I Became a Porter for a Women-Only Party. 194

Chapter 194 – 194 – Accepting Negativity

Me disguised as Adamantone. A legendary warrior disguised as me.

The reason why such a bizarre smokescreen strategy was possible was not because of the hero’s amazing vocal imitation skills.

“The name is ‘Eavesdropping Bug.’ It’s Villena’s invention.”

I held out my hands in front of my colleagues and said.

What is placed on the left palm is a tiny eavesdropping golem that resembles a fly.

There is a palm-sized receiver in his right hand. There is a speaker that plays back conversations received by the eavesdropping golem.

“When you talk to the bug, your voice comes out through the receiver. In real time, clearly.”

“Wow. How amazing is this? Even Protestant spies are drooling for it.”

“Of course. Even if you sell it and claim it’s an ancient artifact, I wonder who would suspect it.”

There was no party member who objected to the praise I poured out. Thanks to this, Villena’s arrogance rose to the heights of heaven.

He may be the best technician out of all of us, but it’s nice that he’s easy to understand in this regard. A girl thirsty for self-efficacy.

However, there is a feeling that the greatness of her invention is somewhat diminished by that thirst.

“It would have been even greater if it hadn’t been used for dark things.”

“···Ah, what did you say?”

Villena pretends to be annoyed. Rolling her eyes to avoid meeting my gaze.

“You know, checking to see if your friends are talking about you behind your back. You shouldn’t do that, Villena.”

“Well, I told you I don’t do this often. Is now the time to waste time on such a useless topic?”

I try to speak confidently, but I lack confidence. As she gazes at Villena, her thin limbs twitch as if her conscience is pricking her.

Of course, now that her death is approaching, it is a different matter to discuss Villena’s character flaws. However, if it is not now, there may be no chance.

Therefore, it is the last moment to give advice of affection.

“You shouldn’t do that even once. Isn’t camaraderie growing in the embrace of mutual trust? If the pot is narrow, the bonsai will grow small, and if the pot is weak, the bonsai will wither. If you treat others with self-esteem commensurate with your own skills, I hope so.”

···Who is this guy?

Among us sitting together and planning a strategy, a man with a haggard complexion is suddenly present.

Sister Monica and Silun Lee, who were nodding their heads, now look to the side in surprise. It seemed like I never even thought it was strange.

The man crouched down and tapped his protruding knees with his palm and spoke with interest.

“Anyway, this plan is fascinating. While the porter’s voice flows from the combatant disguised as a porter, the porter disguised as a warrior approaches the enemy and surprises him.”

···I want to stop being surprised now. I want to stop feeling like I’m caught up in something I can’t handle.

I know this man who suddenly appeared. Because I saw it in the past.

“Damn, I miss you. If my friend were alive, I think he would have come up with a plan like this…”

The first Hero, Edin Eyennad, rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold, and laughed.

“Anyway, keep explaining. It’s interesting.”

Garam jumped up with me at her side, and as soon as she landed far away, she raised her body like a hunting dog, keeping a close eye on Edin.

Other party members also screamed and got ready for battle. Several weapons, including the warrior’s sword, immediately surrounded the warrior.

But Edin just raised his hands.

“I think I understand why you are on guard, but your guess is wrong. I am not ‘Demon King Edin.'”

“···I was just surprised that it suddenly appeared.”

“Edin? You are Edin, the man who saved the world?”

“Yes. I am the original Edin, who has been imprisoning demons all this time. Those who are currently working in secret all over the world are the remnants that fell from me. Burned by the demon king’s madness, their reason has become completely black.”

Edin, who was introducing himself, poked me as if he was curious about Villena’s eavesdropping bug that I had missed.

The bug flew out as if it had touched the operating circuit. And it hovered in a circle at an altitude slightly higher than the height of a person.

Opening his eyes full of innocence, Edin started jumping up and down, running after the bug. He even shouted at me to stand there.

Seeing the unexpectedly bright appearance, Morgan and Isilun twitched one eye and spoke.

“That’s… Rather than a legendary hero…”

“···Golden Retriever?”

Isilun’s expression is accurate. The heavy yet friendly impression that I felt when we met in the past seems to be accurately reflected in the expression of a large dog.

However, there is no doubt that the author is a legendary figure. He’s much neater, slimmer, more energetic, and even has his hair preserved…

“It clearly resembles a fragment of the Demon King.”

