Chapter 1: My Sudden Death.
"I wish you all the best on your journey," the Queen bowed her head. "May the Goddess bless you and know our hearts follow where ever you may go."
The Hero curtsied respectfully, "Thank you once more your Highness."
There was a slight pause as the Queen frowned softly, "No, it is you who we should be thanking Hero Lara."
It was a touching scene as they said goodbye. All of them standing in the early morning sun. The hopeful yet sad expressions, some filled with excitement, others with determination. Yep it was great… of course it would be if it weren't my fourth time seeing this. I internally sighed but kept my neutral expression as the Hero and her party came my way. I bowed as they dropped their baggage at my feet to be stored in the carriage. With practised steps I picked up the bags and carefully placed them into the rear storage.
"Careful with that one," the voice came from Ardent. "The tools inside are very valuable."
"Yes sir," I smiled politely and once he had his back turned dropped it haphazardly. The man was always super nit-picky about his equipment's safety. I would be as well if it weren't for the incredibly high grade material protecting them.
I was beginning to get sick of this. Previously when I realised that I had died and come back I swore to myself to survive but last time I didn't even make it the seven days to that Monster. Nope, two days from now after leaving the town of Wester, I just died. No idea what happened either. One moment I was yawning and driving the carriage like usual and the next I was listening to the Queen say goodbye. I couldn't even understand what went wrong, every part of our trip till then had been mostly the same as before.
I sighed out loud as I finished packing away the last of the goods. And here I thought I'd only have to worry about the Monster, turns out that was wrong.
"Is something the matter?" the Hero's voice struck me by surprise and I jumped.
"Um no," I quickly replied and faced her. Damn, no matter how many times I saw her, there was no denying she was a beauty. Gorgeous green eyes that didn't quite suit her white hair but it gave her an exotic look that screamed for those around her to stare. Couple that with her pretty face and honestly very finely proportioned body… ah, I should stop staring.
"Are you sure?" she smiled with a sweet innocent care.
I couldn't help not return the gesture, "I'm fine. Just a few things on my mind. Please go on with your business."
"In that case-," she was about to take a step towards me but Ronalt intervened.
"Lara leave the attendant to his job," he gently pulled her to the carriage. "It's what he's here for. You don't need to pay him any mind."
And like that I was left alone as she was guided away. Truthfully I was thankful to Ronalt for his crass remarks towards me. Why? Because the feeling was incredibly mutual. The less I had to do with them the better off I'd be in the end. I watched as Marley our priest said a small prayer to the Goddess and the others alighted the carriage. Although the carriage was small it had been crafted by magicians to shrink the space it occupied. Really it had its own kitchen, storage, two relatively large bedrooms and even a small bathtub.
I moved to the front of the carriage and genuinely smiled as I saw the large two legged bird pulling it.
"Hey there girl," I tenderly rubbed its crown as it purred and fed it a carrot. "Here you go." The bird chirped and readied herself. Out of all the Hero's party I liked her the most. A standard coloured soft pink with fluffy feathers, she was a Paradise Moa named Pina. Though usually not as strong as a horse, Paradise Moa's were faster and more agile. Pina however was of a Queen breed and could easily pull the carriage herself, better than any horse could. Thankfully I hadn't seen her die yet. The bird was too clever for that.
There was a tap behind me and I turned to see Ronalt's face poke from the window.
"We're ready to depart."
"Yes sir," I nodded and began to drive the carriage. The fourth time for me and the first for them. The sight of the early city streets had already been engraved into my memory. The timing was almost the exact same and once more I saw the same people prepare for the day. The baker moving his bread in the store front. A child cheekily taunting his mother. And there again the same man falling onto the stone pavement as we passed. Yep it was the same. Since a child I always had an exceptional memory, it was one of the reasons I was able to juggle so many different jobs. Of course I never thought I'd use it this way.
For me it was a slow journey as we exited the city limits. The Hero's mission was a secret and no one paid us any special attention as I drove through the gate. A simple ID check and that was it. Our carriage had been designed to look inconspicuous on the outside. In fact the knowledge of a Hero existing was limited to the higher ups of the Allied nations. From there it was a long and boring ride to the next town over. It would take six days to reach the border and on the seventh we would die. Of course last time I died on the third but hopefully that wouldn't happen again.
The specifics weren't ever given to me. Go here, then go there, fix this, cook that. If it weren't for my previous experience I wouldn't even know what path we'd be taking or how long it would take. I just knew our final destination would be wherever the Demon Lord called home. I didn't even know what he or she looked like. As for demons, I had only seen three in my life and that was from far away. Our town's hunter Morgan had shown me them when I was younger while he taught me how to hunt. From memory they all looked different. One had been a hulking giant of a man, one covered in fur and the third slender plenty of arms. That was my knowledge. Though I was pretty close to the border, growing up in a provincial town I never had the need to learn more. The demons kept to their side and us to ours.
The hours passed and I stretched my arms leaning back in the driver's seat. There were no other carriages or travellers around us and the road was clear. Inside the Hero and her party were probably cheerfully talking, except Earnest, he was probably sleeping. Out of them all he was the laziest. Master swordsman Earnest who was travelling the globe. Although he won the Kingdom's tournament the only reason he was helping the Hero was because he lost all his money gambling. Well he wasn't the worst of them. In fact, I looked at my pocket watch,
"Boo!" the women tried to scare me. I faced her indifferently and she raised her brow, "Oh not surprised?" With a flexible curve she pulled herself from her hanging position on the carriage's side and sat next to me.
The other problem and in my opinion the worst of the lot.
"Hi, I don't think we've been formally introduced," she smiled amicably. I internally scowled. "Name's Taylor Tiana."
