The Porter Is Not Interested in the Hero Party

134 – Interlude (6)

“Did you come to sparring today?”

The porter nodded at Ashuria’s question and drank the water. Sweat running down the neckline and thread veins visible through the shirt. And the tight muscles hypnotized Ashria and brought her back to her senses over and over again.

Ashuria licked her lips like a man with a lot to say, examining the porter’s body, but as he lowered his head, he turned around while rummaging around the campfire.

“I wonder if the hero is being spoiled too much.”

“People like me will quickly rust if they don’t keep moving. The hero is adjusting to me.”

Ashuria blinked, rolled her head, and looked at the bonfire.

“….. You shouldn’t make the hero too hard.”

The porter wondered if it was a bit contradictory to what Ashuria had just said, but he only shrugged his shoulders as he wasn’t serious enough to argue with that. Ashria continued, poking the bonfire with branches.

“Yo, isn’t the warrior the leader of our party and the pillar of this country at the same time. When you rest, you have to rest… … . With that one person stealing the break… … . It might not look good to train.”

The porter stroked his chin, thinking. He didn’t know much about politics, but in fact, he often saw people swearing at people with nonsensical quibbles like Ashuria said. It was not what he wanted to embarrass everyone by getting caught up in such a bothersome gossip about the couple he had thoughtlessly requested.

“Certainly, that makes sense. The hero must have his time, and the other soldiers want to have sparring with the hero or talk about nothing, but I wonder if I’m taking up the time.”

“you’re right.”

When I reacted in a slightly higher voice, the porter turned his head in surprise. Ashuria was saving the bonfire again with a blunt expression, as if she hadn’t shown a happy expression before.

she said to the porter. Her speech sped up and her face flushed, but she was trying to pretend to be blunt.

“I can’t help it, but I’ll have to sparring for you, the hero. It’s good for porters because they can train their bodies, I like it because I can gain experience in combat, and the warrior can take a break, so it’s good for everyone.”

“Are you okay? Even a wooden sword would hurt quite a bit.”

Ashuria smiled brightly at the porter who was worried about her and said,

“You shouldn’t look down on me.”

The porter felt that her smile was somehow frightening.

*****

“I would like to reduce the frequency of sparring a little.”

When the porter uttered these words to the hero, the hero’s face collapsed like that of a general who had suffered a disastrous defeat, then stumbled to find composure. A desperate movement to find the cause could be felt from the momentary light that disappeared from his eyes and from his murmured lips.

“that that… . Who, who said something strange?”

The warrior glanced around anxiously. The porter didn’t know it, but Ashuria was a very scary woman.

The porter, who is quick-witted and does not want infighting among party members, here ‘Ashuria has decided to replace the sparring.’ I couldn’t have said the same thing.

It was expected that he would rationally persuade her by presenting other political and rational reasons rather than providing a clue to the infighting by saying such things to her who blatantly bursts with anxiety and disappointment.

“I heard that there are many soldiers who want to sparr with the hero and receive instruction. As a hero, the pillar of the country, I thought it was not right for me to monopolize on a battlefield like this.”

“Yeah, but… … . If you don’t fight every day, your body will rust, right?”

The hero touched the hilt of the sword and said to the porter. It was a gesture that meant sparring, so it popped out of habit, but when it was shown in this situation, the reluctance prevailed.

“Isn’t it okay to ask other party members to help you fight? Miss Lena and Miss Ashuria. Miss Millet. All of them are strong enough players, and if you can’t get enough of it, you can ask the knights here to fight.”

“…that’s true, but… … .”

The hero drooped his shoulders and showed a look of disappointment. He looked so gloomy that the porter wanted to dismiss everything he had just said as a joke and fight again with the hero.

However, it was a matter of course that just by showing a little more interest in the soldiers, the unit’s unity and morale would rise.

Although Ashuria’s concerns reached the realm of speculation, it was also true that during the recent break, the hero was in the unit and paid more attention to the party members than to other soldiers.