“That’s right. The impressions are different, but the skeleton is the same. Look at how tall you are.”

“The impression is quite different. It’s a world away from the rough tops of the debris guys, isn’t it? Like twins who grew up in a home loved alone.”

“So the rest of them are twins who experienced something bad?”

“···It seems to me that that version of Edin is just as dangerous…”

Villena cringed and pointed to the ’empty parts’ of Edin.

Edin’s sleeves, which had lasted a thousand years, were worn here and there like a museum exhibit. But the same goes for the owner.

Edin’s body was made up of empty spaces here and there. He is a broken human being, like a puzzle, unable to figure out how to move and support his body.

But he doesn’t seem to really care how broken he is. You look so happy.

“Isn’t it amazing that such a mysterious object was created? There are so many beautiful things left in the world, and new ones have bloomed! As expected, good job!”

“What…?”

“Entering the seal. Isn’t the best way to affirm one’s choice the moment of self-efficacy when one sees the positive outcome of that choice? If you had just created a world that was depressing and meaningless, I would have been very upset. I will!”

“···What are you talking about…”

While the party members were silent out of curiosity and fear, I asked what everyone was curious about.

“···If you are here, what happened to the Demon God’s seal?”

“It was resolved.”

The answer is refreshing and scary. Edin waved his hand as he looked at us in contemplation.

“I don’t know how much to tell you. It won’t happen the way you think.”

“Are you sure there won’t be any demons running out of the World Temple right now?”

“Oh, that won’t happen. First, the monsters that have fallen from the demon’s body will start to come out, starting with the smaller ones…”

As we, who were relieved, began to think again, Edin blurted out his words hesitantly.

“It will probably take a month for the big, dangerous guys to come out in earnest. I plan to go back before then.”

Like that tragic night when you took a short walk outside the temple and killed a porter?

If you say this, you might suddenly go crazy and become crazy. After all, he is a person who has experienced mental instability repeatedly for a thousand years.

First, let’s take a calm look at the situation. Enemy or ally?

“What about the things that leak out of the cave before you go back? Who will solve them?”

“I have friends who decided to stop me instead. They seem to have trustworthy skills. But I’m a little uncomfortable talking to you?”

Edin, who was restlessly explaining, pouted. Then she sat down and muttered in despair.

“Why am I supposed to be locked up for a thousand years and ten thousand years? My soul is all dried out and worn out anyway, so I won’t be able to hold out much longer…”

“···Is that so?”

“I have never been very condescending in my life, but now I think I understand why everyone likes to be condescending. Where are you from?”

“Borbet…?”

“Tobetan…”

“Compatible song.”

“It’s okay. I’m not curious where you live.”

Edin, who was hugging her knees like a girl, turned her head and grumbled.

She twitches her eyes and mutters with her mouth. Then why did she ask

“No matter where it is or how long its history is, do you know who it is thanks to whom the name of the area remains in that place? I am!”

Suddenly, Edin turned to face us and poked her chest with her thumb.

But because the space where her breasts were was gaping, her thumb sank into the solar plexus.

Florica flinched as if feeling sick. And she hurriedly erased her expression in case Edin saw it.

Luckily for Edin, she was out of her mind because she was feeling unfair.

“It’s me! It’s me! It’s thanks to me that you were born safely in your hometown, which would have been crushed by a demon’s ship before you were even born!”

“It’s true… Right?”

“That’s right.”

“You know, right? But why is everyone looking at me like that? Do you think I’m putting everyone in danger by just humming and leaving without any sense of responsibility? Or is it because they’re trying to eat you all like the soot that fell from me? Do you think I would do it?!”

“···If Eshen had said something like that, he would have answered ‘yes’ with confidence…”

“Wow, I hear all those things from that bitch Nidro…”

“So no!”

Edin said, kicking a stone on the side of the road. But since the space for her toe was empty, the legend slipped awkwardly and landed on his butt.

We were embarrassed and tried to help him, but he refused and lay down.

Then, enjoying the feel of the snow, it waves its arms and legs, leaving butterfly-shaped marks and giggling again.

It’s dark. Because it’s a character I can’t quite figure out.

“···It looks like a depressed retriever that was released after being locked up for a long time for some reason. I know this because I have raised a dog from a shelter before.”

···This time again, Isilun’s expression seems to hit the point.

Edin, who had been swimming in place for a while in his eyes, washed his face with his eyes and mumbled.

