Exiled to the Graveyard of Heroes, I Revived Them All and Now an Unprecedented Nation of Legends Has Been Born - Chapter 17: The Hero of [Resurrection] and a Foreign Friend

Chapter 17: The Hero of [Resurrection] and a Foreign Friend

Some time had passed since the beastmen moved in.

“Alright, I’d like us to decide on a name for our nation today.”

““““Why not just go with Elott Nation?””””

“No!! Absolutely not!!”

It’s not that I hated my own name.

On the contrary, “Elott” was precious to me—it was the name given by my late parents.

But “Elott Nation” just sounded lame!!

Certain there had to be something better, I gathered a bunch of bored heroes and started a naming meeting.

“A country name, huh…”

“How about Elott Empire!! Empire sounds way cooler than ‘Nation’!!”

“I don’t think that’s the issue the leader’s talking about…”

“Then let’s take it from the Hero of [Resurrection]—how about the Nation of Resurrection?”

“Sounds strong, but isn’t that kind of a mouthful? We need something that rolls off the tongue better—”

The heroes got surprisingly serious, tossing out ideas one after another, but none of them really clicked.

So in the end, I turned to Shizukuishi for help.

“As someone from another world, do you have any good suggestions, Shizukuishi?”

“W-What!? You’re asking me all of a sudden…?”

“Anything will do!! Just not Elott Nation, please!!”

Flustered by my desperate plea, Shizukuishi gave a troubled little smile.

“It’s a bit simple, but… what if we translate [Resurrection] into my world’s language—English? That would be Resurrection, and if we play around with it, something like Resurek could work. Since this is a country where many heroes gather, we could call it Resurek Hero Nation.”

“Resurek Hero Nation!! That sounds amazing!!”

At the very least, it was a million times better than “Elott Nation.”

Some of the heroes still muttered that “Elott Nation” was fine, but I used my leader privileges to officially declare it Resurek Hero Nation.

For the first time in a while, I truly felt glad to be the leader.

The very next day—

“Laverne!! Is it true there’s an army approaching the tower!?”

“Oh yes, it’s true.”

I rushed into the monitoring room—the place where we kept watch over both the dungeon’s interior and exterior.

There, Laverne was swinging her legs in her chair like a kid, and she nodded toward one of the monitors.

On the screen, thousands of soldiers were marching in formation.

“But they’re not from the Ixion Kingdom. The numbers are smaller—about five thousand. Their weapons are just swords and spears. No cannons, no tanks. Most importantly, the flag they carry is different.”

“That flag… is that the Principality of Bandelt?”

“Oh? You recognize it?”

“Y-Yeah. It’s a tiny country next to Ixion, one of their vassal states. A few years back, I actually helped them when they were attacked by a swarm of wyverns.”

That time had been rough.

Wyverns that could fly freely were a real menace, and we’d only managed to repel them after Bandelt’s army shot many down with ballistae.

Thanks to my [Resurrection], there weren’t many deaths… but the damage was severe.

Wyverns had smashed buildings, wrecked pastures and fields, and the Principality of Bandelt had taken heavy losses. The scars were still obvious—reconstruction wasn’t even halfway done. Even if they were wary of our suddenly appearing tower, they shouldn’t have had the spare resources to send an army after it.

And five thousand soldiers? That was basically Bandelt’s entire fighting force.

…That made me curious.

“Laverne, I’m going to go have a word with them.”

“Hmm. What’s gotten into you? Bandelt is a vassal of the Ixion Kingdom, right? They should be our enemy.”

“The ones who threw stones at me were from the Ixion Kingdom, not the Bandelt people.”

My primary enemy was the Ixion Kingdom. Plainly put, Bandelt was a tiny state Ixion could have crushed in under a month if it wished. If Ixion had ordered them, Bandelt would have had no choice but to obey.

It would have hurt to slaughter those people.

Still — if they were hostile, we couldn’t simply stand down.

