Whispers from the Betrayers
It had already been a week since we left Talian, the gem city losing its luster, and set out for Dersian. Not much had changed for us in that time. If anything had... it was that Selina, who during our hero party days had never once lifted a finger for camp chores, always using scouting and vigilance as excuses, was now shouldering the work of the entire party by herself? And that she kept trying to act like some devoted wife, though I had no idea where she'd picked that up? Whatever it was, it didn't look cute.
"Haa, just let me handle it all, so you go back to patrolling the perimeter like always?"
Unable to hold back any longer, I let out a small sigh and spoke. Selina, who had been stuffing what looked like random twigs she'd scavenged from who-knows-where into the campfire, perked up her dirt-streaked cat ears and glanced back at me just a little.
"W-Well... Kail, you have to look after Raysilla... and besides, unlike back then, it's just me now..."
"Just stop. Pretending to do stuff you never did before is even more obvious."
"...Ung."
Her spirits crushed, Selina folded her ears flat and retreated a few steps behind the campfire. I watched her pull away to a proper distance, then sighed deeply once more and spoke.
"Ha, that's too extreme... whatever. More importantly, didn't you say you had something to show me?"
"Huh? Oh... right, yeah. Hold on."
At my question, she blinked her eyes wide and tilted her head for a moment before snapping to attention and pulling a bundle of papers from her bosom to hand over. If you're coming back anyway, why'd you even step back?
"Here."
"...So, what's this?"
"It's nothing much... I stopped by Cendy the day before yesterday and hastily gathered the latest news on our former comrades, as much as I could get. I wrote down everything up to the most recent info available..."
"......"
I couldn't help but wonder why she'd gone to the trouble of compiling this crap just to poke at old wounds. But since it didn't stir up any real anger, it seemed I'd been subconsciously curious about them ever since my exile was lifted.
So... without a word, I just nodded and unfolded the bundle right away.
The first name that caught my eye was that of the party's mage, the woman tied to me in a half-business deal: Adelin Aynis.
Princess Adelin Aynis of the Einiss Magic Kingdom. It's already been 6 months since she vanished from official appearances?
The princess who had been showing her face less and less as the next leader of the kingdom ever since the fake hero Kail was exiled to Tarnas. Now, no one outside the royal inner circle even knows if she's alive or dead...
The Failer Empire seems to know something, proposing a deal to the Einiss Magic Kingdom and telling them to abandon Harennes. But despite pleas from countless mages, the king staunchly defends the Holy Kingdom to the end.
"......"
I'd half-expected this, so it wasn't too shocking up to here. But the last bit was different.
The princess Adelin Aynis and hero Kail, who once shared a rather affectionate bond in the past. Is it lovesickness for him that's made her fall ill? That's the speculation now...
"Crazy bastards."
The words were so outrageous, a curse slipped out on its own. I genuinely wondered what kind of brain structure let them dream up something like that as I burned every scrap of paper about Adelin Aynis.
Then I fell into thought for a moment.
So the Petrification Disease is progressing after all.
Petrification Disease. The curse that Adelin, the Einiss Magic Kingdom's greatest mage ever and wielder of Jewel Magic—the superior form of elemental magic—had discovered too late. Each use of Jewel Magic slowly turned her organs to gems, ultimately crystallizing even her heart and killing her.
To minimize its advance, she normally mixed just a hint of Jewel properties into regular magic. Her reason for joining the hero party formed to slay the Demon King? To confront the Blood Creation Lord, the ruler who manipulated and remade blood, cells, and organs themselves. She aimed to absorb his power and cure her disease with it.
She succeeded in absorbing the power with minimal backlash. But she failed to reverse the already-petrified organs and cells.
After that, no word. She'd betrayed me and left abruptly, so I'd wondered if she'd found some way, but apparently not. Or... putting everything else aside, Adelin was still one of the women who'd betrayed me.
Our relationship had started as a purely transactional deal, devoid of any emotional ties.
When she left the party and betrayed me, there were no pathetic excuses or emotional pleas.
'Our deal is over. As for the betrayal... I'll just say I found a new way.'
That short farewell was all.
So it should have felt satisfying, like sweet revenge, to hear she was dying from her own disease. But my expression didn't lighten at all.
"Haa."
I frowned slightly at the brow, staring silently at the paper remnants burning in the flames and scattering as black ash. A sense of unease clouded my mind.
That was when it happened.
"......"
