The Porter Is Not Interested in the Hero Party

8 – assassination (1)

Leaving the village and starting to climb the mountain road, I hurried my steps. It was because I had to run ahead as a guide when approaching the imperial territory. If the hero showed his face in the confrontation area, he could instill wariness in the demons, so the plan was to go straight into the demons camp from the beginning and assassinate the commander.

In the rear, Ashuria stood with a dissatisfied face, and at the front of the party, the hero and I were walking together. The hero said after seeing me going on the road without hindrance.

“I guess you lived in this area? You move very smoothly.”

“The main place I worked was the capital city, but because it was my job, I wandered here and there. It is safe to say that there is no place in the country that I have not been to.”

“what. Was your uncle a peddler?”

Lena asked me a question. She spoke in a very low voice, in case of an enemy attack, so I was a little surprised. He nodded his head without trying to express his emotional agitation.

“It will be similar. Probably no one alive today knows the geography of the Empire better than I do.”

Because most of the living people of the Empire are confined to the land of demons. If you limit it to people who are currently moving, it was by no means wrong. At my words, Millet said with a gloomy face.

“Come to think of it, did all the people of the Empire die from being captured by demons? huh? Since the fall of the empire, no one has left the border.”

She slowed down with a sad face. Neither Lena nor Ashuria looked very happy when they thought of the atrocities committed by the demons. The hero touched the hilt of his sword and nodded. I looked around the forest.

Just in time, I saw a diamond-shaped gemstone embedded in the floor. It was an object that could be seen anywhere in the area that was eroded by the Pandemonium. I touched the stone with my foot and said.

“Do you see this?”

“jewel… … . Are you?”

“Is this your first time seeing it?”

“It’s not even a mineral.”

It was something everyone didn’t know. The Demon King’s army rushing in like a wave was evidence that the land of this kingdom had not yet been properly eroded. I said while stroking the stone.

“This is a magic stone. It is an object that the demon king army makes to erode this land like the demon realm. Do you know how this thing is made?”

“Ah, this… … .”

The hero and Ashuria nodded as if they knew something, but the other party members were still making puzzled faces. I said while stroking the surface of the magic stone.

“As the Demon Kings descended on the land of the Empire, they tried to change this land into a better world for them to live in. This magic crystal is an object made to assimilate the entire continent into the demon realm by scattering demonic energy on this land in response to life force.”

“What, then, shouldn’t it be enough to break the visible foot?”

Lena rummaged through her pockets with a burst of force. I reached out and stopped her before she could act. Seeing my actions, Lena tilted her head and put the dagger back in her pocket. I couldn’t even see when it was taken out, but the speed at which it was taken out was like a ghost.

I said while stroking the surface of the magic stone.

“These magic stones are objects made by covering living things, including humans, with demonic energy. It contaminates the earth by converting the life force gushing out from within into demonic energy. It means that there is life inside of it, no matter what it is.”

“It tastes bad.”

“I heard that blood flowed out when the magic crystal in the village was broken during the restoration of the kingdom’s territory.”

Ashuria also nodded at the hero’s words.

“Even in the church, there was an order not to touch the black structure if possible, and that must have been this object. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen it.”

“This is a bit different from the structure the hero and the nun know, as it is an item where a wild animal was swept away by the Magi and trapped. This is because magic stones are usually stacked in a tower form in a large structure because they use amplifying devices to promote the power of nearby demons.”

Millet said.

“Then you can’t save the creatures inside? After all, wouldn’t it be better to let go comfortably?”

“There is a way. All you have to do is deal with the strongest Demon Commander who dominates this area.”

The hero added an explanation to my words.

“Since the demon king cannot manage all the magic stones, it is said that the maintenance of the magic stones is done by the demon commanders. So, if you deal with the demon commanders, all the demonic energy surrounding the people will disperse and you will be able to free them.”

Until this conclusion came out, it was undeniable that there had been many sacrifices.

Many people died from beating and dismantling magic stones, and the captured demon commander was tortured and killed by an enraged soldier. It wasn’t until after he died that the magic crystals he kept were freed from demonic energy at once. said Lena.

“So if you defeat that poisonous commander here, the territory will be freed?”

