A New Hero Party
“Um... I thought you might need some tea, Sir Carlos... so I asked one of the maids to help me brew some.”
She sat on the sofa and began to pour the tea into the cups she had brought. A rich scent of lavender immediately filled the air, tickling the tip of my nose.
“Lavender tea?”
“Yes. I had a feeling you might need it tonight.”
“Thank you, Lucia.”
As Lucia poured the lavender tea into my cup, my mind began to settle. Perhaps it was the soothing aroma, or perhaps it was her bright smile, but the lingering thoughts of Lydia already seemed to fade away.
“What were you looking at, Sir Carlos?”
“The applications for the hero party Edwin mentioned earlier.”
“Ah...”
“Oh, right. We should look at them together.”
“Pardon?”
“You're a member of the hero party now, Lucia. It's only right that you help choose the next member.”
“B-but... what would I know? You know much better than I do, Sir Carlos...”
“No, I'd rather not decide this alone. I want to look through them with you and hear your thoughts.”
At my words, Lucia, who had been sitting across from me, slid over to my side. Together, we began to look over the applications.
“This is the one Edwin mentioned. It was recommended by the Princess of the Fiore Empire...”
“And?”
“Edwin wants me to consider it, but I have a bad feeling about it.”
“Why is that?”
“It feels like they have an ulterior motive. I don't think they're joining just to defeat the Demon King. There's something else at play.”
Hearing this, Lucia took the application from my hand and began to read through it slowly.
“If we're talking about ulterior motives... I suppose I had one when I joined, too.”
After finishing the document, she placed it back on the table. The words seemed to slip out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“An ulterior motive? What is it?”
“Well, that is...”
Startled by my question, her face flushed red as if she had almost blurted out a deep secret, and she quickly turned her head away.
Knock, knock.
I was about to press her on what she meant, but the door opened and Edwin walked in, cutting our conversation short.
“Ah. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?”
Edwin asked, his eyes darting between Lucia and me sitting side-by-side on the sofa.
“It's not like that. We were just looking over the applications you mentioned.”
“Ah... is that so?”
Accepting my excuse, Edwin finally walked over and sat on the sofa opposite us.
As if she had been waiting for the moment, Lucia poured lavender tea into an extra cup and handed it to him.
“Oh, thank you, Lucia.”
“Wait, since when did you two start speaking so casually to each other?”
“Hmm? Just now?”
It felt a bit grating to hear someone else speak so familiarly with Lucia, but I couldn't dwell on it given what Edwin said next.
“As expected, our hunch was right.”
“About what?”
“Lydia. That bitch came to beg for support.”
“...”
“Do you know what that fucking bitch said?”
“What did she say?”
“She claims she's pregnant. After driving a dagger through your heart, she has the nerve to say she needs your support to secure the kingdom for the child in her womb.”
Hearing Edwin curse her out so thoroughly made me feel a bit better, but his next words made my brow furrow once again.
“She actually told me that even if I hate her, I shouldn't hate her child. I could barely keep from laughing. Unbelievable...”
“And what else?”
“She wants us to transfer your contract back to her kingdom. She offered to pay several times the penalty fee.”
“...”
I could hardly believe my ears as I listened to Edwin.
She wasn't asking for temporary support; she wanted to buy out my contract?
Calling it a “re-contract” was just a polite euphemism.
She was essentially telling the Arzen Kingdom to take a bit of cash and hand over their Hero, regardless of whether the kingdom fell to the Demon King's army or not.
Edwin was a good-natured man, so I didn't know how he had responded, but any ordinary king would have declared war on the spot.
Other nations were showering Arzen with gifts and flattery just to avoid offending the kingdom that held my contract.
Lydia, on the other hand, was acting so outrageously she might as well be deemed insane.
“So, what did you tell her?”
“What else? I told her to go fuck herself.”
Knowing Edwin's personality, he probably hadn't actually cursed her out like that. He had likely just delivered a devastating reality check.
“Anyway, did you look at the application I mentioned?”
“The one recommended by Princess Cecilia?”
“Yeah.”
As Edwin scanned the table for the document, I handed him the application Lucia and I had been reviewing.
“Ah, you were already looking at it.”
“Yeah.”
“Irene of the Cold Blood. She's the Grand Duchess of the Alsmeyer Grand Duchy, and she's incredibly famous here in the northern part of the continent.”
The Alsmeyer Grand Duchy.
Located at the northernmost tip of the continent, it was famous as a land where the snow never melted.
It was originally the Alsmeyer Kingdom, but after losing a war against the Fiore Empire, it had been reduced to a vassal state and stripped of its kingdom status, becoming a grand duchy.
“Is she really that famous?”
“Absolutely. During a naval battle between the Fiore Empire and another nation, she joined the fray with only a single warship.”
“And the enemy?”
