Chapter 14 - Escort Mission

What?

I stare at Elara.

She stares at me.

Of the many ridiculous powers I have, I don't yet have telepathy, and so this isn't a very fruitful conversation.

"...What. Are you doing?" I finally manage.

"Going with you!" Elara responds with a bright smile and a little finger wiggle.

"You'll die."

I'm not being rude. I'm being truthful.

Again, I don't have any ill will toward these people. They're not the ones who have ruined my life. My...second life.

I apparently almost literally can't die - if I can at all - but these people aren't like that. Arin got knocked out by that first level boss. Elara struggled with that group of skeletons.

They'll die.

It'll be on my conscience.

I'll hate it because it'll be like those games where they force an NPC into your party, force you to get attached and like them, and then senselessly kill them just to provoke 'a reaction' from you.

Except I won't even be able to replay the game or something.

No, I'll just have an actual person die in front of me - probably bleed out in my arms extra dramatically.

None of that sounds good to me.

She plants her hands on her hips and glares at me. "You'll die."

"No I won't."

"Yes you will!"

I point at her. "I'm not falling for that trap!"

I might be a gamer, but I've seen tv shows and movies, too. She's setting up for a smash cut and I absolutely won't be baited into one.

She blinks at me in confusion.

"I have absolute defense and regeneration." I say, firm. "Even if the demon king manages to harm me I'll only regenerate."

"Fool." Kael sighs and shakes his head. "Your regeneration means nothing if he devours your soul."

I squint.

Damn, that's hardcore.

It makes me want to fight him more.

"Look, I'm not trying to be rude." I wave my hand at them. "But you won't be any help. You'll die. I'll just watch you all die for no reason. Go home."

"No way." Elara glares at me, steely eyed. "If I let you go and hear how you die later, I know I'll be the reason. Letting someone march off to his death because it doesn't involve me is against all my principles. I'm staying with you and that's that."

I sigh. "No. You. All of you. Are staying behind. And that's that."

WAIT.

DAMMIT!

I JUST FELL INTO THE SMASH CUT TRAP, DIDN'T I?

I smack my fist into my palm, the sound echoing over the river.

The sound draws a chuckle from Kael, who remains leaning against the stone archway above the steps.

"Look." He says, stepping away from the stone and moving down the stairs to me. "The odds of all four of us dying are pretty high. But if we're all together we can look out for each other. If you at any point regain your sanity and realize this is a stupid idea, we'll be here to help you back out safely."

I really don't think that low level adventurers who can't level up can even possibly help me.

Arin sighs as he finally gets to his feet. "Once Elara decides something you'll never change her mind. You can argue with her the entire trip to the demon king until we die, you change your mind, or we somehow succeed. She won't change her mind."

I...

This is starting to become less of a fight on my end and more of a negotiation.

But.

This is still a very stupid idea.

I hate NPC escort missions, too.

"But Master, they're escorting you!"

'That is never the truth!'

I groan.

"Well, then." Elara begins to march off toward the town. "If you're going to go fight the demon king and all its forces, you should really get a sword at least, right?"

I...

Sigh.

She's right.

If the demon king really is a challenge, appealing as it may be to fight it bare fisted and naked, there's no reason to put extra challenges on myself recklessly.

At the very least I should test the waters.

Naked fist fighting will still be on the table if the swords and armor trivialize it all too much.

I'm not sure what to think about that.

Maybe nothing.

She probably has nothing to say because I'm playing her little game the way she wants me to.

"That's hurtful, Master."

I don't deign to respond to that.

And the others in the group also don't say anything on our trip back to the town.

It's just short enough for the silence not to get awkward or unbearable, at least by my measurement.

"Gaaah." Elara sighs as we walk into the town. "Everyone's so quiet! Come on. We're definitely taking on a SSSS rank mission here! New adventurers like us could never dream to be authorized for a mission like this!"

"Maybe don't announce it so loudly in town, then." Arin says, expression remarkably calm for such a snarky little quip.

Kael clears his throat, crossing his arms as he glances between the rest of the party and me.

"I guess we could look at this as a bit of a milestone. For us." He nods, his chin tipped up in some kind of false confidence. "Since the four of us together are about to embark on a quest that win or lose will be written about in history."

"If you all immediately die the only thing anyone will talk about is me." I offer.

Which, I think, is a nicer statement than pointing out that if we all die immediately no one will remember it at all.

And more accurate.

Because I'm not going to die.

That's just a fact.

I'm going to win.

If I fight the demon king, I will win.

It's just a matter of whether I'm being lied to or not, because if it turns out these enemies are just as weak and pathetic as the lich - or worse, if they're only 'a challenge' because they're gigantic bullet sponges that take me hours and hours to slowly whittle down with no risk whatsoever to me, just endless boredom as my punishment...

Screw it.

I'll walk away.

Whether these people are with me or dead or want to keep going.

I'm not going to waste my time on some boring thing that isn't a challenge.

Unless of course, completing the challenge would let me move on to another world...?

"Don't be silly, Master. You can't just jump between worlds like that! You're in this world until you die here, just like the last one!"

Sure.

Of course.

Because that makes complete sense. How silly of me to think that jumping between worlds would happen any other way than arbitrarily shuffling me elsewhere when I die.

I have the feeling I missed something she said.

But if I did, it's because she was chattering on about literally nothing for a full minute.

"What."

She sighs and shakes her head. "I knew you weren't listening." She places a hand on her hip and squints at me. "I said, since you didn't take any of the loot, how will you be paying for your equipment?"

...Ah.