Sekai no Owari no Encore:Volume 1 Record.1

Record.1: The Fake Brave Hero Doesn’t Have Any Comrades

1

There was a term called the “Brave Hero”.

The one who made a greater achievement than the Heroes and the Braves. Due to its exaggerated meaning, it was a title no one had for a long time.

The Sword-Emperor Elline.

Until the day the man who had enough calibre to receive that title within the whole history showed up.

Unequally invincible. So powerful that he’s unparalleled. The strongest in the whole history. Or he was not human. Even though there are many words to describe the strength of humans, there sure weren’t many words that could describe the Sword-Emperor Elline’s strength.

If you had to describe him, then it would he was “impossible to understand”.

Obviously the humans, but he was also undefeated against the hundreds of intense battle he had against the three great beings—the Dragons of the Earth, the Angels of the Heaven, and the Demons of the Underworld. Even after that, he easily stopped the Great War that had the risk of ending the world.

That happened three-hundred years ago.

Not in the past nor future, it was said that no one would show up who would make a greater achievement than his great achievements.

No, that was what it was said in the past.

“Congrats. All of you were chosen and given the chance.”

Holy Fiora Journey Academy, the union ceremony.

On the day of the entrance ceremony of normal regular schools, that was what the principal said to the new students including Ren that had just enrolled, the III-Grade student MASTERSKnights.

“Within the whole history, the title the “Brave Hero” that was only attained by the Sword-Emperor Elline, and the chance has come for all of you attain it. I will anticipate your achievements where all of you will devote yourself to studies in this Academy, find comrades who you could trust, and find the “Encore”.”

—That was two years ago. Back then, I also thought that people expected even a bit from me.

—As a new student that passed the strict examination.

But—.

“Ren, you were ranked fifth in your class again, huh.”

……Leaving aside my good or bad grades.

……Why did he have to announce my result with such a loud voice?

Ren kept that to himself and received the sheet in silence.

“I won’t tell you to get ranked first among the whole year-level, but I would at least want you to get ranked third in your class.”

The instructor sighed purposely behind him.

“Or was the only similarity you have with the Brave Hero is just appearance?”

“……!”

—My appearance has nothing to do with this. I return back to my seat while keeping the words in my throat. There was approximately ten metres distance till my desk, but during my way—.

“Ren-chan was almost close. He got ranked fifth again?”

“But there are thirty-six students per classroom, so being ranked fifth should be quite good, shouldn’t it?”

“What are you saying? He failed a year despite his appearance. Normally, he would have moved up to the II-Grade MASTERKnight became our senior. He’s older than us by a year you know?”

“Looks like he hasn’t changed. For a guy who works so hard.”

“Shhh, Ren will hear you. Speak quietly.”

—I can even hear if all of you were to speak quietly.

—The whispering which they do on purpose. Except, their voice is high enough for me to hear. Whispering and laughter I could hear from all over the room. At the end, this is what they all say.

—The fake Brave Hero that only looks like the legendary Brave Hero.

Ren E Maxwell.

His light-brown hair that was cut messily and his deep-blue eyes.

His moderately handsome face which has a simple innocent expression.

His height was average among his peers that are seventeen years old. Though he might have a small build in this Holy Fiora Journey Academy where student MASTERSKnights are gathered at.

He doesn’t stand out appearance-wise. But, if you were to be asked to give a single of his trait—

The Sword-Emperor Elline.

His appearance was the only thing which resembled the famous Brave Hero.

After all, the students that had seen the statute of Elline located at the gates would compare it with Ren who would be walk near them.

“That’s the closure for the last semester’s results. Any question?”

None of the thirty-six students raised their hands at the instructor’s question.

“Good. Like all of you middle-rank students know, this was merely a mock battle. You can say that the promotion test which will take place this winter is the main concern.”

The instructor makes a loud noise with his shoes.

“It has been two years since all of you enrolled in our Academy. Though there is one person who has been here for three years—”

—The gazes gathered at me from people around me.

……I’m already use it. It happens all the time after all.

Ren acted as though he hadn’t notice their gaze and looked at the textbook he has within his hand.

“All of you will finally be able to move onto becoming a high-rank students by passing the promotion test in winter. All of you first started as a beginning-rank students last year and are middle-rank students this year. Then you will become the high-rank students and then a highest-rank student which is the final grade to graduate. Within these four years, high-rank students are the ones that can actually join the “party” to actually start training. That will be indeed a year you cannot afford to miss in order to go out to the world to seek for the Encore. ——Ren!”

“Yes!”

“It’s the last item left behind the Brave Hero who happens to be your ancestor. You obviously do remember when the existence of the Encore was revealed to the world, right?”