“One hundred and thirty ships. Yet, the Fiore Empire won a crushing victory with that single vessel.”
“How?”
“Grand Duchess Irene was aboard that ship. She froze the entire surrounding sea—along with all one hundred and thirty enemy vessels.”
It was hard to believe, even hearing it from Edwin.
No matter how powerful a cryomancer was, freezing the ocean—saltwater, not a simple river—was an absurd feat.
“Thanks to that exploit, she is now the Grand Duchess of the Alsmeyer Grand Duchy and the Commander-in-Chief of the Fiore Empire's Northern Army. Her reputation is legendary.”
“But why would a woman like that join the hero party? What is the Fiore Empire planning?”
“First, to spy on our kingdom. Second, to gauge the Hero's tactics. Third, to simply help the Hero.”
Of the options Edwin listed, the first and second were the most realistic. The least likely was, without a doubt... the third.
“What do you think, Lucia?”
“I think...”
“Yes?”
“If she is that strong, wouldn't she be a great help to you in battle, Sir Carlos?”
“That's true.”
“Then I am absolutely in favor.”
“...”
Edwin stared at Lucia with a strange, pleased smile. I gave the pervert a warning look to keep him from hovering too close to her.
“So, we're going with Irene?”
“Well... let's give her a chance for now.”
“Got it. I'll send a reply to the Fiore Empire first thing tomorrow. Get some rest.”
With my approval secured, Edwin happily took the application and left the room.
I finished the rest of my lavender tea and idly flipped through the other applications, just in case.
The next day.
Before I could even recover from the fatigue of my travels, I had stayed up late reviewing the applications. Consequently, I overslept. As I finally made my way to the dining hall, I ran into Lucia.
“Oh, Lucia. You're up early.”
“Pardon? Ah... yes.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“I was planning to visit an herbalist outside the palace.”
“An herbalist? Isn't there an apothecary inside the palace?”
“There is, but they don't have what I'm looking for. That's why I need to go out.”
Lydia's medical knowledge had been surprisingly extensive. I had never needed her treatment myself since I rarely got hurt, but I had seen her treat injured travelers with all sorts of medicines from her bag during our journey.
“It's dangerous to go alone. Let's go together.”
“Oh? I should be fine on my own...”
“You're part of the hero party now, Lucia. We don't know when or where the Demon King's forces might strike. We should always travel together.”
I still remembered the time I had gone out alone and ended up suffering for days because Kir, the assassin leader of the Demon King's army, had poisoned my food at a tavern.
There was no way I could let Lucia go out by herself.
“Sir Carlos! I want to go too!”
Clara came running up from behind, squeezing herself right between Lucia and me before wrapping her arms around my elbow.
“Pardon? You too, Princess?”
“Yes! I want to check out the market too! And have a meal with you, Sir Carlos!”
“But it might be dangerous outside the palace...”
“What does that matter? You'll be right next to me, Sir Carlos!”
With Princess Clara joining us, the three of us prepared to head out of the castle.
While Lucia and I were ready in no time since we only needed to wear our usual clothes...
“Lucia, how long has it been?”
“Two hours.”
No matter how long we waited in front of the palace, Clara showed no signs of appearing.
“Should we just go by ourselves?”
“But... we promised to wait...”
I wanted nothing more than to leave with just Lucia and get our errands done, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the quiet entrance.
Click!
“Sir Carlos! I'm so sorry! Have you been waiting long?”
Clara emerged, having swapped her usual palace gown for a dress worn by noble ladies in public.
She must have spent ages dolling herself up; her face was meticulously powdered, and her jewelry was perfectly color-coordinated in a matching set.
“Beautiful women always take a little longer to get ready, you know.”
Seeing my slightly annoyed expression after waiting for two hours, Clara clung to me, acting cute to appease me.
Speaking of beautiful women...
Lucia was certainly no slouch in that department either.
As I glanced at Lucia, Clara, who had been smiling at me just a moment ago, was now shooting a sharp, guarded look at her.
“We don't have all day. Shall we head out?”
With those words, I opened the door of the royal carriage that had been waiting with us for the past two hours. I helped Clara and Lucia inside, climbed in after them, and the carriage set off.
“Sir Carlos, where are we going first?”
“First, we'll stop by the herbalist with Lucia, and then I need to visit the blacksmith for a moment.”
“And after that?”
“I haven't decided yet...”
Clack!
While I was in the middle of talking with Clara...
Not long after the carriage passed through the castle gates, it suddenly screeched to a halt.
Clara nearly pitched forward, but I caught her in time, preventing any injury.
“What do you think you are doing?!”
It sounded like one of the knights escorting the carriage shouting outside.
“Carlos... no, please let me see the Hero!”
“You cannot do this here, milady.”
The voice sounded strangely familiar.
“Carlos! It's me! Lydia! Just for a moment is fine! Please, let's talk for just a second! Please?”
Lydia...?