So before fighting, I wanted to find out Bandelt’s purpose and see if there was any way to avoid bloodshed.

That was why I planned to talk.

“Mister, I’ll come along as your guard.”

“Thanks, Silesta.”

With Silesta at my side, I stepped out of the tower.

The Bandelt army stood lined up in front, but the moment they saw us emerge, their faces froze.

Unease, fear, outright dread…

They didn’t look motivated in the slightest. More like they’d been dragged here against their will.

“H-Hey!! Someone just came out of the tower!!”

“N-No way… could that be the rumored monster who wiped out Ixion’s ten-thousand-man vanguard in an instant…!?”

“L-Look again, it’s just some ordinary guy!!”

“He’s probably just some overeager adventurer who wandered out ahead of the others!! Don’t look at him!! Pretend you didn’t see anything!!”

“Damn it… why’d I enlist in this army anyway? The pay’s not even good…”

Yeah, forget low morale—they were radiating pure misery.

“Looks like the Bandelt soldiers didn’t come here because they wanted to fight.”

“Mhm. If we spooked them a little, they’d probably panic in the funniest way.”

“…Don’t even think about it, okay?”

The last thing I needed was this turning into a battle when I’d come here to talk.

After warning Silesta, I slowly advanced toward the Bandelt army.

But with every step forward, they shuffled a step back.

No matter how carefully I approached, they just kept retreating.

I could’ve easily closed the gap with a dash, but I didn’t want to frighten them, so I kept my pace steady and slow.

Even so, the Bandelt army continued backing away.

“Hey!! Stop running!!”

“Uwaahh!! He’s chasing us!! Run!! We’re gonna die!!”

“I’m not killing anyone!! I just wanna talk!!”

And then—

“What is all this noise, you fools!!”

“““Geh—Prince Noel!?”””

A towering figure strode onto the scene—easily two meters tall, clad head to toe in thick, pure white armor with his face hidden behind a helmet.

A massive sword rested on his back, and his very presence was overwhelming.

Silesta immediately went on guard against this sudden newcomer.

But me… I felt something different.

Something nostalgic.

His name was Noel Bandelt.

The first prince of the Principality of Bandelt—and someone I dared to call a friend.

At least, that’s how I saw him.

“W-What!? C-Could it be… you…?”

“It’s been a long time, Noel.”

The moment our eyes met, Noel visibly trembled in shock.

And then, in a flash, he charged straight at me.

Silesta read it as an attack and was about to counter, but I stopped her with a raised hand.

“My friend!! You’re alive!!”

Forgetting entirely that he was wearing heavy armor, Noel lifted me clean off the ground and crushed me in a powerful embrace.

…His strength really hadn’t changed one bit.

“W-Wait, wait. I can’t breathe—let go for a second.”

“What in the world is happening!? How is it that you, who should have died, are standing here!?”

“I’ll explain everything, I promise. Just—stop hugging me so tight. The armor makes it hurt.”

“Oh! My apologies. I got carried away.”

And so, right there on the spot, I told my old friend everything that had happened, while the two of us caught up.

―――――――――――――――――――――

[Afterword]

Quick Mob Spotlight

Noel Bandelt (Gender Unknown)

The first prince—and heir—of the Principality of Bandelt. Standing over two meters tall, clad in full-body armor with a closed helmet, his muffled voice makes it impossible to tell his gender. (Elott assumes he’s male, based solely on height.) He deeply respects Elott, who once saved Bandelt, and treasures him as a friend… though sometimes, his gaze lingers with a suspicious heat. There’s even a chance that when the armor finally comes off, Noel will turn out to be a stunning beauty—because the author really likes that trope.

If you feel the author’s true desires totally leaked into this afterword, drop those ★s!

And if you thought, “Resurek Hero Nation actually isn’t a bad name,” “The leader abusing his privileges cracked me up,” or “Bandelt’s soldiers running away was hilarious,” then don’t forget to leave a comment, bookmark, ★rating, or review!