Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Episode 108
Lustitia had a dream.
It wasn't just an act stemming from sleep, but a dream she had always cherished.
She was a Hero. She was born with the qualities of a Hero and had resolved to become one.
But that didn't mean she didn't have other dreams.
She dreamed of a prince from a fairy tale, rushing to save her in a moment of crisis. Of course, she knew.
It was usually impossible for her to be in a crisis, and a prince who could save her did not exist.
That was only natural. Because she was the one and only [Hero].
That was why this dream felt particularly sweet.
'The exotic black hair unique to the Federation, and eyes that seemed to hold the sky…….'
A physical appearance that was her type.
A dream where such a prince appeared, breaking her curse.
With such a dramatic encounter, falling in love was not even an issue.
It seemed strangely specific, but Lustitia didn't pay much attention to such things. Wasn't it a dream anyway?
It didn't matter if she did as she pleased.
“Mmm……”
Lustitia felt herself gradually waking from the dream, her mind becoming conscious.
She couldn't have imagined that sleeping would be such a sweet thing.
Should I get up, or not?
Lustitia tried to sleep, as if to make up for all she had lacked, but she knew it was about time to get up.
Moreover, although she was greedy for it, her body was in a state where it wouldn't follow. What she could feel with satisfaction now was only the comfort of the bed and blanket.
Of course, that was enough, but…….
'Haha, my oh my.'
She felt the presence of Eleanor, staring at her intently.
Besides her, she felt the presence of one more person, but it was probably a doctor or a priest.
'I am loved, too.'
Eleanor was surely worried about her, who had collapsed in the middle of it all.
'Since Noah seems worried too, I should probably get up now.'
Lustitia opened her eyes in a happy mood. And in front of Lustitia's eyes was, as expected.
“Uh……”
No, it was a little different from what she had expected.
The first thing she saw was Eleanor. However, the person behind her was…….
“It’s a relief that you’ve woken up, Hero Lustitia. To introduce myself first, I am Oz Qua……”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Lustitia felt the gap between dream and reality closing in an instant. Amidst the memories flowing like a panorama, Lustitia screamed.
'Huh? Uh huh? From where? To what point was it a dream? Huh? Did I, did I kiss him? Did I do it? And to someone I just met?'
While Lustitia was in a state of confusion, Eleanor spoke with a chilly gaze.
“Sister Lusti, this is the Master. I’ve mentioned him before, haven’t I?”
“Ah…… ugh…… eck……”
Lustitia felt as if she were suffocating at Eleanor's subsequent explanation.
This is crazy. It must be crazy.
'If he's the person Eleanor mentioned as the Master, then he must be……!'
[Successor of the Mage King]
Oz Quabadis
He must have been the person she liked. Of course, Eleanor herself had vehemently denied it, but Lustitia could tell.
Because her attitude was so obvious.
It was just that she had a lot on her shoulders and was forcing herself to look away.
Lustitia also knew that fact, so she hadn't touched on that part. Because it would just be confusing.
Then what about the current situation?
Who on earth was the one adding to the confusion now?
How could she have done such a thing to the person Eleanor liked? No, that wasn't it.
In the first place, the problem wasn't who liked whom, but the fact that she had done such a thing to a person she had just met.
There was no crazier bitch.
“No-Noah……”
Lustitia carefully lifted her head and looked at Eleanor, as if watching her reaction.
Eleanor was looking at her as if she were worried.
But in that gaze, a torrent of emotions greater than worry was entangled.
It was a torrent of emotions Lustitia had never seen in her life, so she couldn't help but be flustered.
“Sister Lusti. I’m glad. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
“Ah, right, you were worr…… no, huh? You were waiting?”
Lustitia thought something was different. 'Waiting.' There was nothing strange about it. But here, if one had to say, wouldn't it be 'worried'?
Of course, it could have been Lustitia's oversensitivity. But she couldn't erase the ominous feeling.
Wasn't the current situation like this!
“Yes, I was waiting. I was worried too, but I have something I want to ask you separately.”
“Something you want to ask……. Ah! R-right. Like a consultation about your worries?”
Lustitia answered, forcing a bright smile.
She didn't even look in Oz's direction. It felt like she couldn't bear it, whatever it was, if she looked.
“Yes, something similar.”
“Mhm, then it can’t be helped~”
Lustitia nodded her head repeatedly, looking at Eleanor who said she had been waiting for her for a consultation.
“This is related to you too, sister, so I definitely wanted to consult with you.”
“R-really? I wonder what the worry is~”
Lustitia forced a smile. And Eleanor, looking at Lustitia's face, smiled back and confided her worries.
“There are A and B.”
“A and B……! I see.”
Lustitia responded for now.
With just that, the only thing she knew was that there was a high probability that one of A and B was her, but it didn't matter.
Right now, there was nothing she could do but respond.
