Chapter 229 – 223 – World Porters’ Guild
“No. The innkeeper said that that person was a hero and a dream for men! He said he would give him hundreds of millions of dollars if he could become like that person. So, why did he say that…”
As if not wanting to antagonize us, Aine hastily tried to defend me. And because of his innocence, he was speechless.
Thena quickly whispered to the girl whose face was turning red.
“Just don’t talk about it.”
“Pillar, libertine, playboy…”
Luca muttered as he looked at the distant mountains.
I was thinking about hitting him, but I quit.
“Have you both come to a conclusion? You don’t want to leave your fate to a shelter?”
“···Yes.”
“I understand how you feel, but we can’t let a child like you swim through the world pretending to be shark food.”
“···What are you going to do with us? Are you going to force us into an orphanage?”
“There is a third way. Gain experience with trusted adults in a safe place.”
“Huh, where is there an adult I can trust?”
I pointed to myself. Aine looked back at Luca.
Is it because there is a deep-rooted prejudice against male porters? Or maybe he was secretly guessing about my rumored history with women.
Luca drew her sword again.
“Run away, Aine!”
Tena eventually burst into laughter.
———–
While Luca, whose mouth was closed in my sweet night, watched with her eyes open, Thena smiled and opened the door for Aine. The porter, Aine, hesitantly entered her room.
Two people are diligently organizing the office that once belonged to the lord.
“Are you here, Mr. Bantai?”
“Were you okay on the way there? Mr. Kanta, Mr. Jurgen?”
A man and a woman who were suited as porters smiled and turned towards us.
Kanta Yarasmok, and Jurgen. They were the first two people to help me at the scene of the tragedy where the transcontinental train exploded.
The two people must have felt a lot after experiencing the miracle of rescuing everyone, and they decided that this was also fate and joined forces to start a transportation company.
After hearing the news, he quickly sent a letter and persuaded me. There is something bigger than just starting out with just the two of us. Do you want to join in?
The two people came running like crazy.
“I heard it’s a completely rural area, but I came here much more comfortably than I thought. Thanks to the wine business of the runaway lord, the transportation location seems to have improved considerably.”
“That’s not the only surprising thing. We always thought you were a foolishly good person… But you used your personal connections to steal the lord’s land and business? There was no such thing as an evil serpent.”
“···What will the kids think of me when they hear this?”
Aine looked at me with slightly suspicious eyes. Luca, on the other hand, began to look at me with her eyes of respect.
“Are you cheating on a fraudster?”
“No, I was protecting the residents from an evil lord.”
“How is that different from that?”
“···These two adults who told you trivial things and caused a misunderstanding are executives of the ‘World Porters’ Association’, which was launched today. They are the ‘trustworthy adults’ you were looking for. Greetings, Aine.”
“World… Porter’s Guild?”
Torpedo Nitro, the world’s greatest golem expert, said, ‘It will be difficult for porters to be replaced by golems in this century.’
Wasn’t the combatant golem that he was proud of having once been torn apart by a fragment of the Demon King?
In the end, golems are not enough to replace experienced adventurers, whether combatants or assistants.
So the value of porters remains the same. Contrary to the wishes of some evil warriors who like to save on labor costs.
Many people who were deceived by Danar’s money scam and invested in the transport golem probably shed tears of blood.
But even so, being a porter for an adventurer party is always a precarious job. Always suffering from various dangers.
Violence, threats, cutting labor costs, and even threats to life from friendly forces.
Unlike combatants, we cannot gain respect through force, so we need a fence to protect each other from the barbarism of our fellow men.
So far, the only thing that resembled that fence was the ‘Porter Association.’
They help with the ransom by providing documents showing good performance. Sometimes, about the unfortunate death of a porter, I make a protest statement that no one listens to.
That’s not enough. We need ‘union’.
A group that professionally trains porters to increase their value. A group that relieves porters of difficulties by providing expert advice on laws that are difficult for porters to understand.
And a group that exerts coercive power to ensure that bastards who cross the line and cause harm to porters cannot receive the porter’s services. Such a powerful combination.
“···Is that possible? Just with porters?”
“You’re just a porter, Luca. Your friend here is also a porter.”
“···That’s not what I’m saying. It’s good for me if the porters’ voices become louder. Because Aine’s future will be more solid.”
As Aine rolled her eyes, Luca flinched and spoke in more detail.
“What I meant was, is it possible for porters to come together and change the world?”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to try it.”
I sat down on the chair that belonged to the lord and looked back at Thena. Thena smiled faintly.
“I truly believe this is possible.”
It’s not just because the dragon’s nest, Hwasong Valley, and Torpedo’s cancer cells are looking after me.
“Those who can lift today are strong enough to turn tomorrow upside down.”
Porter Aine will soon be loved by the professional porters who will arrive and learn professional knowledge.
By the end of the union’s pilot program, you will be a little older and have been reborn as a professional with many useful skills, from camping skills to survival knowledge.
If you are in a hurry, you will be able to worry about your future with peace of mind while having something to cling to.
But what should Hero Luca do in the meantime? Should I just suck my fingers without being able to decide where to go? Or should I at least study to be a porter with my hero aptitude?
