The Third Hero (8)
"So what you're saying is that you refuse to give me the baptism right now?"
"Yes."
Ayla had decided, for the time being, to follow Alex. Whether he staged a rebellion or did whatever else he pleased, she figured she would stick with him long enough to deal with the Demon King. Even if he made unreasonable demands, she had been prepared to let most of them slide.
But the Saintess's baptism was the one thing she could never yield. That was something she absolutely would not hand over.
She told Alex as much, firmly and without hesitation. She would not baptize him. Not under any circumstances.
"I don't think that's wise. You may find yourself unable to keep your position as Saintess."
Alex let out a short, dismissive laugh.
It wasn't that he didn't understand her situation. The reason he hadn't already cast the party members aside was that they were competent enough, and because he had assumed they would fall in line behind him.
The circumstances that had brought each of the Hero's party members into the fold were hardly a closely guarded secret in the Empire. Anyone with even a modest interest could learn why Ayla, Luna, Nafira, and Karne had each joined. Which was precisely why Alex found the present moment so absurd. She had to know what refusing him meant.
"...Even so. I refuse."
Ayla's resolve did not waver. She had become Saintess in the first place to draw closer to the Goddess. She could not cling to the title by doing something that would earn the Goddess's hatred. That was the bare minimum of her duty, and she would not compromise it.
She stated her will once more.
"Fine. Do as you like. It makes no difference to me."
Alex sounded faintly surprised, but there was no real attachment in his voice. He had never valued the party members all that highly to begin with.
"Then this is where we part ways. I'll be expelling the rest of the party as well — Saintess included."
His decision was clean and unadorned. Effective immediately, every other party member was banished.
"Wait — us too?"
"W-why us?"
"We'll follow you, Hero!"
The sudden splash of collateral damage left the other party members stunned. Expelling Ayla was one thing, but there was no reason whatsoever to cast them out. To be swept up in the Saintess's expulsion and thrown out alongside her was, to them, a bolt from the blue. They couldn't help but confront him.
"Yes. And it isn't because of the Saintess. I've been thinking about this from the start."
Alex paid their protests no real attention. His regard for the party members had never been kind. He had always intended to use them and discard them when convenient. The parade was already over; they held no further value worth keeping.
"You've already failed twice, haven't you? That rather suggests you're useless."
Wasn't the reason obvious? These party members had never been useful at all.
Rumors of their incompetence had already been circulating to some degree. Back in Lee Hansu's days as Hero, he had resolved nearly every crisis alone. There was no hard proof, so nothing could be confirmed outright — but those in the know already knew. And after Herald's tenure as Hero, the matter had become settled fact. Why else would Herald have left his party behind? The Chancellor might not have understood, but Alex had grasped it easily enough. The party members simply weren't worth anything. He had no reason to show them consideration.
"...Th-that's..."
"It isn't entirely like that..."
Faced with Alex's assessment, the party members had nothing to say. They themselves were not unaware of their own uselessness. At first they had believed themselves talented, but after the battle with Nephenthus they had been forced to reconsider. Talent alone was not enough; they were lacking in everything else. They could not refute him. All they could do was mumble.
"Please take us with you..."
In the end, all they could manage was to beg him to take them along, the way Lee Hansu and Herald once had.
"Well. I've said what I needed to say. Good luck."
Alex's decision was final. With the declaration of their expulsion, he left them behind.
"..."
The abandoned party members each wore the same vacant, devastated expression. They had arrived at the outcome they had dreaded most of all — expulsion from the Hero's party. And being cast out meant, in practical terms, that they no longer had a future. What were they supposed to do now? They had no choice but to keep searching for some way forward. For a moment, one of them even wondered whether they should chase after Alex and cling to his pant leg —
"In that case," Luna said carefully, "we should find the Hero."
It was the party's mage who broke the silence.
"Huh...? Which Hero? You don't mean...?"
At first the others didn't understand. They had no idea which Hero she meant. But a moment later, they realized exactly who Luna was talking about.
"We find Hero Lee Hansu."
The first Hero. Lee Hansu.
Haa... Seriously. Being soft-hearted is going to be the death of me.
