A Clue to the Incident
The pain radiating through my entire body was so intense I could barely breathe. Unlike the last time I’d taken the medicine, when I hadn’t moved much at all, the violent battle had made everything far worse. I really, really hope I never have to use that stuff again…
Wait. First things first—where the hell am I?
Only then did I realize I had no idea how the situation had played out. The fact that I was still alive suggested we’d won, but the bandages wrapped around every inch of me made it clear I’d received treatment. Were there no healers here? Or maybe even a healer couldn’t do much more than this. My absurdly high stamina meant the amount of HP that needed restoring was enormous. It was like trying to refill a 10,000-HP tank with a spell that only healed 100 at a time.
While I lay there sorting through those thoughts, I finally noticed something resting on my stomach. With great effort, I shifted my unresponsive body just enough to see what it was.
What the…? It’s Kiene.
Thankfully, she seemed unharmed. The Goblin General had been an anomaly; the rest of the horde had never been a real threat to her in the first place. If I hadn’t fought the general myself, Kiene probably could have slaughtered the entire hobgoblin pack single-handedly.
Squish.
The soft weight of her chest pressing down on me was impossible to ignore. It felt exactly like a water balloon filled to the brim had been placed on top of me.
This is dangerous…
Honestly, keeping my composure was proving almost impossible. Fortunately, my squirming seemed to wake her. Kiene stirred, lifting herself up. A tiny pang of disappointment flickered through me, but I tried to greet her anyway.
“How’s your—”
I never finished the sentence. Kiene suddenly threw her arms around me. The excruciating pain that flared across my body clashed violently with the heavenly softness pressed against me.
I’m literally going to die.
In more ways than one.
“…Logue… are you okay…?”
She sounded genuinely worried. For someone who usually came off so cold, Kiene was surprisingly affectionate. Then again, she’d been willing to take on dangerous adventurer quests just to earn money for her little brother. She really was kind.
I gently stroked her hair. “I’m fine, so don’t worry. That said… it’s starting to hurt, so could you get off me now?”
I was at my absolute limit. The pain was about to cross the threshold I could endure.
“…Okay…”
Kiene pouted, looking oddly disappointed as she pulled away.
Why is she acting like this?
Still, the situation had resolved in our favor. We were both alive.
That’s right! The reward!
We had no way of knowing exactly how many goblins we’d killed, so the bonus probably wouldn’t apply, but we were still looking at a full gold coin. The ten gold I’d extorted from Luden had only been possible because he came from a genuinely wealthy noble house. One gold might sound cliché, but it was probably enough to cover an ordinary person’s monthly food expenses in this world. Given how ridiculously difficult the request had turned out to be, asking for extra compensation didn’t seem unreasonable.
The more I think about it, the weirder it gets. Why would they let a group grow large enough for a Goblin General to spawn naturally before doing anything about it?
Only after things spiraled out of control did they scramble to gather adventurers. It felt less like deliberate negligence and more like something urgent had happened within House Arcadia, leaving them unable to pay attention to the threat.
Should I have Sane look into it…? Oh, right. I already gave her an order to investigate something else beforehand.
I poured mana into the Submission Mark and sent my voice to her.
Now that I think about it, can’t this thing work as long-range communication too?
“Sane. Report what you found out about the second son of House Valentine. Also, can you speak to me from where you are?”
“…Yes. It’s possible.”
“Good. Then get over here. I’m going to need your help.”
Moving on my own was still difficult. Having an extra pair of hands would be useful.
“Fuck…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing!”
Looked like another round of mental re-education was in order soon.
“…What are you doing?”
I’d completely forgotten Kiene was still here. To her, I probably looked like a madman talking to thin air.
“It’s communication magic.”
Technically true, even if the reality was a bit different.
My stomach let out a loud growl. I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, but I was starving.
“Kiene, how long was I out?”
“…About a day…”
“That long, huh.”
“I thought… you might not wake up…”
Her eyes began to glisten, turning red at the corners. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Was she always this emotionally expressive? In the original story she was supposed to be a cold, stoic beauty…
Another loud rumble echoed from my stomach.
