I Was the Scout for the Hero’s Party

“Gr… Gracey… is it really okay to do this?”

Looking at Gracey who was walking confidently ahead, the Hero, Yoo Jeong-i, asked worriedly once again.

“I told you it’s fine. Of course, I didn’t want to go this far either… but if we didn’t do this, we might never see Austin again.”

Hearing Gracey’s confident answer, Maya, who was walking alongside Isabel following Gracey, muttered in a voice so small that they couldn’t hear.

“…This seems fucked up.”

“It seems fucked up indeed…”

Startled by the faint sigh she heard beside her, Maya turned her head toward Isabel with slightly surprised eyes.

Isabel seemed to have heard Maya’s muttering too, and was looking at her with wide rabbit eyes.

She never thought there would be someone among these hopeless companions who might understand Austin even a little.

“…Isabel.”

“…Maya. Let’s talk about this separately later.”

Should she be relieved that not all party members were blockheads?

“Austin must be like a canary trapped in a cage by now, so we can just leisurely complete our assigned tasks. It’s not difficult. Although we’ll have to face Argyle without a scout…”

She had intimidated the lord using her position and shackled Austin so he couldn’t move an inch from Quiln.

At this level, it would be embarrassing to merely call it selfish.

Shouldn’t her intelligence be questioned?

“Um… is that so…? This seems like it might backfire…”

“Hero, trust me. By now, Austin is probably pounding the ground, personally feeling our necessity.”

Looking at Gracey’s still confident attitude, Maya hid her face under the brim of her pointed hat and twisted her hair.

‘…It already seems fucked up…’

But now that Gracey had already done the deed, it was spilled milk.

Even if they went to apologize, it would be fortunate if they could even see his face.

‘…It’s not like I did it anyway.’

If Maya bore any responsibility, it would be not stopping Gracey’s stupid act beforehand.

“…I miss Austin…”

Sighing at the Hero’s still puzzled expression, Maya muttered softly again.

If she could see those intelligent, blue eyes, all these distracting thoughts and worries would be washed away.

But that had already become a thing of the distant future.

Because of that cunning female knight swaying her hips as she walked ahead.

As they were heading toward the city gate to enter the forest beyond Quiln, troops that appeared to be Quiln’s defense force rushed past them in a hurry.

“…What’s going on? Did a fire break out?”

When Adrien narrowed her eyes and spoke while looking at the soldiers who were already becoming smaller in the distance, the Hero also examined the direction the passing soldiers were running in and mumbled.

“There’s no smoke visible, so it doesn’t seem like a fire… Isn’t that the central district over there…? Excuse me!”

The Hero quickly grabbed one of the rushing defense members.

The soldier caught by her turned his head toward her while panting heavily to catch his breath.

“Huff… huff… yes…? Hero… what can I… do for you? We’re a bit busy…”

“Ah… no. Nothing special. Is something happening? Earlier, other defense force members were rushing by in quite a hurry too.”

“Well… that… just a moment, let me catch my breath…”

After breathing roughly as if about to cough up his lungs, the soldier eventually stabilized his breathing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and opened his mouth toward the Hero.

“There’s chaos at the relay station…! Suddenly, some mysterious figures barged in, took the people inside as hostages, and now they’re stealing a carriage and escaping…”

…Is this ominous feeling just my imagination?

Gracey, who had been wearing a triumphant expression until just now, could not hide her slightly trembling voice as she asked the defense force member.

“…By any chance, is there any detailed information about these suspicious figures?”

“Well… they said the one who appeared to be the leader was using a crossbow and a short sword. They said he robbed the relay station with one large man and three women… Uh… huh?! Hey!”

Before the soldier could finish speaking, they were already running with all their might toward the central district of Quiln.

“Austiiiiin!!!!!!!!!”

Austin, this crazy bastard, seemed to have decided to go all out now.

“Come on, come on. Raise your hands high. We’re just going to take one carriage quietly, so don’t try anything funny… Hey! Didn’t I tell you to stay still, you bastard! Do my words sound like a joke to you?!”

“Hii… hiik…!!! I’m sorry…! I urgently need to use the bathroom…”

“You son of… Tsk. Go ahead! If you’re not back in 3 minutes, you’re really dead.”

“Y-yes!”

As the balding chubby man rushed to the bathroom, I watched him before turning my gaze elsewhere.

Various carriages neatly lined up, and the horses and magical beasts that pulled them.

Success…! Honestly, even when I first thought of this method, it seemed like a crazy idea and I was about to give up, but with the implicit consent of the lord, it’s completely possible.

Due to the threat from Gracey, the captain of the royal guard, a mere frontier count couldn’t openly defy her words and send me away.

But what if we made it look like a setup?

Once I reached that thought, I immediately told Count Albion my plan, and after a moment of consideration, he readily agreed.

Count Albion has his own face to save and circumstances to consider, so if I steal a carriage and escape rather than him openly helping me, wouldn’t it be a win-win?

