Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Widow Rodeo (1)
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"What? Kalt's gone?"
The Mabel Party, fresh back from their request, had stopped by the guild to check if the recruits they'd posted for had shown up—and to ask about Kalt's whereabouts.
"Yes. Right after you all left the village for the request..."
Mabel hadn't expected Kalt to leave the village immediately after quitting her party.
The Kalt she knew would have stuck around to find a new party in town, or at least waited for their return to give them another piece of his mind.
Ianna shrugged at the news.
"Maybe he actually took our advice and left quietly?"
Marti smiled brightly.
"For Kalt, who was always so headstrong... looks like this departure was just the medicine he needed. I hope he enjoys some peaceful days ahead."
"Tch. I was gonna ask him to whip up a tonic or something."
During this latest request, while hunting monsters, Mabel had noticed something off about her body.
The more monsters she took down, the more cold sweat beaded on her skin and her heart raced for some reason.
As the Fastest Hero, she dropped them quickly enough that the symptoms didn't last long.
But the fact that they kept cropping up at all didn't sit right with Mabel.
There had been times when she felt drained, and Kalt had noticed right away, brewing her a tonic.
She'd whined that it tasted bad if it was just handed to her plain, so he'd made it as sweet as possible.
Mabel still remembered how that tonic had filled her with a warm glow, chasing away the fatigue.
Meanwhile, the receptionist facing the Mabel Party was utterly baffled.
'What the hell? Didn't they break up after some huge fight and lover's quarrel?'
He couldn't connect the devastated Kalt who'd come to the guild with the casual vibe the Mabel Party was giving off now.
Kalt's reaction had screamed a nasty breakup, but these three made it seem like a party member had just left for no big reason.
Still, the receptionist didn't pry.
Experience told him sticking his nose in situations like this never ended well.
"Well, if Kalt's gone, nothing we can do about it. Any applicants for our party?"
"Yes, there were."
The Mabel Party was currently the talk of the town as the Fastest Hero Party.
Naturally, there were those eager to join and bask in their glory.
"First off, these three applied."
Before heading out on their request, the Mabel Party had posted recruitment conditions.
A new vanguard.
Dual Swordsman Trax.
Heavy Armor Warrior Roderick.
Martial Artist Dingyo.
These three had put their names forward to join the Mabel Party.
"Trax, Roderick, Dingyo. Yeah, I've heard the names before."
"How would you like to handle the meetings? One at a time, or all together?"
"Hmm~ Let's do them one by one. Meeting them all at once won't tell us much right away anyway. We'll need to take them on a request to test their skills for real."
Mabel turned to Ianna and Marti.
"That cool with you guys?"
"Sounds good."
"I'm in favor too."
"Understood. Who would you like to meet first?"
"Trax."
"I'll let Trax know to come to the guild tomorrow morning then."
"Thanks, appreciate it."
With business done, the Mabel Party left the guild.
Mabel stretched as soon as they stepped outside.
"Ahhh~ Let's hit the tavern and grab some food."
On the way to the tavern...
"Owowow!"
The Mabel Party spotted a kid crying about how much it hurt.
A scraped knee and a bloody nose suggested they'd tripped and face-planted while walking.
Marti, the party's nun, approached the sobbing child.
To heal them with her holy power.
'No Kalt around now to chew me out for it.'
Above all, the freedom to do the things Kalt had always scolded her for felt liberating. Marti knelt to meet the kid's eyes.
"Looks like you took a tumble. Does it hurt a lot?"
"Waaah! It hurts!"
"I know, just hold still. Big sis will make it better."
Marti prayed and channeled her holy power, bestowing the child with a healing blessing.
The basic recovery blessing, Heal.
White light enveloped the kid.
The scraped knee healed perfectly, and the nosebleed stopped.
"Better now?"
"Yeah, for real!"
The child marveled at the miracle of the healing blessing chasing away the pain.
"Be more careful next time, okay?"
Marti ruffled the kid's hair and wiped the blood from their nose with her hand.
"Thank you!"
The kid thanked her and dashed off somewhere.
