Alone with the Hero
'What the hell happened?'
I thought to myself, pure curiosity.
While checking the Hero's body condition, I found something strange.
I had thought that since the Hero had used so much mana, she would be in a complete mess.
But I had no intention of stopping the journey, though I did plan to honestly tell the Hero about her condition, which saddened me because it would be tragic for her.
'Hmm, interesting. Her body is stable.'
The skin discoloration from the God of Death Poison hadn't completely disappeared, but it had actually decreased a bit, and the poison's progression was reversed, somewhat suppressed.
'Is the Holy Sword suppressing the God of Death Poison?'
That was my conclusion from this incomprehensible sight.
But.
The Holy Sword was indeed a powerful weapon made by the Goddess for humanity, but I had never heard of it having any detoxifying effect on poisons.
The Hero didn't react to ordinary poisons, but that was simply because she had immunity to poisons as a non-human.
"Hmph……."
There was no function to suppress the poison.
But if it was 'a function to suppress curses', then yes.
The curse itself was said to be created by the God of Death, the opposite of the Goddess, so perhaps a counter-reaction occurred, and while the Holy Sword couldn't remove the curse, it could at least drastically reduce the symptoms.
In fact, there were stories that the previous Heroes had used the Holy Sword on the curse but it didn't work and they lost.
"So it's not the poison, but the curse."
The God of Death Poison was also called the God of Death Curse.
Because its characteristics were closer to a curse than a poison.
But curses were caused by spells, not by ingestion, so was this a special curse?
'In other words, the Hero isn't poisoned by the poison but cursed. Originally, she should have died from the poison progressing to that point from this fight, but instead it was somewhat alleviated because it was the curse, not the poison, which the Holy Sword could suppress.'
Thinking that way, it made sense.
But then, I still couldn't figure out where Alex had obtained something like a God of Death Curse.
If it was a special curse that broke the rules of curses, it would be hard to obtain, and I couldn't understand why Alex had it.
Where exactly.
How.
Various thoughts swirled in my head, but no answer came.
I didn't know if he created the curse himself or temporarily borrowed it from someone, but at least this journey didn't seem like it would simply be the Hero's healing journey after being betrayed.
'Let's not think that way. Let's think a little more positively.'
Thanks to the Holy Sword, the Hero's lifespan had increased significantly.
No matter how powerful the Holy Sword was, it was impossible to completely remove the curse from a body already in ruins, but since it was suppressing it, we might be able to arrive at Elvenheim without worry.
Of course, I couldn't be complacent; there could be sudden flare-ups anywhere, making the condition worse, but at least if the curse progressed like this, it would be fine.
The Hero was in pain, so that wasn't good, but at least until we reached Elvenheim, the chance of death had decreased considerably.
"Is she alive?"
"Madame Florence. I'm alive."
"Not you."
"Livia is alive too."
"……."
"……."
"It seems the Holy Sword."
"Yes, it's the Holy Sword."
"Huu, I won't ask why the Hero who was supposed to die with the Demon King is in this state. But this state is definitely not normal."
"Yes."
Madame Florence didn't ask any deeper.
"Are you okay?"
"No problem."
The broken arm had already healed, and it was moving fine.
Actually, even if the bone was broken, it would normally take some time to heal at the level of a Saintess, but in just 24 hours, my arm was fine.
I was surprised too, but it was a recovery ability that wasn't human-like.
"Your body is a bit special, after all. Be careful, you never know when something will happen."
"I will be careful."
"Hah, you speak well. ……So, leading a person with this body to the Eastern Continent, the purpose is still Elvenheim, right?"
"Yes, the World Tree Sap exerts absolute effects against all poisons and curses. In the past, there were records that the God of Death Poison was cured with World Tree Sap."
At that time, I thought it must be an incredibly powerful poison.
Even then, I hadn't realized it was a curse because World Tree Sap worked not only on poisons but also on curses.
"My eyes weren't wrong after all."
"What?"
"I can see that you will choose a woman with a big chest."
"Madame Florence…… That's not it."
"Hahaha! Then I'll go down first. If I say something like this, but if you don't get up, it's better to just go to sleep on the ship."
"Yes."
Madame Florence said that and went out the door.
I knew what she meant.
So, I had to wait a few more hours at least, and if she didn't wake up, I had to take the sleeping Hero to the Eastern Continent on the next ship.
The terminal illness problem was somewhat alleviated, so maybe I didn't have to rush, but perhaps a more annoying problem would follow.
The presence of the Holy Sword here could be evidence of that.
"……."
Because Madame Florence said that, my gaze drifted a little that way.
I tapped my forehead and sarcastically thought to myself what I was thinking.
What was I thinking against a sick person?
"Um?"
"……."
"……."
I was momentarily startled.
Our eyes met, and there was a silence of about three seconds. My expression froze for a moment, but I quickly smiled.
"You've woken up, Livia. Since when have you been awake?"
"Since Madame Florence said that I would choose a woman with a big chest."
"Why exactly at that timing? I said it in advance, but it's a misunderstanding."