“During the autumn of the World-Age 798.”

He expected that he would be asked.

There wasn’t a flaw in his answer since he predicted and prepared for it.

“Two-hundred years after the death of Elline who died at the young age of 26. The research team of the Royal History Laboratory announced the possibility of existence of the Encore—the record of the war hand written by Elline himself. Later that year, a search-team of mass-scale was formed, but they failed to find the Encore. This search-team became the model of the current “Parties”, and this led to the Era of Great War for the possession of Encore which also involved the three world of the Heaven, the Underworld, and the Earth.”

“……Hmm.”

The instructor didn’t know what to say to Ren’s answer for a moment.

Ren then used that short time of silence to speak out his mind.

“I would also like to make one statement. This is something I have been asking for quite a while—”

Ren stood up from his chair and looked at the instructor.

“Elline had no descendent. He travelled through the world till he died due to his sickness at the age of 26. Not only didn’t he have children, he also didn’t have any siblings. I don’t belong to a family which is the direct descendent of Elline. Even if we looked back to our family tree, our ancestor from elven generation back in the past was merely a distant relative of his.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that he was your distant ancestor, right?”

“I’m asking you to please refrain from saying things which would cause a misunderstanding. If you say “your ancestor”, that would sound like I am Elline’s direct descendant.”

There were two misfortune the boy called Ren had.

The first is that he was born with a mirror appearance of the great Brave Hero.

And the second is that even though it would be considered as a distant relative of Elline, Ren’s mother’s household was actually the distant relative of Elline.

He was indeed a reincarnation of the Brave Hero. People around him expected a lot from him, but the reality was cruel.

—His sword-skills which wasn’t even comparable to the Sword-Emperor, but even inferior to his peers.

—The only similarity he had was his appearance.

That was said to him from his instructor as well his classmates. He had been told that even before he enrolled the Holy Fiora Journey Academy.

The Fake Brave Hero.

That was the insulting title Ren was given since his childhood.

“The true history is that there wasn’t a single individual that could be considered as Elline’s descendent. I wasn’t born from a legitimate household that could be even compared to that Brave Hero.”

“————”

The instructor became silent and he simply twitched his eyebrows.

“Are you done? Then sit.”

“……!”

He ignored as if nothing happened, so Ren sat on his chair while he crunched his fist.

“Time’s up. The class is dismissed for today.”

The instructor took a glance at the pocket watch which was coated in gold colour.

“Those who didn’t get a satisfying result for the previous test shouldn’t forget about their training. The acting thing will be a pass or fail. You will repeat a year if you can’t show your result here. Though I’m sure that all of you are aware of that.”

==========

The End War—.

Even after three hundred years, the investigation to find out the whole story of the War hadn’t progressed.

The one fact which was known as that the world received an invasion from “something”. It wasn’t just the humans. The Dragons, the Angels, and the Demons were also threatened by the ominous invaders. The horror of way spread through everywhere including the Earth, the Heaven, and the Underworld.

The ones that stopped the invasion were the Sword-Emperor Elline and the legendary Three Great Princesses that served under him.

From the Heaven was Phia, the Angel from the highest class who received the command of the Goddess.

From the Underworld was Elise, the Demon-Lord herself who was the master of the world deep under the ground.

From the Earth was Kirsche, the strongest Dragon-Princess that was feared from both the Heaven and the Underworld.

——The Angel, the Demon, and the Dragon.

The three superior beings that represents the three world respectively. It was said that such strongest force gathered under the Sword-Emperor.

From the history book Ren read, it was written that each of them had an appearance of a human and that all three of them was described to be three beautiful girls.

“……I’m sure this was definitely written by a man. On top of that, it’s completely his taste.”

Ren even remembered till this day when he muttered that while he read the history book.

—Though I don’t know how much of the history was simply imagination——.

Except, the fact about the Three Great Princesses that represented the three world gathered under Elline, and the four of them including Elline challenged and won after an intensive battle against “something” that were invading the world was a true fact.

That victory itself was the greatest achievement made by the Sword-Emperor Elline and the reason why he was hailed as the Brave Hero.

……However, Elline was no immortal.

It was said that he passed away in one of the room in an inn at the young age of 26 without having any child, family, or close friends. His anecdote would have ended while he had his name remained in the history as an historical person if his life ended in such a way.

The problem arose approximately two-hundred years after his death. In other words, the event that was unfold one-hundred years ago from present.

“The Encore……huh.”

Ren repeated that word vaguely as he walked through the Academy’s corridor.

—They couldn’t find it.

