Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Scar-2
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"So, where's our next destination?"
"There's a village nearby, so we should rest there first."
The silver-haired maid, dressed in a lightly and comfortably modified maid outfit, was walking along the road behind me.
"Aren't you tired of carrying the luggage?"
"...It's not heavy."
There was no shortage of gear needed for the journey, and even with fewer people, the amount hadn't decreased much.
"I could carry it for you if you want..."
"It's fine."
But it wasn't so heavy that the Hero couldn't manage it.
What had once looked so cumbersome and burdensome now felt as light as a feather.
Part of me resented that if it was just this much weight, she could have carried it for me during that journey instead.
But weight wasn't the issue.
This safe trek along a well-paved road, with the elf leading the way, felt like nothing more than a stroll compared to the Hero party's travels.
During the campaign against the Demon King, enemies could strike at any moment. Giant worms would ambush from beneath the sand in the desert, and the Demon King's assassins would launch surprise attacks whenever we let our guard down.
If the Hero—who had to charge ahead first in those split-second crises—had been saddled with this baggage on his back, the party would have been wiped out two or three times over.
Nothing was unnecessary.
"How about dumping it on that naughty elf?"
"There may not be anything valuable, but these are still things we need right now. What if she runs off with it?"
I was following Nerwen for the moment, but I hadn't let go of my suspicions.
Her behavior was inconsistent. I had no idea what that scent was or what emotions she was truly feeling—it was all over the place.
Even if she was truly desperate and at her wits' end, I had no way to prove it.
She didn't seem skilled at lying, but if she'd been deliberately trying to deceive me from start to finish, she might have succeeded.
I had to assume she could betray me at any moment.
"Sigh..."
I didn't want to dwell on this topic. Thinking about the Hero party members just led to more negative thoughts.
"Come to think of it, what should I call you? I can't keep calling you 'maid' forever."
She looked flustered for a moment, then laughed it off with a hehe.
"Ceres. Call me Ceres."
Though we'd ended up traveling together on a whim, I knew next to nothing about her.
If she were an ordinary person who just wanted to travel with me, I would have brushed her off without a second thought.
But she was hiding something. Common sense dictated that a maid from the Imperial Palace couldn't just waltz into a noble household on a dime.
Of course, palace maids weren't simple commoners—they were selected from nobles of a certain rank. Still, no one from the Empire would dare act like this.
Her voice sounded strangely familiar, and her vibe reminded me of someone I knew, but it couldn't be her... It was just frustrating.
"Let's eat, let's eat!"
I hadn't tried her cooking many times, but somehow, the maid's meals were pretty decent.
During the Hero party travels, I was in charge of cooking. The Hero started out preparing meals since she had experience, but it fell through due to fierce opposition from the Saintess and the mage.
Fundamentally, she didn't understand why food had to taste good.
Even as she boiled bland, nauseating stew, her thinking was, 'Isn't it enough that we can make a meal using just fire, water, time, and tools?'
Ironically, by the latter half of the adventure, we all came to understand her point.
We had no luxury to light fires and send up smoke signals, no spare water to boil away. No time to sit and watch a pot for dozens of minutes—or even space to carry a small pot in the first place.
"Mm..."
Truth be told, I wasn't hungry. It felt like it should be time to be tired and starving, but my body showed no signs of it.
From her expression, it seemed like she was just whining, but maybe she really was feeling hungry.
"I wanted to reach that village before nightfall."
"Eek? You're too fast, too fast! If you want to keep that pace, we should've brought a carriage!"
"...They were expensive."
Thinking it over, I felt a bit of regret. Maybe I should've sweet-talked a noble or the Emperor into lending us some transport.
"Do you know how to drive a carriage?"
"Of course I do!"
"Yeah. I don't."
But carriages were ultimately disposable anyway. I didn't know how far I'd have to go, but even just to the World Tree, we couldn't drag one along.
Horses would be a bit better, but I didn't know how to ride, and in emergencies, I couldn't be responsible for another living creature.