Fortunately, these days, at the Special Monster Extermination and Removal Party, there is a ‘Youth Rookie Training Program’. They accept both men and women and train them with party money. It seems that they offer recruitment to girls and find good parties for boys to transfer to.
Luca and Aine became glum at the fact that they would have to live apart for a while. And the news that both groups’ programs were closed on weekends became a problem again.
And the two’s faces turned bright red at the adult joke that the porter, Kanta, laughed about them being a ‘weekend couple’.
It’s really heartwarming and nice to see him denying it with all his might. Tena held my hand lightly and made a lonely expression.
“I can’t help but think about it. If only we had had that opportunity…”
“It would have been nice, but that’s not our responsibility. We were given another gift: the opportunity to create that opportunity for others.”
The sadness disappeared from Tena’s expression. There was a smile on her lips as she touched my cheek.
————-
“So, Jurgen. Do you want to propose?”
“I thought I liked girls who were tall, with beautiful hands, and young, but before I knew it, I had fallen in love with Kanta, who was short and had rougher hands than me. When I came to my senses, I found myself choosing a ring.”
Jurgen, who called me outside, took out a cigarette and asked permission. And when I nodded, my hands were shaking, and I took a cigarette.
Judging by the way he looked very nervous, I think he might have bitten down on the whole pack if he were alone. Jurgen scratched his head and sighed.
“I feel strange asking this advice from someone younger than me, but after all, don’t you have a lot of experience with this?”
“A marriage proposal? Right. Although it feels like it’s been done in a hurry in the last few weeks.”
“What on earth do you have to say and stick it out?”
“You have to decide that yourself.”
“I don’t know that! Please tell me about your experience. Please bear with me!”
A man well-established in social life showed his foolishness in strange ways. I burst out laughing.
“Well, I said something every time I put the ring on it, but it was mostly about our mutual memories, so I don’t think it would be helpful.”
“It’s a repertoire about memories. That might be useful. I’ll refer to it for now.”
“Do you have any other concerns?”
“Honestly, I don’t know if I chose the right ring. I think I thought about changing it ten times after pre-ordering it at the shop.”
“You’re going crazy, Brother Jurgen. Mr. Kanta seemed happy to receive the wooden ring.”
“Don’t talk like a tree ring. That Kanta will hit you and kill you. So, just in case.”
Jurgen glanced at Thena, who was waiting far away. Tena is smiling and enjoying the scenery of Borvais that she has seen for the first time in a long time.
While our date just for the two of us was being delayed due to my schedule. I feel so sorry.
Jurgen, who was looking at Thena closely, extended his left ring finger to me and whispered.
“He doesn’t have a ring yet? Do you have a ring for him now?”
“···I feel like I haven’t been honest with you about too much.”
“Let’s take a look at the design. Please refer to it.”
“Where do you start, and how far do you want to refer to? Are you just going to follow the whole thing?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to keep Kanta unaware and just copy the entire success story than to frustrate a once-in-a-lifetime marriage proposal? Show me!”
“I don’t mean to deceive you, but this is something you can’t get anywhere. Oh, let go!”
While we were arguing at a casual level, Tena’s head turned this way.
I quickly turned my back on Thena and pushed Jurgen away. Jurgen looked at me with wide eyes, then looked back in shock.
Tena approached us in an instant, as if she had crossed the space, and was leaning against the pillar of her smoking area, smiling at us.
“Ring?”
“···Uh, uh. Tena?”
“Are you going to show it to someone else before showing it to me?”
“Oh, I was desperately trying not to show it. Right, Jurgen?”
Thena turned her smiling face to Jurgen. It was a face without malice or murder, but it was strangely creepy.
Jurgen looked at us and cleared his throat. Then he quickly stubbed out the cigarette he was holding and quietly ran away, wishing him a good day.
Of the two rabbits in front of the wolf, one escaped safely. The one that couldn’t escape looked awkwardly into the wolf’s eyes.
Tena said, her eyes sparkling a little aggressively.
“Is the urgent matter finished?”
“Uh, I secured all the documents for the lord’s embezzlement. I also saved the children…”
“Then shall we go now? Should we continue our date?”
“Do it, you have to do it.”
“Does it feel like you are forcing it?”
Tena’s pressure is quite good. She got used to it without even having tried it a few times, and if they had just peacefully become childhood friends, it seems like she would have been trapped for the rest of her life. Maybe she got some advice from her colleagues on how to deal with me.
“I can’t believe it. I was so sick that I couldn’t take it anymore.”
But my decompression goes beyond that. A few minutes later, Tena, with a sweetly melted expression, cleared her throat and wiped her mouth. I left Thena’s helpless mouth and licked her upper lip once.
This isn’t the first kiss. The first kiss we had while driving away Mithra was our first, and we shared many more kisses over the past year while we were away somewhere in space peeling off demons. I couldn’t progress any further than that.
And yet, every moment feels like the first kiss. It seems that Thena is not the only one with heart damage. I held out my hand to Thena, suppressing her pounding heart.
“Let’s finish it, date.”
