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

BAD END: Thief (1)

Adel had lived a long time.

Her exact age wasn’t known.

In the game itself, it was never specifically mentioned, and she herself said she had stopped counting long ago.

However, what was known was that she had been alive even before the 19th hero appeared.

And her birth had been quite wretched.

A cursed region, a cursed race, a cursed era.

She was born with all three of these in harmony.

Her homeland was a demonic wasteland teeming with monsters, humanity hated the Dark Elf race itself, and to make matters worse, that era was when the Demon King’s army was at its peak.

Her parents met their end fighting monsters at a tender age.

From the moment she was born, her life was set to hardcore difficulty.

Even so, the fact that she managed to grow and become a member of a hero’s party was quite remarkable.

Anyway.

It was only natural that she would witness the world’s darker aspects.

Having lived a long time, she met so many. Most were wretched humans.

Humans who shot arrows at her simply because she was a dark elf, a human woman who showed hostility even after being rescued, slave hunters who persecuted her but still lusted after her looks.

In those days, dark elves were a race that couldn’t mingle anywhere.

The dark elves’ hatred for humans was not without reason.

As she was persecuted, she pondered many questions.

What was the reason for their persecution?

Simply because they were dark elves? No, she didn’t want to believe it was just that reason.

Because her race was born in a demonic wasteland? But her race was clearly different from monsters.

Because there were rumors they were allied with the demon king’s army? There were indeed some of her kin who joined the demon king’s army due to persecution. But they were clearly a minority; as a whole, the race was an enemy of the demon king’s army.

If there had been no such persecution in the first place, no one would have joined the demon king’s army.

In summary, there was no rational basis for their ostracism.

It was a common error of generalization, a tragic consequence created by prejudice.

Around that time, the kind of hero Adel desired was decided.

It didn’t matter how brave, wise, or strong they were.

At the very least, she wished for someone who treated people without prejudice. Someone who saw people equally, someone who viewed the world without tinted lenses.

Such a thought did not waver, not even through the changing of two champions.

So flowed the river of time.

The Dark Elf, once a child, had become a fully-fledged archer and rogue. She earned merits when the Demon Lord’s army surged forth, and played her part in helping to build villages for others.

With such renown accrued, becoming a party member of the next Hero was but a swift affair.

…Though, of course, that Hero she met was the absolute worst.

One glance was enough to see his very soul steeped in darkness. He even went so far as to learn black magic halfway through. Frankly, one doubted if he was a true Hero at all.

From the start, was it even conceivable for a Hero to possess a soul so dark?

It was her unique gift, forged through decades of observing people.

Generally, the darker the soul’s hue, the higher the probability of malevolence. She staunchly believed her gift could not be wrong.

A Hero learning black magic was simply unthinkable.

No matter how much it aided in battle, were there not a multitude of other ways?

A Hero should also be mindful of their reputation, so to deliberately learn black magic was beyond her comprehension.

From the outset, she held little fondness for black magic.

It was among the prejudices that had persecuted her own kind, and often those who hunted her were connected to it in some way.

Thus, it was only natural that she cast a jaundiced eye upon black magic.

Yet, unbeknownst to her,

she, who loathed prejudice more than anyone, had unwittingly donned those very tinted lenses herself.

The result was all but foretold.

*

“Cough, cough…!”

The day after Adel stabbed the Hero with the curse-laden dagger.

The Hero’s condition took a marked turn for the worse. Naturally. It was, after all, a blade forged for that very purpose.

The edge was comparatively weak, unable to penetrate deep into the organs, but it was laden with countless curses.

It was only his robust constitution that allowed him to remain somewhat functional; normally, he wouldn’t even be able to support his own weight.

“H-Hero? Is something the matter?”

“What is it? Luke!”

Noticing the Hero’s suddenly weakened state, Yulis and Lily rushed to his side in alarm.

They must have heard about the events of the previous night. Their expressions hardened considerably, and Adel could feel their glances upon her.

The attention stung slightly, but Adel paid it no mind.

For this was a deed begun to save them both, after all.

Even then, Adel believed them to be enthralled by the Hero’s influence.

Thus, if she could only deal with the Hero, rescuing them would certainly be within reach.

Of course, now outmatched in strength, she could not hope to defeat the Hero in combat. But to pester him, to disrupt him, to perhaps reverse the enthrallment… that much she could surely manage.

Even if she were to die in the process, it would not matter. She would expose the Hero’s true nature for all the world to see.

“Um… Adel-ssi. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“That’s right! We can explain everything!”

Of course, Yulis and Lily intervened, attempting to persuade her.

Everything she believed was a misunderstanding, they claimed. They couldn’t explain everything, but there were extenuating circumstances.

Explanations were offered, but Adel believed none of it. Even this felt like something the Hero had commanded them to do.

