Chapter 14: Departure

I Became the Secretary of a Hero! — LNCrawler · All chapters

MORNING came after a well-deserved restful sleep. Johann joined the rest of the party in the inn’s lobby where they gathered to discuss the journey ahead. Everyone had their packed bags and travel attire on. They had previously decided to split up the workload and tackle different destinations separately. The lobby brimmed with excitement as everyone was pumped about their respective missions.

“So let me remind everyone of the information one last time before we go,” Aki said, pressing the ball of her pen against her chin as she read off the notes she took as the Hero’s Secretary. “Elias, Leo, Johann, and I are traveling as a group to the Advanced Nations of Academia, where Leo is from, to use Nako’s mirror to quick travel to the Dark Lord’s Castle.”

She looked to Leo who put his hand on his hip and nodded. “Right.”

The Dark Lord’s Castle existed on a remote island far from the mainland. The only way to get there was by long-distance quick travel, which was rarely used, making it a dangerous undertaking. Any spells involving teleportation or transference used more magic the greater the distance.

For that reason, teleporting to the Dark Lord’s Castle carried the risk of appearing at ridiculous coordinates if attempted without utmost precision. One small mistake and they might fall upside down into the middle of the ocean. There was no shortage of stories about botched attempts where people ended up in the oddest locations.

As a measure to increase the probability of success, they decided to rely on the Academy Leo graduated from, and do it in the room dedicated to transference magic located in the magic school.

According to Leo, the room was equipped with many different magic items to increase magical power and supply, and since the school had skilled Mages working as teachers, their assistance would also improve their odds of success.

Deciding to quick travel to the castle by means of the Academy, Elias’s primary party of four set their coordinates for the Advanced Nations of Academia.

“And it’s our job to head to Kingdom’s Royal Library, right?” Louis said, holding the Book of Creation in one hand and sharing a look with Mina beside him.

Written in the ancient script of the Creation Era, the Book of Creation couldn’t be read unless it was deciphered into modern language, so Louis, who was versed in the ancient script, and Mina, who understood more than the rest, were to buckle down in Kingdom’s Royal library and begin the decoding process.

The contents of the book couldn’t be exposed, so Louis was stuck with the unthankful job of translating it without assistance.

Johann stole a look at Louis who was chatting away with Mina over a page. He heard Louis was from a noble family, but it still begged the question of why he was so well-versed in the ancient script that could only be studied by a select group of people. His knowledge put other scholars to shame.

Was his experience wandering the world as a Minstrel really enough to gain the kind of knowledge necessary for a translator?

I doubt Louis is just any Minstrel. There is more to him, as there is to me. I’m certain he has his reasons for traveling with the Hero, and I personally believe we should question him before it is too late, but…from what I have seen of his character, he doesn’t seem to be a bad person.

If anything, the way he handles tough situations with contemplative calm and the grace with which he carries himself makes me think he is of a much higher station than even I originally assumed.

Johann really wanted to dig into Louis’s background, but he realized remaining on good terms with him was currently to Elias’s advantage, and decided to leave him be for now.

Sutcliff, their other mysterious new member, had returned to the Dark Lord’s Castle first thing in the morning before anyone was up. Only a letter expressing his apologies and thanks was left behind. He was responsible for quite a bit of heartache, but it resulted in huge strides for the Hero Party.

He could have chosen a better way of going about it though… Johann thought.

“Okay, guys, I guess this is goodbye for now,” Mina said, her eyes growing watery. Catching her drift, Aki sadly looked down to stop the tears. Mina threw her arms around her. “Be careful not to get hurt while I’m away, okay, Aki? Don’t get depressed if Elias says something contrary or if Leo asks the impossible or Johann gets sarcastic with you!”

“Contrary…” Elias muttered.

Leo burst out laughing, and Johann just shrugged.

What is she saying? I have never been sarcastic with Aki.

