Chapter 203 – The Hero (2)

‘I’m the Hero……’

Was it because of the Emperor’s words?

Even if I told the Sword Master and the Imperial knight that I wasn’t the Hero, they wouldn’t believe me.

Thanks to that, unlike the young Hero who was being sent to a suicide mission, it seemed I would be sent to a less dangerous place…….

‘But this is still a trap.’

If they firmly establish me as the Hero, it would be impossible to escape.

The position of the Hero, which I’ve been running away from all this time.

And now I have to accept it?

“This is troublesome. Very troublesome.”

After the two left, burdening me with their expectations, I muttered with a serious expression. The party members, except for Yelena, gathered around me.

“What’s the matter? Why do you look like that?”

As always, Yerim was the first to ask.

She had already healed the refugees, and the people from this place were looking at her with admiration from a distance.

And it wasn’t strange for them to look at her that way.

‘After all, Yerim is undeniably the Saint now.’

On top of that, thanks to the bracelet of the Divine Tree, Zahina was no ordinary mage either.

So what about me?

“Do I really look like the Hero?”

“Huh?”

At my words, everyone looked at me with incredulous eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that……”

“Look like the Hero? Sir, you’ve been the Hero all along.”

Yerim spoke firmly, as if she had no doubts.

I didn’t expect to hear this as soon as I asked.

I felt a bit awkward, but this was coming from Yerim, a fantasy enthusiast.

So I asked the others as well.

“Do you all think so too?”

“The reason I wanted to quit is because I’m not fit to be in a Hero’s party.”

I was taken aback by Hofmann’s unexpected words.

“Honestly, Sir Egar, you’ve been the closest to the Hero I’ve heard about. Compared to the first Hero party I saw, this party feels more like a true Hero party. Though your love for gold is a bit unusual.”

Zahina even added a sly remark.

“Well, there are Heroes who love money too. Gacha Heroes? No, that’s not it……”

I sighed as I listened to Yerim’s half-hearted consolation.

So, they’ve all been thinking that way all along.

Was that why no one said anything even though I kept dragging them into dangerous situations?

As I continued to grumble, Yerim gave me a sideways glance.

“If you didn’t want to be called the Hero, you shouldn’t have done those things.”

“What things?”

“Releasing holy power from your sword.”

Was she talking about when I released holy power from my sword in front of the city before crossing the gate?

“No, that was just converting the holy power of the two of you……”

“Who would know that? To others, it just looked like you were a much stronger Hero than the one standing next to you.”

At Yerim’s words, the other two also nodded.

“But you, the Hero, and the Saint know the truth. So why aren’t the Hero and the Saint saying anything?”

I thought it was strange that they allowed themselves to be sent on a suicide mission, even if things had gone wrong.

But it seemed they were aware of this conversation too.

However, they should know very well that I’m not the Hero.

“To me, there’s not much difference. The fact that you can’t directly release holy power is because there’s already a Hero, and you’ve been avoiding receiving the divine blessing on purpose.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Then, as soon as the Hero’s position is vacant, it’s settled.”

This was still troublesome.

Even if I avoided danger this time, it meant that from now on, I would have no choice but to act as the Hero.

Looking like a Hero and actually being the Hero were two completely different things.

Even now, if things go wrong, I could end up being dragged to a place where I’d die.

I couldn’t let myself or my party end up like that.

“I guess I’ll have to find a way.”

“Huh? What way are you talking about now?”

“Every time Sir says something like that, it makes me worry.”

At my muttering, the party members looked at me with concerned eyes.

To be misunderstood like this.

I thought I had been leading the party well all this time.

It seems there’s more misunderstanding among the party members than I thought.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the misunderstanding would be cleared up easily.

Instead, I continued to ponder while watching the Hero and the Saint prepare to leave.

—

Time passed.

The Saint and Yerim grew closer, and the refugees admired the two Saints even more.

The knights and mages had also adapted to this world.

The mages had cast translation spells, allowing everyone to communicate with the people of this world, and they had finished checking the signs and maps.

Two days later, the gate stabilization was complete.

Instead of Yelena’s magic circle, a door created by the mages floated in the air.

A door that showed the other world.

Zahina had covered it with earth again, so only a dark wall was visible inside the floating door.

But it was complete.

Now, Yelena no longer needed to maintain the magic circle.

“Wow, it feels like we’re going to live now.”

I offered a casual word of comfort to Yelena, who was stretching in front of the completed gate.

“It must have been tough.”

At my words, Yelena, as if she had been waiting, began to speak.

“It wasn’t always active, but I still had to maintain the magic circle constantly. It wasn’t easy. Because of that, my nerves were on edge, and everyone else, including Irene, had a hard time.”

