When faced with a situation that defies all common sense, people tend to panic.
That was exactly Gis's state right now.
He couldn't even react, just stared dumbly at Cloud.
A moment later, as his senses returned, he realized he'd been mocked.
"You son of a bitch!"
Smack!
Cloud took Gis's fist square in the face and was sent flying about five meters.
He hit the ground and tumbled across the floor.
Gis immediately rushed over and kicked Cloud in the stomach.
Cloud's back arched like a bow.
"A worthless piece of shit who can't do anything! Who are you mocking?"
With each kick and stomp, the sickening crack of breaking bones could be heard.
Even as he watched Cloud's body break in real time, Gis's anger didn't subside.
It was strange.
Normally, beating someone like this would have cooled him down, but no matter how much he hit this guy, the shitty feeling wouldn't go away.
Why?
Gis soon realized the reason.
Usually, when he hit people, they would cry and beg for their lives after just a few blows.
Humans are, after all, creatures vulnerable to pain.
Gis was the type who only felt better after seeing such a pathetic sight.
But Cloud, the one currently being beaten, was different from those ordinary guys.
No matter how hard Gis hit him, even as his bones broke and his organs were damaged, he didn't let out a single groan.
And that wasn't all.
Cloud didn't dodge or block Gis's kicks. You want to hit me? Fine, go ahead. It was as if he were an adult placating a child.
And Gis really didn't like that look.
Should I just kill him?
The moment Gis, consumed by murderous impulse, was about to kick Cloud hard in the neck—
"Stop!!"
Neria threw herself between them.
Thanks to her, the kick that was meant to snap Cloud's neck was forced to a halt. Gis glared at Neria, his displeasure obvious.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"What do you think you're doing? This isn't what we agreed on!"
Neria shielded Cloud with her back and faced Gis.
She looked as if she were protecting him.
Gis let out a hollow laugh.
"Pfft, you've already betrayed the hell out of that bastard, and now you're pretending to care?"
"..."
"If you have nothing to say, then get lost. I need to finish things with this bastard."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
Just as Gis was about to push Neria aside, Lorian grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Gis's brow furrowed deeply.
"What's your problem?"
"Why don't you look around before you lose your temper?"
Lorian gestured with his chin to the left. A group of nobles had gathered there, murmuring amongst themselves. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but the atmosphere was clearly not good.
Of course it wasn't.
No matter how much they respected Gis for being a strong Hero—more so than Cloud—his low birth was no different from Cloud's.
No, coming from the slums, one could even say he was filthier.
For a guy like that to assault a fellow Hero at the continent's most prestigious social gathering?
And to do it to a defenseless Cloud, relentlessly, to the point where even onlookers were sickened?
It was only natural that the nobles were displeased by his barbaric actions and were whispering among themselves.
"Your one-sided assault is making the other guests uncomfortable."
"One-sided assault? Don't make me laugh. That bastard insulted me. He brought up my mother."
The nobles' murmuring grew louder.
But the negative sentiment toward Gis didn't change.
Because…
"An insult? From Cloud? That's a funny thing to say."
Cloud was of low birth and incompetent.
But he was also known to be kind-hearted and considerate.
Although the nobles looked down on him, they were well aware of his personality.
That was why they saw Gis's words as nothing more than a poor excuse.
This son of a bitch… He heard it too.
Even though it was a whisper, Lorian should have been able to hear it. But he acted as if he hadn't, brazenly confronting Gis.
"Haven't you achieved your goal? I would appreciate it if you refrained from any further disgraceful behavior."
"Right, your goal has been achieved."
Gis slapped Lorian's hand away with a look of disgust.
While Gis had stolen Cloud's companions out of his own base desires, Lorian had done it to keep a fellow Hero in check.
At first, he had only intended to shake things up a bit, but things had somehow worked out this well.
Therefore, Lorian didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble and ruin everything.
"Are you still not satisfied after beating him that much?"
"And if I'm not?"
"Then I shall be your opponent in his stead. In the form of a duel, of course."
As Lorian drew his ceremonial sword, cheers erupted from the nobles.
In that instant, the roles of hero and villain had been decided.
Gis, the villain, was now in a no-win situation.
"...You goddamn bastard."
Gis clicked his tongue and left, his expression still foul.
