72. Let’s Talk
Even though the warm sunlight gently brushed my face.
I couldn’t close my eyes.
I couldn’t sleep well. Because I was busy shedding tears.
When I close my eyes, I keep thinking of the bad things I did to Austin.
“… Mmm.”
A dry voice flowed through his dry throat from crying.
I looked around as I cleared my neck, which had become sore from having kept my head down for a long time.
“I… that….”
“… ….”
“Forgive us our sins with the light of righteousness….”
Party members scattered all over the place, and even Gracie lying around with countless bottles of alcohol in the middle.
This is a party of warriors who will save the world.
“Ahahahaha….”
With a silly laugh, he raised himself up using the wall as a support, then collapsed.
“Ugh….”
Perhaps it was because I had been sitting in the same position all night, my legs with cramps were not unusually sore. He rubbed his trembling leg muscles and gritted his teeth.
I gave strength to my legs, which had loosened up to some extent, and walked slowly to the bathroom, holding on to the wall.
When mana was poured into the water pipe in the washbasin, which had tiny mana stones the size of a fingernail embedded in it, the mana stones glowed blue and sent cold water.
I filled a wooden bucket halfway with water, and washed my face as if splashing it on my face.
A cold sensation as if the skin was freezing, the swollen and hot areas around the eyes seemed to calm down to some extent. After pouring cold water on her a few more times, she raised her head and looked at the mirror in front of her.
I wiped the foggy mirror with a bit of dust on it once with my wet hand.
Skinny eyes. Unsightly swollen eyelids. As if I had just woken up, my hair stretched out with medium heating. Lips torn by nails, with red blood still visible.
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Nevertheless, the woman in the mirror looked beautiful.
“The face, why is it like this….”
My face. When on Earth… Did she look so pretty even when she was in the original world?
Either in the original world or here, the face hasn’t changed in particular.
Only today, my face looked unfamiliar.
To Austin, did I look this pretty?
If so, if so… Really… I think you’ll be really happy… However….
You were no longer by my side. Probably, unless we go to meet first, he will never stay by our side for the rest of his life.
“Huh… black….”
It didn’t take long for her eyelids, which had calmed down a bit, to swell up red again.
How confused I was when I was summoned here as a warrior.
You, whom I met for the first time after a year of hard training, have always been a light to me even in the difficult life in a foreign country.
He always cared about the atmosphere of the party and worried about the condition of me and other party members. You were as kind as that, and it wasn’t too much of a stretch for me to fall for you.
Because he was always kind and gentle, I thought that appearance would last forever. I tried hard to hide such an arrogant inner heart, but in the end, my ugly inner heart split open and came out of the world.
My chest felt stuffy. It was clear that something was blocking his airway. I was so frustrated that I clutched my chest tightly. Feeling something rushing out, he closed his mouth and lowered his head.
“Huh… Oh, Tin… Nana… I’m so sick….”
The hair flowed down like a curtain, covering my face. It’s somehow so comfortable, so, just like that.
“Huh… flaw… “
Because there was no one to see my face anymore, and no one to want to see it.
Looking at the tears dripping down the bucket, I wish I could keep my head down for a while.
“… Warrior.”
At the voice calling me, I turned my head and looked at the door.
“Isabel….”
Saint Isabel.
In her eyes, which were always calm and composed, there was deep sadness.
Isabel was the only one of us who didn’t shed a tear. It’s just that she chanted prayers all night long.
“… Are you all right?”
Come to think of it, the summoning of me to this world… It was Isabel.
“… Does this look okay to you?”
If Isabel hadn’t summoned me, she would have had a normal high school life. She wouldn’t have had to go through something so heartbreaking. If you hadn’t summoned me, for three years….
“Excuse me.”
As I gradually burned my hatred, Isabel approached me and bathed me in her healing light.
A feeling of being embraced in a warm embrace, a feeling of being at ease. The rough breathing gradually subsided.
“Have you calmed down a bit?”
“… Huh. Sorry.”
Isabel said with a weak smile.
“Let’s talk.”
* * *
“Senior. Where are we going?”
“In addition to saying goodbye, I need to show my face to Becky. I’m leaving for Mettelheim soon.”
“Umm~. I have to say thank you to Mr. Becky. Because I got the good stuff.”
After accepting Sylvia as her companion, the sun was up in the sky. After a rough lunch at the inn, we headed to the casino to meet up with Becky to buy things we needed for our trip to the capital.
“Yes, yes. However….”
I glanced at Robin as he walked close to me.
“Why don’t you walk away? It is difficult to walk.”
I carefully tried to remove Robin’s arm from her grip on my arm, but Robin tightened her hand around her arm.
“Senior. Have you already forgotten?”
Let’s start with more than friends and less than lovers. They said they were more than friends and less than lovers, but this is completely pretending to be lovers.
… Is not it?
More than friends, less than lovers. I started to get a little bit confused by the absurdly ambiguous standards that I had never heard of or even reported about.
“… Okay. Do as you will.”
“hehehe… If you have trouble walking, I’ll loosen up a little.”
“No. It’s not particularly difficult to walk….”
It was okay that it was difficult to walk. Rather than that, I was more concerned about Princess Luna and Alexis, who were glancing at me and Robin with subtle eyes.
What is it? Those savage eyes.
Scary to notice Princess Alexis’s gaze, she, who had been walking in front of us, slowed her steps and stood next to us.
