me along with the sword.  

Simply swinging my sword when it got close wasn’t an option.  

But I could do something similar.  

Boom.  

One more step, and it would reach me.  

Now.  

I pulled the sword’s hilt forward and downward.  

Naturally, the blade behind me lifted upward.  

Using my body as a lever, I raised the sword.  

It felt like I was throwing the sword upward.  

I positioned the sharp tip of the blade toward the sky.  

Or more precisely, toward the body of the Orc, which was about to slam down on me.  

Squelch.  

The Orc, unable to overcome the inertia of its massive body, was impaled on the sword.  

Success.  

The only problem was that I was now trapped under the Orc’s corpse.  

I could only trust in my armor.  

Holding the sword steady enough to pierce the Orc had taken all my strength.  

It was collapsing.  

Crash!  

<......>  

I was crushed.  

Darkness filled my vision.  

<...Did we win?>  

Then—Boom!  

The Hero blew the Orc apart to get rid of it.  

The elderly magician, who had been preparing to unsummon the Orc, sighed and rubbed his temples.  

Since summoning wasn’t the act of creating something from nothing, retrieving the summoned creature’s corpse was also an important task.  

"What the hell are you?"  

A head of red hair entered my vision.  

There was something in the Hero’s expression beyond mere curiosity.  

"You’ve clearly been trained. In combat."  

I had a past life, after all.  

I had never trained my body after my horn was cut, yet I could do this much.  

"Where, when, and how?"  

He asked as if he couldn’t understand.  

Then, after a brief moment of thought—  

"Oh, the Ego Sword must have helped you, huh?"  

I nodded.  

So that’s the conclusion he came to.  

It was the most logical explanation, even from my perspective.  

"It’s a good weapon, after all."  

Could only the person holding the sword hear its voice?  

It seemed the Hero couldn’t hear it.  

"For now, rest up. There are potions over there, so drink one."  

I’m not strange.  

What’s a life pattern?  

No matter how much it called, the Hero didn’t hear it.  

I was the one holding the sword.  

What was this thing rambling about?  

The Demon King?  

It was scary how close it was to the truth.  

What a ridiculously loyal sword.  

I wondered what exactly the Hero had picked out for me.  

Too loud.  

The Hero was over there, having a conversation with the elderly magician.  

Enough.  

This thing was worse for my sanity than the cursed sword.  

"I, I... serve... humanity..."  

I quickly started explaining.  

"I, am... a lesser species... and I... like being useful... to humans..."  

<......>  

"I have to... kill all my kin..."  

"Lesser species... should all be livestock... for humans..."  

"I’m grateful... for having my horn cut off..."  

It had been a long time since I had spoken this much.  

Surely, it understood what I was saying.  

The sword fell silent for a moment.  

"I... won’t attack humans... I’m not the Demon King..."  

"The bad ones... are the lower species..."  

"Life’s worth... is only in serving humanity..."  

I continued preaching my harmlessness to humans.  

The silence lasted a little longer.  

<...No... but... your life pattern... is definitely... the Demon King’s...>  

Its way of speaking was starting to resemble mine.