The Hero Party is Obsessed With Me Before Our Farewell - Chapter 0

“Don’t think… this is the end!”

The voice echoed throughout the room—a voice that could never belong to a human.

It was a savage and repulsive voice, so vile that it was hard to believe any living creature could produce it. Merely hearing it seemed to shatter the sanity of anyone who listened: a sound so horrifying and alien it felt like it didn’t belong to this world.

Yet, among those present, no one feared the voice. The saint raised her voice courageously to confront the terrible sound.

“The evil aura is weakening! It won’t be able to fight any longer!”

The suffocating pressure that had overwhelmed me moments before was gradually diminishing.

“Graaaargh! Aaargh! Raaaahhhh!”

The Demon King was strong. But the Hero’s party was stronger.

In the group was a knightess of royal lineage and with the strength of a hero. An archer who had abandoned the World Tree and sworn to annihilate evil.

A mage who had pursued the truth for centuries. A saint whose unwavering devotion to the goddess had earned her the recognition of being the most faithful of all believers.

But despite all their strength, none of them were unscathed. The hero’s armor was destroyed as if it were mere paper.

Due to the battle, the archer and the mage fell to the ground, exhausted, with smiles on their faces.

The reason they ceased their attacks was not because they had surrendered or gone mad with despair.

“Graah… ugh… Aarghhh!”

It was because the mage’s ultimate spell, cast in the final moments, was still twisting the very fabric of space to crush the Demon King.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Although the Demon King had been a symbol of terror, in the end, all that remained were his cries of desperation.

And then, even those vanished. Finally, the Demon King was dead.

“We did it… Eleanor!”

The saint’s radiant voice rang out as the mage offered her a small smile in response. The hero’s expression remained firm, but traces of joy flickered across her face, just like the others.

“It’s all thanks to your efforts. You’ve done well to the very end, Nerwen, Celia, Fasir.”

“The greatest effort and most honorable deed belong to you, Hero. When we return, your achievements will be immortalized in verse. Few among the elves have ever matched such feats.”

It was rare for Nerwen to speak words like this. It must have been the highest praise she could muster.

“I’m in the red, but… factoring in the experience gained here and the risks avoided by stopping the Demon King’s army, I’d say I just about broke even. That’s assuming the promised support from the Mage Tower comes through,”  said Fasir, the mage.

Even though her words didn’t match the atmosphere, no one protested. What had just occurred could only be described as a miracle.

“It’s over. Let’s go home.”

“Should I call you ‘Your Highness, the Princess’ now? Or can I still address you as before?”

“Well, you’re older than my grandmother, so if it makes you happy, call me whatever you like.”

The group members, who had been sprawled on the ground, stood up, joking among themselves. At last, their task was over, and it was time to return.

But my task wasn’t finished. Hastily gathering fallen arrows and scattered magical tools, I called out to the party members as they prepared to leave the Demon King’s chamber.

“W-wait a moment!”

“What is it, ‘Pack mule’? Don’t tell me you stopped us for something pointless.”

The archer’s cold glare pierced through me.

“I still need time to pick up the arrows…”

“Are you an idiot? The Demon King is dead. Why are you so desperate to collect arrows we won’t need anymore? Stop wasting time and follow us.”

The mage’s words were as cutting as ever, but today I found them oddly reassuring. I took the last arrows, tucked them under my arm, and turned to leave, only to find the archer’s icy gaze fixed on me once again.

“Are you abandoning the elven arrows? Are you stupid?”

Here we go again. She’s always taking her frustrations out on me.

I could understand their stress after all we’d been through, but it didn’t make it any less infuriating.

“Shall I pick them all up, then?”

“You’re a clever servant. Yes, pick them up.”

Sighing deeply, I bent down to collect the remaining arrows. But the other four didn’t wait for me.

“Could you just… wait a bit longer?”

“The Demon King is dead. The remaining forces are mere remnants. You’ve trained under my guidance; you won’t fall to something so trivial,” said the hero in a cold tone.

She called that training? When all she did was beat me half to death?

Even if they were remnants, they were still part of the Demon King’s army. Running into even a low-ranked monster here could kill most people.

“Do you still not understand the great honor it is to accompany us as a porter on this journey?” Eleanor said.

In the end, there was no point in arguing. Once Eleanor made a decision, she never went back on it.

Maybe if the others joined forces to convince her, there would be a chance, but they didn’t care about me at all.

As always, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and find a way to survive. I’d managed to endure the battle with the Demon King; surely I could avoid a low-ranked monster.

Letting out a deep sigh, I continued picking up the scattered arrows. The wounds inflicted by the Demon King throbbed painfully.

In the now-empty chamber, only the sound of my footsteps echoed as I gathered the arrows.