How To Leave The Hero Party- Chapter 20

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The attack, which had started at the edge of the encampment, intensified.

–ROAR!!!

The enemies were the White Beasts and the black-robed figures from the White Rock Fortress.

They had been using the White Beasts to gather life force, but my intervention had made that impossible. So, they had resorted to a direct assault on the encampment.

“Fight like the Sage taught you!”

“Keep attacking! Keep attacking!!”

In the past, they would have been overwhelmed, but thanks to the continuous training, the kingdom’s army was holding their own against the White Beasts.

The problem wasn’t the beasts, but the robed figures.

The White Moon Cult.

–Wooooong…!!

Annoyed by the kingdom’s army’s resilience, the cultists raised their staffs.

“Good heavens…”

The crimson moon hung in the night sky,

A bloody testament to this world’s Hardcore Mode.

And then, it began to change color.

White.

A pure, pristine white, a color that shouldn’t exist in this world.

–KUOOOOHHH!!!

The transformed moonlight illuminated the dark sky, empowering the White Beasts on the battlefield.

As the beasts, strengthened by the Pale Moon’s power, grew in size, their teeth and claws sharpening, General Leoden shouted in alarm,

“Sage! Th- This is—!”

“Don’t worry.”

I had prepared for this.

I rolled up my sleeve, revealing the bracelet with the red gem I had obtained from the dungeon. As if in defiance of the pale moonlight, it began to emit a soft, crimson glow.

–Crack!!

With a sharp, shattering sound, the pale moonlight cracked.

As the white moon vanished and the crimson moon returned, the cultists cried out in confusion. I scoffed at them.

“You seem to have forgotten that I’m the Sage.”

“He truly knows everything!! Attack!!”

As the empowered White Beasts returned to their normal state, the kingdom’s army resumed their attack. And as the commotion grew, three powerful figures emerged from the encampment.

“Hyaaaah!!”

Hero Claire, Knight Leventia, and Elven Archer Evangeline.

As they joined the fray, their morale, already boosted by the reversal of the empowerment, soared even higher. Seeing their renewed vigor, I was satisfied.

“Alright! Time for a performance…!!”

Could you not?!

I grabbed Lark, who was about to strike up a tune, and looked at the cultists. They raised their staffs again, trying to conjure the pale moonlight, but…

Too late.

–Crunch!

“Gah!”

One of the cultists’ heads exploded, crushed by a large, heavy, and impressive mace.

The one who had dealt the blow was none other than Veronica.

She held the mace, dripping with blood and brain matter, and shouted coldly,

“Smite the heretics who defy the light!!”

“Wh- When did she…?! The Witch of Light!!”

When? She had been flanking them ever since they had foolishly charged in.

Haven’t you heard of flanking?

“Yaaah!!”

The surprise attack threw the cultists into a state of disarray. But as powerful event mobs, they quickly tried to regroup.

“Yeehaw!”

“How much is the bounty on these guys’ heads again?!”

“Who cares! Just get ‘em!”

The money-crazed adventurers, their eyes wild, charged forward and attacked.

Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, three or four adventurers ganging up on each cultist, they stood no chance.

As one of the cultists, on the verge of being overwhelmed, screamed and collapsed,

I raised my staff and shouted,

“Capture them if you can!!”

We needed information!

The night raid, which we had been prepared for, ended with minimal casualties.

General Leoden was overjoyed, the knights were satisfied, and the soldiers were relieved.

Of course, we weren’t completely unscathed, but considering the scale of the attack, the damage was negligible.

And with the Inquisitors and paladins present, the wounded were treated quickly, and there were no fatalities.

There were quite a few injuries, but we had already made arrangements for their treatment, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Hehe.”

“Hehe?”

I clicked my tongue, looking at the adventurers, who were grinning sheepishly.

These idiots.

I had told them to capture the cultists, but they had killed them all.

“Their resistance was too fierce.”

A beastman warrior, wielding a hammer, scratched his head. A bearded dwarven mage fiddled with his staff.

“He wouldn’t give me his nice staff.”

“Is that really your excuse…?”

How was it that not a single one of the cultists the adventurers had faced was captured?

I looked at them, incredulous. They avoided my gaze, looking embarrassed.

Sigh. There were no decent people among the adventurers.

“But I captured one! Mr. Sage! I helped you, so we can party together next time, right? Wow~ dungeon crawling is so much easier with you! What dungeon should we go to next? What dungeon?”

Wilkers, the werewolf shaman boy, chattered excitedly, puffing up with pride.

But hey,

All you did was bind the cultist with your shadow after I had already knocked him out.

Isn’t it a little shameful to take credit for that?

“Uh, hehehe.”

Wilkers, realizing this, looked slightly embarrassed and avoided my gaze.

Truly amazing.

To only feel slightly embarrassed in this situation.

“Well, we still have one.”

Veronica, her black robes stained with blood, approached. She secured her mace at her waist and glanced behind her.

“Guh… gaaah…”

The paladins had managed to capture quite a few cultists. Of course, “captured” was a loose term.

They were barely alive, their limbs mangled, gasping for breath. I covered my face with my hand.

Sigh. Seriously.

“Should we heal them?”

