9. Silvia (2)
While on the way to see Ian, Sylvia overheard the story of ‘Sylvia the Beggar Girl’.
Because of that, I was able to clearly recall the blurry scene in the other side of my memory.
‘Are you hungry?’
Ian from 4 years ago brought a white cat to her while she was begging.
She doesn’t even know why the name Ian was changed to ‘Philip’.
I know Philip as one of Ian’s attendants.
Did Ian deliberately use a fake name?
Why was Penny looking for that ‘Philip’ so much?
… Nothing can be known.
Ian wasn’t the type to talk about his work.
Sylvia, too, did not pay attention to what he was doing.
Not only Sylvia, but everyone in the 1st hero’s party was like that.
*
“Because who are you?”
Little Sylvia asked again before the hearty meal.
When I asked if I was hungry, I asked who it was first.
Ian said that he would think about it and suggested that we eat first.
There was no hostility, so I followed him, but doubts remained.
She grew up in an environment where people had to be suspicious of people to survive.
“… I know.”
Ian didn’t have an answer for quite some time.
It wasn’t a question that could simply be introduced by name.
Although the imperial family had established a system related to warriors as Ian suggested, it was not stable.
So there was no name of manager.
“Who can’t leave hungry kids like you?”
“There are many other hungry children besides me.”
“then… Let’s say you stand out in particular.”
It’s a ridiculous excuse.
Maybe it’s a ploy to kidnap and sell it somewhere.
There are not a few street children who disappeared like that.
“Eat first.”
“… … .”
My stomach agitated at the feast of food I had never seen in my life.
Still, Sylvia couldn’t stop eating.
“It’s tricky. I understand.”
Ian took a bite of the food.
This is to show that he did not take poison or sleeping pills.
“done?”
“… thank you.”
That is not the end of the proof.
Maybe Ian had a special means to hold on.
However, I starved for too long to dispel all those doubts.
Sylvia hurriedly finished the food.
Ian, who sat in front of her, kept writing down something alone while checking to see if she was eating well.
“… I really enjoyed the meal.”
Sylvia said while wiping the food from her mouth with her arm.
It was only after I had finished eating that I felt embarrassed that I had eaten too much.
“You must be very hungry. Isn’t it enough?”
“… Yes. I’m full.”
“What is your name?”
Ian asked knowingly.
“It’s Sylvia.”
“Yes, Sylvia. I am Ian.”
Sylvia thought that name was unusual.
Why did Ian come to see him?
“I know you are a wizard.”
Sylvia stiffened at that sudden confession.
She has never used magic in front of others.
Every time I used it for survival, it was a place where there was no other eyes.
Could it be that this man knew all about it… .
“I told you beforehand. I do not intend to hold you accountable for what you have done.”
“… … .”
To put the word capital of the empire to shame, the outskirts of the city or outside the walls were infested with homeless people.
The alley where Sylvia was begging was similar.
In that musty hell, Sylvia had to kill people to live.
At first it was self defense.
He tried to take away the share he begged for, so he killed him with magic.
It happened several times.
Later, in order to take from others, Sylvia had to hurt others and got used to it.
I did just enough not to die.
She may not have really died.
“It is such a world.”
Ian shrugged his shoulders calmly, but looked bitter.
It was a time when I had to build my survival on the death of others.
“Then, why me… .”
“Are you going to continue living like this?”
“… I beg your pardon?”
“You don’t want to live by begging all the time.”
The tone was plain, but the content was aggressive.
Sylvia felt a deep sense of resentment at those words.
“What do you, what do you know about me… . Me too, I don’t live because I want to live like this… !”
“So do I. I want you to live differently.”
What the hell is this man trying to say?
“ha… . Where should I start talking? Yes, I am going to kill the demon king first.”
It was too heavy a name to take out in the capital of the empire.
The demon king who leads the demons of the Northern Demon Realm and is said to be the owner of the dungeons that occur on the continent.
The name that exists but that everyone wishes not to exist.
“To do that, help me… . No, I need someone to kill for me.”
“Why don’t you do it yourself?”
The time when the second round of death was still engraved in my memory.
Ian often said that.
“I am incompetent.”
humble self-help.
Not knowing the story, Sylvia felt sorry for him.
“You mean I can kill the demon king?”
“I can’t be sure.”
“… It is nonsense.”
“It sounds like that now. But I wouldn’t want to live like this.”
“I don’t know what the devil has to do with my life.”
“Why not? The reason why the empire was so devastated is because of the demon lord, the demons, and the dungeon.”
So kill the demon king.
It was a childish story that if evil was eliminated, the world would become peaceful.
However, it could not be ignored as childish.
“And soon there will be a job called ‘Hero’. If you follow me, you too will become that hero.”
“… Are you a warrior?”
I couldn’t stand this.
“How childish… .”
“Is it true?”
“You are so serious that I have nothing to say… .”
“I am really sincere. Anyway, I don’t want to force you to take me either.”
“… What will change when you become a hero?”
“Well… . A lot of things will change, do you wish for anything?”
Sylvia thought for a moment.
“I don’t want to be hungry.”
“and?”
“I want people to acknowledge me, not ignore me… .”
“End?”
