Chapter 123

The atmosphere was simply awkward.

Alfie was a girl who was once chosen by the king to be one of the hero’s companions, but she left because she became frightened. In other words, from Sei’s perspective, she could be considered a deserter.

Of course, Sei didn’t think of her that way. Anyone who had seen that battle would understand that it was inevitable. However, he still couldn’t casually say, “Hey, long time no see.”

Alfie was the same. After all, she couldn"t help but feel guilty towards Sei. She was ashamed of fleeing after saying that she would fight together with him. But it was just too scary. When she thought about fighting such monsters, she wouldn’t stop trembling.

But it was only natural. That was a calamity after all. It was like being told to challenge an avalanche when an avalanche was actually happening, or fight a tsunami when a tsunami was rising, or defeat a meteor when a meteor was falling.

—It was simply impossible. It was completely beyond the limits of what a living creature could do. But Ruphas and the Demon King could do that. They could blow away an avalanche with one punch, split a tsunami, or shatter a meteor. They were that kind of monsters.

And so Alfie fled. She didn’t want to die in a battle that she couldn’t possibly win. She thought she could fight with her life on the line. She thought she could devote her life to the future of the world. However, when confronted with such a small chance of victory, she was reminded of the meaning of weakness. She realized painfully that her will wasn’t strong enough to let her face a battle with zero chance of victory.

Her reason told her not to challenge the Overlord and the Demon King and that running away was the right thing to do. Her head told her that since they were like calamities, one should only think of reducing the amount of damage and casualties.

However, the youth, who was weak at that time, was still continuing the journey and she had seen his growth with her own eyes. Although he was still immature, he had grown to the point where he couldn’t be compared to what he was before.

And what about her? She ran away and had to be rescued…She felt that she was such a shameless person…How miserable.

“…Um, that…”

“………”

Sei thought that the conversation would not progress otherwise, so he spoke up. Alfie shuddered and looked at Sei. There was fear in her eyes. She was afraid of being blamed for running away. She was scared of being branded as a coward.

“It—It’s been a while…You’re doing well…right? Anyway, this…yeah. I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

“E—Eh, that’s right. I didn’t think we would meet again.”

Sei carefully chose words that wouldn’t hurt her. Alfie was relieved and replied stiffly.

“An—Anyway, let’s leave here for the time being. This place isn’t safe.”

“Tha—That’s right.”

Although both of them were stuttering, they understood what they had to do now. First, they needed to leave this alley. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know if more thugs might show up. The creatures known as thugs would infinitely sp.a.w.n in an unsafe place.

Sei and Alfie rushed into the main street and entered a nearby restaurant where they could take their time to have a conversation. It was a stylish shop with a crab-shaped signboard which read, “King Crab Number Four Shop.”

“Welcome to King Crab Lægjarn Branch.”

A restaurant staff in a red vest greeted them and guided them to a table by the window. Anyway, why was it that the staff was wearing the same clothes as Karkinos from Ruphas’ party?

The two of them ordered some food and settled down to resume their conversation.

“Uh…Can I ask you? Why were those guys after you?”

“Well…Yes, it’d be better to tell you. If you know about it, it’d be easier to avoid getting involved.”

No matter how one looked at him, the man who was after Alfie was definitely not normal. He probably belonged to the wealthy cla.s.s of aristocrats. He was a pretty arrogant guy.

This was not unusual. After all, on Earth, medieval Europe was also dominated by n.o.bles. History had shown that there had been quite a few oppressive n.o.bles. In j.a.pan, there had been incidents where people were cut down just for b.u.mping into a samurai. The question was why was Alfie being chased by such an individual.

“Well, I saw something that I wasn’t supposed to see. In other words, they’re trying to silence me.”

“Something you shouldn’t have seen?”

“Have you heard of the annual martial arts tournament in this city?”

“Yeah, I heard about it from Cruz-san.”

While they were talking, the restaurant staff came over and served Alfie the black tea she ordered. Fruit juice was placed in front of Sei and the staff left quickly.

“The winner of this year’s martial arts tournament will be honored as the hero of the Domain of the Spear.”

“Hero?”

“Yes. It’s a political scheme. If the hero that they produced is the one to defeat the Overlord and the Demon King, the local n.o.bles would have greater influence and persuasive power over the royal family…even though it’s impossible to win.”

While listening to Alfie, Sei imagined an armor-cladded hero bravely challenging Ruphas and the Demon King. In his mind, Ruphas smiled wickedly, while the Twelve Heavenly Stars awaited her orders as they stood behind her in their true forms as giant monsters.

…No, it’s impossible. He’d be killed in an instant.

Sei thought as he drank his fruit juice.

“Herein lies the problem. The lord…The Speth family seems to want the family’s young master to become the hero.”

“And that’s him?”

“Yes. Debris Speth, the eldest son of the Speth family.”

Alfie drank her tea and frowned grumpily.

“That guy is the worst. He’s even poisoning the food and drink of his opponents in order to win.”

“Poison!?”

“Yes, but it’s not enough to kill. It’s a light poison that induces drowsiness and stomach ache. Well, if you drink it, you won’t be able to partic.i.p.ate in the tournament.”

Poison. When he heard it, the first thing he thought of was Scorpius, one of Ruphas’ subordinates. She didn’t give him a good impression.

