The Hero's Father's Last Strand of Hair

'This time, I think I'll be the one to show you some affection.'

"What brought this on all of a sudden?"

'When you've been a goddess in charge of reincarnation for as long as I have, you sometimes get sudden bouts of loneliness.'

"It's a lonely job, after all."

'Exactly. So this time, I'll accept even your most passionate advances. Come on, give me a hug.'

"Then this time, I'll be the one giving you the cold shoulder."

'Why?'

"I think it's only fair to balance things out."

'Is this a game?'

"I could enjoy myself now, sure, but I'm afraid of what might happen afterward."

'I can't deny that.'

"You should deny it."

'Don't worry. You'll probably just keep dying over and over until all your memories are gone.'

"That goes beyond scary. I'd better escape to another world as soon as possible. Huh? Where's the suggestion box?"

'Are you looking for this golden suggestion box, or this silver one?'

"You took it from me! When did that happen? Uh, I mean the suggestion box made from a Godi○a box."

'For your honesty, I shall grant you my favor.'

"Oh, no escape. Or so you think! I already picked one out."

'When did you do that?'

"From Hidakawa-san: 'The Hero's Father's Last Strand of Hair.'"

'This might set a new record for the shortest-lived assignment.'

"A man's hair only lasts three to six years, after all. Perhaps this is a message telling me to find meaning in life despite the limited time I have."

'I doubt the person who sent this prompt thought that far ahead.'

"No, I'm sure they sent this in the firm belief that this world would let anyone live a life they could be satisfied with."

'Stop creating a lose-lose relationship where you offset the difficulty of the prompt by raising the bar for the person who submitted it.'

"Anyway, let's think about the options. I suppose the lifespan can stay as usual."

'That sounds relatively harmless, but we're talking about a strand of hair.'

"I wouldn't be satisfied if it fell out because of some sudden mishap, so I'd like to make sure it falls out in a suitably dramatic fashion."

'I'm amazed you're willing to be reincarnated as the Hero's last remaining strand of hair at all.'

"Now, what kind of backstory should I choose...? Oh, these settings for how it falls out look good."

'I'm amazed you think there are good and bad settings for how a strand of hair falls out.'

"I don't need any cheat Skills. I'll manage somehow."

'The confidence of a mere last remaining strand of hair, saying it'll manage somehow.'

"I think there's a certain elegance in letting the tides of time carry you along."

'The wind certainly will carry you along.'

◇

"I'm back."

'You came back, just as expected.'

"Are you feeling better now?"

'Yes. Sorry for making you worry.'

"That's good. Then we can go back to normal."

'Of course. Go ahead.'

"Oh, you're not over it yet."

'You figured it out?'

"I was taught how to judge personal space when I was human."

'You remember quite a lot from your time as a human.'

"I have a good memory."

'That's right. You just aren't very perceptive.'

"Well, shall I give my report?"

'A story about a strand of hair sounds like it'll be rather small in scale.'

"The story begins just after the Hero defeats the Demon King."

'Starting right at the climax.'

"The Demon King, defeated before he could fulfill his ambitions, hates the Hero and tries to curse him to death."

'A pretty standard turn of events.'

"But a curse from one measly Demon King was never going to work on a cheat-powered Hero reincarnated from another world."

'Sixty percent of Heroes these days are reincarnators, after all.'

"So the Demon King's curse passes on to the Hero's father."

'That's an unpleasant turn of events.'

"And so, the Hero's father is cursed to lose one strand of hair every time the Hero kills a monster."

'I don't think I'd call that epic.'

"This wasn't one of those fantasy worlds where the world became peaceful just because the Demon King had died."

'It is a fantasy world, though, what with there being a Demon King and all.'

"Powerful monsters appeared, hoping to become the second or third Demon King, while some humans plotted to seize power by exploiting the postwar confusion."

'I've heard that stories set after the Demon King's defeat can be pretty hard on the Hero. In a way, this one is, too.'

"At first, the Hero hunted down the remaining monsters. But when he went home, he found a huge pile of his father's hair in the bedroom."

'Horrifying.'

"Once the Hero realized what the curse was, he tried to throw away his sword."

'He was weighing his father's hair against world peace.'

"But the Hero's father punched him two hundred meters away and scolded him."

'As expected of the Hero's father. He's strong.'

"What's one man's hair compared to all that? If you throw away your sword, the hair of countless people will fall!"

'I wish he'd said their lives instead.'

"The Hero was stunned."

