Chapter 81. A Side You Shouldn't Show Others (3)
Chapter 81. A Side You Shouldn't Show Others (3)
"...You want this to end."
The moment those words left Dave's lips, Heira realized too late what she'd said and forgot to breathe.
"N-No. That's... not what I..."
She hadn't said it because she wanted them to part ways.
Even if she didn't truly know what kind of man he was, and had never directly asked why he was in this party, Heira didn't care about his identity or his objectives.
She had simply needed a companion to share her life with.
Of course, it wasn't as if just anyone would have done, but in the beginning...
"There's no way that's true. You..."
It was because that very first act with him had felt so good.
She had learned for the first time that two people mingling their bodies could be so utterly intoxicating, and the pleasure she'd felt in that moment had breathed life into her hollow existence.
"I just... want to be with you..."
Was it wrong to want to feel more of that, to build a bond with the one she'd been joined to?
Even if his later displays of sadistic desire lacked the tenderness and warmth of the first time, Heira simply could not bring herself to believe the self she'd seen back then was a lie.
She was certain that if she endured, and endured a little more, she would be able to feel that same thing again.
"There's no way someone like me would want this to end..."
"I know, Heira. I know that's your true feeling."
The man merely gave a faint smile, as if her desperation didn't concern him in the slightest.
"You're just scared. Because the people who matter to you... are no longer only me."
He knelt down and quietly met her eyes.
"But, if those precious people found out about your true nature..."
He gently stroked her face, smeared with tears and saliva.
"...that in reality you're this lewd and vulgar, they would surely be deeply disappointed in you, too."
"Hnn... ngh...!"
A single caress sent breath rushing into her lungs.
The sound merged with her sobs, emerging as choked hiccups. Yet, as if even that sound were sweet to him, the smile on his lips only deepened.
He gazed upon the girl who had fallen so far that no trace of her former purity remained, reduced to a wretched existence...
"...Heira."
...with what seemed like genuine approval, as if she were his self-proclaimed sex slave.
"You don't want the two of them to despise you, do you? Not just them—you don't want everyone you meet from now on to see you like this."
"...Yes. No. So, please..."
"Then you have to choose."
Yes. Everything up to this point had been orchestrated to present this very choice.
Because he could not tear this girl's heart away with violence, verbal abuse, or even by defiling her once-pure body and mind.
So he'd had to accept the risk of leaving her memories intact while staying with her, and even resort to the hardline measure of trampling her dignity.
"Will you endure it to the bitter end... or will you undo everything that's happened, and live on knowing nothing at all?"
"Erase... my memories..."
He had made the opening move—
to make her foresee a future where clinging to just this one thing might cost her the countless connections yet to come.
"...You're so cruel."
And if, in the end, the scales tipped the other way... she would surely beg him, desperately.
Please, send her back to the time when she knew nothing.
To undo this wretched fall, to erase even the happy memories she so desperately wanted to keep.
"This is too cruel. Why... why are you pushing me this far...?"
"My reasons for driving you into a corner like this..."
Of course, she wouldn't choose right now.
Endurance was something this girl knew all too well.
A girl who had lived well over a hundred years, and who had said she spent half her life enduring such things—expecting an immediate answer would be sheer arrogance.
"...that's not what matters to you, is it? If it mattered, you would have asked long ago."
And that was all the more reason to press her without mercy—even if it was entirely contrary to his own true feelings.
"So all you have to do is choose."
To perfectly deceive the senses of a girl who could detect even a flicker of emotional change, he played the part of a heartless being...
"Bear it without anyone learning of this relationship. Or erase your memories and go back to when you knew nothing."
...and by amplifying only the urge to shake her off, he concealed even the unconscious cracks that might betray him.
"...Hnn, ngh... hck..."
Faced with his cold and ruthless attitude, the girl could not choose either path and simply burst into mournful tears.
"Ah, aahh...!"
Terrified that the two who had not yet arrived might hear her,
she choked the sounds by straining her throat.
***
Meanwhile, the two who had been quarreling far down the hill.
As emotions continued to overheat, Serika and Ymir's squabble escalated into a fight, and in the end, only a victor and a vanquished remained on the field.
"Enough. Stop... Stop it. I lost..."
Serika lay pinned to the dirt, unable to dispel the gravity magic until her stamina gave out.
Her strained voice was filled with pure resignation. But Ymir, as if doubting the sincerity of her words, channeled even more force into the hand controlling her mana.
"Hey, hey. Someone who picks a fight with a person dead on her feet from exhaustion doesn't get to talk about who won or lost. If you're going to apologize, do it right, you brat."
"B-But... you started it, Ymir! Just during the day, against those demon beasts..."
"What was that? Want me to make it a hundred times gravity?"
"N-No! I was wrong! I'm sorry, so please let me up!"
