The Porter Is Not Interested in the Hero Party

148 – Downfall (12)

“Are you all ready?”

While the soldiers were besieging the gates and the other soldiers making camps blocking the supply route, the hero left us and was gathering equipment. Her face, which had been full of laughter until yesterday, was filled with tension and excitement.

our last operation.

That was to put an end to this war by cutting the head of the demon king with only the party of warriors in a state of siege. When the Demon King’s army thinks our purpose is to ‘starve to death’, we are rather caught off guard and hit the Devil’s head.

“There is no time left for the Demon King army, but there is no time for us either.”

The warrior said so with a sad expression. In her gaze, there was a figure of the sagging soldiers. After arriving in front of the Demon King, the soldiers who were relaxed or whose physical strength had reached their limits often collapsed and were taking a break.

Demonic energy was still emanating from this place, and the evil energy was not something that the soldiers could constantly come into contact with. Moreover, since we had cut off our supply lines and got their attention, the entire force of the southern front would be rushing here.

It could end up being a diversionary operation by those who fight with their teeth gritted for survival, so it was right for us to strike first before their troops launched a proper offensive. Ashuria was warming up with her knuckles on. Millet was trimming the arrow for the last time, and Lena checked the equipment once more with a firm expression.

And I only packed light luggage.

If you reach the capital, you can go inside the castle in no time. A minimum of medicines and a minimum of food and water. No further preparation was required.

The warrior saw that we had finished preparing and looked at the castle while holding his sword. There were a few uneasy soldiers and civil servants standing in the castle, and when they met our eyes, they ran inside in a hurry.

I said as I lifted my bag.

“Then, can we leave now?”

I felt a little rushed, but my heart was beating faster than ever. I couldn’t stand it when I thought that the goal I had wanted so far was in there. As for what he felt from my voice, the hero hesitated for a moment before asking me.

“mister. Uncle, what are you going to do once you enter the castle? Are you going to fight together? With the Demon King?”

If you catch the devil, everything is over. And, no one really knows how strong the demon lord is. In this situation, it would be the right choice to use swordsmanship to play a part in the fight against the demon king. But I didn’t answer like that.

He stared at the hero, shook his head, and said:

“…I have other things to do. If you ever come back here, it’s a must do. Sorry. Warrior.”

The warrior nodded. Blinking his eyes with a much more pleasant and neat expression than I thought, he smiled and said this.

“I know.”

Her cool response was what I was hoping for. But something was strange about the atmosphere. At the same time as she nodded, Lena, Millet, and Ashria all exchanged glances and looked at the hero. The women who read each other’s intentions with that brief exchange of glances rose from their seats without saying anything first, and started talking in low voices, united around the warrior.

The hero smiled and waved his hand, perhaps sensing that I was staring at him. Then he shrugged and said:

“Oh that… … . I was in the middle of a strategy meeting against the Demon King. how to deal with it. I was thinking about that.”

“…is it okay?”

And through that brief gap, Lena’s question intervened. The warrior nodded with a confident face. Those eyes that were so clear and full of hope.

After all, I thought that I didn’t fit in with someone like me.

The meeting was going to be long, so I moved under the fence. Soldiers and commanders all had tired faces. I sat down next to the commander and stared blankly at the cigarette he was smoking.

The commander looked at me, pointed to a cigarette and said.

“Would you like one?”

“I would appreciate it if you could give me one.”

The kingdom’s cheap cigarettes were in my hand. After the fall of the empire, it was the most similar scented item to imperial cigarettes. Smoke filled his stuffy mouth, heated it to the roof of his mouth, and exhaled hot air. White smoke billowed out like a cloud, blurring my vision and stinging my eyes.

I shook my hand once and brushed off the smoke, and the commander spoke to me while smoking a cigarette.

“Now what are you going to do when the war is over?”

“I never thought about it.”

I put the cigarette back in my mouth and shut my mouth. The commander started talking with a smile, not sure if he knew the meaning of my actions.

“When the war is over, I will go get a suit for my daughter’s wedding. He said that he had made contributions in this war, and that His Majesty would give him a medal. I’m thinking of buying a pretty suit that fits the medal and wearing it to my daughter’s wedding.”

