I Was the Scout for the Hero’s Party

After Austin left, the Hero sat alone in the darkening clearing, watching the sun set beyond the mountains with a dejected expression on her face.

“…Hero. Are you alright?”

Gracey tried to offer words of comfort with concern, but the Hero weakly brushed away Gracey’s hand and staggered to her feet.

“…Let’s head back. It’ll be inconvenient to travel when night falls. Maya, could you prepare some light magic?”

At the Hero’s emotionless tone, Maya flinched and shifted her body.

Perhaps it was because the Hero’s tone seemed unusually cold, as if covered in frost.

“…Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Let’s return to Quiln. Gracey and I need to repair our broken pauldrons too.”

The Hero’s back as she slowly walked ahead seemed somehow precarious.

Seeing the Hero staggering like grass swaying in the breeze, Maya approached and gently took her hand.

“…Hero.”

“Why… why did I do that?”

Tightly gripping Maya’s small hand, the Hero hung her head low.

“I… to Austin… hic…”

From the corners of her drooping eyes, pure, clear tears began to fall drop by drop.

Because she was disgusted with her own words and attitude toward Austin.

Despite how they had treated him, Austin had remained by their side without yielding to their condescension and harsh words.

“…I’m truly sorry… I apologized sincerely…”

But in the end, Austin left the party.

Because of this fact, the Hero could not bear her self-loathing.

“Hero…”

Comforting the Hero, they slowly made their way out of the forest toward Quiln.

Maya’s light magic silently did its job, brightly illuminating their path through the forest.

After taking in Max as a stray dog, Robin, whose mood had soured, was rummaging through Depal’s belongings, while I was sharpening my blunt short sword with a whetstone and chatting with Max.

Scrape scrape

“So, your father was an adventurer.”

“Yes. Whenever I went to bed, he would tell me stories about his adventurer days.”

“…Personally, I’d recommend a crossbow for young friends like you, but… well, it would be a shame to throw away all your experience with a bow… Experience becomes skill, Max. Remember that.”

“Yes, brother…”

Although I had told him to call me Senior, it was too awkward for both of us to use that term, so we decided to stick with “brother” and “younger brother” until Max officially joined the Rangers.

Just as I was about to continue talking about the Rangers with Max, satisfied with the well-sharpened edge of my short sword, Robin suddenly came running over excitedly.

“Senior! This guy has a mana stone?!”

“What?!! Are you serious?!!!!”

I tossed aside the whetstone and short sword and rushed to Robin’s side.

A mana stone! What a windfall!!

“I-is it really a mana stone? Huh? Not a fake?”

I asked Robin urgently, my eyes spinning wildly, and Robin puffed out his chest proudly.

“Look at this ethereal glow… How could this be fake?!”

As Robin and I stared at the mana stone with dazed eyes, foolishly grinning at its ethereal light, Lady Alexis approached quietly and began to examine the mana stone in Robin’s hand closely.

“Hmm… The mana stone’s shape is intricate… and the mana glow has a vivid blue hue. With this level of purity… it definitely doesn’t seem to be a fake.”

“Ah…!”

Hearing Lady Alexis’s explanation, Robin let out a short exclamation of amazement.

Why are we making such a fuss about a mana stone? Well, mana stones are among the highest of high-end items.

Usually, magic towers or noble families with generations of mages have one or two mana stones. These stones continuously emit mana like an infinite spring, making them the number one most desired item by appointed mages of the Metel Kingdom.

The value varies depending on the purity of the mana flowing from the stone, its shape, and size—but a mana stone the size of two fists had just popped out of Depal’s pouch!

The eyes of Lady Alexis, daughter of a duke, wouldn’t be wrong. A mana stone… and a genuine one at that!

“This bastard Depal… I’ll plead with the lord to spare your life at least…”

I stroked Depal’s silent helmet with a gentle touch as he still lay unconscious.

“Brother Austin. You must not show mercy to remnants of the Demon King’s army.”

