The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 47

47 – Prayer (1)

Afterwards, things progressed rapidly.

The magical tool I was looking for was quickly presented in front of me, and the people of Matap moved immediately to catch the culprit of this incident.

– Bring the guy who was in charge of the auction to me right now! Immediately!

– Yes!

– I don’t care who the bastard is, prepare a sacrificial ceremony for today.

Matap was in a moment of chaos. It was already chaotic, but even more so now.

Perhaps it was because of the anger of the council member rather than mine, but the magicians desperately searched for the leader.

Thanks to them, the culprit was quickly found.

“Lord, I have committed a grave sin! Please forgive me!”

The culprit is Richard Jenkins.

He was one of the many senior researchers at Matap, and he was in charge of the counter today. Of course, I knew him too. I saw him a few hours ago.

He came up to me with a guilty look on his face and bowed to the elders.

“Yeah, I know I committed a crime.”

“Yes, I’m sorry! I never imagined it would escalate this much…”

“But here’s what I think. If you’ve committed a crime, shouldn’t you be allowed to die for it?”

“Please, spare my life…”

He trembled like a leaf in the wind.

At this point, I could figure out a new fact.

“Oh, it wasn’t the entire Matap trying to frame me.”

I realized that it had been my paranoid delusion.

As it turned out, this guy acted on his own.

Thanks to him, my hostility toward Matap lessened a bit.

The elder’s gaze pierced Richard for a long time.

His punishment was quickly decided.

“Don’t worry, you won’t die. Our Matap wouldn’t go as far as executing someone for a single mistake.”

“…Then!”

“However, there will be consequences. From now on, you are no longer one of us.”

“…”

Richard’s face turned pale at the punishment.

“No, please! Forgive me, Elder! Please show mercy…”

“Take him away.”

“No! Noooo!”

Some wizards dragged him away, and his screams echoed like an eerie reverberation.

Consequences.

It was a punishment unique to Matap, different from exile.

They confiscated all the magical tools the sinner possessed and destroyed the mana circle they had built over time. It meant that the person who was once a wizard would instantly become an ordinary person with no abilities.

Considering that magic was like a second soul for a wizard… In essence, it was as good as a death sentence. In hindsight, they should have acted more reasonably. It was excessive punishment, but I didn’t feel sorry for him.

“I’m really sorry about this… just because of that magician…”

“It’s alright… It’s fine. Since we received the goods properly.”

Perhaps I’ve been using the dark mode too much. Polite language automatically comes out. I consciously switched back to casual mode.

Still, since we are in the middle of a transaction, I should show some politeness.

“No, this is something we should definitely give, and from our standpoint, we would like to offer some compensation. After all, this incident happened due to our mistake at Maratop’s side. If you tell us what you want, we will do our best to fulfill it within reason.”

“In that case…”

I accepted the offer without refusing. There’s no reason to decline when they’re offering more.

Fortunately, I quickly thought of what I wanted to receive. These were the books that I had planned to buy once the auction was over.

“By any chance, could you obtain a few books of black magic and one personal space pocket?”

Black magic is naturally necessary for my spec upgrades, and it’s about time for me to purchase my own personal space as well.

Although the party has bags with large capacity spatial magic, I can’t use them freely since they’re for everyone.

When I made this request, the elder’s face looked troubled.

“Black magic… you’re asking for something difficult for our researchers who mainly study fire magic.”

“It shouldn’t be hard to find. Just by searching the black market, you can easily find one or two books.”

“It’s not a problem of difficulty. It’s a matter of conscience. What will the people around us think if the Maratop, who pursues a certain degree of integrity, hands black magic to someone…”

Integrity, my ass.

Those guys loot phoenixes and sell black magic tools too?

They pretend to be righteous, but this place was a little rotten as well.

As I waited for a moment, he sighed and spoke.

“However… it’s not that we cannot fulfill your request. This time, I will do it for you. I’ll release the disciples and let them roam the black market.”

“Thank you.”

Like that, I told them the few types of black magic that I was looking for, and left Maratop. In my hands, I held the item that I had desired so much.

“hehehe.”

A blood pouch necklace.

An item that can store blood in the same state as fresh blood.

To others, it may just be an unpleasant magic tool, but to someone like me who can directly handle blood, it was a spare mana battery.

“Now it’s time to return.”

Satisfied, I returned to my lodging.

And the next day, a rumor spread throughout the capital city.

*

In the capital of the current empire, there lives a crazy son of a b*tch.

A wildly strong bastard is swaggering down the street.

That bastard completely messed up Matap all of a sudden.

It was the sound Lily heard as soon as she woke up this morning.

And ironically, even though Lily didn’t hear the name, she could tell who the subject of the rumors was.

“Sigh… What can I say? He’s obviously a hero.”

