# 168. The Hero Party Without the Old Man (1)
The Hero Party left the capital.
Hare took responsibility for the frightened Saten, and Luna carried the Holy Water-intoxicated Estia on her back.
Since Estia's master and the Sylvester Knight Commander might worry, the Hero Party left a note on the door saying "We're going on a short trip" before departing.
Everything was fine up until they left after making thorough preparations, but...
"Uh, but where are the remaining Demon Kings..."
The Hero Party arrived at their first obstacle.
Where were the remaining two Demon Kings?
There was no way to solve that fundamental question.
Sitting on a city bench, Luna tapped Hare's shoulder and asked.
"Hare, do you know where the Demon Kings are?"
"...Why would you think I'd know?"
"Just, you're a Thief. Thieves are good at finding their way!"
Simple and straightforward logic.
Hare sighed, as if the road ahead looked dark.
"...Sigh, even I can't do anything about a destination I don't know."
"Then what do we do! Are we just going to wander around!?"
"No, we can't do that. No matter what, I'm going to revive the old man quickly. That way, the time I spend with him will increase."
I absolutely can't compromise on this part.
Hare's eyes as she said this didn't look normal no matter how you looked at them.
"I-I see. Then, Saten!"
Luna turned her gaze to look at Saten.
Saten was holding a cat in her arms, staring intently at a book.
It was a book containing the advice the old man had left behind.
"Saten, do you know where the Demon King is!?"
"...Of course I don't know."
"Th-then do we have to travel around the entire Empire—"
"But I do have some guesses."
*Thud—*
Saten closed the book she was reading and stood up from her seat.
Luna's eyes sparkled as she looked at the confident Saten, as if seeing a savior.
"R-really!? Where!? Where is the Demon King!?"
"The Demon King is—"
Right here.
Saten unfolded a map and placed her fingers on the places where the Demon King might be.
However, the Hero Party's faces turned pale when they saw Saten's action.
Because there wasn't just one finger on the map.
At Saten's action, Hare had no choice but to put her hand in her pocket.
"...Are you messing with me right now? I told you we're in a hurry, didn't I?"
"First, put the dagger back in your pocket. I'm just explaining what the old man said."
"...The old man left that kind of advice?"
I've never seen that...
To verify if Saten's words were true, Hare approached with her hand in her pocket.
Indeed, in the section with common advice, there was content about the Demon King's location.
"...'The Demon King's location is likely to be in the Desert Nation Abrom,' 'City of Lies Lang,' 'Mine Lehel,' 'Chepri Village,' 'Underground City Grim,' or 'Dungeon City Henencia.'"
"That's right. Henencia, where we went, is also a candidate. And from our current location, the place we can reach quickly is—"
"The Desert Nation Abrom. If we take the Magic Train, this is the fastest!"
Luna, who for some reason understood the map's contents well.
As Hare and Saten were somewhat flustered, Estia began to open her eyes again and squirmed.
Just in case, Hare struck the back of Estia's neck once more.
"Kek—"
"...Let's only wake Estia in a quiet place. We'll talk later. Let's hurry and take the train to Abrom."
Hare jumped up from the bench in a rush.
Saten stood up following Hare, but since she was still full of fear about the outside, she couldn't walk properly.
Therefore, before the group could pick up speed, Saten shouted.
"W-wait for me. This is the Mage's order. Everyone slow down."
"We don't have time... This is annoying..."
Hare grumbled and walked back near Saten.
Then she carefully grabbed and pulled Saten's arm.
"...What are you doing, we need to hurry. Just grab my arm quickly. I'll speed up."
"W-wait a moment. Too fast—"
Ignoring Saten's words, Hare dragged her and ran toward the train station.
Seeing this, Luna smiled without realizing it.
"Still, I'm glad those two seem to be getting along."
Luna smiled genuinely for the first time since the old man's death.
She patted Estia on her back once with her hand, then ran forward shouting.
"Let's go together, guys!"
While spending time in this space, I thought about it.
What is this space for, and why am I here?
Though it seemed like deep philosophical contemplation, this question was actually very shallow and simple.
"What is this place really for... And who was that woman..."
A dim and dark space.
Yet even though I'm alone, I don't feel lonely, and I don't even feel fear of the darkness.
"That woman told me to wait, but wait for what?"
