I Became the Hero Party's Porter (2)

The wagon rattled along the unpaved forest road.

The mountain birds chirped.

The squirrels cracked open acorns.

The forest air was crisp.

Honestly, just looking at this is healing.

I could live here.

I wonder if this world has elves too.

I remember there aren't any.

Still, if I searched hard enough, surely I'd find at least one.

Ah, there's a rock jutting out ahead.

“Speed bump ahead. Please brace for impact.”

-Clatter!

Before I'd even finished speaking, the wagon rolled over the rock and lurched violently.

Then a prickly voice from the cargo bed struck my back.

“Excuse me, you. The wagon is shaking far too much. Drive more gently.”

I turned my head around and saw Shabel rubbing the back of her head.

It seemed she'd hit her head on the canopy when we lurched just now.

“I'm already driving as carefully as I can. The forest road is simply rough.”

“It wasn't this rough when Ash was driving. It only gets like this when you drive.”

“Then why don't you have her drive?”

“Ash is a combatant, so she needs to conserve her strength. You, the porter, need to do your job properly.”

“The five of you combined couldn't fight as well as I could alone……”

“……What did you just say?”

“I'll do my best so Her Highness's bottom doesn't hurt. Hyah!”

I gave the reins a hard snap.

With a crack, the horses began running excitedly.

-Rattle! Clatter!

“Eek…!”

“Urk!”

Loud crashes and groans burst from the cargo bed.

“C-careful! Can't you hear me telling you to drive carefully?”

“If we crawl along, when will we arrive? At that pathetic speed, we'll never even see the calamity before some other slave steals it from us.”

“You've been saying some pretty outrageous things ever since……!”

“Hyah!”

I snapped the reins once more and increased our speed.

The cool wind on my face eased my sour mood somewhat.

‘Sigh.’

No, that wasn't quite right. This stifling feeling wasn't going to disappear so easily.

With freedom within reach, I had become a porter and was now driving a wagon.

This was all because of that woman. Because of a Hero who felt inferior to a slave.

‘She wasn't originally like this.’

Kind to the weak.

Good.

Just.

Shabel was the very picture of an ordinary Hero.

But her personality had suddenly turned venomous, like that of a villainess, and she was making my life miserable.

‘I suppose this is why first impressions matter.’

Just how badly had I gotten on her wrong side?

If I'd known things would turn out like this, I should have acted differently when we first met.

I'm sorry.

I was too strong and ended up subjugating the calamity. Please accept my most flavorless apologies.

Enjoy it.

And if you get bored, dip it in salt.

If I'd offered such a heartfelt apology, I would have been freed by now and wandering around wherever I pleased.

“Sigh.”

What's the use of regretting it now?

Even if I regretted the past, it was already far too late.

At least there was a clear destination: subjugating the calamity.

They said they would really free me once that was taken care of.

It wasn't even particularly difficult.

All I could do was trust them and keep moving.

-Ding.

======

Notification: Acquired proficiency [Carriage Driving].

======

Yes! My proficiency went up.

“Stop the wagon right now!”

“Well, if we crawl along like turtles, someone else will steal it again…… Hm?”

Sensing a presence brush past my awareness, I pulled the reins as far back as they would go.

“Neigh!”

The horses raised their forelegs high and came to a stop.

Because of the abrupt halt, a tremendous clatter erupted from the cargo bed behind me.

Then Shabel thrust her head out, her hair completely disheveled.

There were slight tears in the corners of her eyes, so it seemed she'd hit herself properly this time.

“Why did you stop so suddenly?!”

“You told me to stop, so I stopped.”

I casually shrugged.

Shabel's face flushed red with anger.

“Who told you to stop so abruptly? You're protesting against me right now, aren't you?”

“But if I hadn't stopped, we would've crashed into them, wouldn't we?”

I answered her casually and gestured with my eyes for her to look ahead.

Four figures sat in the distance, blocking the road. One orc and three goblins.

They were chatting together amicably.

“Hey, did you hear? Some slave supposedly subjugated a calamity.”

“What? He subjugated a calamity? That's incredible. He must've been freed, right?”

“Nope. They say he became the Hero Party's porter.”

“Kekekekeke. Idiot.”

What the hell? Was I hallucinating?

For some reason, it felt as though that was what they were talking about.

Maybe I'd brooded so much that I was hearing things now.

“Magical beasts are blocking the road.”

Shabel, who utterly despised magical beasts, glared at them.

I watched her profile for a moment, and then a funny idea came to me. With a shrill scream, I hunched over.

“Eek, eek?!”

“W-what's wrong? Did something happen?”

“A m-monster……!”

“What?”

As though she thought she'd missed something, Shabel looked around frantically.

But there was nothing around except those monsters.

“They're just an orc and some goblins. After defeating a calamity, what are you afraid of something like that for?”

“B-but you ordered me not to fight, so if they attack, I'll be helpless and die, won't I? Eek! I'm scared! I don't want to die!”

“…….”

Shabel had looked at me with concern for a brief moment, but her gaze soon turned icy.

Without a word, she got down from the wagon.

She twirled her hand to summon a spear, then swung her arm diagonally.

-Whoosh!

A fierce blade of wind swept past.

It passed over the pack of magical beasts.

“Kek?”

With a single groan, their bodies were sliced in half. Their severed upper halves fell to the ground.

“Done?”

“Phew, I can finally breathe again. Thank you. I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“This is utterly ridiculous…… Now that they're taken care of, start moving again.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

I started driving the wagon again.

Shabel returned to the cargo bed, closed her eyes, and began meditating.

Hmm, this is kind of pissing me off.

She was making a person work as a porter while sitting comfortably herself.

Unforgivable.

For the sake of world peace, I have no choice but to sacrifice this body of mine.

“Eek!”