Once girl time was over, Elias clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“All right, we each have separate missions to attend to, but we are still members of the Hero Party. If you run into any trouble, make sure to contact another party member immediately, whether through magic or a letter. Let’s make sure we are there for each other,” he declared with an electrifying smile that brightened everyone’s faces and got enthusiastic replies in return.

Hearing that from the man who tried to do everything by himself until yesterday was really encouraging.

The group left the lobby with Elias in the lead, and they exited under the endless blue sky. The radiant sunlight unique to Port City was so dazzling it stung the eyes. The cries of seagulls crossing the sky seemed to be calls of farewell to see them off on the next leg of their journey.

Elias, who was bordered in gold by the sunlight, looked back at his party falling in step behind him. Then, with a confident and radiant smile worthy of the Hero, he said, “Till we next meet, I wish you luck.”

***

“SO I’m stuck with just you lot again…?” Johann sighed as he fixed his vestment’s cuff outside Port City. He looked at the people he was to travel with again: Elias was doing squats to warm-up for potential monster encounters, Leo was yawning and stretching like a lazy cat, and Aki was fidgeting as she still wasn’t used to the Field yet.

…Why does this give me a bad case of déjà vu? It reminded him of the first day he set out on the Field with them.

Perhaps the reason it felt like a lifetime had passed since then was because they had each overcome a variety of personal obstacles that left lasting scars.

Leo stopped doing breathing exercises and flashed them a lopsided grin. “Feels like we’re back at the starting point with this group.”

“It was our first party line up,” Elias said, smiling with his hand resting on the Holy Sword’s pommel.

The biggest change from when they first began their journey and now was that everyone had learned hidden truths about each other and the world. A greater understanding of the world gave them new objectives to pursue.

Even I have changed from the person who was just supposed to be spying on Elias, Johann thought, reflecting on his own growth. Now I am traveling with him as a true member of his party. It’s so freeing.

“How long will it take to arrive at the Advanced Nations of Academia?” Aki asked, cupping her hand over her eyes as she looked out at the never-ending plains.

“Good question. Probably a couple of weeks by foot,” Leo answered.

“A c-couple of weeks? Ugh.” Aki blanched.

Realizing Leo was teasing her, Johann glared at him and took control of the conversation. “Leo, that wasn’t very nice. It will indeed take several weeks if we walk there with our own two feet. However, we are in no position to aimlessly waste time, so we will be borrowing help from Leo’s partner.”

“Leo’s partner… Oh!” Aki clapped her hands together. “You mean Milsheep!”

“That’s the one,” Leo confirmed.

Indeed, crossing the Field in a decent amount of time was best done on the back of a summon beast. Quick traveling was actually the best method, but since they were going to need large amounts of magic to teleport to the Dark Lord’s Castle, they had to reserve their supply.

Milsheep’s feet should cover the distance in a few days, and the danger was minimal at their level.

“Stand back.” Leo gestured with his hands and pulled out his small Grimoire. He rested it on his palm, and it magically opened to the correct page. He closed his eyes, held out his hand, and began drawing the summon circle in the air. “Can you hear my voice calling out to you? Answer me, my contracted friend. Cross the skies to come for me.”

An amused grin lit his face as he held open his hand and an adorable POP cracked the air, followed by a puff of white smoke.

Wind swept away the billowing smoke and returned the scenery to normal, leaving behind a dazed little lamb anxiously looking around with big, round black eyes. As soon as it located its master it let out an adorable bleat.

Summon beasts are cute…

Johann was relatively bad with animals, but he was envious of the pure, loving adoration the little creature gave Leo. Solar Magic was incapable of summoning, so his longing grew even stronger.

Milsheep transformed into her giant form without delay and the boys leaped onto her back with familiar ease.

“You guys good to go?” Leo, who had taken up position at the front of Milsheep, looked back at the rest, his hands sinking into her wool. Even the way each member told him they were ready was like a throwback to their first day out adventuring.

Once he confirmed everyone was seated, Leo swung his hand down in the direction of the plains sprawling into the distance.

“In that case, the Hero Party is departing! Onwards to adventure!”