The Price of Trusting a Friend
My first meeting with Princess Isabella had occurred dramatically on a certain summer day. When the entire party visited the royal palace for a routine report, I was wandering the corridors alone when I found a woman collapsed, unable to support her own body. Princess Isabella was vomiting gastric juices, writhing in agony.
"Ugh! *Blegh!* Haah... haah... My, my body... what is happening to me?"
"A-Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"...W-Who are you?"
"I am the porter of the Hero's party."
"Ah... You are... from the other world."
From my perspective, this was the other world, but it didn't really matter.
"You look to be in very bad shape. What happened? Do you have a chronic illness?"
"N-No. I am usually very healthy. It's just..."
"Just?"
"I ate salmon sashimi for dinner, and my stomach has been in knots ever since. I feel like I'm going to die..."
Salmon sashimi. One of the foods you had to be extremely careful with during the summer. In other words, food poisoning.
"I have some emergency medicine with me. Would you like to take it?"
"Emergency medicine? I have already tried taking medicine, but it was of no use."
"It's medicine from the world I lived in."
"Really? Then perhaps it might have a special efficacy."
It was just medicine I bought at a pharmacy back home and happened to have on me when I was summoned, but it would certainly be more effective than anything brewed with the medieval science of this world.
"However, all of my belongings were confiscated by His Majesty the King..."
"What of it? We can simply ask for them back. They were yours to begin with..."
"Is that so?"
Heeding the princess's words, I ran to the King and explained the situation.
"Oh... Such a thing happened to the princess? And you say the medicine you possess can cure her illness?"
"I have a medicine that works wonders for food poisoning. It will surely be effective."
"Very well. Then I shall return your belongings."
The King readily returned the items confiscated from me. Reaching into my trouser pockets, which I hadn't touched in a long time, I pulled out the food poisoning medicine and gave it to the princess.
The princess's stomach ache subsided almost immediately.
"Well done, porter. Those from the other world truly carry wondrous things."
"Thank you... Um... Youngho, was it? I will surely repay this favor one day."
In all likelihood, the princess's food poisoning hadn't been that severe. That was probably why she recovered with a single dose. But because of this incident, the princess and I became very close.
"Sir Youngho~ It has been a while."
"Sir Youngho, you've returned! When do you set off on your next expedition?"
"Tell me what happened during this expedition!"
Every time the Hero's party returned to the palace, Princess Isabella would cling to me like glue, striking up all sorts of conversations. Since she wasn't a member of my party, she wasn't affected by the Rune of Sacrifice, nor did she hate me.
If anything... she seemed to hold quite a bit of affection for me.
Thus, she was one of the very few people I could trust in this desolate world, and I decided that she, at least, deserved to know my plan.
"On our first day here... Kim Hyungkeun and I discussed who would become the Hero. At that time, without Hyungkeun's knowledge, I pressed the record button on the smartphone in my pocket."
"Smartphone? Record? Button? What are those?"
"Ah..."
I had used vocabulary that was difficult for someone from a world of horse-drawn carriages and lamplights to comprehend.
"To put it simply, it means saving someone's voice."
"Oh... I have heard of such magic before."
"It's not magic, but... well, either way is fine. Ultimately, if Kim Hyungkeun tries to deny everything to the very end, I have a way. I can prove that I am in the right using Kim Hyungkeun's own voice."
"Aha... I understand now. You truly leave nothing to chance, Sir Youngho."
"Haha... It's nothing that impressive. I've just been burned by that bastard Kim Hyungkeun too many times."
Thinking back on it now, being stabbed by the Love Rune was a comedy in itself. To think... that bastard would do such a thing to me.
"Kim Hyungkeun... I heard you two were originally friends before he became the Hero?"
"We were best friends. We lived close to each other."
"Best friends? The Hero and the porter? Now that is an interesting story."
"Haha... In the world I come from, status isn't divided like that."
Indeed. There was no social class on Earth. Though no one truly believed everyone was completely equal.
And back on Earth, if I had to say, I was the one who was far more successful than Hyungkeun. I had graduated from a top-tier university, landed a job at a major conglomerate, and was on the verge of marrying a beautiful wife—my life was sailing on smooth waters. Meanwhile, Hyungkeun was an unemployed bum who stayed at home with no proper job.
"I lent Hyungkeun money quite often, too. Probably around thirty million won."
"Thirty million won?"
"Ah... in the currency of this world, that would be about thirty thousand Lira?"
"Thirty thousand Lira?!"
"Yes... I felt sorry for his pathetic situation."
Looking back, I had done nothing but help Hyungkeun.
"Even though we lived close by, we became decisively close during middle school."
Yes... it was the summer of my second year of middle school. At the time, I was sitting through a class taught by an English teacher with a terribly thick accent. Bored out of my mind, I was staring blankly out the window.
That was when I spotted a group of kids beating someone up in the alleyway.
'Huh...? That guy, isn't that Kim Hyungkeun who lives next door?'