Only after he was gone did Ophelia rush over to Cloud.
"Sir Hero! Are you alright?"
She asked, but it was obvious to her that he was far from alright. He hadn't resisted at all, just taken the beating, and he was a miserable sight.
Neria, watching with sad eyes, said urgently, "Ophelia, hurry and heal him!"
"Right away. Then…"
"Wait a second."
Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position.
Neria and Ophelia's eyes widened in shock, but he paid them no mind and assessed his own condition.
He was a complete mess.
His shoulder was dislocated, his leg was bent in a way it shouldn't be, and he likely had significant internal bleeding.
Cloud decided to fix his dislocated right shoulder first. He placed his left hand on it and pushed hard. With a loud pop, the bone slid back into place.
He then grabbed his twisted leg and rotated it back to its original position.
He wiggled it around until the broken bone fragments aligned, then let go once they were perfectly set.
"Okay. You can heal me now."
"...What? Ah, yes…"
Feeling a strange chill for some reason, Ophelia used Heal on Cloud.
I thought dissolving a party was as simple as shouting, "We're disbanded!" That's how it was in the world I was dragged to before. But it seems things are different here.
"We will now sever the party bond. This may hurt a little."
An old man with graying hair came and stood behind me.
In this world, forming and breaking a party involved a rather complicated procedure.
To form a party, a person's blood was used to register them on the status mark engraved on their back. To break it, one had to overwrite it with their own blood and then wipe it clean.
They said this procedure was to ensure experience points were shared when hunting monsters.
But of course, you can't reach your own back. So you needed someone else's help.
The person currently dissolving my party bond is one of the Imperial Palace's butlers.
The three heroines were probably in another room, getting help from a maid.
"I will begin."
I felt a cold liquid being applied to my back.
It wasn't an itchy sensation, but a stinging, throbbing pain.
It wasn't painful enough to make me groan. I just sat there, staring blankly, and before I knew it, it was over.
"Can I go now?"
"Yes, the party dissolution is complete."
"Then I'll be on my way."
I hurried out of the room.
The Emperor was scheduled to make an appearance at the social gathering soon.
If I tried to leave while the Emperor was present, I could be stopped, so I planned to slip out before he arrived.
Fortunately, the room I was in was on the first floor, close to the palace entrance, so it didn't take long to get out.
As I left the palace and descended the long flight of stairs, someone was coming up from the opposite direction.
Her face was familiar.
Of course it was. The woman currently climbing the stairs was the only female Hero among those who appeared in 'The Hero's Party.'
Frillite.
The eldest daughter of the Empire's Margrave and the strongest of the four Heroes.
"Cloud? The party isn't over yet. Where are you going?"
She looked at me with a puzzled expression as I descended the stairs.
"I'm tired. I'm heading back early today."
If the food was terrible, there was no reason for me to stay.
"...Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened."
I walked past her and continued down the stairs.
Her gaze remained fixed on me until I had reached the very bottom.
Surprisingly, this world had bars.
Yes, the kind with a dark, secretive atmosphere, where a bartender wipes down a glass at a central counter.
The only downside was that they only had wine, no cocktails.
If they only have wine, why do they need a bartender?
The question crossed my mind, but I decided to let it go.
The wine tasted decent, after all.
Especially compared to that tasteless ale I had at the inn!
Carbonation-free beer. What kind of devil created such a thing?
Then again, the world I was dragged to before didn't have carbonation either.
That's why the first thing I drank when I returned to Earth was a Coke. I still can't forget the refreshing feeling of that moment.
God, I'm craving a Coke right now.
I downed the rest of my wine in one go. The glass, which had been a milky white color just a moment ago, now shone with a clear light.
It's strange how glassmaking is so advanced here.
"If you keep drinking like that, you'll regret it tomorrow."
A woman sat down in the seat next to me.
I turned my head to see a woman with red hair tied in a ponytail.
The bar's dim atmosphere did nothing to diminish her stunning beauty, and the red and gold tailcoat, though a man's garment, couldn't completely hide her voluptuous figure.
"Red? Or white?"
"I'll have a white, please."
"That's unexpected. I thought you'd choose red."
"Why did you think that?"
"Because you're red."
I said, pointing to her red hair. She gave me a look of disbelief.
