The Porter Is Not Interested in the Hero Party

99 – Endless (1)

What increases every time the demon commanders die?

The answers to silly riddles hung everywhere. A skinny corpse leaning against a tree. Corpses rolling across the floor. Corpses covered the village like an epidemic. With the commander dead and unable to maintain the magic stones, half of the empire was covered with corpses.

They will be so dry that there will be no blood and flesh left to rot, and they will be slashed by wind and waves along with their hides. If I get buried under dirt and stones without being able to recognize my shape, it will become a tomb, and even the fact that someone lived here will not be recorded.

Those of us who entered the demon realm sheltered from the wind in an abandoned village on the border. The treeless, winding canyon twisted and twisted, and the wind blew miserably like a hen being slaughtered.

The village we entered had long since been deserted, and the huts were poorly maintained, so the blankets and household items were a mess. The table where the meal was prepared was littered with food that had become one with the plate because it was not rotten, and in the corner lay a white body presumed to be a woman.

The feeling of being freed from the magic stone was not visible in the slightest, and only confusion and fear hung over his face. The deep and fearful feelings that were revealed without hesitation even in the blink of an eye made even the Hero party avoid their eyes.

“We should bury the body… … .”

Ashuria was speechless. The hero and Lena looked at me. I shook my head and said.

“It is dangerous. It’s the middle of the night, so even if you don’t see us entering, you’ll see signs of grave digging. Wouldn’t that be unavoidable?”

We couldn’t reach our destination if we buried all the corpses we encountered. The roads were full of corpses, and even if you turned your head, you could see eye to eye with corpses. We are five, but the corpses are uncountable.

Ashuria closed the woman’s eyes and memorized a prayer instead of burying her in embarrassment that she couldn’t do what she had to do. Lena also lowered her head and sharpened her sword. The hero and Millet looked out the window even in the dark and spoke in low voices.

“There is no sign of anyone coming, but just in case, let’s take turns and stay awake.”

Everyone nodded their heads as if it were obvious.

The first warrior held his sword and looked out the window and breathed.

I fell asleep with my eyes closed amidst the regular breathing.

******

“People die someday.”

I had a dream. Muspel and I were walking along a country road. I knew very well which way we were walking. The road I walked many times. Red leaves were scattered everywhere, and the roots that jumped out of the road made me cautious.

Both Muspel and I continued to walk with a somewhat empty face.

I remembered that by this time my face was very emaciated and gloomy. Muspell, too, remembered that he hadn’t even been trained properly, with a troubled face on his face.

“With time, everyone has no choice but to die. When you get old, even the best knight in the empire is nothing.”

What Muspell said was harsh. There was a certain realization in his face along with the gloom. What kind of emotion was he hiding in his sparkling eyes?

I should have asked Muspell then.

what the hell are you thinking What are you planning to do in the future?

But then I couldn’t ask. I was young then, and I was unstable enough to get excited by a word. I grabbed Muspel by the collar and said.

“What do you mean by that?”

But at that time, Muspel showed a more mature response than me. He didn’t even pull out his sword as if he had waited, he shook his head while pointing at my hand. Then he said as he reached for his sword.

“Before sparring, it is first to take the oath of a knight. Did you forget?”

knight’s oath.

A ritual in which a sword is placed at one’s feet and a prayer is recited prior to a duel.

I backed up again, and Muspell nodded and adjusted his clothes. Muspel is from a noble family, but he has never persecuted me for his family. he asked me

“Are you going to fight? really? Think again.”

“If I apologize for what I said about the captain.”

Muspell shook his head resolutely.

“Master is old. When people get old, they become ugly and weak. I don’t want to be that ugly, nor do I want to admit that Master is a wonderful person. If he’s a really cool guy, what the hell are we doing here?”

My head was cold. It was like throwing ice into boiling blood. Smoke rises, teeth grind, but cannot rage.

“…Let’s go back and talk.”

I shook my head and walked forward. This was not our time to fight. Muspel said.

“You have to admit. It will be like that when we get older too. And someday I might die more miserably.”

