The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

After I changed clothes first, the hero suddenly changed his mind and agreed with my suggestion.

“Thinking about it again, I think it’s better to do as you suggested, Mister. We don’t have that much time, and since we could be attacked while changing clothes, it’s probably better to just change in the same tent with curtains covering each other.”

Ashuria, Mille, and Lena all nodded. Lena kept sniffling and rubbing her eyes, which might be why they were slightly swollen. Ashuria gently patted Lena’s back and said:

“Lena. A cold-blooded assassin shouldn’t cry like that.”

“…I’m being cold-blooded right now, see.”

And she tried to make an expressionless face or smile. The sight of her trying to force expressions while tears rolled down her cheeks was nothing short of comedy. Seeing us chuckling, Lena’s tears stopped, and she scratched her head and entered the tent first, with Ashuria and Mille following her inside.

“Ah, what! Mille! D-don’t touch me!”

“Hugging! I heard humans feel better when embraced like this!”

“That’s right, Mille. They say when we hug each other tightly like this, people feel better.”

“Ah, l-let me change clothes! I’m fine now!”

When you awkwardly reveal emotions, you tend to receive terrifying comfort and attention. I moved around in my soldier’s uniform, waiting for the comforting session happening in the tent to end quickly.

The happening passed like a breeze, and what remained were us in soldier’s uniforms. The hero put on armor with a satisfied face, and Ashuria pressed her chest with her hands and said:

“There’s a pressure on my chest because of the breastplate… It feels like someone is pressing with their hand.”

Though her tone suggested discomfort, her lips were spread in a grin, so I avoided making eye contact with her. She seemed like a truly frightening human, enjoying even this moment. Lena adjusted her clothes with a pleased expression, then arranged her equipment and fastened it to her waist.

Our original clothes needed to be packed separately, but Ashuria’s and Mille’s clothes were conscripted for the disguise. Mille’s role was to be played by a boy running errands here, but there were no clothes for this child, and Ashuria’s nun’s habit couldn’t be found in this military camp.

“It doesn’t matter for the clothes, I can get another set from the church. But how to handle Mille is a problem.”

“Yeah! I don’t mind either! I have several more sets in reserve!”

They said that the armor suitable for the hero would be one of the armors that Randolph had.

Thus, a fake hero party was created: a young man with blonde hair playing the hero’s role, a slightly bigger man playing my role, a skinny soldier playing Ashuria’s role, a slick-looking man playing Lena’s role, and a kid playing Mille’s role.

I expressed mild condolences to the porter role carrying a large bag. Though he was bigger than the others in the party, he didn’t seem to have experience carrying heavy luggage for long periods. I grabbed his shoulder and corrected his posture so he could carry it more comfortably.

“It will be more comfortable to carry it this way.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

The others didn’t have any particular conversations with their doppelgangers. Mille was just tilting her head looking at the boy wearing her clothes, and Lena was drawing a spider tattoo on the neck of the soldier playing her role.

“Stay still. This tattoo will wash off immediately with water. Wash it off right away if you enter the river. Understand?”

“Ah, yes, I understand.”

The hero was stroking his chin while watching the soldier in armor standing like the hero, then propped his body up with his sword like a cane and tried to take the same posture as the soldier. He nodded with satisfaction, but when his eyes met mine, he put his sword back on his waist, whistled, and blushed.

Randolph, confirming that the party was all prepared, gave orders in a small voice.

“Good. From now on, you become the hero party and move towards the kingdom’s capital out of our formation. Change clothes at the first military camp you see on the way, then wait again, and when the reinforcements I requested arrive, join that unit and return. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood!”

The soldiers looked excited at the thought of leaving this battlefield and resting in a slightly better place. Hearing their reliable response, Randolph nodded and patted their shoulders, wishing them good luck.

The next day.

The fake hero party stood in front of the unit with heroic dignity and well-arranged formation. Randolph cleared his throat to signal them when they acted too much like soldiers. The soldiers, not knowing what was wrong, looked at each other until the guard standing at the entrance advised:

“You shouldn’t match formations. You’re not soldiers.”

