The Second Hero (6)
"Having a young man around really is a blessing."
"Haha. It's nothing."
"Hans. Could you give us a hand over here too? Move that for us, would you?"
"Yes, of course. I'll get it right away."
"My word... the strength on this one."
Come morning, I threw myself into farmwork under the village chief's direction.
At first the villagers had watched me with doubtful eyes, wondering whether I could even manage it. Farming was never easy work, no matter how young you were. Could a youth from the Empire really handle a life in the fields? That was the worry.
But those doubts didn't last long. Before I knew it, I had become something of a village favorite.
When it came to raw labor... well, a Hero was bound to be the best in the world at that.
Farming demanded stamina and strength, so of course I was popular. As a Hero, I had the physique and power of dozens of ordinary grown men put together.
I did whatever the villagers asked, collected praise and free meals along the way, and settled into an easy rhythm. This peaceful life was exactly what I had wanted, and I was more than satisfied with it.
Haa. There she goes staring again.
Still, some things got under your skin no matter how hard you tried to ignore them.
Stare...
Off in the distance, a girl kept watching me without pause. Ria, wasn't it? From yesterday?
Her gaze never let up. From first light she had been boring holes through me like she meant to fire lasers from her eyes.
Had it been six hours already?
She was a stalker in all but name.
Not like I can report her, either...
If the person stalking me had been a full-grown man, I would have settled it with force. Told him to cut out the creepy crap and beaten him half to death. Failing that, I would have gone to the village chief and asked him to smooth things over.
But the one stalking me was just a girl who looked maybe fourteen or fifteen. That left me in a genuinely awkward position. I couldn't thrash her, and I couldn't exactly go complaining to the chief either.
What if she kept this up forever...?
Judging by that intensity, she looked ready to keep staring for a week, a month, however long it took. The whole thing already felt exhausting just thinking about it.
"Huh... Hero-nim?"
"We need to talk for a minute."
No choice, then.
When I finally caught a free moment, I went to her myself. Ria startled as I approached. I took her back to my house.
I had planned to ignore her at first — answering every little thing would only make her more of a nuisance. But on second thought, leaving her like this was a guaranteed path to even bigger headaches. Better to deal with it fast.
"So. What do you want from me?"
Once I had her inside, I cut straight to the point. Why had she been trailing after me like this?
"Just as I thought. You really are the Hero."
"I won't deny it."
That was as good as admitting I was the Hero myself. The moment she heard it, Ria's face lit up with open delight.
"I want to make a request of you, Hero-nim...!"
And with that, she launched into the reason she had been hunting for a Hero so desperately.
"There's a favor I truly need you to grant."
Apparently Ria wanted to commission the former Hero for a job.
The Demon Realm, where the Demon King made her home.
It was called the Land of Death for a reason. The eerie demonic energy pouring off the Demon King and her kind made survival all but impossible for ordinary living things. Mere exposure to that miasma brought crushing physical and mental agony.
"We'll search this far for today. Let's rest."
And that applied to Hero parties as well. They were no ordinary people, of course, and had some resistance to demonic energy — but resistance was not the same as immunity. Hours of searching for the Demon King's Castle had left them steeped in the stuff regardless.
Night had not yet fallen, but the Hero's party was thoroughly worn down. Rest was not optional. Early as it was, they decided to make camp where they stood.
Herald told them they would resume the search for the Demon King's Castle tomorrow, and ordered the party to unpack.
Nothing ever goes entirely according to plan...
As he set about preparing camp, Herald could only sigh.
His original plan had been simple: waste no time in the Demon Realm, march straight to the Demon King's Castle, and kill the Demon King. No prolonged exposure to demonic energy. No tedious business of pitching camp.
What he had not counted on was his party not knowing the way to the castle.
They had spent over a year fighting the Demon King's forces as a Hero party, and they still didn't know the geography of the Demon Realm. Even thinking about it again left him speechless.
Forget it. Just forget it.
But what was done was done. Herald sighed and did his best to accept it.
"I will stand watch here. The rest of you, prepare the tents and the meal."
Unlike the party members, who were shedding their gear one by one, Herald kept his armor on. He issued his orders as he stood.
The Hero on watch, the rest of the party handling camp. There was nothing particularly strange about the arrangement.
"Um. Herald, Hero-nim."
"What is it?"
But his party looked thoroughly uncomfortable with the instruction. Had he asked for something unreasonable? Herald wondered, but he could find nothing odd in what he had said.
Why those faces, then?
"We... don't actually know how to pitch a tent..."
"Pardon...?"
What he heard a moment later was genuinely shocking. What on earth had he just been told?
"And... we've never prepared a meal either, so..."
"What did you say?"
And they couldn't cook either?
Herald barely — no, he thoroughly failed to understand what he was hearing.
If the people in front of him had been green travelers just setting out, he could have made allowances. How much experience would anyone have pitching tents and cooking over a fire? Beginners were allowed not to know. They were supposed to learn.
But these were not beginners. They were a veteran Hero party that had spent a full year crushing demons without number. For a party like that not to know the first thing about camping — the situation made no sense at all.
"Then how have you been handling meals and tents until now? That doesn't make any sense..."
Surely they had camped at some point during a year on the road. So how had they managed every time?
Herald had no choice but to ask.
"Well... Lee Hansu, the Hero, always took care of everything."
And the answer he got was staggering.
Haa...
Lee Hansu, who was no longer with them, had handled it all. Tents. Meals. Every miscellaneous chore besides. That was why the party had never needed to know how to prepare a camp.
So Lee Hansu did every last thing himself?
Even so, having the Hero do all of it was a bit much.
As a Knight Commander, Herald had heard a fair amount about Hero parties. Usually the party members handled the busywork — letters to the Empire and the like. But in the past, Lee Hansu had taken care of even those tedious tasks himself.
Herald had already suspected Lee Hansu's contribution to the party had been considerable. He had not imagined it went this far.
A full year of travel, and not one of them had learned how to camp... Honestly, his head was starting to hurt.
Herald badly wanted to tear into them, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
"Very well. Then you will stand watch. I will handle the preparations."
He could hardly start teaching them one by one at this point. In the end, they simply swapped duties. For now it made more sense to put four party members on watch while he prepared tents and a meal for five.
"Yes. Understood."
The party nodded at Herald's words and moved to take up their posts. Left alone, Herald set about making camp by himself.
Hoo... Something about this is deeply wrong.
Stuck preparing food and tents for five, Herald let out another sigh. They didn't know the Demon Realm's geography. They couldn't set up a camp. He was starting to wonder whether he was leading a Hero party or a pack of dead weight.
Come to think of it, his party members had done nothing but disappoint him so far. A Hero's companions were supposed to be a help. Instead of helping, they were nothing but a hindrance...
Part of him wanted to abandon them on the spot and go face the Demon King alone.
No... As long as they can fight, it's fine.
Even so, Herald forced himself to swallow it down. Not knowing the land, not knowing how to camp — none of it truly mattered in the end. Those were secondary concerns at best.
The essence of a Hero party was combat. However useless they were at everything else, they only needed to be useful in a fight.
They'll be useful. Surely...?
If they turned out to be useless even at that, then the problem would become truly serious.