She only brought up things I couldn't understand.
What exactly does she want to say to me, and why did she confine me here?
Questions grab the tail of questions, and the chain keeps getting longer.
In this place, stopping thinking might be more helpful for survival.
"Ah damn, I'm thinking again without realizing it."
The feeling of frustration amplifying even more.
Just as I tried to stop thinking as much as possible to wash away that feeling—
*Crash—!*
A heavy object fell from the sky in front of me.
The item's condition wasn't broken, and I knew the name of this object.
"A TV. And a completely old-fashioned one at that. Come to think of it, I had a family too."
In the house where I lived, there was also an old-fashioned CRT TV.
A TV with few channels that only showed broadcast channels.
Our family used to watch TV together during dinner.
"And my name was Lee Jun-woo..."
Right, now it feels like my memory is returning.
As I approached the TV with interest, the one who threw the TV from above spoke to me.
—If you're bored, watch it. If it's hard to watch, you can turn it off. Whatever you do is your freedom.
"Wait, who are you and why did you confine me here—"
—I can't tell you that. I want you to be happy, you see. So just watch and see that there are many people trying to make you happy.
...She only says what she wants to say.
The owner of the voice disappeared as if nothing had happened, as if she'd never been there.
Since I had nothing else to do anyway, I approached the TV and pressed the power button.
At that moment, the screen lit up brightly and a person's figure appeared faintly.
"A yellow chick... and pink hair... but her expression is scary."
Still, she's pretty though.
Looking at the background, it seems to be a fast-moving train.
"Well, I have nothing else to do, so I might as well watch."
And so I sat on the floor and decided to focus on the screen in the TV.
For some reason, the sound of "Meow—" intermittently leaked from the TV.
"...When are we arriving? Can't we arrive faster? Should I go complain to the person driving the train?"
"B-be patient, Hare! And stop shaking your leg! You're shaking away the good fortune!"
"It's not like I want to shake it..."
*Tap tap tap tap—*
Hare shook her leg making rhythmic sounds.
It was impossible to tell whether the desk was vibrating because the train was moving or because Hare was shaking her leg.
And seeing this sight right in front of her, Saten couldn't hide her anxiety.
"...I'm going to close my eyes for a bit."
Saying she would close her eyes, Saten completely covered her face with her hood.
Luna was most worried about whether Saten could breathe.
"She's definitely going to suffocate!"
"...Leave her alone, Saten's gotten pretty weird too. Though you and Estia are the weirdest. Still, she can use the Saint's power, right?"
"Mm."
I can't be sure about that.
Estia's behavior that she saw last time was so impressive that Luna got goosebumps all over her body.
The contradictory appearance of thinking reality is a dream and dreams are reality.
It was questionable whether that appearance would be cured when the old man returned.
"Let's just not call Estia's name for no reason. If she wakes up, we might get kicked off the train."
"...Is it that bad?"
"Yeah, really bad! It's hard to explain in words!"
"If that's the case, then even if we fight, we can't expect Estia's power."
Saten's words were correct.
Estia's power was still somewhat helpful.
But if Estia's condition wasn't good, they couldn't receive even that meager help.
For the Hero Party, that felt a bit painful.
"That aside, before we arrive at the Desert City Abrom, I have something to tell you. It's closer to information, if anything."
"Information? What kind of information!?"
Luna became curious at the mention of information.
As if that curiosity was rather poisonous, Saten scattered information about Abrom in a cold tone.
"It's not good information, but the Desert City Abrom is currently at war."
"War!"
War.
A battlefield where people's life and death showed results every second.
Since war wasn't done alone, Hare asked Saten indifferently.
"...By any chance, who is Abrom at war with? Since it's a city belonging to the Empire, it can't be the Empire. Then—"
"No, we don't know their identity yet. I heard the opponent they're at war with is carefully hiding their affiliation. But we can make inferences."
Not the Empire, and probably not the Church either.
There were only two places that could be called enemies.
Though Saten carefully covered her face with her hood, her voice shouted more confidently than anyone.
"Probably, the opponent at war is either affiliated with the Demon King or knights from a neighboring country."
If not, both.
The Hero Party decided to consider all open possibilities.
And if there were those who blocked their path, they resolved to break through by any means necessary.
Except for one person—Luna, the "Hero."