The Night That Would Not End
The aura of the male orc warrior was overwhelming.
Even so, several adventurers who had stepped forward confidently, thinking they could face an orc warrior, had been sent flying in a single blow or left in two pieces. The creature’s red eyes were flickering with rage and madness.
Those bloodshot eyes, the kind of terrifying gaze that ordinary monsters should never possess, were more than enough to summon dread from the deepest parts of one’s soul.
“W-we have to run away.”
Er’s voice shook as she spoke, fresh from watching one of her party members torn in half.
“R-right now if we don’t run, we’re dead! This thing… we can’t fight it in its current state…!”
It was exactly like her nightmare.
A pig-headed giant that split a person in two, with red blood dripping from the wound.
Just the sight of it was enough to paralyze Er’s thoughts.
She wanted to flee. Right now, turn her back, dash somewhere, and hide.
That was impossible.
That was impossible too.
She was still shaking with her shoulders, the same helpless girl tormented by nightmares as ever.
But even fleeing felt impossible.
The orc’s movements were far too quick for an orc—fast enough to chase down and crush any adventurers who tried to run from it.
The few adventurers who had tried to fight at all were paying the price for their choice.
Humans who thought a swing of an axe could break them—those were not the orc warrior’s opponents.
No matter how many times he swung or chopped, he never tired.
So it was only natural that those bloodshot eyes were now fixed on Er.
Er, realizing the red eyes were zeroing in on her, shook her hand and shouted in panic.
“J-Jane! Run away already! If we stay like this…!”
“W-what do you mean by run away?! If we run we’ll just die!”
Jane cut her off with a terrified voice.
“A-anyway he’ll catch up in a second! S-so we need a plan! I-I have a good plan!”
“…A plan?”
To Er’s question, Jane answered.
“E-Er, you’re the one stalling!”
“…W-what?”
“You’re strong, right? At least Silver-rank if you’re using mana! You’re not like those idiots over there! You’re seriously, seriously strong—!”
“Don’t say anything ridiculous! There’s no way that’s possible!”
It was nonsense.
Even if Er were that strong, no one could fight a monster that had already halved several Bronze-rank adventurers all by herself. Of course it was impossible—suicide at best—but—
“Then you’re just going to abandon me again?!”
Jane’s scream cut through Er’s words.
“J-just like that time! If everyone dies and you’re the only one who lives, right?! You always did that! You acted all high and mighty while we couldn’t do anything…!”
“I-I-I never thought—!”
“You were going to laugh at us pathetic losers, weren’t you?! So you let them all die… and even my arm…!”
It was forced guilt-tripping and a complete reversal of victimhood.
A clumsy excuse that anyone who knew the facts would have laughed off.
But for her.
For Er herself.
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“Not what—?!”
“That’s not it, that’s not it, that’s definitely not it!”
She no longer had the mental strength to think such things.
The mind shaken by the nightmare named guilt could not form proper thoughts.
Surrounded by the sight of people dying all around, her panicked mind could not find any counter to the garbage that was being thrown at it.
Blood.
Red blood was everywhere.
Chopped-off arms, rolling eyeballs, pulled-out intestines were all staring at her.
At some point she had been in hell.
At the very moment everyone else was dying.
She alone stood untouched in that space.
Her hands were shaking.
So badly she could barely grip her sword and shield, trembling pathetically.
She was no longer in her right mind; she hadn’t even noticed someone snatching the pouch still tied to her waist and running off with it.
No one could save her from that hell.
She was alone.
Alone and left to survive on her own.
That was why she was alone.
That was why she was destined to die alone.
At some point the red eyes drew closer.
She clutched the axe dripping with human blood, hesitating whether to swing it down or not.
-Krrraaah…
The creature let out an animal-like howl as it stared at her.
The trembling hands could no longer do their job.
The sword and shield in her grip were nothing but decorations now—useless.
She would simply die.
Simply die.
Like the people she had abandoned—
“Y-you fool!!!!”
Crack!!!
The axe buried itself in the ground as it split her body in two.
The world spun upside down several times before her mind finally cleared.
From her ears came a voice filled with fury.
“You crazy woman, snap out of it!?”
Ahin had sprinted desperately, shoving the axe away just before it could fall on Er’s head. He was still staring at her with a dazed expression while grabbing her arm and pulling her along.
“The direction he’s dragging her is toward the forest.”
Ahin spoke as he pulled Er along, thinking even a little obstacle would make the orc warrior’s line of sight harder to track.
