The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

Pleasant times end quickly. Daemon, who had cooled his anger, still had a flushed face, but he wasn’t causing a disturbance like before. The aides standing next to him were watching his mood and slightly extending their hands forward.

They seemed afraid that he might suddenly change and draw his sword.

We looked with wistful eyes at the pitiful hands concerned about the commander’s rampage, and managed our expressions so as not to burst into laughter again. If Daemon just kept getting angry here, the negotiation wouldn’t progress.

After all, today’s purpose wasn’t to insult Daemon but to reclaim part of the kingdom’s land and release people trapped in demon stones. The hero, who cleared his throat and improved his mood, spoke again with a calm face:

“Then, I hope you will fulfill your promise.”

“…Alright.”

Daemon had an unsatisfied expression, but he wasn’t such a difficult demon to insist on not keeping his promise in this situation. Although he frowned as if displeased, he gathered strength in both his hands.

To prepare for any possible situation, but not to give the impression that we were intimidated by him, we carefully and passively took defensive positions and widened the distance between us. Daemon saw this and raised the corners of his mouth, but didn’t bother to start another verbal battle.

Ashuria said:

“Strong magical power. He’s quite skilled. He may not be much as a commander, but he seems to have quite a talent as a fighter.”

However, the word “quite” was only “quite” when compared to the commanders and soldiers we had met so far, not enough to be a tremendous threat to us. Daemon, however he felt our expressions, even let out threatening battle cries while inflating his muscles like a toad.

“Hyaaaaaaaa!”

Keiberess said this about Daemon’s dog-threatening behavior:

“Compared to the real skilled people in the Demon King’s castle, it’s like a drop in the ocean. A lowly demon who only focused on women can, with innate magical power, only produce this level of output. There was a time when I thought this person had potential to grow, but love is truly a frightening thing.”

Lena hid behind my back and giggled, and Ashuria bit her lip and avoided her gaze. Mille was frowning, showing boredom, and the hero was extending his hand to the sword hilt to be able to counterattack at any time.

“Be released!”

Daemon shouted and stretched both hands toward the sky. A black beam shot up toward the sky and exploded like fireworks. Black particles were being scattered throughout the village like ash from a fire scene. Ashuria, who had reflexively extended her hand toward the sky for defense, lowered her hand again when the black particles touching her fingertips disappeared without causing any harm, and said:

“It seems there’s no harm to humans. I can feel faint magical power, but if each one has this level of magical power, it couldn’t even kill a mouse.”

Daemon wiped the sweat flowing on his forehead while catching his breath. Then he winked at Keiberess and flapped his clothes to cool down his sweat. The hero contorted his face in disgust, and I shook my head and clicked my tongue.

“Hmph! I won’t forget today’s insult. Hero. You seem arrogant, trusting your eloquence and skills, but today will be the last day you can laugh.”

Daemon said that after seeing the hero’s intense reaction, and the hero, remembering the previous conversation, sighed deeply and held his head. Then he looked around and said:

“Are all the demon stones released by that action just now?”

“See with your own eyes. Look at what’s happening to that demon stone over there.”

Daemon pointed to the demon stone beyond the fence while holding the carriage door with his hand. Everyone’s gaze, including Keiberess’s, turned to the demon stone beyond the fence. The demon stone, which was once estimated to have been livestock, was gradually melting like chocolate.

Soldiers swallowed their breath, and wandering people who had evacuated from the village made strange sounds and covered their mouths. It wasn’t just the demon stone in front of us that was melting. All the demon stones in this village were melting like ice meeting scorching sun, leaving black marks on the ground.

“Bekins! Bekins!”

“Oh my! Our son! How did this happen… Oh my!”

“Priest! Please save my father! L-look, his face color is completely that of a corpse!”

As the appearance of people trapped in demon stones was revealed, the village filled with wailing and screaming. A bull’s head, which appeared like a mole from inside the demon stone, with unfocused eyes and drooling, dropped heavily, and a completely loosened straw hat flew away in the wind as the demon stone leaning against a barn melted.

We all had to reconfirm the confirmed tragedy unfolding before our eyes, with our mouths covered or lips tightly bitten. A skinny man with pale skin crumbled as he buried his face in the melting demon stone.

The demon stones that had been standing leaning against each other were melting, and the mixture of soggy lumps and livestock carcasses was creating a form like a swamp of death.

A man with his waist bent backwards was looking at the ceiling with empty eyes, and there were bereaved families endlessly beseeching the priests while embracing the corpses that had come out of the demon stones.

