There Was a Porter Who Would One Day Be Called a Prophet

203 – To the West

In the end, the day to leave the capital came.

We got ready early in the morning and left the mansion. The place where we gathered was not the imperial palace, but the outskirts of the capital.

It was one of several emergency exits to the west.

“Even though I am leaving now to avoid the eyes of others, when I return, I will proudly enter through the front door.”

“There’s no need to rush, so please come back safely.”

It was a result that reflected the emperor’s position that he wanted to see Aria off, but he could not do so in a place where others could see him.

“I guess I’ll have to leave it to you this time too.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Your Majesty. It’s something that has to be done, isn’t it?”

The emperor gives good words to each party member, starting with the hero.

“I’ve heard a lot from Gilbert. I heard he’s a promising player for the Knights.”

“Wow, that’s too much praise!”

After passing Sonia, who was very nervous like a private in front of the President, my turn finally came.

“It must be very disappointing that things didn’t go as you expected.”

The emperor casts teabagging in front of me, even though it’s practically like sending it with his own hands.

“Yes, yes, it just happened to be like that.”

“Shouldn’t you have prepared well?”

This guy is the real deal.

I glanced at him wondering if he was going to fight, but he laughed and hinted at what was so funny.

“More than that, I have one thing I’m curious about…”

“What is it?”

“It’s the temple I told you about before.”

The emperor asks for the location of an unnamed temple where a potion of blessing is hidden.

When the location of the place was told, the emperor opened his mouth.

“I think I can help you with that.”

We will form a separate investigation team and send it to the temple, so in the meantime, why not head to the western kingdom and break up the union?

The words were disjointed, it was no different from just talking about the purge.

I wondered if the investigation team sent by the emperor would be able to find the hidden potion, but if they succeeded in finding it, the movement distance would be reduced accordingly, so it was not a loss-making business.

“….”

Of course, from Aria’s perspective, it would be okay.

‘But since you don’t say anything, it seems like you’ve accepted it.’

The warrior who patted Arya on the shoulder saw her quietly nodding and decided to follow the emperor’s suggestion.

“You said you would help me, right?”

“Then I have one last thing to tell you.”

Seeing that he has erased his smile and looks so serious, I guess this is the main point.

I straightened my attitude and waited for the emperor’s words.

“Please take care of Aria.”

Why are you telling me that?

I was dumbfounded by the emperor’s subsequent remarks and for a moment I wondered if I had heard wrong.

I am not a father-in-law who gives his daughter in marriage. Isn’t it always necessary to say things like, “There’s a lot of hard work here, please work a little harder?”

“Oh, okay… I’ll take good care of it…”

But the emperor’s attitude was so serious that he couldn’t say anything else.

“You clearly said so with your own mouth, so be sure to keep it.”

With the Emperor’s final words seemingly reaffirming, we entered the emergency exit leading to the basement.

-Jump-jump-jump,

With only the sound of footsteps echoing in the dark passage.

“Is this really okay…?”

The saint walking in front of her looked at me and opened her mouth. As if worrying about someone who isn’t here.

“You know his personality. It’s obvious that he’ll make a fuss if he follows along, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“But there must have been a better way…”

It looks like they have developed quite a bit of affection for each other, and the fact that they are leaving him behind seems to be bothering them.

I said, trying to stop myself from becoming weak.

“With such mediocre skills, they’ll just go and hold us back. In that case, it’s better to stay here.”

“Is that so…”

As harsh words came out of my mouth, the saint did not ask any more questions.

‘Honestly, if I had grabbed his ankle rather than him, I would have grabbed it.’

Currently we have seven people. With the addition of Aria and Sonia, the number should have increased to eight, but Chloe was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s okay. It’s nice that my hair doesn’t fall out anymore, but it’s better than going and getting hurt.”

“I was wondering what would happen if we ran out of food on the way like last time.”

Except for the saint, everyone seems to understand that Chloe has been left behind.

“Of course, there is no need to take him to a dangerous place and expose him to danger.”

A situation where even the hero does not deny it.

It seems that the culprit is among these three.

I was walking in silence, feeling somehow empty.

Kukkuk.

Someone stabbed me in the side.

“Hey.”

When she turned her head, Sonia, carrying her large backpack and placing her shield on top of it, was looking at me with her eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“What are you doing with her?”

She is suspicious of my relationship with Chloe.

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s strange that you keep looking back. You did the same thing when you left me in our village.”

Sonia says she can’t lie to herself and since she already knows everything, she tells him to just tell her.

‘It was a different reason back then than now….’

But if I said it out loud, she would go against her will greatly, so I decided to say yes for now.

“…How did you know?”

“I haven’t seen any fur on your clothes these days, so there’s no way you wouldn’t know.”

