Chapter 30

〈 Chapter 30 〉 Fairy Tale Book

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What was taken and what was not taken.

Without the shiny bits of righteousness or justification, there was a time in her life when the world was simply divided by such basic things.

Preferring hard bread over soft bread. Enjoying summer more than winter. Feeling more secure sleeping on a cold floor than in a cozy bed.

All of these were remnants of that shallow time and deep-rooted habits within her.

Even now, wrapped in thick layers, she hadn’t completely washed away the frivolous thoughts of that day stuck to the inside of her eyelids.

If you cannot take it, you will lose it.

The truth realized while watching a cat munching on a mouse that had only its head left, when consciousness was fading due to hunger.

For a time, this was her guideline, her trajectory, her standard.

Abigail.

The meaning of being a joy to the gods.

The day she first realized her name held such significance. The first words her cracked lips uttered were:

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Triana Abigail. Age 12 at the time.

Not many knew that she, who would later be lauded as the material of a hero, was once the legendary mischievous child ruling a small village.

◈◈◈

“I’m truly sorry for causing concern!”

With a voice like a nightingale seeking a mate, possessing both clarity and wildness, it was no surprise that everyone’s attention was drawn to her.

However, no one present dared to respond to that vibrant voice.

Understandably so, for the very opening of a door they believed would remain firmly shut until the end of the world was nothing short of shocking.

The audience, excluding the speaker, found themselves mouthing nonsense as they attempted to cover their gaping mouths.

“Hero! How could you stay cooped up in that room for an entire day! Do you know how much we worried?”

Dawna spoke in a worried tone.

Typically, Dawna, who looked like she’d fall over with a gentle push, now looked noticeably drawn compared to just yesterday.

The hero, who had pinpointed the monastery as the most likely place for the missing priest to be hiding, recognized immediately that her intuition had failed her.

If Apis hadn’t intervened, Dawna would have surely ripped the door off to check if the hero was okay with her own eyes.

“Hey… are you okay…?”

While calmer than Dawna, Apis also had a slight hint of worry in her words.

The hero had proven to be undeniably the strongest, not just within the party but also within the system.

Yet inside, she remained immature. Her mental state was still developing, a well-known fact within the party.

Both Dawna and Apis occasionally realized that when they interacted with the hero, they were treating her as if she were a precious little sister.

“Thank you for your concern! Apis! Dawna! But really! I’m genuinely okay! Rather, I feel regretful for showing a side unworthy of the name Hero! I’m just embarrassed!”

A straight, sturdy posture. A loud voice. A bright smile.

It was a sight unmistakably declaring her to be the perfect form of a hero as remembered by them, like looking at a flawlessly fitted puzzle with no missing pieces.

However, for those who had witnessed the sight of that perfection shattering just yesterday, the hero’s calm demeanor only heightened their anxiety.

They knew. They couldn’t not know. For the entire past month, how desperately the hero had searched for the priest. How much they had worried. How much they longed.

When the hero first set out from the party, she had tried to calmly accept that if the priest had left of her own volition, they had no reason to stop her.

However, after suspicions arose that something bad might have happened to the priest, she had turned the table as if her personality had completely changed.

No matter how much she was aimed at someone who might have kidnapped the priest, the furious sight of the hero pointing a sword at a non-combatant would have been dismissed as a ridiculous lie if they hadn’t seen it for themselves.

This was nothing short of a bad dream for those who had become accustomed to the hero’s innocent character.

Even when Bigtim grasped the hero’s sword to prevent the murderous intent before them, the heroes known for their combat skills hadn’t been fully prepared for battle—that was likely the reason behind it.

“If possible, I want to sincerely apologize to the sister I’ve offended in person! However, even if the intention is good, since I’m the perpetrator and she’s the victim, any act performed face-to-face may be considered violent towards her! That wouldn’t do, would it!”

A logic and tone of voice so organized, one could hardly believe it came from a person who had lost their reason overnight, swinging a sword and eventually crying themselves to sleep.

Dawna and Apis’s eyes crossed for the briefest of moments.

In the two beams of light, a damp unease and a murky discomfort were evident.

“So! I’m determined to convey my apologies through a letter! Fortunately, thanks to prior experience in crafting sincere apologies on paper, I believe now is the perfect opportunity to showcase my recently completed ‘Hero Script’! This is the moment!”

The hero suddenly raised a luxurious letter envelope she had been holding with enthusiasm.

Her commanding presence made even the fluttering paper seem as legendary as the Holy Sword for a moment, but…

That brilliance couldn’t trick those already familiar with her loud behavior; it seemed somewhat dulled compared to usual.

“I was wondering what you were doing, cooped up all night…”

Dawna sighed, exasperated.

Now that she looked, the hero’s white face and hands were streaked with the thick black of ink, and the scene inside the room she had been holed up in was almost invisible through the crumpled piles of paper on the floor.

Excluding anything related to battle, the hero was kind of hopeless in that area, so picturing her mulling over paperwork all night would not be difficult.

Dawna’s tension slightly loosened at the sight of that admirable focus.

However, the ever-cautious Apis was still observing the hero’s actions with skepticism.

“So, Dawna! If it’s not too much trouble, could you deliver this letter to the monastery on my behalf? Sadly, my current mental state is overwhelmed with exhaustion! I might need proper sleep!”

“If you’re tired, just say you’re tired. You always add unnecessary fluff to your words… I’ll take responsibility and deliver this letter to the monastery, so you go on and take a nap.”

“Thank you!”

Receiving the letter with a resigned look, Dawna tucked it into her chest and made her way outside.

“Uggghh!”

Stretching her tired joints and loosening them with light exercises, Apis calmly spoke to the hero.

“Hey. Hero.”

“Hmm! What is it, Apis!”

“You. You’re really okay, right?”

“Yes! I’m okay!”

The hero replied cheerfully as always.

But perhaps it was the aftermath of having stayed up all night.

Normally, she would have turned to face the direction of the voice instantly, engaging eye-to-eye. For some reason, in that moment, she turned her back to the call and spoke in a subdued tone, hard to define.

“I’m the hero, after all.”

◈◈◈

It was bleak and dismal.

Even when she was expelled from her hometown for the absurd reason that red hair was an ill omen, she hadn’t felt this hopeless. Apis reflected on this.

A month. The time she spent in her hometown was hardly a blink, just a minute detail.

But now, wasting most of that minute detail, Apis truly felt the heavy weight of how humans measure time in short units of three or four.

This was the period she had declared would be dedicated to the hero locating the priest and, at the same time, a bombshell announcement that she would momentarily put aside the tasks expected of her as a hero.

Now that there were only a few days left, Apis couldn’t help but feel anxious and restless every moment.

All the evidence and testimonies so far had led the party members to believe that the priest was hidden within this monastery where the saint was housed.

Now, with those expectations beautifully shattered, the wave of despair crashing into her thoughts was indescribable.

“You’re as slow as a slug and still hiding like a pro…”

If only you’d get caught.

Reassuring her resentful thoughts, Apis headed towards a small bookstore nearby.

It wasn’t for gathering information.

Collecting fairy tale books from big and small bookstores throughout the system was a routine for Apis to ease her restless heart.

Her longing for the outside world began when she stumbled upon a scrap of a fairy tale carried by the river.

Her joining the hero party was also because she had glimpsed the qualities of a hero she had once seen in a fairy tale.

Thus, for Apis, fairy tale books were the flames of life and the guides of the soul—a guiding principle in life, so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that.

“Oh? Apis?”

“Oh?”

Yeah. It was no exaggeration.

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