'Did those words strike him to the core?'

"He was too far away to hear what his father was saying."

'He'd been punched two hundred meters away, after all.'

"His father went closer and repeated the same thing. What's one man's hair compared to all that? If you throw away your sword, the hair of countless people will flutter to the ground!"

'Adding sound effects doesn't change anything.'

"The Hero said, 'But if my dad, who has such a full head of hair, goes bald, people will think I'll go bald when I'm older, too!'"

'The Hero's certainly looking out for himself, even though he's a reincarnator.'

"The Hero's father kicked him six hundred meters away and scolded him."

'As expected of the Hero's father. Legs are three times stronger than arms, after all.'

"This time, he went closer first."

'As expected of the Hero's father. He's a quick learner, too.'

"A man's worth isn't decided by his hair. It's decided by how much money he has."

'What a jerk.'

"The Hero wasn't listening."

'Was he being a decent Hero for once?'

"He was unconscious."

'Even a Hero would pass out after being kicked six hundred meters.'

"When he woke up, his father repeated the same line, and the Hero repented. He vowed to slay as many monsters as he could and bring peace to the world as soon as possible."

'That's a fine resolution, considering what he was told about a man's worth being decided by his money.'

"He gets paid for every monster he kills, after all."

'Like father, like son.'

"The Hero set about slaying monsters with single-minded determination. With each one he killed, his father's hair fell out, and the Hero's heart ached."

'I don't think his heart hurt that much.'

"The Hero worried about his father and returned home to check on him every time he finished a hunt."

'The Hero's awfully anxious.'

"Every time he came home, there was more of his father's fallen hair scattered around the house."

'Why not just clean it up?'

"Before long, hair was turning up not just in the bedroom, but in the bathroom, the toilet, and the living room, too."

'Why not just clean it up?'

"It started showing up everywhere: the storeroom, the workshop, even the heroine's bedroom."

'You're finding it in some rather questionable places.'

"The workshop has to be kept clean, after all."

'I'm not going to comment any further.'

"The Hero's heart ached even more as his father's hair grew thinner, but he kept fighting."

'There are other things he should be feeling bad about.'

"Like taking the lives of monsters, for instance."

'You're not very perceptive.'

"But one day, the Hero faced his most troublesome opponent yet: Namekkuji, the Shell-Insect General, who commanded countless insect monsters."

'That name doesn't sound very shell-insect-like.'

"The insect monsters weren't particularly strong individually, but there were far too many of them."

'I don't want to imagine it, but I'm sure it was a horrifying sight.'

"The Hero imagined what lay ahead and trembled so badly he couldn't grip his sword."

'Was the sight of one old man's hair falling out in handfuls really that terrifying?'

"His father rushed over from home and threw the Hero eighteen meters."

'That's impressive, I suppose, but it pales next to being punched or kicked.'

"His father turned up his shirt collar and said..."

'Why did he pop his collar?'

"Don't worry about the bruise on my neck. It'll disappear in a few days."

'Didn't he leave the heroine waiting at home?'

"The Hero took his father's words to heart and steeled his resolve."

'What part of that conversation was supposed to be encouraging?'

"There was something about going bald in there, at least."

'Enough already.'

"Having steeled himself, the Hero set fire to the forest where Namekkuji was."

'That's a brutal solution.'

"His father watched and praised him, with countless strands of hair falling around him."

'Couldn't his father have just set the fire himself?'

"After that battle, his baldness was impossible to hide."

'So he still had some hair left.'

"Whenever his father looked in the mirror, he would look sad. But he kept telling himself that it was proof of the Hero's accomplishments."

'A sad kind of proof.'

"All I could do was offer him some kind words."

'So the strand that was supposed to be the last one started talking.'

"The Hero's father was startled. 'Who are you?'"

'That's how anyone would react if a strand of hair started talking.'

"I introduced myself as the strand of hair destined to be his last one, known as Last One."

'A mere strand of hair gave itself quite an imposing name.'

"I'd watched the Hero's interactions with his father and knew how resolute his father was, so all I could do was encourage him."

'You set that one up, didn't you?'

"I said, 'You'll be bald, but don't give up!'"

'It's a wonder he didn't pluck you out.'

"Even if I were plucked out early, I wouldn't be the last strand. So my location would simply teleport somewhere else."

'An unnecessarily powerful setting.'

"After plucking out about a hundred strands himself, the Hero's father finally gave up."

'He must've really hated it, even with so little hair left.'