She continued by picking up a strand of pink body hair that was attached to my clothes.

“The neck is also strangely colored.”

I thought it wouldn’t be noticeable because I bit it so lightly.

Looking at those confident eyes, I feel like I can no longer hide it. It’s not anyone else, it’s Sonia. I have to tell the truth.

“So, what happened…”

“It’s okay. That could be possible.”

She cut me off, saying there was no need to speak in a way that hurts my mouth.

“It looks like it hasn’t reached the end, so I’ll trust you.”

Then, after telling her to look ahead, she turned her head.

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“….”

Should I say it is bold? She said that the person she liked was hanging out with another girl, so how could she come out like that?

I was just grateful for her generosity and the affection she had for me.

“We’re almost there.”

As if the exit was approaching, the voice of a warrior could be heard coming through the passage from ahead.

As she stepped towards the place where the light was pouring in, the well-paved path along with her glare came into view.

If you follow this road, you will come across a huge canal that divides the imperial territory and the western part. If you cross there, you can head to the kingdom.

Finally, I caught a glimpse of the capital city.

A pink cat that other party members said was scary and always persistently targeted the beef jerky in my backpack.

Chloe was no longer around.

‘Just wait there for a little while.’

I muttered to myself and turned around.

***

“….”

Even though the food was cooling before her eyes, Chloe gaped at the shocking first sentence in the letter.

‘I was abandoned by Chloe… ?’

I couldn’t believe that Ian, who had hugged me warmly until yesterday, left behind a letter.

That time when her eyes became bright.

-Are you thinking about being abandoned or something?

Her eyes began to carefully scan the letter after reading the words written after saying sorry.

-But I hope you don’t misunderstand. I think it’s dangerous with your current skills. Just know that I didn’t leave you behind because I hated you.

It wasn’t abandoned.

It was only a few lines long, but it was enough to calm her pounding heart.

“Still, it’s too much to leave without saying anything…”

But that didn’t mean my dissatisfaction was going away, so I muttered in frustration.

-But if I hadn’t, I would have made a fuss about following you.

“Nyahak?!”

As the contents of the following letter pinpointed her feelings, Chloe kept looking around to see if someone was watching her.

She soon realized that this was a futile act and began to read the last part of her story.

-Actually, when you first called me your teacher and followed me, I didn’t want to have anything more to do with you. Because I’m not as great of a person as you think. Let’s remove it before the bottom is revealed. That’s what I was thinking.

“Originally, I was going to throw it away…”

It’s sad to know that I was thinking that way at one time, even if it’s not now.

-Nevertheless, you innocently asked me for guidance, and you learned it well after only hearing a few words I gave you out of annoyance. I’m just a thief and a bum.

“No… Master is really great…”

It’s impossible to convey, but Chloe denies it after looking at the words he left.

-It’s not me that’s amazing, it’s you Chloe. I don’t know about you, but what I know is that you were stronger than you are now. Maybe it can become stronger than that.

I didn’t really understand what he was saying, but I felt like I knew what it meant.

-But Chloe. It’s really dangerous from here on. So much that you can’t handle it now. Now that I know that your feelings for me are more than respect, I can’t take you to such a dangerous place.

“It’s all… Is it all because Chloe is weak…?”

I hated myself for the fact that the reason he left me was purely due to my own weakness.

-The safe password is 0514. Do you know where it is? I have enough money, so don’t starve and eat well.

After leaving her food behind, she went back to her Ian’s room and pushed out the drawer attached to the wall.

There was a faint solid line on the wall that was covered by her, and she pulled out her long fingernails and inserted them into the cracks.

Then, the plywood blocking the wall fell and the safe was revealed.

-Click.

When the numbers in the letter were put in order, the safe opened with a cheerful sound, and inside was the majority of Ian’s platinum coins.

It’s an enormous amount of money that you can’t use up even if you play and eat for the rest of your life.

But even in front of such a huge amount of money, her expression was not good.

“Chloe doesn’t need anything like this… I just need Master by my side…”

She had starved for half her life and was excited about money, but she was not impressed by the fact that Ian was not by her side.

Still, she took comfort in the fact that she was trusted, seeing as she had entrusted this much money to her, and read the last line of her letter.

-I’ll be back soon.

Although it was a short word, it was clear that that part had been written and erased several times.

Her dissatisfaction still remained, but she felt the sincerity of people taking her seriously, and she became energetic again.

“She looks so different when she comes back, so I’ll follow her next time!”

Chloe succeeded in making a comeback by setting new goals.

“In the meantime, I’ve been practicing making babies on my own!”

Although she didn’t see it, there was a postscript left by her Ian in the corner of her letter.

-And someone will come to take care of the mansion while I am away. Since he is the one who will prepare your meals, please get along as smoothly as possible.