This Clueless Hero

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Warning: Implied child abuse in this chapter.

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The door opened.

A middle-aged lady with a few wrinkles on her face appeared from behind the door.

"Everett? You came back early to-"

Once Everett's mother looked at me, she stopped herself.

Everett smiled.

"Ah, mom! Could you let this guy stay over?"

Everett's mother froze.

Everett tilted his head.

"Mom?"

A bitter smile appeared on my face.

"If it's too much-"

"It's fine!"

Everett's mom was clearly forcing a smile.

Ah, it seems she doesn't want me to stay for some reason.

"You don't have to let me stay if you don't want to."

Everett's mom shook her head.

"No, no, it's fine."

I nodded.

"Thank you then."

The house was made of wooden boards. There were two floors but it was overall pretty cramped.

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"Do you have a guest room?"

Everett smiled.

"Yeah! Let me show you!"

Everett's mom frowned.

"No, no. Let me show you."

Everett furrowed his brows.

"What? I can show him fine."

Everett's mom turned to Everett.

"No, you can't."

What? Why couldn't he?

While I was still confused, Everett's mom flashed me a forced smile.

"Follow me, follow me."

She walked up the stairs and my steps trailed after hers.

She brought me to a room and opened it.

The room had a few picture frames of what I assumed to be Everett with his mother and father.

There was a double bed and clothes strewn about.

My face twitched.

"Uh, this doesn't seem to be the guest room."

Everett's mom began panicking.

"Sorry, sorry."

She began picking up her clothes and the picture frame.

A small sigh escaped me.

"Can you just... show me the guest room?"

Everett's mom dropped everything and nodded rapidly.

After closing the door, she led me to another room. This time, it was a small room with a one person bed inside. It was a little dusty.

It seemed Everett's mom realized this and hurriedly dusted away the top of the bed.

My throat cleared.

"Don't worry, I can do that myself."

My mind casted the wind spell and all the dust was blown to a corner of the room.

Everett's mom laughed awkwardly.

"Well, what would you like to eat?"

My head shook.

"Nothing, don't worry about me."

Everett's mom panicked.

"Ah, uh, don't worry I can buy some better ingredients."

I understood that she just wanted to be polite, but it was really getting annoying. My hand waved dismissively while I tried to hide my annoyance.

"Really, I'm just not hungry."

Everett's mom nodded rapidly.

"Ah yes, is there anything else you need?"

My head shook while my face wore a forced smile.

"No... no."

Everett's mom bowed.

"Alright, sir."

My hand pushed the door closed.

...Why were people in this village so weird?

Well, Everett was pretty normal, just a bit childish. Not that being childish was a bad thing, he is a child after all.

My head laid down on the bed.

It was at this point I realized I couldn't sleep.

Thinking back, a long time passed without me having a wink of sleep.

My hand rubbed against my chin.

"Well... this is awkward."

The black fruit probably had some sort of effect that made sleep unnecessary.

Hmm... it should be a good thing, but now there wasn't any way to pass the night.

After a few more minutes of hesitation, I decided to sneak out.

This really is a strange situation...

Slowly my hand opened the door.

It was at this point I heard a smack from behind a door.

"How could you bring someone of the upper class to our home? You just want to bring trouble for me, huh?"

Another voice rang out.

"What? He just wanted a place to stay!"

Another smack rang out.

"Then tell him to find an inn idiot!"

There was faint crying.

"I did! He said he didn't have any money so I offered our place if you agreed."

A smack resounded from behind the wall that was louder than the previous two. Something fell to the ground.

A frown formed on my face and my brows furrowed. My hand reached for the doorknob and opened it.

Everett had a black eye and was sprawled out on the floor. His eyes were unfocused, it seemed he was almost unconscious.

Everett's mom had raised her hand high, then turned to face me and froze. She had a forced smile on her face and tried to pick up Everett.

However, Everett was hardly conscious and fell back to his knees when his mom tried to pick him up.

She then cursed under her breath.

"Stupid child."

The pale blue light behind me began wailing.

A deep breath slowly went inside my lungs then left.

"If you don't want me to stay in your house then tell me. Don't take it out on your son."

Everett fell to the ground. His eyes were focused again, but he stayed silent. There was a small frown on his face but was otherwise lifeless.

Everett's mom laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry that my child has brought so much trouble for you."

My face twitched and my frown deepened.

"It's not your child. The trouble is coming from you."

Everett's mom seemed to be in disbelief.

"What? But he's the one that was such a nuisance. If it wasn't for this stupid-"

"SHUT UP."

The necklace behind me yelled. My body shook.

That surprised me.

The necklace was heaving its non-existent lungs.

"You... are a disgrace to mothers. You do not deserve to live!"

The necklace began casting a spell.

My eyes widened.

"Wait, stop!"

A small dark mist was released from the necklace, my hand blocked it and immediately began decaying.

A wail came from behind me and a thin blue stream touched my hand, reversing the decay.

The necklace trembled.

"Why did you stop me?"

My head shook.

"Don't just kill people like that."

Honestly, a small part of me wished to let the necklace cast the spell, but my eye caught the panic Everett felt.

The pale blue light behind me whimpered.

Everett's mom was shaking.

"But... I... I..."

My hand flicked to the side.

"Leave."

Everett's mom froze but ran out soon after.

A sigh escaped me when she left. I walked up next to Everett and fell to one knee.

"Hey, you alright?"

Everett began crying.

The necklace trembled.

"Oh... don't cry."

A small smile appeared on my face.

"Come on, why is the soon-to-be winner of The Peak crying?"

Everett continued crying but a small smile appeared on his face.

"Ha... It's not like I can actually be the champion."

Wait... what?

His response honestly baffled me. He seemed so confident earlier.

My hand lightly patted his head, to my surprise Everett flinched when I touched him.

"Come on, you haven't even tried yet."

Everett's smile disappeared. His head slowly shook from side to side.

"No... I am too weak. I was always too weak."

Everett's crying intensified.

"I can't do anything."

A soft chuckle came out of my mouth.

"What do you mean? You beat me in two moves. That is pretty impressive if I say so myself."

Everett chuckled.

"...Yeah, I'm pretty good aren't I?"

Everett's smile suddenly disappeared after he said that.

"I already know."

My head tilted to the side.

"Know what?"

Everett choked.

"That there was no way I could win the competition."

My mouth opened, but no words came out.

Everett smiled bitterly.

"For some reason, I thought that my mother would finally be proud of me if I won. Somehow I ended up tricking myself into thinking I could win."

Everett let out a few laughs.

"To think I was imagining my mom's proud expression. It's not like I can do anything anyway."

My head shook.

"No."

A small smile appeared on my face.

"You are a beautiful person. That's worth more than anything else."

Everett blinked a few times. He seemed to be in thought.

A few seconds later, he shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I don't see what about me could be beautiful."

The corner of my lip turned up.

"Just trust me."

Everett's expression became lifeless again.

"Ok..."

Everett tried to push his hand against the ground and lift himself up, but abruptly fell.

My hand caught his body before it hit the floor. My other hand reached out to his.

Everett looked at my outstretched hand, then me. After breathing in, he clasped his hand around mine.

My hand lifted him. Once he got up, he stumbled.

Mt grip became tighter and held him up.

Everett calmed down and used his free hand to hold his head.

"Ow..."

My hand was still firmly holding on to his.

"Are you good?"

Everett slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just really tired now."

I nodded.

"Ah, yes. Get some good sleep."

Everett slowly made his way to a small bed in the room with my help.

Everett climbed into the bed and his eyelids were getting heavy.

My hand pulled the sheets to cover him a little more and by the time my hand let go, he was asleep.