EP.141 The Reason a Man Would Risk His Life
The odds were slim.
While I may have had a slight physical advantage, Dawna, who had mastered the path of magic, was a being who transcended humanity in a way that had nothing to do with the Hero.
Mana—the substance that forms the foundation of this world. The only unique human who could manipulate such mysterious power at will and refine it without constraints or limits.
Mage Power. Dawna.
The mere thought of bravely challenging that dangerous individual, often referred to as a sentient natural disaster, was probably a foolish endeavor for someone like me, a mere commoner.
“This is the last warning through conversation. Step away from there immediately.”
“Dawna…”
Dawna’s stern voice instantly stiffened my body and mind.
The determination conveyed through the staff draped over my shoulder was unshakeably solid.
I didn’t even need to look back to vividly picture her fiercely glaring expression.
“Dawna. No matter the circumstances, as the Saint’s Personal Guardian Priest, I can’t just stand by in a situation like this…”
“Then what is this?”
Thud.
The excuse I had wanted to add got completely blocked by the familiar pile of papers Dawna threw at my feet.
The resignation letter.
The manifestations of my wavering will that I had submitted to the Sister scattered like leaves on the pristine white corridor.
“Wh-where did you get all this…?”
“I found them in her drawer when I brought the rotund Sister into the room. It seems you haven’t exactly been fond of your position as the Saint’s Personal Guardian and have tried to quit at every opportunity, haven’t you? Am I wrong?”
Each word felt like a dagger piercing my heart.
Because it was the truth.
It was a role I had never wanted from the beginning. If I could, I had always wanted to abandon this burdened position.
For me, assisting the Saint had always been an unwelcome, heavy, and awkward task.
“If you’re worried that the Blessing of the Saint won’t be bestowed upon the Hero, there’s no need. I have a secret plan in mind. So, Lowville, you no longer need to agonize over a position that’s beyond your capability.”
“…!”
My eyes widened involuntarily.
Dawna’s confident assertion vaporized any shred of responsibility I felt resting on my shoulders.
There was no need to even predict the credibility of her statement.
Dawna, who was intelligent in everything, wouldn’t even mention a plan if its success rate was below 70%.
Even if that plan’s success rate was below 50%, it was definitely better than having no plan at all.
“This situation clearly exceeds what you can handle alone. Everyone has their own place. Isn’t that what you always say? I will take care of the rest. Please, just rest easy.”
I didn’t have to do anything.
“From the start, leaving your role of assisting the Saint to you—while letting dozens of high-ranking clergy do nothing—has been a ridiculous custom! I don’t know if it’s the law of the Vatican or what, but now that I’m here, I can’t allow such tyranny any longer!”
There are plenty of people who can replace me.
“You’ve done enough! Lowville!”
I had done enough.
Those were the words I had longed to hear.
Words I wished someone would say to me.
Words I had repeated to myself hundreds, thousands of times.
Right.
Yes, that’s how it was.
“Thank you, Dawna. Thanks to you, I’m alive.”
“Yup! What does it mean to be a good friend? Ha, heh!?”
Filled with genuine gratitude, I suddenly hugged Dawna.
Right after, the self-proclaimed expert in bragging started flailing around, emitting absurd moans.
“Thank you! Really, thank you, Dawna.”
“Lo—Low! Huh! Lo! Huh! Lowville!?”
As I pulled her waist closer, the reaction was even more immediate than before.
Seeing her occasionally hiccup, it seemed she had been quite shocked.
The way she kept trying to push me away but then hesitated was like watching a frightened chinchilla.
“Wow, thanks to you, I’m alive. If you hadn’t been here, what would have happened to me by now? I really don’t want to imagine it.”
“Th-that’s right! Ah, yes! In our party, aside from the Hero and Bigtim, no one else is as considerate as me!”
“Seriously. It’s exactly as you said. But Dawna, I’m a bit curious. If it’s not too much trouble, can I ask just one question?”
“Of course! What are we between friends! Ask me anything! I’m a treasury of knowledge rooted in this system, so there’s nothing I don’t know!”
“Dawna, why are you so nice to me?”
“Wh-what?”
With my arms wrapped around her, Dawna suddenly looked up at me in shock.
Her face turned as red as a beet. Her little mouth couldn’t seem to close.
Her habit of trembling around her eyebrows when being hit directly remained unchanged.
It was so starkly evident that it was honestly hard to pretend I was oblivious to her feelings.
“W-well, of course I do! A-as a friend! Of course!”
“We’re friends, huh? It seems you’re excessively nice to me compared to others. You know, sometimes when I’m bathing or changing clothes, I get this feeling like someone’s watching me. Is that you, Dawna?”
“What!? H-how do you know!? N-no! N-not me! I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”
“Did you think I was completely unaware of you using detection magic to spy on me every once in a while? Maybe if it was just once or twice a week, but with how often you’ve been watching, it would be more odd if I didn’t notice. You have no idea how much I’ve struggled to pretend I didn’t know, right?”
“Huh!?”
Dawna, who had been flustered by my relentless interrogation, had reached a point where she couldn’t even give a coherent reply.
And just as I finished my statement, her hiccup seemed to be a response.
The clarity in Dawna’s eyes began to fade, spinning like water draining from a bathtub.
“Dawna, you know…”
“Huh!?”
I leaned in closer to her ear and whispered softly.
“Dawna, do you perhaps like me?”
“~@#!@♯^!@#!!?”
In that instant, Dawna let out a bizarre scream that could not be expressed in human phonetics, suddenly raising her arms skyward.
Whoosh!
With that momentum, the wooden staff she had been tightly holding flew into the air.
The magician who let go of her staff was no different from a computer without a keyboard.
I seized the golden opportunity.
“I’m sorry, Dawna.”
“Hu-huh!?”
Turning away from her body that was firmly adhered to mine, I slammed the ground.
“Lo—Lowville! N-no! You can’t do that!”
Dawna was in a panic, unable to decide whether to retrieve her hovering staff or to grab hold of me escaping.
I could vaguely guess what Dawna was worried about.
She was probably concerned about me helplessly bouncing off the barrier at the meeting room door.
But I had a conviction at that moment.
Whether it was a foreboding drawn from past experiences or an unwavering trust in this barrier’s creator, I couldn’t precisely define it, but I could say this for certain.
The Saint feared more than anything that I would get hurt.
Snatch!
“What!?”
Dawna’s eyes widened in disbelief as she saw me bypass the inexplicable barrier and casually grip the doorknob.
Despite her precious staff being on the verge of hitting the ground, she was desperately reaching toward me, as if reproaching my reckless behavior.
“Lowville─!”
I couldn’t even muster the courage to respond to her tragic voice and merely exchanged a stiff smile filled with apologies.
I couldn’t even define why I made such a foolish decision.
For the past few months, my time on the other side of this door had certainly not been filled with peace, even through empty words; it was a continuous string of hardships.
I had only thought of running away, and if it hadn’t been for the Sister’s intimidation, I would have long gone.
Yet, the feelings I experienced from Dawna’s words were not ones of liberation from such a bondage but rather the anxiety that I might never see her a second time.
“Onii-chan.”
The forlorn voice calling my name.
A white face twisted with tears.
As those visions swept through my mind, when I came to my senses, my hand was already reaching for the doorknob.
The days I spent with the Saint had certainly been painful, but they weren’t solely filled with anguish.
“Haha…”
It’s just between us, but.
At my age, being called “Onii-chan” by a younger woman honestly didn’t feel all that bad.
This is enough of a reason for a man to risk his life. That’s all.
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