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Chapter 50: Hero
Welf's jaw hit the floor. The revelation that Tsuna had ventured into the legendary 59th Floor had completely shattered his worldview.
"T-Tsubaki!! You're not supposed to say that!!" Tsuna panicked, waving his hands frantically.
"Oh. My bad, my bad," Tsubaki chuckled unapologetically. "It's just that you're so absurdly strong, I keep forgetting you're actually Level 1."
"Level 1!?"
Tsubaki had casually dropped another massive bombshell. Tsuna practically tore his hair out, while Welf screamed in disbelief.
"W-Wait!!" Welf pointed a shaking finger at Tsuna. "If you're in the same Familia as Bell, that means you're under Hestia's blessing, right!?"
"Hm? Is that true, Tsuna-kichi?" Tsubaki asked, tilting her head.
"Ah. Yeah."
Hearing Welf's deduction, Tsubaki realized for the first time that Tsuna was part of the Hestia Familia, and Tsuna sheepishly confirmed it.
"Wait, you know about our Familia?" Tsuna asked Welf. "I thought we were pretty obscure."
"Our Goddess and Hestia go way back," Tsubaki explained, taking over the conversation. "They were close friends up in Heaven. When Hestia first descended to the lower world and didn't know her left from her right, Lady Hephaestus took her in and looked after her."
"Oh, really? I didn't know that."
"Aye. Though after a few months of Hestia doing absolutely zero work and living like a lazy moocher, our Goddess finally snapped and kicked her to the curb."
What the hell were you doing, Hestia!? Tsuna screamed internally.
Goddess... Bell sweatdropped.
Lady Hestia... Lili sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Wait, hold on!! We're getting off-track!!" Welf shouted, waving his hands wildly. "There's no way any of this is true!! A Level 1 surviving the deep floors is literally impossible!!"
"I don't know the exact reasons, but Lord Tsunayoshi possesses strength completely unfathomable for a Level 1," Lili stated matter-of-factly.
"She's right," Bell nodded firmly. "Tsuna's been training me, but I haven't won against him a single time. Even now that I've Ranked Up, I still don't feel like I could ever beat him."
"Y-You've gotta be kidding me..."
It sounded like a complete fairy tale, but Bell and Lili had no reason to lie. Welf was forced to accept the reality staring him in the face.
"Please don't tell anyone else about this, okay?" Tsuna asked nervously.
"R-Right... Not that anyone would believe me even if I did," Welf muttered, still reeling. Even if he ran through the streets shouting that a Level 1 had conquered the deep floors, he'd be tossed in the loony bin. He swore to keep the secret.
"Dinner is ready. Are you all feeling up to it?"
Ais poked her head into the tent, interrupting their conversation to let them know the meal was prepared.
.....
The entire camp gathered outside for dinner.
"Listen up, everyone," Finn's voice carried over the crackling campfires. "As I'm sure you've all heard by now, we are hosting guests tonight. They are courageous adventurers who laid their lives on the line for their comrades to reach this 18th Floor. I'm not asking you to become best friends with them, but as fellow adventurers, I ask that you treat them with the utmost respect. Now then, let's eat."
With Finn's speech serving as a firm warning to prevent any unnecessary friction, the massive banquet began.
"Argonaaaaaut!!" Tiona practically tackled Bell the moment he sat down. "How did you beat a Minotaur at Level 1!?"
"Eh?"
"Come on, give us the details," Tione smirked, sitting on his other side. "We're giving you food and shelter, aren't we? The least you can do is share."
"Yeah, I want to hear it too!" Tiona cheered.
Bell's unprecedented feat of soloing a Minotaur as a Level 1 had fascinated the Amazoness twins since they first witnessed it. They were convinced that uncovering his secret might give them a hint to push their own boundaries.
"Argonaut?" Tsuna tilted his head, confused by the nickname.
"You seriously don't know about Argonaut?" Aki asked, pausing mid-bite.
"Uh, no."
"It's one of the most famous hero tales in the world," Raul explained. "It's about a protagonist named Argonaut who gets tricked by basically everyone, but somehow stumbles his way into defeating a Minotaur and becoming a hero. You really haven't heard it?"
"A-Ah, well... I was never really interested in that stuff... and all I did was train back home... hahaha..."
Realizing that Argonaut was common knowledge in this world, Tsuna offered a strained, nervous laugh to cover up his ignorance. Aki and Raul exchanged weirded-out glances.
"But if anyone's going to become a hero like Argonaut, it's definitely Bell," Tsuna smiled warmly. Despite having known him for a short time, Tsuna genuinely believed Bell had the heart of a hero.
"Are you kidding? You're the one most likely to become a hero out of all of us, Tsuna," Raul said softly, almost intimidated by his own statement.
"Eh? Why?" Tsuna asked, looking genuinely baffled.
"What do you mean, 'why'? Because you're ridiculously strong," Aki sighed, rolling her eyes. "Literally no one in this camp would disagree with that."
Having witnessed Tsuna's terrifying power firsthand, the idea that anyone else was closer to being a hero was absurd to her.
"I could never be a hero," Tsuna said, his smile fading into a melancholic expression.
"Stop trying to act cool, Tsuna. You're not cut out to be a hero." Reborn's words from his training during the Future Arc echoed in his mind.
"A long time ago, a friend of mine told me that I don't have what it takes to be a hero," Tsuna explained.
""Hero?"" Aki and Raul repeated the English word, confused.
"Ah... um... that's what we call an 'heroic figure' where I'm from."
Noticing that the English term 'hero' wasn't commonly used in Orario, Tsuna quickly corrected himself.
"B-But that was before you came to Orario, right?" Raul pressed. "You have a Falna now..."
"No, it's still the same. I can't be one. Heroes are amazing people who save the world, right? I don't want to save the world. If someone else is willing to do it, I have absolutely no intention of fighting."
Tsuna spoke those words with utter conviction, despite the fact that he had actually saved his own world from Byakuran's tyrannical rule. But to Tsuna, he hadn't fought to save the world. He had fought solely to protect his friends.
"To begin with, I hate fighting," Tsuna admitted. "I don't want status, and I don't want fame. As long as I can live a normal, peaceful life, I'm perfectly happy."
""Eh...!?""
Aki and Raul stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Almost every adventurer in Orario dove into the Dungeon seeking wealth, fame, or glory. Yet here was a boy with enough power to conquer the world, claiming he hated fighting and just wanted to be normal.
Why...? Aki and Raul felt a complex knot tightening in their chests. Like many others, they had grown up idolizing the hero tales, dreaming of becoming legends themselves. They had fought through hell to reach Level 4. But after seeing the insurmountable wall of true genius—monsters like Finn and Ais—they had been forced to accept that they would never be the heroes they dreamed of.
And yet, the boy sitting in front of them, who possessed the very power they desperately craved, wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. He had the power to be a hero, but zero desire. They had the desire, but not the power. It was a bitter, confusing pill to swallow.
"Then... why did you become an adventurer in the first place, Tsuna?" Raul asked, unable to contain his burning curiosity.
"That's..."
Tsuna opened his mouth to answer.
Suddenly—
"GYAAAAAAAH!?"
A woman's bloodcurdling scream tore through the peaceful night air of the 18th Floor.
"""!?"""
Tsuna, Bell, and Lili's eyes snapped wide open.
"Bell!! That voice!?"
"Let's go!!"
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