“… Robin. Why don’t you walk a little further away?”
“Ow….”
The way he speaks is quite cold. Feeling frozen to the bone, I unknowingly untied Robin’s arms.
However, Robin put even more strength into her arms as they crossed hers, striking back Princess Alexis’ words.
“Oren. If we walk side by side like this, is it a nuisance to passers-by? Don’t mind us, it’s okay to lead the way and walk first.”
“… That.”
Definitely. If three people are walking side by side, they will block the road and cause trouble to passers-by. Princess Alexis also seemed unable to find the right words to respond to, so she rolled her eyes here and there, then clicked her tongue and walked away from us.
“… Robin. Talk to you later.”
“Yes. Later alone… No, let’s talk with Luna. I have something to tell you.”
“What are you talking about?”
When I intervened in the conversation between Robin and Princess Alexis, Robin responded by tapping her side with her elbow.
“You don’t have to know, senior.”
“Ah… Is that so?”
“That’s right.”
In the end, I dragged Robin along and headed to Becky’s gambling den. Luna and Princess Alexis’ eyes were still stinging, but they said they would talk to each other later. You know how to solve it
“By the way, did you talk to Princess Alexis?”
“Yes. It’s been a while. Even Princess Alexis said that you don’t have to use her honorifics, but it’s the way she speaks, so it can’t be helped.”
“It’s good to be close, well.”
She looked forward to keep her eyes from falling off Robin, and thought about her journey to Mettelheim.
Assuming you are riding a carriage, it will take about two days if you run without stopping. It would be difficult if the horses collapsed after overworking them, so it would be enough to catch them for three days.
“Mettelheim… It’s been a long time since I went to the capital.”
She is confident that she has lived in Mettelheim for a long time because she lives in Ranger, but the last time she went to Mettelheim was two years ago. She caught the corps commander Gigant and Galan, and she went to Mettelheim in a state of excitement at the thought of receiving the corps commander’s bounty. At that time, seeing the countless piles of gold coins placed in front of us as a bounty, the hero’s jaw dropped. .
… Miss you. If I could go back then, I would go back.
“… Tsk.”
Shaking his head, he brushed off his wish that could not come true. Now, there is no need to worry about the people of South Korea.
In the meantime, Royman, who was walking in the lead, opened his mouth.
“Come to think of it, even when I was dispatched to Cologne, some bad things happened….”
“A bad rumor?”
“Yes. Since weak earthquakes occurred sporadically in various places in Mettelheim, I remember that the Central Mage Tower and the Mettelheim Cathedral started to investigate the truth.”
“Earthquake? Out of the blue?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“That’s a bit… It’s rare.”
To Royman’s words, Princess Alexis also added evidence.
“I heard that the professors at our academy are also studying the unknown earthquake in Mettelheim.”
“… Hmm.”
Mettelheim has never had an earthquake since the beginning of the country. The ground supporting the buildings is also solid, and since Mettelheim itself was a city that was precisely planned from the beginning of the country, the buildings are also highly durable.
A sudden earthquake in Mettelheim?
Earthquakes are natural disasters and cannot be prevented by human power. If the earth spirits that existed a long time ago remain, magic will do something about it, but since Gigant, the last rock spirit, has disappeared, the earth spirit has virtually disappeared from this world.
If the earthquake was truly a natural disaster, there would be little to stop it.
“So, did you find out the cause?”
“As a result of investigation by high-ranking mages, I heard that there is a wide pupil deep in the ground. The Mage’s Tower has been swarming with public opinion that it might be an ancient city of dwarves, but the possibility seems slim.”
“… Okay? I thought it was an ancient dwarf city too?”
As if denying my words, Royman shook his head and continued.
“It will never be the city of the ancient dwarves. There is no record of the construction of an underground metropolis where Mettelheim is located, anywhere in the ancient texts.”
On the other hand, Princess Alexis seemed to be assuming that it was an ancient city of dwarves like me.
“However, aren’t most of the documents related to the ancient Dwarven Empire lost? Up to now, we only know that the ancient Dwarven Empire existed, but there is an absolute lack of data related to that time.”
“But do you think you have the technology to build such a vast underground metropolis?”
“Because even Bellion, the city of steel, was built by ancient Dwarves. It’s not going to make any sense.”
“Does Luna think so too?”
Everyone except Roiman thinks this is an ancient dwarven underground city.
To Royman’s lonely fight left alone, I wondered why he didn’t back down like this.
“Okay, Royman. What do you think it will be?”
As if waiting for my question, Royman came closer with her eyes shining brightly.
“Good question. Brother.”
“No, face.”
“I am convinced that this is the place where the ancient demon is sealed away. It’s kind of like a tomb.”
Ah. Then it is. It is not unreasonable for Royman, who is crazy about faith, to think so.
“If I go up to Mettelheim this time, I intend to visit the Cathedral and meet with His Highness the Cardinal. It must be a tomb where an ancient demon is sealed.”
“… Will His Highness the Cardinal meet someone like you?”
“You don’t know until you bump into something. According to the etiquette, high-ranking combat priests are equivalent to bishops, so there’s nothing I can’t do to meet them.”
“You are truly insane. Do you know?”
“I don’t know. Please see that your convictions are strong.”
“If that belief goes too far, it becomes a disease. You are already seriously ill.”
Listening to Royman’s bullsh*t in one ear and letting it out in the other, we moved our steps to Becky’s gambling den, where we arrived before we knew it.