I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 7

Chapter 7: Fake Hero Side: The Fake Hero Returns to the City

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“I can’t stay in a party like this!! I quit!!”

After they had banished Ciel and Lars had left, the hero’s party was arguing at the foot of a certain mountain range. The heavy warrior who had joined the party to replace Lars suddenly declared he was leaving the hero’s party. The Sage Dorothea snapped back at him.

“Someone as incompetent as you isn’t welcome here anyway!!”

“What was that!? Say it again!!”

“Hmph, your ears must be rotting!! I’ll say it as many times as you want!! You’re incompetent!!”

“Y-you two, please calm down!!”

Unable to watch any longer, Hero Allen hurried to mediate, but the atmosphere was at its worst.

“Daleos, what exactly is it that you don’t like?”

“Hmph, let me tell you this, oh great hero!! I consider myself one of the more capable adventurers around!! And let me say it: trying to cross the Death Mountain Range is sheer madness!!”

The heavy warrior, Daleos, poured out his frustration. The hero’s party was just about to attempt crossing a massive mountain range commonly known as the Death Mountain Range. It was a dangerous zone where everything appeared, from weak monsters like orcs and goblins, to troublesome ones like ogres and lizardmen, and even dragonkin and undead.

Above all, the terrain was treacherous—without a professional guide, known as a pathfinder, crossing the ridge was nearly impossible. It was no wonder Daleos balked at the idea.

“But if we get across here, we’ll be in the Demon Lord’s territory. To defeat the Demon Lord—”

“Then we can go by sea!! Or take a detour around the mountains!! Don’t you know!? Even the Demon Lord avoids the Death Mountain Range because it’s that dangerous!!”

“That may be true, but if we manage to cross it, we could reach there faster and defeat the Demon Lord, right?”

“Hah, enough already!! This is pointless!! I’ll return the money you paid me!! Goodbye!!”

Daleos turned and walked alone back down the path they had come. All the hero’s party could do was watch his back as he left.

“That’s one less person now, huh~”

“Hmph. Why don’t you quit too? With Allen and me, this mountain is a piece of cake. We don’t need a petty thief like you in the hero’s party.”

“Correction. I’m not a thief, I’m an assassin. And don’t forget about the saintess, you’d hurt her feelings.”

Dorothea spat venom even at another new party member. The hero’s new recruit, the assassin Krok, brushed off Dorothea’s jabs with an insincere grin. He looked suspicious from head to toe: his entire body was covered in a black cloak, hood pulled low, and a cloth hid his mouth.

The only thing they knew about Krok was the fact that he was a guy. That shadiness only added to Dorothea’s dislike, and she glared at Krok whenever she got the chance.

“Still, we’re in a pickle now, Hero. Tackling the Death Mountain Range without a tank is suicide.”

“Isn’t there any way around it?”

“Hmm. As an assassin, I could theoretically suppress my presence enough to avoid encounters and get through the mountains, but with a priest and a mage tagging along….”

“I’m a sage!!”

“Ah, and I’m a saintess~”

“Close enough, right?”

Krok’s comment triggered Dorothea again, and the Saintess Maria also jumped in, but Krok brushed them both off with ease.

“Well, if you ask me, I’d recommend we take a detour like Daleos suggested.”

“But crossing the Death Mountain Range would be much faster. The sooner we move, the sooner we can free those suffering under the Demon Lord’s rule.”

“If that’s what you say, Hero, then I won’t stop you.”

Krok’s attempt at persuasion fell on deaf ears, and the hHero’s party pressed into the Death Mountain Range. They spent some time advancing along the rugged mountain path.

“Gyagya!!”

“Allen, it’s a pack of goblins!!”

“Before they notice us, wipe them out with magic, Dorothea!!”

“Underst—”

Just as Dorothea started her spell incantation, Krok hastily clamped a hand over her mouth and pulled her into the cover of some rocks.

“Mmm!! Mmm!!”

“Shut up and stay quiet!! Hero, you guys too, hide!!”

“Eh? Krok, what’s going on?”

“Just do it, quick!!”

“What’s with you all of a sudden—”

Allen and Maria followed his urgent instructions and ducked behind the rocks. Moments later, alongside the goblin horde, a giant one-eyed creature at least fifteen meters tall appeared. Its sharp, single eye turned toward the rocks where Dorothea and Krok were hiding. But the giant didn’t attack them. It simply lumbered off into the mountains, goblins in tow.

“…Phew, they’re finally gone.”

“Hey. What the hell was that?”

“That was a Gigantes. Its muscles form armor that ordinary attacks can’t pierce, it’s magic-resistant, has high regeneration speed, and terrifyingly strong. On top of that, it’s smart, making it an utter nightmare.”

“That’s not what I’m asking!! Why is a Gigantes moving together with goblins!?”

“Symbiosis, I’d say. Goblins have numbers but are weak individually. So they rely on the overwhelming strength of a Gigantes. Meanwhile, the Gigantes gains the benefit of numbers it lacks from the goblins. Their interests aligned, simple as that.”

Allen and Maria rejoined them, and Krok shared his view.

“This is impossible. We need to retreat immediately and head back to the city of Handel.”

“Hah!? What nonsense are you spouting!?”

“I’m dead serious. We’ve barely been in the Death Mountain Range for an hour, and we’ve already run into a Gigantes… That’s not the kind of opponent you guys could fight.”

“What do you mean?”

Allen tilted his head, and Krok muttered under his breath.

“Can’t even figure that out? Idiot…”

“Krok?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Krok flashed a suspicious grin and gave a simple explanation for Allen’s sake.

“The Gigantes is a top-tier monster. Even a nation’s army might struggle to defeat one. Yet it’s come all the way to the foot of the Death Mountain Range. Do you get what that means?”

“Um?”

“I don’t get it~”

“Stop dragging it out and just spit it out already!!”

“Tch.”

Krok clicked his tongue. At the same time, his estimation of the hero’s party dropped sharply, while his evaluation of someone else rose.

These idiots calling themselves heroes are a joke. That previous member of theirs must have been ridiculously capable or a real bleeding heart. They might have lacked combat power and stuck to chores, but they’re a hundred times better than these combat-obsessed whiners.

Though his thoughts were harsh, Krok was a professional assassin who’d do anything for the right pay. He decided sharing the information was part of his job.

“It means something even worse than a Gigantes is lurking in these mountains. A dragon species stronger than a normal dragonkin, or maybe a higher variant of Gigantes like a Cyclops… Either way, the danger level is off the charts.”

“Then can’t we just keep sneaking along? The Gigantes didn’t notice us, after all.”

“It actually noticed us. It let us go on purpose. Humans don’t have much edible meat after all.”

“Ugh, I-I see…”

Allen’s voice caught at the word edible. It was only now that he seemed to grasp that, in the Death Mountain Range, humans were prey.

“At the very least, we need someone who can tank a Gigantes’ attacks. If I can get a chance to blind it, we might be able to defeat it.”

“So a tank is essential… All right, let’s go back to Handel and bring Lars back.”

“You mean the one before Daleos, right? Do you really think you can bring him back?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. He’s a knight of the Azure Kingdom, after all.”

Just what makes you so confident?

Krok thought, but the competent assassin kept his mouth shut. And so the hero’s party began their descent, returning to the city of Handel.

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Author’s Note

Daleos → An actually skilled warrior. Joined the hero’s party as Lars’ replacement. Constantly raises death flags but has the luck and ability to survive.

Krok → A shady assassin. A true professional. Joined the hero’s party in place of Ciel. Always evaluating whether his employers are worth working for.