“You seriously planned to die there?! What were you thinking, fighting that kind of monster?!”
“A-Ahin?”
“Yeah, it’s me, you idiot!”
At the exact moment Ahin roared, the orc warrior’s roar slammed into their ears.
-KRRAAAAAK!!!!!
“Hic…!”
Relieved that Ahin had appeared and saved her from the orc, the force of his running had left Er’s legs and waist weak. Ahin carried her and shouted.
“You acted all high and mighty the whole time, but this is what you do when it’s actually your turn?! If you’re going to be like that, just drop it!”
“You don’t understand! I-I don’t know how much pain I’ve been in! The way I made that decision—!”
“Shut up, I don’t care how you felt!”
Ahin’s voice cut her off as he twisted direction and urgently hid behind a tree.
The sound of the pursuing orc dragging its axe through the underbrush grew louder.
It sounded like it was about to snap the tree branches—
-KRRRAAAA!!!
For some reason the orc’s furious roar faded into the distance.
Something had distracted it.
Ahin finally released Er’s shoulder, turning to face her with a serious expression.
“Did you even say ‘help’ once? Or did you rant and rave? Either way, how was I supposed to know?!”
“It’s my fault! It’s my responsibility, so I should handle it myself! Why drag you into it…?!”
“So I’m not allowed to? Is there even a reason?”
Er swallowed hard at his voice, closing her mouth.
Reason? Of course not.
It was her mistake—why should someone else pay for it?
The survivor was her, yet why—
“If it’s too much trouble or too hard, you can complain and dump it on someone else! You really are a pushover, huh? You’re just mumbling to yourself like ‘it’s only my problem’… and yet you don’t even think about how exhausting that must be for the person watching?!”
“Ahin, why are you—?”
“You asked me to believe you, didn’t you?!”
He shouted with passionate intensity, his face twisted like he might cry.
“And yet you don’t trust me?”
“…Huh?”
“You idiot, I told you I only trust one person—and that’s you. But you’re saying I don’t trust me?”
Ahin’s eyes were filled with hurt.
The reason he was angry was simple.
“If you’re going to get used, then get used together. If you’re not, then drop me. Don’t go off on your own like this! I’m going crazy watching you do everything alone—me—!”
“You don’t trust me.”
“…What?”
Ahin’s face twisted at Er’s sudden words.
Er looked up at him with wet eyes and spoke.
“Instead of me… you’re trusting the person I look like, aren’t you? Since you think I’m like that person, it’s only natural you’d trust me, right?”
“You suddenly—?”
“In the end I’m alone! I don’t have a younger sister waiting for me or a caring master or family! In the end I’m alone and you people don’t understand me! So…!”
It was the pathetic thought she had always carried.
The childish whim that had never been accepted by anyone.
Realizing it was childish, she poured out the humiliation she had never spoken aloud.
A low voice reached her from a man.
“…Er, sorry. It’s probably not going to hurt anyway.”
And at that moment.
Her head snapped back.
There was no pain.
No shock at all, as if a soft water balloon had pushed against her face.
It was simply her head turning around—that was all.
Only after a few seconds did Er realize it was Ahin’s cheek that had been struck and stared at him with dazed eyes.
What appeared on his face was not irritation or anger.
If she had to describe it, sadness.
The golden eyes looking at her were soaked with sorrow.
“You foolish woman. If you’re truly alone… you should be even more shameless.”
“…W-what do you mean?”
“I’m telling you… I’ll let you use me as a shield.”
His cheek was blushing as he said it.
For some reason.
If he had not been cursed, the one who would have blushed was Er.
The man with the flushed cheek spoke carefully, as if taking her place.
“I’m different from you. I don’t let just anyone use me as a shield. I only do it for those I think will die on the street if I don’t.”
“…That’s arrogant of you.”
“I know. So use me. As a nightmare. As fear. Call me whenever you want. I’ll come help no matter where you go.”
“…That’s a lie. You’re human, right? No matter how strong your ability, that’s impossible. It’s just words at best…”
At that moment, Er spoke.
Ahin took something from his pocket.
It was a silver Rosario.
He held up the cross he had received as his share not long ago.
“Er. Do you know what it means for a temple priest to hand over his Rosario?”
It was an abrupt topic.
In a situation where an orc warrior might swing its axe and kill them at any second, it was the most inappropriate conversation imaginable.
Yet the man’s voice was so serious.
“…What do you mean?”
Er found herself asking without realizing it.
Ahin, gripping the Rosario tightly in his hand, looked at her face and answered in a low voice.
