The Hero Party’s Moms Are Obsessed With Me

When I opened my eyes, I was already in a town whose name I didn’t even know.

It wasn’t a comfortable setting like before.

The carriage I was riding in was an escape from the monsters.

No matter how many parents and remaining people try to stop the monsters, there are few soldiers who have received regular training.

On the other hand, monsters are instinctively killing machines.

Blocking the road for a moment might be possible, but we couldn’t stop the pursuit.

The carriage passed through several villages and carried several kingdom citizens who had lost their villages, just like me.

That’s where the problem arose.

The space and resources inside the carriage were limited, but the number of people to take away was endless.

At first, they accepted everyone, but as they went on, there was selective recruitment by the soldiers.

In the end, the carriage that was supposed to be a rescue carriage for the poor became an audition venue for technical professions.

Fortunately, I learned my father’s swordsmanship skills and could handle a blade to some extent, so I wasn’t abandoned.

The skills of a master are quite scarce.

After two long months, the mobile audition venue arrived at the kingdom’s capital, Trevian.

Should I call it a kingdom?

Unlike the outskirts that were being attacked by monsters, this place where nobles and skilled individuals gathered was peaceful.

The faces of children in clean clothes were filled with pride, and there was no worry in the expressions of adults.

The carriage I was riding was not such a luxurious and positive street.

“Oh, there’s a place like this in Trevian…”

“Yes. And we have to live in a place like this.”

*Sigh*… Mother…

Just as there is shadow where there is the sun.

We stopped in a modest and gloomy alley, far from luxury.

The tired soldiers chased us out of the carriage as if they were done with their duties, and I became a beggar with nothing.

Father’s visa fund is hidden in my pocket, but I can’t take it out now.

I don’t have the power to protect myself.

If rumors spread that I have a large sum of money, my neck could be cut off tonight.

When I felt the solidity in my arms, my mother and father’s faces came to mind.

Tears tried to come out, but maybe I’ve cried too much? No tears come out.

My heart just prickles with pain.

Is it because I didn’t say a word after separating from my parents?

My throat hurts.

When the soldiers left and the beggars didn’t know what to do, they wandered around aimlessly. That’s when I heard the squelching sound behind me.

“Diam.”

I turned my head and saw the face covered in dirt from not having been washed for a long time. The green hair slowly turning brown.

A woodcutter from the same village as me. Tris was standing there.

He had been entrusted to me by my mother, and like me, he had earned recognition for his skills and hadn’t been eliminated from the carriage.

“Diam. I’m thinking of becoming a helper in the carpentry workshop. What are you going to do?”

“…”

I wanted to say something in reply.

But I didn’t want to say anything.

To me, he was both a savior of life and a villain who separated me from my parents.

But that doesn’t mean I despise him.

He’s 17 years old, 7 years older than me.

He’s an adult in this world’s standards, but in mine, he’s just a high schooler. A troublemaker.

And yet, this troublemaker looked after me more than himself.

[Tris, I have a favor to ask of you, please take care of Diam.]

Just because of one request from my mother.

He’s not a villain. I know that. But when I see him, my parents’ faces come to mind.

I raised my eyes coolly and then closed them.

I felt the weight on my shoulders as I slowly nodded.

“Kid, you have to live well… so that Dran hyung… and Eriana nunni can smile… right?”

A trembling voice that was wet with tears.

I must have looked like a child who had given up on life.

Life…

It’s difficult.

Humans need goals.

I’ll earn a lot of money!

I’ll become the best!

I’ll gain honor!

With these goals as motivation, one can go on living.

I also have a goal.

Two things.

The first is to find my parents’ bodies and bury them in our backyard.

I’m not sure if their bodies will still be there, or if our house will still be standing.

It’s the only dream I have.

At the same time, it’s a dream that I can never fulfill with the power I currently have.

So I guess you could call it a dream.

The second thing is…

I’m 13 years old.

I’ve been living in the slums for 3 years.

My current occupation, in simple terms, is a janitor.

I stick to people who seem like they’re about to throw away trash while walking on the street.

Before that person can take out the trash from their waist, I quickly poke it with a swift motion, and the trash tied to their waist starts its free fall, unable to defy gravity.

I catch the trash before it hits the ground.

I can feel the weight in my hand and I want to see how much trash is in it right now, but I’ll have to check when I get home.

After that, I pick up about five more pieces of trash and just before I head back home.

I found a person who seems very good at throwing away trash.

Her golden hair glistens in the blowing wind.

Even though she’s wearing loose clothes, her outstanding figure is not hidden.

She’s a beautiful woman who is so different from her surroundings.

She’s clearly a noble who hasn’t received much education, so it’s certain that she would casually throw away trash.

Before she can throw away the trash in this clean street, I’ll have to take… clean it up.

I nodded and approached her.

