I Became the Porter of a Somewhat Strange Hero Party

9 – Somewhere Strange Adventurer Party (9)

Ser-Aria was in the same room as me.

I didn’t expect it at all.

No, I didn’t even know that we entered the room together. When on earth?

‘Huh?’

Upon careful reflection… When we finished the Lizard Road together, it seems like Ser-Aria’s skill message didn’t appear.

I naturally thought we would finish together… I must have been too careless.

“What is that?”

“Uh…”

Ser-Aria pointed to the gem I was holding as if she was curious. I struggled for a while to explain what it was.

“…Just a bead.”

But all I could come up with was a lame excuse. Not only did I not have any convincing excuses, but if I told the truth, there was a risk of it being taken away.

“If it wasn’t something that naturally came with it, there was no way anyone could resist being tempted by an item that permanently increases hard-to-train magical power.”

Sera-Aria also expressed curiosity.

“Isn’t this an incredibly useful item? I have a feeling that something hidden like this must be here.”

I felt embarrassed. However, I couldn’t come up with any excuses.

It’s even stranger to secretly come and search for just an ordinary bead in a place like this. Of course, she knows that there’s something here since she came looking for it like this…

“Allen, you’ve really investigated this dungeon a lot. You even know about things like this.”

“…..”

Look at this. They had already noticed everything.

“Seeing you come here so secretly makes me curious….”

Ser-Aria’s black eyes moved straight towards the jewel I was holding.

Ah, no. Don’t covet something like this and just have a drink!

“It’s quite a nice item, isn’t it?”

However, the desperate cry in my heart was of no use. Ser-Aria was already showing deep interest in the jewel.

This is really not good. Without it, even if I could get other hidden pieces, they would be useless. I won’t be able to equip the items I find in the future, what use would there be?

But if this girl insists that it’s different here, I have no choice. The jewel isn’t more important than my life… right?

At that moment, when I was on edge.

“…hahahahaha!!”

Ser-Aria suddenly burst into laughter. For a moment, I stared at her in bewilderment, but Ser-Aria seemed to have no intention of stopping her laughter.

“What’s, what…?”

“hahahahaha, Alen. This is really why you find it amusing, isn’t it?”

“…What?”

“Surely I wouldn’t take that away from you?”

“Huh?”

Wasn’t it so?

Looking at Ser-Aria with those eyes, she chuckled and spoke.

“Allen, it’s something you found. So it’s yours. I’ll pretend I never saw it.”

“…Really?”

“Of course! Hmm, but judging by your reaction… Did you really think this sister would snatch it away from you?”

“…No?”

I pressed a steel plate against my face.

“We’re colleagues. I never thought Aria would do something like that.”

“hahahahaha!”

Sera-Aria laughed cheerfully. Judging by her attitude… It seemed like she had no intention of taking the hidden item I found.

Surprisingly… Apart from being stubborn when it came to drinking, she might be quite flexible in other aspects.

“…Anyway, thanks. For pretending you didn’t see it.”

It was really fortunate. Honestly, even if Cer-Aria didn’t rob me, it would have been a problem if I had mentioned this gem to the other party members.

… It was all because of my foolish carelessness. From now on, I must be more cautious and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“… But Allen.”

“Huh?”

“Why are you suddenly looking for such an item?”

“… What do you mean?”

“Oh, I don’t mean anything strange. Just that you volunteered to lead the battle today, and now you’re suddenly searching for an item… It feels different from your usual self.”

Cer-Aria asked me while looking at me.

“You used to dislike things like battles, right?”

The drunken guy asked a subtly sharp question. As I briefly pondered how to answer, Ser-Aria raised her head slightly and looked at me directly.

“…Are you trying to leave the party?”

“…Huh?”

I was momentarily taken aback, but quickly shook my head.

“No, no! What are you talking about? Why would I leave the party? I just thought I could be of some help at the party, that’s all. I didn’t have any other thoughts!”

Phew, if she had caught on to my panic, it would have been a disaster. Suddenly barging in like that really startled me.

I must never let her catch me. How could these deranged fools easily let go of their bait? If they find out that I’m trying to leave the party with this trick, I don’t know how their attitude will change.

Fortunately, it seems like my excuse worked as Ser-Aria smiled slightly and said, “Thankfully.”

“Ah, isn’t that right? hahahaha! Well, considering you have this lady here, where else would you go!”

Fortunately, Ser-Aria understood my words easily. I added a few more words of explanation to her.

“hahahaha…, Actually, I’m looking for this kind of item… because our party doesn’t have a magician, you know? I thought it would be nice if I could fill that role.”

“Hoohahahaha, were you having such a noble thought?”

Ser-Aria drank her alcohol eagerly and spoke.

“But you don’t have to burden yourself too much, Allen. Even if you don’t fight, the party’s power is sufficient!”

“Huh? …Ah, yeah. That’s true.”

Of course, it would be. Whether I learned magic or not, these guys’ power would never be lacking.

However, this was a matter concerning my survival. I couldn’t give up.

“Then I’ll go first! Sneak out carefully!”

“Uh…”

Ser-Aria opened the door and stepped out.

“…I’m really relieved.”

I couldn’t help but think that if it had been Ser-Aria instead of that Mesgaki who got caught, it would have been a big problem.

“Well then…”

It was time to eat this. It looked like a hard bead that no one could eat, but as shown in the status message, it was something to consume.

