The Hero Party is Obsessed With Me Before Our Farewell

The journey to defeat the Demon King had been dangerous and exhausting, but now that I think about it, the only moments I truly remember were the ones we spent walking.

I’m not sure how far the Empire is from the Demon King’s castle, but for an ordinary person like me, it was an impossible distance to traverse on foot.

The mage could use her magic to float, and the elf and the hero possessed superhuman physical abilities.

At first, the hero occasionally showed signs of exhaustion due to his heavy armor, but after the hero’s power grew stronger, even that fatigue completely disappeared.

The saintess used sacred energy to lighten her body and heal her fatigue.

When it came to me, they considered using sacred energy on a non-combatant like me a waste, as it could be needed in an emergency. In the end, I received no treatment at all.

“Still trying to slack off until the very end, pack mule?”

“I’m… I’m coming!”

Thanks to that, the feeling in my feet had disappeared a long time ago.

I could no longer feel the sensation of sand sliding inside my shoes, nor the sticky and disgusting mixture of dirt, blood, and dust on my feet.

All I could feel was a sharp pain piercing through my head.

Anyway, the journey had finally ended, and now we were back to “home.” But the fact that we had to walk back again felt monotonous and suffocating.

But the thought that it was finally over made my body feel a little lighter.

I had repeated this thought more than seven times today to ease the burden, and even though it should have lost its effect by now, it still seemed to work—like a sip of water in the middle of the desert.

“What will you all do once you’re back home?”

Perhaps unable to bear the stifling monotony, the saintess broke the silence.

“I’d like to return to my duties as a mage… but it seems I’ll have to dedicate myself to helping the princess for a while. I won’t have any time to rest, but if we ever throw a party, you’ll all be invited.”

“I’ll return to the World Tree…”

I wanted to keep listening to what they were saying, but at that moment, my head overheated, my breathing became heavy, and my vision blurred.

My body barely managed to gather enough energy to keep me standing, but I didn’t have the strength to listen to or understand what they were saying.

But if I were to collapse now, Eleanor’s sharp kick would force me to stand up again, even though my body could no longer take it.

Even if I manage to return to Earth, how much time will I have left to live? If I had worried about my own happiness and abandoned this adventure halfway through, or even if I had ended everything, things would have been different.

“Ugh…”

The headache started to subside, but I still struggled to breathe.

I forced myself to take a breath and keep walking, and then my vision slowly started to return.

What I saw ahead was the saintess’s back—a view I had grown far too familiar with during our long journey.

“Will they really welcome me back if I show up unannounced?”

“If it’s you, saintess, you’re welcome anytime. In fact, I’d call you first. Your mere presence alone makes everyone happy.”

Perhaps because they had grown closer during the journey, or maybe because the tension had finally lifted after defeating the Demon King, the group’s conversation became lighter and more cheerful.

Of course, I was completely left behind and ignored.

“Ha…”

I regret the day I thought these people weren’t so bad.

*******

The day I arrived in this world, the first person I saw was the Emperor.

“You have been chosen by the goddess. You’ve been summoned to carry the hero’s mission!”

His tone was kind, but it carried a weight that made the difference between us painfully clear.

Actually, I had prepared myself to hear something like this. From the moment my body was kidnapped from Earth and brought here, thrown into the cracks between dimensions, I had lost the energy to question the absurdity of my situation.

If someone had appeared before me and said, “I am God,” I would have believed them without hesitation. My sense of reality had been completely shattered after everything I’d been through.

Yet my body remained unchanged. I was still wearing the same clothes and shoes as I had been on Earth. Although I felt something faintly buzzing inside me, I didn’t think it was anything that would help me fight or accomplish anything meaningful.

I pleaded with them to send me back, saying I didn’t want to fight. As he listened, the Emperor smiled mysteriously and began to speak.

“Very well, if you refuse, many people will die. And until the next hero is chosen, the Demon King may destroy the world. If that happens, you’ll never be able to return.”

After hearing that, I wasn’t scared anymore. But I still wasn’t sure if I could truly do it.

