The Last Hero (6)
"Do we really have to follow that Hero?"
What the Hero's party members wanted was, in truth, remarkably simple.
Help the Hero defeat the Demon King, then claim whatever they desired from the Empire.
Whether that path proved hard or easy was beside the point — the goal itself could not have been clearer.
From the days of Hero Lee Hansu all the way to now, they had moved for that single purpose alone: defeat the Demon King as members of the Hero's party.
But when it came to the method, the party members found themselves hopelessly adrift.
"No matter how I look at it, I just can't trust him. Honestly, I don't think leaving the Hero's party would be such a bad idea. At least for me."
Until now, joining the Hero's party and placing their faith in the Hero had seemed like the easiest way to achieve their aims.
But following that path had produced nothing but catastrophe.
Having already welcomed their fourth Hero, their faith in that approach had begun to crack — and with the cracks came doubt.
Could they really defeat the Demon King just by trusting and following Hero Jacks?
And the one in whom that doubt burned hottest was the party's mage, Luna.
While Jacks was distracted, Luna gathered the others in secret and laid her thoughts bare.
"Ugh… Luna's not wrong. But leave the party? And then what? What do we do after that?"
"…"
The others agreed with Luna completely. Of the four Heroes they had met, Jacks was by far the most unpleasant, the most infuriating. They understood exactly why she was saying this.
Agreement with her reasoning, however, did not mean agreement with her solution.
They were still lost.
Had this been an ordinary adventurer party, they would have walked out long ago. Adventurer parties were a dime a dozen — replacements were everywhere.
But the party they belonged to was no ordinary adventurer party. It was the one and only Hero's party in the entire Empire.
So no matter how little they trusted their Hero, they could not afford a rash decision.
"Wouldn't it be better to just find Hero Lee Hansu again…?"
To those wavering party members, Luna once more raised the idea she had floated before. Forget following this unreliable Hero — find Lee Hansu, and do whatever it took from there.
She pressed the point far harder than she had the last time.
"That again?"
The others sighed. They could not get behind Luna's proposal.
"We don't even know where he is. And Hero Lee Hansu isn't even the Empire's Hero anymore."
Luna's words were meaningless. First of all, they couldn't find him. How were they supposed to track down a man the guilds had failed to locate even with S-rank commissions? And even if they did find him, would it matter?
The ones who granted their wishes were not the Hero — it was the Empire. Their duty was to follow the Hero the Empire had chosen. By that logic, no matter how untrustworthy Jacks might be, they had no choice but to follow the Empire's pick.
One by one, the party members listed every reason they could not do what Luna wanted.
"But… looking back on it now, Hero Lee Hansu really does seem like he was the most normal one of all… And he's the only one who survived facing the Demon King."
Luna refused to yield. With Herald or Alex, at least, there had been something — some scrap of reliability you could pin a little hope on. They had died to the Demon King, yes, but they had still felt like people you could bet on, however faintly.
Jacks inspired none of that. If anything, sending him as he was felt like pouring oil on a burning house. Better Lee Hansu than that — that was her judgment.
When you thought about it, the second and third Heroes had already fallen to the Demon King. That alone forced a reevaluation of the first Hero, the one who had survived. It was already late, but they needed to find Lee Hansu before it got any later. That was her argument.
"…"
"Ugh… I don't know either."
"God, my head hurts."
Ordinarily they would have dismissed Luna out of hand. Their image of Hero Lee Hansu was not a flattering one — a failed Hero who had barely managed to take down a single one of the Four Heavenly Kings and failed to defeat the Demon King.
But… what if they had been wrong about him?
Looking back, maybe their judgment had been flawed. Every Hero they had met since was dead, and all that remained was a pathetic specimen like Jacks — while Lee Hansu had faced the Demon King and lived.
They could not fully refute what Luna was saying.
So what were they supposed to do? Abandon the current Hero and follow Luna — was that truly the right call? Casting aside the Hero chosen by the Empire was not a decision anyone could make lightly.
They could not bring themselves to choose.
"Everyone, we've finally arrived at the hot spring village!"
And in the middle of all that, they reached the hot spring village.
Jacks, utterly oblivious to his party's turmoil, wore a face lit up with pure delight at the thought of the mixed baths awaiting him.
Did I lose her?
I left Aji behind and ran clear out of the city. After a good long stretch of running I glanced back just in case — but sure enough, nothing was following me.
The perfume must have done its job. She couldn't pick out my scent through that overpowering stench.
More than a week had passed without her showing up on my trail. I figured that was it — I wouldn't be seeing Aji again.
She'll be fine on her own.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little regret. I'd even briefly considered bringing her along and raising her myself. But I wasn't some stray-cat lady, and I couldn't take in something I couldn't properly look after.
People in this world did not look kindly on beastmen. Living together in a human village would have been hard. Bring her home and there would inevitably be those who didn't want her there — and there was nothing I could do about that.
Guilds were one thing; they tended to be more accepting of beastmen. Villages were different.
So in the end, I chose not to bring Aji with me.
If I were still the Hero, maybe I could have shielded her from those stares. A Hero's standing wasn't nothing. But right now I was just an ordinary villager.
"Man, how long has it been?"
It felt like I'd been gone for ten years…
While I was lost in those scattered thoughts, a long-missed landscape finally opened up before me. The place I belonged. The village where my home was — where I could live in peace.
A wave of quiet contentment rose in me already.
Leaving home really is nothing but misery, isn't it?
I arrived in the village with my heart full of joy.
"Good to see you, Village Chief."
"Ohhh. Hans, my boy. It's been a while."
The first person I ran into was the village chief. Really had been a long time. I greeted him, and he looked every bit as glad to see me.
"You were gone so long I figured you'd left for good."
"Haha. Something came up…"
Yeah, I had been away longer than planned. I hadn't expected the trip to stretch this far either.
"I see. So, how was Artes Kingdom? Everything go well?"
"Yes. It went fine."
"Glad to hear it."
"Well then, I'll head home for now. Let's throw a party tomorrow — my treat."
"Ohh. Looks like I'll be eating well for the first time in ages."
The moment I mentioned I'd brought gifts, the chief lit up. Clearly the thought of meat and drink had him in high spirits.
Part of me wanted to throw the party right then and there, but it was already evening — an awkward hour for a celebration. So I left it for tomorrow and was just about to head home when—
"Ah, right. Hans. Someone came looking for you."
"Sorry? Someone came looking for me?"
What was he talking about? I could only tilt my head at the chief's words. Someone looking for me?
"Yes. A young woman. I believe she's waiting at your house. You should go take a look."
"Ah. Understood."
The chief pointed toward my house and told me a woman who'd come looking for me was over there. I said I understood and started walking home.
But the whole way there, the questions wouldn't stop.
Who on earth could it be?
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't come up with anyone who would come looking for me.
Nobody should even know I'm here.
When I left the Empire, I hadn't told a soul I was headed this way. No one had tailed me either. There shouldn't have been any way for anyone to know I was here.
So who would come looking for me under those circumstances?
I couldn't even begin to guess.
Who the hell is it?
Well… I'd find out when I got there.