I--Kaisel Clyde was an adventurer.
　From the time I received my first adventurer's license at age 14, I distinguished myself and rose to the A-ranked adventurer of all time, faster than any other adventurer in history.
　If you handled a sword, you were called a sage. If you handled magic, you were called a wise man.
　I was a child prodigy since the adventurers' guild began.
　That was the reputation I was held in high regard.
　But I wasn't buoyed by their praise. My goal was to become an S-ranked adventurer.
　I spent my days practicing sword and sorcery and completing my missions.
　No one doubted that Kaiser would become an S-ranked adventurer in the future. And that was certainly true for me.

　But then...
　One day when I was 17, everything was lost.
　There I was, on a grade A mission.
　We were assigned to kill a wyvern that lived in the volcano.
　I climbed up the volcano from the nearby village and killed the wyvern. That should have been the end of the mission.

　But then--
　But now an irregularity has arisen.
　The battle between me and the wyvern had awakened an ancient dragon that lay dormant deep within the volcano.
　The dragon was a disaster-grade demon - an S-ranked one.
　With a roar, the dragon leaped from the crater and took off toward the village at the foot of the volcano. I hurried back to the village, but it was too late.
　A great many deaths lay before me.
　Entire villages had been wiped out.
　Buildings, people, land, everything was overrun.
　Black smoke rose from everywhere.
　The stench of burning flesh stank of death.
　The dragon was screaming in the middle of the burnt-out village. I rushed toward its massive, wicked body.
　After a day's worth of deadly combat, the dragon had fled.
　I didn't have the strength to chase it.

Someone!　Is there anyone out there!

　The village was empty and I screamed.
　They were dead.
　The chief who welcomed me with open arms, the muscular carpenter who drank with me all night, the innkeeper who favored me, they were all burned out.
　They were all burned to the ground.

That's ridiculous. ......

　I fell to my knees in despair.
　This is all my fault.
　I should have taken the wyvern down faster. I wouldn't have woken the dragon that was sleeping in the crater.
　What kind of A-Level adventurer are you?
　What kind of sage is this? What a wise man. What kind of a child prodigy.
　Status and honor mean nothing if you fail to protect the people you should be protecting. I'm just a huge fool for this...
　And that was it.

Oh no.

　I heard voices from somewhere.
　It smelled of death, and the wind was blowing and smelling it.
　I gasped and stood up and walked toward the voice.
　I run.
　As fast as I can, I make my way toward the voice.
　The distance between them gets closer.

　--It's around the wreckage.

　I rummage through the debris at my feet.
　Please, please, please be alive.
　Please know that I'm alive.
　Please keep me alive.
　My fingers were torn to shreds when I saw a baby peeking out from underneath that pile of rubble.
　And it's not just one. It's three.

""Oh, my God!"

　Everyone is crying, their faces crumpled.
　Trembling with fear and trembling with anxiety.
　Screaming and crying at the top of their lungs.
　But that's what it means.
　I knew these children were alive.

That's good. I'm so happy. ......

　I picked up the three babies and held them close.
　I took their fears and their insecurities with me.
　I thought they were all dead.
　But there were lives we could have saved.

I'll take responsibility for raising you. I'll make everyone in this village happy who died. ......

　I made a vow that day to the people of that village that I couldn't save.
　I'd make this baby grow up.
　And I'll make them happy for those I couldn't save.


　My life changed after I got back from that mission.
　I went on a mission to take down the wyvern, but I got blamed for waking up a dragon that was responsible for wiping out my village.
　People who had always praised me, they just laughed at me and took it out on me. Now they were treating me like a criminal.

"He knew this was going to happen someday!　You've been called a child prodigy or something, and you've gotten carried away!
"You're a Grade A adventurer. You destroyed an entire village!　I want that guy's adventurer's license revoked right now!　
They haven't killed the dragon yet, have they?　We can sacrifice that guy and lure him in to lure the dragon guy in.

　Everyone was throwing barbs at me.
　But I couldn't bring myself to argue with them. But they were harsh, but I had killed people in that village.

　And then...
　I had to retire from being an adventurer.
　The guild's receptionist was the only one who was eager to keep me, but she was adamant that I would be there for the babies I had taken in.

'I see. ....... Mr. Kaiser has done nothing wrong. You just did the best you could in the moment.
Thank you.

　He's probably consoling me.
　I bowed and left the Adventurers' Guild.
　The double doors were closing.
　That was the sound of my dream of becoming an S-ranked adventurer shut off.
　This was the day that I, at seventeen, became a father to three babies. I swore to myself that I would give my life to raise them to be great men.