Chapter 6: – The Untold Story Of "After"
“After you left the party, we immediately tried to find a replacement for you, but …. that didn’t work out.”
“Huh? Why?”
This was the first time I’d ever heard of this.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but carrying luggage is a job that can be done by anyone with a minimum of strength and stamina. If it’s a party of heroes, I’m sure there will be people who want to work for free, right?
“You see, You left because we were near the front lines of the battle against the Demon King’s army, right? Maybe that’s why we had all these people who didn’t really want to be baggage handlers, but wanted to battle and show off themselves. …”
“Oh, that’s …..”
The look on Tia’s face reminded me of that moment, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as well.
I was working with Alexis and the others, but to tell the truth, I was not officially recognized as a member of the hero party. This was because while Gonzo and Tia were contributing to the battle and sharing the profits, I was a hired hand who was paid a certain amount of money to do the job.
So, for example, when everyone was invited to a party of nobles or had an audience with the king, I basically stayed at the inn. I wasn’t looking to make a name for myself, and I had no complaints about that, but if someone was capable of fighting on the front lines, they’d use the baggage handler as an opportunity to show what they were capable of, to show that they could do it. It was quite possible that someone may be interested in becoming a member of the hero party … if Alexis and the others wanted to do so.
“But what we wanted was a baggage handler, so we were troubled by people asserting themselves like that. Sometimes there were people who forced their way into the battle, and after about a month of hiring everyone, Alexis got angry and kicked them out. And after about four of them, I couldn’t recruit any more here, so I had no choice but to retreat to a larger town and hire a professional porter. …”
“What? And that didn’t work?”
“Yes, … you see, you were so desperate to do things for us. That’s why we thought it was normal. … One day, when we asked the porter that Alexis had hired about it, he said, ‘My job is to carry the luggage, not to do chores or take care of others. If you want me to do that, you should hire your own servant or maid.’ Alexis was so furious that he simply kicked him out.”
“Oh. …”
Right after I joined the party, I did everything I could think of to prevent Alexis and the others from abandoning me. Even after six months had passed and the conditions for leaving the world had been met, I didn’t know that I would be able to return to the <White World> in ten minutes if I was banished, so I worked even harder to make sure I would be banished when Alexis and the others returned to a relatively safe area near the royal capital.
And I realized that I had become attached to traveling with everyone. That’s why I continued to do everything I could to help everyone until the end. …. It was not the same as asking a paid professional to do the same thing. There was a fundamental difference between working hard for one’s fellow man and providing service to one’s employer for a salary.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just that we misunderstood you on our own. But by the time we realized our mistake, there were no more porters who would accept our request. It was painful to hear the rumor that ‘even though he is a hero, he is still a prince of a great country, and he may be naive and selfish’. It’s not like it was a total lie. I couldn’t just sit in the back forever, and I was wondering what I was going to do when …. a man came to me and asked me to help him. He said, ‘I can carry all the baggage and do all the chores, so please let me work with you.’ It was a good deal for us. So Alexis accepted it, and we worked with him to continue our adventure. …. but ………… …….”
When she had said that much, Tia’s expression twisted painfully. The way she bit her thin lips tightly, I couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about it.
“After a long, long time, we finally made it past the border, and there was a grassy plain on the other side of the border. There, as if waiting for us, was a huge army of the Demon King’s army. But we were prepared for that. We were well prepared for it, but the porter … ran away.”
“…..eh? Ran away?”
I couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, so I asked back. Because it is, isn’t it?
“How did he …… escape? You came through the demon world, didn’t you?”
I understood the feeling of being scared by the demon lord’s army in front of me and wanting to run away, but there was no way a porter could return alone to a place that a party of heroes had spent a long time traversing. In response to my question, Tia’s expression became even more distorted.
“Do you know what a transfer crystal is?”
“Yeah. You know the ones where you register a location in advance and when you break it, it moves to that location?”
“Yes. We had prepared a number of them as a means of escape in case of emergency, but since they trigger on their own when cracked, you don’t carry them around during battle, right? That’s why we left them all in the hands of the porters who carried them. ….”
“………… Yeah, no way. No way!”
“Yeah. That person used the transfer crystal. To be honest, I didn’t know what happened when I saw him disappear in a blue light with all the restorative potions and magical tools we had prepared.”
“Well, that’s …….., so what happened?”
As I choked on my words, Tia gave me a withered grimace.
“What? We couldn’t do anything about it. Aside from our weapons and armor, all we had on us were a few emergency healing potions. Even so, we fought desperately, but there was nothing we could do in front of the Demon Lord’s army of thousands. We quickly fled to the border of the demon world and fought for a while while hiding. … But in the end, the demon beasts nesting in the border of the demon world also drove us away, and we had to return to the grassland where we first left. So there we were, ready to die, and I thought I’d finally get some epic spirit magic …, and then Alexis said ….”
Tears spilled from Tia’s eyes. Her voice trembled along with her clenched little fists, and yet she continued to speak stoutly.
“Alexis hid only one transfer crystal. Unlike me and Gonzo, Alexis was God’s chosen hero and prince,…, the only one who really can’t be replaced, so he wanted to make sure that he was the only one who could escape in case of emergency,…. But yet, …… he used it on me! ‘I’m a hero, how can I be so uncool as to abandon my friends and run back? I’m sorry.’ He shoved the transfer crystal into my hand and smashed it with the hilt of his sword just like that. …. I didn’t have time to say anything, and Alexis’ tall, pompous face was laughing. …. I- … I- ….!”
As she continued to spill out her tears, Tia let out her pent up emotions. I couldn’t even begin to guess what Tia was feeling when she said these words, as she had been with them longer than I had, and had thrown herself into a life and death battle.
“U ~u~u…… uwaa…………. uwaaaaaaaa!!!’
I could only watch in silence as Tia laid face down on the table and cried like a child.
(T/N: I have decided to post the isekai and the romcom on alternate days. I’ll post 3-4 chaps of both per week + any additional Kofi chapters. I got my exams coming again so can’t commit to daily release of both. Hope you guys understand. Thanks for the support so far!)