Healing Life After Leaving the Hero Party, Episode 7
Same Bed, Different Dreams
I laughed to my heart’s content for quite a while.
Thud, thud.
I started walking toward the village.
While acquiring a trait as hearty and comforting as gukbap, my heart felt warm.
But my body, which had rolled ruthlessly across the dirt ground, was a complete mess.
I need to be careful using it.
I recalled the meteor falling from the sky.
It was the moment the dignity of a Myth-grade was newly inscribed in my mind.
I admit I lacked caution!
I should have gone to some wide, empty lot and tested it at least once before deploying it in actual combat.
The root of the problem was coming here right away to test it while also clearing the tower.
Thanks to that, the tower that many people had been waiting for had vanished too.
“W-Where did the tower go?”
“What happened?”
Confused voices could be heard here and there.
Since the perfectly intact tower from moments ago had been reduced to a handful of ash.
It was only natural to be bewildered.
I-I’m sorry!
Of course, I didn’t approach them and bow my head or anything like that.
I simply offered an apology they couldn’t hear.
They might grab me by the hair.
Since I had nonchalantly destroyed the only place where one could obtain the Debuff Resistance trait.
I felt nothing but sorry for the Heroes who had queued endlessly to grind for traits.
But what could I do.
Shrug.
I shrugged my shoulders and lightly shook my head.
It had already collapsed.
I couldn’t rebuild it.
If there had been a way to restore it, I would have made some attempt.
Just a very slight attempt.
“A new record seems to have been posted?”
“Rian di Cassian...... 10 minutes!?!?”
Thump.
A thief tingles at his own feet, as they say.
I flinched unconsciously at the name I heard.
I turned my head toward the electronic display board people were looking at.
The electronic display board showing the cleared floors and records of the Tower of Challenge.
# 2nd place Vashu Party: All floors cleared, 24 hours.
The record of the party that had been in 1st place until moments ago dropped down.
And above it, a new record was engraved.
# 1st place Rian di Cassian: All floors cleared, 10 minutes.
Guess the display board doesn’t disappear.
I had thought the now-useless display board would vanish since the Tower of Challenge had collapsed.
But seeing it still floating clearly above the collapsed tower, that didn’t seem to be the case.
By the way.
Smug satisfaction.
This hit different.
A smile formed at the corners of my mouth without me realizing it.
The display board had been an insurmountable mountain to me.
I used to always envy the top-ranked players with my mouth hanging open and longing written all over my face.
But now, my name was written at the very top of it.
Yesss!!
I threw another uppercut of joy.
After smiling in satisfaction for a while, I turned around.
“R-Rian!”
Since when had they been there.
Seria and Mint were staring at me as if they had seen a ghost.
Beside them stood Ryudo and Pinan wearing the same expressions.
People alternated between looking at the record engraved on the display board and me, their mouths hanging open.
My mood soured instantly.
Thanks to the social experience I had accumulated through long years of mercenary begging, I didn’t scrunch up my face the way I felt inside.
I simply stared at the four people looking at me with calm faces.
......Endure it.
It wasn’t that I was angry at Seria and Mint.
I had hated them to the point of disgust, but they were strangers now anyway.
There was no reason to get angry, and I didn’t want to waste the energy on it.
Only.
Hold it in, Rian di Cassian!
Looking at the four people made me feel like laughing.
Past the point of wanting to laugh, the corners of my mouth began to twitch, on the verge of bursting.
Rub, rub.
Pretending to stroke the corners of my mouth, I put strength into my fist.
If I laughed now, I’d be confirmed a lunatic.
Hoo hoo! Hoo hoo!
The reason laughter was threatening to come out was the expressions on the four people in front of me.
Seria and Mint, who had worn faces saying ‘How dare trash like you kick us out?’ and told me to go drop dead somewhere.
Now, the two people’s faces were the exact opposite of before.
Their faces were full of nothing but bewildered confusion and incomprehension.
“Lord Rian...... The name on the display board right now......?”
Ryudo stammered as he pointed at the display board.
Ryudo and Pinan, who had been overflowing with composure and mockery, were the same.
The leisure that had filled the two people’s faces no longer existed.
Ryudo and Pinan alternated between looking at their own record at the very bottom and my record at the very top with unbelieving eyes.
# 300th place Ryudo & Pinan Party: 8th floor cleared, 110 hours.
“Hmm.”
Shrug.
I raised my shoulders and opened my mouth.
“110 hours on the 8th floor, huh.”
“......!!”
Ryudo and Pinan’s faces visibly stiffened.
But I didn’t sneer at them or anything.
I simply showed them a face full of composure, brightness, and pure smile.
“You worked hard!”
“Ha ha....... Yes, that’s right!”
Unlike Pinan, who was biting her lips tightly.
Ryudo was forcing a smile as he nodded.
He must be very curious.
It was Ryudo who had been pretending not to and looking down on me with suppressed ridicule until I entered the tower.
Even so, the reason he was forcing a smile now was only one.
How could someone wielding nothing but a rusted iron sword use such magic.
If not for that, there was no reason for him to force a smile at me while swallowing humiliation.
Seria and Mint were the same.
Th-th-look at them forcing those smiles.
They probably wanted to curse me out inside, but it was a sight to behold them forcing smiles to match Ryudo.
Wait.
Looking at the two disgusting people, I suddenly realized something.
Clearing the Tower of Challenge, obtaining traits, and then leaving the city.
What an angelic and naive plan that was.
Even calling it a broken pact was far too generous.
While Ryudo was hesitating, debating whether to say something.
I opened my mouth first with a pleasant face.
