episode_0494

“Lee, a student from Release…? Well, she didn’t come to our villa…?”

“… Is that so, Professor.”

“Ah, are you finally thinking of studying necromancy under me with the Release students? If that’s the case, then by all means… .”

“I’m sorry, Professor Mamari. I’m busy, so I’ll go back now.”

“Yes, yes… . Go in carefully… .”

Ethan visits the ghost monster habitat where Professor Mamari, who teaches subjects related to necromancy, resides.

It had been two weeks since Lilith had left Blackwood Manor, but he was still struggling to find her.

‘So this isn’t Professor Mamamari’s villa either? I thought this place had unexpected potential.’

Ethan set out to find Lilith, who had left Blackwood Manor with only a letter behind, but the process was not so easy.

All we know is that since they are traveling on horseback, the search area has expanded.

I was trying to find out if Lilith had visited each of the places she had a connection with, but of course it wasn’t an easy task.

‘I thought it would have gone to Princess Seraphine or that woman Lizzie, but that doesn’t seem to be the case… .’

Ethan, who usually thought it was natural to rely on his acquaintances when looking for a place to stay, was the one who started searching in that direction at first.

The first thing I confirmed was that I met her acquaintances at the Luminor Academy.

I spoke to Seraphine and Lizzie, who had wanted to divert the release to their own side, as well as those who had a certain level of friendship with her, but most of their reactions were that they had only just found out that she had disappeared.

“The release amount disappeared? Leaving behind only a letter? What on earth did you do wrong, Prince Ethan?”

“Are you talking about the release? No, in our family… . Hmm, I’ll let you know later if I can contact the Auguste family.”

“… He ran away? Are you two plotting to tease me again? … What, really? What on earth did you do to him… .”

“Miss Lilith disappeared? Could she have been kidnapped? Certainly not as much as I, but Miss Lilith is beautiful too, so she could have been kidnapped by an evil force like me… . … Oh, that, isn’t that right… ? Well, even I think it’s a little strange to kidnap Miss Lilith. Unfortunately, Miss Lilith wasn’t born with noble blood like me… .”

“Mo, I don’t know… . And, and I’m sorry, but it’s a little bit… .”

Not only did they show no reaction to the whereabouts of the release, but they also looked at him with suspicion when he said that she had left behind a letter and disappeared.

Ethan felt a little wronged by the gaze that seemed to assume that he was the reason Lilith left the mansion, but in reality, there was a reason for it, so he couldn’t bring himself to refute it.

If only he had told Lilith about his future plans a little earlier… he wouldn’t have had to search all over the country looking for her without even knowing what was going on.

‘… Surely you didn’t go to the Gyeomjyo-segi-gwak?’

Ethan instantly thought of the warrior who was the closest to Lilith among the ‘men’, but he soon realized that it was an absurd assumption and shook his head.

He had no family or hometown of his own like the other characters, so he couldn’t have hidden her or let her escape.

Ethan, who had concluded that this was an independent escape unrelated to the people in the Academy who knew Lilith, was looking for places she could go to, but leading a horse and searching all over the country was not an easy task for Ethan, who had only been learning horseback riding for a month.

“… If he really ran away abroad, it would be a huge headache.”

Two weeks had passed since she left Blackwood Manor, enough time to reach the capital of the Kingdom of Deffrin. The new queen had been very kind to her.

However, since it was a foreign country, Ethan decided to leave searching there for last and rode his horse towards another village this time.

“I guess I should visit the Auguste estate at least once. That woman, Lizzie. She said no in the past, but she’s really suspicious… .”

I never would have thought that I would run away to a random town with no connections or memories.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Mirif! Don’t lose your mind, Mirif!”

“Ah, ugh… . Kehek, gulp… .”

Outside the cave where the battle with the Goblin King took place.

I rescued Mireph, who was buried in the rubble after being caught in the explosion of the Mana Blast, and ran towards the Iron Horde church while carrying her body.

“I told you to run away! Why did you come back!”

“Sigh, I’m sorry… . Ah, no matter what, I ran away leaving my sister behind after getting scolded… . W, I thought something was wrong… .”

