“Let’s double-check. What does this signal mean?”
I asked Lishe while bending my arm at a 45-degree angle and making a fist.
“Uh, advance?”
“No, it’s stop.”
“Did it change all of a sudden?”
“It’s the same as before.”
Lishe tilted her head.
We were setting up hand signals in case we had to deal with a situation where we couldn’t hear anything, but as a civilian, she seemed to be slow to adapt to the operational circumstances.
“When it comes to actual combat, things usually get resolved somehow.”
Following Tanya’s advice, I decided to keep moving.
“Is there anything else to decide for the Knights?”
“We train assuming situations where sight or hearing is absent, so we’ll be fine.”
The commander of the Knights answered coolly.
“Everyone, this is a paralysis potion. It lasts for 30 minutes, so be cautious.”
As the medication was distributed, Acella approached me.
“Lars, do you really have to go in there?”
“Unexpected situations can occur. When divine power is needed, I must handle it.”
“True, but… I get it. You wouldn’t listen anyway.”
Was I really that worrisome?
“With Commander Tanya with you, it should be fine.”
I reassured Acella and lightly placed my hand on her shoulder. She snorted.
“I get it. I have my own potions, you know?”
“Royal Princess, you should wait here. No matter the countermeasures, we’ll be in the middle of a calamity-level demon.”
“Give me some as a backup since we don’t know what might happen.”
“Understood. Here you go.”
After handing Acella a vial, I downed a paralysis potion.
The Knights also took theirs at the commander’s signal.
Thump.
Simultaneously, the surroundings fell silent as if covered by a shroud. Only the sound of my heartbeat echoed.
Tap, tap, Acella tapped my shoulder. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.
Acella gave a devilish smile and gestured with her lips.
It was three letters.
Seeing her actions, I chuckled lightly. Acella, startled and confused, received a notebook from me where I wrote a sentence.
[I know how to use that poison spell.]
Upon seeing this, Acella’s ears turned red as she smacked my shoulder. It was clear she was annoyed I hadn’t told her earlier.
This wasn’t the first time I had faced a similar situation while with the Hero Party, so I merely practiced this for communication with my party members.
The commander of the Moonlight Palace’s Knights sent a signal indicating he would act alone. He wanted to confirm whether the hearing paralysis potion really worked against the Sirens.
A brave action.
The commander cut through the water.
I saw Sirens suddenly swarm him, screaming their heads off.
Yet he didn’t seem to lose control of his body. In fact, he even had the composure to strike one in the face with the hilt of his sword.
After confirming he gave a thumbs up, the unit followed suit.
Lishe, did you take the potion?
Just in case, I checked on her again.
I took it!
She stuck her tongue out proudly and nodded.
Tanya led the front, Lishe was in the center, I followed right behind, and the other knights advanced in formation on high alert.
With no reason to delay, we strode forward on the elevated terrain toward the Holy Sword.
Ahhh!
Ahhhhhhh!
Even with my ears plugged, their horrifying screams felt visible.
The Sirens, with grotesquely open mouths, only watched us from a distance, unable to do anything but scream.
They couldn’t approach us to attack. The knights held their swords high, ready to pierce their throats at any moment.
They must have been incredibly frustrated to be unable to control us. They were now on the verge of wailing.
A jewel-like crystal fell from a Siren’s eye.
‘Siren’s tears are a rare alchemy ingredient.’
If I could get my hands on it, it would be a huge help for gaining experience.
But first, the Holy Sword comes first.
With no hindrance, we crossed the lake and reached the rocky island in under five minutes.
The knights surrounded the perimeter of the island, keeping watch for Sirens.
In the center, Lishe walked out with a tense expression.
*
Lishe was just an ordinary girl from the countryside.
Her parents fled soon after she was born, chasing success. They must have thought that as a peasant working on a noble’s farm, she’d never escape the shackles of life.
Left with an old grandfather, Lishe probably faced a fate of hardship.
She would never be able to dream of an education from an academy and remained cut off from the noble society that emphasized etiquette.
Taking care of the farm cows, growing feed for them, and repeating labor for ten or twenty years.
That might not have been such a bad life. A little uneventful, but stable. At least she wouldn’t go hungry.
Maybe she could have been happy if she had started a small family someday.
Such a life could have existed,
Until the mark appeared on her left hand.
“A messenger from the goddess!”
“No, a saint has descended!”
“Blessings have fallen upon our village!”
It was a rural village filled with people who had not received proper education.
No one truly understood what it meant, and none thought it was urgent enough to report to the lord, the viscount.
Anyway, it was probably a good omen for the village, and they saw it as a moment of joy.
When a plague broke out in the village, it turned into a curse for Lishe.
“If you’re a saint, then heal my wife!”
“Just standing there looking dumb; you’re useless!”
“That’s why your parents ran away!”
“Daughter of a demon!”
Of course, Lishe could do nothing at that time.
All she could do was watch the old people drop dead one by one.
She felt it was all her fault.
Though she didn’t know what the mark was, she instinctively felt it must be something extraordinary.
“This pasture is ruined. Our yield has dropped. This is why old men…”
“Only one girl has survived.”
Lishe was discovered by the viscount when he came to clean up after the disaster, a long time later.
