The Hero Party walked through Lee Jun-woo's memories, searching for the keys to his memories.
"What memory is this!?"
"Looks like an adventurer mission..."
Sleeping together in a tent because there was no room.
Spending ordinary days at home.
Successfully completing adventurer missions with party members.
The Hero Party passed through Lee Jun-woo's happy days.
*These bad guys!*
The shriveled Estia thought to herself.
*How can they erase such happy memories of the old man! It doesn't make sense!*
If they erased these memories, they'd be heartless demons!
They said it would hurt the old man to restore his memories.
But erasing these memories would be like pouring salt on those wounds.
Having passed through so many of the old man's memories, Estia's resolve grew even stronger.
"...I'm going to restore his memories!"
"What did you just say, Estia? Did I hear you wrong?"
"...Haha! We have to erase all the memories!"
Estia quickly attempted to change her stance.
She decided to move with the group for now and look for an opportunity at the end.
Hare, carrying a full load of staffs on her back, grumbled.
"...The old man already has 8 staffs, Estia. I'm tired. When will this end?"
"I don't know either! The book said to go to the end of the memories!"
"Where is that end...?"
"I don't know either!"
"...I'm dying from the weight. I think we should get a porter like the old man's party..."
Hare shifted her gaze to look at the old man's party's porter.
A porter who looked like an ordinary person but was carrying the luggage properly.
No matter how she looked at it, having someone else carry the luggage seemed nice.
"We have to follow the old man... And, fill the old man's memories...! With me...!"
Creak- Creak-
Since Aina was stuck with the old man in this memory too,
Hare walked forward, burning with jealousy.
Luna had gotten used to Hare's behavior.
"Hare! Stop muttering and follow me! You're noisy!"
"...Okay."
"If you lost at rock-paper-scissors, you have to accept it! Hurry up and pick up that staff! There's one over there too!"
Whoooosh-
The Hero Party, having found another memory fragment, rushed toward the staff.
Hare, carrying a total of 9 staffs, found the weight heavy.
But she gritted her teeth and endured.
"That, that woman... I'll drive her out of the old man's memory..."
"Stop being noisy and just get in!"
"...Re, revenge for stealing the old man... I'll get my revenge..."
Shaaaaa-
Without taking her eyes off Aina, Hare was sucked into the space.
And the memory that unfolded before them this time was quite different from before.
"But why is the atmosphere like this?"
"It's dark. Quite dark. Is the party breaking up?"
"...Are they fighting?"
Until now, the memories had a happy atmosphere even when the old man was in difficult situations.
However, now the atmosphere felt heavy from the start.
Lee Jun-woo, looking troubled, said coldly.
"Raul. You want to quit being a porter now?"
"Y, yes. I'm tired of being a porter now. I want to quit."
Raul.
The porter avoided Lee Jun-woo's gaze as he spoke of the party's end.
However, Lee Jun-woo's expression was displeased.
"...We've already accepted the mission. And you still really want to quit?"
"Yes, yes... I want to stop now..."
"Is it because of what happened yesterday?"
"..."
Flinch-
The porter Raul's body trembled.
The Hero Party sensed that the old man's angry atmosphere was unusual.
"What's going on? Why is the old man angry?"
"...The old man did nothing wrong. That porter must have done something wrong."
As if those words were true,
Raul's lips trembled finely as he spoke.
"...Ye, yesterday wasn't wrong. I just conveyed my feelings-"
"Conveying your feelings is fine. The method was the problem. Who confesses like that, Raul?"
Lee Jun-woo explained how wrong Raul's method was last night.
"I understand wanting to relieve your family's worries and be filial when they don't have much time left. However, introducing Aina as your lover in front of them and handing her a ring, creating a situation where it's hard to refuse—that was your big mistake."
"..."
"An ordinary woman would have found it hard to refuse. But Aina doesn't care about such situations. You idiot. As Aina said, you really are a 'crazy bastard.'"
"...Did, did I really make such a big mistake? That, that was my heart-"
Tsk-
Lee Jun-woo cut him off and snapped.
"Pathetic."
"...What?"
"There's a mission tomorrow, so take responsibility and leave. I'll pay you extra generously for the last time."
Lee Jun-woo said that and left, closing the door.
"What kind of situation is this!"
"That, that man did something wrong... But, that confession method is good..."
"Huh...?"
"Create a situation... where they can't refuse... He's trash who made the old man angry... but still, I'm learning something good..."
"..."
I don't know.
Luna fled from Hare's twisted thoughts.
*More than that, that porter named Raul.*
He liked Aina.
And yet he kept staying close to the old man and her.
So that's why he tried to make the first move like that.
"But the method was wrong! That's not right!"
I'm different from that porter!
Luna thought so and turned her head away from the porter.
The expression she saw at the end was creepy,
But she decided not to dwell on it.
"Let's quickly go to the next memory! I don't want to see the old man angry!"