“… … .”

I’m angry.

I, who couldn’t even protect one girl priestess properly while taking a mere E-rank promotion exam, caused her to get hurt like this.

I felt so useless at the thought of my helplessness, not being able to fight even a single Goblin King one-on-one without a companion even though I had grown past level 40.

… Up until now, Ethan had always been the one guarding the vanguard. But through Mirif, I realized that I would become so helpless when it came to situations where I had to take the vanguard.

‘If Mirif hadn’t come back…’

If only the Goblin King hadn’t been distracted by her for a moment the moment Mirif returned.

The mana blast created by my hand would have simultaneously covered both my body and the Goblin King’s, and I would have probably exploded along with them without even leaving a corpse behind.

That’s why I couldn’t argue that Mirif’s return was a useless act. If she hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been able to come out of the cave right now.

“I’m sorry… . I, I just got in the way… .”

“… It wasn’t an interruption. It was a magic that was completed thanks to you buying me time.”

“As expected… Sister Lily is a sorceress… . I don’t know why she’s pretending to be an assassin, but, ah, anyway, let’s keep this a secret… Hehe, gulp… !”

“… Don’t say anything and just rest. I’ll take you to the church first. ”

“Yes… .”

I hoped that at least her life would be spared, and I hugged her body tightly while spreading my healing aura.

It wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience to have someone else lose their life for no reason because of me.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After Mirif was moved to the church, he immediately gave up his seat so that he could receive treatment.

I am not a priest, nor am I skilled in healing magic. Even the healing aura that heals wounds on the body over a long period of time would be of minimal effect compared to the holy magic of real priests.

I just sat on the first floor of the church and prayed, something I had never done in my past life, for Mirif to wake up safely.

-Thump, thump.

“You’re still here, Sister.”

“… … !”

“Oh, you can sit down. I just came to tell you what kind of condition Sister Mirif is in.”

“Mi, Mirif… are you okay?”

“Of course. All of our priests of the Aurelia Church are competent. Moreover, healing spells cast by priests who receive divine power are much more effective.”

“… … .”

It didn’t seem like it was just empty words to reassure me, and it really seemed like Mirif’s treatment had ended without a hitch.

At least I felt like I could finally breathe a sigh of relief when I realized that the mana blast I had unleashed hadn’t taken her life.

“Still… It’s true that it was a bit dangerous. The wounds were quite severe, as if the inside of my body had been hit hard.”

“… … !”

“I think we were attacked by a giant monster… Could you tell me what happened?”

“… … Yes.”

I couldn’t be sure whether Mirif’s injuries were from the shockwave of my Mana Blast or from the impact he had received from the Goblin King earlier, so I only talked about the Goblin King for now.

I was trying to destroy a goblin nest for the E-rank promotion test, and that’s where I met the Goblin King. And then one of my three companions died, so Mirif and I were left to face the Goblin King.

I also told them that they split up in the middle and decided to escape at least once, but they came back for no reason and ended up getting hurt like that.

“Goblin King? Are you mistaken for a Goblin Lord or General?”

“… I’m sure. I’ve seen the Goblin Lord somewhere else.”

“I think it would be a good idea to tell the Adventurer’s Guild about this. What the heck is going on… .”

… That was what I really wanted to ask. Why on earth did something like the Goblin King suddenly appear near this village and attack me and Mirif?

Could it be because I was away from the center of the story? The adventurer’s life in this world originally had so many variables, but I didn’t feel it at all because I only saw it from the main character’s perspective.

“But seeing that you defeated the Goblin King, it seems like you are not an ordinary adventurer.”

“… … .”

“Oh, I’m not doubting you. Everyone has their own story they don’t want to reveal to anyone. And since you saved Sister Mirif, I’m sure you’re a good person.”

“… … Yeah.”

“It’s almost time to wake up after the treatment… Would you like to talk to Sister Mirif for a moment?”

-Nod, nod.

Since Mirif’s treatment is over, I need to first check with my own eyes to see if she’s okay.

… It won’t be too late to go to the Adventurer’s Guild and protest later.