Eleanor scratched her head and continued her explanation about A and B.
“To explain, both are very precious things to me.”
“Precious things……”
At those words, Lustitia was so moved that she forgot what the situation was like and nodded her head.
Wasn't it admirable that she called them precious?
But at Eleanor's following words, even she couldn't help but freeze.
“So. I'm not sure which of the two I should stab.”
“Uh……?”
Am I not fully awake yet?
Lustitia fidgeted with her hair for no reason and pondered.
She might still be dreaming. Or the curse might not be fully lifted.
She wished that were the case.
“Hey, it’s hard to understand if you just say it like that……”
“Ah, right. This is something that has been constantly circling in my head……. I skipped the explanation.”
Eleanor smiled bashfully as if she were sorry for her comment. At that sight, Lustitia wondered if what she had heard was indeed a mistake.
But that was also only until she heard the next words.
“A and B are precious things to me. But it was recently revealed that A could alter B.”
“Uh uh……”
Was it perhaps about objects, not people? Yes, if so, it wasn't something she couldn't understand.
But…….
What could it be?
No matter how positively she tried to think, she couldn't erase the nagging feeling.
“So I have to stab one of A or B, what should I do?”
“……Is there no way to just keep them apart?”
You said this was related to me? Are you planning on stabbing me if things go south?
Lustitia couldn't bring herself to say the last part and just looked at Eleanor's face carefully.
“……”
Silence and a stare. That was all there was to Eleanor's attitude.
Contained in Eleanor's eyes was an emotion that even she, who had become a Hero through numerous adventures, could not read.
'Mmm…….'
Lustitia couldn't bring herself to meet Eleanor's eyes for long.
In the end, she had no choice but to avoid Eleanor's gaze.
And what she saw in the place she had avoided was Oz, with a particularly uncomfortable expression.
It was definitely her fault. It was a truly regrettable matter, but at the same time…….
'His face is, hmm, yes. It's nice. He's definitely handsome. I can see why they call him a prince.'
It was probably unavoidable to have such thoughts.
Putting the other person aside, wasn't it her first kiss?
“……Sister?”
“Hut!”
But that thought too could not last long. The one cold word with which Eleanor had called her was laden with numerous meanings.
“Sister, and Master. I have a lot of precious things.”
“Uh? Uh…… right.”
“……”
At Eleanor's sudden words, Oz answered appropriately, and Lustitia remained silent.
She knew. The meaning of bringing up those words at this very moment.
“I am afraid that those precious things will meet and be altered.”
That was a check.
“You said it earlier, sister. Isn’t there a way to keep them apart? Come to think of it, I think it might be possible.”
“……”
“What do you think, sister?”
Eleanor spoke as if the thought had just occurred to her, but those words contained a clear intention.
It meant, if you understood, then stay away.
'Ah, I see. This child is…….'
Lustitia finally realized.
Her world had once changed greatly.
And at the same time, she had lost all of it overnight.
That was why she must have been anxious.
That the things she thought of as precious would become distant in some way.
Eleanor was similar to her, but their essence was different.
No matter how much she shared the same blood as her, the period Eleanor had been alone was too long.
She had been able to overcome many things, but she had not overcome all of them. A fundamental fear was deeply ingrained in her.
That was why she was obsessed. With the things she considered precious.
“Eleanor.”
“Yes, it's what you think, sister is……. Ah.”
Lustitia quietly hugged Eleanor.
She conveyed that she was nearby so that she wouldn't feel anxious.
“It’s been hard, hasn’t it? It’s okay not to be so anxious now.”
“Pardon? No, that’s not……”
“I understand everything.”
At first, Eleanor tried to make excuses as if that weren't it, but she soon had no choice but to fall silent.
She felt a warmth. She felt the anxiety she herself had not known was receding.
Eleanor, without realizing it, hugged Lustitia back.
“There, there, you were scared. It’s okay now.”
“Yes……”
Come to think of it, Eleanor had been right next to her when she had opened her eyes.
It meant that she had been by her side all along because she was worried. It was just that she was expressing her feelings in the form of obsession; she was just anxious.
“We’re family, aren't we.”
Eleanor was scared of losing again. For her, who had lost everything despite having tried once, it was only natural not to know what to do.
The two of them were family.
Beings who served as pillars for each other.
'Though this and that are different.'
But now, as they were embracing and could not see each other's expressions.
The two of them subconsciously began to harbor different feelings. It was the moment Oz's complexion turned pale in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
To be honest, I didn't really know what the situation was.
At first, it was just awkward.
I didn't know what kind of face to look at the person named Lustitia with.
To be honest, it was bound to be awkward.
No, hmm. Right. It could happen. I had become Oz and had obtained an absurd level of plausibility, hadn't I?
I could have sufficiently thought that it could happen someday.
But I hadn't thought it would be achieved in this situation, in this way, through this subject.
