The Hero Party's Incompetence
Side Story
The Hero Party
In a border village inn of the Kingdom, Hero Eugene was eating when he recalled what had happened not long ago.
“No matter how great you think you are, do you really believe you can kill the Demon King without me?”
“I gave up on the idea of a bastard who thinks his dick is the Holy Sword killing the Demon King a long time ago, so just fuck off. I can handle the Demon King by myself.”
“But the Hero is giving you a chance—”
“You wanna get hit?”
Mage Noah had suddenly kicked the Hero, the Saintess, and the elf archer out of the party.
At first, it had been absurd. Of course it had. The guy didn’t know his place and was full of arrogance.
But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that wasn’t quite right.
The Hero knew better than anyone the extent of Noah’s power.
People in distant provinces who had never met the Hero Party treated the Saintess as the High Priest and the elf archer as the Divine Archer, but in truth, the titles of Sword Saint, Divine Archer, and High Priest all belonged to Noah.
After suddenly flying into a rage and expelling the Hero Party, Noah had gone off alone to fight the Demon King.
“What the hell happened to the Demon King?”
“Something definitely occurred at the Demon King’s castle. The massive demonic energy has vanished,” Saintess Cyria said.
So had the Demon King truly disappeared?
“What? So that gloomy bastard actually did it?” Ella said, looking utterly dumbfounded.
Eugene drew the Holy Sword. The Hero’s Holy Sword had the ability to sense absolute evil. It could determine the location of the Demon King or the Four Heavenly Kings.
Shockingly, he could no longer feel the Demon King’s presence at all—only his own.
That was proof that the Demon King had been defeated.
At first, he’d assumed Noah had simply gotten angry about being left out while he built his harem and had thrown a tantrum by disbanding the party on impulse. He’d thought that after some time passed and Noah calmed down, he would laugh it off and suggest reforming the party.
He never imagined the bastard would actually pull it off.
“Hero, then… will that person—whoever he is, mage or Sword Saint or Divine Archer—rejoin us?”
“Well, he’s the one who expelled us. Hmm. Maybe we can just return in triumph like this?”
In any case, Eugene had done nothing wrong. The one who had kicked the Hero, the Saintess, and the elf out of the party was none other than Noah.
Defeating the Demon King had been the Hero’s purpose from the beginning. Now that it was over, they could simply return home.
“Do you know how much His Majesty cherishes the High Priest? We should bring him back.”
That was true. Noah had an excellent way with people and was skilled at winning them over. He had been more popular than the Hero himself.
The increase in support funds for the Hero Party had probably been the result of Noah skillfully coaxing the King.
That had made him jealous, and that was probably when he had started pushing the guy around. The problem was that it had only made Noah stronger.
Thanks to that, the Hero had been able to avoid moving at all and simply enjoy himself with women.
Still, it seemed the Demon King really was dead. And since Noah hadn’t shown up, something might have happened to him as well.
“Ah, but what if they took each other out? Hmm.”
If Noah truly couldn’t return, it would be better to claim he had defeated the Demon King rather than admit that gloomy bastard had done it, wouldn’t it?
Honestly, the living had to keep living. If that half-crazy Noah had died together with the Demon King, it would be best to just swallow the credit.
“Um, how about we rest for a while?”
“Yes. Let’s rest. You look very tired.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
He was getting tired of waiting for Noah. They had already eaten dinner, so it was a good time to get rooms.
The Hero Party, who had been stamping their feet in indecision about whether to chase Noah or return, had arrived at the border village that morning and were quite exhausted.
Since it was a nameless border village, security was terrible. Thinking about the occasional drunkards who might pick a fight, it was better to secure rooms early.
As they rose from their seats, a skinny man who appeared to be the innkeeper approached.
“Oh, Hero, will you be staying the night?”
“Yes. Give us rooms like always.”
It had been a while; it might be nice to have some fun with the two women.
“I’m terribly sorry, but… the payment…”
Tsk. Even though the other party was the Hero, instead of trying to curry favor, the man was only talking about money.
