Chapter 171 – [Porter] Capital and Hero
And from the next day, the journey towards the capital started again.
Capital city
It’s a place I haven’t heard in a really long time.
“Come to think of it, I heard the king has changed.”
“Didn’t the crown prince we saw at that time newly ascended the throne?”
Did you?
I didn’t know because I wasn’t very interested in the news going around the world.
It seems that the crown prince who ate with Hero’s party at that time became the new king.
“I heard that you are trying to form a friendly relationship with the demons…”
“Ah, so the town…”
This part doesn’t really matter to me.
To be honest, I’m also a bit uncomfortable with monsters, but Luella and Sera were not much different from us when I met them unexpectedly.
What… If my neighbor is a soggy slime or something, I’d be offended.
“Come to think of it, Luella isn’t coming these days, Master.”
The topic of the girls, who had moved on to talking about monsters, naturally changed to Luella, which has been rarely visited these days.
“Hmm, well, she must have her own business.”
In fact, it’s a strange level that I’ve been here every day.
No, is it okay for a man named Four Heavenly Kings to be so leisurely?
Since they are placed in a slightly different position from the party soldiers, they spend relatively leisurely while traveling back and forth across the continent, but even now, monsters and humans are pouring blood hard on the battlefield.
Aren’t the Four Heavenly Kings beings who can be said to be their actual commanders?
“Still, he started to feel like a fellow slave… It’s a bit unfortunate.”
“Oh, Seria too?”
They said that to each other and laughed.
Not enough warriors’ parties, even the Four Heavenly Kings are slaves…
Just thinking about it makes me feel thrilled.
“Don’t say anything strange.”
“Whoops… Is your expression relaxed?”
“The owner is nice too.”
Damn, did you hear?
I lowered the corner of my mouth that was slightly curled up and pretended to be solemn.
But I really can’t figure out Luella’s psychology.
Even though she seems to have passed almost everything when she is Uni, when she returns to her original form, there doesn’t seem to be such a big change…
Well, it doesn’t matter whether she comes in anyway.
Because that wasn’t included in the original plan.
The important thing is whether Luella will listen to my request…
I can’t ask because he doesn’t come these days.
I felt a little regret and retook my steps.
***
After moving for days and days like that, we finally arrived at the capital.
It’s been quite a while since I left the capital, but there hasn’t been any noticeable change.
Everyone is on their way to an audience with the newly crowned king, and now I am the only one in the inn.
Being left alone for the first time in a while is more boring than I thought.
At a time like this, if Seria or Arin were there, I would have played around with them, but without them, I feel empty.
Back in the day, I was used to being alone, so there was nothing to think about.
Certainly, I have a useless thought that they have infiltrated my daily life a lot.
Since I was sitting alone in the dorm anyway, I had nothing to see, so I walked around the dorm for a while.
When I came back after lightly turning around for a while, I saw a woman snooping in front of the inn looking inside her.
“Will you get out of the way?”
“Oh, sorry… Ugh.”
“Hmm?”
I said a word as the woman was covering her entrance, but she looked at me and suddenly frowned.
Wait, this woman is somehow familiar.
Blonde… Slightly long ears.
“Is your name Ertina?”
“Don’t call me friendly.”
She was Ertina, the last of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The reason I came here was to meet Bonama, the Hero, and Yuni.
Were you checking to see if they were staying here?
“… That’s right. Seeing that he wasn’t there, I thought I had come to the wrong place…”
It wasn’t wrong.
I was just away for an audience.
“… Okay. I will have to come back later.”
What?
Are you reading my mind
“It’s not like that… Let’s just say it’s roughly the same. Anyway, I’m fine.”
“For a moment.”
I wanted to grab her arm because I wanted to ask you something, but Ertina evaded me by pulling her arm out.
“… If you want to ask about Luella, I don’t know. Rather, why are you curious?”
Damn, how are you reading my mind?
I’m afraid of this, so I can’t put it into words.
“I’m good enough.”
She coldly cut her off and withdrew.
She seemed to be going straight away, but she suddenly stopped and looked back at me and left a short message.
“You don’t make the wrong decision.”
After that, she disappeared across her alley.
It’s a bad judgement.
What are you talking about?
It could be considered a wrong decision to have already taken Seria, or in the future…
What’s ahead
Stealing Uni?
Maybe it’s a word that doesn’t mean much.
You don’t have to worry too much about it.
But why… Her words continued to linger in a corner of my mind.
They went to an audience and returned earlier than expected.
His expression was a bit dark as if it didn’t work out so well, but when I heard what he said, it seemed that he was a little upset because he didn’t have any results.
Even though I caught one of the four kings, there was no news after that, so it seems that the nobles were very anxious.
Our situation was too strange to simply dismiss it as anxiety.
Maybe if there was a guy who knew the situation right now, wouldn’t he fall down holding his back neck?
The party is effectively torn into two groups, and both sides have some sort of relationship with the Four Heavenly Kings.
Is this a hero party?
Come to think of it, it’s ridiculous.
“Killing Ertina?”
Uni’s face stiffened at Seria’s joke.
According to her, she considered her to be her teacher.
Be a teacher to your enemies…
Well, I’m not in a position to say anything about eating enemies.
“I’m kidding.”
