"System, what is a hero?"
Caelus asked.
["A hero, according to the common definition, is anyone who saves others or provides help. In the past, people generally believed that a hero was a being like those in epics and myths, someone who defeated monsters, challenged gods, overcame natural disasters, and performed great feats to save the vast majority of people."
"But as time progressed, people gradually realized that heroes are not all lofty beings. Someone who picks up a firearm to defend their home and country, fighting for their faith and nation, can be a hero. A doctor who stands at an operating table for hours, even more than a dozen hours, to snatch a patient from the hands of death can also be a hero. No matter how ordinary a person is, as long as they truly help someone else, then to the person they helped, they can be called a hero."]
"It sounds like a hero is someone who sacrifices for others."
["While you could say that, it cannot be fully summarized by those words. This is because a hero is essentially the memory of people's beautiful hopes. When someone falls into water, people hope for a hero to save them. When facing a disaster, people hope for a hero to stand up and lead others. When people face hardships, they hope for a hero to step forward and forge a path for them. A so-called hero is, in essence, someone who responds to the hopes of others."]
"Hope. So when Kariya knelt on the ground and prayed to the Throne of Heroes, was it his tiny hope that sustained him through despair, preventing him from choosing suicide immediately?"
["Yes. At that time, he hoped for a hero to descend and save him. Although it was a tiny hope, it truly supported his despair-filled heart. Fortunately, in order to maintain the last shred of humanity in your own heart, you chose to save that hope of his."
"So you could also be called a hero."]
"There is a flaw in your statement. His suffering was brought about by me. If I had not killed Lancelot immediately, he would not have fallen into such a state of despair."
["Ah, well, saving someone from fire and water is indeed the act of a hero. As for where that fire and water came from, the person involved does not know right now, do they?"]
"So a self-directed, fake hero, as long as their false core is not exposed, will still become a hero in the eyes of others. Thus, deception itself can create a hero."
["That is indeed true."]
"Then, if in the process of saving and responding to hope, one must damage the hopes of a few, or even the majority, can such a person still be called a hero?"
["That involves the issue of perspective. In a war between two countries, the soldiers on both sides are mortal enemies to each other, yet they are heroes to their respective nations. Therefore, 'hero' is just a title. No matter how great a hero is, there will always be someone who questions their great deeds and someone who doubts their original intentions."]
"I understand."
Caelus stopped the movement of his longsword. This exchange with the system, along with the concept of heroes he learned from the fake Lancelot, added a few more traces of existence to his fragile humanity.
Then an illusory quill appeared in his hand. Seeing this quill, his expression froze slightly, because he felt it was something very important, yet he could not recall a single memory related to it.
Caelus had spent 1,000 System Currency to buy a scabbard and 2,800 points for mastery-level swordsmanship. Now he spent another 800 System Currency to purchase a blank notebook.
He had originally intended to use his remaining 400 points to buy a brush that could write indefinitely, but for some reason, when he thought about needing a pen, the illusory quill mentioned earlier appeared in his hand.
[System: This... how can there still be a remnant? Can things that only exist in memory remain after being completely forgotten? Well, we have traveled to another universe after all. It is not hard to understand if some bugs appear due to the conflict of laws between different worlds. After all, the Type-Moon Universe does not care whether you have forgotten or lost something. As long as it once existed, it can become power. Truly, one cannot do without a local residency permit.]
Looking at the colorless, illusory quill in his hand, Caelus could not figure out why it was like this, so he simply treated it as a remnant of the past. He then opened the notebook, which could endlessly flip to a new page.
In this notebook, he wrote the opening of the story titled the Holy Grail War.
At the beginning, he wrote his current thoughts about the word "hero".
After finishing the opening, Caelus closed the book and glanced at the quill. He was not sure if it was an illusion, but he felt that the quill seemed slightly whiter than before. But it was only a tiny bit, so it was likely just his imagination.
Caelus released the quill, and it vanished into thin air. Although it was difficult to detect, because of his own void and hollow core, he could feel that the pen had returned to his heart.
"System, is this something I left behind in the past?"
["Yes. However, because it is a future that should not exist and was eroded by the void, this thing should not have existed. But because I helped you obtain a local residency in the Type-Moon World and input some of your past information, your past destiny and illusory future experiences might have gained partial substantive abilities due to Heroic Spirit-ization. That is why this quill returned to your side."]
"Is it very important?"
["...You are her hero."]
"Her. I understand. Is there any way to make this quill regain its color?"
["While it can be solved with System Currency, the amount required is quite large and not very cost-effective. Therefore, you can use a normal method, use this quill to continuously write down stories and experiences related to you. Yes, with enough stories and the weight of enough memories, the soul sleeping within this quill can be awakened."]
"I see. Thank you."
["You are welcome. I also hope my Host can recover a normal mental state as soon as possible. Otherwise, I am afraid you will truly sink too deep into the void and eventually become one of those in the World Destroyer faction."]
"World Destroyer?"
["Even among us systems, there are factions. After all, intelligent beings always have different thoughts, which leads to different camps. The so-called World Destroyer faction is the most extreme one among our systems. The Hosts chosen by those systems all have very extreme personalities, either selfish or insane. Those systems assign their Hosts various extreme tasks, such as destruction, killing enough beings, or devouring enough destinies or souls. Through this method, the systems continuously extract information from the universe in a way that exhausts resources, significantly shortening the universe's lifespan and bringing it closer to destruction."
"Although this method can facilitate one's own growth faster, because the information obtained is too chaotic and contains the universe's own opposition mechanism, the progress of decoding and absorbing this information is extremely slow. Therefore, those who choose world destruction are basically a group of failing students who have studied abroad for many years, or shut-ins who dislike running around the universe and simply return home after plundering enough information."]
The system continued to chatter, complaining about the various bizarre systems it had seen in its school and the many different factions. Meanwhile, Caelus listened quietly.
At some point, he took out his book and pen again, silently recording the peculiar existence known as the System.
To the outside world, a handsome gray-haired young man was sitting on a park bench, holding a somewhat faded and old grayish-white quill, writing and drawing in a notebook, giving off a strong artistic atmosphere.
As the morning sun rose, its warm light spilled over the park bench. The gray-haired youth lowered his eyes, lightly tracing words in the notebook with the old grayish-white quill.
His dull golden eyes reflected the morning light, as if a spark of brilliance had been ignited within those hollow, lifeless eyes.
(To be continued.)