“I will protect you even if it means becoming your soul.”
“…Huh?”
To a priest, the Rosario was the vessel that held the soul.
The only thing the faithful who had offered everything else to the gods could truly possess.
That was why handing it to another person was like offering one’s own soul—a living proof of an eternal promise.
“That’s exactly why priests only receive one Rosario in their entire lives.”
Ahin reached out.
The thin chain attached to the silver Rosario.
The one in his hand now hung around Er’s neck.
Subtle light rose, and sunlight filtering through the leaves illuminated the Rosario.
The Rosario, radiating its own light in the sunlight.
Ahin, who had hung it around her neck, offered the smallest smile and said.
“Call me whenever it’s a nightmare or a scary situation. I’ll help you.”
“H-how?”
“I’ll help you every single time, no matter when. Call me and I’ll appear and beat it back for you. Nightmare? I’ll crush it. Call it, call it, call it. Until one day you’re fine.”
Ahin grinned with his swollen cheek.
“If you ever really think you can do it alone, then give it back to me.”
“…Why would you do all this?”
She couldn’t understand.
No matter how hard she thought, there was no reason for him to do something so extreme.
She was nothing but a bothersome, irritating woman.
A human who ticked and twitched nervously, easily annoyed.
Someone who only saved one life should have been enough.
Yet he was such a pathetic man.
Why did he do it?
That was why Ahin spoke.
He had to say it now, before she didn’t believe him.
“…I did.”
“What? I didn’t hear that well…”
It was the moment Er asked.
“I fell for you at first sight! Damn, I didn’t even know I was such an easy guy! But what do I do! This is my type!”
It was an answer no one could have ever imagined.
Of course it was.
Ahin himself had never thought he would say something like that.
Now the man with the cheek flushed for a reason other than embarrassment shouted.
“I’m earning points! Now my stomach feels empty!”
“H-hey…hey hey…”
“So don’t say any nonsense—believe me! I will never hit you from behind!!”
He raised a glow from his fingertips.
Heal and Bless.
His power flowed into Er, restoring the fatigue and wounds that had been eating away at her body.
Even the lips that had been bitten to shreds countless times healed without a trace.
The bitter taste and smell of blood no longer lingered.
In its place came overflowing warmth and the kindness Ahin had given her.
Realizing what he had just said, he covered his face with his hands and began banging his head against the tree.
“Ugh, you idiots, ugh you morons, you did a good job, you damn bastards…!”
“A-Ahin… don’t…”
“This damn thing! I can’t do it anymore. Er!!”
“N-net?!”
Then Er suddenly sat up and glared at Ahin.
“Forget what I said earlier! And right now kill that pig-headed monster and bring me the magic stones! I’m trusting you because you’re money! And that pig-headed monster is obviously a jackpot! Do you get what I’m saying?!”
“…”
“Why aren’t you answering?!”
“…You’re an idiot, aren’t you?”
A smile appeared at the corner of Er’s mouth as she said it.
She really was a troublesome, irritating woman.
Just moments ago she had been trembling in fear while complaining bitterly.
And now she was giggling at such foolish words.
Where could one find a woman this foolish and easy?
“…That orc warrior is a strong guy. Even with your blessing, Ahin, I probably can’t win. Yet you’re telling me to catch it and kill it… isn’t that too much to ask?”
“Can’t I?”
Ahin’s mouth curled up.
“I’m here.”
[‘Ahin’ is requesting a Bond. Will you accept it?]
As if waiting for exactly that, the familiar window floated before Er’s eyes.
Er, staring at the text, asked in a calm voice.
“Actually, I’m still scared. Even now, when I see orcs, my hands shake and I can’t breathe. If I stay like this, I’ll just die like everyone else.”
“Yeah.”
“I might run instead of fighting. I might drop my sword and shield in terror and flee shamefully. I might roll around on the ground without running properly, cover myself in mud, and look pathetic like a burden.”
“Yeah.”
“Still, you—.”
Er grabbed the Rosario around her neck.
The Rosario Ahin had given her held his soul.
The light and warmth he carried flowed through it, slowly warming her body.
The cold that had tormented her was gone.
Her hands and feet, which had trembled from unbearable cold and pain, were now peaceful.
She had only wanted one more thing.
“Will you stay beside me?”
Alone, overcoming a nightmare was impossible. Without someone to wake her, the nightmare would never end.
That was why.
“Yeah.”
At that careless one-word answer, Er finally.
Could wake up.