I Was in Charge of Scouting for the Hero’s Party

8. Time Bomb

“You motherf*cker. Say it again.”

As I let go of the slap in a blatant display of anger, Isabelle cupped her tingling cheek with one hand and looked at me with bewildered eyes.

“Oh… Austin… I think you misunderstood something…”

– Wow!!

I was fed up with Isabel’s still bullsh*t attitude, but this time I slapped the other cheek.

With my palm slapping Isabel’s right cheek, Isabel turned her face to her left this time and opened her mouth with a tearful expression and a trembling voice.

“Austin…!! What the hell are you doing…”

“Shut up and get your head.”

“Ah… Mi… I’m sorry… I was out of line…”

“If you’re sorry, that’s it? Dammit, I didn’t know such a great indulgence existed. I’ll be sorry too, so let’s get hit right away.”

Contrary to her attitude of threatening me by saying that she would summon a warrior, I raised my hand once again, having grown accustomed to her attitude of asking for forgiveness.

“Now… Wait…!”

– Wow!!!

“Oh no…!”

…Uh… I think I hit you a little too hard this time.

Isabel, who had a black bruise on her cheek, lifted her hand and began to cast her heal while I was embarrassed because I couldn’t control her strength properly.

“Huh… Hee… Heel…!”

Isabel’s hands began to radiate white light, and before long, her bruised cheek from being hit by me returned to her normal white skin.

However, the pain of being hit doesn’t go away just because she heals.

I opened my palms again and looked Isabel straight in the eyes.

“Hey. How f*cked up I was because of you guys. Now what? If you don’t want to be taken by force, follow me? Are you f*cking people like me?”

“Hey…”

Rubbing her cheek and wiping away the tears, Isabelle looked at the palm of my hand that had been slapped on her cheek just before, and drew back her body as she swallowed her breath.

Okay. I’ll be able to have a conversation now.

As expected, there is no mistake in my father’s words to talk with your body if you do not understand the language.

“Anyway, I told Maya yesterday, but I don’t intend to go back to the party. I’m sorry I slapped you on the face, but you said you scratched my insides first, you know?”

“Ughhhhh…”

“…Yeah. I couldn’t control the force I hit the last time. I’m sorry about that. Did it hurt that much?”

“You… You’re too good… Whoops!…”

“…Cry. Yes, cry as much as you like. Damn, what is the situation?”

Perhaps it was so painful, I buried her head in my arms and patted Isabel, who was crying, and comforted her with her complex face.

“Oh sh*t… Oh… Austin… I’m sorry… I… I… Said something harsh to Austin… hehehe!… I hurt Austin’s heart. I gave it away… Black…”

Why did they do that when they knew they did something wrong?

Isabel’s long confession began, and I listened to her story to the end with a slightly tempered expression.

“I… I… Hig…! I… Bullied Mr. Austin… Ugh…! I just… I’m sorry…”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Please stop crying.”

How much time has passed.

Isabel’s crying calmed down somewhat, and I asked, looking at Isabelle as she wiped the tears on my clothes.

“…Did everyone cry?”

“…Yes… I’m sorry.”

Her tears had stopped, but I looked at Isabel, who still whimpered from time to time. I pulled her from her arms and pointed her out of the hallway.

“Well, if you’re done with what you have to say, go now.”

“…… Huh?”

Isabel looks at me with an absurd expression at my words.

Regardless of her gaze, I firmly pointed to the end of her hallway.

“When you’re done, go. I don’t intend to go back to the party. I’m sorry I just hit you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going back to the party.”

“Ha…But…”

Just as Isabel threw up at my words, I saw Princess Alexis descending the spiral staircase opposite the chair we were sitting on.

In the joy that I would be able to get out of this situation and go to the capital, I got up in a hurry, threw Isabel away, and approached Princess Alexis.

“Princess Alexis, you are here! Come on, come on. Let’s use the gate!”

I couldn’t hide my joy and reached out my hand to Princess Alexis. Princess Alexis glanced at me for a moment and twitched her fingers before opening her mouth hesitantly.

“Uh… There… That’s…”

“Yes! What are you doing? You can use the gate right now? Oh my god!!”

“That… It’s not that…!!”

“…Austin. Who is this…? Princess Alexis…”

Consistently ignoring Isabel, who suddenly interrupted her conversation with a cold face, I waited for Princess Alexis’s lips to open with a smile on her face.

“Hey… That… Actually…!!”

“Yes! Don’t burn my sh*t, tell me now!”

Princess Alexis let out a deep sigh before finally opening her mouth.

“…Since the potions of the wizards on the front line are running out, you said you can’t use mana from the gate… To make mana potions…”

“………”

From Princess Alexis’ mouth came the worst answer she didn’t want to hear the most.

“Growl…..”

I rolled my eyes and fell backwards on the spot.

* * *

I wondered why such an ordeal was only given to me, and I sat down in the hallway and cried out in resentment and resentment.

