I Became the Porter of a Somewhat Strange Hero Party

29 – Naming (1)

Ser-Aria seemed to be misunderstood in many ways. It was definitely a situation that could be easily misunderstood. Even if I were in her position, I would have thought the same.

As I wondered how to explain this, I remembered that Ser-Aria knows that I obtained the artifact.

Ah, just as I was thinking that I should explain, Letisha spoke up.

“…I-I just got scared and hid. I was afraid that there might be a misunderstanding…”

Letitia came out from behind me. And she immediately explained to the misunderstood Cér-Aria.

“I really didn’t do anything. I was just with him because something happened yesterday…”

“What happened? Letitia, this isn’t right.”

Cér-Aria, who usually spoke with a playful voice after drinking, spoke in a very serious tone that didn’t suit her at all.

“Is it okay to be like this with Erin?”

Erin?

I don’t know why Erin’s name suddenly came up. It was puzzling, but Cér-Aria’s expression was so serious that I hesitated to ask what was going on.

And Letitia also spoke naturally, as if that reaction was obvious.

“So, it’s not something to be misunderstood. Aria knows it too. Allen… gained magic power in the Lizard Road Dungeon.”

“…Hmm?”

The serious expression on Ser-Aria’s face just a moment ago suddenly softened. She alternated her gaze between me and Letisia, then spoke as if she had realized something.

“Ah, the artifact?”

“…Yes, that’s it.”

“Did you learn magic by any chance?”

“Hmm.”

I nodded, and Letisia gestured with her index finger on her lips, signaling to speak quietly.

“Shh, Aria, let’s talk quietly. Other people don’t know. Allen asked us to keep it a secret…”

“Ohh~! I was so surprised. It could have been misunderstood.”

“That’s why I said it’s not like that.”

“Ahahahaha, sorry!”

Sera-Aria looked very cool, scratching her cheek with her fingers and making an awkward smile. Though she misunderstood, I didn’t feel like blaming her as it was a misunderstanding.

“I’m going to talk to Erin separately.”

“Oh, yeah. Go ahead. So, where did you find Leticia?”

“Aria, you came over here on your own, right? Then let’s say you were sprawled in a corner of the corridor, drunk.”

“hahahahaha, that’s an interesting excuse!”

I’m glad that the misunderstanding was cleared up. I almost became the guy who got caught touching one of the party members. If that story had reached Erin’s ears…

“…Just imagining it makes me cringe.”

I might have been subject to all kinds of wrath.

“Then let’s go quickly. If we stay here, misunderstandings will arise.”

“All right.”

Leticia followed Cyril-Aria’s opinion and left the room. As I absentmindedly watched the two of them leave, Leticia turned her head slightly and looked at me.

Then she seemed to say something with her mouth. What is she saying?

“…next time?”

I could only understand the words “next time.” It seemed like a story about having another class next time. I lightly nodded, and when I did, Leticia quickly turned her head back and looked ahead again.

Leticia and Cyril-Aria went out, and the room became quiet again. I recalled the things she had shown me last night.

I should try this alone again. Thorough review is important in any study.

If we roughly summarize what Letitia showed yesterday, it was about how to create circles and form a force. And the process of completing it as a single magic.

First, drawing out mana and creating small points, forming circles. It was like lightly gathering them as if dotting small points on a blank white canvas.

And then, these circles are arranged at regular intervals. As a result, the circles are connected by each mana, and they start to interact with each other. That is what we call force.

“Well…”

Let’s transform a completed force into magic. Since only one force has entered, this is a 1-circle magic. Concentrating a little, I transformed the shape of the force and composed it into a single magic circle.

-[Explosion] is activated.

Boom, the magic left my hand and exploded in the air. Contrary to its name, [Explosion], it wasn’t that powerful. It made a light sound, similar to a balloon popping.

“Oh.”

I was able to do it. Just by following the instructions, I succeeded, and seeing my success, I can feel how thoroughly Letitia showed me those processes yesterday.

In truth, First Circle magic is the basis of all magic, and compared to my magical stat of 100, this level of magic is incredibly low.

With a magical stat of around 100, I should be at the level of a Third Circle mage. If I had failed, it could have been strange. The Hidden Piece, which allowed me to obtain such a powerful magical stat in an instant, was truly an incredible item.

“Still, I succeeded…”

“…Impressive.”

“It’s nothing special… aaah!”

I cried out in surprise. I don’t know when he appeared, but right beside me, Doddger was clapping his hands in admiration.

When did he come in… No, I didn’t even hear the sound of him entering the room!

From the moment Letizia spotted Kael, she remembered being very worried about him. Even without saying anything, he seemed to be an assassin.

