The Dull Taste of Revenge
“Ha, haha! That’s not even funny.”
Maybe the pain was too much. Or perhaps the blood loss. That was when Grack started laughing. He seemed to be slowly losing his mind.
“How many times have you tormented me……! A victim? You? Ha! I’m the one who should get revenge! You were only captured for a little while! Look at my face! You did this to me! Anyone can see I’m the real victim! I’m the one who suffered more!”
“Well, maybe you’re right?”
Grack looked genuinely wronged. In truth, the old grudge could have been settled just by having his nose and ears ripped off.
If only he hadn’t kidnapped the innocent Einy to get back at me. If only he hadn’t set up this clumsy trap to kill me.
He had summoned me here himself, after all.
“You’re right. Since you ultimately failed to kill me, the damage you caused isn’t much. So, strictly speaking, you’re…… just the loser here? Maybe I’ll use my left foot this time.”
When I lightly snapped my fingers, bits of flesh flew. Blood-scented droplets burst, screams mixed in, and every curse under the sun poured out.
Somehow, it wasn’t as satisfying as I’d expected. I thought revenge would feel more exhilarating.
Perhaps the gap in power was too obvious, because my interest had already faded. Revenge was neither fun nor rewarding. It was just tedious.
“Why…… hmm. Something feels off.”
[I remember now! There was another enemy that day, Master! That foul-tempered woman!]
“That’s right. Yeah! Smart thinking, Rai!”
[Ahem!]
“Last question. Grack, you had a sister, didn’t you?”
Once I found the source of my unease, I felt a little better. Thinking back, the one who had put a hole in Ash’s hand was that woman. Grack’s red-haired sister.
How could I have forgotten? The real revenge should have been aimed at her!
“I remember her. Where is your sister?”
I asked cheerfully.
Killing her was the only way I’d finally be able to sleep soundly. Of course, I’d been sleeping fine until now, but the sense of refreshment would be different.
“Answer me.”
“……”
“If you talk, I’ll let you live!”
I said it generously, but it was obviously a lie. Grack didn’t seem stupid enough to believe it. Now he only gritted his teeth instead of screaming.
Even when I burst one of his eyes with a small gesture while waiting for an answer, Grack just kept giggling.
“Kill me! Just kill me already!”
“How strange. Even a slave trader cares about his family?”
“My sister will carry out my revenge. You demon bitch, go rot in hell.”
“There’s no such thing.”
Death was simply the end.
While I rested my chin on my hand with a pitiful expression, I sensed a crowd approaching from afar. The guards had finally been dispatched.
Grack remained stubborn, and since I could find no further reason to torment him, I ended it with a clap of my hands.
Smack.
My stomach was usually quite strong, but I doubted I’d be able to eat meat for a while.
***
Einy was far too lively for someone who had just gone through something so terrible.
Her timid personality hadn’t changed, but as expected of someone from the jungle, her stamina was excellent.
After the incident, the one who ended up bedridden was me.
“Haaatchoo!”
I had to spend the entire day groaning in bed with a sudden fever. My limbs felt weak, and my head burned as if it were boiling.
The most likely culprit for this illness was Endairon.
My body served as a kind of medium, connecting the middle realm and the spirit realm. That was why using great power always left a shock as an aftereffect.
Summoning Endairon itself placed a heavy burden on my body.
If I had maintained the summoning with only my own mana, the backlash might have been milder, but by drawing on Rai’s mana as well, I had apparently overloaded myself.
Or perhaps it was simply the result of pushing myself too hard for too long.
After being held captive by a dragon and finally escaping, I had landed in the middle of the jungle, and it had taken ages to get out. Just when I thought I could rest after reaching the city, Einy had been kidnapped.
Then I had wiped out the slave traders on impulse. Everything had continued without a single break.
Once all the chaos finally settled, the tension drained away, and the fever came as a result.
No matter what spirits I commanded, my body was still just a fragile human’s. A weak vessel that could catch a cold.
How disgusting and unfair. In my next life, I should be born as a disease-immune dragon.
[Does it hurt a lot, Master?]
“Ugh…… my head…… Even if I have to bribe a god…… a dragon……”
The headache was severe, and the fever made me constantly thirsty. Thirst brought on an endless dry cough.
[You’re even talking nonsense! Have you caught a fatal illness?]
“It’s just a cold, okay?”
[I hate this! You can’t die! Master! What am I supposed to do if you leave me behind! I’ll be so bored!]
“……I’m not dying, I said.”
[Humans die from just catching a cold! You’re so fragile it’s scary!]
“Are you cursing me?! And do you think I live my life trying not to bore you?!”
It was pointless to expect empathy from a spirit that never got sick. With so much to do and my body aching, I felt oddly pitiful.
According to the original plan, today was supposed to be the day I contacted the dean via video call to ask about Einy.
As usual, nothing had gone according to plan.
If it had been a fracture or an external injury, I could have called Undain to heal it, but a cold wasn’t something water spirits could fix.
Water spirit healing magic could only treat external and internal wounds.
Priests’ holy magic could cure colds and detoxify poisons—it was practically omnipotent. What was the difference? Was it a matter of specialization? It would be nice if Ash’s party had a priest……
[Master, the kid’s coming.]
