Healing Life After Leaving the Hero Party: Episode 8
Phantom Thief Ripang
“Kuuuu…!”
“Hrrrnk!”
To the sounds coming from all around.
I leisurely raised myself and looked around.
A truly familiar and nostalgic……
Nostalgic—cancel that.
It was simply a familiar space.
Seria and Mint, who had plopped themselves down in the city after establishing our party oath.
The lodgings we had urgently scraped together every bit of cash we had to afford.
“Hrrrnk!!”
A satisfied smile formed at the sound of their thunderous snoring.
So it was worth the price.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small empty bottle.
[Even an Elephant Would ZZZ!]
Before heading to the restaurant where Ryudo’s party was.
I had made a stop first at a debuff potion shop.
A potion that inflicts a powerful Sleep debuff on the drinker.
It had been quite expensive, but I had emptied out every last coin I had to buy it.
— [Trait: “Nope, Not on Me” activated! You are immune to the Sleep debuff!]
I had mixed it into the alcohol everyone shared, but there was no way I would fall asleep.
That message would have only been visible to me, since I was immune.
The other four probably fell asleep without even realizing they’d been debuffed.
Step.
“Poo poo doo doo, poo poo ri heeng, poo poo ring.”
Humming a tune, I made my way.
The reason I had chosen lodgings so close to our drinking spot was simple.
Creak.
I entered Seria and Mint’s room.
Unlike my room, which was utterly—almost echoingly—empty.
The room was decorated so lavishly, I had to wonder just what exactly they had bought so much of.
Impudence stack added.
I walked to the corner and stood before the most gaudily ornate dresser in the room.
It was a drawer built like a safe that required a passcode to open.
Good thing I had checked it out beforehand.
Beep, beep, beep. Ding.
When I entered the code, the drawer opened.
…….
Impudence stacks infinitely added!!
Inside the drawer lay large quantities of accessories, jewels, and seed.
These were things Seria and Mint cherished like their own lives.
— Don’t touch! What if you scratch it?!
Mint, who would scream bloody murder if I so much as touched something because it looked pretty.
— I told you, I don’t have any money! I spent it all! How much do you think you’ve earned me to make such a fuss?!
And Seria, who would get angry if I carefully asked if she was already out of money.
Realizing they had hoarded this much while still acting like that… how should I put it.
“You bastards!”
A curse slipped out under my breath.
After spitting out a few more curses.
I swept everything from the drawer into a bag lying nearby.
Seria and Mint, who nagged about money every single day.
They were money-crazed fiends who went nuts for cash, so it was obvious what would make them despair the most.
“Anything else?”
Looking around the room, I swept up the cosmetics and perfume the two treasured as well.
If my Impudence stacks had been low, I wouldn’t have taken these too.
But since it was already full stack, I planned to take everything.
Thud.
Nice and heavy.
Dragging the heavier bag, I stepped outside.
“Hrrrnk!”
Ryudo and Painan came into view, snoring away.
Perhaps because both of them valued appearances and bluster?
I’d caught a glimpse at the restaurant earlier—they’d been draped in expensive things.
Hm.
I rubbed my chin as I looked at the two.
Compared to Seria and Mint, this was practically a misdemeanor.
But.
“They dared to try to play me for a fool?!”
Swish!
Fabricating a justification, I quickly approached and frisked them.
At every touch, expensive items and potions emerged, and even a heavy pouch of seed.
……Are they treasure goblins or what?
After shoving everything I could take into the bag.
I stood up and looked at the four people sleeping without a care in the world.
As I looked at them, how should I put it.
Smirk.
The corners of my mouth rose.
It was hard to explain exactly how I felt right now.
This feeling of being so thrilled I didn’t know what to do with myself!
“Loo loo lool, ho ro ro loo.”
Humming a tune, I walked toward the door.
The thought of them panicking come morning kept a smile on my face.
“Ah!”
Thinking of morning reminded me of what I’d forgotten.
I had almost forgotten the most important thing.
Step.
I walked to the small blackboard in the center of the lodging and picked up a pen.
* * *
A few hours after Rian left.
“Mm.”
Seria woke up and rose groggily.
“Uraaah…!”
Seria stretched with a refreshed face.
“I feel amazing.”
It seemed she had slept deeply.
To think she felt this refreshed without a hint of a hangover despite falling asleep drunk.
“Kuuuu…!”
“Hrrrnk!”
The others were the same.
They were in such a sweet slumber they wouldn’t have noticed if someone picked them up and carried them off.
Watching them, how should I put it…
‘……?’
A doubt arose.
‘We didn’t drink enough to pass out like this……?’
A sudden feeling of wrongness led Seria to check her surroundings.
‘Where’s Rian?’
They had definitely all been drinking together.
Only one person—Rian Di Kasian—was nowhere to be seen.
‘……!’
As Seria looked around.
An open door caught her eye.
It was the room where she kept her precious things, so she always kept it closed.
It had definitely been shut before they drank.
‘No way……!’
Tap!
Seria practically ran into the room.
And moments later.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”
A scream loud enough to tear through the room burst from Seria.
“Wh-what? What’s going on?”
Mint, awakened by the scream, rushed to the room.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”
Following Seria, Mint’s scream erupted.
It was a scream filled with all her strength and malice.
“What’s with the racket!”
“Damn… what is it this early in the morning?”
Painan and Ryudo, who had woken up after, headed toward the room from which the screams were coming.