Among Elline’s belongings, his belongings such as his sword, his clothing he wore for his journey, and his other belongings were found. Except, there was one thing which was supposed to be there could never been found.

Elline’s memorandum, the “Encore”.

The memorandum of the man who travelled all of the Earth including the unexplored regions and sacred precincts as well as the Heaven and the Underworld.

The value of it wouldn’t simply be categorised as the belongings left behind by the Brave Hero.

The one and original texts that recorded the whole history of the End War, the sword-technique manual which was written by the Sword-Emperor himself, and it also was a world map that has many of the ancient ruins and the habitat of the spirits.

For example, you could salvage the rare ANCIENTS“the lost spells” from the ancient ruins and you could also get a blessing from the powerful spirits within the sanctuary of the spirits. The areas that were considered as an unexplored region and sacred precincts since ancient times were a lot of those places were also mining areas where you could find rare metals which would become the material to create powerful weapons.

On top of them, it had a detailed battle record against other being such as the Angels, the Devils, the Dragons, and the gigantic monsters.

—If the proper attains the Encore.

—The value of the information recorded in it would be able to seize sovereignty.

“That’s why you would become the Brave Hero if you were to find it, huh……”

He went down the stairs to come out to the first floor’s corridor of the building.

“The one that finds the Encore would be given the title of the “Brave Hero” and become the second person within the whole history to receive the title.”

It was officially proposed by the World Alliance Conference.

The content of the memorandum recorded by Elline would become a great treasure for humanities, and the achievement of the one that finds it would be befitting to be called the Brave Hero of the future generations.

The era where all of the world would seek to become the new Brave Hero.

Elline’s memorandum itself became acknowledged as an existence that was awaiting for the coming of the new Brave Hero, and before knowing it, it was called the “the record of the world (Encore)”.

“……Though I would need to think about advancing to the next grade first.”

Ren took out the grading report he was given back at the classroom from his pocket and then sighed.

He was ranked “fifth” overall within the class. Among it, he received “first” for the written criteria and “eighth” for the practical criteria.

“I didn’t have any troubles with the written criteria since last year, but the practical criteria would be a problem.”

The promotion test would be judged based on the mock battles between the students that were majoring in the MASTERKnight degree. You would become a high-rank student if you were to pass it. Your rank as a MASTERKnight will also be promoted from III-Grade MASTERKnight to II-Grade MASTERKnight.

And the graduation test would also be a promotion test to become an I-Grade MASTERKnight.

You would successfully graduate by passing that test. You could create a new party from scratch or you could take the test to join a well-known party.

Then—

“Ren, are you done with your lecturer?”

A gentle voice.

Someone who approached quietly from behind him suddenly hugs him from his back.

“H-Hey!? What are you doing, Senpai!?”

“Fufu. Guess who?”

“……Well, even if you ask me that.”

Her teasing voice.

The two soft things squashed onto his back, its incredible sensation—.

“Rather, the only one that would do this to me is you, Phia-senpai……”

“Ara, so you knew it was me?”

She weakens the strength in her arms wrapped around him. The blonde highest-grade student comes around front of him.

“I was worried since you were walking with a gloomy face.”

“……I was?”

“Who else is here besides you?”

The girl chuckled after she said that. Seeing her cute smile—

“I see. I’m sorry for making you worry about me. Was I putting on such expression?”

Ren couldn’t help but also smile to it.

……She’s probably the only one.

……Who interacts with me without making a fool out of me.

Phia Nesferia.

A girl whose distinctive features were her deep blue irises and her blonde-hair with silver lines.

She was eighteen years old and one year his senior. Her calm personality and soft smile showed she has a mature atmosphere than him.

“But, you know……having you press it……against me like before is……”

“Press it against you? Ara, did I press something against you?”

She bend her body forward while putting on a teasing smile.

In a posture where forces her bosom forward which is so dense that it would fall out from her blouse.

The one and only concern Ren has towards her is her overwhelming bosom which is lifted up with her blouse made from thin cloth. That’s because the cloth of her blouse had a shape of two mountains, and it was so large that her button might fall in any second.

—The truth is, I’m troubled to keep my eye away.

Unlike her graceful smile, her body was too stimulating.

……The problem was that she does realise it.

……And she does it to me on purpose as a tease.

The record she made last summer where dozens of pure boys fainting after seeing her in her swimsuits wouldn’t be broken in eternity.

“No, let’s stop talking about it. By the way, it’s rare to see you here, Senpai.”

“What do you mean?”

“For you to come down to the first floor of this building during this time. You are always inside the conference room. You are also the vice-president of the council and you always look busy with your council work.”

“I came to check my results.”

