Chapter 48: Confession(1)
Chapter 48: Confession(1)
A low voice echoed from the dark passage of the cave. It was the sound of an incantation.
“Hellfire.”
The moment the voice finished, a red magic circle began to form beneath the transformed chancellor. Then, a torrent of flames erupted with incredible force.
“Graaaaaaah! Von… Von… Altesman! You bastard!”
“Hahaha. Farewell, my foolish old friend.”
It was the Sage. Seriously, what took him so long? And to show up late looking so damn relaxed…
As his brother, I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind later.
While my fire magic had only managed to scorch the surface of his skin, the Sage’s Hellfire instantly turned the chancellor’s body into a pile of black ash.
The chancellor’s corpse collapsed, a heap of black ash so thoroughly burned it was unrecognizable. An Archmage is an Archmage, after all.
Ugh. The smell of burning flesh.
As Kerry pinched his nose, the Sage spoke with a somber tone.
“Tsk… To think what you said was true, brother. I had hoped it was all a misunderstanding.”
The remaining defeated soldiers, realizing the situation, began to lower their weapons one by one.
The fierce battle in the abandoned mine was over.
The Sage made a grand public announcement about the incident.
While revealing a traitor would tarnish the Magic Tower’s image, he said it was more important to alert the Magic City to the danger by telling the truth.
He’s a pervert, but a Sage is still a Sage.
[The ones who saved the Magic City were the Hero Party. It was they who informed me of the existence of this subversive element. When my brother, the adventurer Kerry, told me the truth, I simply could not….]
The Sage’s principal-like speeches always made me sleepy.
Even Lina’s expression stiffened when she heard she’d have to listen to another one of his long-winded speeches.
To summarize the Sage’s speech: The Hero Party saved the Magic City! And the city owed them a great debt.
After the Sage’s speech, the citizens’ goodwill toward Lina’s party reached its peak.
"Aah! Hero! Please look over here! You're so cool!"
For some reason, Lina was incredibly popular with the women.
"Hero, what's your relationship with Kerry? Are you... lovers?"
At that, Lina blushed and waved her hands, denying it.
Natasha and Victoria, however, glared at the woman who asked, their faces sour.
"Kerry, you're so handsome too! Aah! He looked this way!"
"You're amazing, Kerry!"
"Hooray for the Hero Party!"
I felt a strange mix of emotions. It was the first time I'd ever received such a warm welcome in this world.
Well, it wasn't a bad experience.
The inn where the party was staying became too uncomfortable with all the clamoring citizens, so we had no choice but to move to the lodgings provided by the Magic Tower.
The party decided to rest in the Magic City for a few days. Lina, however, still seemed disappointed that we hadn't found the pig and the skeleton.
Where did those bastards go? Hiding in another base? Whatever.
For my part, I had gained a lot from this journey.
Kerry looked at the necklace in his hand. It was more of a pendant, and inside was a photograph.
It showed the brown-haired man who dreamed of being an adventurer and supposedly resembled me.
Kerry stared closely at Jamie’s face.
"Fuck! How does this look anything like me?! We don't look alike at all!"
Jamie was just a typical macho guy from this world! A guy with a thick, bushy beard, at that.
Sorry for insulting the dead, but it's an undeniable fact that he was ugly.
Kerry went to the magic tool shop and gave the necklace to the old woman.
"Jamie... Ah... Jamie... sob..."
The bloodstained necklace seemed to tell the story of what Jamie had been through.
In truth, the mages of the Magic Tower had subjugated Jamie after he'd become a ghoul, but Kerry didn't mention that.
He couldn't bring himself to tell her that Jamie had wandered as a ghoul for ten years.
"Sob... To be honest, I knew. I knew Jamie could never come back. Ten years have passed, after all. But now... I think I can finally accept it. It's all thanks to you."
The old woman wiped her tears and brought a Magic Storage Orb from the storeroom. It was a higher grade than Kerry's.
[Magic Storage Orb]
[Grade - Hero]
Hero grade. Nice!
The orb Kerry had was Rare grade. To get one that was a whole tier higher… I’d hit the jackpot.
"Then I'll accept it without hesitation."
"Please, you must take it. It will put my heart at ease. Besides, I hear you're part of the Hero Party that saved our city. Why didn't you say so sooner?"
That wasn't what was important right now. Kerry still had an issue to resolve.
“More importantly, ma'am. I looked at the photo. Jamie and I don't look alike at all...”
“What are you talking about? Even holding the photo up next to you, you look identical.”
We don't look alike! Jamie is an ugly, average guy from this world, and I'm a refined modern man. We're on a completely different level!
I couldn't just insult the dead in front of his grieving family.
Kerry just sighed and left the shop. The old woman saw him off warmly, waving until he was out of sight.
It was a strange little incident, but looking at the orbs in his hand, he didn't feel so bad.
One, two, three, four.
Kerry now had a grand total of four orbs in his possession.
Why four? Because he'd asked his brother, the Sage, to confiscate all the orbs the chancellor's right-hand man had been collecting.
Can't let that bastard's share go to waste. Of course not.
"Three Rare grade orbs... and one Hero grade. Not bad."
What a haul!
All this time, I'd been struggling, carefully conserving magic with only a single orb. Now, I could finally breathe a little.
Maybe now I can start playing a more active role.
Besides, this was the first time the party had seen me use magic directly, and they seemed quite surprised.
“As expected, Kerry. Your talent for magic is extraordinary. To think you can already use a Magic Storage Orb.”
“I've already been on the receiving end of Kerry's magical assistance.”
“My husband is amazing, as always.”
Kerry slipped out of their lodgings without the others noticing.
He needed to show the new orbs to the White Witch.