Watching the child go, Marti felt a swell of pride.
'Why on earth did Kalt always try to stop me from doing such good deeds? No more nagging from him now. Maybe from here on out, I should extend my healing touch to even more hurt people.'
Lost in thoughts of the future for a moment, Marti glanced at her hand.
The one smeared with the kid's nose blood.
"...!"
Her heart thudded hard.
The urge to do something—anything—about the blood on her hand flooded her mind right then.
Marti hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from the pocket on her thigh with her other hand and scrubbed the blood off.
"Hah, hah, hah."
Only after wiping it clean did her racing heart settle.
'No way this is... Ah, no. It can't be. That should've been cured by now...'
Marti had felt something eerily similar many times in the past.
The affliction that had tormented her so.
The same sensation from when she couldn't grow further, when no other party would take her.
'It's nothing. Way weaker than back then. Yeah. I just got startled seeing blood on my hand. That's all it was.'
Marti quickly stuffed the bloodied handkerchief back into her thigh pocket.
'No way. It couldn't come back now...'
"Marti, what're you doing? Hurry up."
Mabel's voice called out.
"Ah! S-Sorry, Mabel!"
"Sorry for what? I saw the whole thing."
"You saw everything?"
"Yeah. You healing the kid who fell. Anyway, let's go. I'm starving."
On the surface, Marti's actions were beyond reproach.
She'd just stood there wiping blood off her hand with a handkerchief.
"Y-Yeah, coming."
Marti hurried after Mabel and Ianna toward the tavern.
Harboring an unease that hadn't quite crystallized yet.
Late afternoon, before dinner time.
Aria had called Nellis and Scarlet to her room, saying she had something to discuss.
"What's up? What'd you wanna talk about?"
Aria took a deep breath and addressed her precious comrades.
"Actually... I started mental counseling sessions with Kalt today."
"What?"
"For real?"
The sudden announcement had them both wide-eyed in shock.
"You told him about that thing, then?"
"Yes. To solve the problem, Kalt needs to understand it properly. And since he's a comrade now, he should know."
"...How'd he take it?"
Scarlet asked gravely.
Aria was a cherished comrade to Scarlet too.
She worried Kalt might've reacted rudely upon hearing about Aria's issue.
"Thanks for worrying, Scarlet. Kalt listened seriously, thought it over... and promised to do his absolute best to help me resolve it."
"...Good."
"See? Kalt's such a softie~. Actually, I sparred with him today too."
"What? You sparred with that guy? Weren't you just going to watch his training?"
"Was it okay, Nellis? Kalt's stronger than you..."
"Yeah. Watching his training, I could really see how much stronger he is than me. And I saw him practicing drawing and swinging his Mana Blade? It was seriously like watching a work of art!"
"Fine, whatever about his sword swings. You said you sparred. Get to it."
"Sorry. Yeah... we did spar, but not for long. At first he just defended, then matched my pace so I could keep up..."
"He caught on?"
"No! He didn't! He just looked at me and said I seemed fatigued, so we stopped."
"Nellis, how'd you even end up sparring?"
"Well~ He said pure swordsmanship is key for drawing Mana Blade properly. When he offered to check my skills, I couldn't say no..."
"Ugh."
Sensing Scarlet about to lecture, Nellis swiftly changed the subject.
"Anyway, forget my story—Aria's the important one! So, how was the counseling? Feel any better?"
"It was the first session, so I'm not sure. But... I want to keep pushing forward."
"What'd that guy say during the session?"
Aria dove right in, recounting exactly what Kalt had told her as they began the counseling.
"Whoa... that's touching! Maybe I should fight thinking like that too? When this battle ends, having fun times with everyone...!"
"Shut your mouth! It's embarrassing enough without you saying it!"
Nellis pouted at Scarlet, who was smacking her own arm.
"Aw, why~?"
Aria smiled warmly at the sight.
'This is why. Not some grand world peace thing. For moments like this with my precious comrades...'
Witnessing the scene Kalt had emphasized right before her eyes only strengthened Aria's resolve to overcome and resolve her issue.