“All I can think of right now is yes. Oh no. I want to be able to share without hurting others. This is really over.”
Ian smiled and held out his hand.
“I will make it so. Would you like to follow me?”
This time, Sylvia pondered a little longer.
He couldn’t imagine how holding hands would change his life in the future.
But at least it won’t be worse than now.
Most of all, because the food was delicious.
Also call the ship.
“… Okay.”
Sylvia held Ian’s hand.
“But why do you speak half-heartedly from the beginning?”
“How old are you?”
“16… Was it?”
“I am 20. okay?”
“mister.”
“… What?”
At the beginning of the 3rd playthrough, Ian was nervous and nervous, but he was a little flirtatious.
Sylvia was a bold beggar girl.
Time passed quickly.
As promised, Ian didn’t make Sylvia go hungry.
Three times a day, they served generous yet high-quality meals to the extent that they wanted to go too far.
After washing, she went to a seamstress named Ruby Taylor, who was not famous at the time, and put on neat clothes.
And Sylvia repeated the meaningless physical labor.
I didn’t like it at first, but since he gave me food, I complied.
The results appeared quickly.
Sylvia’s magic has developed to the point where it can’t be compared to what she used in the alley.
“Look, it will be fine.”
Ian said that to Sylvia, who raised her level of magic in a month.
It was the first real compliment I heard in my life.
Soon, the warrior business promoted by the imperial family was in full swing, and the name ‘Hero’ was born.
While others recklessly challenged, Ian silently trained Sylvia.
When Sylvia finally took the Temporary Hero Promotion Test.
There, the first ‘Big Slime’ appeared, and Sylvia popped it with a single shot of the Ice Spear.
At that time, Sylvia cried while holding the magic stone for the first time.
I don’t know why I cried
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Just, the crying was intense.
Afterwards, Ian made his name by solving several dungeons with Sylvia.
Not everything went smoothly.
“Ian… .”
Sylvia had to sleep next to Ian intermittently.
At first she didn’t, but being with Ian made her fear the murder she had committed.
Since then, Sylvia has suffered from nightmares, and whenever the severity is severe, she seeks out Ian.
Ian used to hold her hand or hug her until she fell asleep.
When he found out that the cat he was carrying with him was Mine, the road went wild.
“Did you cheat on me and stay with Mine?!”
“Sylvia, wait. I didn’t mean to cheat… .”
“You say I’m a warrior! You told me to kill the demon king! But Mine, how… .”
At any moment, I could have been killed by the demon Kati.
Thinking so, Sylvia trembled in fear.
It was accepted only after Kati’s various abilities, including infiltration and espionage, were proven.
Even seeing Ian, I just endured it.
Gradually, the number of colleagues also increased.
Aria, Beatrice, and Kylie.
Every time I joined them with a bad personality, I caused friction, but Ian’s mediation somehow made me stay as a colleague.
One day Sylvia asked.
“What is Ian’s dream?”
“dream? suddenly?”
“just. Kill the demon king and make world peace?”
“Well, if that’s a dream, you can call it a dream.”
“… okay?”
Sylvia, who was silent for a moment, grinned.
“I will make that happen.”
And two years have passed since Ian and I were together.
Sylvia couldn’t get hungry anymore.
Even if you don’t want to be recognized by others, you have risen to a position where you have no choice but to be recognized.
The Empire’s first SS grade party was born.
One day when the city tour schedule was promised.
Ian checked Sylvia’s outfit that day as well.
A hero who needs to be seen well by the citizens needed such a process.
“… Ian.”
Sylvia called to Ian, who was looking down at her, in a trembling voice.
“Yes, Sylvie.”
From some time ago, she was nicknamed Sylvie.
It was the same for Aria, Beatrice, and Kylie.
“When the tour is over… I have something to say. Will you listen?”
Sylvie tried hard to hide her wet voice.
“If it’s Sylvie’s words, you should listen.”
Ian said as if it was natural, and Sylvie smiled brightly.
The birth of a party of SS-class warriors who destroyed the first S-class dungeon that ate away many cities.
The tour to congratulate him and inspire humanity’s triumph is over.
Sylvie visited Ian’s room late at night.
“Ian… .”
days, weeks, or even months.
I’ve been waiting for this day
I was afraid, but my excitement was greater.
“I like you.”
I was so ashamed of the excitement of having it for the first time in my life, so I couldn’t sleep a lot.
The shame was so sweet that it would make your tongue numb just by rolling it with your tongue.
His beating heart was unusually beating.
I am so happy just with that heartbeat, what would happen if I showed it to the other person and received recognition?
I thought I might die of happiness.
“no.”
It’s almost 2 years.
Even if it’s a normal close relationship, it’s a long time.
who changed his life.
“I love you.”
It’s too long and too much time to love.
Wouldn’t the precious and itchy true heart be rejected by him?
There was no such worry, but that time was too precious to overwrite happiness with bad imagination.
I didn’t even want to draw a future where my heart would freeze and break just by imagining it.
“Sylvie… , that… .”
Sylvie was afraid of what answer would come out of his mouth, but was looking forward to it.
My heart felt like it would explode just imagining how their relationship would change in the future.
Ian hesitantly opened his mouth cautiously.