Extreme awkwardness. I had somehow succeeded in suppressing that and acting normally.
But…….
“Mmm……”
What on earth was this?
Why were the two of them suddenly hugging and crying?
I wished someone would explain it to me too. More importantly, what was I supposed to do from now on?
Should I just watch this scene? Or should I be tactful and leave? It was extremely confusing.
But what was more frightening than anything was.
The existence of Lustitia, who was sending me subtle glances while embracing Eleanor.
No, this seems like some kind of poignant situation, but sending a look like that is a little……. Doesn't it seem like a scene of an affair?
And what was even more surprising was that it felt like the one committing the affair wasn't me, but Lustitia.
What is this? Something……. is scary.
“……I will come again later.”
I felt like I had to get out of this place.
I felt like some unknown gloominess was choking me.
For now, if she had woken up safely, that was enough.
I escaped from the extremely uncomfortable place and walked down the main street.
“Apostle of Dawn……”
“It's the Apostle.”
Well, right. The awkwardness was the same everywhere, in fact.
My existence had been revealed when I used [Challenger of the Divine] to heal my broken arms and legs.
It couldn't have been helped.
[Challenger of the Divine] was also a transcendental magic, if one were to classify it, like [Prometheus].
Unlike the borrowed magic [Prometheus], its output could be controlled, but its range, including the minimum mana amount, was not something that could be hidden.
It was truly an annoying thing, but since I had been found out, it was better to act boldly here.
Because the gazes of the people would protect me from the group of assassins.
But like this, it was difficult to make contact with Tenebris.
That was why I purposefully headed for a dark alley.
“Is the cleanup finished?”
“Hoo……. I tend to forget sometimes, but seeing myself being chased by so many assassins, it really hits home that Prince Oz is the Successor of the Mage King.”
In the alley was Lucia and the group of assassins who had been taken down by her hand. One, two, three, four……. even a quick count was over 10.
My, I'm a popular person too. To think that so many assassins had come to this city in that short amount of time.
“Yes, there are a lot.”
Naturally, since I had been found out, I could have fully expected that assassins targeting me would gather.
That was why, in order to make contact with Tenebris, I had to clean up like this once.
Basically, since I was no different from bait, the Tenebris side would take care of the cleanup, but…….
For some reason, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that my debt was growing.
“To have made contact like this means the Hero has woken up, I suppose?”
“Yes.”
Lucia had been waiting, concealing her presence as much as possible all this time.
Because Lustitia's senses were so exceptional, she couldn't even get close to her.
Hadn't her bones been broken after being discovered by her just a short while ago?
There was no way she could approach her again in such a situation.
Because she would have finally realized that her tendency was to act first if her mood went south.
“Then a question right away. What did you decide to do about the issue of the two of you kissing before?”
Why this kind of question right off the bat? Does she have a problem with me or something?
When I sent a look with that meaning, Lucia let out a deep sigh and said.
“Look here, Prince Oz. This is a pretty sensitive issue. You yourself must be more aware of how powerful you are, right?”
I was treated as a kind of strategic weapon. This wasn't just me, but all the mages at the elder level were like that.
Then what about the Hero? She would probably be treated similarly, at the very least.
What the relationship between two strategic weapons of different nationalities would be. Right, well, I would admit it. It was something to be curious about.
“Seeing your state, it seems there hasn't been any particular progress, thankfully.”
Did 'thankfully' mean she had some interest in me? No, that couldn't be.
At the very least, if she had that kind of feeling, her attitude wouldn't have been so business-like.
“The bigger problem is Eleanor.”
“Why Noah again? Did you by any chance do something else in the meantime?”
“You saw it then too, didn't you?”
I had half-revealed the truth of the past to Eleanor.
Even if it was just to the level that I had known about her, the shock must have been great.
“The atmosphere has been a little off lately. Does she resent me, I wonder?”
I knew that we couldn't return to our previous relationship.
That was why I had to build a new relationship with her.
But the problem was that I couldn't think of a way to resolve this.
Even though I had insisted that I was on her side all this time since returning from Chrysos, Eleanor would just avoid my gaze and leave the room.
It was a state where we couldn't even have a proper conversation.
“Prince Oz? That’s not it, so you don’t have to worry.”
“No, still, if she’s this wary, in the future……”
“Prince Oz? It's annoying, so don't make me say it twice. That’s not it, so you don't have to worry.”
“……”
Lucia looked at me as if she were looking at something disgusting.
‘No, is there a need to look at me like that? I’m hurt……. ‘
“Shouldn’t you be worrying about something else instead?”
“What worry?”
“Prince Oz. Seeing you ask that so sincerely, I can't help but worry. Just in case, you should always have a stab-proof vest on your body……. no, would that even be useless against a greatsword?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It might be better to just die.”
Lucia began to look at me again with a disgusted expression.
For some reason, people are scary today.