So I came to rob Quiln’s relay station outright, and Count Albion secretly tipped off the defense force captain to only pretend to arrest me.

If the defense force is just a scarecrow, there’s nothing to fear.

“You all keep your hands up!!! If you don’t want to listen to me, go ahead and try! But if you challenge me, it won’t be very fun!”

Leaving Roymen, Luna, and Robin to watch over the hostages inside the relay station, I searched through the storage boxes behind the counter with Lady Alexis to find the carriage keys.

“Wow…! There are just so many gleaming keys here. Lady Alexis, is there any particular carriage that catches your fancy?”

“A… Austin… is this really okay…? If something goes wrong…”

“Oh come on. Tsk. Count Albion said he would turn a blind eye. He said there wouldn’t be any wanted notices issued, so we just need to snatch one suitable carriage and have a blast.”

“Hmm… but still…”

It seemed that Lady Alexis was still troubled by the fact that we were doing such a bad deed.

No… this is a golden opportunity to do something bad without any punishment. It’s not like we’re committing murder. Of course, I feel a bit sorry for the carriage owner, but… even that wouldn’t be a problem since Count Albion said he would compensate the victim.

“…So, we don’t need to worry about anything. Please don’t be too concerned.”

“If that’s the case… alright.”

After confirming that Lady Alexis’s expression had softened a bit, I started looking for a sturdy and comfortable carriage while carrying the box of keys and walking between the carriages.

“…Oh. This one looks good, doesn’t it?”

What eventually caught my eye was a carriage decorated with well-lacquered wood and platinum that gave an antique feel.

Not overly flashy, but the clean, well-processed wood combined with the occasional sparkle of platinum created a truly luxurious atmosphere.

The interior was spacious enough for all our companions to sit comfortably, and the seats were soft and plush—a carriage exactly to my liking.

Of course, it would be too cramped for five people to sleep in, so we’d have to camp at night…

Lady Alexis, who saw the carriage I had chosen, also nodded after examining it briefly, so that settled it.

A carriage that satisfies the duke’s daughter. There’s no need to even mention the quality. This is the quality guarantee.

After bringing the horse that matched the number on the carriage tag and inserting the key, the lock hanging on the iron pillar fell off with a clank.

With two strong black horses with well-defined muscles pulling it, the carriage should move without any problems.

After preparing the carriage and returning to the lobby, I noticed that the man who had gone to the bathroom earlier was still not visible.

“Hey. Where did that guy who went to the bathroom go? Did he fall into the toilet or something?”

When I asked Roymen, he tightly gripped the flail in his hand and disappeared into the bathroom.

About a minute passed. When Roymen came back out of the bathroom, he rolled up his whip and approached me.

“There was no one inside the bathroom. Based on what others have said, it seems he escaped to contact the defense force while we were distracted.”

“…I’ll have to beat that bastard to a pulp if I see him. Anyway, I’ve chosen a carriage. Come and get in.”

Until the moment our companions boarded the carriage, I kept my crossbow aimed at the hostages.

As I approached the large door to move the carriage outside, I could feel that the outside was a bit chaotic.

It seems the defense force has arrived. That chubby bastard, I should have made him soil his pants.

I gestured to Roymen, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, to dash out as soon as the door opened, and counted with my fingers.

“…Three! Go!!!”

As I pushed the bolt open, Roymen’s carriage immediately rushed toward the open door, raising a cloud of dust.

As the carriage passed by me, I grabbed the handle and jumped up, landing in the empty spot next to Roymen in the driver’s seat.

“We… we’re out!”

“Everyone, form ranks!! Hey! Drop your weapons and stop the carriage right now… Aaargh!”

Brushing past the defense force members who were awkwardly waving their spears and hesitating, the carriage rattled away frantically toward the eastern city gate.

“Heh… hehe… Bwahahahaha!!! We really did it!!! Damn, this feels good!!!”

“Brother! It’s dangerous! Please sit down!”

“Kyahaha!!! Run, run! No one can stop us!!!”

As we rattled down the road as if the wheels might break, suddenly I saw several people blocking the path ahead.

Wait a minute. But that’s…

“Austin!!!! You crazy bastard! Stop right now!!!”

Seeing the Hero and her minions shouting at me with all their might and blocking the carriage, I found their appearance quite amusing.

“Fuck off! I’m going to live as I please now! You all can go chase the Demon King!”

“Austin!!!”

I immediately took the reins from Roymen and turned sharply with all my might.

Passing like the wind to the right of them as they stood blocking the middle of the main road, I became even more excited and whipped the reins hard to increase speed.

“Ah~! Run, run!!! Life is beautiful! Everyone get out of the way!!!”

Leaving behind the Hero and her minion women who were staring blankly at us, our carriage was finally able to quickly pass through the empty city gate thanks to Count Albion.

“Finally, freedom!!!”

Let’s go to Metelheim!