“I do not know. Maybe we can dig up information about other commanders from the female demon.”

“There is no need to forcefully capture them alive. Because all demons have to die anyway. If the plan goes awry, we have to take the risk. Make killing a priority this time.”

The warrior said so in a firm tone. Lena nodded in embarrassment at the cold look of the hero she hadn’t seen before, while Ashuria had a satisfied expression on her face. Ashuria seemed to unexpectedly like seeing the hero show such a calm side.

“Then let’s move on. We have a long way to go. Don’t touch the magic stone. Because life is precious.”

We started walking again. Every time I went down the road, the magic crystals that came into my sight were showing the tragedy brought about by the Pandemonium invasion.

******

Even the chirping of birds cannot be heard in the land invaded by the demon king’s army. Since there are no wild animals, the forest itself is dying, and as the forest is dying, fruit and food do not grow properly. As the soil rots, plants that would only grow in the Demon Realm sprout little by little, and a filthy, nasty stench that only demons would like lingers around the world.

A stench that could be described as being cleared was flowing along the valley water. Rotten moss tangled like the hair of a drowned man, and I pushed hard against the green-soaked rocks. After confirming that the surface was slippery, I jumped over the river at once, and the other party jumped over the river at the same time as me.

This river, which crosses the border area, was a good place to cool off in the summer with clear water and a cool stream. I used to secretly come here in the summer with people I knew and throw myself into the valley water.

“I remember playing in the water in the valley. I liked it when I was younger.”

The gloomy atmosphere ahead of an important operation was not good. I said, pointing to the river that split like blood vessels. Lena smiled and asked if she understood my intentions.

“All naked? People in the countryside are like that.”

“Because I was young then. There was no such thing as a swimsuit, so I just took off everything and dried myself on the rocks. It wasn’t even a fuss. Isn’t that right, warrior?”

He smiled and talked to the self-proclaimed ‘country-born’ warrior. The hero rolled his eyes with his ears red, then shouted in a puzzled tone when I passed the baton.

“Hey, don’t lie! There’s no way people from that, city, countryside can go around naked! They all wear swimsuits, Sue, and so on. I-I know everything.”

Millet tilted her head at the hero’s words and said.

“I took off naked and swam in the lake too? Isn’t that normal?”

Ashria tilted her head and said.

“I’m from the city, so I don’t know what to say. My parents were so strict that I couldn’t imagine washing my face or swimming naked in a river.”

“Uh, ooh, our country was like that.”

The hero rolled his eyes and took care of it again, and Lena and I nodded with smiles on our faces. Millet said.

“I want to visit the warrior’s village again later. Is it a village where good people like the warriors live?”

“They are just normal people. The kind of people you can see in other towns. Would you rather be disappointed?”

“I still want to meet you. Hero father and mother too! What kind of people are they?”

“Well… … . All I can say is that they are just normal people. sorry. I don’t have a horse around.”

The warrior said that with a very sorry expression. Millet shook her head with a bright smile despite the expression on the warrior’s face.

“It’s fine! Still, I want to go there sometime later… … . Oh right! I wish I could buy something like a present. Warrior! What does your father like? Do you have any hobbies?”

The hero replied by pushing away the tree vine.

“yes? He likes horseback riding, especially horseback riding… … .”

And the hero shut his mouth like a lark that was hit in the head.

“Well?”

“yes?”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt weird. Lena clicked her tongue while laughing, and Ashuria rolled her eyes with a mysterious expression. I whistled and pretended not to know, and the warrior stood there frozen in a cold sweat.

Millet tilted her head and asked.

“yes? riding? Ahh! Does your father, the hero, run a ranch?”

“I guess so. Don’t you know the warrior especially well about horses? It must all be family history.”

I said so while patting the shoulder of the warrior who covered his face without answering. Millet nodded without question, and Lena walked forward and said.

“Why is hometown important? We’ll meet in the capital anyway when we’re all rich. is not it?”

Both Ashuria and Millet nodded.

“I see.”

“right! I wanted to live in a city where humans live too!”

bright laughter.

“under… … .”

The hero sighed next to me, rubbed his face again, and stepped forward.

How long will the hero claim to be a countryman?