“Wait, what is this mark?”
“My God, a hero! A hero has appeared in my territory! I can sell her for a massive price!”
Lishe, confused, was imprisoned under the pretext of being protected by the viscount.
The viscount was a merchant without political finesse. A hero was far beyond his grasp.
He couldn’t even reveal he had a hero or find someone to negotiate political transactions, and time slipped away until the plague returned.
Lishe first heard the name Gothberg then.
The Doctor’s Society.
The existence of a doctor who heals the sick.
‘…Lars Gothberg?’
For some reason, just hearing the surname made Lishe recognize his name.
Ever since the mark etched itself on her hand, she had been having strange dreams.
Dreams of fighting while active in a hero party.
Since childhood, Lishe had often been scolded for daydreaming and losing herself in imagination.
She suspected her imagination might have produced those dreams.
But Lars Gothberg was undoubtedly the healer who treated her in those dreams…
After hearing stories from the Doctor’s Society, her imagination of him grew steadily.
In this world, one must always pay a price.
No matter how hard she tried, all she received was resentment, and being trapped in a castle was the price of that mark on her left hand.
But what kind of person was Gothberg, who healed people without any apparent cost?
If she met him directly, would he be able to heal not just her sickness but also…
…this uncomfortable feeling?
Imaginations kept growing larger.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Palace and realizing that the one who rescued her from the castle was indeed that Gothberg, she understood.
In truth, he didn’t directly assist Lishe. The contributions of a princess named Acella were much greater in this matter.
But to Lishe, Gothberg, or rather, Lars felt like the prince on a white horse from a fairy tale.
It was a secret, but…
The inside of her fingers on the hand that first shook hands with him was still unwashed.
She wished to preserve that sensation for a lifetime.
This story must remain a secret.
She intended to keep it a secret, but she couldn’t help but let bits of it slip out in her excitement.
Lars was betrothed to none other than the imperial princess, besides being noble and reputed to be the best healer in the imperial family.
There was no way someone like her, a country bumpkin, would catch his eye.
‘Hero-sama, indeed.’
Since I’m a hero, all I need to do is act as such.
For Teacher Gothberg… being healthy is all I could ask for.
Just that much.
That’s what I thought.
Yet.
Thump.
As I approached the foreign object known as the Holy Sword, those feelings became increasingly strange.
Thump, thump.
In a situation where I couldn’t hear anything, I could still feel my heartbeat growing louder.
‘…I now understand.’
The name Holy Sword was clearly a misnomer.
This wasn’t a sacred object.
‘I didn’t just imagine all this.’
The images of the hero party that unfolded in Lishe’s head until now.
The uncomfortable feeling.
…Powerlessness.
I felt distinctly that all of it originated from this pristine white blade.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such extreme fatigue, cold sweat, and discomfort every time I got closer.
Lishe turned slightly to look behind her.
The knights who had risked their lives and performed the mission for her,
More than anyone, Lars.
The attending physician in a white cloak, his expectations for her clearly visible in his eyes.
She couldn’t betray them now.
“Haah, haah, haah.”
Lishe panted heavily.
No matter how much oxygen flooded her, she forced her brain cells to think.
“Ugh…!”
Finally, she reached out and grasped the hilt of the Holy Sword.
Buzz, her entire body buzzed as if electricity coursed through her.
With her eyes tightly shut, Lishe clenched her teeth and mustered strength in her arms.
What had been firmly embedded in the rock came out with no resistance and was now in her hands.
In that moment.
“…Ah.”
Lishe’s consciousness faded as something took over her body.
*
BOOM!
As Lishe lifted the Holy Sword, the rocky island shattered with an explosion.
Even though I couldn’t hear it, I felt a tremendous vibration.
‘Oh no.’
The ground beneath me crumbled as a result. I fell awkwardly into the water.
Flailing around underwater, I couldn’t move as my arms stiffened.
It was the Sirens.
Two of them clung to me with their mouths agape, threatening me. They intended to drag me down.
With their control gone, they planned to exert physical force. The knights looked intimidating, but I seemed like the easiest target.
‘Ugh, seriously.’
Even if I lacked combat skills, that was talking about the average standard. I was in a bit over my head here.
I looked around for help, trying to find Tanya first.
But for some reason…
Acella was there, wearing a fearsome expression while casting a magic circle.
BOOM!
An ice spear shot at the Siren clinging to me, instantly piercing through them.
That worked out well. I grabbed the jewel-like tears from the dying Sirens.
In a situation like this, I still had to gather what I could.
A moment later, splash! Someone dove into the water and pulled me back to the surface.
Lars!!
With his face close to mine, I easily deciphered his lip movements.
Lishe looked at me, relieved with tears in her eyes, then she hugged me tightly.
Hmm, we weren’t that close though.
Lishe pulled away, soaking wet and dripping water before turning her head to see something and quickly changing to a fierce expression.
At the end of Lishe’s gaze was Acella, looking furious as she watched us.
It wasn’t precise, but Lishe asked me like that,
“Why are you with that witch?”
―――――――――――
· Good Ending
· ■■■ After, again at ■■ 43%
· Hero ■ ■■ 0% → 45%
―――――――――――
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