"It's fine."
The Hero slowly sat up and said.
"Men all like big breasts, they say."
"……I won't deny it, but huu. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Speaking of which, your body feels comfortable. What happened?"
"I'll explain that point on the ship. Sorry for the abruptness, but it would be good to prepare to leave right away."
"I understand."
The Hero had no doubts about my words and immediately sat up.
"It seems you don't need an explanation."
"My Holy Sword is here. ……And my Holy Sword was taken by Alex. He wouldn't just leave it there, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, even if I'm not a fool, if the Holy Sword disappears, he'll immediately suspect my survival. Not only that, but the Holy Sword came here not just normally but in a dazzling golden light that pierced the sky. He'll suspect it 90%."
"……."
This person was emotional but not stupid.
Perhaps intuition.
She was a person with excellent intuitive understanding.
"Let's go right away. Time is wasting. ……Lois."
"Ah, yes."
"……Before going, can I ask you one thing?"
"Yes."
The Hero looked straight at me.
Her gaze was shining differently from the Hero I had seen so far.
But it wasn't the somewhat hazy light I saw when I was in the Hero party in the past, but her eyes that shone subtly seemed to show more resolve than obsession.
"Do you like me?"
"Eh? ……Hey, if it's because of what I said earlier, it's really a misunderstanding."
"Isn't it? Even if I say it like this, I've said a lot of rude things to you in various ways, and I don't remember being treated well. It might be more accurate to say I 'handled' you rather than treated you."
"Yes, well…… That's right."
"In other words, even if I wasn't there, you would have saved me."
"Well, for now."
I shrugged and answered.
I didn't quite understand what the Hero was saying, but she nodded to herself as if she had understood something.
"I've lived as the Hero until now, and I didn't cherish Olivia Reinhardt's feelings or anything like that, nor did I give her time. Whether I thought or felt was not important. I only saved people as the Hero."
"……."
"Therefore, everything is confusing, and I think human emotions are quite troublesome."
"Yes, that's right…… Livia, what exactly are you trying to say?"
The Hero looked straight at me and said.
"Until the moment you treat my poison or curse, will you stay with me?"
"Yes, of course."
"Yeah, I thought you would answer like that. ……So I have time, you can take it slow. But I can't do that well."
I couldn't understand even more.
I couldn't understand what she was trying to say.
"Even after all this journey ends…… Stay by my side."
"Eh, yes? What does that mean?"
"You, surprisingly, are quite dull."
"……."
"I like you."
"……Eh, yes? Wait a minute, what is this? Are you teasing me all of a sudden? If that's the case, I succeeded, but what are you saying right after waking up? Are you not in your right mind because you're half-asleep?"
"That's right. I understand, that's why you react like that."
The Hero nodded.
"I've treated you as the biggest fool more than anyone else, but suddenly like this, it won't make sense. ……But think about it."
"What?"
"I've been betrayed like this and my heart is weak, but you were by my side, positive, treating me, helping me to be able to be the Hero even though I'm imperfect."
The Hero looked up at me with a nonchalant face.
"……Conversely, ask why you think I won't reject it? Think with that half face."
I looked at her as if she was the one who was dumb, when I was the one who was dumb.
"……."
I remained silent at the rapid-fire content.
"There are kind people and not-so-kind people in the world, Lois. It's a bit sorry to say this after being saved by your kindness and niceness, but if I get entangled with some strange woman."
"It's already entangled, isn't it."
"Correct. I'm a bit strange, though…… Don't worry."
The Hero smiled.
That smile was completely different from the smiles she used to make in the past, so I unconsciously stared blankly at her face.
"As I said, you probably don't have good feelings for me, maybe as the Hero you might have seen me positively, but as a human, you won't like me. ……Understand or not, I've been quite rough on you, right? If I were you, I wouldn't like someone like me, and I only have bad memories, not good ones."
"……."
"Or rather, I wonder if there were good memories."
Well, it was only a short half-year journey, so it wasn't that serious, but since I acted on my own and ignored her often, saying I only have bad memories is, in an extreme sense, not entirely wrong.
"So, I'll only accumulate good memories in this journey."
"……You're quite bold."
"Yes."
"When you think of 'Olivia Reinhardt', I'll try to make you think of a woman who's not a past delinquent but still okay."
She was always hot-blooded.
If there was something she wanted to do, she did it without fail, and she never tried to negotiate or anything.
It was a weakness, but conversely, it became her strength, and she grew upright and became the Hero, I thought.
"Fortunately, you have two things that are likeable."
"Kuhit! Wait a minute. There's a big misunderstanding!"
"What? Do you dislike big things?"
"……."
"……Hut."
"Ah, that victorious face is really annoying."
The Hero laughed and said.
"Then let's go, the new journey of the Hero Olivia Reinhardt. ……It seems like it'll be fun."
Saying that, the Hero opened the door and walked out, and I watched her and let out a small sigh.
I was silent for a moment and then fiddled with my head and said.
"What am I hearing right now……."
Even if it didn't turn around, coming straight was already crazy.