When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is wash my face. I’ve been following this routine since my past life, and it hasn’t changed to this day. After that, I change my clothes and sit in a chair. Breakfast is already prepared on the table, and my parents are sitting right in front of me.

“Come on, Dan. Eat quickly.”

My mother said that. Even though I’ve become a hero and turned thirty, I still live with my parents. It’s because I don’t have anyone to live with, and I find doing housework incredibly bothersome. My mother is a normal woman with black hair and black eyes, and my father is also a man with black hair and black eyes. We’re just an ordinary family. As I eat my meal, my mother speaks to me.

“Dan, it’s about time you quit being a hero and get married.”

“Mom, I’m still very much active as a hero.”

“I understand. But it’s about time we had grandchildren, you know…”

I also want to get married. I want to live a normal life in an ordinary household. This house is just an ordinary-sized house you can find anywhere, but I know I can’t stay here forever.

“Dan, you’re giving a speech at the Knight School today, right? Do your best.”

“Yes, I will.”

Outside, I act all arrogant, but at home, I’m just an ordinary guy. My parents know that I’m a hero, but they don’t boast about it. I also avoid mentioning where I came from. It’s personal information, after all. In my previous life, there was a strict data protection law that heavily emphasized protecting individual dignity. Perhaps influenced by that, I never had the habit of talking about myself to others.

That’s exactly why no one knows my hometown or my true face. It’s been a plus for me since even after retiring as a hero, no one knows where I am or what I’m doing. This means I won’t be burdened with various things after quitting as a hero. Lately, I’ve come to think that it’s been a good thing to wear the iron mask all this time. Now that breakfast is done, I should head to the Knight Training School for the speech. The other three will be there too…

Leaving the house, I didn’t immediately put on the iron mask… I want to walk outside without it occasionally. My face is just an ordinary guy’s, with black hair and slightly messy hair. It’s an utterly average face you’d find anywhere.

I look like such a background character that no one has ever figured out that I was a hero.

Now, I’m on my way to give the speech at the Knight Training School. It exists in the capital of Trellvana Kingdom where I live, and apparently, they train knights there to protect the country.

As I arrived in the capital from my hometown and walked along, a girl caught my eye near a stall. Well, calling her a girl might be a bit misleading, considering she’s 27 years old. There stood Linlin, one of my former party members. She belongs to the fairy race, known as the Elf tribe, with slightly pointed ears.

Her hair was a beautiful golden color, like pure gold, reaching her shoulders and tied into twin tails. Naturally, she had an incredibly pretty face too. Her sharp gaze might give off a tough impression, but to put it mildly, she was super cute. It’s a really old story, but there was a time when I had a crush on her. I even started acting like an arrogant character to get her attention. Looking back now, it’s embarrassing, but back then, I genuinely thought it was cool. Youth can be terrifying.

As I passed her by, I checked her face, and she was still as beautiful as ever. We haven’t seen each other recently, but her timeless charm was still there. She didn’t notice me, and I decided to ignore her too since I would eventually wear my mask when we meet, and I always make sure not to reveal my true face to anyone.

After parting ways with her, strangely enough, her face kept resurfacing in my mind. She was undeniably cute. It’s not like I have feelings for her anymore; I just genuinely thought that way.

However, it’s not uncommon to be filled with indescribable emotions when reminiscing about past first loves. Even now, I remember Linlin as my first love…

Well, back then, I was also close with another party member, Sakura. It was a losing battle for me because Sakura was a real handsome guy. He spoke in a soft tone, used first-person pronouns, and had excellent social skills. He was a master with a sword and handsome to top it off. A total real-life charmer, Sakura.

With Sakura around, I honestly gave up on Linlin. There was another female member named Kaguya in our party, and I knew they often chatted together.

Ah, back then, I used to grumble about how it all came down to looks. Me, Linlin, Kaguya, and Sakura – the four of us traveled to various places, but in the end, Sakura and I got along well. I remember feeling disappointed and demoralized, thinking that maybe beautiful people were attracted to each other, fueling a fantasy delusion.

Oh, Sakura… Moreover, he seemed to have taken a liking to me, making my feelings even more complicated.

Recently, I haven’t seen his face, but I bet when I see him again, he’ll still be the same handsome guy as always. With a touch of sentimentality, I continued walking towards the Knight Training School.

+-+

First love, come to think of it, that reminds me of that iron mask guy. Always wearing an iron mask, never showing his face even once. I can’t read his expressions either, so I have no idea if he’s happy, sad, or embarrassed about something.

When I first met him, I thought, “What’s with this strange guy?”

I had just become an adventurer and was trying to form a party, gathering members when I encountered Dan.

“My name is Linlin.”

“I see.”

“You’re lucky, you get to team up with me.”

“Is that so? Then you’re even luckier. You get to team up with me, the future hero.”

“Huh!?”

Correction, apart from the first time we met, I always thought he was a strange guy while traveling and adventuring together. He didn’t have much talent, but he kept trying his best, training early in the morning alone, and didn’t let any criticism or belittling from others discourage him.

―― Before I knew it, he was always ahead.

While traveling, I thought, “I want to be with Dan forever.” But gradually, I started feeling anxious. Because he was getting stronger and stronger.

Gradually, he left me behind.

He even started defeating the Demon Lord on his own. Though it was credited to all of us, it was not true. It was Dan, Hero Dan, who put an end to everything all by himself.

I felt like I didn’t match up with him. Besides, the other two also liked Dan, making it even harder for me to appeal to him.

I wanted the four of us to stay together and get along forever, so I couldn’t confess my feelings to Dan. As a result, our relationship didn’t progress much. Not being able to express my feelings to him is my regret.

Today, I can see him again. But I’m sure that when I meet him, I’ll be happy just to talk a little, wanting to talk more, but in the end, I’ll probably be satisfied with just that.

“Lin-chan.”

“Oh, Sakura.”

At the Knight Training School, the legendary hero party, including myself, was about to discuss our past achievements. On the way there, I bumped into Sakura. Her pink hair, blue eyes, and smiling face looked incredibly cute.

“You’re still cross-dressing, huh? Family circumstances, right?”

“Yeah, well… that’s right.”

“I see. Sakura, did you grow a bit taller?”

“Yeah, I did. But Lin-chan, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Elves don’t change much, you know.”

Sakura had been cross-dressing due to family circumstances. She probably still had some unresolved issues. She also had feelings for Dan. I considered Sakura a friend, so I couldn’t be forceful with my feelings for Dan. We often had girls’ gatherings with Kaguya, getting closer, but I couldn’t cross certain boundaries.

“What about the hero guy?”

“Dan hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I see.”

She thinks that nobody knows, but from my perspective, it’s quite obvious that Dan has feelings for her. The people around us also don’t know that Sakura dresses as a man, so there are very few who are aware that she is actually a woman. Well, Kaguya, Dan, and I have been together for so long that we know the truth.

But… come to think of it, I’ve never actually told Dan that Sakura is a woman…

Well, even though Dan can be a bit dense, I’m sure he must have noticed.

“Let’s go together to the training school.”

“Yeah!”

Sakura and I headed to the training school together. Meeting again, reminiscing about our time as heroes.