The Third Hero (5)
"Why the hell do you keep following me?"
That beastman girl had clearly been trailing after me for food. So I gave her some. Not for free, of course — I made her do a few simple tasks first — but the point was, I did feed her. That should have settled things between us, right?
I genuinely could not understand why she was still trying to stick to me. I stared at her with a look of pure bewilderment.
"Please."
The moment I turned around, the beastman girl strode right up to me and held out both hands. She wanted something?
I blinked at her blankly for a second before the situation clicked into place.
Don't tell me she's asking for more food.
It was only a guess, but I was pretty sure I'd nailed it. She'd said "please" earlier and gotten food out of it, so of course she figured saying it again would work the same way.
It was equal parts adorable and completely ridiculous.
"I said please. Food, please."
When I just stood there looking dumbfounded instead of handing anything over, she thrust her hands out again, insistent. Give me food, already.
At least she knew what "please" meant... maybe.
"There's nothing left. Go home."
Obviously I was out of food. And just as obviously, I had no reason to keep giving her any. No amount of pestering was going to produce a meal. I held out my empty hands to show her I had nothing — hoping she'd take the hint and finally leave me alone.
"Uuu..."
Her face crumpled with crushing disappointment. She looked a little pitiful, sure, but what was I supposed to do? I understood the feeling, but you couldn't just freeload your way through life. Her stomach might be empty, but I hoped her character had grown a little. I turned to get back on the road —
"Please. Food."
Oh, come on. Seriously?
She stuck her hands out at me again. I already told you there's nothing left. I held my empty hands out one more time, willing her to leave. She didn't. I could see it in her eyes — that hopeful expectation that if she just kept following me, food would eventually turn up.
Hmm... does she think I'll take her in if she tags along?
Alright, I got it. That kind of instinct was common enough in young beastmen. They had a gut feeling that told them, if I follow this person, I'll get what I want. The strength of that instinct varied from beastman to beastman, but judging by this kid's behavior so far, hers was exceptionally sharp.
And honestly, she wasn't entirely wrong. I was a former Hero. I had more money than the average person, at least enough to keep myself fed. Even if I ran out, I had the means to make more. If I ever decided to take someone in, they wouldn't starve. More importantly, following me meant protection — no chance of dying. And for a beastman's instincts, safety was the single most important thing.
From every angle, she seemed convinced that sticking with me would lead to good things.
Well, too bad.
I still had zero intention of raising her. This was getting annoying. What now?
Fortunately, I already knew how to handle a situation like this.
I bolted.
"Ah!?"
The beastman girl startled as I suddenly took off at a dead sprint. Fair enough — the person she expected to take care of her had just fled at full speed. She stared after me in a daze for a beat. But her decision-making was fast.
"Get back here."
She tore after me at top speed, determined to catch me no matter what. As if some mere can-opener had any right to run away from her.
She couldn't catch me, of course. Did she really think she could? Beastmen might have better physical abilities than ordinary humans, but I was a Hero — a human who had long since left the realm of ordinary humanity behind. No matter how hard she ran, her odds of catching me converged on a flat zero percent.
The gap between us kept widening. Once she was completely out of sight, I finally caught my breath.
Never taking in a beastman again.
I won't lie — the thought of raising her had crossed my mind, just a little. People from this world might despise beastmen, but I came from Earth. I didn't harbor any particular hatred toward them. Feed her and give her a place to sleep until she grew up. That much wouldn't have been hard. The old me would have done it without a second thought.
But not anymore. Never again.
Fool me once. You think I'm getting fooled twice?
One beastman was enough. I'd learned that lesson the hard way, traveling with Nafira from the Hero's party. After she betrayed me, I swore I'd never get involved with beastmen again. What was the point of raising one just to get stabbed in the back? Thinking about everything I'd done for Nafira still made my teeth grind.
Ah... sure, Nafira was a cat beastman, and the girl just now was a dog beastman. But that hardly mattered.
"Might as well set up camp."
The sky was starting to darken, and there was no city in sight. Like it or not, I was spending the night out here. I was just getting ready to make camp when —
"Hah... hah..."
In the distance, a beastman girl came running toward me.
"How did you even find me...?"
"Smell..."
Wow. She was seriously relentless.
Following behind Alex, Luna had a lot on her mind. This Hero was easily one of the most dangerous types she'd ever encountered. One wrong move and things could go catastrophically wrong.
And she wasn't the only one who felt that way. The rest of the party shared the same unease.
"Ayla, what should we do?"
Nafira, the beastman of the Hero's party, kept glancing at Ayla with a worried expression. She had joined the party for the sake of beastman independence — not because she had any intention of betraying the Empire.
"I... I'm really scared."
If things went wrong and the beastmen ended up facing even harsher persecution instead of independence... just imagining that future was horrifying. Discrimination against beastmen was already rampant enough as it was. She had every reason to look worried.
Still, Nafira hoped Ayla might come up with something wise.
"For now... let's just defeat the Demon King first and think about it then."
Ayla didn't have a real solution either. Dangerous as the situation was, they had no choice but to endure it for the time being.
"If we can't take down the Demon King, nothing else matters anyway."
Their most urgent goal was overthrowing the Demon King. Thinking about anything else before that was absurd.
"Let's try to look on the bright side. Nothing's been decided yet. Whatever happens, we have our own priorities... so let's just go with the flow as best we can."
"...Yeah, I guess."
And though it felt wrong to say out loud — wasn't there a chance things could work out? The party members wanted compensation from the Empire. They weren't loyal to it. As long as they got what they were owed, it didn't matter who sat on the throne. From that angle, Alex becoming emperor wasn't necessarily a problem for them.
Think positive. Stay positive.
"At least he's serious about defeating the Demon King, right?"
"That's true..."
There was plenty to be anxious about, but it wasn't as if there was nothing reassuring either. This Hero, at least, intended to do his job. Whatever else Alex had planned — a coup, whatever — he clearly meant to kill the Demon King first. That was what mattered most. As long as he could bring the Demon King down, nothing else was their concern right now. That was the reason they were still following him.
The party members' feelings were complicated, but they followed Alex all the same.
Huh...? Where is he going? This isn't the way to the Demon Realm.
It was only now that something felt off about their destination. To reach the Demon Realm, you had to leave the Empire — but Alex wasn't heading outward. He was going deeper into the heart of the imperial capital.
What was this? Did he need to buy something before setting out?
The ordinary assumption would be that he was heading for the commercial district in the capital's center. But that didn't make sense either. They didn't need more potions or equipment. This was a Hero's party that had already been traveling for a year. They weren't lacking anything.
So where exactly was Alex taking them?
The party members followed him with growing confusion — and when they finally arrived, the destination left them speechless.
It was the Empire's entertainment district.
People in all kinds of costumes were waiting there, and the moment they spotted Alex, they welcomed him with open arms. Hired hands, no doubt. The party members weren't fools — they had a fairly good idea of what Alex was thinking. Even so, they had to ask.
"What is this place...? Aren't we going to the Demon Realm?"
"Oh, we will. But first, we need a grand parade."
Of course.
A parade — before the Hero's party had even defeated the Demon King?
What kind of absolute nonsense was that...