Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Hero Confirmed...?
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KABOOM!
The door to the Mastain Duke's annex crashed down in a heap, startling Laura, who had been clutching a cute teddy bear to her chest.
As expected, the inside of the room was a total mess.
The bedding was scattered across the floor, and crumbs from half-eaten bread littered the ground.
Yumi the maid had only stepped back for a single day, and yet Laura had turned the place into this disaster zone. I couldn't help but marvel at her talent.
You've got a gift, kid.
A bit of aggressive tactics had done the trick—Laura's mouth hung open in shock as she stared at me.
I'd figured she'd blush the moment she saw me, thanks to yesterday's embarrassing incident.
But she was too flustered to even think that far.
"Lady, it's time for exercise!"
I greeted her with the brightest, most refreshing smile I could muster.
Right now, things between Laura and me were awkward as hell.
Leave that kind of awkwardness alone, and it drags on forever.
But surprisingly, just one good opportunity to talk could clear it right up.
In that sense, the method I'd chosen to break the ice with Laura was the madman strategy.
I'm not actually crazy enough to smash down a door just to get someone to work out, right?
It was all a calculated ploy.
"Yo... you..."
"You?"
"You... you lunatic!"
Laura had taken the bait, just as I'd hoped, and opened her mouth.
If I'd approached her the normal way, she'd have averted her eyes, thinking back to that embarrassing moment.
She wouldn't have said a word, naturally.
But show her the madman strategy like this, and boom—she was talking first.
Without even avoiding my gaze.
"I'm a girl! A young lady!"
"Yes, I'm well aware of the lady's gender."
"And yet you barge into a lady's room without knocking, all rough and violent like that?"
"If I'd knocked properly, you wouldn't have opened up."
"Th-that's true, but..."
I grabbed Laura's hand as she lay buried in the bed, hugging her teddy bear tight.
"No matter how embarrassed you are about what happened, skipping exercise isn't an option. Let's go."
"...You're insane... A total lunatic..."
"I'll be your lunatic, so come on out."
"..."
Against my expectations of fierce resistance, Laura meekly followed my lead and climbed out of bed.
Looks like even she had been feeling a bit lonely, cooped up alone in her room.
***
With Laura out now too, everyone in the house had gathered for exercise.
Normally, we'd start with our usual run, but after the dungeon and meeting the succubus, I'd been doing a lot of thinking. This time, I decided to switch things up.
Right now, I was walking the path of a classic hero party.
I mean, I wield holy power as a warrior, so... embarrassing as it is to say it myself, you could call me a hero.
There was an excommunicated saintess with a few screws loose.
Up to here, you could chalk it up to coincidence.
But then Laura crash-landed in our territory, and that changed things a bit.
Laura was a mage who'd claimed top spot at the academy where all the continent's greatest talents gathered.
Hero and saintess were one thing, but now a mage too?
It was starting to smell like a hero party—and on top of that, her family was the Mastain Duke's house, the grand duchy of the north.
The northern grand duchy.
Doesn't that sound like the go-to powerhouse family that shows up every time shit hits the fan in fantasy novels?
With the prestige of a northern grand duchy and the mage position to boot.
You couldn't help but suspect she was prepared for a hero party.
Of course, clues like this weren't ironclad proof that I needed to form a hero party.
Your typical hero party lineup?
Hero, saintess, mage, archer as locks.
Then heated debates over thief or tank for the last spot.
Even if I was the hero, we only had three confirmed members so far.
Still two short.
There was the porter role as a bonus.
That one was easy—just pick any strong guy without squinting eyes.
I wasn't fully convinced about the hero party thing yet, but preparing early just in case couldn't hurt.
That's why I'd tailored the exercise plan around skills useful for a real hero party.
First up, the mage Laura.
"Lady, you're going to dodge the wooden sword swings I make from now on."
"Wooden... sword? That's not exercise—that's training!"
Sharp as ever.
Pretending not to hear her point, I tossed out an offer that'd hook her.
"If you dodge just once, you're free."