Was that why people were afraid of her?

Well…… let’s just think of it that way.

I nodded along with Yelena’s words.

Then, I brought up what I really wanted to say.

“What will you do? You’ve worked hard, so you can stay here if you want.”

At my words, Yelena chuckled and looked at me.

“Are you trying to get rid of me? I thought I was part of the party too.”

It was an unexpected remark. Suddenly making a playful comment like that.

As I looked at her awkwardly, she continued with a serious expression.

“I’ve heard from the others. How hard you worked to keep your promise. Since you kept your promise, I should do my part as a party member too.”

I had nothing to say.

It was partly because of the gold bars in her subspace, but it was also true that I had worked hard.

So, I ended up using her disciple as an excuse.

“But you have your disciple, Irene. It seems a bit dangerous to take her to the battlefield right now……”

But Yelena shook her head at my words.

“It’s fine. Irene can take care of herself now.”

“Huh? Really, to that extent?”

At her words, my eyes widened.

I knew Irene had been growing quickly, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

Her words meant that Irene was now a mage who could hold her own on the battlefield.

At least a few years, or even a decade for a battle mage, would be needed to reach that level.

Yelena, being a disciple of a battle mage herself, couldn’t have been unaware of that.

Seeing my surprised expression, Yelena proudly pointed at Irene.

“It’s no wonder the Archmage was impressed.”

I looked at Irene, who was standing behind Yelena.

Irene didn’t seem to object to our conversation either.

Still, I asked her.

“It’s dangerous. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

This time, her answer was different from what I expected.

“Even if it’s dangerous, being by your side gives me the best chance of survival. It’s the same this time too.”

It seemed her survival instincts had told her that.

She wasn’t wrong.

After all, none of the party members had died so far, and we’ve all survived.

This party was truly different.

In the past, there would have been at least one or two incidents where the party would have been wiped out or at least suffered casualties.

But this time, no one died, and we’ve all made it this far together.

‘Is the god really protecting us?’

It was hard to say it was just luck.

‘If that’s luck, it’s really terrible luck.’

As Irene said, our party was always in danger but managed to survive every time.

And it would be the same this time.

That’s what I intended to make happen.

After finishing the discussion with Yelena and Irene, I went to the two Sword Masters who were talking with the Hero and the Saint.

The two Sword Masters would soon head to Pyongyang with the Hero and the Saint.

Once they arrived in Pyongyang and started the battle, the mages would contact us, and the battle to destroy the Daejeon gate would begin.

That was the original plan, but a few days ago, I suggested a slight modification.

It wasn’t anything major.

I just added a scouting mission to Daejeon with a few people.

Unlike the diversion force heading to Pyongyang, Daejeon needed to be scouted.

Depending on how many of the Demon King’s forces were gathered in Daejeon and how strong his subordinates were, we would need to adjust our strategy.

Of course, it would be difficult to confirm that with ordinary scouting, but I had a way.

“We’ll head out first.”

At my words, the Duke frowned.

“Is it alright for you to go alone?”

“It’s a scouting mission, so a small group is better.”

“Then, others should go……”

We had already confirmed that there were no other options, but the Duke seemed uneasy about our party going on the scouting mission first.

It was because it was dangerous.

Of course, it wasn’t something someone sending the Hero on a suicide mission should worry about, but his concern didn’t stop.

I sighed inwardly and repeated what I had explained before.

“This is already settled. We’re the only ones who know those people. Moreover, after the command fled that day, those people probably don’t think highly of Ea.”

The reason our party was going to Daejeon first wasn’t just because we knew this world the best.

It was because we knew the locals hiding in Daejeon.

The locals, the people of Earth, who were originally in the Daejeon safe zone, had taken refuge in a nearby subway station on the day the Demon King attacked.

And one of them, the awakened Seo-eun, had come to Jeonju to ask for help.

Unfortunately, at that time, our situation wasn’t good, so we couldn’t help her. Instead, we gave her a small spatial expansion pouch filled with food that another knight had.

It was smaller than the pouches I had, but it was still large enough to fill a room.

Enough food for the people hiding in the subway to last over a month.

Before we crossed the gate, we sent her off, promising to help if the situation allowed.

Of course, it was a promise with no guarantee, but fortunately, we were now able to keep it.

Of course, I wasn’t doing this just to keep that promise, but it would be good if we could save them along the way.

And so, we left the Jeonju safe zone, escorted by the old Sword Master, the Archmage, the Hero, and the Saint.

Our destination this time was Daejeon, the last subway station in Daejeon.