“You all must have been waiting in line for the tower for a long time, aren’t you hungry? If you four are alright with it, I was thinking we could eat together.”
As I asked, I glanced at Ryudo.
“We can help each other by sharing what we know!”
At the words of eating together, Ryudo wore an expression like ‘What kind of nonsense is this bastard saying now?’
At the words of sharing with each other, Ryudo’s face brightened.
“Ha ha! I was going to suggest it first! That’s wonderful; since it’s a gathering with the 1st place of the Tower of Challenge, I’ll treat. I know a good restaurant too. What do you all say?”
When Ryudo looked around, Pinan, Seria, and Mint, who had been wearing sullen faces, forced their excitement up.
“It would be our honor!”
“Let’s do that, Rian! It’s a shame to just part ways like this!”
“Right, right, we’ve accumulated so many misunderstandings between us!”
I looked at Seria and Mint matching Ryudo from the side.
Th-th-look at them saying things they don’t mean.
It was repulsive, but I agreed with Seria’s words themselves.
I would have been very disappointed to just leave.
Grin.
Even if I go, I go.
“Then could you tell me the restaurant? I have some business at the general store. I’ll stop by there and come right away!”
I can’t go empty-handed.
* * *
Inside the huge restaurant located in the village.
It was a place I had never been to because the prices were so expensive.
Still insane prices no matter how many times I see them.
Looking at the menu, my head shook on its own.
Basics start at 200,000 Sidi and expensive ones go up to 1,000,000 Sidi.
“Would you like to order anything else? You can order everything, since I’m buying.”
“Thank you!”
I smiled brightly and bowed my head to Ryudo.
Seria and Mint, Ryudo and Pinan, and me.
Five people were sitting around one table, gathered amicably.
“Rian, you like beef too!”
“Yes, yes! Since Lord Ryudo is treating, have some beef too!”
I looked at Seria and Mint acting friendly.
How dare they......?
They seemed to want to act like they knew me, claiming we had been close for a time.
From my position, it was extremely repulsive.
Did those girls ever let me eat even once?
The two of them had been spending money recklessly, taking on work they couldn’t handle every day.
Thanks to that, I never got to eat pork, let alone beef, to my heart’s content.
Clench.
I’m not entirely without fault either.
The fault of being a pushover.
After offering deep repentance once more.
I reached my hand toward the food placed before me.
A beautifully colored drake steak with steam rising from it.
It was an ultra-high-priced dish costing 1,000,000 Sidi per slice.
Crunch!
Huff!
If there hadn’t been other people in front of me, I surely would have cried.
The tremendous juices bursting in my mouth with a pop! the moment I bit down.
As I chewed the meat with a moved expression, Ryudo smiled and casually spoke to me.
“The meteor from earlier was truly incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that. Right, Pinan?”
“I’ve been around quite a bit too, but that was a first.”
They seemed to be playing off each other like a well-coordinated performance.
Then Seria, who had been cautiously gauging the mood, opened her mouth.
“They say there’s a mysterious item that lets you use magic you haven’t learned. Right, Mint?”
“Yes, yes, every time I heard about that, I wondered where one gets such a thing!”
As if they had rehearsed beforehand.
The moment Seria and Mint finished speaking, Ryudo brought up the main point.
“Lord Rian, might I ask where you obtained that?”
I looked at Ryudo while chewing meat.
I could guess what he was thinking.
Ryudo didn’t think the fallen meteor was my magic.
He probably thought it was some consumable item obtained by luck.
I had occasionally been introduced to such things through orbs.
One-time use items obtained from boss-class demonic beasts of each island.
They allowed individuals to use powers nearly impossible through magic, consuming their limited number of uses.
There weren’t any that dropped meteors.
At best, there were items that manifested legendary magic or special effects.
Even so, since that was the most likely possibility.
Ryudo had latched onto that hypothesis.
“Hmm....... How should I put it, it’s complicated.”
When I scratched my head with a troubled face.
Ryudo changed his question.
“Can you...... use it more?”
Gulp.
The sound of four people swallowing could be heard almost simultaneously.
They seemed extremely tense, as it was the most important question.
After pretending to contemplate for a moment, I nodded cautiously.
“Well, yes. I still have some left.”
“!!!”
The moment they heard the answer.
Ryudo pushed the food placed in front of him toward me.
“Ha ha....... Please have some of mine too. My parents always said that good things should be shared.”
I looked at the giggling Ryudo.
This bastard......?
Selling out his parents for an item?
His determination to sell more than that if he could obtain the meteor item was evident.
While crunching on the food Ryudo handed over, I pretended to contemplate before slyly opening my mouth.
Seeing his anxious expression, if I dragged it out any longer he seemed like he might grab my hand.
“This is quite secret information. I can’t just tell anyone.”
“Of course, that’s only natural! But they say even brushing sleeves is fate, don’t they? Just as not everyone you’ve known long is close, you can’t conclude someone you just met is merely a passing acquaintance either!”
Yo yo, will you look at that snake tongue.
At Ryudo, sweating and doing his best.
I nodded reluctantly.
“That is true. Hmm....... But telling you right now is a bit...... to become close quickly, what would help. As expected...... is it this?”
When I made a circle with my thumb and index finger and pretended to tilt a glass.
Ryudo’s eyes sparkled as he rose from his seat.
“Of course alcohol can’t be left out to become close! I’ll take you to a very expensive place.”
“Ha ha. I prefer drinking in comfortable places.”
Looking at the excited Ryudo.
I turned my gaze toward Seria and Mint.
“If Seria and Mint are alright with it.”
Smirk.
“Let’s go to my lodging.”