When I screamed in terror once more, Shabel's eyes flew open.

“What's wrong? Have magical beasts appeared again?”

“Th-the bloodsucking mosquitoes keep attacking me……!”

Insects buzzed around beside me.

“Mosquitoes are bloodsuckers by nature…… More importantly, you can just swat them.”

“I can't fight…! If I fight, I'll disobey my master's orders……!”

Shabel let out a short laugh.

“Who told you to fight? Just catch them.”

“Ghk……! I want to swat the mosquito. But if I do it myself, you'll obviously get jealous and say I stole your achievement……!”

“……Do you want to fight?”

“If I fight and win, will you free me?”

“You can't fight mosquitoes, but do you want to fight the Hero?”

“I have to do what needs to be done.”

I was ready to fight at any moment, but unfortunately, she didn't take me up on it.

Oh, and for the record, Shabel caught the mosquito for me.

***

“Let's camp here tonight.”

We couldn't get out of the forest before sunset.

Naturally, we had to camp for the night.

Adventure was packed with romance, and romance was simply another word for discomfort.

We slept on a blanket spread over the damp earth, ate hard, preserved rations without even washing properly,

and strange, nameless bugs buzzed all around us while we even had to stand watch against an attack.

Still, perhaps because they were the Hero Party, they seemed accustomed to this sort of discomfort.

The moment I stopped the wagon, they began carrying out their assigned roles with efficient, no-nonsense movements.

Feeling awkward just standing around, I decided to help a little.

“What should I do?”

“We need to start a fire, so go gather some firewood.”

“What if a magical beast pops out while I'm alone? I have no strength because someone ordered me not to fight. I think I should take someone with me.”

“…….”

Shabel looked around and met Ash's eyes.

“Ash, go gather firewood with him.”

“What a high-maintenance slave.”

Ash stopped what she was doing and stood up.

We went deeper into the forest to gather firewood.

We began picking up branches that had fallen to the ground.

“Your name is Leon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you really take Rahav down by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“How did you do it? That thing was way up in the sky. It couldn't have been easy to approach because of the miasma.”

“I have fairly high resistance to status ailments. I just went up there, cut off all its legs, and knocked it down.”

“Was that for real……?”

Ash stared at me as though she couldn't believe it. Her gaze was quite burdensome.

Even Shabel could have done it.

Rahav wasn't a particularly difficult boss to subjugate.

Quite simply, I had moved before Shabel did.

“What do you think? Do you think you can subjugate the remaining calamities?”

“Well, I should be able to do it, shouldn't I?”

“So that's how it is……”

Ash's lips curled into a mischievous grin.

Even though we'd just met, she seemed to trust me completely.

It was probably because I'd subjugated a calamity.

Well, I hadn't lied. Under ordinary circumstances, I should be able to take them down.

Under ordinary circumstances.

We gathered a reasonable amount of firewood and returned to the campsite.

We lit a fire and filled a large tin pot with water.

Since it was our first night camping, not long after leaving the capital, we had abundant supplies.

They tossed in everything from chunks of meat and vegetables like potatoes and carrots to spices.

“Wait a moment, Sir Esca. Aren't you adding too many ingredients?”

Shabel was startled when she saw that.

“On the first day, you need to eat richly to make it through the rest of the journey, Princess.”

Esca gave a good-natured laugh and cheerfully tossed a fist-sized lump of butter into the pot.

“But adding this much will make it difficult to ration our supplies later……”

“You don't need to worry. We still have plenty of supplies, and if we run out, we can simply resupply in the next village.”

“Exactly, a hearty meal is a good thing! Esca, fill my bowl with meat!”

“Hmm, what a lavish dinner. Wouldn't it be a shame to leave out the wine?”

The priest Simon thumped a large wooden wine cask onto the ground.

When he pulled out the stopper, a cheerful pop rang out, and the sweet scent of grapes spread through the air.

“Wine? Father Simon, did you sneak that along? You promised you'd abstain from alcohol during the expedition!”

“It's fine. It's only the first day, after all. It will be a long while before anything dangerous appears.”

“Sigh, honestly……”

Shabel pressed a hand to her forehead.

Whether he knew how she felt or not, Simon handed out the wine.

“Would you like a glass, Hero?”

“I don't drink.”

“What a shame. What about the rest of you?”

“I'll have a glass.”

“Pour me one too.”

“Excellent. Wine is always twice as enjoyable when shared.”

Simon poured wine for Esca and Ash.

Morian, who had been sitting as still as a mouse, came over and accepted a glass as well.

“Now, our porter needs a glass too. You've worked hard driving the wagon all day.”

“I'm fine as well. I'm not particularly fond of alcohol.”

“A slave who doesn't like alcohol. How fascinating. Have you not tasted the bitterness of the world yet? Hahaha.”

Simon drained his glass while chattering as much as he pleased.

Ash and Esca also sipped their drinks while chatting about this and that.

It was a freewheeling atmosphere that seemed utterly at odds with their grand goal of subjugating the calamities.

I glanced at Shabel.

She stood where she was, gazing at the scene before her with a deeply worried expression.

***

We finished our lavish dinner.

I'd wondered if they'd give me nothing but broth because I was a slave, but fortunately, they gave me a hearty serving with plenty of solid ingredients too.

Now it was time to sleep.

Naturally, when camping, someone had to stand watch.

Once again, I, the slave, would have to make the sacrifice here.

“I'll take the first watch. I feel like I'm about to die of sleepiness, but as the porter, I should make the sacrifice.”

“You……”

“You don't have to look at me like that. This is my role. Trust me and get a good night's sleep.”

I shrugged with a gentle smile.

Perhaps she was rather moved, because Shabel gazed at me intently before slowly opening her mouth.

“Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. You're on the third watch.”

Tch.

That didn't work.