I Am Not the Heroine

The next morning, the four members of the hero party opened the door with strange expressions.

“Hmm…”

“Hahaha…”

“Something feels off.”

“I feel the same way. It’s… how should I put it…”

They didn’t feel the slightest bit of the fatigue typical of outdoor camping.

And why would they? They had slept in a room with hot water and a fluffy bed.

It was no different from the inn they stayed at until yesterday.

And the one responsible for making it so was the owner of the door that was still firmly closed.

“Could it be magic? Something is surrounding us.”

“No wonder it feels so alien; it was magic.”

They had even set up a magic circle that seemed specially designed for them.

To be honest, it was too comfortable.

No matter how much they were a hero party, they were still human.

They wanted to sleep in a more comfortable place and avoid stand duty as much as possible.

That’s why they really liked the room provided by the little white-haired mage.

However, because of that, they knew they could no longer camp outside.

“I think I’ll try camping again starting tonight.”

“Certainly, if we could spend more comfortable nights like this, that would be nice, but it would spoil our habits.”

The hero party’s battles and movements did not distinguish day from night.

Magical creatures were active around the clock, and the higher tier beings, the demon race, were no different.

“Hmm, then how about each of us take turns using it every few days? It doesn’t mean we can’t ever use it…”

“We shouldn’t have accepted it from Rui in the first place.”

Just once. That was how many times the hero party had abandoned camping and slept comfortably.

And they had already tasted the comfort of sleeping inside a village.

Since they received the key from her, it was obvious that the vow of ‘not sleeping in a room anymore’ would be impossible to keep.

“Anyway, shall we start getting ready?”

“Yes.”

Rapirie took charge of waking the mage. The others prepared breakfast, scouted, and organized supplies.

Knock knock.

“Yeeessss…?”

“Rui, breakfast.”

“Mmm…”

“Oh, Rui, clothes.”

“…..Ah.”

Realizing Rui was in her pajamas, Rapirie hurriedly sent her back through the door, preventing an incident like last time.

The mighty mage was incredibly weak in the morning. The entire hero party was well aware of that fact.

“Hah…”

The yawning white-haired mage wouldn’t stop until the hero put her back onto the horse again.

*

Today is quite busy.

Not only are they finishing their research on the gravity reduction spell, but they also have to start preparing for the event that Rapirie has been looking forward to.

And there are also issues that absolutely must be addressed in the village they’re heading to.

‘What is this, if not a career woman?’

Aside from her clothes, hair, and expression, she was no different from a cold city girl.

Leaning her head against the hero’s arm, she scribbles equations for the spells with a pen.

‘First, the next equipment should be shoes.’

Wouldn’t shoes be the most useful for utilizing gravity reduction spells?

Everything she had suggested as examples, when applied to shoes, would yield fantastic results.

‘Then I guess I should take a look at feet.’

Unlike gloves, shoes need to be checked against the user’s foot shape and size.

Since feet accumulate more fatigue from long hours of movement than hands. If the shoes don’t fit, they could cause injury.

“Hero.”

“Huh? What?”

“Could you show me your feet later?”

“…..Huh? Feet?”

“It’s necessary.”

Although there was no answer from the hero, she assumed it was a silent approval and flipped through her notepad.

The other heroines would likely show her their feet if she asked. Checking their feet was almost no work at all.

‘For the shoe design, maybe I’ll make it look like a set with gloves.’

While the manufacturing process is more complex than gloves, that can be solved through the spells.

By the way, the best thing about becoming this body is that her aesthetic sense has increased.

Thanks to that, there wouldn’t be any ‘performance great but ugly products’ arising.

If that had happened, she might have had to hire a personal designer to follow her around.

“Hero, we seem to be arriving soon. I can see the terrain mentioned in the request.”

At Ariya’s words, she tilted her head up and looked ahead.

The road still lay deserted in the middle of the plains, but a small mountain started coming into view in the distance.

Thinking about the ‘Intrel Village’ which was located on the ridge, they could safely say they were almost there.

Grrrooooaan.

Noticing that the four seemed to be slowing down, she turned her body from where she sat.

“Rui, let’s run.”

“Yes.”

With that command, the thudding sound of galloping hooves began to shake the ground.

As expected, it was a horse gifted to them by the Emperor for the hero party. It was fast, and even when galloping fiercely, their lower backs didn’t hurt much.

Soon, the mountain scenery began to clarify, and a small village came into view.

*

Intrel Village.

A village located between the southwestern and southern parts of the Empire.

It exists in the heart of a vast plain and serves as a sort of midpoint connecting the south and west.

Due to its status as a midpoint, the village has several inns and restaurants for outsiders.

And included in these outsiders are usually armed groups like adventurers or mercenaries.

However, the reason this village was requesting assistance from the hero party was that a special situation was occurring.

‘Hadn’t they said a mobilization order had been issued from the west by now?’

