Rejoice, the Savior Has Come (6)
With her ear pressed to the roof, Lina quickly sorted through everything she had just overheard.
So Professor Dian rescued the people of this village alongside Sir Linus during the war?
Does that mean Professor Dian was in the Special Task Force? Or did he just happen to cross paths with Sir Linus and fight alongside him for a while?
Lina turned over several possibilities, but she couldn't be sure which was the truth. The story Professor Dian had told the villagers was enough to sketch the outline of the picture, and nothing more.
Still, she now knew that Professor Dian had carried out an operation in this village together with Sir Linus. Time to dig a little deeper.
Lina glanced around, then dropped silently from the roof. Just before her feet touched the ground, her body blurred and vanished from sight.
The feast that had begun at lunch stretched on into the evening. The food never ran out. People sang and danced and put on plays until the whole gathering had the air of a grand festival.
After being hauled out to dance and sing more times than I could count, I finally staggered back, completely drained, and dropped down beside Linus.
"Hey, Linus. Is it like this every year?"
"No. They're going all out because you came. Normally it's just a modest meal and that's it."
"That so... I'm dying here..."
"Dying? That's the first time I've ever heard those words come out of your mouth."
"This isn't just a stamina thing. It's more like they're sucking the life out of me. Ugh."
I took a long pull of cold beer, and Linus chuckled under his breath as he slid a plate of food toward me.
"Can't be helped. The truth is, these people have been waiting for you even more than they have for me."
"That's ridiculous. Sir Linus, slayer of the Demon King, Hero of the Continent, and savior of all sentient races, is sitting right here."
"And yet it's true. So? Has your perspective shifted at all?"
At Linus's question, I ate in silence for a moment.
On the way here, Linus had said as much. That the me of today had left for Brunswell ten years ago without knowing how the world had changed, and that the tangled politics of the Imperial Palace had deliberately buried me. That it was unjust, and that my treatment shouldn't be decided by a third party — I should decide it myself. And that to do so, I needed to see everything with my own eyes. That was why he'd brought me to Tatanok Village's reconstruction anniversary.
In short: You're being pushed down, whether you chose it or not. Face reality, damn it!
And here in Tatanok Village, I'd come to realize just how much value there had been in the things I'd tossed aside without a second thought, trampling over them just to close out the ending. I'd had a similar thought back at Ivronik Castle, watching the tears of the veterans.
Linus was probably thinking it even now. See? What did I tell you?
"See? What did I tell you."
The moment I told him what was on my mind, Linus said exactly the words I'd predicted. That guy really is so simple he's always right in the palm of my hand.
"Let's start showing up to these kinds of gatherings more often. Giving isn't everything. Letting the people we've helped express their gratitude — that's a virtue too."
"That so. I'm not a noble soul like you. Never thought that far."
"This has nothing to do with being noble. It's an important social interaction."
"Yeah, yeah. You're so great."
But there's one thing Linus hasn't grasped. This world is a hero novel about Linus, the protagonist, slaying the Demon King. I was the supporting character who helped him through to the ending, and disappearing after the Demon King's death was all part of that.
I didn't go down to Brunswell because I failed to face reality. A supporting character has a supporting character's ending. I chose to quietly step aside after the credits rolled, and none of the things Linus worries about had any bearing on that decision. Things like the Imperial Palace's scheming, or me failing to recognize my own worth. Those are all just thoughts that kind, kind Linus cooks up on his own because he's worried about me.
I went to Brunswell because I genuinely hated the hassle and wanted to live quietly, and I became a professor at the Academy only after hearing about Linus's difficult situation. I couldn't care less how the Imperial Palace wants to use me, and if they try to make me do something against my will, I sure as hell won't just sit there and take it.
But anyway, today's a good day, so let's drop the heavy, sensitive talk. It's not like I plan to tell Linus the whole truth anyway.
"Dian!"
Just as I was about to suggest we head home, Merylda came running over and grabbed my hand.
"What are you doing on a happy day like this? Come play with us!"
"No, I was just playing until a second ago..."
"Come on!"