The direction she pointed towards after she said that was the front exit of the building’s first floor.

“If you become a highest-grade student, your result would be put out for everyone to see, whether you like it or not.”

“Ah, the public execution—”

He stopped his words there.

His senior front of him still had a smile on his face. So did means that—

“Is it okay for me to ask? Senpai, what was your result?”

“Like usual.”

“Ranked first again!? It can’t be! It’s unbelievable to think to you ranked first for all three of “CURERHealer”, “MASTERKnight”, and “ARIASpellcaster”!

“I was simply lucky. My body was in good condition during the day of the test.”

The senior-girl narrowed her eyes as if she was blushing.

—I really can’t beat this person.

Educational written test, ranked first among her grades.

Practical battle test, ranked first among her grades.

—I can understand if she is good at the written test. That’s because your daily load of working hard gets reflected onto your result.

—What needs to be mentioned is the practical which is the battle test.

Within the practical test where the boys and girls would be tested together, she performed an overwhelming sword-play than the boys that were majoring the MASTERKnight’s degree, and she displayed a powerful spell than the students majoring the ARIASpellcaster’s degree.

Even though she was a CURERHealer that specialises in healing and resurrecting.

The almighty genius. It must be the reason why she was called the first genius among the establishment of Holy Fiora Journey Academy.

“Senpai, you sure are amazing……”

Ren honestly spoke out his though and praised her while scratching the back of his head.

“Senpai, you would finally graduate this winter, so you are also thinking about who you will form a party with after you become a highest-graduate student, right? I’m sure you have received offers from famous parties, right Senpai?”

“Yes, I have received several invitation. From the principal’s connection.”

“I thought so! That’s amazing!”

Party—that’s the “expeditionary force made up from courageous warriors”.

Their main missions were to travel through different locations of the world to investigate the sacred precincts and ancient ruins as well as searching for the spirits habitats. There were wide-range of tasks since there were also missions like hunting down a dangerous monsters. Discovering the spirits and hunting down the monsters would connect to strengthening a specific city’s forces. Investigating the ancient ruins would connect to discovering ANCIENTS“the lost spells” and O-PARTS“the lost technologies”. Therefore the cities throughout the world supports and nurtures the parties.

This Holy Fiora Journey Academy was one of them. It was built as a special institute to train boys and girls that were aiming to create parties. It was a prestigious school that produced many potential individuals.

“Then are you also after the Encore, Senpai?”

“I certainly am. I cannot discard that aim.”

She nodded while she had the same smile on her face.

“Though I haven’t been thinking about making a party yet.”

“……Eh?”

“This is a good opportunity. Ren, there was something I wanted to talk to you about for a while, and the truth is, I will be leaving this Academy soon.”

“You’re leaving the Academy!? Eh, isn’t the graduation in winter!?”

“The result from the previous semester could be used as a quick graduation certificate. I have already submitted my withdrawal application form.”

“……You’re going to withdraw? You must be joking, Senpai.”

Even though Ren didn’t have such intention, his true feelings came out from his mouth.

Withdrawing when the graduation is just ahead wasn’t normal.

You would become an I-Grade CURERHealer after taking the graduation test and then either make your own party or take an entrance test to join the party you desire.

“Why? The graduation test is just right ahead.”

“It’s exactly due to the reason I explained before. Leaving the Academy even a day earlier to find the Encore would definitely be better.”

“……Do you have any comrades? Did you receive an unofficial offer from a famous party?”

“I don’t have any.”

She waved her blonde hair and shook her head.

“It would be just me and a girl who is an old friend of mine. She was finally able to break her seal.”

“Seal?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You can……simply ignore what I just said.”

Phia showed her rare side where she has a bitter smile while she waved her hand.

She looked up the ceiling as if she war yearning—

“The truth is, I have a friend in mind for a while who would look for the Encore together with me, and she was finally able to come. It would be better to make my action since this is the right time.”

“Your friend……so it really wasn’t a scout from a famous party then?”

“Yes. There wasn’t a party I wished to join. I certainly had the principal talk to me so long about it, but all one of them were lacking for me—”

“H-Hey, Senpai!? Stop!”

Ren used his hand to stop his senior girl’s words.

……That was close.

……Wouldn’t her words just now became a serious thing if someone had heard it?

The two instructors and a group of students that walked behind me. Ren waited till he couldn’t see them and breathed out.

“Hey, that was dangerous Senpai. What you just said.”

“Is it?”

“It’s because……”

The world famous parties that had made great achievements. While the highest-grade student around her were desperately working hard to take the entrance test to join them, she said that those famous parties were lacking for her.