“Muspel. What are you trying to admit?”

Muspell said with a calm face.

“Are you going to accept your fate? Will you fight your destiny?”

The wind blew as his aristocratic accent came to an end. The leaves were swept away and our cloaks pulled us as if to stop moving forward. I couldn’t answer his question.

“It’s dramatic.”

Muspel did not respond to even a word of sarcasm.

“oh my! Knight! Welcome!”

The further you go, the closer the nightmare gets. I was not the one who knew nothing while walking this road. Both Muspel and I knew what was at the end of this road. The tragedy that this weeping man explains by gesturing with his hands and feet. And women running away and screams heard in the distance.

Muspell shook his head, and I sighed and covered my face.

The pig pen fence was broken and the pigs were running away.

And, there was a leader in the mud field. Dressed in an old baggy suit, waving a sword in the air, he was rolling around in the muddy water like a pig.

“AA AA AA! aaa! You bad guys!”

When I first heard that the captain had gone senile, none of the knights believed it. Muspell beat up the soldier who uttered the words, and I shook my head and warned him not to spread such nonsense again.

However, as time passed, the rumor grew, and now it was described in enough detail that we could verify it for ourselves.

The man who was once the captain of the knights of the empire is now old enough that even his children do not recognize him.

At some point, he started forgetting things one by one, and later on, he couldn’t recognize the people he met often, and later on, he couldn’t recognize his family, so he started acting as he pleased.

And, now they often run out of the house and make a mess, but the lords are having trouble because they can’t catch the former imperial knight commander.

The captain was rolling on the floor with black mud and livestock food all over his body. I gasped, and Muspell took a step back.

“Captain.”

Calling his name, what the hell am I supposed to do?

Should I have held his hand?

My voice was clearly heard by the captain. He looked at us as if he had started a commotion, then suddenly saluted.

“hello! Imperial Knight Trainee! It’s Paulo! Before the seniors come! There was a raid, so we dealt with it!”

His hair was dyed white. My legs gave out, and I was out of breath. Grabbing my hair, I called the captain once again.

“Captain. Calm down. This is a village.”

“Please salute me!”

The captain was saluting me. I didn’t know what to do. Muspell told me then.

“Accept it.”

I nodded. Because I didn’t come here to sympathize with the captain. After accepting the salute, he lowered his arm. People were slowly gathering around me, and I reached out to the leader and said,

“I have to go back. Captain.”

But the captain, who was staring at my hand, suddenly swung his sword just as my hand was about to touch the collar. I almost got cut, but I managed to turn around and avoid it, and the captain shouted with a blood clot around his neck.

“To the body of a knight! Don’t touch me!”

His swordsmanship was still sharp, but with Muspel and I together, it wasn’t difficult to subdue. We didn’t neglect training enough to be hit by a blind sword wielded at random without reason.

Muspell pulled out his sword and slashed the captain’s weapon, and I grabbed both of my hands.

“aaa! aaagh! aaagh!”

The captain twisted his body and screamed. The sword flew off and got stuck in the mud. Boasting an upside-down black-red jewel, it slowly settled down, and finally tipped over and fell into the sediment.

“aaagh! aaagh! let go of this! Hate! I won’t go back! aaagh!”

“Captain!”

The captain screamed and shook his body wildly. Muspell was looking at the leader with a mixture of disgust and contempt. He spit on me, bit me, kicked me, and screamed. Then he twisted his face and howled, then slammed his head into me.

“Let go! let go of this! I am a knight! Don’t touch the knight’s body! aaagh!”

People were pointing fingers. Muspell bit his lip hard with a white face, then closed his fist and breathed. I grabbed the captain and dragged him along, and Muspell took the lead without looking back.

This.

It was a nightmare.

*******

“Captain.”

The stars are shining, but nothing changes in the world. Still in the distant past, Master fell asleep and the empire perished.

My memory was full of painful memories, and Muspel’s words rang in my ears.

[Are you going to accept your fate? Will you fight fate?]

A question popped up in the morning.

It’s been bugging me all night long.