The Price of Betrayal
The women of the Hero Party and Torare had narrowly escaped their latest crisis by offering Terra in exchange for using their fallen comrade’s corpse as a literal shield. In this moment, they all felt a distinctly unpleasant sensation at the realization that they had sold out a friend they had once shared life and death with. Yet not a single one of them regretted what they had just done.
A single thought had taken firm root in all their minds: It couldn’t be helped.
Torare had insisted that sacrificing one person—Terra—would wipe away the crushing debt that would soon come calling. The other three had agonized over it, but in the end they had no choice but to accept. From the beginning, an invisible wall of racial difference had always existed between the beast-kin warrior Terra and the humans and elf that made up the rest of the party. Moreover, considering the high value of a top-tier female beast-kin fighter, selling her off could erase nearly half of their remaining debt in one stroke. Ten years of back-breaking labor as mercenaries or adventurers, gone in an instant.
The choice to cut their own suffering in half by sacrificing a comrade they had never been particularly close to was an unbearable temptation. In the end, they could not resist it.
I’m sorry, Terra. But it couldn’t be helped. We have to survive too, don’t we? I’ll pray for you for the next month. And don’t worry—we’ll make sure the man you loved lives a very happy life.
Please forgive us. We had no choice if we wanted to live…
That’s just how the world works, right? Don’t resent us too much. We were always rivals anyway. I was planning to get rid of you eventually. Oh, and thanks. Thanks to you, the nights I have to spend in bed will drop from four times a week to three.
With those shallow words of regret and gratitude toward the comrade who had been sacrificed “for their sake,” the women of the Hero Party felt a wave of relief at the knowledge that debt collectors would not bother them for some time. They clung tightly to Torare—the man who had once again pulled them from the brink—and began discussing their next steps.
“So, Master, where are we headed now?”
“For now, we return to the imperial capital and make our report. If we keep our mouths shut and get caught later, it’ll be far worse.”
“But won’t that put us in danger? If they learn we failed the Demon King subjugation mission, they’ll find some way to pin the blame on us…”
Aileen and Amelda voiced their concerns at Torare’s suggestion that they report the situation honestly. He slowly shook his head and answered them.
“In our current position, it’s better to go ourselves and speak with our own mouths. That way we can minimize our own faults and shift all the blame onto the Hero.”
“H-huh?”
“What do you mean by shifting the blame onto the Hero…?”
The women of the Hero Party began to show interest in Torare’s seemingly profound words. He carefully laid out the plan he had been pondering sleeplessly for the past several days.
“There’s an old saying, isn’t there? The dead don’t speak. The Hero’s already been killed by the Demon King—he’s no longer of this world. In that case, shouldn’t we do whatever it takes to survive? Why don’t we report that we failed to defeat the Demon King because of him and Terra?”
“B-but… no matter what, tarnishing a dead man’s honor like that is…”
“I agree.”
“!?”
Amelda hesitated for a moment, her conscience pricking at her. But Aileen cut her off sharply and voiced her approval.
“The dead are dead. The living have to keep living, don’t they? Besides, our original plan was always to stab Elan in the back and steal his achievements. Why hesitate now about selling him out?”
“W-well… that’s true, but…”
“She’s right. Strictly speaking, the reason we ended up like this is because that bastard failed to kill the Demon King. We’re simply embellishing the truth a little. There’s no need to overthink it.”
“…”
Aileen and Shude firmly voiced their support for Torare’s opinion. Faced with the agreement of the majority, Amelda could no longer object. As an elf, she placed the honor of the dead above that of the living, but having already thrown in her lot with them, she had no choice but to follow her comrades’ decision.
“Good. Then we’ll report it that way. From now on, let’s make sure our stories match perfectly. It would be troublesome if our lies are exposed because we said something stupid.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Mm… U-understood…”
“Got it.”
Having decided on their future course, they immediately began moving toward the capital. They offered a small thanks to the reliable “Hero” who continued to serve as their shield even after death…
Clad in magnificent black armor that covered my entire body and wielding a massive black greatsword in my hand, I stared at the village before me. I was fully equipped with the gear the Demon King had provided.
“So this is it… the place in question.”
The location I had reached on the Demon King’s orders was a port town bustling with countless ships at anchor. Even now, large quantities of supplies were being transported in and out. At a glance, the security was extremely tight.
Port Town Lop.
It was one of the villages the Hero Party had passed through in the original story. It served as a major stronghold for the forces attacking demon territory and functioned as a critical logistics base.
In the original it was just a passing village that got caught up in an unlucky event, but seeing it in person like this… it’s no joke. It may be called a village, but its scale is practically that of a city.
The town of Lop was quite large, with warehouses scattered throughout that were constantly loading and unloading massive amounts of goods. I took in the sight from the mountain peak, then turned to the small-statured demon standing beside me to confirm our objective.
“Our job is to destroy the military supplies departing from that city, correct?”
“That is correct, Hero. Let me say it again—do not even think about trying anything foolish. If there is any sign that you intend to betray us here, Her Majesty the Demon King has ordered your immediate execution.”
The demon was only about as tall as my waist. A single black horn protruded from beneath its helmet, and its entire body was wrapped in violet armor. Despite its unthreatening appearance, I remembered it as one of the Demon King’s executives I had seen back at the castle. It answered my question in a voice that carried a chilling coldness.
Even after all the time it took to get here, it’s still wary of me. By the way… is this one a man or a woman?
Because of the magic on the helmet, it was impossible to determine the demon’s gender from its voice alone. In fact, I had assumed the Demon King herself was male until she removed her helmet and showed me her bare face. There seemed to be some backstory I wasn’t aware of, but since the original game had used a male voice actor for the character, it made sense. In any case, this executive had remained on guard the entire journey here and had never once removed its helmet, so there was no way for me to determine its exact gender right now.
Well, that’s not important anyway. The problem I need to focus on right now isn’t this one—it’s over there.
I set my thoughts about the demon executive aside for the moment and turned my gaze back to Town Lop, seriously considering how I should proceed from here.
The mission the Demon King had given me to test my loyalty was, on the surface, a relatively simple one: wait here and ambush the military supply wagons leaving the town. With the power of the Hero currently at my disposal, carrying it out would not be particularly difficult.
However… that was merely the minimum requirement for completing the mission.
The goal I was truly aiming for at this moment was something far greater.
Since I’ve already decided to abandon humanity… if I’m going to betray them, I might as well do it thoroughly.
What I needed right now was to completely win over the heart of the Demon King—or rather, the heart of this executive standing beside me, watching me with suspicious eyes. To that end, I had resolved to give this mission everything I had and produce the greatest possible results.
All so I could lay a solid foundation for my revenge against those women from the Hero Party.
And to vent my fury at the NTR game… by personally crushing the “bastard” I had genuinely wanted to kill in the original story.