Chapter 1 : The Hero Party Is Getting Married! Except Me (1)

-Tap tap tap

Page folding

The Demon King…

Loves the saint who killed him.

I could hear the crackling of the campfire next to the Demon King’s corpse.

The couples sat together, while I sat alone, staring at the fire.

“Guys… we defeated the Demon King…”

“huh? What did you say?”

“Damn it…”

Hero Alec, who was feeding soup to the female mage Eris, responded to my voice.

Guys, don’t do that kind of thing in front of a corpse, seriously…

I bet even the Demon King in hell would be shocked.

I could almost hear him groaning, “I got killed by those guys…?!”

“Ha ha… don’t be too mad, Charlotte.”

“Yeah, calm down. The right one will come for you too.”

Warrior Karl and archer Sierra threw some half-mocking, half-pitying lines my way.

Look at them, feeding each other soup like they don’t have hands.

Meanwhile, I was feeding myself alone.

I’ve known about the romantic vibes between them for a while now.

I’m not some clueless saint.

Anyone with eyes would’ve noticed after three years of traveling together.

Their chemistry only kept getting stronger during the journey.

I even knew about the time when Eris, worried about the injured hero, sneaked into his tent and they shot a whole R-rated romance novel

together.

I stayed up all night listening from the next tent with eyes wide open.

The next morning, they were both blushing and grinning like idiots.

Who wouldn’t figure it out? If you didn’t, you must be blind.

“Right, Charlotte, you should also cut down on the cursing.”

“Ha ha! My fiancée’s totally right.”

“Oh stop it… fiancée?”

“Ah.”

Alec and Eris were talking to me but quickly drifted back into their own little world.

Blood pressure meds! Someone get me blood pressure meds!!

If they’re gonna flirt so hard, they should just go into their tent already.

“Three years… it felt both long and short.”

“Yeah… it was tough, but we did it.”

“And now, we even have a promised future together…”

“Ugh.”

They kept drifting off into their own world again.

But still… talking like this made me think back to when we first started the journey, three years ago.

Back then, Alec had just graduated at the top of the academy and started recruiting for his party. Tons of people applied.

But he rejected them all, saying, “That’s not what adventure’s about!”

And then he set off alone. A naive fool.

As he traveled from village to village, he encountered many troubles.

That’s when he first met his companion, Karl.

While fighting a captain from the Demon King’s army—

“Ha ha! You’re the first person I’ve ever trusted to watch my back!”

“Hey! Same here!”

Thanks to Karl’s help, Alec barely managed to win and behead the enemy.

That’s when Alec finally accepted Karl as a companion.

And the words he said then… were ridiculous.

“Wow, this is tough alone…”

Of course it’s tough, dumbass. Did he think the Demon King’s army was a joke?

After that, Alec started recruiting seriously.

He even asked the Empire to support him, and they helped him contact the magic tower in Raspan Kingdom and the Aria Church.

But at first, both the tower and the church turned him down.

Honestly, I get it.

Why would they help some newbie hero who just graduated?

Even if Alec died, the academy would just send another top student next year.

Then, after Alec and Karl defeated one of the Four Demon Generals—Garua, the Beast King—with Sierra joining them,

suddenly the tower and the church panicked.

No hero had ever taken down one of the Demon Generals before.

That’s when they dragged me in. Damn it.

Saint Charlotte of the Aria Church.

“Her shining silver hair is like divine silk, and her amber gem-like eyes are God’s own jewels.”

Yeah, that’s me.

Magic so blinding it could blind you just by looking.

Holy power that could heal even critical wounds.

Rich as hell thanks to church donations.

A beauty so intense it causes debuffs.

Why me, of all people, to go hunt a Demon King?

But then the Raspan Magic Tower sent Erich, the future tower master.

If the church sent just some random priest, their reputation would plummet.

So, yeah… I got drafted.

“Do I have to go?”

“If you refuse again, the Pope will force you into an arranged marriage.”

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

Back then, I really didn’t want to go.

