The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

“Hero-.”

As soon as she entered the inn, Lena first looked for the hero. Wearing short pants and swinging her hips, she rested her chin on the table where the hero was sitting and nodded her head. The hero nodded to Lena with a serious expression, and Lena placed her hand on the hero’s shoulder and said to me:

“Mister. I’m going to talk with the hero for a bit.”

I waved to Lena and then took a seat across from where the hero had been sitting. After ordering some simple food from the innkeeper, I tapped the table with a knife and fork, focusing my ears on the faint conversation.

Of course, the two weren’t exchanging sweet nothings.

“…that’s a big deal. I understand. Then I’ll write that information in the report as well.”

The hero spoke in a serious voice. It meant that some information Lena had brought was important enough to shake the war situation. On the other hand, Lena still spoke in a bright tone, as if unconcerned about the seriousness of the information she had provided.

“Yeah. Our hero. You always work so hard. Your face looks a bit more worn than when I first saw you.”

“Ah, no. This much is fine. More importantly, Lena. Are you alright? It must be very difficult for you.”

“I’m fine since I’m a person without blood or tears.”

It was hard to grasp the context of their conversation. I tried to concentrate more on their conversation by closing my eyes slightly, but then remembered that eavesdropping on others’ conversations was wrong, so I turned my head away. Just in time, the innkeeper brought onion soup, and taking a spoonful filled my mouth with such a rich aroma that I almost forgot about the whispered conversation from earlier.

“Innkeeper! Some bread over here.”

“Yes! Coming!”

The bread was soft. As I felt the onion flavor spreading in my mouth, I thought about lies.

Everyone lies.

The woman at the tavern lied to attract a stranger because she couldn’t bear her loneliness. Lena naturally hid certain facts from everyone while killing a person.

And for some reason, the hero was insisting he was from the countryside, and I too was hiding something from the party members. Mille and Ashuria probably each had their own secrets as well. I stirred the soup bowl with my spoon and looked up.

“Wow, Mister. I said I’d talk for a moment, and you’re already eating alone?”

Lena said that while pulling her chair. The hero also came alongside Lena, and we sat facing each other. The hero began writing reports again with a serious face, but the content was encrypted, so it couldn’t be understood by looking at it upside down.

After adding a few more characters with a stiff expression, the hero looked alternately at Lena and me, then belatedly smiled.

It was like the expression of a child caught playing a prank trying to avoid the situation.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

And the hero disappeared outside before we could nod. I dipped bread into the thick soup and said:

“The hero is always busy. Having to go back and forth between the military camp, the lord’s castle, and this inn.”

“I know. Even now, he’s going to meet a messenger for communication. The hero must be tired too.”

“He seems more tired these days. The betrayal of Count Meindal and Baron Luke seems to have been quite a shock.”

“Seems so.”

Lena stopped smiling and looked out the window. The hero’s figure blended into the crowd, and only his blonde hair remained as a faint trace. I reached out to clean the face smeared on the window, and when the clean street came into view, the hero’s figure had vanished like a mirage.

“What kind of people are traitors? Why do they want to throw away everything in the world for money, some honor, and safety? Why do they think the demon realm is their paradise?”

The question from Lena’s mouth contained dark content that contrasted with her vibrant appearance. I shrugged, twitched the corner of my mouth, and said:

“Probably because they haven’t seen the Empire directly. Lena, have you been to the Empire?”

Lena shook her head. I too only remembered the Empire just before I escaped. Black masses falling on the palace and screams heard beyond the walls. I was riding a horse, escaping from the capital at that time.

The massive darkness that crushed the capital turned the entire castle black, and as the screams quieted down, everyone from the guards on the walls to the people trying to escape the castle turned into large stones one by one, tumbling to the ground.

The land directly touched and eroded by demonic energy quickly withered its plants, and the demonic energy spread relentlessly, sucking up the vitality of the forest like a hungry ghost trying to fill its stomach.

“The Empire’s land is full of death. People are trapped in magic stones, and there aren’t even proper wild animals. The forest is still alive in areas attached to the kingdom, but there’s probably not a single blade of grass left in the Imperial capital, which was hit the hardest. If the demons win, the whole world will probably become like that. Humans cannot live on that land. Traitors betray because they don’t know anything. They don’t understand what they’re giving up, intoxicated by a momentary sense of relief.”

Lena reached out to me. And tapped my soup bowl. A unique sound spread as her nail hit the bowl. Lena stared at me and said:

“Mister. You left behind all your family and friends when you came here.”

I nodded. It was a painful memory. Lena carefully gestured with her eyes, mumbled with her lips, then turned her head and asked:

“I… I’m not trying to call you a traitor, but similar to that. For example. This is just an example, okay?”