“It’s just that something important happened that required me to leave the seal for a while. Do you know that I was a great warrior of Mithra a long time ago?”

“···I know.”

As I answered cautiously, Edin looked at me with a puzzled expression.

We have met before. However, for me, it was very recent, but for him, it was so long ago that iron would rot.

So, is he now trying to recall his meeting with me, or is he looking for traces of a friend in me?

If he found traces of his friend, would he be angry? Wouldn’t they think of me as a pollutant and attack me?

For now, Edin just shrugged his shoulders.

“I was a soul who was once closely connected to Mithra, so I could feel that he had descended into the world in a physical form. So I escaped. If Mithra were to repeat what that old demon did, someone would have to do something to stop it. .”

“Uh, then did Mithra notice that you were coming to stop him?

“The possibility of that happening is very small. To the sun, the presence of the surrounding planets is not that big of a deal, but to the planets, the presence of the sun is huge. Please keep this in mind. Isn’t this information that will be useful when using me in a surprise operation?”

The party members look at each other in confusion.

But Edin seemed to have already included himself in our operation.

Edin shouted vigorously, pointing to the outline of ‘Operation to rescue Thena and stop Mitra’ spread widely on the floor.

“According to what I overheard you say a while ago!”

“···So since when and how did you get involved?”

“If you’re a legendary hero, you should do that! Anyway, Mithra stole the body of a good warrior and pretended to be a ‘hero of the times, the incarnation of Mithra’. He arbitrarily decided on suitable warriors, and when I was completely destroyed, he incited them to enter the world temple. I guess they’re planning on driving them in as sacrifices and slowly sucking out the power of the demons who have been trapped and held back!”

Edin slammed his fist against her palm.

I flinched. Because his appearance resembles Adamantone when he is full of confidence.

“That’s not right. Of course, due to the structure of the World Temple, a suitable Hero must remain inside it and burn their souls to stop the Demon God. But this way is not right. It’s not right! If you volunteer like me, you wouldn’t know, no one would do something like that. You shouldn’t be forced to suffer… Is that bread?”

Edin’s tail trembled earnestly.

Garam stopped standing tall. When Nenya and Leni looked back in shock, Garam quickly wiped his mouth and pretended not to notice.

Eshen quietly protected his younger brother, who was unaware of the timing of his snacks.

“I’m at an age where I’m hungry. Please take a look.”

“···Why are you taking my side?”

“I feel like I’m lacking a bit on my side these days. When I think about it, I have to protect others when they do something stupid, and I wonder if someone can protect me when I’m in a similar situation…”

“Get out.”

Eshen, who was rejected, swallowed his anger and slapped Garam’s hand and took the bread.

Garam glared at Eshen. When in a similar position, with a look in your eyes as if something would be taken from you.

Eshen didn’t care at all and handed the bread to Edin.

Edin, who had an earnest expression on his face, took it while crying and chewed it. Before anyone can point out, ‘Still giving me what I used to eat?’

And we saw each other for the first time in our lives. ‘The look on his face as he eats flour food again after a thousand years.’ There was only one thing I could say to that.

“Would you like some milk?”

Hehe, thank you…!”

“Back to the point.”

Edin, whose stomach was full, spoke solemnly and seriously again. Meanwhile, the remains of the bread he had swallowed were moving slowly along his transparent and non-existential throat.

We tried our best to pretend not to notice that vengeful spirit.

“How about I imitate Mr. Bantai using this tiny, fly-like mechanical golem?”

“Please speak comfortably. Aren’t you a hero to all of us?”

“Thank you. What if I imitate Tan?”

···Should I say that I am quick to say something, or should I say that I am very late since I am a thousand-year-old grandfather.

“With this, I pretend to be you to attract attention, and you approach me while disguised as Adamantone, a ‘harmless human being who is obviously going to take refuge during the battle.'”

Isilun muttered that he was glad Adamantone couldn’t hear. Edin also had a bitter expression.

It’s because of the explanation the Dragon Lord gave me a while ago.

“My biological son is not involved in this operation?”

“I sent him back home. I made this decision because I don’t have the skills to keep up with him yet. Since I don’t know how free he will be from the devil’s influence, there is a risk that he might turn into an enemy.”

Rod said with a small nod. Edin closed his eyes tightly.

“… Someone will have to take responsibility for those sins and wanderings. If the matter ends safely, I would like to meet the child named Adamantone. The mistress of the Sunstorm family, who must have suffered irreparable harm from my clone. Even if it is late, I must apologize. I guess.”

