Chapter 24: You’re going to stop me?

At the height of saintess Karina’s rampage, the Hero Party was on the run.

It had been days, though no one could tell exactly how many.

For a group known as the Hero Party, it was hard to believe they had fallen so low.

So much had happened in those few days.

The hero who had defeated the Demon King was now a conman tangled in marriage fraud.

Erin, once hailed as the Elven race’s divine archer, was now treated worse than a Dark Elf—despised by her own people and disowned.

Maria, the great sage, had been rebranded as a dark witch, a title reserved for corrupt sorcerers.

When Erin, unable to bear it any longer, exposed Karina as the mastermind behind it all, the response was overwhelming:

-How dare you accuse the Saintess, who made a noble sacrifice for the defeat of the Demon King!

-Sure, people need to survive, but how could you say that about the Saintess?

-Disappointing! It was the Saintess who defeated the Demon King, wasn’t it?!

The embellished tales of Karina’s deeds, meant to cover up her disappearance, had come back to haunt the party.

Those who could corroborate their story were conveniently missing.

Now, all the remaining members of the Hero Party could do was run.

“Why on earth do we, the ones who defeated the Demon King, have to go through this?”

Erin, her skin darkened to a deep violet—nearly a Dark Elf herself—wailed in despair.

The elves despised Dark Elves for their association with the Demon King, and now she was becoming one.

The injustice of it all made her want to join the Demon King’s army herself.

“Well, isn’t this just karma?”

Maria, the mage, had already resigned herself to their fate.

After all, going from a great sage to a dark witch was quite the fall.

But where had she picked up that idea of karma?

“Where did you hear that phrase?”

“Our great Saintess taught it to me.”

“Hah, the ‘great Saintess,’ huh?”

“In any case, it’s not just her fault. We’re the ones who spent all that money without thinking.”

Maria sighed.

It was true—they’d spent recklessly, trusting the Saintess’s assurances.

But what could they do?

The hero himself had made those choices, believing it was his right as the hero.

“That’s true, but this is a bit much.”

Of course, they had made mistakes.

Heroes weren’t infallible, and being a hero didn’t justify everything.

But to be accused of marriage fraud, drug cultivation, and illegal magical experiments—this was a bit excessive, even for them.

“Well, at least she could’ve given us a heads-up.”

“She probably would’ve just said, ‘Did you ask if I was committing marriage fraud? Did you ask if I was cultivating drugs? Did you ask if I was doing illegal experiments?’ That’s exactly what she would’ve said.”

Yeah, that was exactly the kind of thing Karina would have said.

-So, Karina, where are we heading now?

-To the Demon King’s castle.

-Suddenly? We’re not even prepared!

-You should’ve asked if we were going to the Demon King’s castle.

That was the kind of person she was before their final battle.

But none of that mattered now.

Karina was gone, and the Hero Party had been branded as criminals.

“Yeah, that’s exactly how it would’ve gone.”

“At this rate, we’re in real trouble. Saintess Karina, who could clear our names, is missing. And we let all of this happen without checking it ourselves.”

It was the hero’s failure to properly verify things that had led them here.

After the defeat of the Demon King, they had tried to initiate peace talks with the demon tribes.

But Karina had unceremoniously killed the Demon King.

Now what?

They’d run as far as they could, but they couldn’t keep running forever.

They had to make a decision.

“Well, we could try being shameless about it. We’re the party that defeated the Demon King, right? We could just lean on that.”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

After all, they had eliminated humanity’s greatest threat.

Most factions had wanted the Demon King dead anyway, so being labeled as heroes wasn’t out of the question.

But it wouldn’t be that simple.

“The nobles are the problem. They’ve inflated our crimes to keep us in check.”

Maria said.

The nobles feared the Hero Party might seize power, so they’d exaggerated their wrongdoings.

And fighting back against the nobles would only make them look worse.

“Wait a minute, aren’t we in a really dangerous situation right now?”

Erin, now almost fully transformed into a Dark Elf, suddenly realized something.

“Why?”

Maria asked.

“Think about it. We’re the Hero Party, assembled to defeat the Demon King.”

“Right.”

“We’ve defeated the Demon King. In other words, we’re out of a job. We’re unemployed, useless labor now.”

Criminal accusations aside, how useful would the Hero Party be to the kingdom now that their mission was complete?

The kingdom might even want to get rid of them, especially since they were now tied to criminal activities.

“Well, we’re still strong. Maybe we could become adventurers.”

They could hide their identities and live as adventurers.

“Can we really become adventurers after committing crimes?”

“In a blink, we’ve gone from unemployed to criminals.”

It seemed like nothing was going to work out.

Being powerful wouldn’t matter if they were branded as criminals.

“Then there’s only one way.”

The solution, after much thought and contemplation, seemed clear.

If they were to follow the teachings of the scripture from the religion Karina believed in, there was one way to resolve this absurd situation.