I swallowed the gem that I held in my hand in one bite. It was a little tough to swallow, so I opened the water bottle I had and drank, and it went down smoothly.

“…?”

No significant changes…

Ding!

“!”

While not sensing anything out of the ordinary, three messages unfolded before my eyes.

– The magic stat increases permanently.

– Acquired the skill [Magic Circulation Lv.1].

– Acquired the skill [Magic Recovery Lv.1].

It felt like there was no special feeling or change… It seems like it has been applied normally. Let’s check once again.

＜Character Information＞

◈Name: Allen

◈Occupation: Mover

◈Status

[Strength: 40] [Agility: 60]

[Endurance: 115] [Intelligence: 35]

[Mana: 100] [Divinity: 0]

◈Possessed Traits

[Rapid Cooking Level 7] [Skilled Ingredient Processing Level 5] [Tidying Level 6] [Convenient Backpacking Level 5] [Mana Circulation Level 1] [Mana Recovery Level 1]

‘Done!’ exclaimed with admiration. The stat of the magical power, which had a despairing number 0 printed on it, instantly jumped to 100. I couldn’t raise my voice too loudly as if someone might hear from outside, but I felt like my mood was going to fly away.

By gradually building up like this… it could be helpful for the party, and when I feel stressed later on, I might be able to roam alone.

“Well, first of all…”

It seemed that going outside was the first step. Since the sound became quieter, it seemed like we had successfully dealt with the Lizard Road.

As soon as I stealthily came out of the room, with a thud, the sound of the Lizard Road falling to the ground shook the dungeon.

“…Perfect.”

Not a single party member was injured. Not only the Lizard Road, but also the neat appearance of the lizardmen under Letitia’s command had been neatly taken care of.

“Everyone has worked hard!”

“What, when did you come down~?”

“Oh, it seems like everything’s finished.”

“Not yet.”

Freya said.

“They said they found traces of the Demon King’s army. We haven’t found it yet.”

However… I don’t think the Demon King’s army is here if there was no sign of it during Lizard Road’s fall.

I thought for sure they’d come out as a hidden boss, but wasn’t that the case?

“My status message isn’t reacting at all.”

If a hidden boss had appeared, there would have been a warning message. However, the messages that always informed about the situation were too quiet, and nothing appeared nearby.

“But what was the trace of the Demon Army that was found?”

“They said they found something left by the Mage Legion Commander… Right, Erin?”

In response to Frey’s question, Erin nodded her head.

The Mage Legion Commander was a member of the ‘Commander’ who practically led the Demon Army and corresponded to high-ranking officers, just as his name implied.

It was astonishing that such a giant figure had left traces in this early-stage dungeon. There were no such hints when playing on extreme difficulty.

“…It seems that this world is based on extreme hell difficulty after all.”

Seeing the changes I had never seen before, it seemed that this speculation was correct.

“Marshal Arsel must have left something in this dungeon, according to that grandfather~♡”

“You can’t just call the emperor’s grandfather like that, Erin.”

“It doesn’t matter since he’s not here~? And he is a grandfather♡”

Artifact of the Mad Corps Commander?

The Mad Corps Commander was specialized in magic, fitting for his title. If such a commander left an artifact here, it would naturally be related to magical powers…

“…Magical powers?”

Earlier, they were looking for something closely related to magical powers…

No, it couldn’t be.

It must be unrelated. Yeah, let’s believe that.

“Could it be that the Hidden Peace is the artifact dropped by the Warlord’s Legion Commander?”

When I discreetly looked at Ser-Aria, she seemed to have no idea of any connection. That was fortunate. Perhaps it was because her intelligence stat was slightly lower.

“Shall we take a look around?”

“That would be good.”

Leticia agreed with Frey’s suggestion.

“Oh, wait a minute.”

If we investigate the surroundings now, those suspicious guys will find that room over there and the treasure chest will also be exposed.

…What should I do?

It was the moment when I hesitated slightly. Just as we were about to scatter, the entire dungeon suddenly shook violently. Not only me but also Letitia and Frey, party members with slightly lower agility stats, lost their balance.

There were only three people standing unharmed, whose agility stat was over 200. They glanced around for a moment, and then Erin lightly chuckled and said,

“It seems like someone sneaked up on us~ Just like Allen ♡”

I belatedly noticed what Erin was referring to. It’s not that I didn’t catch on earlier, but it was too dark to see anything at all. Except for me, it seemed like all the other party members sensed it with their [Sixth Sense] ability.

Thump!!

The sound of footsteps was heavy. In contrast, the movements were slow, taking quite some time to reveal its form in the darkness.

“…A golem?”

Hidden boss, Obsidian Golem has appeared!

What emerged from the darkness was a massive golem, its entire body stained black. An Obsidian Golem was originally a mid-level boss that appeared in the extreme difficulty range.

“Why so soon…? Has the difficulty increased by one level?”

[System activated.]

An ominous voice resounded throughout the dungeon.

[In accordance with the orders of the master code inputter, eliminate those who stole the artifact.]

“…Huh?”

Artifact?

If we call it an artifact inside the dungeon, the only thing I had consumed was the ancient god’s gem. There was nothing else grand enough to be called an artifact.

Then, who stole the artifact…

At that moment, Ser-Aria glanced briefly at me and passed by. Her expression, as she tried to regain her gaze, was very awkward.

“No, is this…?”

Did I wake her up?