It’s a shame because Princess Alexis hurriedly helped me up and comforted me. If I had heard the news alone, her hair would have all been pulled out.

In the end, we returned to the inn and sat in the room, staring blankly into space.

“Ha… No, what should I do now?”

As Isabel left, I asked Princess Alexis, unable to hide her complex expression, and Princess Alexis also opened her mouth with a gloomy expression.

“…It can’t be helped. Above all, it’s a wartime situation right now… As long as the mana cores of the Mage Tower in the frontline cities are set as requisition targets, there is no way for us without a permit to use the gate right away. .”

Still in the hopeless reality, I buried my face in the bed and slapped myself.

This is a dream… f*ck this can’t be real…!!!

As if she knew how I felt, Princess Alexis continued on with her words, not caring about my actions.

“…Actually, I didn’t know this was going to happen… I figured it out, but if you go overland by wagon, you can get to the capital in about four weeks.”

“4… 4 Major…”

“Yes, but… Not without a way.”

“Which…?”

“If my father mails you a permit to use the gate, you may be able to use the gate.”

…This… This is it..!!

“So, how long does it take to get a permit…”

“Probably… About two weeks…”

“Damn it, damn it.”

To think that I had to stay in the city where the 2 weeks and the thugs, including the hero, were staying.

I began to agonize endlessly in my head, spitting out exclamations mixed with curses.

“…Wait, wait. Isn’t it faster and safer than going overland anyway?”

Princess Alexis pondered over my words for a while, then nodded her head with a smile on her face.

Okay. Let’s just wait 2 weeks.

* * *

Isabel’s steps on her way back to her lodgings without earning a single income were swaying here and there like a reed blown by the wind.

She’s only met Austin.

“….. Haa……”

Isabel raised her head and looked up at the evening sky, which was already darkening over her.

Is there really no way?

It was comfort, if anything, that she had located the inn where Austin was staying, and that Austin could not immediately return to her capital city as the gate was closed.

‘At that time, I brought up the story like that… I guess it was a bit like that…’

A shameless word full of threats that he spat out at Austin.

‘…I wanted to solve it quietly, but I can’t. Austin, if you keep doing this, I have no choice but to bring the hero. Wouldn’t it be better to resolve it through dialogue rather than being dragged away by force?’

Isabel sighed at the stupidity of her past and wiped her face.

No matter how much the devil army was in front of her nose, she should not treat Austin as a burden and threaten her, who had left her party because he was treated like a slave.

Recalling the image of Austin, whose expression had gone from twisting to distorting at the news that her gate was unavailable, Isabelle let out a deep sigh of hers once again.

Is it because he hates being with us that much? To the point of crying and screaming like a child at the fact that he couldn’t get away from us right away?

Isabel, who had only seen Austin’s calm and serious personality, couldn’t forget the sight of Austin lying down in her hallway, crying loudly and shaking her arms and legs.

“Haa… Ouch!”

She didn’t even know that she had arrived in front of the inn, and Isabel, who was walking with her bruises, rubbed her forehead, which had bumped into the closed door.

“…Why are you doing this today…”

Ever since she saw Austin with Princess Alexis, she’s somehow lost her mind and confused her head with all sorts of random thoughts.

Isabel, who frowned a little at the tingling pain she felt, opened the door before long and went up the stairs of the inn.

She arrived at the door of her room before I knew it, and she listened to the sound inside her door for a moment as she sorted out what had happened today.

“…It’s quiet.”

For some reason, there was no sound leaking out of the room, where we would normally have to talk about our future journey after finishing our meal.

Standing in front of the door of the dorm room for a while, Isabelle was able to organize her thoughts, but suddenly someone appeared out of nowhere who mentioned her name.

“Oh, Isabel! Here you are!”

Isabel turned her head towards the sound of Lee Yu-jeong’s bright and cheerful voice, the hero who always came in. She looked at the warrior and the party members standing next to her with a dazed expression.

Beside the hero, there was a stranger standing next to him.

A young-looking boy who must have just turned 15, with leather greaves and a short bow draped over his shoulder, was staring at Isabelle with bright eyes.

It is not an illusion that Maya’s face with a slightly uncomfortable expression caught her eye.

“Yo… Hero. Who’s next to you…?”

No way… No way… I’m still a child… Isn’t it…?

Whether or not he knew her uneasy mind, the warrior smiled brightly and opened her mouth.

“Oh, hello! It’s our party’s new scout, Max!”

“Hello! I’m Max, and I’m in charge of Chuck… Chuck Who…?”

Isabelle sat down on the floor as her legs gave out.

“This… Isabelle?!”

Looking at Max’s smooth hand, which seemed to have never pulled a bowstring in his entire life, without a single callus on Max’s as he ran towards Isabel, Isabel laughed in vain as if she had lost her mind.

“Ha… hahahaha… Ahahahaha…!!!!”

‘It’s f*cked up, damn it…!!!’

Isabel’s silent screams filled her inn and scattered on the wind.