Until then, Kim Hyungkeun was merely a neighbor whose face was familiar, nothing more. I had heard rumors that he wasn't popular among his peers due to his chubby build and nasty personality. However, seeing him getting gang-beaten right before my eyes didn't sit well with me. Still, we weren't close enough for me to ditch class and run out to help him, so I just watched quietly.
'Tsk, tsk... pathetic bastard. He's really getting the crap beaten out of him.'
I muttered to myself as if it were someone else's business. Just then, I realized a female student sitting in the front row was looking in the same direction. Her name was Han Gaeun. She was my rival, competing with me for the top rank in the school, and she was also our class president.
She fidgeted anxiously, her body trembling, before she stood up as if she had made up her mind.
"Teacher! I... my stomach hurts, so I need to go to the nurse's office!"
"? Is that so? Go ahead, Gaeun."
I had a bad feeling. With a sense of foreboding, I kept watching Kim Hyungkeun getting pummeled like a piece of background scenery. Sure enough, not even a few minutes later, Han Gaeun burst into the alleyway where the gang assault was taking place.
Han Gaeun was shouting resolutely at the delinquents who were beating Kim Hyungkeun. For a brief moment, it looked like she might actually rescue him. But soon, the hands of violence reached Gaeun as well, and the number of victims doubled from one to two.
I couldn't just watch anymore.
"Teacher. I need to go to the nurse's office too."
"You too? Hmm~"
Before the English teacher could even give his permission, I stormed out of the classroom. I didn't stop running until I reached the alley. As I drew closer, loud voices echoed out.
"Hey! Who the hell are you to help this guy? What, are you his girlfriend? *Pfft...*"
"Bullying the weak is wrong! And! How can you hit a girl? You trash!"
"Yeah, we're trash. What are you gonna do about it?"
I intervened right before Gaeun could be trampled.
"That's enough."
"Who the hell are you now? You want to die too?"
"I'm warning you. I'm an amateur boxer."
"Oh, look at him. You do a little exercise? So what!"
"...I warned you."
That was the moment I broke my gym coach's advice: "Never fight on the streets." I knocked down the three or four delinquents in an instant, rescuing Gaeun and Hyungkeun.
"*Sniff... sob... sniff...*"
Once the thugs fled, the tension broke, and Gaeun burst into tears. Since we weren't particularly close back then, I simply handed her a handkerchief I happened to have.
"Hey, President. What made you think you could take on a bunch of guys?"
"But... someone was being bullied. I couldn't just ignore it."
"Unbelievable... You can't even fight, yet you're overflowing with a sense of justice."
Though I scolded her, I was secretly impressed. I realized there were still girls like her in this day and age. Then, I turned to Hyungkeun, who was bleeding from his nose.
"You're Kim Hyungkeun, right? I know you because we live next door. If anyone bothers you again, tell me. I'll help you."
"Kim Youngho..."
"You know my name too?"
"My mom talks about you all the time. I heard you're the top student in the school, but you're really good at fighting too."
"Well... it's nothing major. If you're interested, come to the boxing gym sometime."
But even after that, Hyungkeun never once came to the gym. However, with this incident as the catalyst, Gaeun and I started dating, and I became close with Hyungkeun as well.
"So... if Kim Hyungkeun is even remotely human, there's no way he would betray me. If anything, I've only ever treated him well. We don't have any bad blood between us."
"I see. I hope you get the result you desire, Sir Youngho!"
Princess Isabella cheered me on with a bright smile.
For a brief moment, I thought she was incredibly beautiful. Hyungkeun's offer to use the Love Rune on her crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head. Forcing someone's goodwill through manipulation was something I could never condone.
Having been a victim of it myself, I knew. It was the most repulsive act in the world.
"Well... I'm tired, so I'll head to sleep first. You should return to your room as well, Princess."
"Understood, Sir Youngho. See you tomorrow! I hear the key ministers of each nation will gather at the palace tomorrow!"
"Yes."
Indeed. Tomorrow was the day guests of honor from various nations were invited at Kim Hyungkeun's request.
When dawn broke, carriages adorned with splendid drapes arrived one after another at the palace entrance. I dressed myself and headed to the banquet hall.
The hall was already packed with royalty, nobles, diplomats, and generals. I could also see the faces of the Hero's party members.
Among them, Kim Hyungkeun stood tall right in the center, commanding the most attention. Spotting me in the crowd, he began his speech as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Greetings, everyone. Today, I have taken the liberty of inviting you all because there is something I must share regarding the path our Hero's party has walked, and the path we will walk in the future. The path... the journey to defeat the Demon King was truly harsh. I wish to speak about the person who stood at the very center of that harsh path. Porter Kim Youngho! Please step forward."
Kim Hyungkeun called my name.
I hesitantly stepped forward. The gazes of countless powerful figures locked onto me.
"Everything I am about to tell you is the absolute truth. Porter Kim Youngho is no mere porter. He is..."
The Hero, Kim Hyungkeun, continued his speech in a grand, booming voice.