“I know your results, Senpai……so I do admire you. I’m not in a position where I could say anything about it and I don’t know much about your friend. But I do think gaining experience by joining a proper party first is also important. You know, the world outside is dangerous after all.”

The End War that were ended by Elline.

However, this world doesn’t just belong to the humans.

The danger level of encountering huge monsters when you enter the ancient ruins and sacred precincts.

The Angels of the Heavens, the Demons of the Underworld, and the Dragons that were the supreme ruler of the Earth, would try to eliminate the humans without mercy. The humans of this world were a weak species.

“Even that Brave Hero formed a party.”

“The Brave Hero?”

“I’m talking about the Sword-Emperor Elline.”

“……Oh yes, him.”

Phia pounds one her fist into her other hand as if she just remembered.

“Oh yes, he’s called the Brave Hero now. The humans sure do act conveniently. Back then, he was treated as outcast swordsman from the whole world.”

“Eh?”

“Oh no, please ignore that.”

The blonde girl shook her hand in panic which was a rare sight. But her gesture ended there since she looked towards Ren with yearning eyes.

“Let me make one correction. About my case regarding the party. Yes, if I find a party which could even rival the famous Elline’s party, I may want to join them.”

“? Well, that’s asking for a lot……I mean, you are talking about the legendary party right?”

Elline’s Sword-Emperor party.

The bright and pure-white Angel—the Seraph Phia from the Heaven who was said to have a power that surpassed the Goddess in terms of potential.

The dark and cloaked Empress—the Demon-Lord Elise who was the master of the Underworld.

The girl with a bright silver hair—the strongest Dragon Princess, Kirsche, who was even feared by the Heaven and the Underworld.

The Three Great Princesses that represented the three world and Elline that led such party. They ended the End War with just four of them. They were indeed the strongest party that was considered the best in the history.

“Besides. They do say story from the past comes with a false details. We don’t know just how much of the actual story had been exaggerated.”

There were also a theory that the human MASTERKnight and ARIASpellcaster gradually were replaced with an Angel, an Devil, and an Dragon-Princess as the story was foretold to people.

That was because it would make the story even more interesting.

“By the way, what do you personally think about it? Do you think the legend of Elline was a fictional story?”

Her eyes that looked right into Ren’s eyes.

The girl called Phia.

From the girl who had the same name as the legendary Angel by coincidence.

“My honest impression is that I hope it’s true.”

Ren nodded while feeling reserved.

“When I heard that story when I was a kid, I honestly thought it was amazing.”

He admired the story pure heartedly.

Even though he was continued to be called the fake Brave Hero, the reason why Ren was receiving guidance at Holy Fiora Journey Academy as a MASTERKnight was due to being charmed by the tales of his adventurers.

“It had an interesting story. There was the strongest swordsman where the Seraph, the Demon-Lord, and the strongest Dragon-Princess travelled with him. Anyone would want to see a party if they existed. What kind of journey they had while travelling through the world, just thinking about it gets me excited.”

“……I see.”

“Phia-senpai?”

“Ren, you are wonderful. You are very honest, very pure, and……”

She had a smile exactly of that of an Angel.

The girl called Phia said that with a tone of a calm adult.

“If it was a human like you—”

The alarming bell.

The one that interrupted her words was the bell that echoed throughout the Academy.

“Ah, it’s already this time? Senpai, don’t you have your usual council work?”

“It’s cancelled for today. I asked everyone since I wanted to use the conference room for my business.”

“For your personal use? So the instructor gave you a permission?”

“I was ranked first in my grade for this reason.”

The vice-president of the council who made a naughty smile.

She replied as if this was all in the plan, but what was freighting was that it sounded real when it was coming from her.

“By the way, Ren. This may have been a fate that we met here, so would you please do an errand for me?”

“Huh? To where?”

“When you exit the Academy from the main gate, there’s a cake shop if you walk straight through the town. I have ordered in advance, so what’s left is for you to pick it up. I will be cleaning up the conference room during that time. I wanted to have a bit of a snack-party with my friend.”

“Sure, but I thought you couldn’t eat inside the conference room, right? I’m sure the instructors would snap if they caught you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Oh yes, and—”

Phia shook her hand.

But her eyes looked teasing for some reason as well as seductive.

“How about having a study session together next time as my gratitude for the errand? Before I leave the Academy, let’s not use the classroom but my room at the girl’s dormitory? Your big sister would teach you many things from the basic—”

“N-No……let’s do that for another occasion!”

—It’s simply studying, so what’s with her teaching me from the basic?

Ren kept his scream inside his mouth and left the scene as if he was fleeing.