Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 68

The sea was an emerald so breathtaking it almost looked unreal. Still, I wasn’t eager to jump in. I lingered at the edge of the deck, hesitant, when Elonen reached for my hand.

“Lysian, are you not a good swimmer?”

To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if this body of mine could swim at all.

“The waves aren’t strong, so there’s no need to worry. And even if you sink because you can’t swim, as long as you’re breathing, we can haul you up and keep you alive. So don’t worry.”

Elonen gave what was supposed to be reassurance but felt anything but, tugging me forward.

I let out a deep sigh and reluctantly jumped into the sea. Maybe it was because we were in the north, but the water was so cold it felt like it could stop my heart.

Once everyone swam ashore and climbed up onto the pier, Gerard immediately called the group together.

“If we don’t dry our clothes right away, we’ll catch cold. Everyone, gather over here.”

Gerard lit a fire with magic, and we all huddled around it to dry our soaked clothes.

“So this is the Grand Duchy of Serendal.”

Kyle shook out his damp hair and scanned the surroundings.

“Well, we made it this far somehow… but where do we go now?”

Gerard asked as he looked around beside Kyle. Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to Kakaros.

“Kakaros, where should we—”

Kyle was just about to ask when a commotion started up in the distance.

“What’s that noise?”

Gerard furrowed his brow, listening intently.

Thud-thud-thud-thud. The sound of many feet pounding against the ground, mixed with urgent voices, was drawing closer fast. Instinctively, the party drew their weapons and turned toward the source of the noise.

“Who are those people?”

Kyle narrowed his eyes at the shapes moving between the buildings and let out a faint sigh. At the same time, a crowd came rushing toward us like a rolling storm cloud.

There were maybe thirty of them. Some wore shabby armor and looked like soldiers, but most were ordinary folk clutching farming tools. Sickles, pitchforks, and the like.

They clearly weren’t here to farm the harbor. It seemed they’d gathered to confront the outsiders.

“Why are they coming toward us?”

Elonen hunched his shoulders and asked, but none of us had an answer. We all just blinked back at her.

“Should we just blast them away?”

Gerard muttered as he raised his staff, ready to attack if needed. But the expressions on the approaching faces weren’t hostile. They looked… reverent.

“Th-they’re really here…! The hero’s party has arrived!”

Someone in the crowd shouted. Immediately, the tools—well, ‘weapons’—they’d been holding clattered to the ground as the people dropped to their knees.

“The hero’s party has come to save us!”

The reaction was so unexpected that none of us responded right away. The strange silence that followed was broken first by Kyle.

“How did you know we’re the hero’s party?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we’ve got ‘hero’ written across our foreheads,” Gerard deadpanned.

Elonen touched his own forehead uncertainly, though of course there was no such sign.

Through the murmuring crowd, a woman slowly stepped forward. An older lady, leaning on a staff. Naturally, all eyes turned to her.

“Welcome, hero’s party. We have been waiting for you.”

The unfamiliar woman bowed deeply. Caught off guard, Kyle hesitated before bowing back.

“Thanks for the welcome, but… could you explain what’s going on here?”

“I imagine the sudden gathering must have startled you. I’ll explain everything on the way, if you would kindly follow me.”

Kyle glanced back at us, as if checking our thoughts. Meeting his eyes, I gave a small, unsure nod.

Following her didn’t seem dangerous, and someone had to answer the questions piling up in our heads.

“Lead the way,” Kyle said.

The woman turned, and we followed behind her.

“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Mildred. I’m also the only witch in Serendal.”

“A witch?”

Surprise flickered across Gerard’s face.

“I thought the witches had all vanished…”

“Yes. Which makes me the last one left,” Mildred replied with a faint smile.

At this point, it felt like a good time to recall what I’d read about witches. Witches were similar to mages but tended to specialize in herbalism, astrology, and various kinds of sorcery.

Somehow I couldn’t remember critical details but retained useless bits like this.

“Is this your first time in Serendal?”

Though the hero’s party had traveled far and wide collecting the legendary weapons, this was indeed their first visit to the Grand Duchy of Serendal.

“Well, yeah. We’ve never had a reason to come this way before.”

Kyle’s answer drew another soft smile from Mildred as she slowly led us deeper into the village.