The Hero's Excuses
GRRAAAAAHH—!! @#%***..!!
A colossal ogre with at least eight pillar-like arms.
KUOONG—!! KYONG—!!
Grrrrowl...!!
KRRRHEUUNG—!!
A massive black-furred hound barking with three heads.
KWAANG—!!
"Annie and I'll hold their attention! Arang, look for an opening and strike the heads! Ren, Nen, Leon—backup attacks, please!"
Seria de Valstein shouted from the front lines, dodging the assaults of the two massive beasts.
Of course, no orders for me.
From the start of this journey to now, my role had been fixed as one thing only.
"Goddess, protect your children...!"
Using my healing ability and the sacred spells from the church's mana road training, I erased the party's injuries.
Woooong—!!
At first, healing required contact, but my experiences in these harsh lands had greatly enhanced my powers—I could now heal from a distance.
KRRAAAA—!! KOONG—!! KOONG—!!
Every time the monsters slammed the ground nearby, the vibrations shook through my body.
KUOONG—!! KUOONG—!!
Their murderous glares and roars, laced with mana pressure, chilled my blood.
Thump thump thump...!
Even after all this time, my heart pounded wildly, my whole body trembling.
"Hahhh—!"
In that regard, she was incredible.
Craaaack—...!!
An ice barrier rose like a low-flying bird, sliding into place near her swift glide.
KAAAANG—!! Craaack...!
"Huuu..."
She froze the monster's swinging forepaw solid, exhaling a breath of white mist.
She fought relentlessly at close range with these terrifying beasts, never pausing for a breath.
"Arang! Switch while I recover mana!"
"Got it! Seria!"
And even issued party orders amid it all.
What was she? Were we even the same species? How could anyone do that?
KWEEEERRR—!!
Then a bellow echoed.
Not the beast hound—it was the multi-armed ogre.
"Damn it! It broke free!"
Annie, wielding her massive shield, whipped around and yelled.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Right after, a giant charged like an earthquake in a frenzy.
Wha... what...?
It was heading straight for me. If this kept up, it'd trample me flat.
"Curtain of light...!!"
I immediately cast a sacred barrier spell.
PaCRASH—!
It... broke?
The ogre kicked through the light curtain like shattering thin glass and barreled on.
"I'm going in—!"
"Hero...!"
Then I saw the Hero—Leon—brandishing his holy sword, glowing with golden radiance.
"Holy Sword Release—!!"
Shwooooaaaa—!!
He slashed from above downward, unleashing a wave of light that crashed into the ogre.
As expected of the Hero...! He saved me—
KRAAAAA—!
...It didn't die?
KOONG—! KOONG—!!
The ogre merely staggered, then charged on with glowing red eyes.
KWAANG—!!
"Kyaaak?!?!"
It slammed a massive fist right in front of me.
Thud thud thud—..!!
Rocks pelted me like hail, my vision spinning wildly.
"Hahk...!! Uhheuk...!!"
My whole body ached, bones rattling—I couldn't even heal.
GRAAAA...!!
"N-no...!"
The ogre's huge shadow loomed, raising multiple fists at its limb-ends to crush me.
I'm gonna die...!
This was it—I'd be smashed to pulp.
"Ice Soul—...!!!"
Craaaack—..!!
Then the ogre's legs froze solid.
"Fire Explosion—!!"
"Lightning Storm—!!"
Fwoooosh—!!
Crackle crackle—!!
The twin elves' spells blasted half the ogre's upper body away.
"Beast King Fist—!!"
Shrieeeek—! PaCRACK—!!
Arang's leaping punch exploded the ogre's head into view.
Plop plop...!
"Eek...!"
Red blood and white brain matter splattered onto me, the metallic stench overwhelming.
Kuuung...!
But the ogre finally collapsed for good.
"Saintess, you okay?! That was close...!"
"A few seconds later, and it would've been bad."
The voices of my rescuers reached me.
"You alright?"
"Y-yeah..."
Still shaking, unable to stand, Seria extended a hand.
"Damn it...!"
The moment I grabbed it and rose, an irritated voice snapped from the side.
Not just me—all eyes turned toward the voice, where the Hero stood.
"If I hadn't been poisoned by that mana toxin! I would've nailed it clean!"
The Hero, bandaged on his forehead, rubbed his eyes and bellowed as if for all to hear.
"Seraphina! If you'd awakened your mana road, you could've cured the poison—none of this would've happened!"
He jabbed a finger at me, scolding.
