The Hero, Abandoned by His Party Too
"Why the fuck should we have to follow your orders? A mere porter acting without any sense of place?"
The moment we stepped into the forest, that Leonhart bastard started running his mouth to get under my skin. The second I told him to chop down a tree and check its base, this was the reaction I got. I really should have left him to die at Mapharlok's hands earlier. Not that I saved the asshole on purpose. If Vanessa's holy arrow had struck even 0.01 seconds later, I wouldn't have had to listen to his garbage. What a damn shame.
"That demon bastard is busy fighting the Guardian Border anyway, so the smart move is to run while we can. Am I wrong?"
The idiot had been hiccuping and out of it, but now he was suddenly sneering like this. It felt suspicious. Like he had some other scheme brewing.
"Think about it. If that moron Zero dies fighting the demon... hehehe. His plan to report me goes up in smoke. And even if he survives, if I reach the palace first and stir up public opinion, it'll end with Zero taking the fall instead. Hehehe. The heavens really are on the hero's side. Right, everyone?"
"Hey, Leonhart."
"Shut your mouth, porter. I'm speaking to my party members."
"...Maybe I should just kill this bastard."
It wasn't a joke. Watching him desperately incite the others to rush to the palace before Zero's fight ended made me seriously consider it. If the rest of them got swayed by this guy, it'd be a pain in the ass. Just me and Vanessa cutting down thousands of trees would take forever.
Maybe it was an optical illusion, but Leonhart's back looked exactly like a bullseye. Perfect for an arrow.
"Did you hear me? Theresa, Cynthia, Sharon! Go find us a carriage or something. We'll ride it straight to the capital of Lydorphia. What are you waiting for? This is a hero's order!"
"“………………”"
But the party members didn't give him the response he wanted. They all wore uncomfortable expressions, avoiding his eyes or sneaking glances at me.
"Hey, hey! Why aren't you answering? What, are you pissed because I sold you out earlier? You bitches didn't save me either! This is an order. Hurry up and get a carriage. My feet will hurt if we walk all the way to the capital."
"Why don't you go get it yourself?" Cynthia blurted out.
"What? You expect the hero to run errands personally? Just do what you're told. Or do you want to get kicked out of the party?"
"Go ahead."
"What?"
Cynthia crossed her arms with a haughty look and turned her head away sharply. Leonhart panicked when his usual threat failed to land.
"Y-you're not the only mage around, you know? Who do you think you are, acting like this? Should I report you to the emperor and have you locked back up in the annex?"
"Do whatever you want. Either way, I'm not staying in a party with you anymore."
"Have you lost your mind? Leaving the hero's party? Are you insane?"
"You're not the hero I once admired. This party is already finished."
Cynthia strode forward, ignoring Leonhart as he hurled curses at her back. She walked straight to where I stood. The moment the pouty-faced mage met my eyes, she looked away and spoke.
"You told me not to ask what you're looking for, but... this is for your little sister, isn't it?"
"What? How the hell did you know that?"
"The only reason you'd need the strength of people you can't stand to look at is your sister. You told us to cut the trees and check the patterns on their bases, right? Fine. I'll help."
"...You're being surprisingly obedient today. For a bitch like you..."
"I have something I want to say to you about that later. So please listen when the time comes."
"If I actually find what I'm looking for... I'll hear you out."
Cynthia took her place at my side, her face set with determination.
Leonhart was still flailing, trying to coax the remaining party members.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Use your heads! If Zero starts spreading rumors like 'The hero party was actually trash all along~' our careers are over! I'm still the hero, and my pipeline to the emperor is intact. I just need to reach the palace first, run my mouth, and get Zero deposed. Why can't you understand something so simple? Why should we listen to a damn porter in the first place? What's in it for us? It doesn't make sense. You all feel the same way, right?"
"We need to atone, even a little, for the sins we committed against Werther..."
"What did you just say, Theresa?"
"I'm sorry, Hero... I don't care about the party anymore. I just want to wash away my sins."
"...Ha? Sins? What exactly did we do wrong to Werther? If anything, we should be the ones receiving an apology!"
"I'd rather you stopped saying things like that. Next time, I might get angry."
"??"
Theresa joined our side, her nun's habit fluttering behind her. The saintess bowed her head before me as if in silent prayer. Her lips moved like she had something to say, but she gave up and stayed quiet.