Damn it.
“…Sorry.”
“Are you… hungry? …Wait here.”
With those words, Kiene left what I assumed was the infirmary. Some time later she returned carrying a bowl of mouthwatering stew.
“Where are we, exactly?”
I still didn’t know the location. I’d only guessed it was some kind of medical ward from the décor.
“Count’s… treatment room…”
The answer was completely unexpected.
“We’re inside the Count’s estate?”
Kiene nodded.
“They said… you did well… Captain Louis brought you here…”
So Louis had witnessed our fight and brought us back for treatment. That made sense.
“I see.”
I reached for the stew Kiene had brought, only to pause.
Hm?
She was gripping the spoon tightly, refusing to hand it over.
“What are you doing…?”
“…Ah.”
“…”
“Open… your mouth…”
“I can feed myself, thanks.”
“Ah.”
My stomach growled again, louder this time. Why was she being like this? Eventually I gave in. I was simply too hungry.
After several rounds of mental justification, I let Kiene feed me like a baby bird.
This is utterly humiliating…
“…Good job.”
She smiled and praised me. Was she teasing me?
She’s usually so expressionless. When she smiles, it’s like a whole different level of beauty.
Even her blank face was beautiful, but that gentle smile was devastating. The way she softly blew on each spoonful to cool it down was also far too adorable.
This… might not be so bad after all.
I finished every last drop of the stew she fed me.
“…Thank you.”
“…Mm.”
Kiene gave me a small, gentle smile.
“I heard you’d woken up! How’s your body feeling?”
The moment I finished eating, the door opened and Louis walked in wearing casual clothes.
He’s younger than I thought.
Covered in armor he’d looked like a seasoned veteran, but in plain clothes he seemed like a man in his late twenties.
“You’re the one who brought us here, right?”
“Indeed. Both of you were unconscious, and I couldn’t just abandon the two heroes who turned the tide of battle.”
He was right. Without us, defeat would have been inevitable. Louis must have realized that too.
“I suggested additional compensation to Count Arcadia. He said he’d like to meet you personally once you’ve recovered. Shall we go see him together?”
“Understood.”
“You and Lady Isabel attend the same academy, yes? …She would have loved to meet you both…”
Sadness lingered in Louis’s eyes as he spoke.
“Did something happen to your lady?”
“…I suppose it’s fine to tell you. You’re her classmates, after all. The truth is, roughly two months ago she came down with a mysterious illness.”
Isabel… That name sounds familiar…
I couldn’t quite place it, but I was certain she’d been an important character in the original story.
“No matter what she eats, it’s like pouring water into a broken pot—she just keeps wasting away. Almost as if her life force itself is being drained.”
Wait… those symptoms…
They were identical to Kiene’s younger brother’s condition. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Kiene immediately began asking questions.
“Does she… have a mark… on her right wrist…?”
“How did you know? At some point, a strange pattern appeared on Lady Isabel’s right wrist.”
“I asked around everywhere, hoping it might be a clue, but no one could tell me anything…”
Something’s connecting here.
The familiar name Isabel. The identical symptoms and mysterious mark shared with Kiene’s brother. I was still turning it over in my mind when a maid from House Arcadia entered the treatment room.
“Um… There’s a woman with short black hair outside. She keeps insisting she’s Sir Logue’s companion…”
It had to be Sane. She’d managed to track me down. Did the brand have a location-tracking function as well?
After receiving permission, Sane entered. Dark circles hung heavily under her eyes.
“You look exhausted.”
“…Whose fault do you think that is…? Anyway, you’re pretty badly hurt, huh?”
“You sound almost happy about it.”
“Haha… Of course not…”
Sane averted her gaze. It really was time for another lesson.
Still, the information I’d asked her to gather was about Kiene’s younger brother. From what I’d heard so far, his symptoms were nearly identical to Isabel’s. I was certain the two cases were connected.
I lowered my voice. “So, tell me what you found.”
The second son of House Valentine bears the life-force-draining brand of Melek on his right wrist.