The immortal hero who thinks of the heroines as his daughters vs. heroines who want to make the hero understand them - Chap 1

Once upon a time, when gods and humans still interacted, there lies a tale.

A history that has been erased, neither remaining in memory nor in records.

A story about a boy and the reason he became immortal.

◇

“Nice to meet you for the first time, Spirit-sama.”

“…I didn’t call you.”

An overwhelming presence radiating brilliance from her body. Sitting atop an incredibly large tree was the spirit worshiped in this region. She’s playing with her green hair, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Well, but according to the village shaman’s divination…”

The one replying with words is a black-haired boy. He exudes an equally puzzled atmosphere as the spirit’s words.

“That divination with the crack made by burning the bone? It’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Even if you say that, I’ve given up everything to come here as a sacrifice…”

“I’m troubled, very troubled. I’ve never asked for a sacrifice or anything like that.”

The green-haired girl shakes her head vigorously from side to side, going “bun bun.”

The black-haired boy furrows his brows in response, decisively.

Though their appearances make them look like they’re of the same age, the difference in the number of years they’ve lived is as great as heaven and earth.

“Eh… Haven’t we sometimes sent sacrifices to you?”

“Yes, but I’ve been sending them back every time, haven’t I?”

“Well, they haven’t returned to our village.”

“What? I’m sure I sent them back properly… Wow, you guys do some cruel things. I just looked into the past a bit, and the kids I sent back to the village were killed.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

The boy groans, resting his hand on his chin in response to the spirit’s reply.

“So if I just go back to the village, they’ll kill me too, won’t they?”

“Seems like it.”

“…I really don’t want to die, though.”

He appeals with a straight face.

Despite being a young boy, he exudes an air of exhaustion. If you look closely, faint dark circles are visible around his eyes, revealing his distress over this matter of sacrifice. Even the spirit, who has lived for ages and possesses senses far removed from humans, cannot bear to abandon a child who has suffered so much. 

But the area is surrounded by mountains and inhabited by ferocious creatures. There are no human settlements other than the village nearby, and living alone in such a harsh environment would be too severe.

So, what to do…?

As the spirit ponders, the boy says,

“Could you take me in?”

“Eh?”

“Well, if I’m sent back to the village, I’ll die, and if I bravely jump into the mountains to survive, I’ll probably become dog food in three days or so. So I was thinking, how can I survive? And I concluded that the only way is to be taken in by you, Spirit-sama.”

“I’m a spirit, you know???”

“Don’t worry about it. A room with good sunlight, a fluffy futon, and a bit of food will be enough. Ah, but I’d like to eat some meat now and then.”

“How brazen.”

“I wouldn’t have survived if I weren’t.”

The boy says this with a straight face as usual.

Feeling a mysterious pressure, the spirit is momentarily taken aback, but then reconsiders (No, no, if I give in here, I’ll end up taking in a human child… Not that there’s a particular problem with that, but I don’t know what to talk about) and gathers herself. 

Surprisingly, the spirit is rather poor at conversation.

“You see, I’ve heard that you, Spirit-sama, enjoy meals. If you would take me in, I’ll prepare every meal for you.”

“Oh, are you good at cooking?”

“I’ve never tried it once in my life.”

“You say that with a lot of confidence.”

The spirit wavers a bit at the mention of cooking but becomes serious at the response. From an outsider’s perspective, both of them maintaining straight faces would create a somewhat comical scene.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Please, Spirit-sama, I have no one else to turn to.”

“Come on, I’m not some frivolous spirit, you know.”

“Become my woman. (Slam!)”

“Hmm, suddenly going all tough. You won’t win over girls like that♡”

“I’m not interested in anyone but Spirit-sama.”

“Oh… I’m kinda feeling that.”

“?”

“And it’s unconscious, huh?”

The spirit can’t help but hold her head in her hands. She feels that no matter how much they argue, the boy will have the last word, and he seems likely to become quite the heartbreaker in the future.

She begins to think that maybe it’s best to give in and take him in. After all, she’s never talked this much with anyone before.

Born hundreds of years ago and basically a recluse in the mountains, the spirit is weak when it comes to conversation.

“…Sigh, fine. Yeah. Enough. I’ll take you in.”

“…Really?”

“Seriously.”

“I’ll follow you for the rest of my life.”

The boy, who until now had been wearing a dead fish-like expression, suddenly sparkled at those words.

Blinded by the shine, the spirit looked away with a “Ugh!” She was a mass of mana and naturally sparkled, but… perhaps she had low self-esteem.

“You don’t have to follow me for the rest of your life. Immortality isn’t all that fun, you know?”

“Then I’ll refrain.”

“This sudden change. I’ve never caught a cold, but I feel like I might.”

◇

A week later.

“…It’s surprisingly normal.”

The boy was walking alone, sporadically gazing at the radiant sun through the gaps in the leaves.

This was the Spirit’s forest. In the village where he had grown up, it was considered a sacred place and entry was forbidden. Only the fortune-teller, who foretold the future with magic, or the sacrificed, who never returned, were allowed.

But as he wandered around, he realized that it was no different from any other forest.

Surrounded by mountains, it was a closed space. Each of the mountains was rugged, not insurmountable for ordinary people, but the creatures living there—referred to as demons among humans—were ferocious, making them impossible for the weak humans to cross. In a sense, it could be said to be a treacherous mountain range.

A village located a little closer to the mountains from the center of the basin was his hometown.

“I can see it.”

About a thirty-minute walk from the spirit’s dwelling at the center of the basin, the trees thin out drastically, so the village is still quite a distance away, but visible.

The boy decided to hide in the bushes and observe the situation in the village.

(It’s obvious, but… I wonder if they’re downcast since I became the sacrifice.)

Even from afar, he could see that the village was lively as usual.

Humans stood on a crudely made watchtower, sipping low-purity alcohol, while others were harvesting grain in the fields. Small children ran through those fields, being scolded by parent-like figures.

“I wonder who my parents are.”

Perhaps seeing the parents of others, the question slipped smoothly from his lips.

Born and raised in the village for over a decade, no one had ever come forward claiming to be the boy’s parent. Originally, he was from a vulgar house—among the houses in the village, it was close to the mountains, barely weathering the rain and wind, and generations of sacrifices had always been chosen from this house, even though the sacrifices were supposed to be randomly selected by divination. He had never been treated properly as a “human.”

Naturally, he had no friends and had spent his life alone…

Humans are different from spirits; they are born from parents. So where, then, are my parents?

Living complacently in that blissful village, or perhaps, like himself, already sacrificed…

Trying to think beyond that, the boy suddenly shook his head.

“It’s fine. I’m treated as if I’m dead in the village, and I’m living a better life than when I was in that vulgar house. Even if my parents appeared now, it would only cause trouble.”

Saying that, he turned his back on the village. As if to sever ties, as if to cast aside any lingering attachments.

“I’m never coming back here.”

The boy abandoned everything and returned to the spirit’s dwelling.