The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

“So there I was! With one powerful roundhouse kick! I countered the ogre’s fist like this! And then? Taking advantage of that opening, the hero swung his sword and subdued the ogre. That’s what happened.”

The sooner you forget bad memories, the better. Since they can be covered with pleasant memories, it’s best to create as many enjoyable experiences as possible. I picked up a large mug of beer, chuckling as I began spreading tales of my exploits.

People who had gathered to hear about the hero’s party’s achievements started jeering and clicking their tongues when I began boasting about my own accomplishments.

“My goodness, this porter mister is quite the braggart.”

“Come on, we all saw you were just a porter. How could you have done all that?”

“Hey now! I may be a porter, but not just any porter. I’m the brains! The financial manager of our hero’s party, an absolutely essential and valuable existence. Right, Hero?”

I shifted the topic to the hero, who was holding a beer mug a little distance away. The hero, who had been talking with Mille, looked at me and nodded with a big smile.

“That’s right, mister. Your performance was incredible then. I don’t know what would have happened without you…”

With even the hero stepping forward to corroborate my story, the people’s faces were painted with half-doubtful expressions. I could see Ashuria whispering to the hero with a disapproving face, but whatever she was whispering about was none of my business. What mattered to me now was the tavern employee who had subtly joined the group of listeners.

She was already looking at me with drowsy eyes and a dreamy smile, unbuttoning one button of her blouse. A small mole nestled in her ample cleavage captivated my gaze. I took a big gulp of beer, raised my hand again, and shouted:

“So then! When the hero swung his sword at a speed I couldn’t even see—swish, swish, slash!—the ogre just disintegrated in mid-air! I was lying on the ground with my bag open, and what do you know? The ogre meat just…”

“Emergency! Emergency!”

I stopped mid-story and closed my mouth. Lena, who had been sitting with her chair tilted, chewing on jerky, moved only her eyes to scan outside the door. Mille, who had been gulping beer with both hands, jumped in surprise and poured beer all over her face.

As she sniffled with her soaked face, about to cry, the hero helplessly wiped her face with a handkerchief. The soldier shouted, looking at the hero:

“Hero! I’m sorry! You must depart tomorrow morning!”

Lena straightened her chair. Ashuria twitched an eyebrow, and Mille wiped her face with a confused expression. I had to bite my lip to desperately suppress the urge to scream.

I could feel the beautiful, sensual tavern employee glancing at me with a regretful expression.

Ah.

“So, you’ve detected part of the Demon King’s army moving along the mountain path in front of this village.”

“Yes, that’s correct. Due to the geographical characteristics of this mountain, we cannot push in with a large army, and if these demons block the narrow passage, our supply line could be cut off. The headquarters requests that you, Hero, eliminate this unit as quickly as possible, and then move to this place, Levra Village.”

The soldier’s serious attitude and the map spread out on the desk.

“I understand. Then we’ll prepare quickly today and depart first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Hero. Here is information about the demons approaching the area.”

The hero nodded with a solemn face. Though the party members’ faces showed dissatisfaction with the move, which was one beat faster than expected, none of them complained.

As the senior member, I couldn’t initiate the complaints, so this situation just made me sad. Asking to postpone for a day or not to depart at all was out of the question. As a member of the hero’s party, I had a duty to actively assist in this sacred mission.

Isn’t there a saying that if you can’t help, at least don’t hinder?

As soon as we left the barracks, Lena said with a smiling face:

“We can rest properly in the next village. Everyone, cheer up. You too, mister. In the next village, there’ll be a woman with breasts three times bigger and hips three times larger than the lady you just met at the tavern.”

“That sounds frightening.”

The hero chuckled at my comment about it being frightening. He said to me:

“I feel like this journey is too strenuous for you, porter mister. I’m sorry. Every time.”

The hero apologized to me with a friendly smile. I bowed repeatedly and replied:

“Oh no, not at all, Hero. This is not something for you to apologize for, is it? It’s because the evil Demon King’s army keeps targeting this territory. The Demon King’s army needs to disappear from this world quickly.”

None of this was the hero’s fault, nor was it the fault of the soldiers rushing us to move quickly. All blame lay with the Demon King. After all, the war began when the Demon King descended upon the Empire and devoured the entire imperial territory.