"You have red hair too, yet you're drinking white wine, are you not?"
"This is different."
My hair wasn't originally red.
Unaware of this fact, she chuckled.
"I'm glad to see you still have the energy to joke around."
A waiter placed a glass of white wine in front of Frillite.
"I wasn't joking, I was serious. Anyway, what are you doing here, Frillite? It doesn't seem like it's time for the party to be over yet."
Frillite de Ferdiac.
As the daughter of the most powerful Margrave family in the Empire and a Hero, she should have been gracing the social gathering with her presence right about now.
Not drinking cheap wine in a basement bar like me.
Frillite held the glass and swirled it. The milky-white wine sloshed like a wave, yet not a single drop spilled out.
"I heard about what happened today."
She stopped swirling the glass and brought it to her lips.
The wine flowed endlessly down her throat.
Even though she was just chugging alcohol, there was an air of elegance to her movements.
"Didn't you just say I'd regret it if I drank like that?"
"Sometimes, you have to drink like this to feel better."
She smiled.
Then her expression turned serious.
"I never imagined those fools would do something like that. It was my oversight."
"Why is it your oversight?"
"I should have paid more attention. But I used the excuse of monster subjugation and failed to do so. Therefore, it is my fault."
"Oh, please."
Frillite drank the wine the bartender had refilled for her.
Anyone else would find her behavior strange, but I knew why she was acting this way.
It wasn't because of any personal friendship.
Cloud and she barely had any connection.
The one and only reason she was so concerned about Cloud was this:
Because Cloud is a Hero.
Frillite was worried that this incident might cause Cloud to lose his motivation.
The four Heroes must join forces to seal the Demon King, the enemy of humanity.
A legend passed down on this continent.
She didn't want to be the one to break it in her generation.
One might think, what's so important about some stupid legend? Isn't it enough for the Heroes to just defeat the Demon King? But that would be wrong.
Heroes can grow endlessly without hitting a growth limit. This means they can break through the limits of being human.
In other words, a Hero is essentially a weapon.
One such Hero is produced from each of the four nations, excluding the duchy.
But what if, for some reason, a nation's Hero disappears or isn't produced?
The balance of power between the nations would collapse.
The gap would become irreversibly wide, and the nation that lost its Hero might eventually be driven to ruin.
That was what Frillite was worried about.
Truly, a daughter well-raised under a strict but righteous father.
"I don't know what it feels like to part with companions you've journeyed with in such a way. I can't even begin to imagine."
"Yeah."
"Nevertheless, I hope you won't be broken by this."
"I won't be."
"I'm glad you're a stronger man than I thought. In any case, it will take some time to find new companions. I will help you with that. I'll recruit some of the most skilled individuals in the Empire…"
"Don't need it."
Frillite, who had been speaking smoothly despite my short answers, paused this time.
She looked at me with serious eyes.
"I understand this is difficult for you emotionally, but there is a difference between courage and recklessness."
"I know."
"Then accept my offer. Even if it feels like a burden, it is the best path for you."
Ah, she's so persistent.
"I said I'm fine. You go around alone, so why are you nagging me about it?"
"As for me…"
"Yeah, I know, it's because you're skilled. But I'm pretty decent myself, you know? So just leave me be. I'll be fine on my own."
"Cloud, you…"
Frillite was speechless for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
She snatched the wine bottle from the bartender's hand and chugged it straight from the bottle.
Wow, she downed it in one go.
I chuckled, then suddenly remembered something I had forgotten.
Come to think of it, she didn't have a CG in the game.
She was a fairly important character, but there was only news of her going missing after entering the Demon Realm; there were no special event scenes or anything.
"Hoo…"
Having finally emptied the entire bottle, she placed it on the table.
I gave her a round of applause.
"Damn, you're so cool. Hnngh."
"...It seems you were more drunk than I thought. Let's talk again when you're sober."
She reached into her coat, pulled out a heavy coin pouch, and tossed it to the bartender.
"Use this to pay for my drinks, and for all the drinks this man has had and will have. It should be more than enough."
The bartender peeked inside the pouch, and his eyes went wide as he nodded eagerly.
"Until next time."
She gave me one last glance, then turned her back and walked out of the bar.
Huh, that was actually pretty cool.