Seria and Mint were sitting limply, pale as if they had seen a ghost, staring at the empty drawer and room.
“What’s all this noise for…… huh?”
Painan, who had been about to snap, lowered his head.
Because his body felt strangely light.
“……?”
Only then did Ryudo, who had been frowning, check his body.
Pat, pat.
“Huh……?”
Ryudo checked all over his body with an expression of disbelief, but there was nothing.
The rare items he had always carried because he was too anxious to leave them anywhere, the pouch of seed he had saved up all this time, even the jewel-encrusted belt he had acquired at great cost!
Truly, nothing remained.
“Wh-what?”
Into Ryudo’s panicked mind.
— Let’s head to the lodgings.
The words Rian had spoken at the restaurant came back to him.
“No way……!!”
Ryudo turned and went out to the living room where they had been drinking.
As expected, Rian was nowhere to be seen.
“N-no way.”
Ryudo shook his head, desperately denying reality.
It was absurd.
Getting robbed by a total idiot that even a passing dog would laugh at was impossible.
“Where the hell is that bastard!?”
The other three, who had run out in a frantic panic, all searched for Rian.
They hadn’t quite grasped the situation yet, but in everyone’s mind was Rian Di Kasian.
“Hey, the blackboard……?”
Then the blackboard sitting out in the open caught the four’s eyes.
It had been wiped clean until last night.
Gulp.
The four swallowed nervously and walked to the blackboard.
And.
Without anyone taking the lead, their lips began to tremble.
A message was written on the blackboard.
It was a message from Rian Di Kasian to the four.
# You told me your parents said good things should be shared, right, Ryudo? I respect your parents very much. So I’m sharing them. Farewell.
# P.S. Mr. Painan, cut down on the bravado. You look weaker for it.
# P.S. Seria and Mint. You’ve been disgusting. Let’s never see each other again.
# P.S. Oh, one more thing. Try not to go through life as nothing but public nuisances.
# P.S. Ah, seriously, one last thing. I’ll put what was in the drawers to good use as my fresh start fund. Really, thanks for everything~
# From. Phantom Thief Ripang.
The four faces twisted simultaneously.
“Y-you, little bastard……!”
* * *
“Huuup!”
Enjoying the coolness of the dawn air seeping into my nose.
I kept walking.
Thud.
On my back was a very heavy bag.
A bag that brought a smile to my face just from its weight.
“I don’t know why, but the air feels so much fresher.”
Smiling broadly, I pulled out the map I’d packed during the day.
Let’s see.
It was a map with region names and characteristics drawn as illustrations.
Unexplored areas that no one had yet visited were marked with question marks instead of pictures, but.
# Isle of the Dream Demon, Mongmartre.
Next to the question mark, a region name was written in chicken scratch nearly impossible to read with open eyes.
A cipher only I can decipher. Excellent.
Currently unexplored, but places that had been discovered before time was turned back.
I had personally written in the region names and information for such places.
The dates of discovery, the demonic beasts inhabiting them, the characteristics of each region, and points to watch out for.
I’d written down everything I could remember.
Good thing I packed the orb properly.
I had visited every day because life was tough and bitter—the tavern, Dancing with the Black Whale.
Without money to order anything, I had drunk liquor using the adventures of heroes flowing through the orb as my bar snacks.
You really never know what life has in store.
Back when I drank, I had only sighed at the dark and hopeless future.
I had no idea what I’d seen back then would help me like this.
Let’s see.
The reason I had organized the map wasn’t simply to jot things down before I forgot.
It was so I could see at a glance where I could and couldn’t go, considering my current abilities and location.
The Kingdom of Light, Syandora; the Winter Kingdom where you can see the aurora; and Yuhoru, where you can catch the tastiest fish in the world.
My heart races just thinking about it.
Rustle.
Lost in thoughts of the adventures to unfold.
I stopped walking and turned around.
The city I had left not long ago, Biet, was in view.
Since it was the hour when everyone was asleep, Biet was filled with nothing but silence and stillness.
Swish.
I looked at Biet as drawn on the map.
Next to Biet, something was written in large letters.
# The City of Beginnings, Biet.
Biet was the optimal city for a beginner Hero to find companions and build strength before starting an adventure, with all class-change locations, affordable prices, and geographical advantages allowing travel in any direction.
Ah. Scratch, scratch.
I took out a pen and drew a line through one of Biet’s features.
# The Tower of Challenge, where traits and companions are easy to obtain.
Since it was gone now, the other maps would need revisions too.
“Sigh.”
Looking at Biet, a sigh escaped me.
“It took so long.”
Unbefitting of its name, the City of Beginnings.
It had taken far too long to actually begin.
“To think it ended the moment it began, for Pete’s sake.”
Thinking of the past, I clicked my tongue and shrugged.
Step.
I started walking again.
It had been that way in the past, but no longer.
“Let’s see, the first place to visit is…”
Checking the unexplored route on the map once more.
# Isle of the Dream Demon, Mongmartre.
With my destination set.
I adjusted my bag and raised my head.
“Hup!”
Taking another deep breath, I filled myself with the fresh air.
There was so much in this world.
Breathtaking scenery, food that moved you the moment it touched your tongue, various races and dungeons and regions, and the many events that would happen in those places.
Countless things were waiting for me.
Thump.
“A normal hero’s life.”
Feeling the fresh air, I took a step.
“Let’s get started!”