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

“The Mollarod Mountain Range.”

Mollarod. It sounded like something about not knowing the way, and the name itself was quite unusual.

“The snow mountain we’re heading to is at the edge of the Mollarod Range. It’s an enormous mountain range that stretches across the continent. It also serves as the boundary that divides the continent into east and west.”

At Kakaros’s explanation, Kyle clapped his hands even louder. Startled by the sudden sound, Elonen, who had been sitting quietly, flinched.

“Then that’s good. It means we’re going along a route we’ve already taken.”

“Do you really think so? You must not remember how much we suffered back then.”

Gerard’s grumbling wasn’t anything new, but somehow this didn’t seem like something to take lightly.

And more than anything, I really hated the cold. I didn’t like scorching heat either, but compared to a cold wave, extreme heat was still better.

Walking through a raging snowstorm while buried under thick clothes. Just imagining it was exhausting already.

“I hate the cold.”

I muttered quietly, but Kyle somehow heard it and placed a hand on my shoulder, patting it.

“If you wear clothes with the insulation magic Gerard casts, it won’t be that cold.”

“My magic isn’t free.”

Gerard grumbled from behind, but the party didn’t pay any attention, as if they were used to it.

“Come to think of it, our winter clothes are stored in the subspace, right? Then we just need to get some for Lysian.”

They had already traveled to many places and built up a lot of experience together. Being among a group like this suddenly made me feel out of place.

I found myself thinking again about the reason I had decided to travel with them.

Originally, I had intended to learn more about the magic stones and the Dark God who was distributing them. But being with the party, including Kyle, somehow made me forget that goal.

“I should ask Derek if he can lend us some winter clothes. Since this is the north, they’ll obviously have thick winter gear.”

The moment Derek’s name came up, Kyle’s eyebrows twisted in an odd way.

“But that Grand Duke’s son is strangely interested in you, Lysian.”

“Does that bother you? Why do you even care about that?”

Just as Gerard said, I didn’t understand why Kyle cared about something like that, but he seemed unable to let it go.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’ll be seeing him again anyway.”

Even Elonen said that.

But in the end, Kyle’s stubbornness couldn’t be overcome, so he came along when we went to get winter clothes from Derek. Fortunately, Derek didn’t bring up anything unnecessary related to the Black Flame Dragon.

After receiving the winter clothes I would use, the hero’s party began preparing to leave the Grand Ducal Castle.

“We are deeply grateful for your hospitality. We rested very comfortably.”

Elonen spoke politely on behalf of the group to the Grand Duke, and the rest of us standing behind him followed with our greetings.

“The honor was ours, being able to host the hero’s party. Please visit again anytime.”

“Yes, you have to keep your promise to come back.”

Following the Grand Duke’s words, Derek held onto my hand and spoke until the very end. There was such deep regret in his eyes.

“I’ll keep my promise, so don’t worry.”

When I bent down to meet Derek’s eyes, he suddenly kissed my cheek. It was brief, just a light touch, but it was more than enough to startle me.

“That’s enough farewells. Let’s go.”

Frowning, Kyle grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away.

Leaving behind both unease and lingering regret, the party set off on their new journey.

“The Grand Duke’s brat really is sly to the very end.”

Kyle muttered beside me, but the others didn’t pay much attention. Even I didn’t think much of it.

It was more accurate to say I didn’t have the time to worry about such things, because I was too busy thinking about what dangers might be waiting in the Ruins of the Fallen Kingdom.

* * *

Contrary to my worries, the road toward the snow mountains was smoother than expected.

After walking along a cliff of sheer rock and then through a forest that had already become familiar, we soon saw a mountain covered entirely in white snow.

“It’s much higher and steeper than I expected.”

I muttered as I looked up at the endlessly rising snowy peaks. The cliff we had crossed just yesterday had looked exactly like this.

“It’ll be dark soon, so let’s spend the night in the forest and climb the snow mountain tomorrow.”

At Kyle’s decision, everyone agreed without objection.

While Gerard skillfully lit a campfire, Kakaros checked the sleeping arrangements, and Elonen prepared dinner. Meanwhile, Kyle was walking around the base of the snow mountain, surveying the terrain.

Everyone was naturally taking charge of their own tasks as if they were used to it, so I didn’t know what I should be doing.

The only ones who were relatively kind to me were Kyle and Elonen, but cooking wasn’t their strong suit. So I ended up trailing behind Kyle for no real reason.