The previously mentioned ‘Fortress of Twilight.’

Currently, magical creatures were emerging around that area.

As a result, several villages and cities were suffering damage, and adventurers and mercenaries from the west were all heading that way.

Then why isn’t the hero party, which could be considered the strongest fighting force, going right away?

One reason was that the adventurers and mercenaries were putting out the urgent fires, and another was that the magical creatures near Intrel Village were quickly increasing in number.

Most importantly, thanks to the noble managing the ‘Fortress of Twilight’ sending a letter saying [We are okay], they could concentrate here.

“Oh, hero!”

“The village chief! Nice to meet you.”

“Thank you so much! Even the children were in a situation where they had to ration water, and I was really at my wit’s end…!”

“Don’t worry; we will take care of it.”

The hero displayed a friendly smile.

They managed only to ease the villagers’ anxiety, but they already wore expressions as if they had won a war.

‘Is this what a hero is?’

With just one smile, they captivated everyone, whether a heroine or an extra.

Honestly, she doubted if he was not an incubus of some kind. But since there were no such descriptions in the novel, he was, without a doubt, a pure human.

“Everyone, gather around! Let’s come up with a strategy.”

At the hero’s call, the four of us, including me, approached him.

The five of us entered the village chief’s house to begin the meeting.

I took out a notepad and pen to record the meeting, flipping it open.

Then I summoned a translucent map into the air and waited for the hero to speak.

“First, the monsters spotted by the village guards are largely two types: Goblins and Orcs.”

“Not tough opponents.”

“Right. But there are too many for the villagers to handle. They suddenly multiplied and no one could respond in time.”

I marked the monsters’ stronghold on the map as the hero spoke.

The other four were surprised by the floating translucent map but soon settled into murmuring, “Well, that makes sense,” as they gazed at it.

“Thank you, Rui. This is their main base. But they might also be elsewhere. The last known sighting was a week ago.”

During that time, the villagers probably didn’t even have the means to scout, let alone defend the village.

Since Goblins and Orcs are optimized for quick reproduction, it’s likely that their numbers have increased since last seen.

‘A little late, and the village would have been attacked.’

Once the number of monsters exceeds the limits of their territory, they’ll inevitably attack surrounding life forms for new prey and territory.

They might have already attacked today or tomorrow night. All the animals near the river might already be dead.

“For now, our priority will be extermination. However, we can’t neglect the village defense either. Everyone understands?”

“Yes. Even if Goblins or Orcs are weak monsters, monsters are still monsters.”

“The river runs on the opposite side of the mountain from the village, flowing north and south. And since this is the first stronghold, the attack route will be…”

As the hero continued speaking, he drew more lines to make the strategy more concrete.

“To eliminate them most efficiently, we should attack from both directions. Aswel, you start the attack here while I go from the plains…”

“You’ll have limited visibility from the mountains, so I’ll wait and take care of any stragglers heading towards the village…”

As the three attack members exchanged active opinions, Ariya and I silently listened to their discussion.

Since this fight is not so much difficult but time-consuming, the saintess Ariya’s power isn’t greatly needed.

Furthermore, the gloves I gave her minimized any damage she might take, making it more advantageous for her to stay out of the fight.

Ariya was aware of this as well and mentioned she would stay back in the village.

“I will prepare some holy water and potions for you all. Staying here to treat the patients seems like the better choice.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Finally, all eyes turned to me. The hero asked.

“What about you, Rui? You can come with us or stay back.”

With just three people, most of the monsters could be taken out anyway.

“I’ll stay.”

“Got it. Then let’s each prepare and meet at the village entrance.”

With those words, the three of them left with determined expressions.

“I’m heading to the clinic. I noticed there were a lot of elderly patients.”

“Okay.”

In a flash, the four disappeared.

Left alone in the house, I sat in a chair for a moment and then opened the laboratory door to go inside.

There, I rummaged through a pile of magical items and found a couple of steel rods.

They were small rods bent in a right angle, with various spells etched onto them. By size alone, you might mistake them for a switch.

“Hmm, how do I activate this?”

It had been so long since I made it that I couldn’t quite remember.

Was it a pounding action to turn it on? Or was it a snapping motion like a switch?

Crack.

“…..Definitely not a snapping motion.”

I tossed away the expired rod back into the lab and grabbed a new one, starting to hit it repeatedly.

Soon, blue letters began to appear as the new rod was being hit and moved on its own.

The rod spun around and eventually stopped in one direction.

The bent end of the rod pointed toward the plains, on the opposite side of the mountain and river.

“So it was hiding over there.”

From now on, I would go catch a little rat.

A rat lurking nearby without the hero party knowing. A pathetic little rat that wouldn’t gain growth or lessons no matter how they tried to catch it.

Squeak. Squeak.

With both hands gripping the rod that was moving slightly, I began to walk toward the direction it was pointing.

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