In the end, it always came back to walking on our own two feet.
"In that case, maybe hitch a ride with a nearby merchant caravan as escort mercenaries or something..."
"I did think about it... but I didn't want to wait around for one that might not even come. And the speed difference isn't that big."
"You're overestimating human walking speed!"
I stopped in my tracks for a moment.
If my guess was right, Ceres shouldn't be struggling in a place like this. But maybe I was wrong.
Just like how I was neglected and sidelined in a party full of superhumans, maybe I was overloading her with too much.
"Then take a break."
"Okay. Uh... e, eeek? What are you about to do right now?"
Ceres dodged my hands and backpedaled frantically.
"What do you mean? I'm going to carry you."
"T-Taking a break means that? What kind of travels have you been on?!"
"No, why are you..."
"No rage, no revenge—just bedroom drama? The sun hasn't set yet, and this is the middle of the road!"
I scratched my head as I watched Ceres rapid-fire her words, tears welling slightly in her eyes.
"Even if maids have a duty to serve, n-not right now..."
"What are you talking about? I can't piggyback you with all this luggage on my back. I'll have to carry you in my arms."
"Y-Yes...?"
As I scratched my head, I realized my words could be taken two ways.
"Uh... sorry. I meant exactly what I said—carry you in my arms and keep walking."
"H-How does that conversation even lead there? You said take a break!"
Ceres pointed her finger straight at me incredulously and yelled.
"In the Hero party, when someone was resting, the others would carry or piggyback them and keep moving. If you stop when you need to walk, you die."
"Taking a break means that... What kind of adventure was that..."
She relaxed her body a bit and leaned into my arms. I naturally glanced down at her legs.
Her black-and-white maid outfit had a skirt cut to a sensible length—not too frilly or heavy—with black stockings covering her legs beneath.
"Y-Your eyes right now! They're leering! Ah, if you touch there..."
"Should I put you down?"
"S-Sorry! Don't drop me!"
When I checked her ankle without making it too awkward, it was realistically swollen. The sagging muscles looked convincingly fatigued.
"You're good with girls... Carried a lot, have you?"
"...I've carried all my party members a few times."
"Really?"
"During battles. When they were unconscious or combat-ineffective, I was the only backup."
If one fell due to a strategic failure, we had to retreat fast before the party wiped. Usually, I'd carry the Saintess—who collapsed from exhaustion after healing spells—and run.
"I've been carried plenty too."
The physically frailest was the Saintess, but next was obviously me.
If I got ambushed by random monsters or caught in a massive one's earth-shaking attack and blacked out, combat halted anyway. They couldn't just leave me to die.
We've stalled before giant beasts multiple times because of that. The cold looks they shot me then... I don't want to remember.
My eyes met the maid's. If this woman truly had no powers hidden and was just a normal person who'd come along purely wanting to join my adventure...
When should I part ways with her?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Is... is this really okay?"
"If you don't like it, focus on your research. If you want to help me, just do what I tell you."
Pashier rearranged the massive lab's structure with a few gestures, preparing the next tasks.
"With the recent controversy, we might need to explain ourselves right away..."
"The Emperor and Elenor won't crumble over something this trivial. And if they do, we just run."
But to this little mage, political incidents were exactly that—trivialities.
Mages were the type to hole up in their own world anyway.
It hadn't been long since she'd botched the Hero's return—a massive blunder—and this wasn't significant enough for her to care.
She had to do what she could for him. Having halted all her immortality research, she mobilized her organization for the new goal.
"And this last ingredient... are you sure it's fine?"
"Don't worry. We're gathering it because we need it."
And she was prepared to abandon the meaningless.
"As much as possible. Enough that summoning hell's demons wouldn't be out of place. No—even making it would turn him into a demon himself."
The mage trembled in fear. Pashier was an ethics-free mage, but even accounting for that, this crossed the line.
"Wait, Enel. I'll prepare so it won't be too late."