The Porter Has No Interest in the Hero’s Party

People who have had an enjoyable time return with thrilling experiences etched on their faces.

Chewing on fresh, delicious celery while looking at the main gate, I saw the hero enter with a bright red face and quick steps. Just from the red flush and fast pace, one could deduce that the hero had quite an exceptional experience today.

In terms of time, about 10 minutes,

A time that might be pitiful if Ashuria was pitiful, but for lovers who love each other, time was not such an important matter.

Mille waved her hand widely at the hero and greeted him.

“Hero! The salad is delicious! Try this!”

The hero awkwardly waved back at Mille. At the greeting that seemed like one given to a foreigner met after a long time, Mille stopped her crunching and looked at me with a blank expression. She had a face asking what she had done wrong, but I had nothing to say, so I answered:

“The hero seems busy. Shall we eat more salad?”

Mille also did not seem to pay much attention to the situation where Ashuria and the hero had gone out together and the hero had returned alone. She smiled brightly and banged the empty bowl on the table, shouting:

“Good! Mister! Give me more salad here! With lots of celery!”

The chef, with a blue-black bruise on his face, nodded with a grin.

“Ah, yes! I understand! I’ll make it right away!”

Mille, seeing the chef who, unlike when we first arrived, was now putting his heart and soul into cooking, said in a proud tone:

“See that. I rehabilitated a person. This is also part of the hero’s party’s work, right?”

“Of course. Miss Mille was very heroic today.”

“Will the hero like it too?”

I briefly rolled my eyes at Mille’s question.

“…Not everyone, but usually people find those who flaunt their good deeds burdensome. Since the hero might find Miss Mille burdensome, I think it’s better to avoid such things.”

“Hmm, if it’s burdensome, I won’t brag about it. Instead, if I accumulate good deeds one by one, eventually the hero will naturally notice my good deeds, right?”

“Of course, Miss Mille. If Miss Mille changes the world, those traces will surely remain. It will certainly become a beautiful world, so the hero will like it too.”

Mille nodded at my words and smiled with her eyes. When she just smiled like this, she was an innocent elf, but she was a murderer and a demon slaughterer who lost her brakes when something went against her standards.

I thought I should help guide her concept of good deeds a bit better later, and pushed aside my finished bowl.

Meanwhile, Ashuria, who had returned late, was clicking her tongue with a dark expression. She looked very dissatisfied, and judging by her expression, she looked more like a married woman who had barged into an inn looking for her husband who had gone astray, rather than a nun. Mille, with a suddenly bright smiling face, waved her hand even larger and said:

“Ashuria! Hello!”

“…Yes.”

Ashuria, perhaps unable to vent her anger on the smiling Mille, reluctantly greeted her and then went up the stairs. After watching Ashuria go all the way up the stairs, I asked Mille in a small voice:

“Did things not go well?”

“Seems that way.”

Mille nodded. Her response was more indifferent than I expected, which made me curious.

“Aren’t you concerned?”

“About what?”

Mille didn’t understand my question. She was just staring at me while chewing on celery like a goat. I described the situation from earlier and asked:

“Ashuria and the hero. The two of them went out together. Aren’t you curious about what might have happened?”

Mille tilted her head and said:

“Is that such a curious thing? The hero also follows me when I go hunting or goes with me when I buy things. We’re traveling companions, so I can’t monopolize him. It’s okay. Ashuria is a friend. And, if the hero chooses Ashuria later, I think that can’t be helped either. Elves typically fail in love frequently.”

Mille said that and started eating salad again. I fell into thought.

Why did Mille come to like the hero?

In my awkward silence, only the crunching sound of celery being chewed echoed. Mille, who was humming and turning over vegetables, tilted her head when she saw a figure quickly crossing diagonally beyond the window.

I also stood up seeing a man wearing a helmet and sweating profusely running with a letter in his hand.

It was a messenger to deliver the next mission.

A little rest loosens the atmosphere of a party. Lena, who had a refreshing sleep and came out with a satisfied expression, and Mille, who was in a good mood after having a delicious meal, sat in front of the table with big smiles.