The Hero clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
“This is exactly why merchants are hopeless. Fine. How much is it? Hey, Noah.”
“That gloomy man isn’t here, is he?”
He had instinctively looked for Noah at Ella’s words and realized his mistake. Right. He wasn’t there.
Damn it. Was he really not coming back? Or had he died heroically fighting the Demon King?
Either way, it didn’t matter. The immediate problem was that without Noah, they couldn’t even pay for lodging.
“And the dinner comes to 45,600 rinos.”
It was a border inn, after all. The prices were cheap, but the large total was because those women had eaten so much. He himself hadn’t eaten much, so that made sense. He had no idea where all that food went in their slender bodies.
Now that he thought about it, where had he put the money?
It suddenly occurred to him that he had handed over all financial control of the party to Noah.
“Hey, I’ll manage the Kingdom’s Hero Party support funds separately.”
“Do whatever.”
“As you wish.”
“Since the Hero hates bothersome tasks, it’s better for the gloomy man to handle it.”
The Hero Party’s support funds were money that could not be touched recklessly for entertainment or luxury. It had been provided by the royal family for procuring necessary items to subjugate the Demon King and to cover minimal conveniences.
They had used it for meals and lodging expenses. Since he hated troublesome things, he had left it to Noah, but now it had come back to bite him like a boomerang.
“Ahem. Um. Can we put it on credit? Or just charge it to the royal castle.”
“What do you mean by that…”
“Why are you giving me attitude? The royal castle will cover it anyway.”
In preparation for the worst-case scenario of having no support funds, the Hero Party received benefits that could be used at inns, bathhouses, clothing stores, and various other places. When they had no money, the cost could be billed to the royal castle.
The problem was that the King might later question why they had no money.
“Hmm. That is true, but…”
“It’s mutually beneficial.”
Eugene patted the innkeeper on the back. As an innkeeper, the man had no choice. If he defied the Hero, he didn’t know what kind of trouble he would face. And since the King was backing them, he could simply bill the cost later.
It was then.
Bang!
The inn door burst open and men who appeared to be Kingdom soldiers rushed in. Upon spotting the Hero, they ran straight to him.
“Hero! It’s an emergency! One of the Four Heavenly Kings, Pector of Despair, has invaded Berta Fortress!!”
Pector of Despair? That enormous, muscle-brained idiot who only knew how to use brute force?
It was even said that his power had reached the extreme, and the greatsword he swung could destroy an entire castle in an instant.
However, when attacking humans, he usually didn’t move himself and sent his army instead. This time would probably be similar.
In any case, since they had asked the Hero for help, he had to go personally and either capture or repel Pector.
This had become annoying.
“Huh. The Demon King is dead, so why is a Heavenly King…?”
It was ridiculous. There were ancient records saying that when the Demon King died, the Four Heavenly Kings would die as well. As expected, old documents couldn’t be trusted.
Still, he couldn’t refuse to help. This was why being a Hero was inconvenient. He received every possible privilege from the Kingdom, but he had to help with every single request.
Until now, he had made Noah handle everything, but from now on, the Hero himself would have to resolve it all.
‘How dreadful.’
If he had known this would happen, he should have at least thrown Cyria and Ella a bone and given them some carrots.
Now that things had come to this, he couldn’t refuse.
“Please help us!”
For some reason, the Kingdom soldiers looked more vicious today than the Demon King’s army. How long were they going to keep begging the Hero Party?
“I understand. I’ll head there soon. Go to Berta Fortress first and hold off the Demon King’s army until I arrive.”
He answered with appropriate gravity, but honestly, he was anxious.
“Since the Demon King is dead, dealing with a Heavenly King should be easy!”
The Saintess clenched her fist.
Both Cyria and Ella were making a fuss about fighting. He wondered if they had any brains at all.
Eugene clicked his tongue at the sight.
They talked a big game. They had never even fought a Heavenly King before.
You had to know your enemy before you could fight them. The problem was that they didn’t know any strategies.
“It’s not that simple.”
“What?”
“Honestly, I can’t guarantee victory in battle.”