"I told the Hero's father, 'I'll watch quietly from the sidelines until the day you and the Hero settle things.'"

'Why would he need to settle things with the Hero?'

"It turned out the Hero's father was the boss of an evil organization that ruled the underworld."

'The Hero's father's backstory is getting a little thin.'

"It was a hair-raising story, after all."

'Get on with it.'

"The Hero's father was kind in his everyday life, but behind the scenes, he was a villain who committed every sort of atrocity."

'We'd seen a little of that side of him already.'

"After the Demon King's death, he captured monsters left without a leader and sold them as entertainment. His position was exposed when the Hero found the receipts he'd kept at home."

'I'm surprised the Hero hadn't noticed until now.'

"The Hero, believing his father to be an upstanding paragon, stormed his hideout and accused him of betraying him."

'Is the Hero blind?'

"The Hero's father admitted he did it for the money."

'So that first attempt at persuasion was foreshadowing.'

"The Hero accepted that explanation."

'This Hero's a scumbag, too.'

"'Then I'll defeat you and inherit your fortune!' And so, the Hero and his father began to fight."

'Those aren't words you'd expect from a Hero who saved the world.'

"The Hero had the upper hand throughout the battle. The difference in hair really was significant."

'I don't think hair makes any difference in their strength.'

"The Hero's father was at his wit's end, but then my magic struck the Hero directly."

'What happened to your promise to watch from the sidelines?'

"I just couldn't leave the father I'd shared so much joy and hardship with since birth to fend for himself."

'I doubt the Hero's father knew you felt that way.'

"The tide turned, and the Hero was driven into a corner."

'The difference in hair mattered more than I expected.'

"The Hero schemed to make his father's hair fall out, while his father tried to protect it and corner the Hero."

'What a terrible psychological battle.'

"Then the Hero had an idea. His father was a monster broker, so there had to be plenty of monsters hidden in the hideout."

'I see. He thought he could use the curse that made his father's hair fall out whenever he killed a monster.'

"The Hero figured that if he took the monsters hostage, his father wouldn't be able to fight back."

'That Hero's about as slow on the uptake as you are.'

"The Hero took the monsters hostage, but his father said, 'There are plenty more monsters where these came from. Just like there are plenty of women to replace your heroine.'"

'So it was a harem story. And the Hero's just as rotten as his father. In a way, were the heroines better off?'

"Cornered, the Hero set fire to the hideout."

'He reacts the same way when he's determined as when he's desperate.'

"The monsters died one after another, and his father's hair fell out all at once."

'That must've been a pretty gruesome sight.'

"His hair was supposed to fall out completely, but my option, 'It won't fall out unless things get really dramatic,' kicked in, and I remained as the last strand."

'I thought that was pretty dramatic.'

"With no options left, the Hero was defeated by his father."

'Even though he was a cheat-powered Hero reincarnated from another world.'

"Why would I lose to someone who'd relied on cheats to get ahead when I'd fought my way up from the bottom?"

'You seem to have become pretty overpowered yourself.'

"It felt great."

'Don't get so high and mighty, strand of hair.'

"The Hero's father was about to finish him off when, suddenly, a huge comet streaked across the night sky."

'Now that's dramatic. Ah...'

"My lifespan had actually run out years earlier. Then this extremely dramatic event happened, and I fell out."

'That was the most dramatic farewell of any last strand of hair in history.'

"I never thought my options—'You'll often see shooting stars when you look at the night sky' and 'You'll come across wonderful sights when you're in a good mood'—would finish me off like this."

'So it was your own fault. Why would you choose those options?'

"It was a hair's life. Since I couldn't interact with people, I figured I'd find contentment in the sights before my eyes."

'I see. That does make sense.'

"As for what happened afterward, once I died, the Hero's father supposedly came to his senses, as if something he'd been possessed by had fallen away."

'I see. It was his hair that fell away, though.'

"I'd packed my options with curses and all sorts of magical effects so I wouldn't fall out easily."

'So you were the thing possessing him.'

"It's possible. He started acting differently around the time I grew out of his head."

'A whole bundle of possibilities.'

"And so, I came back with a rather complicated feeling."

'You could stand to feel a little guilty.'

"Anyway, about my souvenir..."

'You could bring yourself back as a souvenir, if you like.'

"I did bring something back: a fragment of the meteorite."

'Oh? That's more romantic than I expected.'

"It happened to fall right then."

'Could this be a piece of the comet?'