“Real rats and birds could have died without knowing it.”

She was secretly grateful to Letizia once again.

“Oh, but….”

I screamed. What if Dokgeo heard screams and imagined all kinds of harm?

But contrary to my thoughts, Dokgeo did not cry. He just talked, tilting his head.

“… When did you get your magic?”

“Huh…?”

“…… You didn’t have it originally.”

Just what kind of magic could a porter possess? Naturally, doubts couldn’t help but arise.

“Well…”

It’s already been exposed to four people…

I explained the concept of self-sacrifice to the porter. He seemed to understand as he nodded.

“…Alan, you’re kind.”

“I just thought I should properly fulfill one person’s share for now, that’s all…”

“…. Many people don’t think that way.”

Is that so?

It is true. Just looking at group projects, there are plenty of kids who somehow manage to only do half the work or even none and still try to mooch off others.

When I think about it, maybe Doggeo’s words are right.

Doggeo looked at me silently and spoke.

“…Leticia, have you seen her?”

“…Aria went looking for her earlier. She was in this hallway, I think.”

“…I see.”

It seems like Doggeo didn’t come across Leticia and Ser-Aria on their way back. Doggeo sighed lightly as if relieved and looked at me, like a young child with something they wish for.

“…?”

Curious about why, I stared at him quietly, and Doggeo whispered subtly.

“…Kind Allen said he would go to the library with me today… Did you forget?”

“…I did, actually. I just remembered. Such a kind Allen calling me… It was an overwhelming title.”

Still, not wanting to disappoint, I added to the story so as not to cry.

“I promised to give you a name.”

“…Okay.”

I stood up from my seat. Now that it had come to this, I would have to practice magic another time… First, I needed to take care of what I had promised.

“So, when do we leave?”

“…Either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“I hope we leave in the evening….”

“……Why?”

“Ah, well…”

No, best not to say anything unnecessary. She might be surprised and get nervous for nothing.

I purposely hid the part about Kael from Dowgo, instead I had to make an excuse.

“Is it because of something uncomfortable at the palace?”

“…… Huh?”

“I guess you got used to the inn.”

“I see.”

In truth, of course, the palace would be comfortable even for me. The facilities gap is ridiculous; how could it be uncomfortable?

“Let’s go to the library for now.”

“…Okay.”

Sera-Aria returned to Erin with Leticia. Erin, who had clearly said that she would also look for Leticia separately, was inexplicably in her own room.

“Erin, I found her!”

Erin said, looking at Leticia coming with Sera-Aria.

“Where did you go~?”

“I fell asleep in the corridor! hahahahaha!”

“Corridor?” Erin asked, and Leticia spoke as if she had been prepared with her words.

“I woke up a bit early yesterday because I was feeling restless… I thought it was the area where the girls’ rooms are, so I went to the area where the boys’ rooms are.”

“It was lucky that there were no guests there, it could have been a big problem!”

“Yeah, you’re right. We need to be more careful.”

“…Hmm?”

Erin said,

“Leticia.”

“Yes?”

“There’s no need to lie.”

“…Huh?”

“… Huh?”

Ser-Aria and Leticia’s expressions stiffened slightly at Erin’s words. Erin gazed at the two of them quietly.

“You were with Allen, right?”

“…!”

“Well, wait, Erin. That’s a misunderstanding….”

“What misunderstanding?”

Leticia and Ser-Aria became very serious. It was clear that Erin thought Leticia had slept with Allen for one night and was seriously misunderstanding something.

“This is bad….”

“How can I explain this….”

However, their thoughts were unnecessary worries. Contrary to expectations, Erin let out a sigh and burst out laughing lightly.

“What are you picking on so much~? Didn’t you ask for a shoddy magic lesson~? That’s why the two of us left secretly first~♡”

“…Did you know about it?”

“Pfuhu♡”

Upon Erin’s desperate laugh, Leticia and Ser-Aria let out a sigh of relief as if they had their minds at ease.

“I taught Allen magic, but he doesn’t say anything.”

“Because I told the shoddy to do as he pleases for two months~.”

“Is that okay though?”

Leticia asked.

“I hope Allen is in a safe place.”

Letisia’s question made Seryl-Aria look at Erin as if he were somewhat curious. Then Erin seemed to think of something and said, smiling as if it were fun.

“That fool seems to have no intention of giving up ♡.”

“…Well, his concentration was quite impressive yesterday.”

Agreeing with Erin’s thoughts, Letisia said one more thing.

“Oh, Erin. There’s something I want to tell you.”

“What is it~?”

“Yesterday… Orlando Hero’s party member was in Allen’s room.”

“… Who?”

“It’s Kael.”