The hero’s face darkened at the mention of the Demon King, but he smiled again and said:

“You’re right, mister. Since we need to leave early tomorrow morning, let’s go back to our lodgings now. And please don’t drink too much.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

The sound of bickering faded away. I kept my head bowed until I confirmed the hero had disappeared, then headed back to the tavern. The news of the hero’s party departing was the talk of the tavern entrance. Pretending to be a stranger unrelated to this topic, I squeezed into an empty table and rang the call bell for a server.

The server with large breasts and a mature appearance. She looked flustered when she saw me ringing the bell. She asked me in a small voice:

“I heard you’re leaving tomorrow?”

I put on a sly expression and ordered a beer. I flicked a coin that rolled and fell in front of the woman.

“I came to see your face before leaving.”

The woman’s face turned red. With just one sentence from me, her heart was racing, imagining a passionate night. After receiving notification of her husband’s death fighting the Demon King’s army, she was raising her 7-year-old son alone.

It was only natural that she needed a night of comfort, suffering from all kinds of harassment and labor while working as a server in a tavern. The server, having forgotten about serving, came to my side and extended her finger. I gently stroked the back of her hand and said:

“War makes people lonely. Both you and I are people with many wounds.”

“Ah…”

She wiggled her hips and exhaled hot breath. She looked down at me with a regretful expression, then turned her gaze away and bit her lip tightly. Then she shook her head and pushed my hand away, saying:

“No, I can’t. Not today…!”

This conversation took place in a very small voice, and the sound of her pushing my hand away was also small, but her desperate and regretful voice clearly registered in my ears. There were men watching me from a distance, smiling, who planned to drink using my day’s experience as a side dish.

The server’s eyes welled up with tears as her face reddened.

“Today… is the anniversary of my husband’s death. I can’t today.”

“I, I see…”

I had nothing more to say. Everyone knew that talking about replacing her husband or starting a family was just empty flattery. A traveler who leaves like the wind should be kept as a mere memory. Anyone would feel repulsed by a stranger approaching with excessive weight.

“They say you’re leaving tomorrow, right? Don’t drink too much, and go back before sunset.”

Her tone was filled with regret. She must have struggled with the opportunity to forget her pain today, but firmly made up her mind. Should I also respect her decision and retreat from here?

Should I acknowledge that there’s no more opportunity today and drift like duckweed to the next village to find a woman with breasts three times bigger and hips three times larger?

“…Would tomorrow be okay?”

“…Pardon?”

I couldn’t leave such a lovely woman behind. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t just leave this place. I was determined to hold this woman in my arms. When I came to my senses, I was filled with such desire that I was desperately promising her tomorrow.

“Tomorrow? Would tomorrow be okay?”

“But I heard you’re leaving tomorrow…”

She trailed off, her face flushing. The moment I saw the expectation in her eyes, I could no longer hold back.

I took a deep breath as I left the tavern. I took out a sword from my luggage at the lodging and caressed the scabbard. In the distance, a faint light was visible in the darkness. It was clearly the light from the campfire of those demons.

I vaguely remembered the profiles of the demons I had seen at the operations headquarters.

“Was it Bloody Belles?”

I picked up the sword, opened the window, and jumped out.

And I began running toward the demons’ campsite, avoiding people’s gazes.

Bloody Bellis. The reason he had the nickname “Bloody” was because he had a hobby of torturing opponents by scraping off their flesh bit by bit. As one of the officers in the Demon King’s army, he was tasked with blocking this rocky mountain pass to cut off the enemy’s supply route.

As a member of the Demon King’s army, he was confident he could fight and win against anyone, and he secretly hoped that some brave warrior would infiltrate his camp tonight.

“Aaaagh!”

“Urrk!”

He had only hoped for a warrior he could fight against to come.

“L-Lord Bellis! Run away! Urgh!”

“Graaaah!”

“Kyaaaah!”

He certainly hadn’t wished for an overwhelming warrior he couldn’t handle to appear. Bellis, with his back pressed tightly against the chair, took a deep breath. He tried to appear calm, but the blood of his subordinates splattered on his face numbed his reason.

“Y-y-y-y-you! Who are you!”

A man with beast-like eyes glinting in the darkness pointed his scabbard at Bellis.

“Are you Bloody Bellis?”

“Y-y-y-y-yes, but…!”

“You need to move according to my words.”

“W-what are you saying…!”

Just as Bellis was about to shout in anger, the man’s scabbard dug into Bellis’s abdomen, crushing it. Bellis screamed, foaming at the mouth.

“Graaaaahhhh!”

The night was long.

People trembled at the screams heard from beyond the valley.