The Hero Who Defeated the Demon King - 02
"It would be good if you woke up. I thought you might have become a corpse right away."
"……."
Silence.
Lois had said something, but I offered no reply, and he seemed not to care about my silence at all.
Just as Belita the saintess would speak to patients to ease their anxiety, Lois appeared to be speaking to me with that same intention.
Yet that small consideration never reached my heart. Instead, it seemed only to ignite a burning anger that would scratch at the firmly closed door in the wrong direction.
I thought it would be better not to say anything rather than vent my frustration at Lois, who I could tell was pointless.
"So, to be precise."
"……."
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"What happened?"
"Yes. I did save you, but before that, I don't know what took place. If I knew the details, perhaps I could have been of some help."
"Then answer my question first."
"You're still as you please. Well, you're half a life savior. ……Well, it's familiar. All right, what do you want to know?"
"Why did you save me?"
"What?"
At my words, Lois looked at me with a face of utter incomprehension, and I returned the same look at him.
Our eyes met in mutual bewilderment, and a brief silence fell between us. Lois broke it with a small sigh.
"You have no reason to save me."
"……."
Still silence.
"You're not just anyone, you're the hero. You saved more people than I ever could."
"I am the hero. Saving people is my role and duty. But you are not like that. Rather, as the woman who banished you, it is only natural that I should spit at you, isn't it?"
"Where did that twisted way of thinking come from?"
"……I defeated the Demon King."
"I heard. Rumors even said the hero and the Demon King perished together. But no matter how you look at it, you could not have flown here from the Demon King's Castle. So what exactly happened?"
Did I need to answer?
But whether because of the wounds or sheer exhaustion of body and mind, at this moment only the truth came from my lips—no lies, no bravado.
I realized that to accomplish such things, one needed strength, whether it was lies, bravado, or anything else.
I no longer possessed that strength.
I was too exhausted to recall my duties, to think clearly, or to craft any suitable reply.
"The hero of the world who defeated the Demon King is no different from the Demon King."
"……."
Lois's brows furrowed in clear displeasure.
I do not know what thoughts crossed my mind at that moment.
In front of the person I had banished—who might even be resenting me—I spoke everything, from beginning to end, as if complaining about my fate.
I told him I had defeated the Demon King, returned to the human realm without a care, been fed the God of Death Poison, and had my contract with the Holy Sword forcibly severed because I was no longer an absolute ally of the kingdom.
"……."
"……."
Silence continued. I slowly raised my head to meet Lois's gaze, and he sat with a clear scowl of displeasure, legs trembling.
I had never seen Lois angry while traveling together, so the sight momentarily stunned me.
"Lois?"
"No, my apologies. It was not because of you. ……This is ridiculous. I cannot imagine such an attitude from the person who saved the world. I had thought Alex-nim… No, Alex possessed some kind of faith in the kingdom in various ways, but I never expected him to do something like this."
"……."
"Even the Goddess's Orb, with the king's permission… This story has grown far larger than I imagined. It was no mere accident. It was truly a tosa gupbang. ……Truly, disgusting."
I stared blankly at Lois, who let out a small sigh.
"Hero-nim, listen carefully."
"I'm listening."
"First, I have sutured your wounds. You will not die immediately. Your head is missing about a third, and there is a hole in your heart, yet you live—an incredibly miraculous thing. That part can be treated. The real problem is the God of Death Poison."
"……."
Lois pulled a chair beside the bed, sat down, and continued.
"The God of Death Poison is a special poison that affects only the living—an extreme poison that once existed. Few people know about it unless they have extensive knowledge of pharmacology, and even then, it is not easily made."
"Did you create this poison to kill me?"
"I do not know whether you made it or obtained it from somewhere… Anyway, it paralyzes the mana nerves in the body. Exactly. It possesses that effect among many others."
"I can't do anything about this with my own power."
"……."
"You are a strong person, so I will speak frankly without any consideration. ……Hero-nim, you are on a death sentence. The time you can live is truly limited. Even though I am no expert, my opinion is that you have at best one month."
"Th, then."
A month.
It seemed to hold on longer than I had expected.
"This is also said considering your absurd vitality. Normally, you should have died the moment you were poisoned… ……Do you understand the situation now? I will tell you that there are two choices for such a hero-nim."
"Two choices?"
"The first is to do nothing as is."
When I looked at Lois, he raised his index finger.
"Hero-nim, no… Olivia Reinhardt. If you say that you have been betrayed by everything you sacrificed to save, that you are hurt and have come to hate everything so much that you wish to give up your life, I will not stop you."
I simply stared at Lois.
"I believe I have the right to save someone who might have been assassinated, but I have no right to prevent someone who wishes to commit suicide."
"Indeed."
"If you give up everything, you may live here. For about a month, it would be good to stay with me. I will care for you as best I can, and if you wish, I can even prepare a grave. If you prefer not even that, you may leave and die alone somewhere. The manner of your death is yours to choose."