When I got out of bed and saw the High Priest’s pale, worried face,

I just sighed.

“Fine, I’ll at least go see the Pope.”

The High Priest lit up like the sun. Was the Pope threatening him or something?

“Gramps, where’s the Pope?”

“In the Pope’s chambers.”

“Fine, I’m going.”

I followed the High Priest reluctantly.

If the Pope loved me like a granddaughter, couldn’t he not send me off to some random hero?

“Gramps, I’m here.”

“Oh, my dear Charlotte is here!”

The Pope immediately hugged me tightly.

If he loved me so much, couldn’t he just not send me?

“Do I really have to gooo?”

“Even if you act cute, yes, you still have to go.”

“Ugh.”

Even my ultimate cuteness didn’t work.

At the time, the worst thing I’d ever said was “dummy” or “meanie.”

After joining this hero’s party, I turned into a cursing machine.

Hell. That’s what it was.

I had to pick up a mace because no one else would listen.

I even cracked open a demon’s skull after they betrayed me.

Alec, acting all righteous, kept saying, “We don’t kill those who surrender.”

Which is exactly why we almost died in a trap laid by that very same demon.

Guess who cracked that demon’s skull open? Me.

Guess who smacked Alec on the back with a mace for being stupid? Also me.

That’s when I earned the ridiculous title of “Violent Saint Who Hits the Hero.”

If the Pope saw me now, he’d probably strangle me screaming, “Give me back my sweet Charlotte!”

-Tap tap tap

I clenched my fists while staring into the fire.

Where had my innocent past self gone?

Now I’m a violent saint who’ll kill demons without hesitation.

If their suffering drags on, I’ll put them out of their misery myself.

While I was lost in thought, these bastards had already gone into their tents together.

I was just sitting by the fire alone with the Demon King’s corpse.

I turned to sleep. We had five people but only three tents.

I quietly put out the fire and went into an empty tent.

Covered my ears, shut my eyes.

Please… just let me sleep without waking up from their stupid noises.

Bastards…

The next morning in the Demon Realm.

I peeked out of the tent.

These bastards still weren’t awake.

What the hell were they doing last night?

Even Sierra, who always woke up first, was still sleeping.

This sucks.

I’ve decided. I’m leaving them.

This damn party.

If I don’t act out a little, my sanity will completely fall apart.

It’s a survival instinct.

The Demon King’s dead anyway.

If I take a piece of his corpse, that’s proof enough.

There’s a teleport scroll too.

They’ll wake up and gather their things and head back.

But I… can’t bear to watch them flirt all day long.

Let’s write a letter.

“I’m leaving first. Don’t look for me. Shi—”

I almost wrote a curse word, but crossed it out.

I really wanted to swear a lot.

I approached the Demon King’s corpse, broke off one of the horns from his crushed skull,

and stuffed it into my pack.

Dark energy leaked out of the horn, but it wasn’t too bad.

The tents were still quiet. I almost got emotional.

‘Let’s go home…’

I tore the teleport scroll and returned to the Grand Cathedral of the Aria Church.

Later

“Wait, where’s Charlotte?”

Alec woke Eris and was about to ask her to cast a search spell,

but then saw the letter by the fire.

“She said she’s leaving first… and not to look for her…”

Sierra read the letter and looked at him, worried.

“Huh…”

Actually, our biggest concern after becoming a couple was Charlotte.

She seemed really mad yesterday,

but this was the first time she left on her own.

“Maybe we teased her too much…”

Eris looked like she was about to cry.

Yeah, maybe we did.

We were so happy about defeating the Demon King that we didn’t think about how Charlotte felt, being alone.

Then an idea hit me.

“Right! Let’s send Charlotte somewhere with guys she might like!”

“…What?”

“Charlotte has high standards, but I bet the Academy I graduated from has someone she’d fall for!”

“Are you serious, Alec…?”

“Ugh, what was that chill?”

A shiver ran down my spine.

Was it a mistake to come back early?

What if something happened to the others?

I don’t know what’s going to happen next…