Somewhere in the Borderlands, the sun was about to set. The little light that remained lit up the land in a ghastly orange glow.
A group of people, numbering less than thirty, gathered at the village square of their small tribe. Well, it's less of a plaza and more of a patch of barren land surrounded by a few huts. These people were all wearing ragged clothes made from animal hides. Some of them had accessories made from animal bones.
They were praying to the Goddess of Earth, whom they believed was watching over all of creation and guiding her children to the right path.
"Oh, Great Goddess, please have mercy on us!"
""Please have mercy on us!""
"Send us a sign that you still haven't abandoned the Alborin Tribe."
""Please send us a sign!""
Leading the prayer was the chieftain himself, Ulric. His voice was hoarse from desperation, but he dared not stop. The Alborin Tribe teetered on the edge of extinction. Only a miracle could save them now.
"Oh, Great Goddess, please give us a miracle!" Ulric pleaded at the altar of the goddess. "Better yet, give us a Hero! A Hero who will save the Alborin Tribe!"
""Oh, Great Goddess, please give us a miracle!""
""Please send us a Hero!""
So desperate were tribespeople that they forgot about the famous saying: Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it!
And only the Goddess knew whether it would be a good thing or not.
Suddenly, everyone heard a commotion coming from high above, prompting them to look up.
Something was falling from the sky.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
A deafening crash followed, shaking the village square and sending dust swirling into the surroundings.
The villagers hastily backed away, coughing. The warriors even unsheathed their weapons. At first, they thought that the neighboring Barbarian tribes had launched an attack, but Ulric reminded them to stay calm.
When the dust finally settled, they saw a young man seated on top of the destroyed altar. With his right leg crossed over his left, he was striking a pose that would make any Host from a host club clap his hands in approval.
Ulric and the other members of his tribe looked at the young man in shock.
"C-Could it be?!"
"Has the Goddess answered our prayers?!"
"Has she sent us a Hero?!"
They had asked for a miracle.
They asked for a Hero.
And now, a miracle had appeared in front of them.
Or perhaps a man-made accident.
But they didn't know that!
Riding on the momentum, Ulric raised his hand and made a declaration.
"T-The Goddess has answered our prayer!" Ulric shouted. "She sent us a hero!"
"""Woah!"""
This young man who had fallen on the altar was, of course, our young, handsome, gentlemanly noble, Leone. After the King of Britannia had exiled him, the overworked and underpaid Archmage had teleported him to a random spot in the Borderlands. You see, our Leone had been too cocky to think of bribing the Archmage.
Yes, it wasn't a miracle.
Leone had just happened to fall on top of the altar belonging to a tribe of desperate Barbarians begging for a miracle.
It was all just a coincidence!
A man-made accident!
The Goddess was innocent!
"G-Great Hero, did the Goddess send you to help us?" Ulric asked, doing his best to look composed before his tribe members.
"Help…" Leone groaned.
That was all Ulric needed to confirm that the young man was here to help them!
"He has come to help us!" Ulric did a fist pump and his villagers cheered.
An old man even threw his cane on the ground and broke into a dance. Clearly, the joy of knowing the Goddess hadn't abandoned the Alborin Tribe was enough to overcome even creaky joints and weak bones!
If it hadn't been dusk, some of them might have noticed that their "Hero" had broken several bones during his fall.
"Great Hero, my name is Ulric the Berserker," the chieftain said with some pride. He was a man in his early forties and had a body that would put a bodybuilder to shame. "Thank you for coming to help us."
"… Help!" Leone said, his voice cracking from—let's be honest—a fair amount of pain.
"Oh my! Look, our hero is crying!" one of the women exclaimed. "He is so moved by our suffering that he is in tears!"
"Whoa! As expected of our hero!"
"He sympathizes with us!"
"Praise be to Goddess!"
Leone was starting to think that the people in front of him might not have the best eyesight.
Fortunately, there seemed to be one person who could see properly without problems. It was none other than the daughter of the Barbarian chief, who looked at their so-called Hero with a frown.
"Father, I think he's asking for help because he is in pain?" the young lady, Yuni, pointed out. "That crash earlier sounded terrible. Maybe he broke his back?"
Ulric waved her concerns away. "Nonsense! Just look at his confident posture! That manly gaze filled with tears! Clearly, he's feeling sad for the suffering our people have endured!"
"Are you sure?" Yuni blinked. "That looks like someone in pain because of a few broken bones."
"Yes, I'm sure!" Ulric was steadfast in his belief that this was all the Goddess's will. "Everyone rejoice! The Goddess still cares for our Alborin Tribe!"
"""Yeah!"""
Leone watched the people celebrating in front of him in disbelief. He wanted nothing more than to throw stones at them. From his point of view, it looked like they were celebrating his injuries!
The young man gingerly took out a Full Restoration Potion from his storage ring and downed it all in one gulp. This potion could heal nearly all kinds of injuries, and he only had one in his possession.
The pain had been too much even for him, so he had no choice but to take the life-saving potion his family had snuck to him before he was sent to exile.
As the pain subsided, he was finally able to breathe a little easier. He then wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand before standing up slowly.
The pain hadn't affected his hearing. While listening to the Barbarians' ruckus, he had been able to piece together that they were the Alborin Tribe and that they had been asking their Goddess to send them a Hero.
And he just so happened to appear at the right place at the right time.