The eleventh episode of Cautious Hero continued directly from where the last one left off.
After defeating the strongest enemy loyal to the Demon King, the Battle Emperor, Seiya's group planned to take a short rest before fighting the Demon King. Surprisingly, Seiya agreed to this suggestion. However, the goofy goddess realized that Seiya had disappeared!
"Did he go for more training?"
Claire thought this might be the case. Given Seiya's overly cautious nature, he trained extensively before facing any of the Four Heavenly Kings. If he was about to fight the Demon King, he would probably train for months, right?
But to her surprise, Seiya was nowhere to be found, even in his usual training spots.
Finally, the goddess sought help from the goddess Ariadoa, who led her to a specific place. There, she discovered that Seiya had already gone to face the Demon King.
Earlier, Seiya failed to obtain the Holy Sword, which was essential for killing the Demon King. Without it, the Demon King could regenerate endlessly. Seiya's stats had already maxed out, so he devised a plan based on the strength of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Battle Emperor. To compensate for the power gap, he secretly trained with powerful gods to learn new skills.
As Claire read this part, she felt uneasy.
When the goofy goddess went to see Ariadoa, Ariadoa had tears in her eyes, and the tone of the scene felt ominous and sad.
"Could Seiya be dead?"
With that troubling thought, Claire continued reading.
Then—her eyes widened.
"What?! So the hints were there since episode two?"
Fans had always wondered why Seiya was so cautious. While it could be chalked up to his personality, his extreme level of caution seemed excessive. It was just like a game—if he died, he could just return to his original world, right? But Seiya remained obsessively cautious to the point of paranoia.
In this eleventh episode, fans finally got the explanation they were waiting for.
Why was Seiya so cautious? Why did Ariadoa and the goofy goddess treat him so kindly?
It all went back to episode two, where Ariadoa hinted at her past failure as a goddess. She once failed a mission, leaving her deeply remorseful. At the time, fans thought it was just filler dialogue, but now it all made sense.
It turned out Seiya had been a hero once before! Ariadoa had been the goddess guiding him during that past mission.
During Seiya's first summoning, he was tasked with saving a B-rank world. However, because of his impulsive nature, he ignored the advice to visit the village of sages and learn about the Demon King's powers and obtain vital artifacts. In the final battle, unaware that the Demon King had two lives, Seiya was caught off guard and suffered a crushing defeat. His entire party was annihilated. Seiya had married the princess of that world, who was pregnant at the time. Tragically, the princess was brutally killed by the Demon King.
With the B-rank world lost, the princess was reincarnated as a goddess in recognition of her goodness. However, she lost all memories of her past life. That reincarnated goddess was none other than the goofy goddess who had been helping Seiya all along, though she had no recollection of her past life. Ariadoa, the sealed goddess, took care of her in the divine realm.
As for Seiya, while his memories of the past were erased, the trauma from his failure scarred his soul deeply. Even without recalling his previous failure, the experience left him with an intense desire to be cautious.
This explained why he had been so obsessive from the start—he wasn't just checking stats because he was careful; it was because, deep down, he knew he couldn't make the same mistake twice.
He had even inscribed this message into his attributes:
"Be cautious, cautious, and more cautious. Even if you are rejected or hated, stick to your resolve. This time, I must save the world, my comrades, and the people I care about."
Although he had no memories of his past, Seiya's instinct to protect his allies was ingrained in his heart. His cautious nature, the drive to save his companions, and his determination to save Mash when he was captured—all stemmed from this deep-seated trauma.
At this point, many readers felt a pang of sorrow for Seiya.
"No wonder Ariadoa acted so oddly when she first saw Seiya," one fan wrote. "I thought she just knew him from another time. Turns out it was something much deeper!"
"Remember when the Sword God was revealed to have been a human before? That was actually foreshadowing! This story has so many layers!" said another.
"I can't believe Seiya's past was this tragic."
"I thought this was just a comedy. Who knew Seiya's cautiousness was rooted in such a heartbreaking backstory?"
"But it's his own fault, isn't it? If he hadn't been so reckless in his past life, none of this would have happened!"
"Get out of here, nitpicker!"
Most readers were overwhelmed with sympathy for Seiya.
His past was too tragic to ignore. The idea of watching his unborn child and his beloved wife be murdered before his eyes would break anyone. And to know it was caused by his own impulsiveness only made it worse.
As readers vented their frustration and sorrow, the goofy goddess broke down in tears upon learning the truth.
Despite this heavy revelation, the goddess made up her mind to go to Seiya's side, even though the Demon King had gained the power to kill gods. She decided to go because Seiya was the most important person in her life.
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