I thought it would be more efficient in many ways to have time to talk about the sword or train together rather than draw a line as if the hero had no interest in the soldier.

This was the logic that the porter came up with after thinking like a soldier because he was from the knights.

“Warrior. Just by showing the warrior a sword to the soldiers, their morale will rise. Recently, the hero only interacts with the party members and does not interact with the unit outside of meetings. Now that the war is almost at its end, I think it would be good to raise the morale a little through actions such as occasionally giving swordsmanship instruction to the soldiers at times like this.”

“…That’s true, but… … .”

The hero could not refute the porter’s logic. As the porter said, the hero wasn’t just a member of the hero’s party. It was a pillar and symbol that saved the country from a moment of crisis. The hero could not deny that now was the most important battle in the war.

In this case, each action of the warrior has a clear effect on morale.

The hero turned around with a sullen expression but convinced.

That’s how the porter’s opponent was Ashuria. Originally, she was in charge of all the sparring that the hero did.

Lena noticed that she wanted to engage in sparring, but expressed regret, saying that her fighting style was not suitable for sparring based on the premise of non-killing.

“I want to fight with you, too, but I’m originally supposed to fight for vital points, right? Kill in one hit when you can. But when you do sparring, you have to do it here, but if you get into the habit of doing it in that place while sparring, it becomes difficult.”

Millet was an ‘archer’ who premised on not allowing distance to a porter-like swordsman in the first place, so he showed more interest in shooting training than sparring.

So ‘inevitably’

With everyone’s consent, Ashuria took over the battle time with the porter instead of the hero.

Even as a porter, the sparring with Ashuria was very satisfying. Originally, she had a lot of practical experience, and since she had the ability to recover, she was able to wield the wooden sword with peace of mind.

Even when the porter was holding a wooden sword, she also took it seriously as if she were dealing with a real sword.

Since it was a wooden sword, it was not a defense method that would be useful only in sparring with arms.

It was to use a technique that could be used in real combat, such as letting off an attack by striking the back of a sword or striking the face, or blocking it by colliding the knuckle and blade.

After energetically bumping into each other, aiming for gaps and creating wounds one by one, the sun went down and the time to finish the sparring approached. As we gave each other feedback by pointing out the bruises on our faces and limbs, before we knew it, there was a party preparing meals in the barracks.

“Oh, then I’ll wash up first.”

Since it was outdoors, there were limited places to wash. The porter had to take time to wash quickly so that the other party members could take their time. Ashuria waved her hand at the porter and sent it.

The hero leaned against the shade of the tree and stared at Ashuria, who looked at the hero with a sweaty face and said,

“Oh, warrior. How was your training today?”

“….so so.”

Lena said as she put a ladle into the steaming pot.

“Come on. Today, I tried it with the food I often ate in the slums.”

Millet said while looking at Lena’s special stew.

“The smell is unique. It smells like the stew we used to eat in our village.”

“Isn’t it because the ingredients are similar? Elves do a lot of hunting, and people in the slums use a lot of poor quality meat. Because it’s cheaper than vegetables. The taste is probably better in your hometown. This… … . It’s like a dish made to taste good quality meat.”

“yes? Does it taste good?”

“Don’t put your fingers in the food!”

While Millet and Lena were squabbling, the hero asked Ashuria.

“…Ashuriaman, aren’t you sparring with the old man too much?”

“Because the other party members didn’t want sparring.”

“…But, it must be difficult. It’s because I’m worried about Ashuria.”

“I’m afraid that the hero might be having a hard time, so I’m helping him by burning myself. You don’t have to worry, hero.”

There was a strong smell of stew. Ashuria looked at Stew and said to the hero.

“Happiness should be shared. Warrior.”

The warrior turned his head with an embarrassed expression. Lena smiled and looked at the hero, while Miele quietly pulled out the ladle and tried to pour the food into a small bowl.

“Let’s eat together. Eating alone will make you sick.”

I didn’t know who Lena was talking to.