She said these things were hard to come by. She'll be shocked when she sees how many I got, right?
Kerry held up the White Witch's seal. In an instant, his form vanished.
*
Kerry appeared in the White Witch's bedroom. It was a familiar sight now—a room where everything was pure white. I wonder how she doesn't go insane in here.
Kerry looked around for the White Witch.
Even though it was broad daylight, the lace curtains around the bed were drawn. Is she trying to prove that old saying about beauties needing their sleep?
No matter how much she sleeps, it's time to get up.
"My lady Witch. Wake up. The sun is high in the sky."
Just as Kerry pulled back the lace curtain, he saw her.
The White Witch was, indeed, lying in bed. What is she doing, still not up?
"My lady. Wake u—"
Kerry stopped and stared at her. Something was different about her today. What's wrong? Is she sick?
Her face was flushed red, and she was breathing in soft, shallow gasps.
"My lady?"
Kerry asked worriedly. The White Witch slowly began to open her eyes.
She covered her mouth and let out a small, dry cough.
"You've come. You visit quite often these days. Cough. Cough."
"...Are you sick?"
"It is nothing. Merely a light cold."
Kerry placed a hand on her forehead. It was burning up. How is this a light cold?
"...Have you taken any medicine?"
"..."
The White Witch couldn't answer. There was no such thing as medicine here.
This place was, after all, the White Witch's utopia.
Normally, harmful pathogens could not exist in the utopia she had created.
This place was no different from a natural sterile room of her own making.
A sterile room. That was the problem.
The White Witch had spent 100 years living in this sterile environment.
She hadn't realized it while she was alone, but things changed when Kerry started visiting from the outside.
Kerry, who lived in the outside world, had brought a minuscule amount of germs into her sterile room—an amount that would pose no problem for a healthy person.
But the White Witch's immunity had been worn down to almost nothing after a century in isolation.
And so, she had caught a cold.
But she didn't tell Kerry it was his fault.
"...I said it is nothing serious. It is not something to worry about... cough..."
"..."
This was the first time Kerry had ever seen the White Witch sick. Thinking back on how he'd treated her, he felt incredibly sorry.
Of course, it never occurred to him that he was the reason she'd gotten sick.
"...I can tell. You haven't taken any medicine. No... you're probably too sick to even manage that. Wait here for a bit. I'll go get some herbs that are good for a cold."
"I said I am fine."
"So stubborn. I'll be back."
"...I'll be waiting."
It wasn't long before Kerry returned. Befitting the Magic City, there were plenty of useful medicinal ingredients, so they were easy to find.
When he got back, Kerry looked at the White Witch. It seemed she had fallen asleep again.
She still had a fever. Kerry began to nurse her.
There was no special meaning behind his care.
It was just that seeing the always-haughty White Witch lying there so helpless made him feel a little sorry for her.
Kerry soaked a towel in water and placed it on her forehead.
When she woke up for a moment, he gave her the medicine.
"It's medicine I got from the Magic City. Supposedly it's quite rare. They said they were giving it to me because I'm a hero who saved the city, or something like that."
"...You became a hero in the Magic City? That sounds like an interesting tale. Will you tell me the story?"
"Not right now. You're sick. I'll tell you after you get better. So hurry up and recover."
"...Yes. I suppose I will be better after some sleep. You must tell me the story then."
The White Witch seemed to really love adventure stories.
Then again, being stuck here all alone, it's not like she has any other entertainment.
During the day, Kerry looked after the White Witch. At night, he would pretend to return to his party, only to go back to her side.
He cared for her devotedly, in the truest sense of the word.
Thanks to Kerry's nursing, the White Witch's expression grew much more peaceful.
"Are you not... staying here for too long? What of your companions?"
"I'm making up good excuses, so don't worry about it."
"Very well. It is your affair, so I trust you will handle it."
The White Witch was grateful to Kerry. For two days, he had nursed her day and night without rest.
Thanks to him, she felt much better. The soup he'd brought was especially delicious. He said he'd made it himself, and it was truly first-rate.
Truthfully, after what Kerry had forced upon her last time, the White Witch had been deeply hurt. Hurt was an understatement.
It was something for which it would have been perfectly natural to hate him.
But the White Witch couldn't bring herself to hate Kerry.
Because Kerry was the only person in the entire world she could talk to.
Even if she were to leave this place, a hundred years had passed. Everyone she knew, her family—they were all long dead.
She had created this utopia because she wasn't afraid of living alone, but things were different now.
Now that she knew Kerry, solitude was terrifying.
The White Witch had never known the feeling of loneliness in her life, but now, because of Kerry, she had finally come to understand what it was.
That was why, even if she wanted to hate him, she couldn't.
“Your fever's gone down a lot. I think we can relax a little now.”
“…”
The man who would so often cause a ruckus in her bedroom was now treating her with such tenderness.
It was a strange feeling. Maybe being sick isn't so bad. And maybe Kerry isn't just a bad man, after all.
“…Thank you.”
“You need to get better quickly so you can get back to work. I brought four orbs, you know.”
“…”
“That was a joke. Was it not funny?”
“Pfft. You're a strange one.”
Kerry stretched widely. He hadn't gotten any proper rest while taking care of the White Witch.
Now that she could sit up on her own, it seemed he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Should I go back and take a nap?
“My lady. Well then, I think I'll be heading back now.”
“…Are you leaving already?”
“Already? I've been here for ages.”
“Do you have business outside?”
“Not really. I'm just tired and wanted to take a nap. Well, I'll be going.”
Just as Kerry turned to leave, the White Witch took his hand.
“...If you are only going to sleep, could you not do so here, beside me?”
Though she tried to sound calm, the White Witch's face was flushed bright red.