“What the hell is that guy doing…?”

I can’t figure out what he’s thinking. I thought he could catch the Four Kings and relax a bit, but he caused this chaos so quickly.

At first, I wondered what big deal he was involved in… But it turned out to be just a crude business like a third-rate thug.

Of course, the invasion of Matap is a bit big, but in the meantime, there don’t seem to be any serious injuries or deaths.

He just chooses vague mischief in various ways.

Thanks to that, Lily couldn’t guess his intention at all.

Now, Lily is getting confused about what his true face is.

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There was even a time when she thought he was a villain.

As a hidden spy of the Demon King’s army, she had expected him to betray them when they were in the most dangerous situation. If the hero party disappeared, humanity would become even more vulnerable.

But those thoughts have faded away recently.

Because they had already experienced the most dangerous time.

In the battle against Chungwang, she really thought she would die. Beetles swarming from all directions, and Chungwang, whose lifeline is as tough as insects.

She couldn’t focus properly because she was so frantic, but the hero clearly didn’t back down and fought against Chungwang.

Even if they had just run away, they would have been wiped out,

So it was natural for the hero’s villainous behavior to disappear.

But still… she couldn’t let her guard down.

There is no particular reason. If she had to say, it would be her intuition.

Even if she wants to believe, her unexplained uneasiness made her hesitate.

She muttered to herself.

“Surely something fishy must be going on…”

Maybe he’s aiming for something bigger.

He might offer us as sacrifices when we become even stronger, or maybe he needs more victims than just the party.

The hero party is just a party that gathers the most promising talents from all over, not the strongest party.

There are many strong individuals in the world.

From the Imperial Knight Commander to Camilla’s father, the leaders of various mage towers, and the elder of the Elven Forest.

Each of them is humanity’s shield.

Even if a party is wiped out, humanity remains resilient for a while.

For example, the legendary hero party was quickly annihilated, but humanity still lives on, doesn’t it?

So, perhaps to finish more conclusively, one might wait for the right moment. To raise humanity’s trust…

…But then, why engage in such reckless actions?

“Sigh, I don’t know.”

Lily’s mind, lost in her thoughts, snapped back to reality.

What’s the point of thinking about this when there are no answers?

For now, let’s focus on studying.

With that thought, she turned her attention back to her book.

The content of her studies was about the usage of elemental magic and spatial magic. She was diligently preparing for the upcoming battles.

*

Meanwhile, Lily wasn’t the only one who heard the rumors.

The saint, who was praying fervently in the church, also heard the rumors.

Unlike Lily, she didn’t find the actions of the hero surprising. Despite appearing meaningless at first glance, the intentions behind his actions were clear.

She understood the curse he carried, allowing her to quickly comprehend his motives. It was all groundwork for their future actions.

Thanks to this, she was momentarily impressed.

“Indeed… he’s quite clever.”

He had decisiveness as well.

No matter how well one plans, it’s not easy to act when you know what you might lose.

The hero was a human who knew how to make tough choices to avoid the worst outcome.

The more she observed, the more fascinating it became.

Initially, she was merely astonished by the hero’s noble decision-making. But gradually, other abilities came to the forefront.

Strength, strategical thinking, decisiveness, and the ability to know things even they weren’t aware of. What did they do before becoming a hero?

Sometimes, curiosity crept in.

“I wonder what a hero without a curse would be like…”

But for now, a proper judgment was impossible.

No matter how hard she tried to make a rational judgment, the unpleasant emotions surging from within clouded her judgment.

Therefore, she merely contemplated it.

If the curse hadn’t been placed on him… what kind of feelings would she have had for him?

Upon a thorough examination of objective factors, he was quite a decent man.

Incredibly kind despite his disproportionate power, brave, and reliable. Excluding his knowledge of black magic, he was the epitome of a typical hero.

And objectively speaking… he was also handsome. The curse just prevented her from making a proper judgment. Upon close inspection, he belonged to a considerable group of handsome men.

Fortunately, it seemed like he hadn’t sacrificed his face during the curse.

So, if the curse hadn’t been there, maybe…

Just maybe…

She might have fallen for him.

Objectively speaking, he was the closest to her ideal type. Of course, within the limits of objectivity…

“Am I really thinking about this?”

She mused for a while, then snapped out of her imagination.

Her cheeks blushed a little, perhaps from her daydreaming.

What’s the point of indulging in such fantasies? After all, the curse was unlikely to be lifted.

She cleared her thoughts and began to pray again.

To overcome the challenges ahead, she needed the power of the divine even more urgently.

Around an hour into her prayers…

“Sister, something terrible has happened…!”

Suddenly, a priest who had been receiving the worshippers approached her and spoke urgently.

“Um, the hero has come to the church!”

“What?”

She raised an eyebrow in surprise.