The subsequent events were, well… predictable. Already exhausted by the curse, Luke was further tormented by Adel. Attempts at covert nighttime intrusions, thinly veiled threats, and the like.

Even so, perhaps because Luke’s wariness had heightened, successes were few and far between.

From halfway on, Yulis and Lily even joined the guard duty, blocking him completely.

Around that time, the party’s atmosphere became starkly divided.

Yulis and Lily, siding with the Hero.

And Adelle and Camilla, a duo hostile to said Hero.

“Perfect timing. I’ve always suspected him. If that hunch is actually true… we no longer have reason to tolerate him.”

Camilla was easily swayed to their side once Adelle approached and persuaded her.

It seemed she hadn’t been completely brainwashed yet.

“Um, the truth is…”

Yulis came at one point, relaying new information. That they had already lost to the Four Heavenly Kings and regressed in time, and that the Hero carried a curse related to fate.

Even their own animosity was all manipulated, he claimed.

Adelle scoffed.

Hmph, so the Hero couldn’t persuade me, and now he’s spewing utterly absurd nonsense.

And so, in this state of cold war, they continued their journey, until one day…

“I can’t live like this anymore.”

The Hero himself came to find Adelle.

“Let’s please stop fighting.”

“You… are you finally admitting your faults?”

“No, sigh. That’s not it, shouldn’t we cooperate? At the very least, we need to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings, right?”

What Luke offered was a proposition.

The party atmosphere, well, it was already thoroughly smashed to smithereens, but the understanding was that they would cooperate at least until the Third Heavenly King fell. What came after, they’d worry about later.

“Hmm…”

At this juncture, Adel fell into a moment of deliberation. For, in any case, his words held truth.

What ulterior motives he might be brewing, she still couldn’t fathom, but nonetheless, taking down a Heavenly King demanded temporary alliance.

Therefore, she reluctantly accepted Luke’s proposition.

After that, well… nothing particularly eventful occurred.

The party’s atmosphere remained in its frosty stalemate, but at least they managed to coordinate during battle.

Perhaps it was due to the years they had spent honing their teamwork. Thankfully, no major issues arose during combat.

Evan, the Heavenly King, wasn’t one to keep many monsters near his castle in the first place.

Thanks to this, they encountered Evan without much difficulty.

There, in the center of the vast chamber, Evan stood wielding a single blade.

“You’ve come.”

He spoke, addressing the Hero’s party.

“Let us begin at once. I have waited far too long.”

And so, the battle commenced. Even this far, all was well enough.

His sword was sharp and fierce, but it wasn’t as if her party members were sluggish.

They could react, somehow. The opponent was equally swift, but they could apply pressure if need be.

Therefore, the battle unfolded in a rather tight, nail-biting fashion.

…At least, until the midway point.

“…Forgive me. But the fight ends here, I’m afraid.”

It was instantaneous.

If one were to measure it in time, it would be the duration of a blink.

No, even shorter than that, a fleeting moment in the truest sense.

In the time it took to think “Ah!” everyone but Adel herself had their necks severed.

*Fsshhht-*!

Four crimson fountains erupted into the void.

Four heads rolled upon the floor.

It had happened so suddenly that Adel wondered if she were hallucinating.

But the metallic scent seeping into her nostrils, the horrifying twitches of posthumous spasms, all screamed that this was real.

There, alive, she was the only one.

It was from then on.

That her tedious, excruciatingly still days began…

*

“Nay, hold, hold a moment.”

“Hmn? Why, why do you say so…?”

Mid-tale, I cut her off, interrupting her flow.

I understood that she had performed a monumental troll. I also understood that I had suffered because of it.

But if what I had heard was correct.

Didn’t that mean, in the end, she’d reached even the Four Heavenly Kings without incident?

Frankly, from where I stood, having heard tragedy for the third time now.

It was an exceptionally palatable situation. Nay, quite pleasing, to be frank.

For when Yulis or Adel regressed, their bodies always bore some sort of defect. This time, however, neither had my lifespan been diminished, nor had I permanently offered up my flesh.

And yet, I lost?

…Vanquished in a single blow, even?

“Tell me again, how did I perish just now?”

“W-well, you see… your neck was severed… instant death.”

“And you’re saying the necks of my other party members were severed as well? All in one fell swoop?”

“Aye. It happened faster than the blink of an eye…”

“Humph.”

I released a sigh that was less air, more disbelief.

The blink of an eye, perhaps a tenth of a second. Nay, even that felt generous.

Adel, a being as keen as she is, hadn’t even perceived it, they said.

And yet, in that sliver of time, every head had fallen.

I cursed inwardly.

*’Shibal, what in the hell was that.’*

Just *how* did they manage it?