When Erin heard Kael’s name, she stiffened slightly and said.

“Why.”

“As soon as I saw you, you ran away…”

“…Ha.”

Erin’s lip curled slightly upwards. Seeing her change in expression, Ser-Aria and Leticia exchanged a slightly bewildered conversation, as if trying to calm her down.

“Erin, we should just leave it as a warning. It hasn’t escalated yet, so there’s no justification…”

“Of course, it would be better to make sure, but still, don’t provoke…!”

“…What are you all talking about~?”

Erin still didn’t hide her sly smile and spoke with a slightly harsh voice.

“I don’t need to intervene, so why bother~?”

“Pardon?”

“You can use Orland’s personality to your advantage~ Then I won’t have to lift a finger~?”

Erin passed by the two people while telling her story. And as she left the room, she said,

“Well then, I’ll be back soon. Go find Frey, who must be working hard in the garden~♡”

“Oh right! Frey said he was going to search outside!”

“So, is Frey still looking for him…?”

“Puhu, yes♡”

As Erin left the room, Letitia and Ciel-Aria recalled the sight of Frey diligently searching in the garden. And they looked at each other.

“Let’s go quickly…”

“Yeah, puhahahaha!”

I visited the royal library again with Doggeo. The librarian had told us that we couldn’t visit the inner area again, but since we were here to explore the general area, it was fine.

“…What kind of book should we look at?”

“A biographical dictionary? Or maybe something like an encyclopedia…”

“…A book with a lot of proper nouns.”

“Oh, something like that.”

I understood well.

Doggeo and I started browsing through the books, each of us slightly apart. The library was so vast that even searching like this would take quite a while.

Quietly, Doggeo and I began searching through the bookshelves. After spending an hour in silence, flipping through books, I felt it wasn’t productive, so I came to the language section.

In the language library, there was a book that appeared extremely thick. Intrigued, I took it out, but despite its thickness, there were no recognizable characters, so it was of no help.

I put the thick dictionary back and tried taking out a slightly thinner one this time. As I unfolded it, I noticed some familiar characters.

“Latin characters?”

Since these are commonly encountered in English, I couldn’t have missed them. However, the writing style seemed closer to ancient Roman letters, with a dot above the lowercase ‘o’…

I quickly flipped through the pages, and familiar words caught my eye.

“Lux.”

Latin for ‘light.’ It was one of the names that came to my mind when I was thinking of a name for my novel character. However, it kept reminding me of a character from a video game…

Though I was about to pass over this word again, I noticed a section in the dictionary that listed related words or words with related meanings to that particular word.

And suddenly something caught my eye. I immediately turned to the page with the explanation of that word, found it, checked its meaning, and pondered it for a while.

“…Thief, would you like to come over here?”

And I called Dorco.

“Clara.”

“…Yes?”

“How do you like Clara?”

The word I found was “clarus.”

It was a word that meant “bright, shining,” originally used as a male name. And it was this word, “clarus,” that had been changed to the female name Clara.

The skin of a dark elf half-blood didn’t have to be pale, but her hair and eyes seemed to be clearly shining. Even in the darkness, her silvery hair and golden eyes always seemed to shine.

“What do you mean?”

It was me who said that the name should have a special meaning. It was necessary to explain the reason.

“It means bright.”

“…Bright? I’m…not dark?”

She said.

“…With this personality, dark skin…”

She seems to be thinking negatively again. I don’t know when this chronic disease will be cured.

‘Would it be nice to hear a story that can fill even a little bit of self-esteem?’ “If that story comes to mind every time I am called, maybe it can help me recover a bit of my severely low self-esteem.”

“I thought that your hair and eyes shine brightly.”

“…Hair?”

“Yeah. They have colors that sparkle brilliantly, like gold and silver. And…”

I spoke up.

“Even when you fought, as a rogue, I always thought you shone. Your exploits were impressive.”

I was especially surprised in the dungeon. I didn’t expect someone with such a low profile to excel like that.

“…Clara.”

Doggodo repeats the name in his mind. If he didn’t like it, he would naturally consider finding another one.

“…Clara.”

However, Doggodo either liked it or not, he said it again. And he looked at me and spoke.

“…My name, Clara?”

“If you’re okay with it…”

Doggodo, who was silently staring at me, raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

“Yeah, Clara. I like it.”

Saying that, Doggodo was smiling bashfully. I blankly stared at that smile for a moment, and then belatedly regained my senses and spoke.

“Ah, I’m glad you like it.”

“…Well then, from now on, call me Clara.”

“Sure thing.”

I said.

“Cl… Clara.”

Somehow, I feel a strange emotion. Is it because it’s a name I came up with?

Or…

“…Yeah, Allen.”