Lena was rambling with a more perplexed expression than usual. She stammered as if not knowing what she was saying, scratched her head, and waved her hand in the air. Then she looked at me again, gauging my reaction.

“If… that is, if… there were people trying to walk into such a worst-case scenario… and if those people were like family…”

I stared at Lena. Some stories naturally suppressed emotions and focused consciousness. The story Lena was bringing up was the kind that invoked silence and contemplation in me. Lena couldn’t meet my eyes and stirred the bowl with her spoon.

“Am I a traitor?”

Sometimes I…

Had thoughts similar to Lena’s. What did my family, my friends think of me who fled watching the fall of the Empire? What did those who were my comrades think of me who ran away unable to overcome fear?

“Sometimes, I thought about that subject too. Am I a traitor? That question kept circling in my head since I escaped the Empire. Am I a traitor? Am I nothing but a coward who betrayed my friends and fled alone to the kingdom?”

People each have their own stories. A rude question asked to someone could perhaps be an act of nakedly revealing one’s own past.

From Lena’s question, I substituted her for myself. People who would walk into demon lands by themselves and me who ran away from those people.

People like family beckoning to me.

But not understanding those words and running away. Now she remained here.

I was here too.

“Lena, you are not a traitor.”

The sudden assertion rather made Lena tilt her head. I continued:

“But you don’t understand, right? I’m the same. Rationally, I know I’m not a traitor, but this emotion and affection block my judgment. Lena, people must follow reason. Emotional judgments tend to ruin things everywhere. So I decided to think differently.”

“What kind of thought?”

Lena looked at me with a serious expression. She was a woman with a fierce expression when she was serious. Hoping to make her smile, I grinned showing my teeth.

“Catching the Demon King. If we catch the Demon King, everything will become clear. So these days, I’m only thinking about that. I’ve forgotten whether I’m a traitor, a hero, or a porter.”

Lena stared at me blankly, then let out a hollow laugh. Her laughing voice sounded like sobbing for a moment before returning to her usual high tone. After laughing for a while, she shook her head and said:

“That’s too far away, Mister. The Demon King? We’ve just started attacking the border.”

Lena said that and let out a low laugh. I nodded. As she said, that path was very long.

“But isn’t it said that any journey is over in an instant with friends? We’ll go in an instant.”

I said so.

Just then, Ashuria, who had returned from finishing her work at the church, opened the door and came in.

Seeing us having a meal, she said:

“If I’m not too late, may I join you? I’m hungry after finishing my prayers.”

“Oh, sure. Sit down quickly.”

As Lena nodded, Mille, who was on the second floor, came running and shouted:

“Me too! I want to eat too! Let’s have lunch together. I was just hungry too.”

The number of people increased instantly, and two more soup bowls were added. Lena was looking at me with a more comfortable face than usual, and slurping my soup, I asked Lena:

“Shall we order one more bowl of soup? We have plenty of time.”

“Why not? We need to eat well for the long journey ahead.”

Mille interrupted our conversation. She stomped her feet impatiently, waiting for the soup that hadn’t arrived yet.

“Long journey? What? Are you two going somewhere separately? I want to come too!”

“We’re not going separately. We’re going to catch the Demon King together, right?”

At Lena’s question, Mille nodded as if she just realized and said:

“Ah! Then I’ll have one more bowl of soup too! I should start eating well from now on!”

“Mille. Don’t eat too much. If you get a stomachache like last time, we’ll be in trouble.”

Ashuria said in a stern voice.

“It’s okay! Ashuria will heal me!”

Mille said impudently again.

“…Don’t regret it later.”

Ashuria said that, but in the end, she would heal Mille again.

Lena winked at me, and I nodded and raised my glass. Our glasses clinked pleasantly, and the dining atmosphere matured.

Like a journey ending quickly, our feast passed that way too.

Except for the hero.

The hero, who returned after finishing his work only after we had even finished our drinking party…

Seemed somewhat upset that we had a drinking party without him.

“No, so, Hero. It’s not that we deliberately left you out. The atmosphere just heated up at that time…”

“……”

“Hero. Don’t be like that, please listen to our explanation. We didn’t deliberately exclude you. It just happened as we were eating. We ate together, had a drink together! And then we momentarily forg-”

“No, no! We didn’t forget! Um… that is…! We raised a toast for the hero!”

“Ah! That’s right! Yes! Correct! We raised a toast! Saying, ‘Long live the Hero!’ Now, Hero, shall we have another toast together? Here’s a glass too.”

“Ah, I told you I’m not upset!”

The hero threw himself onto the bed with a reddened face.

Consoling an upset hero was more difficult than expected.