After all, he had never fought a Heavenly King before.
“What do you mean by that…”
“Because Noah has been the one handling the Four Heavenly Kings until now.”
In short, he had no idea if the current Hero Party could win against Pector.
A Hero shouldn’t be saying such things, but he really didn’t know.
“Are you saying you’re not confident?”
Wouldn’t it be strange to be confident against an opponent you had never fought before? The enemy wasn’t just any demon army soldier. It was one of the Four Heavenly Kings. You needed at least some information to fight at that level. That was what he was saying.
“Honestly, while that guy was fighting the Heavenly Kings, weren’t we busy rolling around in bed?”
“That’s…”
Now that he thought about it, that was true. Even the Pector who had appeared this time had been fought and driven off by Noah. At that time, he himself had been rolling around vigorously in bed.
When he considered it that way, the worst-case scenario came to mind.
‘What if I lose to Pector?’
If he ran away, what kind of treatment would he receive from the Kingdom?
Although Noah had been the one to actually defeat the Demon King, everyone would praise Hero Eugene as the one who had slain him.
But if he lost to Pector? At that moment, people would begin to doubt whether he had truly subjugated the Demon King.
Moreover, Noah had disappeared. To the noble bastards in the Kingdom who wanted to oust the Hero, this would be perfect bait.
“Ha, is Noah really dead? Damn it.”
He clutched his head.
“Hero, this is still a major crisis. We should go quickly.”
“Sigh. I was planning to keep him in the party because he was stronger than me and just ride his coattails, but what is this!”
At the Hero’s words, both Ella and Cyria grimaced.
When they thought about it, the Hero had never properly shown them his fighting ability. All they had done was intertwine their bodies in bed.
Only now did the two women realize the truth.
The Hero hadn’t simply entrusted everything to Noah out of overflowing confidence. Because Noah was strong, he had simply wanted to ride comfortably in the carriage called Noah.
Suddenly, the past came to mind.
“Hey, since the Hero doesn’t seem interested in looking at this, at least you two should take a look.”
“What is it?”
“Strategies for dealing with the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Even without something like this, the Hero would never lose, you know?”
“Oh, is that so? Then good luck.”
At that time, Noah had definitely given them a book called strategies. They had ignored it and burned it, but now that he thought about it, that had been the worst decision.
If he had known this would happen, he should have kept it.
He had naturally assumed that since that gloomy bastard could fight the Four Heavenly Kings, the Hero could do it too. But that wasn’t the case.
‘They said that if I devoted my body and heart to the Hero, I could defeat the Demon King.’
The Saintess was in the worst possible mood. The one she had devoted her body and heart to had turned out like this.
‘What will happen to the future of our elf race?’
Ella, an elf from the Great Forest. She had been renowned as an outstanding archer among the elves of the Great Forest, but she had planned to marry the Hero later for the sake of her race’s future.
Of course, it wasn’t simply because he was the Hero. It was because he was strong.
The elf race had a strong sense of superiority and believed themselves to be noble. Naturally, marriage with outsiders was not easily permitted.
But there was one outsider whom even such elves considered an acceptable groom. It was the Hero chosen by the gods.
Because the Hero was the strongest among humans and had been chosen. Moreover, since many countries looked up to him, he was a sufficiently good match.
That was why she had clung to the Hero. It was common sense in the world that the Hero was strong.
But now that Noah’s absence was being felt, and seeing the Hero’s pathetic behavior, she had come to her senses.
‘I misjudged him. I clung too desperately just because of the title of Hero.’
What should she do now? If she returned to the Great Forest, what would the elders say?
The Saintess and the elf could only lament their situations.
“Hero, we must go.”
In the end, it was the Saintess who spoke first.
In any case, as one who followed the Church, the Saintess had been given the mission to defeat the Demon King and the army of evil together with the Hero.
Now was the time to do whatever it took to fight Pector.
At the Saintess’s slightly disappointed voice, the Hero noticed and stood up from his seat.
“Yeah. Let’s go. Let’s go.”
The Hero headed for Berta Fortress together with the two women.