General Leoden asked, looking disgusted. I glanced at Veronica. She avoided my gaze.

“No priest of the light would heal such wicked heretics.”

“Then I’ll do it. Heal.”

The cultist I had targeted with my staff healed slightly. The Sage’s penalty meant I couldn’t fully heal him, but he was conscious.

“Guhhh…”

The cultist, barely conscious, twitched. Leoden, seeing him move, grabbed him by the collar and asked,

“Who are you? And what is your purpose? And…”

“I already know, so I’ll tell you later. That’s not important right now.”

“Uh, um.”

Recalling what I knew from the game, I pushed the general aside and grabbed the cultist.

“The Moon Temple. Is it complete? The Pale Moon has been summoned, I see.”

“…How… how did you know…?”

“That’s enough.”

Things were progressing faster than I had expected. There was no need to waste any more time here.

–Crunch!

I smashed the cultist’s head with my staff, then stood up.

“Alright! Treasure hunt time! General Leoden is offering a 10-day, 9-night vacation as a reward!”

At the mention of a vacation, the soldiers of the kingdom’s army lit up. As expected of soldiers. They would do anything for a vacation.

“Search their bodies for anything unusual.”

“Unusual?”

“Coded messages, or something similar. Ring-shaped ornaments would be good too.”

“Hey, Sage! What about the adventurers?”

“A cash reward!”

“Alright!!”

General Leoden’s knights, the paladins, and the adventurers all began searching the cultists’ bodies and the battlefield.

As they busied themselves, I sat down on a nearby chair and fiddled with my lute. Once it was tuned, I began to play.

–Strum~ ting~ ting~ didi-ding~ ting~

The music, spreading across the post-battle battlefield, began to soothe the accumulated stress. The scattered soldiers relaxed. Those who had been mourning their fallen comrades shed tears. And those in pain found a moment of respite.

As I finished the song,

I met the gaze of three women standing nearby.

“What are you looking at?”

Claire, Leventia, and Evangeline.

The song I had just played was the same one I had played to boost morale and ease anxiety right before our battle with the Demon King.

Perhaps they were feeling sentimental…

But I had no time for such things.

“I found it!”

Ignoring their gazes, I continued playing. As I finished the third song, a soldier, having found what I was looking for, ran towards me.

In his hand was a palm-sized stone disk, covered in unknown characters.

“Oh! Good! Jackpot!”

“Yeehaw!!”

I gave Leoden a nod, then examined the disk.

Claire, hesitantly approaching, pointed at the disk and asked,

“What… is that?”

“None of your business.”

“What is it?”

Veronica’s voice came from behind Claire. Claire flinched and turned around. Veronica, meeting Claire’s conflicted gaze with an indifferent one, stepped closer to me, as if to show off.

“Ancient holy text. Unfortunately, I can’t decipher it.”

Did she become a cardinal through fighting alone? A cardinal should be able to read this.

I looked at her and sighed.

“Evangeline is good with ancient holy text. Should we ask her?”

Claire exclaimed, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

As she approached, eager to be of use, Veronica bit her lip. I shook my head.

“Huh?”

“I can read it too.”

Decipher, one of the Thief’s skills. As a Sage who could use all skills, and with many achievements related to this skill, I had naturally practiced it.

So, there was no need for Evangeline’s help.

“O- Oh… I see.”

“Impressive. Deciphering ancient holy text is no easy feat…”

“It’s nothing.”

I fiddled with the disk. After a few adjustments, a hole opened in the center, and a sharp, white stone emerged.

–Wooooong…

It emitted a low hum and a soft light. As the others looked on, intrigued,

“Huh?!”

A beam of light shot out from the tip of the sharp stone.

Veronica, watching it, swallowed nervously and gripped her bloodstained mace.

“What is that light?”

“This light?”

I pointed in the direction of the beam of light, which was cutting through the darkness, and said,

“The White Moon Cult’s headquarters and…”

“…And?”

“The altar for the summoning of the Pale Moon, the Moon Temple.”

And,

The place where this event would finally come to an end.

“Hey, everyone! Gather ‘round!”

The final stage of this event was a battle against the Pale Moon within the Moon Temple dungeon.

In other words, we needed to select a party to enter the dungeon.

As I called out, the strongest among them gathered around me.

Claire, Leventia, and Evangeline, as well as Lark and Wilkers.

General Leoden and his knights.

And Veronica and her paladins.

From among them, the ones I would take with me were…

“Lark, Wilkers.”

“Huh? Mr. Sage! Really? Wow~ You and I, we’re the perfect partners! In the last dungeon we went to, we were perfectly in sync…”

“Huh? Me?”

“And with this bracelet, I don’t count towards the party limit, so I can take one more person… The last one will be…”

A normal player would take a strong character here.

And in general, that would be the logical choice.

Claire, Leventia, and Evangeline, objectively the strongest among them, held their breath.

Of course,

I wasn’t a normal player, or a normal person.

“Veronica, you’re coming, right?”

“…Heh. Of course.”

As Veronica, glancing at the others, stepped forward triumphantly, Claire, her face a mask of bewilderment, cried out,

“W- Wait! Hyun-woo! Why? Why?”

“Why?”

A party composition is up to the person forming the party. It’s my choice.

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