“Well, isn’t that your responsibility? If the flesh that falls off the elephant’s body turns into a monster and attacks a person, is that the elephant’s fault?”

“It’s an interesting analogy. But my responsibility is probably greater than you think. My earnest wish is, ‘I cannot last forever. I need future generations to take over the role of guardian of the world temple,’ and some of my fragments do the same. He must have been holding it.”

“… Are you saying that you and the demon lords shared the idea that a new lock should be prepared?”

“To be exact, it was ‘Gunter Waldenhardt’. It is a fragment that contained a small amount of my faithfulness that I was grateful to Mithra.”

Edin said, massaging his eyes.

“The guy who replaced me as the great warrior of Mithra grew by killing and absorbing other fragments. And he exercised control over other fragments as if he were dealing with monsters. He forced them to participate in the work of creating the ‘second Edin.’ .”

“You’re talking about making the second Edin?”

“Choose candidates strong enough to stand up to the ‘Demon King’, the unidentified master of the dark world, and then isolate them so that they get used to solitude, and create a lock that will last as long as Edin. It’s simple and terrible. Of course, such candidates are If there were, the world might be safe for the next thousand years… But it would be terrible in many ways.”

As I bit my lip in rejection, Edin looked at me and nodded in sympathy.

“It’s not that he wants peace like me, he just wants to maintain the seal of the Demon God for the sake of Mithra’s unique belief system. If the Demon God destroys the material world, even the followers who praise Mithra will not be able to survive.”

Isolate them, so they can get used to solitude.

Is that why he was trying to get me away from Thena? Tena may have also vaguely sensed this and moved to keep her distance from the party members.

Well, if you need someone who can survive for thousands of years with a demon god as their cell partner, it might be reasonable to make them loners. If you have any regrets left in the world, you might dream of escaping.

Just like Edin once did. When I think about that, I automatically bite my lip.

“Anyway, our goal is the same. Stop Mithra and save your friends. So first, is there anyone who can lend me something that can be used as a weapon? I only have an old sword that I used as a secondary weapon…”

“Don’t give it to me.”

My colleagues flinch at my words. Edin looks back at me calmly.

“There’s nothing we can do if we don’t have spares. Let’s fight with these and pick up what we need.”

“From the beginning, Edin. No one said they would involve you in the operation.”

“Does this mean you don’t believe it?”

“You said it a little while ago. Why is everyone looking at you with strange eyes? Do you think you will carelessly leave the room and put everyone in danger or try to eat us? Can I be honest with you? Yes.”

Edin had a bitter expression instead of an aggrieved expression. I paid attention to that.

“Don’t you have a record?”

“···How much do you know?”

“The murder of Jerek Pallandale. The birth of Danar. Evenna collapsed in despair… Shall I say more?”

“I know everything.”

Edin sighed.

As Rod stood guard and took a step forward to block everyone, Edin waved his hand.

“That’s right. There was a time like that. I left the seal for personal reasons, putting everyone in danger… And I hurt someone.”

Edin thought for a moment and added.

“But, since you weren’t there at that time, you can’t know my position or the full story of what happened.”

“That’s right. We don’t know because we weren’t there at that time. However, the logic that a mere porter intimidated and took possession of a country’s great wizard seems to have too many flaws, regardless of the times.”

Edin’s expression was shaken with worry.

“Yes.”

“What kind of weakness would you have to overcome to enable such a reversal of power? Are you sure that your loyal friend Jerek Pallandale was really a traitor to you and a dirty beast to Evenna?”

“No. So I need to know that too.”

Edin looked down at his hands, which had several empty bones in them.

“The day I heard Evenna’s sorrowful wail, the day I abandoned the ‘despair trap’ that had been planted in my friend’s heart. Was I punishing the traitor who raped my lover, or… As my guesses have tilted over the past thousand years. I ended up going crazy due to the evil intentions inspired by Mithra.”

Nenya, who had been listening with bated breath to the story about her teacher Evenna, bit Edin’s lip as moisture flowed down his cheeks.

“Did I kill my loyal friend until the end, who tried to wipe away my lover’s tears on my behalf when I couldn’t do that?”

————

“So, which one? Did I kill Evenna’s love twice with my own hands?”

So, back in the present, Edin pointed his old sidearm small sword at Mithra and spoke.

A name that once played in legend stands in reality and confronts it. It is truly the second coming of myth. Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off that scene.