Why... me...?
Shock hit me, but recalling the Hero's past behavior, I understood.
"You're the Hero Party's Saintess—how does it make sense you can't heal something!"
The Hero wanted to pin his near-fatal mistake on someone. On me.
"Ah... aaa..."
So unjust, so infuriating—I couldn't even protest.
How could he blame me? I almost died!
"Leon!!"
Someone shouted beside me.
"You haven't awakened either! Does it make sense the Hero—who counters demons—fails to kill a beast the rest of us could?"
Seria exploded, her patience snapping.
"What...? Seria de Valstein, what did you just—!"
The Hero's eyes widened, then he ground his teeth in rage.
"Anyone who senses mana knows. The Demon King is nearby. Yet you, the Hero, haven't awakened."
Seria met his gaze steadily, stating facts without flinching.
And that was... the undeniable reality of our party.
At the journey's start, I'd read tomes on past Demon King subjugations. The Hero's awakening was essential.
The Demon King, pinnacle of darkness, could only take major damage from the light-aspect supreme ability "Holy Sword"...
Without fully awakening his mana road to evolve the Holy Sword, defeating the Demon King would be near impossible.
"Ahh! You think I don't want to awaken?! Look at my condition! Mana toxins piling up, body aching everywhere. No supplies, just garbage food!"
"We're all in the same boat."
Yet Seria, Arang, and Nen had awakened.
"Even if the rest of us don't, Leon Donaud—you must awaken."
"Grrrh...!!"
Even the "kind" Hero to Seria gripped his Holy Sword hilt hard, enraged at the sore spot.
"..."
...But nothing happened.
Seria had awakened her mana road, evolving her Ice Soul.
Leon hadn't, so his Holy Sword stayed unevolved.
Against anyone but a beast, Leon couldn't beat Seria.
"Hah... fine. Fine. My fault for not awakening."
Leon acknowledged it, unsummoning his sword and turning away.
The tense air eased, and everyone finally cleaned up.
Would it end like this...?
I thought so.
But when Seria stepped away,
"We'll ambush Seria de Valstein. Lend me your strength."
Leon fixed us with madness-glazed eyes.
We'd ambush Seria de Valstein.
It wasn't mere revenge.
Her looks, background, haughty demeanor.
He wanted it all.
Unable to breach her sleeping ice barriers alone, he sought "his women."
And needless to say, I...
"We have to break the Hero's will."
...planned to stop Leon from assaulting her.
Honestly... any fondness for Leon had vanished completely.
But I...
...had no choice but him anymore.
Woooong... thump...
Circulating mana, I felt a faint stir in my lower abdomen.
Yes. I was pregnant with Leon’s child.
Shock. The ground crumbling beneath me.
That Hero's child...?
Actually, it made sense.
Crossing the Contaminated Lands, Leon had no outlet for mounting stress.
He relieved it through sex with me and the others.
No time for contraception—it was inevitable.
The others not being pregnant was the real surprise now.
Only I, among the party women, carried the Hero's child.
If I alone bore his child while others didn't, I might become his special woman.
Leon wasn't great now, but post-Demon King, he might revert to the kind Hero.
A chance to stand beside the glory-wreathed Hero.
But I hesitated to reveal the pregnancy...
Choosing the Hero meant abandoning Abel.
Would Abel accept a pregnant, "unclean" me?
Kind Abel might... but living beside him, raising another man's child, guilt and glances forever? Terrifying.
In the end, I had to choose the Hero...
Yes. I had to claim the spot beside Leon—for me and the child’s happiness.
So, I had to stop him from assaulting Seria.
After raping her, he'd likely silence her.
But if she submitted? He might make her his top woman.
His devotion to her was unlike anything I'd seen.
Plus... I didn't want to see her—who'd saved me so often—suffer that fate.
"As Hero Party members, we can't do that."
I spoke during bath time with Arang and Nen.
"If Seria's combat-incapacitated, our party's done. Can you guarantee capturing her unscathed?"
They nodded.
Stunned at first, but...
"Grr... Even I who likes the Hero can't accept this."
"As forest elves, unthinkable..."
My comrades agreed it was absurd.
That night, before everyone, Arang, Nen, and I confronted him.
"Right! Trying to rape a woman? Unheroic!"
"Disappointed this time... Hero."
Dwarf Annie and twin elf Ren joined—everyone but Leon scolded him.
"F...fine. Got it."
Even willful Leon had to yield.
That settles our debt... Seria.