“The worst thing is…if that guy gets interested in a woman, he would pretend to be hurt in order to lure her over to heal him and then he would kidnap her. My friend got involved and was kidnapped.”

“I see. So you witnessed the event and they came after you.”

“Yes, I wanted to help her right away, but I was alone. Furthermore, that guy has an unknown ability, so the situation is quite bad.”

An unknown ability…That must be it. The unidentified skill was also used on Sei. He had moved instantaneously, attacked Sei without the latter noticing, and seized Alfie’s staff. Unless the truth about that skill was known, Sei didn’t think that he could win.

Aflie was about to say something, but she held back.

Please help me.

That was what she really wanted to say. However, she had abandoned Sei and ran away from the journey, so she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Even so, she still wanted to help her friend. Although it was shameful to do so, she thought she should ask for help. But she knew that it was unreasonable, so she couldn’t say it.

But, for me to be talking like this, am I not expecting to receive help somewhere in my heart? He might help me if I talk to him—ain’t I just being shallow and calculating? How…shameless.

Alfie despised herself and bit her lips.

“It’s a little comforting to talk to you. Thank you.”

Alfie decided to leave before she could make any unreasonable request. After all, she abandoned them and ran away in fear. What happened in the past was a fact that would never change. Even so, she wanted them to help her when she was in danger. How could she possibly make such a convenient request?

I can’t say it. I won’t say it. Therefore, it’s enough. There’s no need to involve him any further. Furthermore, they have a mission. There’s no need for them to be involved in a conflict between fellow humans.

“I’ll settle the bill. Take your time to enjoy the food.”

“The food hasn’t even come yet though.”

“………”

Alfie looked around. It seemed that she had ordered an apple pie out of habit.

“It’s a thank you gift for your help. You can eat it.”

“Please spare me from being treated by a girl. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

“That’s…”

Sei looked straight at Alfie and said forcefully.

“I can’t simply ignore it after hearing so much. I’ll help.”

These were words that she hoped and also dreaded to hear. She wanted someone to help her, but the more straightforward he was about it, the more cowardly and filthy she felt. The time she spent with him was short, so she didn’t really know him well. But even so, when he was summoned from another world, she already understood a bit about him.

Fundamentally, he was a good person.

“Then, first, my comrades…”

“Wa—Wait!”

It was right for Sei to gather manpower. After all, the opponent was a n.o.ble, so naturally he would have a lot of backing. It was too reckless to challenge him with just the two of them. However, for Alfie, Sei’s comrades were people that she had abandoned. If all of them came here, it would be like sitting on a needle mat for her. It would not be a comfortable place to be.

Fortunately, Sei wasn’t insensitive to such an extent. He understood Alfie’s worries.

“It’s fine. We had new faces joining us since then. This would make it a bit easier, right?”

“…In—In that case, well…”

“Now then, please wait a bit. I’ll call them over now…”

Sei said that and stood up. He didn’t forget to pay for the food either. He didn’t know how it was in this world, but back in j.a.pan where he grew up, it was a shame for a man to let the woman pay.

—And then, ten minutes later.

In front of Alfie, there were several members who weren’t in the party during her time.

The first was the adventurer, Jean. He wasn’t a member when the party first departed. He was a talented man who was brought in later by the king. Therefore, he wasn’t familiar with Alfie. Meanwhile, Alfie was wondering why Sei would bring a thug along. Well, it wasn’t really a problem.

“Abusing his authority to do evil. Inexcusable! Let my sword deliver his judgment!”

The next person was the cat beastkin, Kaineko. Looking at his small body stretching to strike an imposing pose, Alfie desperately resisted the urge to stroke him.

This is super cute. I want to stroke him.

Cats were dangerous creatures that could charm their opponents just by being there.

“I don’t know much about human cities, but if you seek my a.s.sistance, I’ll respond with righteousness. Don’t worry. I’ll win no matter how many weak human soldiers there are.”

The third person was obviously bad news. Hiding his entire body under a hooded cloak, he was suspicious no matter how one looked at him. In addition, one could occasionally see the legs of a bug from under the cloak. Based on his words, it was apparent that he wasn’t a human. Alfie was starting to worry about what exactly Sei brought along.

“We’ve heard the story. Let’s do our best!”

The fourth person was a white-winged flügel girl. She looked adorable, but her wings were so white that Alfie was somewhat concerned. Alfie was certain that pure white wings were proof royalty, so was it really okay to involve her? She hoped that this was just a white-winged girl who was unrelated to royalty.

“Woof!”

A dog was wagging its tail next to Sei’s legs.

Uh, is this really considered a combat power?

However, in the current situation, it was considered barely acceptable. Honestly, this didn’t seem like a hero’s party, but she thought that they still must have met the requirements somehow.

Sure enough, these were all people who weren’t there back then. It was her first time meeting these people, so she didn’t feel uncomfortable…except for one person.

“Hey, Alfie! Dad is here to help!”

“………”

The last person was…Gants. He was a muscular elite mercenary with a skinhead. Of course, Alfie knew of his fame and strength. She knew she could count on him.

That’s right. He’s my father after all.

Alfie shuddered and stared at Sei.

Why did this guy bring my dad over!?