However, Mithra’s answer was very poor compared to everyone’s expectations.

“Only a disloyal servant questions his master’s intentions.”

“You’re being so petty in saying you don’t want to answer. I’m not your servant in the first place.”

“Are you still saying such things after saving the world with my guidance?”

“I didn’t become the Demon God’s guard because you forced me. It was my choice. Even if you don’t try to make it a serious and scary place, the world is already full of all kinds of suffering. People who lost their homes due to forest fires and heavy rains. People who got sick. People who groan because their bones are wrong. Even people who discover each other’s differences and point swords at each other.”

Edin smiled skillfully even with her face missing some of her muscles.

“If I could shoulder even a little of that and relieve it, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing?”

“Indeed, that is so. That is in line with the law-”

“No. You don’t understand the meaning of my decision or our pain. You don’t care how much we have to sacrifice to achieve small things. Furthermore, you just think our shortcomings lie in laziness. Just keep scolding everyone like a cranky old man!”

Edin shouted to her audience.

“I will tell you what will happen if the sun completely engulfs the world. There is no rest in that world! Where the warmth of a cup of tea or the convenience provided by magic arts disappears, only eternal war and the solemn charge of annihilation remain. In the place where your jokes, smoking pipes, arguments with lovers, simple concerns, and sticky obscenities have disappeared, only the vertical law of faith and the great conflict between good and evil will remain!”

“Do you think it is an unjust world? Would you yourself, who set an example by such a life, say so? Do you know that all mortals look up to you for your passion and nobility?”

“That’s the difference between you and me. I didn’t climb the mountain to be supported!”

Mithra’s eyes flash. The guy raises his hands high in despair. It seems that any further resistance than this cannot be tolerated.

However, when Edin holds out his hands as if praying, the despair disappears as if being sucked into thin air.

The pitch black claymore soon appeared in Edin’s hand.

Mithra, who tried to swing his empty hand, flinched. Edin charged, holding the warrior’s sword tightly.

Mithra’s mouth opens as if twisted. And she shouts in her unmistakable tone of voice, as if she didn’t know.

“Why does the Despair Confinement answer your call? The owner of the Despair Confinement
···I thought it was me
?!”

————

‘Wait a minute, you put despair in the porter’s chest? Are you saying that the black sword was also your sword?’

‘That’s the key to activating the World Temple, the Demon God’s prison. That’s why it was called Despair Confinement. It means a sword that traps the despair of the world. Also, as part of a prophecy about my fate.’

There are often cases where the sword of a dead warrior chooses a new owner.

Of course, there are cases where a hero who is not even dead is abandoned by the warrior sword. We know because we have seen it ourselves.

If Despair left Edin just as the Lighthouse of Uza left Adamantone, it is no wonder that it later became Thena’s sword.

‘Then how did you survive these days when that sword is with Thena? Have you been suppressing demons and monsters in the World Temple all this time without the Hero’s Sword?’

‘There were times like that, but when he wasn’t using it, I was usually using it. He must have been embarrassed because the warrior sword had chosen its owner and wondered where it would disappear without the owner looking. Like all users before that.’

‘Yes?! Are you saying that the warrior sword can serve two masters?’

‘Why not? There are people in this world who have dual citizenship and people who have two jobs. If it is possible to change owners, as in the case of Florica, wouldn’t it also be possible to have two affiliations?’

It seems that Despair Gadum helped seal the demon god with Edin within the temple, but sometimes appeared outside the world and wandered through history.

It is unclear whether it was because he was frustrated at being trapped, or because he was trying to find a replacement for his master like Gunther.

Very possibly, Thena is a soul who was born to be the guardian of the world temple in the first place. That thought made me anxious.

Of course, most warrior swords have only one owner. That is common sense.

If you are not apt to be a warrior, flames will erupt as soon as you catch it and burn your hands. It won’t burn your hand if held by a hero other than the owner, but it feels heavy enough to be difficult to use as a weapon in a life-or-death fight.

But Edin shrugged his shoulders and said: ‘Do not burn it’ doesn’t mean that you are at least allowed to step on the threshold of the examination hall.

Although Despair Confinement is a uniquely special warrior sword, it may not be the only sword that can have two masters. Every warrior sword has its own special sense of purpose and credo.

A hint that if the qualifications are sufficient, the two warriors may be able to share the warrior sword.

Florica and Isilun made meaningful eye contact.