“You’re the one talking about cutting off limbs and stuffing him alive, you crazy bastard. This is better than that.”

“…That is treatment that includes appropriate punishment, so I see no problem with it.”

Roymen, that psycho.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to the mana stone.

Right. As the right arm of a Legion Commander, he should have high-quality items like this!

“Is it because there are mana stone mines in the western continent? We get a mana stone, but Argyle is nowhere to be seen.”

“I think I’ve heard that the Demon King’s occupation of the western continent with its mana stone mines is one of the reasons why the war has become more difficult.”

…If he has a mana stone of this size, wouldn’t he have even more valuable items on him…?

Thinking this, I looked at Robin’s eyes and saw that he too was looking at Depal with eyes gleaming with greed.

“…Robin. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“…Let’s just take it all, Senior.”

Right! This is a valuable by-product of victory, and spoils of war that we can rightfully claim!

Just like how Roymen collects the skulls and spines of monsters, we too…

…But maybe that’s going too far?

I shook my head to clear away the distracting thoughts and immediately began working to remove Depal’s armor.

Roymen was staring at us intently, but with his iron mask on, I couldn’t tell what expression he was making.

As I undid the leather straps holding the armor, Depal’s gauntlet fell to the ground with a clang.

“Swinging around such a heavy spear, yet his arms are thinner than I expected?”

“I know… I guess artificial humans can show efficient movement with less muscle?”

“And look at how pale his skin is… look at those delicate fingers. How can there not be a single callus?”

It was difficult to gauge his exact physique when he was wearing armor, but I couldn’t help but marvel at Depal’s slender arms revealed after removing the gauntlet.

When I kneaded his arm, I could feel that it was filled solidly with firm muscle, not soft fat.

“To think I’d see real compressed muscle in reality.”

Thinking this, I removed the gauntlet, and Robin was also struggling to remove the gauntlet on the opposite side.

“Nngh… Senior, how did you manage to pull this off?”

“…As I told you when you were in the Rangers, you need to build up your upper body strength a bit more.”

“…If I build up my upper body, I won’t be able to maintain this delicate figure. I’m a woman too, you know.”

As I chatted with Robin and examined the gauntlet from different angles, indeed, the gauntlet seemed to be made of a very expensive material crafted with high durability.

Newly amazed at the wealth of the Demon King’s army that had taken over the entire western continent, Robin and I continued to work without rest to remove Depal’s stiff armor.

After receiving help from Roymen and Max to remove the pauldrons, his notably narrow shoulders for an adult male were clearly revealed.

“…Hey. Is this guy really a spear user? How can a man with such a small build swing around such a heavy spear so freely?”

Could he be the type who enhances his body by injecting mana?

Artificially strengthening the body by injecting mana is generally a magic that’s difficult for knights or frontline warriors to endure, unlike mages who are adept at handling mana.

…Indeed, the technological prowess of the Demon King’s army shouldn’t be underestimated.

Thinking this, I stacked the removed armor pieces neatly, and before I knew it, it was time to remove the helmet.

“I wonder what this guy’s face looks like? Bacchus was so handsome it made you jealous. How are non-artificial humans supposed to live with this kind of competition?”

“Let’s take it off on the count of three! Okay… one, two, three!”

As we pulled off Depal’s helmet with a whoosh, the first thing we saw were tightly closed red lips.

A high, straight nose, well-groomed short hair, dense, long eyelashes…

Overall, a beautiful person with well-balanced features and a sharp, cold impression.

After completely removing the helmet, I expected to see a handsome man’s face like Bacchus’s……

A handsome man’s… face…

…Short hair?

“…Huh?”

“…Uh, what…”

“…What is this…”

Robin and I, along with the others gathered around, stood frozen, staring intently at Depal’s face.

“Mmm…”

Occasionally furrowing their brow as if having a bad dream, we couldn’t take our eyes off Depal’s face as they let out a groan.

Depal is…

“…This bastard was a woman?”

Depal was a woman…?