"Once?"
"Yes, just once."
"Just... one time..."
Mages are among the most fragile in a party, right up there with saintesses.
So, I planned to train her survival skills.
Next, the saintess Rainy.
"Saintess, you just run."
"Why? Why just me running?"
When I gave Laura a workout different from the usual, Rainy's expectant face crumpled. She'd been hoping for the same.
"Building stamina seems most useful for you."
"..."
I'd thought long and hard about Rainy's training last night.
Excommunicated or not, she'd actually served as a saintess.
One with historically top-tier holy power, at that.
She had the power to protect herself.
She'd shown that holy shield last time—a broken skill granting two seconds of invincibility.
Saintesses are physically weak, but with cheats like that, she didn't need Laura-level training.
She was already a complete package, but I couldn't just let her slack.
That's why stamina training for her.
Adventures and hero parties go hand in hand.
If we set out, it'd be grueling marches every day.
Building endurance now would pay off.
Last was the succubus Nania.
"Eek! I'm just a hostage! Why make me exercise too?!"
"Don't they make prisoners exercise in jail?"
"F-Fine... if it was sex, I'd do it, but exercise... no...!"
"No."
"Eeeek."
While grilling Nania alongside the saintess, I'd learned she knew way more about the demon world and demonkin than expected.
Apparently, she'd studied hard to become succubus queen.
Her knowledge seemed useful, so I'd put off sending her to the church for holy water torture.
Instead, I'd train her to be handy on adventures.
Teach her cooking, luggage handling.
Use her as a verbal punching bag when bored.
That's why her workout was strength training.
Not for show muscles.
Practical, compact strength for carrying loads.
"Ughhhh..."
Right now, she was grunting with 20kg bags in each hand.
Add the heavy pack on her back, and it was brutal.
But as a demonkin, her slender wrists hid surprising strength—she was managing somehow.
"Keep an eye on her."
"Yes, sir! Loyalty to the hero!"
I left those words with the succubus—once Nania's loyal advisor, now fully my errand girl—and took the sulking Laura's hand toward the training grounds.
"Uwuu... Do we really have to? Drawing a sword on a girl is a disgrace to any knight..."
"I'm not a knight, so it's fine."
"..."
Ignoring Laura's nonstop whining, I arrived at the training grounds and gripped the wooden sword.
Terror flashed across her face.
"You... If I get hurt even a little, Yumi won't let you off! Stop now!"
Whining all the way but following obediently, Laura now tried a clumsy threat at the sight of me with the sword.
"I won't touch your face, so don't worry."
"No, if even one noble part of me gets scratched, Yumi will flip out!"
"It's fine."
"You must not know Yumi well—she's a famous assassin in the empire. If she wants, she could sneak up on you at night and..."
What?
Laura's threats didn't scare me at all.
But that one piece of info she'd dropped? That hit hard.
Yumi... an assassin?
I asked, my voice trembling.
"Yumi's really an assassin...?"
"Heh heh, scared now? Her nickname's the Shadow of Mastain!"
Puzzles snapped together in my head.
Hero party.
Hero: Me
Saintess: Rainy
Mage: Laura
Archer: ?
+ Assassin OR Tank: Yumi
+ Porter: Nania
Hero party slots filled, archer aside.
Hard to call this coincidence anymore.
To confirm, I fired one last question.
"...Lady."
"Yeah?"
"Any interest in a hero party...?"
Laura nodded.
"I am. If offered, I'd gladly take it."
"Why... why?"
She scratched her head awkwardly, then spoke carefully.
"Um... since you're my slave, I'll tell you this, but keep it secret, okay?"
"I'm a man of my word. Trust me."
"Truth is... my big sis, who always doted on me, caught some rare disease. They say demon king horn and dragon heart can cure it."
"..."
"I know it's a long shot, but if the chance comes, I want to try."
Ahh...
Game over.
Me as the presumed hero, saintess, mage, thief all together, and the mage has this heartbreaking backstory?
Has to be a hero party.
...Guess I really am the hero.