Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 110
* * *
I forced the food down my throat just to survive. Do these dwarves even have something like a cook?
The bread was as hard as a rock, and the stew was bland, like it had no seasoning at all.
“The food doesn’t suit your taste?”
At Kyle’s question, I clicked my tongue quietly.
“I’m eating it anyway because I’m hungry.”
“When we get out of here, I’ll buy you something good. Just hang in there a little.”
Since yesterday, Kyle had been acting relaxed, as if he believed in something. Meanwhile, I was anxious to death. He was supposed to be the hero, shouldn’t he just beat everyone up and get us out of here?
Then it happened. A familiar voice echoed from deep within the cave.
“Hey, let go of me! I said I’ll walk on my own, seriously!”
It was Gerard’s irritated grumbling. Kyle jumped to his feet and hurried to the door.
“See? I told you they’d come to get us.”
I quickly moved beside him and peered through the narrow window. Soon, a bright lantern light appeared in the distance.
“Gerard!”
As soon as Kyle shouted, Gerard came running down the stairs. When he saw Kyle locked inside the cell, his eyes widened.
“What, you were here?”
We thought they came to rescue us, but it looked like they’d been captured too. The others, dragged in tightly bound, were shoved into the cell and only then released from their restraints.
“It’s really good to see you again.”
Kyle said with a genuinely relieved face, patting Gerard on the shoulder. Behind him stood a tired Elonen and Kakaros, who had returned to human form.
“Lysian, you’re safe.”
For some reason, Gerard looked extremely happy. He ran up to me and suddenly pulled me into a tight hug.
“W-What?”
Kyle looked even more startled than I was and reflexively grabbed Gerard’s shoulder, pulling him back.
“I’m glad nothing happened to you.”
It was strange. Gerard was welcoming me like this.
“Lysian, are you hurt anywhere? Are you alright?”
Gerard was looking me over from head to toe when Elonen hurried over and joined in.
It was odd how worried they all seemed about me. Did they think I dropped dead or something?
“I’m perfectly fine. Not a scratch.”
“As expected, you’re not someone who’d die that easily.”
Gerard said, lightly patting my shoulder.
So they really thought I might’ve died. Even if I look like a weakling, that was a bit unfair.
“By the way, what happened? Did you two also get dragged here after being told you’d be treated to a banquet? I thought you’d beat up all the dwarves and show up,” Kyle asked lightly, joking as if to ease the mood.
“A banquet? What are you talking about? They said they saw other humans, so we came just in case.”
It seemed they hadn’t even met Dierko, and without knowing whether the humans the dwarves mentioned were us or not, they simply followed along.
“You came straight here without meeting the king?”
“There’s a king too? A dwarf king?”
Elonen asked with great interest. Kyle hesitated for a moment, unsure how to explain Dierko.
“These ones are a race we call the ‘Borbo’.”
At that moment, Kakaros cut into the conversation. He had been so quiet that everyone turned to him in surprise.
“In fact, they used to live near the forest where the World Tree of my homeland stands.”
“Oh, right. Now that you mention it, Ziggs said something like that yesterday. They used to live in another mine, but they were driven out by the Black Flame Dragon’s tyranny and came here.”
“As expected, the Black Flame Dragon is never absent from stories like this.”
There was no need to point that out, but Gerard muttered in a voice laced with suppressed anger.
“Then maybe we can persuade them. We’ll defeat the Black Flame Dragon for them, and in return they can release us and return to their old mine.”
“I actually wanted to resolve this peacefully too.”
Kyle agreed, as if pleased by the suggestion. But Kakaros’s expression darkened.
“The Borbo are not a race that listens to reason.”
I had never seen Kakaros show any fondness for anyone except Kyle, but this was the first time he had openly shown hostility toward an entire race.
“Their territory may have been trampled by the Black Flame Dragon, but the Borbo were always as greedy as the dragon itself, and they constantly interfered with us.”
Kakaros muttered with a face full of long-held prejudice. The party grew serious after hearing him.
“Then it can’t be helped. We’ll just beat them all up and escape,” Gerard said, cracking his neck from side to side.