As I reached out my hand to pick up the trash, familiarly.

“You dirty little prankster.”

A woman appeared like a shadow and grabbed my wrist, twisting it.

I almost let out a scream of pain, but maybe because I rarely speak? No voice came out.

There was someone else speaking for me.

“Eli? Is that the child?”

She was the beautiful woman, so different from her surroundings, who intended to casually throw away trash.

“It’s nothing, Miss. Just a minor incident,” The maid said calmly, gripping my wrist.

I quickly retaliated by tapping her waist with my other hand.

At the same time, the sound of a buckle clanging was heard as [the sound of opening and closing mouth].

This time, it wasn’t the hand of the woman holding my wrist that I had caught, but her belt.

“Ah!”

She exclaimed in surprise and let go of my hand, trying to take advantage of the opportunity to escape.

“Damn it.”

What is the identity of this other beautiful lady with a different art style?

“You have an interesting ability, kid,” A figure that appeared like a shadow blocked my path.

In the midst of my hesitation caused by the appearance of another woman, the woman who had fastened her belt blushed and stood behind me.

Two skilled individuals who surpass me.

“This is trouble.”

I picked a fight with the wrong person and ended up in a messy situation.

This is why greed is forbidden.

Well, what can I do? I might as well die.

Before I die, I’ll be beaten and thrown into the slums.

I raised both palms to show that I had no intention to fight.

Just as the two women were about to grab me and drag me away somewhere.

“Wait a moment,” The other woman with a different art style intervened.

“Please release the child.”

“But ma’am-“

“I’m begging you.”

At the woman’s words, the hands holding onto me were released.

The beautiful woman walked slowly towards me, then knelt down and met my gaze.

“Up close, it’s true. You’re Diam, aren’t you?”

How does she know my name?

With a quizzical tilt of her head, the woman grinned.

Her smile was like the arrival of an angel, momentarily stealing my senses.

“You seem curious about how I know your name,” she said.

Could she be a mind-reading sorceress?

She chuckled softly behind me.

Pointing in the direction of the slums, she spoke, “The shelter over in the slums, run by you and a child named Tris, isn’t it?”

She knows even the undisclosed details. Who is this woman?

“Ray told me everything.”

That rascal, Ray.

I couldn’t keep my composure around her, ultimately falling under her charm.

“There’s a child running the shelter who’s not much younger than you. Although he doesn’t openly speak kindly to everyone, he’s said to be kinder than a saint.”

Kinder than a saint…

From their perspective, that’s probably true.

Heaven and Earth. Beings who receive the love of both gods. Saints.

Before the appearance of heroes, the saint traveled beyond the holy nation to kingdoms and even allied nations, providing service.

However, when the hero emerged and the saint became part of the hero’s party, the service came to a halt.

The holy nation’s standpoint was that they couldn’t afford to waste resources supporting the hero’s party, but there was even more dissatisfaction with the saint pretending to be kind.

The shelter, too, was left abandoned as the service was discontinued.

It was precisely at that time that Tris and I arrived in Trebavian.

I was in my thirties, and he was only ten years old.

Together, we felt sympathy for the unfortunate children around us.

Cleaning up the mess in front of our eyes seemed like a more achievable dream than dealing with our parents’ remains.

So, Tris and I collaborated to establish the shelter.

Tris, a skilled carpenter, built the houses, and I earned money by doing odd jobs.

It wasn’t our intention, but our shelter appeared just as the support from the saint ceased.

Adults settled using their abilities one by one, but not the children.

Even though it was difficult to provide excellent education, they operated a shelter where children could sleep without feeling cold at night, take shelter under the roof on rainy days, and have at least one meal a day.

From their perspective, we were more helpful than a saint who doesn’t immediately provide assistance but can fill their mouths with food.

Anyway.

What’s important right now is to escape from the unidentified woman who is patting my head with a smile.

While I was contemplating how to do that, the woman turned her head and raised a black woman like a shadow.

“Elli?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“How much money do I have in front of me?”

“There is no fixed amount.”

“How much should I spend per month and such?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

The woman who finished speaking smiled at me again.

“From now on, I want to donate to the shelter run by this child. All the money within the limit I can use.”

What is this woman talking about?

Donate to the shelter?

We have nothing to give.

“L-Lady! That’s…”

The knight, too, stammered in a fluster, saying what is she talking about, but the beautiful woman continued to pat my head as if she didn’t care.

“This child lost their parents and village because of our Dre, after all. So, I also want to help such people as much as I can.”

I don’t know anyone named Dre.

But among all the names that everyone knows, there is Dre.

A child who, like me, is 13 years old but already the best in the kingdom in swordsmanship thanks to the blessing of the sun god.

A hero.

Dre.

If this woman is called a woman who can be called Dre’s mother, there is only one.

“Could it be… Is this woman… Dre’s mother?”