The Unexpected Reunion (4)
In that moment, what I saw was Lucas's last appearance.
A brief silence descended.
Even now, before my eyes, Lucas's face lingers—a bitter smile offered with desperate insistence, still so kind.
The forward headquarters, how did it turn out? Loenjel and Drek were there too, weren't they?
Before Carteia arrived, I handled the matter myself. The demon main force launched a sudden assault, and the vast majority of our troops were annihilated. We survivors numbered barely a dozen, including just those two.
I joined up with Luke and me, who had been retreating under his protection.
At the time, one soldier and one knight—both veterans who had roamed the battlefield for ages.
Naturally, for the Kingdom, it was a catastrophic loss that could never be recovered. The damage was on the scale of total annihilation.
After that, as you know, Saintess, the battlefield was breached from the very start. They couldn't even lay siege to Casillum Fortress, yet here we are—looking like this, in such a sorry state.
Not only the land taken from humanity, but parts that had once belonged to the human realm were lost as well.
To fill the gaps in our forces, the knights fought desperately, and Grandpa Buelant vanished in the process.
From that point onward, despair began to creep over humanity.
Afterward, I learned helplessness. No matter how many times I poured everything into it, when the demons acted with full sincerity, I wondered when humanity would finally be wiped out.
Two heroes. And one force on par with a hero—myself included. Even charging forward like that, I couldn't win against even one of them properly.
In that situation, I realized something: humanity had advanced so far only because the demons had been watching from the sidelines.
After that, Loktur was never seen again. But I thought that if either of those two had properly taken the frontlines, humanity would have ended that day.
Luke and I couldn't say that in front of the other knights. All the other knights and soldiers would have sunk into pessimism and despair.
······.
I, at least, hid it and somehow managed to survive, but Luke couldn't bear it. After that, his trips to the battlefield gradually decreased.
By the time I finished recounting, I was already downing the now-cold coffee.
That was the end of the Casillum siege. Since I knew it all too well, I thought that even if I returned to the frontlines now, I wouldn't be of much help.
You're sinking into pessimism. What pointless pessimism.
Even if I don't know about you, Luke probably does. After that, I did everything I could. I threw myself into it with the idea of fighting to the last. But realistically, it's true that I can't win with the forces I have now.
The gap is clear. Even if I wield the blessing now—
With the blessing, you still wouldn't win, right?
Don't read my mind. Without the blessing, I'm already feeling down enough.
For now, I nodded. Because I really did think that.
The blessing is nothing more than a slightly convenient tool. It's you, Rigel, who showed that one can reach the level of a hero even without it.
But without the blessing, the destructive power—
Those kinds of things are only needed in monster battles. There's no need for Loktur. Your sword didn't even touch him. Moreover, you cut through countless large monsters with just that one sword.
That's right. I've faced monsters as large as Loktur several times.
Even with the Kingdom's support, I cut them down myself. I cut through Loktur's body, though it was shallow.
And Carteia and Valtuar aren't monsters either. Without the blessing, you can still defeat them with skill alone.
Even without being a hero, you can exterminate them. The reason you couldn't do it before was simply because your skill wasn't there yet.
And Clotila has already seen that possibility with her own eyes.
You remember seeing Valtuar before? The scars left on his armor—
They were the first I had ever seen. Really... there can only be one person capable of leaving such wounds on that armor...?
Yes. Only Lucas. Lucas gave them a chance by sacrificing his life. They are not enemies that are impossible to face.
There is still a chance.
Even the tiniest sliver of possibility is enough. If you can just find a way to seize it, that's all.
Lucas trusted you and Luke with his life. Just as Lucas had been saved by his life before.
Clotila the Saintess spoke with a somewhat heightened tone.
If Carteia and Valtuar truly could not be opposed, it would have been impossible. And since you saw the possibility, the old man would have willingly given his life.
Yeah, that old man always spoke however he liked...
So don't betray Luke's expectations. Even if you don't care about humanity's hopes, at least listen to Lucas's final request.
