The age of the gods.
The era when the great pit teeming with monsters was capped by Babel, and the possibilities of every race were expanded by the gods' grace, the [Falna].
Cutting down monsters with overwhelming swordsmanship, sweeping enemies away with blazing magic, sometimes healing wounds with a compassionate healer's touch, and overcoming crises with the help of a wise strategist.
That kind of familiar adventure story. I came to Orario chasing that sort of adventure story. No, a hero's tale.
According to my grandfather, there had once been a great hero in this Orario who fulfilled humanity's deepest wish: the [Three Great Quests].
The white-haired hero who slew the Black Dragon that even the mercenary king Albert could not defeat, and brought peace to the Lower World.
The hero of the divine age who achieved a feat no one else could, despite the harsh handicap of having only one arm and one eye.
Every time I heard that story, my heart would race for no reason, and I'd feel like I had become a hero myself. Maybe because I was white-haired too.
Having grown up hearing countless hero stories since childhood, I wanted to become a hero myself, starting as an adventurer, by following the final hero story, [Aedes Vesta].
For some reason, the people around me kept stopping me until I was fourteen, so only on this birthday was I finally allowed to go to Orario.
But now that I had permission at last, wasn't my hero story finally about to begin here?
...A hero story that starts with getting permission feels a little off.
Still, it was definitely the beginning of a hero story. All right! Now I just had to join a Familia and receive my historic Falna!
Wait for me! The new hero, Bell Cranel, is coming!
...There was a time when I really thought that.
"Sorry, we don't accept humans."
"What the..."
My ninety-fourth rejection. I was trying not to break, but at this point even I was starting to feel my spirit... crack... apart...
"No, if you weren't going to accept me, why make such a wistful face?!"
Every Familia I visited had a god who would light up when they saw me, start to say something, then glance somewhere else and, with a disappointed expression, tell me they couldn't take me in.
It felt like the mood was good right up until the middle, so why was this happening?
Whenever I looked back to see if there was anything there, all I found was the ordinary streets of the city.
In the end, I wandered from Familia to Familia again with nothing to show for it.
It was already my third day. I'd been making about thirty inquiries a day, so I had to keep going today too.
I wanted to check one or two more places... but if I did, the inn room would probably be full.
It couldn't be helped. I'd stop here for today.
'Is this really okay...?'
My cousins had given me a lot of money, so there was no financial problem.
It was just that after being rejected over and over, even I had started to lose momentum.
Huh? Maybe I'm more useless than I thought.
Just as I was thinking only negative things and about to head into a suitable inn, it happened.
"Ohoho! Boy, are you perhaps looking for a Familia~?"
"Huh?"
"If you want, I could let you join my Familia~?"
At those words, I turned my head.
The inn no longer mattered. A god! A Familia!
A goddess who could heal my weary body and mind after that grueling search for a member! I didn't know who she was, but she was a god!
"Now, bow down! And worship me! From this moment on, I am your master—Aphrodit-?!"
My face, turned in joy, froze into the expression of a pigeon that had just eaten something awful.
Because when I turned around, there was nothing there except a single empty liquor bottle sitting all alone.
"What... Was that just my imagination?"
It seemed I had been so desperate that I'd hallucinated without realizing it.
It felt like a strong wind had blown by, but in any case, there was nothing there.
"Hey, wait! First come, first served! Why are you interfering?!"
"[Gospel]"
"Gaaah!"
I heard the sound of someone arguing in the distance.
A fight? The back alleys really were dangerous.
'...I'll do my best again tomorrow.'
A little disappointed, I gathered my thoughts once more.
If I was hearing things, it meant I was desperate enough to hear things. Reassuring myself of that, I renewed my resolve.
"Hey, you. Are you looking for a Familia?"
That was when it happened. Looking back now, that moment must have been the beginning of everything.
"There happens to be a god here, though. How about it? Do you maybe want to become my child—"
"I will! I'll do it! Please let me!"
"Eek?! R-Really? I hate to say it myself, but I'm still a half-baked goddess with not a single child..."
"It's okay. I still like you!"
"I-Is that so? Hah! Well, I can't help it then! I'll make you my child specially!"
"Thank you!"
"(Yes! I came here thinking it was worth a shot after hearing about a child. Finally, I've got my first child!)"
Same situation. Different thoughts. Wasn't that what they called being on completely different wavelengths?
No, maybe their thoughts weren't so different after all.
"With this, I have a Familia too!"
Even if the details differed, the essence was ultimately the same.
"Good! We'll hold the initiation ceremony right now, so you can yank out your minotaur horn in one go! Follow me!"
"Yes!"
"Mm! Very good! ...Though it's a bit late to ask, what's your name?"
"It's Bell! Bell Cranel!"
"Yes, yes. Good, Bell-kun! I'm Hestia!"
"Lady Hestia! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Good, follow me! From now on, I am your goddess!"
"Yes! Goddess!"
"Goddess...! Kheh, khehehehehe."
A lonely alleyway, where a pitiful goddess and an absurdly innocent boy had gone off together.
A warm spring breeze gently brushed past.
Like the wind that had blown that day. It passed over the two of them.
If. Truly, if.
If the tragic history of a foolish boy who lost everything at the end of hardship and adversity is called the true history.
Then this story is the tale created by the boy who refused that true history's branch and broke it off.
A hidden ending that should never have existed, and should never exist.
The broken branch crumbled away without remaining in anyone's memory, and no one knew where the newly growing branch would go.
I won't say where that branch will lead.
But there is one thing I can say for certain: this story is not over.
History repeats itself.
Stories repeat themselves too.
The boy's sacred flame has not yet been lit.
He will face many hardships.
Perhaps he will meet an ending filled only with tears.
But these two will surely meet again.
In the hearth-temple where the warm sacred flame burns.
Just as the broken branch once reached its destination.
The [Hero] and the [Boy Who Admired a Hero] will meet again at the end of history's branch.