Seria took a step back as she decided not to provoke her needlessly instead of stoking her fire more.
In the end, this temporary meeting also ended without much success.
The income that can be reaped from this party is about catching the Demon King or the Four Heavenly Kings, but it is still a long way to the Devil Castle, and the chances of catching the Four Heavenly Kings do not seem very high.
Are there any worthy opponents out of the three?
***
And sure enough, Uni’s training continued in the capital.
If this is the case, she just joins in at all.
Anyway, the fact that the hero is left alone is a good thing.
I played with Seria and Arin since morning and let them go.
If Luella was there, she would have bullied the hero, but since she isn’t there, I’ll have to look at the hero’s condition instead.
After sending them off, I lay down on the bed for a while and tried to take a nap, but they came back in a hurry.
“Lord, Master! There are no warriors!”
“Huh?”
Not in the room?
“Let’s go for a walk.”
“Not even around.”
“Didn’t you go far?”
“… I will look for it.”
The two left again with a slightly embarrassed expression.
Come to think of it, the hero never went that far.
Maybe something happened… No, that’s not going to happen.
Suddenly, he remembered what he had asked Luella to do.
No way?
I got up and went outside just in case.
“Let’s rest for a while.”
“Haha… Yes.”
Outside, Ertina and Uni were practicing.
I usually do it from a little farther away, but I’m doing it right in the front yard as if there is no suitable seat in the capital city.
“… What?”
Ertina looked at me and frowned.
“No, the warrior…”
“Why Eric?”
As expected, when Uni mentioned Eric, she reacted immediately.
Perhaps she felt uneasy about my words, she summoned her spirit for a moment to check her surroundings and was a little taken aback.
“At the seat… Aren’t you?”
“I might have gone for a walk. Don’t worry too much…”
At that time, Seria and Arin came back.
“Master! There are none around.”
“I went a little far, but I can’t see it.”
Ertina looked at them displeased, but Uni jumped up at their words.
“What do you mean! No Eric?”
“Can’t you see it around?”
“Look for it with the spirit.”
Yuni hastily sent a spirit to search the area.
Seeing Yuni like that, Ertina sighed and said she would help her, summoning spirits from farther places than Uni.
“… Louella?”
“Huh?”
Why does that name appear?
“Uni, the situation is very bad. The hero is fighting Luella.”
“… Yes?”
Not only Uni, but all of us were embarrassed.
With Louella? A warrior?
You remembered what I said.
I was surprised too, but I quickly understood the situation.
My request to stick with the hero once.
It was to shake the hero once more.
It was only necessary to mentally drive the hero to the end.
I don’t think Luella really kills the hero here.
… Wouldn’t it?
After Yuni and my girls left to help him, Ertina and I were the only ones left.
“You’ve done something strange.”
I can’t say anything about this woman.
‘Cause you’re looking deep into my heart
“He is the hope of man. Why would you sacrifice him for your selfish desires?”
Well.
If you ask me like that, I have nothing to say.
It is human hope.
It sounds grandiose, but if you were chosen by a goddess, it might really be like that.
However, what I felt while going around with him was that he was not a chosen transcendent hero, but just an ordinary man.
The man I saw was neither a warrior, nor a hero, nor a genius, but an ordinary man named Eric.
Still, he’s a warrior.
So he decided to call him a warrior.
“You are a dirty person. More than that…”
That?
Who is he talking about?
The last warrior? Or the devil?
“Yes, personality is not important. Anyway, everything is already…”
She looked me in the face for the first time with a sad expression on her face.
“… I don’t like it.”
What?
I kept muttering strange things, but in the end, it was my curse.
“Never mind.”
Would you mind if I said that?
This is such an uncomfortable year to be together.
“… Whoa. I don’t have to be here either. When Yuni finds it, tell her that she went back first. Then.”
She didn’t want to be with me, so she walked away and disappeared.
It’s been a year I don’t like.
***
The warrior returned unscathed.
On the other hand, it seems that Luella was not hurt at all, but in the first place, it doesn’t matter because she doesn’t have much to do with being hurt.
His eyes were cloudy, perhaps because the experience of losing to Luella was more shocking than he thought.
But, well, based on this again, I will become stronger.
At least I’m not one to give up on something like this.
My purpose anyway is to make him more dependent on Uni.
While relying more on Uni, at the same time getting more excited seeing her embraced by me.
Then, if something happened, he thought that he would realize his own castle wall and pass Yuni with his own hands.
But after a few days, I realized that I didn’t have to.
“… Good.”
“Ok?”
I bumped into Yuni by chance in the hallway.
I was just going to pass it by, but suddenly she started to argue with her strangely, so I got annoyed and told her to come to our room if she had any complaints.
Then the answer that came out was this.
“Good. Is everyone inside anyway?”
“… What are you thinking?”
What kind of action is this all of a sudden now?
I thought about it for a while, but there was nothing I could know with my insufficient head.
Eventually I returned to my room to borrow the knowledge of my slaves.
Take uni
“Uh…”
“Yu, Uni?”
The two of her, who were grooming her while looking in her hand mirror, looked at her and were embarrassed.
Was it also an unexpected situation for them?
How this happened could be heard from her mouth after a while.
“… To excite Eric, I need help.”
I guess I need to hear more details.
What the hell is going on?