I could hear footsteps approaching. There were two sets.
“Sis? Are you okay?”
With a knock, the door opened and Einy poked her head in first.
After confirming I was awake while gripping the doorknob, she stepped inside.
Ash followed behind her, carrying a tray.
We had decided to treat Einy’s rescue as a stroke of luck. When we arrived, the slave traders’ base had already been in chaos.
Thanks to the timely spread of rumors about dark elves, even the inn staff who had seen Einy being kidnapped seemed to accept the story.
No one suspected that Ash, Lox, Chad, and I had been the ones to raze the place.
And because I had generously paid for the inn repairs, the staff showed me considerable goodwill.
“The counter guy said to bring this to you, Sis.”
The cheese potato soup smelled quite appetizing.
I had no appetite, but I accepted it out of respect for the gesture.
And because the kindness touched me, I managed a few spoonfuls—only to find the bowl empty in no time.
The portion was way too small. Their sincerity was lacking.
“It’s a relief that you still have an appetite.”
“No, I don’t.”
Ah. That probably wasn’t something to say while licking the spoon.
“……I bought some medicine.”
“Even medicine?”
“Do you know how hard it was to get this? We went to the hospital with the old man, and the line was ridiculously long. Apparently there are tons of sick people in the village.”
The village was practically in festival mode.
While someone lay sick in bed, people outside were drinking and singing all night—I couldn’t possibly miss it.
The Blood Wing, which even the central government of Moran had been unable to deal with and had left alone, had vanished overnight. Of course everyone was thrilled.
They were all singing that it was divine punishment, and it was hard to find anyone who regretted the Blood Wing’s destruction.
While I ate the soup, Einy clung to the side of the bed and chattered away.
“I didn’t know, but I wasn’t the only one kidnapped! There are tons of kidnapped people out on the streets!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Lox told me not to get too close because it’s dangerous. They might be sick, or they might be criminals. He even said they might cut off my feet to steal my shoes…… Scary, right?”
“Sounds just like Lox.”
“So I stuck right next to Ash the whole time! Also, I’m not sure, but the guards seemed really angry? Why?”
“Probably because their workload increased.”
Keeping young Einy from blurting things out was the hardest part. Chad and Lox, being adults, had no trouble burying whatever suspicions they had in their heads.
They probably saw me as a confirmed mass murderer, but since they didn’t want to get involved with the military, they were pretending not to know. I had left the job of keeping her quiet to Ash.
My specialty was, after all, causing incidents.
“Workload?”
“They’ll have trouble dealing with all the freed slaves, and first they have to catch the culprit.”
“Hmm…… But that culprit is you, right, Sis?”
Instead of answering, I simply patted Einy’s head and handed her the empty soup bowl. As she took the tray, Einy asked innocently.
“They were calling you a ‘mass murderer.’ What does that mean?”
“Einy, what did I say was a secret?”
“Uh…… Not to tell Mom I was kidnapped, and not to tell anyone about what we saw yesterday.”
“And what happens if you talk?”
“You said that blue transparent dragon would come after me. And eat me…… Eek.”
Nothing scared a child quite like a giant monster.
After Einy shuddered and bit her lip before leaving the room, Ash stood quietly beside me. He looked like he had something to say, but since I felt awful, I ignored him and lay back down.
Now it was just the two of us again.
“Jeanie, it’s not good to scare a child like that. Einy is already very timid……”
“You’re the type to nag about that?”
“……I’m not.”
“If I worry about her feelings and end up becoming a mass murderer, that wouldn’t be ideal either.”
“Hmph.”
I flopped over limply, looked up at Ash, and gave him a languid smile.
I was only acting gentle because I had no strength left in my body.
“Well, it is true. Is that what you wanted to say?”
My tangled golden hair spilled into my eyes, so I roughly brushed it aside and buried my face in the pillow.
Just from the way his eyes trembled, I could tell.
Ash had a side that was too kind for this harsh world. In many ways, we were probably opposites.
Yet I didn’t dislike him because of that.
“No. Resting is fine, but you should still take your medicine.”
“Right.”
I sat up and accepted the medicine and cup of water Ash handed me.
There were no pills in this world. The common method was to receive powdered medicine and mix it with water to drink.
It was extremely bitter and had all sorts of gritty bits, so I couldn’t help but make a face.
“Ugh, gross……”
“It should be effective.”
It had better be. If something this disgusting had no effect, I’d drag the pharmacist over and make him drink ten cups of the same thing.
If Ash hadn’t been watching right beside me, I might have left some. After finally emptying the cup and trying to lie down again, Ash reached out his hand.
I thought he wanted the empty cup, but that wasn’t it.
What he took was my right hand.
“I pray for your swift recovery.”
In this world, there was a custom of kissing the back of a sick person’s hand.
It was only done toward the opposite sex, and it carried the meaning of wishing for the defeat of evil spirits. It was also a superstitious gesture of sharing one’s own life force.
Or perhaps it was a pious wish to take the illness away in their place so the person would recover quickly.
In other words, it was simply a gesture wishing for recovery…… but because it was so sudden, I had to stay dazed for a moment.
Plus, this guy had kissed my hand with incredible elegance. He really was a prince.
The heat on the back of my hand was purely from the fever.