I imagined it. An unknown woman, people cheering, and fancy suits welcoming guests.

“Nice. I don’t know if the groom is shrinking or not. The original version is also nice.”

“Oh, I did have a character when I was young. That’s why I made a pretty wife and raised a rabbit-like child.”

He fumbled around his waist and pulled out a small pendant. The family members were placed inside the pendant. I glanced at the family in the photo, then looked back at the commander. The commander was smiling with a more haggard and tired face than the family photo.

“Please come to the wedding. I’m thinking of inviting all the warriors to the party.”

“I am a porter. Nothing was done right. It was all for money.”

In fact, there was a reason more filthy than money, but I spit out a lie to save face. Even at this moment, I thought that I was ridiculous and that I couldn’t help it because I cared about a little bit of prestige.

The commander paid no attention to my negative remarks and spoke.

“If you jumped to the limbs together, that person is a hero too. Even if I give you more money than I do now, I won’t be able to jump into the middle of the demons. I’m alive because there are people like you who did heroic deeds.”

He took another deep inhalation of his cigarette. The cigarette he had sucked in to the end rolled across the floor like a rotten tree root. After stepping on the ashes with his shoe, he patted me on the shoulder and said,

“Please come to the wedding.”

I nodded. Whether or not he would keep that promise was another matter, but it seemed like he had to nod now.

“mister!”

On top of the hill, a group of warriors were waving at me. It seemed that the strategy meeting had ended, and everyone had expressions of determination, and the fighting spirit was burning in the hero’s eyes. the warrior told me

“mister. Are you ready?”

Of course it was. Instead of talking, I raised my bag and smiled. Receiving my smile, the hero took a deep breath, and we slowly moved towards the walls of the demon castle without anyone saying anything first.

Take shade and rocks as your friends, so you don’t see them in their eyes.

Lena asked me.

“By the way, uncle. Where are you going?”

“Leave it to me.”

We moved around the rocky mountains surrounding the castle. Even if it was surrounded and there were no defense troops, the capital of the empire was supporting the demon king with its tall walls and solid weight. Lena murmured as she touched the surface of the castle wall with her hand.

“It is a very hard material. I could ride it up, but it would be noisy.”

I shook my head at Lena’s words.

“You don’t have to go for a ride.”

“yes?”

Reaching the side of the castle, at the base of a rocky mountain where no one could see, I found a small groove hidden in the bushes. This home, which still exists after all these years, gave me nostalgia for the Empire and memories of my time as a knight.

Looking at the gap where a fist could barely fit, Ashria said.

“Isn’t it too small?”

I didn’t respond to her words and thrust my fist into the groove. It was black and I couldn’t see anything, but as I moved my arms around using the senses of those days, I caught a small stick.

I pulled the stick as hard as I could and gritted my teeth.

“profit… !”

Dust poured lightly along with the elation, and between the walls that seemed to be perfectly woven, the stones spread apart, creating a gap where a person could crawl.

“Huh?”

The hero, Lena, and Ashuria all looked at me with surprised expressions. I said, wiping my sweat.

“It is a passage for smugglers.”

“Smugglers’ passage? How can this stay unblocked?”

There were complicated circumstances.

It was originally planned to be stopped, but information was obtained that smuggled goods would come in large quantities by a smuggler.

So, the garrison commander who was in charge of the case with me at the time agreed to bring them into this passage rather than block it, and I was waiting for them to come, omitting the report to the upper level.

Of course, this operation was meaningless as the Empire collapsed before the smuggling began.

“It was during a trap investigation, but the world was destroyed before the case was resolved.”

Lena nodded her head with an embarrassed expression. She took the lead and burrowed through the cracks in the castle wall like a mouse. If you stick your head out, the acrid, low-quality air of the slums surrounds you. The dust that filled the crevices of the alley and the sticky magic made me confused whether I had arrived at the right place.

However, the complicated scene seen through the cracks in the building and the huge castle structure that looked like a reinterpretation of the stairs informed me that I had arrived at the imperial capital.

“It is a strange place.”

As Millet said, the feeling was strange.