Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 10
“Come on, everyone has their own circumstances. Did you forget how we first met Kakaros?”
For a moment, I felt left out of the conversation. But luckily, I could recall what I had read about this in the original novel.
The Black Flame Dragon had set fire to the World Tree, which was responsible for maintaining the balance of the world, and the heinous villain did it for no apparent reason. The World Tree never died, and because the dragon’s black flames never extinguished until they consumed everything, the tree burned eternally.
All the forest sprites abandoned the burning World Tree—except for Kakaros, who remained by its side until the very end. That was how he eventually met the hero’s party.
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Gerard trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words. Kyle took the opportunity to sling an arm around Gerard’s shoulder, grinning brightly.
“We’ve got a big day ahead of us—fighting that wicked Black Flame Dragon. Let’s not waste our energy on trivial matters.”
“Agreed. Now that the healing is done, let’s set off.”
Elonen flashed his usual warm smile. I gave him a small nod in gratitude.
How much longer could I keep deceiving them? If I suddenly ran away now, it would look too suspicious. But continuing to travel with them wasn’t exactly an appealing option, either.
I needed to come up with an alternative plan—fast.
***
The party silently followed Kakaros as we retraced my path back toward the lair. As we neared the area, Kakaros, who was leading the way, glanced around and murmured,
“I can smell it. Something with strong miasma passed through here recently.”
…The culprit was undoubtedly me.
When I first left the lair, I had been terrible at controlling my miasma. To avoid monsters, I had recklessly released it as I moved. The last thing I wanted was to run into something dangerous.
Eventually, I got the hang of suppressing it, but by then, I must have left a significant amount of residual miasma near the entrance.
“Wait, could the Black Flame Dragon have passed through here?”
“If it did, we should have crossed paths with it. But we didn’t see any trace of the dragon.”
At Gerard’s sharp observation, Kyle nodded, then proposed another theory.
“Then maybe it wasn’t the dragon. Maybe there’s another immensely powerful monster hiding nearby.”
Each time they offered new theories, I felt my shoulders tense.
At least they weren’t suspecting me.
…Or so I thought, until Kyle suddenly turned on his heel and looked straight at me.
“Now that I think about it, isn’t this the direction you came from, Lysian? Did you run into any particularly strong monsters while crossing the woods?”
My heart skipped a beat, but I maintained my composure.
“I saw plenty of monsters. But I always hid, so I wouldn’t know.”
I had lied so much that it was starting to come naturally. Not even a flicker of hesitation showed in my expression, and Kyle gave a satisfied nod.
“If Kakaros is this cautious, then this isn’t something to take lightly. Everyone, stay alert.”
The tension spread through the group, and I swallowed hard, pretending to be just as on edge.
“How much further to the lair?”
“We’re almost there. The miasma is getting stronger.”
Kakaros sniffed the air.
I could also sense it. We were very close. Now, I had to figure out how to react when they discovered the empty dragon lair.
Should I pretend to be shocked? But if I were to overreact, it might break the quiet, reserved persona I had been keeping up.
“By the way, have you always been this quiet, Lysian?”
Elonen suddenly approached and interrupted my thoughts with a casual question. It was the innocent yet merciless question that extroverts love to ask introverts.
“…Yeah, I guess.”
“Still, if anything happens, be sure to shout for help. None of us know what dangers might be lurking inside the lair.”
He seemed genuinely concerned. Of course, I had already been there and knew there was nothing to worry about.
“By the way, thanks for earlier. For healing me and everything.”
“Oh, come on, no need to thank me! We promised to protect you, after all. That’s what it means to be a hero, and heroes exist to protect and help those in need. When we face the Black Flame Dragon, Gerard will set up a shield, so stay behind it. If anything happens, just run away alone. Even if we fall, make sure to survive.”
Elonen smiled warmly, as if his words were the most natural thing in the world. But throughout that whole spiel, I could only struggle between guilt and fear. I felt some kind of phantom pain… on my fingers.
They’re clearly and obviously still attached to my hands, but it felt like they’d been cleaved right off…
“I think that’s the entrance.”
At that moment, Kyle spoke up. He was at the forefront of the party while searching for the right path with Kakaros. I took a deep breath and stopped in my tracks.
At last, we had reached the entrance to the lair.
