39. Returning to The Hero’s Party

The journey to rejoin the hero would normally take about three weeks, if she travelled normally. But Edmund had arranged for one of the Kingdom's teleportation gates, which sent Kiara directly to a large city nearby. A single use normally cost 1,000 gold, due to the immense magical energies required, and the crystal cost.

Even for nobles, it wasn't something so easily considered. It meant she would only meet the hero two, no, three days later. Kiara looked at the map, and sighed.

"The heroes, were they here?" She asked the hired local guide and transporter. The second leg of the journey would happen via animal-powered wagons.

"Not yet, milady. I was told they've gotten past the infested forest."

Kiara nodded, and looked at the beautiful sword at her waist. "That took them a while. Almost two months?"

"The hero spent a lot of time exterminating the demons, and defeated the demon champion that lurked in the forest! Two months well spent!"

"I see." Kiara sat at the back of the wagon, her mind and heart still partly back at Natar, with Edmund and her mother. "Any rumors about the heroes, so far?"

"Which ones? The one where he has a small troupe of beauties and spends every night fornicating with them?" The guide and wagon-driver laughed. "I was told it's not true, though. The hero hardly touched the girls! Can you imagine that?!"

Kiara sighed. Aman won't touch them at all. "Not that, then. What else?"

"Hmmm... they had some extra members, but other than that, no. All I know the hero's been fighting a whole lot of demons, and the regional lords are thankful."

"Oh."

***

They met in a small fortified town, home to just 8,000. Kiara got there first, and so waited for them in the inn.

"Kiara!" It was Hannah who called her first as she walked through the inn's doors. "Can't believe you actually decided to rejoin us! We missed you!"

Kiara stared at the hero's childhood friend, and smirked. That sounded a little fake, Hannah was probably delighted to have the hero all to herself. She was possessive of her childhood friend like that. "Nice to see you again, Kiara." Aman walked through the door, then three other girls followed.

The knight paused momentarily, and looked at Hannah. "Oh, the party expanded?"

"Yea..." Hannah didn't sound too excited.

Aman did the introductions, "Kiara, this is Wynn, the dragon wizard, Nysta, our priest-healer-nun, and Raven, our ranger." Kiara nodded and shook the hands of the three new beautiful ladies. She had to admit, the hero had good tastes. "This is Kiara, she's a knight."

"Hi." Kiara smiled at the three girls, and looked at Aman. "All girls?"

Aman smiled sheepishly, "Yeah. Somehow it just turned out like that."

Hannah immediately wrapped her hand around Kiara's arms. "Kiara, Kiara, I wanna hear all about your home and everything. Come, let's talk somewhere? I want a nice rest for a change!" The hero party had been fighting demons for some time, and they were all in need of a good bath.

"Ah."

The small town didn't have any particularly fancy hot baths, but the five girls, eventually found their own solution. Wynn, the dragon wizard, was more than happy to use a bit of magic to heat up the water.

"How'd you meet us so quickly!" Hannah immediately asked. "I remember you said it would take weeks to get to Natar!"

"The Count sponsored a trip through the teleportation gate. It's... expensive."

"Whoah. This Count sounds really rich."

"He is, but he's also an ass." Kiara said.

"All nobles are terrible one way or another." Nysta, the newly joined nun added. Kiara immediately flinched.

"I'm a noble too."

"Oh. I didn't mean you." Nysta immediately clarified. "But I don't have a good opinions of nobles. They always manipulate us common folk, send us to wars and stuff."

Hannah laughed. "The priesthood isn't much better. The priests and nuns are corrupt." Nysta looked down, and sighed, agreeing to the hero's childhood friend. The dragon wizard happily soaked in the warm water in her own bath, her dragon wings could magically shrink into really tiny ones. "Wynn's quieter, but she's a nice person. We rescued her when her party was ambushed by some bandits. Raven here is a ranger that joined us during the infested forest quest. She used to serve the nobles of that area but decided to join us."

Raven nodded, and then she went for the opening salvo. "So let's admit it, who's got a thing for the hero?"

"...what?" Kiara was shocked at how sudden the ranger opened it with.

"It's everyone, isn't it?" Raven answered her own question. "Hannah's clearly protective of her childhood friend, Nysta's infatuated with someone's chosen by the goddesses, Wynn's attracted to his godly powers, and I think he's all that, and also he's a cute guy. You... I'm still not sure what you like about him. Money? But then again... power? Political power?"

Hannah stepped in. "Eh, Raven! Not something to talk about! You two just met!"

"Look. The Hero's the Continent's most eligible bachelor at the moment. Let's not delude ourself why this party exist. Tthis party exists because Aman, our dear hero, is chosen by the goddesses and granted huge powers. He would also be rich, and wealthy, and his party is open to anyone who wants to join him in the fight against the demons. To any of us, having access to that kind of power, and by extension, exposure to the goddesses' blessings, is an opportunity of a lifetime. It's just a long courtship and marriage interview through combat together."

"Raven!" Hannah pouted. "Don't make it so... so..."

"So factual?" Raven smirked. "You've got a head start, Hannah, because you knew him before he became the hero. But it doesn't mean you have it. Childhood friends rarely win."

Hannah cursed. "Raven, you skank!"

Kiara was a little stunned, but she had the perfect counter. "The King could offer the princess, and he wouldn't... refuse."

Hannah's face paled. "Oh my god! That's right."

Raven smirked. "That is true, so it only means I must win before the final battle against the demon lords. If I already have the hero's baby, the hero will have to take me as his bride. Then, I'll convince him to take over some of the noble lands and life will be awesome."

"...wow." Kiara had to admit, she was impressed by how single-minded and focused her fellow heroine was. "So... you don't really care about demons?"

"Eh. I do, but that's only because demons destroy our lands. If demons could happily coexist with us, they are not different from regular monsters that stuck to their own territory."

Nysta, the nun immediately retorted. "That's blasphemy, Raven. The church will hear of this."

"Spare me the holy-act, Nysta. I know you masturbate every night to the hero's image." Nysta immediately flushed red. "Your infatuation with the hero's the strongest among us."

The knight sunk into her bath, only her head peeped out. This was going to be a troublesome group.