Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 80
“Then does that mean the Blood Demon might already be dead? The Black Flame Dragon could’ve fought it and killed it already. And then settled there.”
“Or it could’ve gone into hibernation. That’s something no one knows.”
At the lich’s vague information, everyone wore puzzled expressions.
“What if we go all the way there and the Black Flame Dragon isn’t there, and we just end up wasting our strength fighting the Blood Demon?”
Gerard’s words had a point. Their goal was the Black Flame Dragon, not dealing with other monsters.
“But we could still obtain a sacred relic. Either way, if the Black Flame Dragon is gathering relics, it’ll help draw it out.”
No one argued with Kyle’s opinion. It wasn’t like they had a better plan.
“Still, we don’t have much time left. How long would it take to get there?”
As if he’d been waiting for that question, Kakaros stepped forward.
“If we take the fastest route, about a week. But we can’t go on foot the whole way. Once we cross the snow mountains, we’ll have to ride horses.”
“We have to cross snow mountains?”
Snow mountains. Come to think of it, I’d forgotten this was the northern region.
Kyle frowned as if thoroughly sick of it and asked again. From what I’d seen before, he didn’t even like getting rained on, so it seemed he hated snow mountains too.
“If we don’t, we’ll have to take a long detour.”
“Since the destination is roughly decided, how about we return to the Grand Duke’s castle and discuss the rest there? It’s already this late.”
Elonen said while looking around at the pitch-dark surroundings. We’d been so focused on fighting the lich that we hadn’t noticed, but only a fingernail-sized moon was hanging in the sky. It was deep in the night.
“There’s something I think everyone’s forgotten about.”
At that moment, Derek, whom everyone had forgotten, suddenly cut into the conversation.
“I want you to take care of the curse on my father first.”
“Ah, right. That’s true. The lich promised that, so it’ll be resolved properly.”
Elonen turned to look at the lich as if it were obvious. The lich bowed its head deeply, like a condemned criminal, and answered.
“Yes, I’ll do exactly as instructed. And as soon as the curse is lifted, I’ll destroy the dungeon and leave the Grand Duchy.”
That settled the matter of the Grand Duke’s castle as well. Having exhausted themselves fighting the lich, the party decided to return to the castle.
“Now that I think about it, I’m starting to get hungry.”
Kyle, who had fought the hardest, muttered while rubbing his stomach. He wasn’t the type to complain about being hungry first, so judging by that, he really must’ve been starving.
“When we return to the castle, I’ll have a meal prepared.”
Derek, who had once again stuck close to my side, said generously.
“My father will be overjoyed when he wakes up and will fuss over us in all kinds of ways. I want to hurry back and talk with him.”
Derek quickened his pace, eager to see his father restored to health.
“By the way, something I’ve been curious about for a while now is why the Black Flame Dragon is gathering sacred relics.”
Elonen murmured quietly from the very back of the group.
“Who knows. Maybe it has a wish it wants to make.”
Gerard answered carelessly, as if it were nothing, but Elonen’s puzzled expression didn’t ease.
A wish the Black Flame Dragon wanted to make… Suddenly, I was curious too. Why had the Black Flame Dragon been gathering sacred relics so diligently?
I came up with two hypotheses. Either it had a wish to make, like Gerard said, or it was being manipulated by the Dark God.
After all, the lich had said it was gathering relics to resurrect the Dark God. If the Black Flame Dragon was truly being controlled by the Dark God, then it would’ve been working toward the same goal.
“By the way, there aren’t any monsters now, so shouldn’t you walk a little farther away?”
Kyle said as he grabbed Derek’s shoulder, who was practically clinging to my chest, and moved him aside. Then he stuck close to me and threw an arm around my shoulders.
Derek scrunched up his face in dissatisfaction, but he didn’t shove Kyle away and come back to my side.
“Lysian, aren’t you tired?”
“I haven’t really done anything tiring.”
While everyone else was busy doing their part, all I’d done was get protected. That actually made me feel a bit guilty, like I’d burdened them instead.
“If anything, aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be tired, Kyle?”
“What, are you worried about me now?”
Seeing his reaction, the concern I’d felt immediately faded.
“You look fine. Worry canceled.”
I nudged Kyle’s arm aside and moved ahead.
“Hey, don’t cancel it!”
Kyle hurried to catch up beside me and shouted, but I didn’t take back the cancellation.