Serika pleaded, crushed against the ground. The clear display of their skill gap had sapped her will to fight, but even so, Ymir couldn't accept her words as sincere.
No matter how many times she'd multiplied the standard gravity, this was the Hero—someone with an absurd capacity for learning.
The moment she let her guard down, the girl would try to force her way through the weaker points of the spell. Suppressing her while physically drained was utterly exhausting.
If Serika's mood suddenly flipped again and she charged with her sword drawn, it would be instant death, but...
"...Honestly, still a greenhorn, yet you've got so much nerve."
Despite that risk, Ymir finally decided to release Serika's restraints.
As overly emotional as the girl was, this whole clash had started over nothing more than a prank.
As long as the object of her obsession wasn't involved, Serika would surely want to avoid more pointless fighting that hurt them both.
"To push this far with an exhausted body... You weren't just exaggerating about being tired, were you?"
Of course, there was still bad blood, so no friendly words would be forthcoming.
"Exaggerating, my ass. Do you think I got the title of Grand Archmage for free? To hold that rank, not only do you have to master every school of magic relevant to combat, you also need multiple tournament wins on your record."
"Ugh, bragging again."
"It's not bragging, it's fact, you brat. I just don't have field experience. In terms of credentials and career, I've got decades more than you."
She wasn't someone who clung particularly to her title, but she absolutely despised being seen as easy prey.
In fact, she was the type to return payback tenfold, if only to prevent future annoyances.
That hadn't changed when she confronted Serika, but the girl, rather than being cowed, would always come back at her even more fiercely.
"If I've put you through this much, then at least get it through your thick skull that I'm not some trash-tier weakling you can just roll over."
Her fighting spirit was commendable, but if she deliberately targeted someone while they were exhausted, there was no reason for anyone to take it kindly.
As Ymir caught her breath and ran a hand through her tousled hair, Serika spoke while lying spread-eagled on the ground, steadying her own breathing.
"I never thought you were trash. It's just... in my own way, I wanted to get closer to you..."
"Oh, sure you did. If you've been raked over the coals this badly and still don't know your place, then... What?"
Ymir's expression went blank at the unexpected reply.
For a moment, she thought she'd misheard, but the Serika lying on the ground was completely serious.
"You... want to get closer? To who?"
"Who do you think? I want to get closer to you, Ymir."
Serika spoke earnestly as she propped herself up.
But as if even she felt a bit sheepish, a faint blush colored her face under the moonlight.
"No... that's just nonsense..."
Ymir, reading sincerity in that shy expression, stared blankly for a moment before she began to scratch her cheek.
She'd have understood it better if the girl had just cursed her out. Ymir was aware she'd been excessively harsh.
Yet here, after being hounded to the brink of collapse—even with some attempt at restraint—this girl said she wanted to be friends.
"...Doesn't seem like you're joking."
It was hard to believe, but the atmosphere remained unchanged.
Taking note of that, Ymir steadied her ragged breathing and decided to respond seriously.
"Still, it's a bit hard to swallow. A girl who first came at me trying to kill me, now pulling pranks about wanting to be friends."
"I don't care about that part anymore. If anything... from what I've seen of you since we started traveling together, I believe you wouldn't lay a hand on a man who's already taken without any reason."
"Trying to forgive an affair just because there were circumstances. So magnanimous, as generous as the Saint herself. Is that because you're the Hero?"
Ymir probed with her usual sarcasm, gauging the situation.
But as Serika gazed up at the moonlit night, a cold clarity settled in her eyes.
Was it resignation, born from the knowledge that the past could not be changed?
"...It's because I realized that you and I are the same, Ymir."
No. It was not resignation... it was an epiphany.
After spending a month together, bickering and watching each other's every move, such a realization was only natural.
"The same... in what way?"
"In that we both like Dave."
Their backgrounds and the ages they'd lived were different.
Yet, there was one common trait that stood out above all else.
"...No."
But when those words were actually spoken by the person in front of her, what left Ymir's lips reflexively was nothing but denial.
"No, I'm not... it's not really..."
It wasn't that she was trying to be considerate.
It was because she had to.
For a reason she herself couldn't grasp, she was never meant to be with him.
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to pick a fight over that."
Unconcerned with Ymir's confusion, Serika slowly rose to her feet.
Stepping onto the hill to wander beneath the moon, she looked down at Ymir with an indulgent gaze.
"If anything, I hope you won't deny those feelings, Ymir. I hope you'll keep holding onto them."
"...Keep holding onto them?"
"You said it yourself, didn't you? That a Hero's duty is to everyone, not just an individual."
Serika smiled faintly.
Out of that smile came a conclusion so outlandish that Ymir had never once considered it.
"If you're going to be the Hero... shouldn't you be able to embrace everyone who loves the person you love?"
Embrace even those who loved the person she herself loved.
Who wouldn't call that the proclamation of a madwoman?