Belatedly, they widened their spacing awkwardly or stood with one leg forward, showing a disorderly appearance. We, standing a step away like proper soldiers, whispered to each other.

“…Did I stand with one leg forward like that?”

“It’s just a slightly rougher version. Even doppelgangers are different from the original.”

Despite Lena’s explanation, Ashuria tilted her head with an uncomprehending expression. Randolph seemed to like the hero party’s suddenly changed attitude. With a satisfied expression, he nodded and said:

“Well, thank you for visiting! Take care!”

Then the fake hero flipped his front hair dramatically and gave a strange smile. He looked at Randolph with deep eyes and said in a gentle voice:

“Yes. Then, Randolph. Take care of yourself too.”

“Pfft…!”

Lena turned her head but couldn’t hold back her laughter. Randolph also gave an empty laugh with a dumbfounded expression, and the hero’s expression rotted in real-time. The hero looked at me and said:

“Um… Did I, perhaps, act like that normally?”

The hero’s face reflected worry that he might have unconsciously acted like that. I shook my head and said:

“Hero, you’re more cool. You have charm that can’t be captured by such clumsy imitation.”

“That’s right, Hero. You’re attractive even without flipping your front hair like that.”

Only after hearing our praise could the hero manage a relieved expression. Mille, belatedly pulling the hero’s collar, said:

“Hero, but can’t you do that once? Flipping your front hair. I think it would look cool.”

“…I absolutely won’t.”

“I think it would look cool.”

Mille, who had no intention of teasing, was making a genuinely regretful expression, and looking at her, I said:

“I’ll do it instead. Hot! How about it?”

As I flipped my front hair and made the exact same expression as the fake hero who had just disappeared, Mille backed away in shock.

“…..Eww.”

“Ahahahaha! She says ‘eww’!”

Lena’s laughter spread. It seemed we were still the hero party even in soldier’s clothes. Randolph waved to the departing fake hero party, then looked at us and said:

“Well, I look forward to working with you for the next few days.”

We nodded, stopping our jokes upon seeing Randolph’s expression. If the hero’s calculations were correct, assassins would visit this place within the next few days.

Two days passed like that. Ashuria and I were yawning while standing guard at the outskirts. This was the hero’s suggestion because soldiers who were constantly playing around created dissonance within the barracks. If we perfectly followed soldier schedules and blended in among the soldiers, even assassins couldn’t suspect us.

Ashuria was reading the Bible using the fire as light, and I was yawning while leaning against a pillar. Because information might leak, Ashuria didn’t speak outside the barracks unless necessary.

Silence and the sound of turning pages.

The torch burned with a unique rhythm, and I picked up a stone and threw it into the darkness. When it hit the reeds, a sound of reed being pressed down spread.

Thud.

Without much thought, I picked up another stone and threw it toward the reeds again.

Thwack.

Ashuria, who had looked up from reading the Bible, took out knuckles from her pocket. I slowly got up from my seat and gripped my weapon properly.

The sound of the stone hitting was different. A sound rang out as if something had caught the stone, and the stone didn’t fall to the ground. I drew my sword and said quietly:

“Who’s there?”

There was no answer from the darkness. My field of vision ended where the bonfire’s light reached. Though I couldn’t tell what was hiding in the darkness, a faint presence disturbed my nerves.

There’s something beyond the darkness. Something, not a wild animal, is watching us.

I gripped my sword again, and Ashuria, after putting on her knuckles, began to loosen up her body.

How much time had passed?

The indefinite standoff continued in the darkness, and I spoke once more.

“Come out.”

Ashuria staggered, then took a stance, came close to me, and whispered:

“Kick the torch.”

Ashuria didn’t explain what that meant. I stepped back, then kicked the torch towards the opponent with all my might. The wood broke, and the flame colored the sky like an orange star, and the spreading light momentarily revealed the figure of an assassin crouched in the darkness.

The assassin, surprised by my sudden action, was looking at the torch and taking a stance.

And.

Taking your eyes off your opponent is always a fatal mistake.

By the time the assassin turned his head, Ashuria’s fist was already flying towards his face with a whooshing sound.

“Uh…!”

Bang!

With a heavy impact sound, the assassin’s body was pinned to the ground.