Merylda dragged me into the middle of the hall. It was already a chaotic swirl of villagers dancing. Just then the lively music cut off, and a comparatively calm, gentle melody began to play.
Merylda slipped an arm around my waist, took my hand, and asked,
"You know how to dance, right?"
"No idea."
"Then I'll teach you."
Merylda led, turning slowly as we danced. If it were just swaying around, sure — but a proper formal dance like this was a first for me. The only other time was at the victory banquet after we killed the Demon King, when Rormane had all but forced me onto the floor. Other than that, I knew nothing.
And even then, Rormane hadn't actually known how to dance either, and dancing hadn't been the point. She'd just dragged me out so I wouldn't look at any other women. So I simply moved as Merylda led.
"Dian. I'm so happy you came back. Where on earth have you been for ten years?"
"Playing and eating in some nameless port city far away. But wow, you've really grown. I barely recognize you."
Ten years ago she'd been a tiny child who didn't even come up to my waist. Now she was an adult whose eyes nearly met mine.
"It's all thanks to you, Dian. If it hadn't been for you, I would have died back then."
"That was Linus, not me."
"No. I know everything. Sir Linus was only able to help us because you told him to come along."
"Who told you that?"
"Sir Linus."
Hah. What a ridiculous guy. Though, to be fair, it wasn't entirely wrong.
Linus is a hero, but he's not the overpowered munchkin you see in web novels. He's not the type who receives a holy sword from the goddess and splits the sky and erases mountains. He's more like a shonen manga protagonist — the kind who overcomes hardship and adversity alongside his companions and ultimately brings justice to the world. And Linus only started growing in earnest after the prologue, when the Demon King Assassination Special Task Force was formed. So if I hadn't been there, Linus wouldn't have been able to save the village on his own.
"Anyway, I'm so glad I get to see you again, Dian."
"I'm grateful and happy that you've grown up so well, too."
Merylda smiled and buried her face in my chest. The warmth of her in my arms was terribly sad.
When the Demon King's army had attacked the village, Merylda had been separated from her parents and fled with her infant sibling on her back. Then she'd stumbled and fallen, and by the time we arrived, the baby was already...
The sight of it made us see red. We killed every last one of the Demon King's soldiers who'd attacked the village. The ones who'd been driven into a corner and dropped to their knees begging for their lives — we cut their throats or threw them into burning houses. Of course, doing that didn't bring the dead baby back.
Linus had blamed himself for a long time after that. If only he'd found the village a little sooner, he'd said. I was the same. If I'd charged out the moment Linus said we should go help the village...
"I'm sorry we were too late. If we'd been a little earlier..."
"It's all right."
Merylda pressed a finger to my lips.
Was she talking about back then, ten years ago — or about today...?
"I just came of age this year, you know."
"Huh?"
"I said I'd marry you when I became an adult. You haven't forgotten that promise, have you?"
I laughed out loud at Merylda's joke.
"Whew, I'm exhausted."
When the music changed, Merylda stepped back from me with a smile.
"Shall we go get some air?"
"Sure."
It was early summer now. The weather had gotten quite hot. All the hall's windows were open, but with so many people and the dancing on top of it, I was sweating. As Merylda and I stepped out of the hall, the lukewarm breeze unique to early summer nights washed over us.
"Haa, even the nights aren't really cool anymore."
"Can't be helped. It's summer."
"Don't say that. Let's go somewhere cooler."
"And where's that?"
"Follow me."
Merylda led the way across the village. By the time the noisy clamor of the hall had faded almost to nothing, she stopped at the outskirts. It was the boundary where the forest met the flatland at the foot of the mountains surrounding the village. The village lights didn't reach here, so it was quite dark, and beyond it came the sound of water trickling. Glancing at the surrounding terrain, it seemed to be a tributary flowing from the valley where Linus and I had rested earlier.
"Here, Dian. Let's rest here for a bit. Try dipping your feet in. It's wonderfully cold."
I stepped into the stream as she said, and the ice-cold water coming down from the valley was incredibly chilly.
"Whoa, that's actually freezing. You come in too, Meryl...da... What are you doing?"
Merylda stood there naked. The clothes she'd been wearing had slipped down around her feet like a shed skin.