The hero, still with a flushed face and repeatedly clearing his throat, sat at the head of the table, and Ashuria, with an expression no different from usual, sat next to the hero, pressing her chair close. The hero tried not to be conscious of Ashuria’s breast slightly brushing against his arm and said:

“The next mission is, as expected, to eliminate the traitors. Baron Luke and Count Meindal. We need to rendezvous with the successor commanders coming from the kingdom, capture the two nobles hiding in the fortress, and find out what information they’ve sold.”

“That’s what I’m good at. I’ll do it.”

“No. I’ll do it.”

Ashuria showed an unusually proactive attitude. Lena nodded and smiled at Ashuria’s direct statement.

“What’s this, some kind of business interference? At this rate, I might get fired, Ashuria.”

Ashuria shook her head at Lena’s words.

“It’s not that I don’t trust Lena’s abilities and want to take over. It’s just that I think my fists, filled with love, would be more suitable for persuading enemies.”

Lena nodded at Ashuria’s incomprehensible rebuttal. Not even a shadow of displeasure crossed her face. She seemed to find Ashuria’s expression very interesting.

“Maybe my love was lacking… I’m quite a romantic. The expression is interesting.”

“The doctrine is to love even your enemies. I believe I can infuse love even into violence. In particular, I would like the hero to watch this aspect closely. Hero, what do you think?”

The hero looked at the two women alternately with a very perplexed face, then looked at me.

Lena was putting pressure on him with a bright smile, as if she thought this field was her domain, and Ashuria was subtly pressing her body against him, making her appeal.

I had no desire to get involved in this terrifying battle, so I looked elsewhere and thought about the beautiful woman I would meet in the next village. A woman with breasts about three times larger and hips about five times larger than any woman I had met so far.

“Hmm…”

The hero was not an indecisive person. He was always at the forefront of our party, making cruel decisions. Watching someone like him now pondering over who to assign to torture was like a small comedy in itself.

“What are you going to do?”

“What will you do?”

The hero’s face turned pale, then returned to normal. I decided not to think about whether the problem was the hero struggling with this issue, or the two women who each insisted on doing the torture themselves, expounding their own aesthetics.

The hero wrestled with his thoughts, his head in his hands and eyes closed.

Mille, waiting for this debate, which was not at all related to her, to end, picked up a pen from the table and tapped my hand. I contorted my hand like a monster and dodged her pen play, starting to joke around with her.

“…Then.”

Only after about 30 exchanges did the hero make his decision and lift his head. With a solemn expression, as if about to say someone had to die to catch the Demon King, he looked around at us and then at Lena, saying:

“I think it would be better if Lena did it after all.”

“That’s right!”

Lena nodded and smiled, and Ashuria nodded. Mille said:

“Is it over?”

The hero nodded at Mille’s question and quickly moved on to the next topic.

“So… now we need to strategize. I’ve already established contact with a contact inside the fortress, and they’ve agreed to open the gate from the inside. Thanks to that, we won’t need to fight separately inside. We plan to enter with the successor commanders at the front gate, and me, Lena, and Mille will go in to subdue the two commanders, while I’d like Ashuria to guard the inner fortress gate.”

Ashuria nodded. For her, who excels in close combat and instilling fear in enemies, guarding the gate was the optimal role.

“Should I just wait here?”

Since the hero hadn’t given me separate instructions, I asked. The hero shook his head and said:

“No. Mister, there’s a warehouse next to the inner fortress gate, so you can stay there. It’ll be over quickly anyway.”

“I understand.”

Even if a soldier or two came in, it wouldn’t be a problem for me. The hero knew I had the skills to subdue at least a couple of soldiers, which is why he was taking me to the inside of the fortress.

“Then, the operation is up to here. Pack the necessary luggage, put it in the mister’s backpack, and let’s rest well.”

The hero concluded the meeting with those words.

As everyone dispersed to their rooms, Ashuria slightly bit her nail and furrowed her brow.