Chapter 657 657: Magic



They were exhausted. Exhausted to the point that they were even getting tired just by breathing—no. The Leville party wasn't even breathing anymore, they were just gasping for air.

It didn't help that they were surrounded by a tall wall of rocks, and beneath their feet littered almost 3 dozen dead orcs. Suffice it to say, they were suffocating.

And now, another party wanted to steal the very reason why they were dying of exhaustion in the first place.

But of course, if they were to be given a choice, then they would truly want to keep their life instead of holding onto their hell-earned loot. In truth, the Leville party already quietly decided to just let the other party steal the corpses—their resistance was just a show of strength

"...Riley?"

But now, as Bert, Lilly, and Roan saw their Porter very slowly lifting Bert's giant hammer from the ground, the only thing they could really do was subtly shake their head.

"You... you should run," Bert's muscles burned as he used up the last of his strength to try and stop Riley. He walked—no, he almost tumbled toward him; if it wasn't for him grabbing Riley's shoulder, then he would have definitely fallen face-first on the hard ground,

"This isn't your fight," Bert then said as he grabbed his hammer...only to find that he couldn't even pull it away from Riley's hand for even a single millimeter. Bert's hammer was large; just the head was enough to fit an entire adult in it—and yet Riley was holding it like it was some sort of wooden stick.

"W—"

"I envy your porter."

And before anyone from the Leville party could say another word, the leader of the other party started to march forward along with her team; their weapons, now fully threatening to end Lilly and the others.

"If only our porter had the same guts as your—"

And without even being able to finish her words, the leader of the other party just disappeared.

"...What?"

The female hunter's comrades could really only instinctively halt their steps from the sudden... situation. A situation they weren't quite exactly sure what happened yet.

It wasn't only them; the scene also has not registered in Roan and Lilly's minds. Even Bert, who was the closest to Riley, could not help but blink a couple of times in utter confusion.

After all, the next thing every one of them just knows is that the female hunter disappeared...completely replaced by the head of Bert's hammer.

Bert then turned to look at Riley, who was now holding just the handle of the hammer as it snapped from the head. And then, before any of them could even attempt to utter a single word, Riley punched the hammer's head.

And as he did so, the female hunter's entire party disappeared...replaced by a smear of blood on the ground. Well, perhaps not her entire party, as one was unlucky enough to only lose one of his legs.

"N...no," the man could really only shake his head as he stared at his mangled leg, which now looked like a sausage that was chewed by a toddler and thrown out of its mouth.

The man didn't really know what was happening anymore, and yet his body instinctively knew that it was in danger—and this danger was walking closer and closer to him.

"P... please," the man started pushing himself with his remaining leg as he saw Riley very slowly approaching him, "I...I don't want to die, please."

"I know," Riley let out a small sigh as the man started crawling away from him, "All of you always do until you don't."

"W...wa—"

"!!!"

The man surrendered. Lilly, Roan, and Bert saw that the man clearly surrendered—and yet it didn't matter. The only thing they could do was watch as Riley grabbed the man's remaining leg, pulling him closer to him before he stepped on his head...instantly squashing it into pieces like a watermelon.

"..."

And after that was done, Riley just shrugged. Almost as if what he just did was one of the most normal things in the world to do—like he was just throwing the trash.

Riley then started looking around, before suddenly pointing his finger at the now... dead party's cart.

"Look at that," Riley then said; his voice, not even a single hint of worry, "They brought us a cart for the orcs."

"We...Let us place the orc for you, Riley!"

"Y...yeah, you can just rest there."

And almost as if their exhaustion disappeared and their wounds no longer hurt, Lilly and the others started dragging the orc corpses toward the cart. But before they could even fool themselves that they still have the strength to do so, Riley's loud sigh caused them to stop and flinch.

"Put the corpses down, everyone," Riley breathed out, "I am the Porter...

...It's my job to carry."

***

"They... attacked you?"

"Yes."

Suffice it to say, as the Leville party emerged from the dungeon, they quickly garnered the attention of everyone that was loitering and preparing outside. And since there were only a few people there, all eyes were literally stuck on them... and for different reasons.

Most of the people were shocked and amazed to see a mountain of orcs being dragged on a cart.

As for the Handler managing the dungeon, he was also amazed—but he quickly recognized that the cart Riley was pulling did not belong to them.

"And what happened after?" The handler squinted his eyes as he looked back and forth between the members of the Leville party.

"We killed them, Handler."

And as a 3rd party, Riley was the one to answer the handler's queries.

"The four of you... managed to defeat a party that outnumbered you, after you were already tired of dealing with the orcs?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "The Leville party is quite strong."

"...How would I know that they didn't hunt these orcs, and you four were the ones to ambush their tired group?"

"You won't. The other party are all dead, Handler."

"..."

"..."

"Hm..." And after a few seconds of staring at Riley, the handler just smirked and shook his head, "...I'm just curious. The truth is, that party is already notorious for stealing others' loot. It was just a matter of when they'll meet someone like your team...

...It's fine, all of you are cleared now."

And with those words reaching Lilly and the other's ears, the three could not help but let out a sigh of relief; trying their best not to just faint there and then.

As for Riley, he just nodded before stretching his hand toward the handler.

"My commission. I would like to take it now, Handler."

"That... you don't really beat around the bushes."

"I hide in the bushes."

"...Right," the handler could only shake his head and sigh, "Show me your Porter's license card."

"Hm," Riley then grabbed something from his pocket—a card.

The license card served as many things; identification, a pass, and also a wallet. For a planet that did not seem to have access to advanced technology, this card seemed out of place.

It could be attributed to magic, but then again, there was a saying that an advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic—a truly advanced technology, that is.

This place—Riley was sure of it from the start...

...he and Aerith did not find it randomly.