Selina, sitting on the log opposite without making a sound, carefully observing my face, finally parted her lips very cautiously.
"For now... we'll pass near the Magic Kingdom in a week. I was planning to meet Adelin separately."
She fidgeted with her hands on her knees as she continued.
"I showed you this because... I wanted to ask what you think I should do to her back then."
"......"
Was she offering to go in my place and finish her off?
Propping my chin, I stared at the flickering campfire flames in silence for a bit. Right after the betrayal, maybe I'd have boiled with vengeful fury toward her. But not now.
I'd never imagined we'd part in the worst possible way amid total catastrophe, but I'd already grasped we'd split once everything ended. So it was simple.
"It'd still be better than you."
Selina's shoulders twitched visibly at my words breaking the silence.
I ignored her reaction and continued flatly.
"She's on death's door anyway, barely clinging to life. I figured I'd at least talk to her. In person."
"...Got it. Then we'll go together."
Selina bowed her head with a bitter look. Silver hair hid her face, but I had no desire to check what expression lay beneath.
That was the end of talk about Adelin. There was no value or need to bring her up again.
I unfolded the next page from the remaining bundle.
Scrawled in rough handwriting was news of the barbarian descendant who ruled the rugged northern mountains, the great warrior who'd always been our sturdy shield at the front lines during the hero party days: Daren.
"Princess... how's your body feeling today?"
Swish—! The exclusive maid, visiting after four days, slightly parted the curtains blocking the sunlight and asked.
Adelin Aynis stared blankly out the window for a moment, basking in the light, before turning her gaze to the maid and forcing her mouth open.
"Not good... My legs barely move anymore."
"I see. But you can still use Jewel Magic itself, right?"
"...... Those damned bitches throwing another fit for more gems?"
"...It's not 'those damned bitches,' Your Highness. It's your only two blood sisters and the queen of this Magic Kingdom, issuing direct orders."
The maid who dared retort openly to her, still the official heir to the Magic Kingdom. But Adelin couldn't yell or punish her.
As she'd just said, her lower body was nearly fully petrified, and now even the slightest use of Jewel Magic made her heart ache like it would shatter.
So instead of shouting, she just let out a hollow chuckle and turned her gaze back to the window.
"Planning to abandon the liege you've served for over 15 years for a bit of gold?"
"...Sadly, I don't want to end up eliminated like the others. I do feel sorry. But please understand my position."
"Insolent wench."
"......"
The maid pretended not to hear Adelin's sharp curse.
She then approached the bucket in the corner, wrung out the rag casually, and began properly cleaning the room.
The only sound filling the silent room for a long while was the wet rag sweeping the floor.
A little time passed.
"So, how many more gems can you produce going forward?"
The maid, scrubbing a floor stain, asked again in an indifferent tone.
Adelin, basking blankly in the sunlight pouring through the window, gave a faint bitter smile.
...Is this the feeling Kail had?
The sensation of having every bit of your value stripped away and being thoroughly discarded.
If she'd known it would come to this, she should have firmly rejected the Harennes archbishop's offer when she hesitated, and snapped out of it. Even if their bond started as a deal, she should have been a little more honest with her emotions over reason.
Then she wouldn't be stuck pathetically in bed, awaiting death.
Maybe she could have stayed with the party and properly purified and awakened the Blood Creation Lord's deficient power.
Yes... regrets always came at the most wretched moments.
"One month."
The maid's hand paused as she mopped at Adelin's emotionless voice.
"Until my life ends, for you—the only one left by my side. I'll make gems so you can survive even after I'm gone."
Adelin stared emptily into space as she continued.
"So grant me just one request."
At those words, the maid whipped her head away so Adelin couldn't see her face.
Biting her lower lip, she asked back in a suppressed voice.
"...What request, Your Highness?"
"What Kail is doing now... just bring me word if he's doing well. Even rumors are fine."
The maid rinsed the rag in the bucket's murky water and replied curtly.
"Understood."
She wrung out the rag tightly, stood, and gathered it up.
"Then, please rest well."
With that short farewell, as the maid backed away, Adelin squeezed out her remaining mana, dropping a single small gem shard from her fingertip.
Each breath brought excruciating pain, like shards of glass stabbing her heart.
Adelin clutched the bedsheet, gasping raggedly, until she finally succumbed to the agony and fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.
The maid at the door finally turned, gazing quietly down at Adelin's pale face as she slept, exhaling pained breaths.
"I pray... that light finds you, my one and only savior."