If no other options presented themselves, this was the answer.

“In that case, we must make a decision.”

“Do you have a good plan?”

“If we’re lucky, it might just work.”

Success wasn’t guaranteed since this would be the first attempt.

After all, this wasn’t the hero’s task but the mage’s domain.

Perhaps Maria, who might have really conducted some illegal experiments, was now absolutely essential.

“What is it?”

“We have no way to absolve our original sins. Karina’s deeds are too severe. Even if we’ve earned public favor, people will point fingers and say the corrupt hero party is just trying to cover up its crimes. They might even claim that winning over public sentiment was a way to seek forgiveness for our sins.”

In short, there was no place in the world for them anymore.

There was the option to flee to another continent, but that would be a grueling ordeal.

“Then what?”

This was the worst and most extreme option.

“We follow Karina and leave this world.”

“Is that even possible?”

If it were possible, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try.

The hero party had overcome life-and-death trials numerous times before.

How hard could it be to merely leave this world?

After all, a hero was a hero for a reason.

“Actually, before we left the Demon King’s castle, I briefly glimpsed the traces of Karina’s departure. It’s said to be a power of the goddess. It was fascinating, so I took a look.”

Though they’d used many teleportation scrolls, Karina had used something of the goddess.

It was worth investigating.

The hero had initially brushed it off, not realizing they’d end up as criminals, but now they had no choice.

“So?”

“If we’re serious, I think we can open that door. Maria, I’ll need your help. Let’s gather the materials and head to the Demon King’s castle.”

“Understood.”

What kind of world did Karina go to?

The hero, whose curiosity was always piqued, began to wonder.

Now that the Demon King was gone, and they had nothing left to hold onto in this world, perhaps going to Karina’s world wasn’t such a bad idea.

Rather than stubbornly clinging to a world where the one person who could clear their names had disappeared, following Karina’s path seemed like a viable option.

*

As for Karina, the idle saint, she spent her days lounging on a bed, living the carefree life of a swan, casually tapping away on a game console. That was the plan, anyway.

-Isn’t it about time you head to the 4th floor of the tower?

“Hmm. I’ll have to think about that. It’s not urgent anyway.”

-I’m feeling uneasy. My intuition has never been wrong. Go immediately.

“Ah, yes, ma’am.”

When the boss gives an order, you follow it.

As a devotee of the goddess, obedience was a must.

With a portal stone in hand, Karina infused it with magic and teleported instantly to the tower’s entrance.

As soon as she arrived, countless hunters in front of the tower stared at her.

“As expected, the attention I get is something else.”

Being in this body, she could feel the gaze of others.

Especially the men—every glance was directed at her chest.

It was… definitely unpleasant.

The problem was that even the female hunters were staring.

Was it normal for women to be so fixated on each other’s chests?

“Tsk.”

One female hunter, after making eye contact with Karina, checked her own chest before clicking her tongue in frustration.

The inferiority complex was real.

Meanwhile, some men gawked at Karina in disbelief.

“Hey, watch your eyes. That’s the saintess.”

“Wait, that woman is the saintess?”

“Yeah, no doubt about it.”

“Wow, she really is the saintess.”

“Watch your words. She’s not like those female hunters in dungeons who joke around with crude talk.”

It seemed someone had done their homework on her.

Karina wouldn’t get upset over mere words.

But if anyone dared to lay a hand on her, she’d be more than happy to smash their skulls.

“Oh.”

Upon entering the Tower of Destruction, the first and second floors had clearly become beginner hunting grounds.

It was now a place for hunters to farm resources.

The third floor was filled with campsites, much like the second floor.

As Karina approached one of these camps, a group of hunters blocked her path.

“You cannot pass through here.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

“Excuse me, what did you just say?”

“We cannot let the saintess proceed to the 4th floor.”

Who were these people to decide whether she could go or not?

Fine, I was a kind saint.

I didn’t resort to violence unless absolutely necessary.

Still, I will listen to their reasoning.

“And why’s that?”

“You know the reason, saintess.”

Oh, I know?

Sorry, but I really have no idea what they are talking about.

The only thing I know for sure was that hunters had no conscience.

“Do I now?”

“Use the key to the 4th floor.”

How petty.

“So you’re saying you’ll block my way until the 4th floor is opened?”

“Do you really think you can handle it alone?”

That was none of their business.

I was preparing to pull the mace from my sleeve.

Maybe smashing some skulls would knock some sense into them.

There were about thirty of them.

If I cast a barrier and a field spell, I could take down enough of them that they’d surrender on their own.

There didn’t seem to be any particularly strong individuals among them either.

The top-tier hunters must’ve gone elsewhere.

“That’s for me to worry about. What if I choose to solve this by force?”

“Hah! You think you can take on this many? You couldn’t even if you tried, but if you do, you’ll be breaking the rules, saintess.”

“Breaking the rules?”

What rules?