Corpses and corpses. The stones that had been carelessly scattered everywhere had suddenly built a house of gloomy despair and were eating away at our emotions.

Keiberess.

Keiberess had a confused look on her face, her legs trembling amidst the corpses gradually spreading around.

“Hahahahahahaha! Your expressions are worth seeing!”

And across from there, Daemon was shouting proudly with a broad smile. The aides were carefully stepping back, and Daemon was shaking like an alarm clock with only his head sticking out of the carriage.

“Are you afraid? Are you scared of this horror our Demon King’s army is causing? Huh? Surrender Keiberess right now and surrender! Then more…!”

The hero drawing his sword was faster than Daemon opening his mouth more. I grabbed one of the hero’s arms, and Ashuria grabbed the arm on the opposite side. A golden sword energy rose for a moment, but it barely subsided due to our restraint.

“Haa…! Haa…!”

The hero’s face was stained with anger and sadness. Ashuria spoke in a low voice against the hero’s ear:

“Well done, Hero. You endured well. Now is the time to endure. If you kill Daemon now, both the return of the kingdom’s land and the hard-won agreement will become bubbles. Hero. You did well.”

“That’s right, Hero. You must endure now. Don’t worry. Don’t we all know that guy is a fool? He’s someone we can kill anytime.”

“Haa…! Haa…! Phew…!”

Daemon was still mocking with his head sticking out even just before the hero swung his sword. He seemed even more pleased with the fact that he had gotten in one last shot.

“Let’s go back! This is enough! Hahahahaha!”

Daemon had the carriage turned around while laughing loudly. The carriage, led by two rough magical beasts, slowly crushed the rotten ground and displayed its emblem to us. We didn’t release the hero until Daemon’s shadow disappeared beyond the fog.

After taking deep breaths for a long time, the hero stroked the sword hilt and murmured:

“…Now that they’ve gone back, we should make preparations too.”

In the time we had taken our eyes off, the black energy of the demon stones was nowhere to be seen. Instead of demon stones, corpses that had been trapped in demon stones were scattered everywhere.

People leaning at bizarre angles.

Corpses making eye contact with soldiers with blank gazes.

Bereaved families tightly embracing their children and parents while repeatedly saying sorry.

People who had hardened with no way to help had lost their lives entirely due to the demons.

And there was Keiberess.

She was enduring alone the wailing and criticism pouring from all directions, with her face hardened.

“Demon bastards! I’ll kill them all!”

“Why protect and feed that demon bitch? Hand her over so we can beat her to death right now!”

People who had lost their reason upon facing their family’s death tried to rush at Keiberess with clubs or fists. The soldiers barely blocked the bereaved families, and Lena pulled Keiberess’s arm and moved.

Keiberess, with a confused face, moved her lips and tried to say something to the bereaved families.

“I, I…!”

“Shut up, stupid. Do you think talking now will solve anything?”

Lena covered Keiberess’s mouth and forcibly dragged her to a corner. Ashuria stood at the front with soldiers to handle the situation and block people.

The hero, who had barely composed himself, stood in front of the bereaved families to manage the situation and said:

“Everyone, calm down! That demon is currently an important hostage! Now, isn’t it a priority to bury the abandoned victims?”

As even the hero stepped forward to calm people down, the angered public sentiment was subsiding again. It was also effective that the hero covered people’s hearts with sadness again by mentioning the dead. We distributed shovels to the bereaved families and soldiers, and Lena was next to Keiberess.

Keiberess.

She, who had been showing strange reactions since facing the corpses, acted like a lost person after facing people’s anger and harsh words.

She wrapped herself with trembling arms and looked at Lena.

“I…”

“I what?”

Lena looked down at Keiberess with a cold face. Keiberess met Lena’s eyes and rolled her eyes trying to find words to say, then suddenly started to retch.

“Ugh…! Ah, eugh…! Ugh…!”

Tears dripped from her face. Keiberess’s eyes widened, and kneeling on the ground and grabbing the wooden wall, she tried to find words to say while retching.

“I, I…! S-so…! Urgh…! Weehhh…!”

She won’t be able to continue her words. No words will come to mind. That’s what guilt is like.

Lena looked down at Keiberess with an insensitive expression and said:

“Strange. I wanted you to… reflect. But now that you’re actually like this. I’m more annoyed. What emotion is this?”

No one would be able to answer that question. I grabbed a shovel and thrust it deeply into the empty ground.

For the nameless man and livestock in front of me.