Clotila's bright amber eyes met mine. Her gaze held clear light.
Usually so ominous and frail, yet sometimes she showed herself exactly as humanity's saintess.
That was the reason I acknowledged her as the Saintess even after seeing her countless times.
······I understand. I'll give it a try.
Whether I come to the battlefield or not doesn't matter. Looking at your current state, no one would say anything.
I don't know. For now, I'm trying to fix this condition.
Good. Just one cigarette before you go.
I pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pouch on my chest.
Seeing her remove a cigarette from the pouch bearing the saintess's emblem made me stick my tongue out once again.
***
Huu... good, good. I was shaking so hard from listening to and suppressing your long story.
If it weren't for that story, I might have thought differently about you, Saintess.
The first time I met her after my body changed.
In the small alley next to my house, she was smoking a cigarette as if drunk. Lighting it was still my job.
Rigel. No, Lir. You should try this too. You'll see how good it is? It's like ascending without a single thought.
You know smoking cigarettes is implicitly forbidden for knights, right?
You're no fun. How is it that even as a woman, you can't enjoy it?
But when a knight smokes, it's basically kissing goodbye to their stamina, so there's no helping it.
Enough. You're getting better too, aren't you? I can tell your speech has changed a bit already.
No?
Before, it was a bit rougher. The battlefield water must have washed off, huh?
Is that so? I don't know.
Quite the opposite—I've seen the poison creeping into Ivan's gentle eyes.
Without poison, you've already died. Or fled?
You're a hero. How could you flee? No, maybe you're still fleeing right now.
That's a bit too harsh to say about a guy who's collapsed from overwork?
While exchanging light banter, we had a conversation with someone we could actually call friends for once.
In an environment where we had to guard our hearts and watch our words, we could speak freely and comfortably with each other.
It's only been a few years, so my sense of justice is still strong. I tell myself I'll go wherever requests come from?
Give it a few years. That's the fresh phase. The Saintess will be smoking line after line of cigarettes while running around the battlefield all day without showing it to kids.
Even if you tell her to rest, she won't listen. Her eyes say it all. I'm also on the brink of overwork death.
Shaking her head vigorously as if protesting, she took a final puff of the remaining cigarette and exhaled.
Then, with the tip of her fingers, she flicked away the ashes. Crushing the fallen embers was my job.
Time to go. If I go back, I'll be questioned about where I've been again, but I'll stay quiet so you don't worry.
If I tell her, even the Saintess will die with me.
Since she has no one to replace her, if you die, it'll be fine. I'll be in the Royal Capital for about a month, so if you're bored, come find me?
Waving her hand, Clotila the Saintess stepped out of the alley. The moment she disappeared, I pulled a water-soaked handkerchief from my inner pocket.
Argh, don't step on it.
Clear footprints remained on the white wall. Scrubbing them with my fingers, I let out a sigh.
***
I was just talking, yet my body feels so heavy.
Ugh, ugh-ugh. Letting out the sound of an old man, I lay back on the bed.
I hadn't even done any training. I'd just gone out moderately, walked around, and had dinner.
The long-awaited old friend had come, and it was the end of the story from those days long ago, yet it had drained me so much.
Ah, I'd also taken the exam.
······Maybe I should think about returning only after fixing my body to how it originally was.
Clotila the Saintess had subtly encouraged my return. But I still didn't want to go back yet.
There had been too many wounds there. If I returned now, I'd be settling into a new system, and it would be a big hassle for the successors as well.
For now, I decided to set aside the idea of returning. I was satisfied with this life.
Creak.
When I adjusted the pillow position, something paper-like fell into my hand. When I picked it up, I realized it was the note Professor Remediela had written with the ingredients for the elixir.
Plenty of ingredients remained. Among the rare ones, I'd only obtained a single Megirurun. There was still a bit left until I could get the next rare ingredient...
For now, I should drop by the market or workshop occasionally.
I'd have to find the usual ingredients.
The exam was over too. For a while, I'd have plenty of free time.