The World After Leaving the Hero’s Party

“Stop stepping on the floor, you trashy rodents.”

One of the monster’s attacks involved cursing the floor. This caused a continuous damage-dealing debuff. Any decent player would avoid stepping on it, but these two stomped around heedlessly as they fought.

It had nearly made me throw up from all the healing I had to do.

Granted, it did contribute to my counter for the “Healing Master” achievement, but that didn’t make it any less exhausting.

“Hey, Sage, was that a bit harsh?!”

Had I really been that harsh? I reflected for a moment and then came to a conclusion.

“It’s fine to curse at people who step on the floor while I’m healing them.”

They should be grateful I didn’t slap them across the face.

“Tch.”

While we bickered, the Lizardman began to gather up the tentacles.

As he pocketed the broken, arrow-riddled tentacles, the warrior pouted and grumbled.

“Ugh. Guess I won’t get any extra reward money.”

“We completed the request, isn’t that enough? Human woman, you’re far too greedy.”

“What would a lizard like you know?”

The Lizardman, annoyed by her scoff, slammed his tail on the ground with dissatisfaction. Meanwhile, I moved past the defeated monster to inspect the wall.

“Sage, what are you looking at so intently?” she asked.

“I’m just checking something.”

I had no real interest in the tentacles we’d collected as quest items. Even if I didn’t claim the reward, the quest would still be marked complete, and I’d accumulate the points needed for achievements in the process.

This was what mattered.

“Sage, what’s this image that has captivated you so?”

The Lizardman, making his way over with a soft hissing sound, glanced at the wall alongside me.

Drawn on the wall was a grotesque creature with nine tentacles. The female warrior, having gathered every last tentacle and loaded her bag to the brim, approached us.

“Ah, come on, let’s go already. I’m exhausted. Hey, Lizard, Sage, what do you say to a drink tonight?”

Ignoring her temptation, I kept studying the creature painted on the wall until I found what I was looking for.

“What’s that?”

When I pressed a hidden switch on one side of the mural, a concealed mechanism activated, releasing a small gemstone that dropped to the ground.

The gem was stained a deep blood-red, like the moon in the night sky.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“A new discovery.”

“As agreed, this one’s mine.”

Before entering this dungeon, I’d negotiated with my party members. They could keep all the quest rewards, while any hidden discoveries were mine to take.

Since my main goals were the quest points and this gem, I had no reason to complain.

The warrior glanced between her overstuffed bag and the red gem in my hand, then snickered.

“Well… we did agree on that, but now that I see it…”

“Now that you see it, what?”

“Well, as an appraiser, it looks like that gem’s not worth much. Maybe I should take a couple of extra tentacles as compensation. Go on, take them.”

“…Uh. No, that won’t be necessary.”

I’d been ready to counter her betrayal if it came to that, but maybe I’d misjudged her.

If she’d tried to betray me over this, I would have cursed her and struck first, but it didn’t seem like she’d go that far.

“What’s with that look? Did you think I’d try to take that gem too? Oh, Sage, you’re too much~ I’m not that greedy.”

Smiling brightly, she took a step closer. With a waft of sweat from the battle, her scent tickled my nose.

“Of course, I do have plenty of desires in bed. Ahh, seeing those tentacles has left me feeling hot and bothered. Who’s going to take care of me tonight?”

I expected this. In past parties, I’d struggled to deal with her amorous advances. She’d tried to seduce adventurers mindlessly at the guild—me included.

“You pathetic, lustful human. Go indulge in pointless mating elsewhere,” scoffed the Lizardman, banging his tail on the ground again.

He clearly wanted to leave quickly.

Just entering a dungeon caused stress and anxiety to mount. Though the Lizardman had high physical abilities, he was vulnerable to psychological stress, which was starting to get to him.

At his reaction, the warrior’s lascivious expression twisted into irritation.

“You’ve been getting on my nerves for a while now.”

“Hmph. You’ve been getting on mine since the beginning.”

“Oh, really?”

The warrior pointed her axe at him with a cruel smile, and the Lizardman raised his bow.

A few simple words had led to drawn weapons, likely spurred by the ominous red light from the gem and the pressure of the dungeon setting.

Seeing where this was headed, I grabbed the lute slung over my back.

—Ding~

A soft tone from the lute’s strings drifted through the air, reaching the ears of the Lizardman and the warrior.

It was a stress-relief skill, one of the musician’s abilities.

If I’d left them alone, they would’ve just kept arguing, and it would probably have escalated into an all-out brawl.

Not wanting to witness that mess, I finished my tune, and they lowered their weapons, chuckling instead.

“Hahaha! Out of tune! Out of tune, he says!”

“…So this is human music? I think there was a mistake, but it was still nice.”

I had indeed flubbed a few notes, leading to some dissonance, but the effect itself wasn’t bad.

Though helping to manage their stress had raised my stress, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

“Let’s head out.”

When I slung the lute back over my shoulder, they nodded, and we began our exit from the dungeon. After hanging back for a moment, I slipped the blood-red gemstone into my pocket.

“Oh, Sage, what’s that gem anyway?” she asked.

“It’s a safeguard against a looming threat. But it doesn’t concern you two much, so you don’t need to worry. I’ll handle it.”

“If you ask for it, Sage, I would be willing to assist you,” the Lizardman offered.

I merely smiled at him. Realizing my smile was a refusal, he flicked his long tail, while the warrior stifled a giggle.

I stole a quick glance at the pouch holding the gem.

Right.

This is preparation for an event that has nothing to do with you two.

On the way back to the guild, I listened to various chatter from the warrior and the Lizardman.

Things like the state of the battlefield, or how Leventia, a former member of the Hero’s Party, was fighting like a berserker.

How the Hero seemed to have changed.

And how Evangeline, the elf archer, had suddenly disappeared from the battlefield.

Useless information, for the most part.

Unable to gain anything noteworthy from the chatter at the guild either, I declined the adventurers’ invitations to hang out and returned to the palace.

As I walked through the garden, I had a casual conversation with Lucille, who’d been waiting for me, having completed the assignments I’d given her. I taught her a few things, and that marked the end of today’s lessons.

Thankfully, she was picking things up faster than I expected.

By the time evening rolled around, I returned to my quarters to rest.

Just then, a knight approached, her face anxious.

“Sa-Sage!”

“Hmm?”

It was a female knight from the Lily Order. Her face was pale as she panted, speaking in a low, urgent tone.

“It’s… it seems there’s been an incident on the battlefield where the Hero is fighting. General Leoden is requesting the wisdom of the Sage…”

At her hurried report, I felt a shift in my thoughts, and without thinking, I found myself fingering the gem I’d acquired earlier.

“They say new monsters—creatures we’ve never seen before—have suddenly appeared on the battlefield. They’re requesting that you visit the front and offer counsel, Sage.”

New monsters.

A new dungeon.

And the first signs of the ‘Pale Moon’ event, an opportunity for some excellent items and a few valuable achievements, were starting to spread from the battlefield.