"Rain Axel," I replied politely.
She leaned back and sighed relaxing into the seat. This women was dangerous. On the outside you could say she was charming, a beautiful women. Long well cared for brown hair and soft unblemished skin. Her sense of style was seemingly refined but still drew the eyes of others to her body purposefully. This was a women who knew exactly how eye catching she was and used it to her advantage. The only mark of difference was the black choker around her neck etched in blue. A slave collar.
"So I know why I'm here, but what brings a person like you to help the Hero?" she sprang up and threw her attention to me. Even knowing and being through this conversation before it was hard to be apathetic.
"You know why, I'm the helper, your 'Valet', 'Butler' whatever else you want to call me. Ask and you shall receive," I didn't turn to face her and kept my eyes on the road.
"Really now? And just what can I ask for, 'anything'?" her voice became seductive. My expression almost crumbled. This was the real reason I didn't like her. To call her a tease wasn't true, she'd more than follow up on her comments. There had been many nights on the road where she'd go to the bar and disappear till the next morning.
I replied with a business smile and looked at her directly, "A Master thief like yourself has nothing they need to ask from me do they?"
"Tch," she backed away. "You're no fun, and here I thought at least one person didn't know."
Taylor Tiana, the thief that shook the continent under the name of Empress. She was somehow captured due to the bad luck of having the Hero stumble upon her. In return for her life she was being forced to help the Hero as her slave. You'd think that would make me feel a connection to her plight, being in somewhat the same position as her, but, trust me when I say to her it made little difference. After all, if what I had seen so far could be trusted, her main goal was to get into the Hero's bed….
"It's about lunch now, so how about we stop here?" I began to slow down the carriage.
"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted," she shrugged and disappeared. The first time I had that conversation with her it had ended with me being played with. Thankfully I was now fully aware just what kind of person she was.
It was past noon when I stopped the carriage by the road. We had plenty of time to reach the next town to stay the night and like the last time the Hero and her party exited the carriage.
"The fresh air here is amazing," the Hero took a deep breath and smiled. The same reaction every time. Her eyes were glowing. It made sense why she was excited. Before today she had stayed inside the Kingdom's capital training.
"Hey, hey, what's for lunch?" the chirpy voice reached my ears and I had to look down a little to put her in frame. Dressed in a humble navy blue dress with white lining, the Priest Marley. Now I had multiple choices as to what to reply with and I knew I'd get a different reaction with each one. Out of all of us here she was the most excited by food and probably due to that, the person who had gotten closest to me. It was a shame that she was the first one to die.
"I was going to make sandwiches," I replied with a small bow.
"What kind?" she eyed me almost dangerously.
"You'll see," I forced a practiced smile and moved past the Hero and her party into the carriage.
With a sigh no one else could see, I got to work. I loved cooking. My home town Axel, and hence my last name, only had one inn but the cook there used to work in the Capital. He taught me everything he knew since I was young and was a firm believer that I would take over his work. It was unfortunate for him that many others in Axel had the same thought for their own professions.
Soon enough I got into the swing of preparing the meal and was unconsciously happy as I let the work take over. It was a simple meal of roast beef and several thinly sliced vegetables in between bread but it was the special sauce that made it. A family secret you could say. I displayed the result to the Hero's party and as they ate their eyes lit up in surprise. I couldn't help not feel proud of myself. Sure it wasn't the first or in fact the twentieth time this had happened but I still enjoyed it.
"This- this is amazing!" Marley shouted and stuffed the sandwich into her mouth greedily. "Another!"
"Marley don't be rude," the Hero reprimanded her with a smile. Marley was the youngest out of all of us but not by much. She however had a naturally youthful appearance and was quite short, coupled with how she acted like a child a lot of the time, she was treated like a younger sister.
"There's plenty more," I placed another plate beside them.
"What about you?" the Hero looked at me while Marley attacked the new plate.
"Don't mind me," I turned my back to them and entered the carriage.
A hand stretched out towards me but before it reached I handed it a glass of water. Earnest whose hand it was looked surprised but then thankfully nodded, his mouth too full to speak. The man was too lazy to get it himself, at this point in my mind it was a gesture of second nature. Even if the water was a few steps away from his seat he'd either go without or ask for it. Still, I had seen his skills in action against the few monsters we had passed and when he sparred with the Hero. The strongest fighter in Axel had been Lane the guardsman and compared to her it was like staring at heaven and earth. In other words, I'd rather not get on his bad side.
The carriage had two entrances, one on each side however the inside was similar to a small home. The kitchen was by the entrance, equipped fully with the basic utilities like a stove and oven, beside it was a small table and seating to fit the passengers. Two doors led from the area to two separate rooms, each with three beds, one side for the men and the other the women. The rear of the carriage had a boot for storage and another door to access the bathroom. It was quite sophisticated and actually fancier than many places I had stayed in before.
I got to cleaning the kitchen and fed Pina while grooming her feathers. The bird chirped happily.
"Rain," the thick voice called my name and I faced it.
"Sir Ronalt is there anything you require?" I placed down the brush I had been using. Pina nudged my arm in complaint.
"Yes, please take the carriage to this location. We shall stay the night there," he handed me a map. I took it with a nod as he left immediately after. Really it was a useless gesture, I knew where we'd be going. Still I couldn't just go there, if I knew too much they'd get suspicious of me. Do what you're told to and don't overstep your bounds. Those were the words I had been told when the job had been forced on me.
The Hero and her party finished lunch and boarded the carriage while I pretended to read the map. With that and a small order I was told to begin driving once more. While I did so, I ate my own lunch and enjoyed the afternoon sun.