In the end, I agreed to look after Aji for a month. I had sworn I would never travel with a beastman again — and yet here we were. If I traced the cause, it always came back to my own personality. Maybe a year as a Hero had made me too nice. Or maybe I had always been like this. Back when I was first summoned to this world, I hadn't been able to ignore the plea to take up the Hero's mantle and save the Empire. Getting backstabbed and used — maybe that was just who I was. But I shook my head. The Empire that betrayed me was the problem. Why was I blaming my own character? I was fine.
Hmm... A month, huh.
I was willing to keep Aji for a month, but I had no intention of simply housing her. No free meals, no free lodging. That kind of arrangement wouldn't teach her any independence at all. A month from now she'd just be trailing after me again, begging for food. So rather than catch fish for her, I was going to teach her how to catch them herself. That way, when the month was up, I could cut her loose without a second thought.
Yeah... raising her as an adventurer is probably the way to go.
So how best to teach her to fish, so to speak? I turned it over briefly, but I didn't need to think hard. Judging by the physical ability Aji had already shown me, she was quite gifted. Her instincts and senses were excellent, and her body was strong. She was nowhere near me as a Hero, of course — but pure talent-wise, she might even be on par with Nafira, the beastman from the Hero's party. Teaching her enough to scrape by on her own and then leaving should be fine.
"Aji. Follow me."
"Okay."
I might have to put off returning to the village just a little. Instead of heading back, I took Aji toward a nearby city of some size. The closest one around here was called Mirva, if I remembered right. I had never bothered to visit it during my Hero days, but I'd heard it was a reasonably developed commercial city. The guild there should be well established. Fortunately, it wasn't far from where we were.
"Where's this?"
"The guild."
"What's that?"
"A place where you take requests and get paid for them."
I brought Aji into the city and went straight to the guild office. She kept glancing around and asking questions, looking faintly curious. I gave her the simplest explanation I could, but she only tilted her head, uncomprehending.
Hmm... maybe I need to make it even simpler.
"In plain terms, it's a place that gives you food if you do what they tell you."
"Oh."
That one she understood. So she still had no concept of money. I almost sighed at the state of her intelligence, but it didn't matter.
A month here and she'll figure it out whether she wants to or not.
The guild liked to dress itself up as a public institution that took requests from those in need and resolved them for the common good. But the real purpose of its founding was simple: money. Make it so that money could solve everything, and take a reasonable cut of that money for themselves. That was why the guild existed. Spend a month working here and you'd learn soon enough how important money was. Honestly, it wouldn't even take a month.
"Hmm... so which request should we take?"
Once inside, I started scanning the request sheets posted on the wall. The board was covered in everything from E-Rank to A-Rank. Missing-person jobs, day labor at a blacksmith's, monster subjugations — the usual variety. I hesitated over which one to pick. Not because any of them were difficult. By my standards, they were all trivially easy. From a Hero's perspective, even an A-Rank request would be a cakewalk. S-Rank sounded impressive, but that ranking was calibrated for adventurers. Measured against a Hero, it was maybe E-Rank or D-Rank. Even that was generous.
If it were just me, I would have taken the A-Rank orc nest subjugation without a second thought. But I couldn't pick that. I wasn't here to take a request myself. I was here to put Aji on one. I would support her — nothing more. I had no intention of doing the work for her. So I started thinking in terms of what she could handle.
"Yeah. This one looks best."
After a bit of deliberation, I found something suitable. A C-Rank request: clear the monsters in a dungeon near the city and recover some gems. The listed pay was decent, and it shouldn't be too hard. At her level, Aji ought to manage the hunting without much trouble. Not a bad first job at all. Good. This one.
I took the request sheet and was about to register it officially when —
"Huh...?"
Just then, a guild clerk pinned another request to the board. Ordinarily I would have glanced at it and moved on — another job posted, nothing special. This time I couldn't. Even at a glance, the paper was elaborately decorated, the lettering heavy and deliberate, as if to announce that this one mattered.
I looked it over. Just as I'd expected: an S-Rank mission. S-Rank jobs weren't common. My interest was piqued in spite of myself. I leaned in to see what it was — and then I froze.
Wait... what is this?
◈ Objective: Locate and make contact with Hero Lee Hansu
S-Rank request: Seeking Hero Lee Hansu.
They were looking for me?