The World After Leaving the Hero’s Party

Chapter 3: I Am Not the Hero

The idea that the world was saved with the fall of the Demon King was something straight out of a children’s fairy tale.

After all, there were plenty of monsters long before the Demon King appeared.

The Demon King simply empowered the monsters and led them.

Even with the Demon King’s defeat, the kingdom still needed to maintain its army, control adventurers, and continue fighting monsters on the frontlines.

Of course, defeating the Demon King wasn’t meaningless; the monsters were indeed weaker now than when he was alive.

But even so, they remained powerful enough to kill people, which meant the hero party couldn’t leave the frontlines just because the Demon King was gone.

“So, we’ll assign the Swallow Plains to you and the rest of the hero party.”

“…Yes.”

In the frontlines’ camp, where they fought these monsters, Hero Claire nodded slightly. The general, who had been fighting monsters in these battles for a long time, was serious, grim, and intimidating.

Though she should’ve been used to it by now, she still felt nervous around nobles and people of high rank.

After all, throughout the journey to defeat the Demon King, someone else had always taken care of these matters.

“Do you have any special requests?”

“Oh… we could… use some support from the priests for healing…”

“That… I’m sorry, but you defeated the Demon King without any priests, didn’t you?”

“Well…”

“I must ask you to continue without them. Every time we send priests away from the frontlines, they risk collapsing.”

While not exactly wrong, it wasn’t exactly right either.

The general prioritized maintaining the frontlines over providing priests to assist those with essential missions at the vanguard.

It was hypocritical, contradictory.

Claire bit her lip at the general’s cold, self-serving response.

The general noticed her unease and frustration, but there was nothing he could do.

He knew what had happened to the priests and other reinforcements sent to assist them before. Now, there weren’t even volunteers willing to go.

“Please, understand. Many of the soldiers here place their trust in you.”

What would he have done?

He would have probably objected, argued, maybe even gotten angry at her.

But he wasn’t here anymore.

Feeling dejected, Claire muttered in a self-mocking tone.

“…Yes. And about the Sage…”

“We’ve requested his whereabouts from the adventurer’s guild.”

“…Is it alright if I go by myself?”

“If you really wish to go, I won’t stop you, but haven’t you already come back empty-handed several times? The guild reported that they tried to contact him directly, but he ignored it.”

“Th-that can’t be true.”

“It’s true.”

The general sighed deeply, delivering a crushing blow to Claire’s fragile hopes.

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

“…Oh.”

“Well, we’ll need to return to the capital soon. You can check for yourself then. Now, onto the next matter at the frontlines…”

They discussed a few more details, but Claire barely heard any of it. This meeting only reinforced her sense of inadequacy.

After the long meeting, Claire left the tent with a weary expression.

Each step she took on the muddy, monster-stained ground dirtied her white boots.

Her once smooth and clear skin had become rough, her hair frayed at the ends.

Most of all, her eyes, once as bright as the sun, were losing their luster.

It was too much.

She was exhausted.

She was scared.

Despite all the negative emotions and stress piling up inside her, Claire couldn’t show any of it.

He must have suffered more than this.

She entered a tent, one of the better ones on the frontlines, biting her lip as she collapsed onto the ground.

The tent was far better than anything they’d had on their journey to defeat the Demon King, yet it felt hollow and silent.

A better bed, a better table.

A spacious tent just for herself.

But he wasn’t there.

Leventia, the knight of the hero party, was fighting elsewhere.

Evangeline, the archer, had been injured in the last battle and wouldn’t return to the frontlines anytime soon.

And…

The Sage.

The man who had always been by their side had already left.

There was no one here.

Since the Sage’s departure, things had improved significantly, yet the loneliness and pain were even harder to bear.

“Sigh…”

With a deep breath, Claire sat on the bed, clutching the plush down blanket tightly.

This rare, luxurious blanket on the battlefield felt so cold.

Far colder than the old sleeping bag the Sage had provided.

As she tightened her grip on the blanket, Claire’s mind raced.

What had gone wrong?

What mistake had she made?

Holding herself together, trying not to collapse, she reached a conclusion.

No, she had known the answer all along.

‘Sage…’

When she drew the Hero’s Sword, proving herself as the chosen hero, and resolved to defeat the Demon King and save the world.

She formed a party with Leventia, the exceptional knight, and Evangeline, the talented archer, with whom she shared a connection from long ago.

They made a pact to defeat the Demon King, no matter the trials they would face.

Swearing their resolve at the Tail Tavern, where they first met him.

He had looked at them with a blank expression, asking to join their party.

But only three could receive the blessings of the god who governed past, present, and future.

So they couldn’t accept him.

But he—

The man who called himself the Sage smiled, saying he didn’t need a blessing, and chose to follow the party anyway.

He only wanted to help the hero party defeat the Demon King.

From then on, he acted as their supporter.

She was sorry.

He couldn’t even receive a blessing.

She was grateful.

Because he helped them selflessly, without expecting anything in return.

But what had they done to him?

With trembling hands, she took out a small picture from her pocket. A precious picture in a frame.

They had it drawn not long after they began their journey.

A picture commissioned after defeating their first of the Demon King’s minions, done by a clumsy painter in town.

Claire closed her eyes as she looked at it.

Though the colors had faded, Claire, Leventia, Evangeline, and the Sage were all smiling happily in the picture.

When did the laughter vanish from their party?

If she had stopped Leventia and Evangeline from berating the Sage, could that happiness have lasted?

As a child, lying on the grass beneath a blanket of stars, she had once listened to her father tell tales of the hero’s journey.

How it was supposed to be a beautiful adventure to defeat the world’s great enemy, the Demon King.

But reality was far from that.

Camping in harsh terrain was the norm, and the Demon King’s relentless attacks to stop her never ceased.

A noble who promised them aid had once tried to exploit the hero party for his own gain.

They often had to turn a blind eye to villages suffering from monsters because they needed to move quickly.

What might seem like a romantic journey to others was a painful ordeal for them.

As the journey wore on, their spirits eroded, and the vague courage they had when they first gathered at the Tail Tavern quickly withered in the face of harsh reality.

Afraid, lonely, and suffering, the Sage had been the one to heal their spirits.

He prepared their camp, making it more comfortable.

With little money, he made delicious meals.

When they couldn’t stop in villages, he managed to hunt food, feeding them even if he had to go hungry himself.

He handled healing in a party without a priest, and sometimes, he even fought alongside them.

When nobles tried to use them, he stepped in and kept them on the right path.

And that wasn’t all.

Whenever their spirits began to wear thin, he’d play his strange lute to make them laugh.

After tough battles, he’d crack silly jokes to help them relax.

When they had to sacrifice something small to prevent a greater danger…

When they had to ignore pleas from villagers begging for rescue…

He’d smile gently, saying, “I’ll stay; you all need to take on the bigger mission.”

Thanks to him, they found a sliver of romance in their arduous journey.

But

Why did we treat him that way?