World's Last Hope-Chapter 92: The Hero’s Irony

"A thousand!" Eric proclaimed as he fell to his knees. He was drenched in sweat, and his mind felt like it was about to be torn apart.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and didn’t need to look back to instinctively know that it was Gryndor.

"Good work, kid," the old man said with a friendly smile, clearly pleased with Eric.

’Well, at least he’s happy,’ Eric thought as he took the Grandmaster’s hand for support and stood up.

"I can’t express my gratitude, Master Eric. These crops are going to be able to feed dozens of families," the chubby man said with a smile, his golden teeth shining in the sunlight.

Eric didn’t say much—he only nodded toward the man.

"Okay, with this we’re done. Now is the time to return to our sparring," the old man said as he began heading back.

"Actually, can we explore the city a bit?" Eric asked. It wasn’t only because he was tired and wanted to prolong the short rest he would have, but also because he realized how little he truly knew about the city. If he was going to save it, he had to learn how it functioned.

Gryndor scratched his chin before speaking. "I mean, sure, if you want to. Do you have a specific place in mind?"

"Yeah, actually. You said that there are multiple districts, right? I want to visit them all," Eric said.

"There are a lot, Eric. It will take a long time—even the whole day won’t be enough," the old man explained.

"Then just a part is enough," Eric replied.

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Which district has the worst conditions?" Eric asked.

"It would probably be the mining one. They have to work long hours for little pay, with no hope of any kind of promotion," the old man answered.

With a sigh, Eric spoke. "Okay, then I want to get a better view of how things function in this city."

*****

Leaving the food district, they slowly walked towards the mines. Now, as they weren’t next to the chubby man, Eric managed to ask.

"Why are there people that work so much while others seem to laze around? I know that there is the hierarchy and everything, but shouldn’t everybody be giving it their all for the city? You know, with the world being under threat and all that?"

Gryndor looked into the sky, lost in thought for a moment. "In a perfect world, everybody would be giving it their all for the betterment of society, but things don’t function that way... no, at the moment, they can’t function that way."

Eric raised an eyebrow. "Can you explain?"

The Grandmaster sighed. "I, you, and everybody else need resources to survive. But the problem is that we don’t have enough resources for everybody. As such, there are people that don’t have their needs met while others have more than they could ask for."

Before Eric could counter, Gryndor interrupted him.

"But even if that is the case, if everybody got an equal amount of resources, then things would be more fair. You were about to say something like this, right? Well... the world doesn’t work that way, and you and I are living examples."

The old man took a deep breath. "Look at us. What are we doing? Right now, we are getting stronger, and soon we will venture forth again in the hopes of liberating a cathedral. That is a very dangerous job, an important job that very few can even attempt to do. As such, we are given access to the best food, large mansions, and a lot of things for free... meanwhile, an average man could only work a normal district job. And a lot of people work these jobs. As such, their work isn’t valued as much—it isn’t rewarded as much."

Gryndor pointed to the houses in the streets. Some were small, no more than one floor, others had multiple stories. "In a perfect world, everybody would be able to have at least comfortable lives. But to achieve that, we need resources—resources that we don’t have."

Seeing the expression on Eric’s face, the old man scoffed. "I know what you thought in the beginning once you saw that fat man. It is clear that he doesn’t do much and eats a lot while the people working for him are slaving away and starving. You thought that he could be replaced, right? That is true in a sense—everybody can be replaced. But the answer is, with who? Are you going to do his job? Do you know how to, or do you know people that could do it instead?"

Eric didn’t say anything as the answers to all the questions were no.

"You might not care much about the state of the city. All you want from it is for it to stand, so you can live. But personally, it sickens me, the state some people live in. But I can’t do anything about it—I have my hands full with fighting the Corruption."

A heavy silence fell between the two of them. Eric was deep in thought. After a few minutes, he finally spoke, his voice steady.

"You are wrong."

Gryndor raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"You want to fight the Corruption, right? You want to resist it, but while you do that, you can’t help the people of the city. But that is the wrong way to think about it," Eric explained.

The old man was listening with interest to Eric’s words.

"I spent about two months in the Death Zone. Not only that, but there I learned how many cathedrals there are to liberate—more than two thousand. The simple conclusion I came to is that I can’t do this, not alone. It is impossible. For us to resist the Corruption, we need people—not dozens of Grandmasters, not hundreds of Masters. We need thousands, tens of thousands, heck, maybe even millions."

Eric stopped as he glanced at the people walking on the streets. One thing that was similar among them was that all of them seemed malnourished.

"And to do that, we need the people in better conditions. If we want a chance against the Corruption, we need everybody united and in battle-ready mode."

Gryndor looked at the sky, considering his words.

"That may be true, but in the end, it is only wishful thinking. Do you know why? Because the people have only one thing on their minds—preserving their lives and living in the best possible conditions. Then second comes their family. But for what you say to happen, there has to be one person that doesn’t value these things. This person has to value the good of humanity as a whole. I have yet to meet this kind of person... and if there has been, I would have known about it, as he would have been regarded as a hero."

The old man’s gaze shifted to Eric. "Waiting for a hero to appear would be useless, as both of us know that this kind of person is never coming. If we want to make some kind of change, we have to become that hero... but I know that I am not one. I don’t have what it takes. What about you? Do you have what it takes?"

Hearing the old man’s words, Eric grimaced. It wasn’t because he disagreed with him—the old man was right. He had pointed out something that Eric had failed to realize up until now.

He wasn’t a hero. The most important thing to him was his life, and then it would be the lives of his friends. But he was here, sent by the gods, with the message that if he did not bring change, the city—humanity—would fall. So basically, because his life and the lives of his friends were the most important to him, he had to prioritize the well-being of the masses if he wanted to bring this change.

’So because my life is the most important to me, I have to disregard it to preserve it? How ironic...’

Seeing that Eric had a grin on his face, Gryndor raised an eyebrow. "So, do you have what it takes, Eric?"

Eric’s eyes shined crimson as he couldn’t stop a chuckle from coming out. "Honestly? No... but it’s not like I have much of a choice. So, I will become it."

"I will become this hero."