“I understand your apprehension. The path of a hero is rough and perilous for someone unprepared to fight…”

Just as I was about to ask for more time to think, he presented me with a different option.

“In that case, you can lend your power to someone who is prepared. That way, you won’t have to risk your life on the battlefield. All you’ll have to do is rest comfortably in the palace and return to your world as soon as we achieve victory.”

I never thought of myself as some sort of protagonist or anything like that. If there was such a method, it made sense for the most capable person to take on the task of saving the world.

Even so, if being a hero was my duty, I didn’t want to simply shove all the responsibility onto someone else.

“That person… will they agree?”

“What? Hahaha!”

My question amused him so much that he burst out laughing. Even his laughter felt overwhelming, the sheer volume of it making me feel as if I were being crushed.

“Of course! That person has been preparing for this their whole life! What are you even worried about? Now, let’s proceed! The longer you remain the ‘hero,’ the greater the chance the ritual will fail!”

The moment I gave my reluctant consent, the Emperor smiled, praising my so-called decision as if it were an admirable act.

Within a day, I was summoned by several maids. Blindfolded, I was led to what seemed like a deep, hidden chamber in the palace’s underground.

Mages dressed in gray robes worked silently, drawing intricate shapes on the floor. After a long time, they completed a magic circle filled with overlapping circles, triangles, symbols, and unfamiliar glyphs.

“You are the hero, I presume.”

In front of me stood a beautiful woman.

She was stunning and perfect, as sharp as a sword. We sat within the magic circle, staring at each other.

“…Yes.”

“Do you regret giving up your power?”

Her tone was a mix of curiosity and interrogation. Yet, I hadn’t spent enough time reflecting on my choice to give her an honest answer.

“It doesn’t matter. The one who can do it should do it.”

I didn’t need that power. Life on Earth wasn’t perfect, but it was familiar and predictable—a life surrounded by the comforts of modern civilization.

The Emperor had told me that a special ritual, performed only after the Demon King’s defeat, was the sole way for a hero to return to their original world.

For my sake and for the people of this world, it was only right for the most capable person to take on this responsibility.

When the mages began chanting, we fell silent. As instructed, I closed my eyes and surrendered every ounce of strength left in my body.

A wave of nausea overtook me, as if something was being forcefully ripped from my stomach. The pain and discomfort tore through me, and in the end, I lost my strength, and she became the hero.

***********

I submerged myself in icy water that seemed capable of tearing the skin from my body…

One of my companions—or rather, one of the members of the hero’s party—had a heightened sensitivity to smells, so I was forced to scrub my body until my skin was raw.

“It hurts…”

Bathing had become an unpleasant task, but I had to do it at some point. Besides, it was the only time I could move as little as possible.

In other words, it was the only time my body could truly rest.

Afterward, I would have to return to the party. I would have to endure the saintess orders, the archer’s mockery, the mage’s harassment, and the hero’s hellish training. Out of all of this, enduring the hero’s training in my current state felt impossible.

I could never truly rest. Instead, I was forced to bathe in water so cold it felt like it burned my skin and to scrub myself again and again until my skin was torn.

Questions like, “Why am I doing this?” or “Do I really need to keep going through this madness?” flooded my mind, filling me with anger, resignation, sadness, and despair. But I had to endure it.

At first, I set out on this journey determined to endure anything, but as time went on, despair replaced that determination.

The faint hope of returning home momentarily eclipsed my despair. But in the cold water, those dark thoughts naturally resurfaced.

“…Let’s go home.”

Once the final ritual was completed and I returned to Earth, I would never have to see these people again.

I wouldn’t need to fake smiles, endure their remarks, or bow my head any longer. The Demon King was dead, and the adventure was over.

“You’ve done well…”

Just a little more. I had endured until now, doing my best not to shame myself. I had tried to leave a good impression, giving my all within the limits of my ability.

I dried my cold skin with a thick towel and put on my clothes. Although winter had already passed, the fresh breeze still stole what little warmth my body had as I dressed.

When I returned to the tent the group had set up, I saw the elven archer.

As soon as she saw me enter, she pinched her nose and looked at me with a disgusted expression.

“You still smell. Go wash again.”

This was hell.