If it were before, drawing a sword at such words would not have been strange, but now I accepted them without issue. In fact, I even thought it might not be a bad idea.
If I died like this, as the hero who perished alongside the Demon King, I might remain a perfect hero in the eyes of many.
Then.
I.
Would I die?
Like this?
I did not know what sensation rose from my chest for the first time, so I simply trembled.
"The second choice is to go to the World Tree in the elves' homeland, Elvenheim."
"World Tree?"
"The God of Death Poison cannot be detoxified even with elixir. I do not know how you obtained it, and you are alive while poisoned with it, so honestly, you may now seem suspicious of being human."
Lois let out a small sigh.
"The sap of the World Tree in Elvenheim is said to detoxify any poison. According to the books, there is a clear record that the God of Death Poison was cured with the World Tree sap."
I looked around. Many books filled the room.
Books were stacked high, and the scent of herbs pricked the air.
"If you choose the second option, I will go with you."
"What?"
"Frankly, traveling to Elvenheim in about a month will be a long and difficult journey. I hope you do not curse me if you become a corpse along the way. Those with strong grudges leave curses after death, you know. It is frightening, truly."
"……."
My lower lip trembled.
"Why?"
"Why, you ask?"
"I am the woman who banished you."
"Because you are incompetent?"
"That is a lie."
"……."
I could not meet Lois's eyes directly, so I turned my head.
I was feeling now that the human Olivia Reinhardt was this weak.
I had never before thought facing someone with my eyes was frightening. I had wanted to become strong as the hero, to protect people, yet perhaps it had been the opposite.
I.
For what?
"Then why?"
"Because you were a commoner. ……I never thought you were incompetent. Your ability was versatile power, the power to handle any situation. I thought being a Spiritist was amazing."
"……."
At the time when the adventure was just beginning, Lois had spoken to me like an experienced adventurer, and I had absorbed every word.
At first, I had not intended to banish him, but unlike others, Lois had tried to protect me, and as a result, I had been injured.
If it had been a place filled only with weak monsters like now, but later, I had thought that judgment might lead to Lois's death.
And that thought, combined with the reason of being a commoner, became the trigger to banish him.
"All hero parties in history were composed only of nobles, with no commoners… ……That was the main reason, though there may have been other factors mixed in. The core reason was that you were a commoner. You found something unchangeable and used it to banish you."
"Indeed, I did not know you hated commoners so much."
"I do not hate commoners."
"Then what?"
"I hate being protected by commoners who need to be protected."
"Indeed, a distorted sense of noblesse oblige?"
"Well."
I was starting to doubt whether it had truly been such a noble heart.
At that moment, I had believed it was for Lois's sake, but now I was unsure.
I was confused whether betraying people's hearts for an unchangeable reason and acting arbitrarily was truly right.
"Why are you helping me? You are not a hero or anything. You are a commoner who must think about living today and tomorrow… ……Even if you have resentment toward me, there is no reason to help."
"Hero-nim."
"Then, is this state of mine my preference?"
"……Let's pretend that last remark did not happen."
"……Sorry."
I grabbed my head with my only remaining hand.
I did not know what I had said after saying it myself.
My head was in chaos, and the poison made even breathing painful, so it felt as though I might truly go mad.
It would be good if I could simply go mad and live, but even that was difficult, and the feeling was truly subtle and ambiguous.
"Do you need a reason to help?"
"What?"
"You did banish me, and it is true that it did make things difficult… ……But that is not a reason to leave a dying person to live. If you were a sinner who bears all the sins of the world, I might ignore it."
Lois smiled faintly.
"I have not fallen so far that I would let someone who did bad things to me die."
"……."
Silence.
Grudges and resentments gather and destroy many things.
That is why people must trust human malice and must not let anyone walk down a bad path in any form.
The hero should be hope, should save people, and should not let many people die.
But actually.
"You should have been the hero instead."
It was the true feeling that rose from deep within my chest.
Without any obligation to help people, without any coercion, without any emotion, I could not say 'it is only natural to save, so I save'.
All of mine was to do what must be done, not because I wanted to do it.
In that sense, the contract with the Holy Sword being severed and not renewed was a natural result.
I had not had the qualification to hold that sword. I had merely been chosen by the Holy Sword because I possessed the power to kill the Demon King.
I had not been the hero.
"……."
"What will you do?"
"I do not know. What should I do?"
"All right. Then let's start."
"What?"
Lois stood up.
"You do not know the reason to live? Let's think about it while going. Even if you want to live later, if you die near Elvenheim because of the time limit, it would be unfair."
"……."
"Then, if you are unsure whether to live or die, let's start anyway."
"Th, is that okay? My words are funny, but is this really okay?"
"It is fine."
Lois smiled.
"Since the words 'I want to die' did not come out, that is enough. Even just that, people can live. Even the hero, you are a person for now."
"……."
I watched Lois move busily.
I simply.
Could only watch such a Lois.