"Since we're on the subject... I'll be leaving the hero's party too. Not that it matters. It already looks ruined anyway. Goodbye. Hope you manage on your own."
When even Sharon came over to my side, Leonhart collapsed to the ground in a heap.
"You fucking bitches! How am I supposed to escape by myself!! Goddamn it!!!"
"Ignore that idiot. We'll begin the search now. Spread out and start cutting trees. The moment you find a unique pattern, fire a signal flare."
I still didn't understand why these bitches were suddenly obeying my orders so meekly. Maybe seeing Leonhart for the pathetic fool he was had something to do with it. Either way, as long as they did their jobs properly, I didn't care.
The Rune of Resurrection was absolutely necessary if I wanted to save my sister.
I swung the axe I'd prepared beforehand at a cedar like it was my mortal enemy. The hard bark felt like a wall standing between me and my sister's revival, so my emotions poured into every strike.
"...Just ordinary growth rings. Of course it couldn't be this easy."
This was a vast forest filled with thousands of trees. There was no point hoping for luck. I had to cut them down one by one. I drove the axe in mercilessly, shattering bark and slicing through trunks. One tree. Then another. I didn't give a damn about stamina loss. It was fine if I burned through every last ounce of strength here. At this critical crossroads of whether my sister lived or died, why would I care about something as trivial as exhaustion?
A tremendous explosion roared from behind us. It sounded like Zero and Beelzebub were fighting. But instead of focusing on the war happening nearby, my mind sank into a memory from a very distant past.
I don't remember exactly when it happened, but to escape our violent piece-of-shit father, I took my sister and ran away from home. Anywhere had to be better than that place. But the world wasn't as kind as a naïve child believed. We ended up spending the night on a park bench, waking covered in morning dew. It wasn't even that cold, but my sister said she was freezing and clung to me tightly. I felt guilty for making a sick child breathe in the night air.
"Sorry, Jiwon. If your brother had money, I'd let you sleep in a nice hotel room."
"Jiwon likes anywhere as long as I'm with you, oppa. Besides, hotels don't smell like people. I don't like them much. This park is pretty and nice. The stars are so beautiful too."
What kind of woman dislikes hotels? The way the little kid was clearly considering my feelings made my eyes sting with tears.
"Sorry..."
"Oppa, really. What are you sorry for? Jiwon is actually thankful."
"Thankful for what?"
"For not running away alone. For saying we'd go together. Jiwon... was really happy. Just those words made me so happy. From now on, wherever you go, please take me with you. Don't leave me behind and go far away... That's what scares Jiwon the most. The thought of oppa disappearing..."
"Idiot. Disappear my ass. I'll stay right by your side until you get a boyfriend and kick me out."
"Yeah. That means you'll stay with me forever. Thank you... Huh? Oppa, look over there. It's so beautiful!"
Apparently some event was happening somewhere. Fireworks shot into the night sky and bloomed in brilliant colors. Cheers echoed from far away as we watched the display from our quiet park bench.
"Wow... Coming out with oppa brings luck like this. You mustn't forget this lesson, oppa. Good things only happen when you and Jiwon are together. If we separate, only unhappy things will happen. Jiwon guarantees it."
"Heh. I see... I won't forget."
Why was a meaningless memory like this resurfacing now?
"Damn it! Damn it!! Fall already! Just fall down!! You stupid fucking trees. Huff... huff...!!"
I had no idea how many dozens of trees I'd already cut down. The path behind me was nothing but desolate stumps, creating a bleak, empty atmosphere. But when I thought about how my sister must have felt dying alone and abandoned, this level of devastation didn't even come close.
'Why isn't oppa coming?'
'Did he abandon me and go far away?'
'He said he wouldn't go anywhere...'
'If oppa abandoned me, I have no reason to keep living...'
'I should just stop eating and die like this...'
That's not it. That's not it, Jiwon. I didn't abandon you.
I wanted to tell her that. I wanted to apologize and say I absolutely hadn't abandoned her. I wanted to reassure her that she wasn't abandoned.
"Just wait a little longer...!! Your brother will definitely bring you back to life! Just wait a little! Just a little longer! Just a little!!"
I surrendered myself to emotions bordering on madness. Blisters had formed on my palms and sensation was fading, but I kept cutting. The Rune of Resurrection refused to appear. I was just stripping the forest bare for nothing, growing more impatient by the second, when a loud gunshot rang out.
A column of blue smoke rose into the sky. A signal flare. Someone had found it.