"I like seeing the old man angry too. It's fun to watch up close."
"I, I see."
As expected, there's no one normal in this party.
*We have to erase the memories for the old man's happiness! But everyone's absorbed in them! They're not normal!*
Luna, unaware that she had entered the realm of abnormality herself,
Set off to find the last key.
"The staffs are so, so heavy..."
It was the moment Hare's burden grew heavier.
As the Hero Party passed through the space, a scene of fierce battle immediately appeared.
"Jun, quickly protect me!"
"I'm already protecting you."
A creature attacking with bursts of demonic energy.
Luna and Estia could instinctively tell that it was a Demon King.
However, there was another person who drew more attention than the Demon King.
"Estia."
"I saw it too, Luna."
The porter is strange.
A porter has no role in battle.
They should be protected by the party and stay in a corner to preserve their life.
Just like that, Raul was stuck in a corner, staying still, with his gaze fixed only on Aina.
At that sight, the Hero Party automatically frowned.
"Ugh, disgusting! His eyes are impure!"
"...Right. Very impure."
"I, I feel like something's going to happen...!"
Something is going to happen.
Estia shifted her gaze, looking back and forth between the Demon King and the porter.
It wasn't clearly visible,
But when she concentrated, she could see demonic energy clinging to Raul.
Estia sensed signs of the party's collapse there.
"Wha, what... Old man... you had this kind of memory...?"
"What is it! What's happening! Estia! The Demon King fell but what else is happening!"
"...You'll know if you watch."
Why the old man wanted divine power so badly.
Estia finally understood.
Thinking about the Demon King's demise,
Estia fixed her gaze on Lee Jun-woo's party.
"Nothing much. This is a Demon King? Jun, did you see? I killed a Demon King! Doesn't this make me a Hero?"
"You're closer to a Demon King than a Hero."
"...Agree with me. If you're my disciple, you should agree."
Lee Jun-woo ignored Aina's words and turned his head.
"Is Raul alive? He stayed still, right?"
"Wait, Jun. Why are you worried about that bastard? Throw that trash away right now. I don't care if he dies."
"Are you that angry?"
"Acting above his station and confessing to me. Why would I be his lover? So annoying. I already have a reservation..."
Aina said that and blushed.
Lee Jun-woo's face also automatically reddened.
The Hero Party's hearts burned once again at that sight.
"Ahem, anyway... Raul, it's his last time, so let's take care of him. When I first saw him, he had good eyes."
"No. Disgusting. Makes me want to vomit. Die. I don't want to talk to that idiot."
"...Okay. I'll go."
Sigh-
Lee Jun-woo exhaled and approached Raul.
However, he stopped walking partway there.
Even from a distance, Raul's condition didn't look good.
"She, she was mine from the start... Aina... is mine... who are you... to call me pathetic..."
"Raul...?"
"Sh, shut up...!! Do, don't pity me...!! Who, who are you to say anything about... my love...!!"
"That demonic energy is..."
The demonic energy he had just seen.
Lee Jun-woo's expression changed completely as he shouted to the party.
"Crazy bastard. Everyone dod-"
But before Lee Jun-woo could finish his words,
The priest's neck was severed and rolled on the ground.
The revival of the Demon King of Envy who had transferred bodies.
The betrayal of a trusted companion.
The Hero Party shouted in anger.
"...So this is the old man's past. That bad porter...!"
"Po, porter is canceled... We don't need a porter in our party... The, the old man is so pitiful..."
"..."
"The porter is trash!"
The Hero Party's reactions were all different.
They wanted to help the old man,
But it was frustrating that this was inside a memory.
Starting with the priest being attacked, the party was cornered and pushed into a corner.
The outcome was obvious.
"So this is how Aina died...! Wha, what about the old man... This trash porter! Porter trash!"
Cornered, Aina sacrificed herself for Lee Jun-woo.
Lee Jun-woo escaped with Irina,
But Aina appeared to have been caught by the Demon King's demonic energy and died.
Except in one person's eyes.
"Sob... The old man is so sad... Now I'll make the old man happy...!"
"What? Surely at the end..."
"Sniff... Saten, what...?"
"...No, it's nothing."
Saten said it was nothing and turned her head.
However, she had been able to see at the end.
At that time, Lee Jun-woo was too rushed to notice, but Saten felt with her skin that Aina had used magic at the very end.
"A sealing... spell, perhaps? There might be a possibility."
"Why do you keep talking to yourself! Is Saten an outcast?"
"...I'm not an outcast. Let's hurry and restore the old man's soul and erase his memories."
"...Really? Okay!"
Luna, enthusiastic about erasing the memories.
The Hero Party moved to finish with Lee Jun-woo's memories.
Only Estia had different thoughts.
*Wha, what should I do?! If I make the wrong choice, won't I get beaten up!?*
How things would turn out was entirely in Estia's hands.