episode_0080

“Fuck···.”

thud!

McGuff swore lightly.

He seemed quite annoyed as he nervously put down his greatsword.

That’s understandable. It was frustrating because the battle ended without anything being properly concluded.

But just because the battle was over, it didn’t mean the situation was over. There was a lot of work to be done.

[Congratulations!]

[Level up!]

In the meantime, the level goes up.

I didn’t kill anyone, but this battle was extremely intense. I’ve collected all my experience points.

Well, it was about time for it to start rising.

McGuff ordered in a heavy voice.

“··· Call the evacuated troops and help the wounded and puppets.”

There’s a mountain of things to sort out, from healing the wounded to purifying puppets to repairing broken buildings and roads.

Among the injured were some who were seriously injured, some of whom could have died if not treated immediately.

“Kuban!”

Yulis ran towards the fallen Kuban, shouting urgently.

Kuban’s condition was serious. His entire body was burned by the electric shock, and steaming blood continued to flow from his mouth.

It meant that it was baked all the way to the inside.

I don’t know if I can survive, but now that I have Yuris, I can only pray.

The other puppets are scheduled to be purged by calling in additional troops. Camilla and Adele happened to be running to call the guards.

There is still a lot to do. Healing the injured is important, but this is actually the most important thing.

I quickly walked over to check the place where the puppet master had left. Along with the puppet master’s blood, the scroll’s magical lingering scent remained.

Now that I’ve used teleportation, I need to backtrack to those coordinates so I can find where the bastard is.

“Lily! Come here quickly!”

Since this was the kind of work I couldn’t do, I called in Lily, the magician on our team.

“···Lily?”

But something was strange.

His hands were shaking, his breathing was slightly ragged, and he looked scared, as if he had encountered some kind of trauma.

It’s been like this ever since I met the puppet master, but it seems to have gotten worse especially when I saw the teleportation activate.

Damn, why on earth are you doing that···.

I’d like to be considerate until she comes to her senses, but unfortunately, there isn’t much time right now.

The afterglow of magic gradually fades away over time.

That’s why I spoke a little strongly.

“Lily! Come on. Are you going to keep being so absent-minded? We need to track your location.”

“Ah, ah yeah··· sorry.”

Fortunately, she came to her senses after hearing what I said. She ran quickly to the teleported location and started analyzing the echoes. Her hands were still shaking, but her breathing seemed calm.

I watched her concentrating silently.

“······.”

Even an idiot would know this.

There was definitely something there.

Something I don’t know. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shown such a different side. The way she, who seemed to be fearless in the world, looked terrified, and the way she seemed to shrink back when I had a curse attached to me, etc…

“Lily.”

“···Huh?”

That’s why I spoke to her seriously.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Now is the time to face it properly.

*

To be honest, I also tended to avoid it because I was afraid.

I mean, talking and communicating seriously with each other.

Anyway, my body is covered in curses, so I’m a distorted person. No matter what I say, it’s not credible, so no matter how much I shout and talk, it won’t be conveyed properly.

Having suffered a huge penalty in terms of fate, I am forced to maintain parallel lines of communication.

So, even if I try to have a sincere conversation, I will only get hurt. So, let’s close our hearts from the beginning and maintain a strictly business-oriented relationship.

This was my usual attitude.

But this time, I felt the need to change my thinking a little. If I continued to find myself ignorant like this, it could have a negative impact on the battle.

And for some reason, Lily now didn’t seem to have her usual hostile demeanor.

He only shows a quiet and somewhat scared appearance.

Of course, I still have doubts that it might be acting… but if it isn’t.

Instead of distorted communication, we might be able to convey our true feelings to each other.

“It’s finally all sorted out. You’ve worked hard.”

It was quite some time before I was able to sit down alone with her. There was a mountain of cleanup to be done.

By the time we had dealt with the puppets, gathered the wounded, and traced their coordinates, it was already dusk.

Let’s sit on a bench on the street and see the beautiful sunset in the distance. The sky turning red was quite atmospheric.

Atmosphere is a good device. A calm and emotional atmosphere makes it easier to draw out the other person’s sincerity.

“Lily I’m not stupid.”

She opens her mouth slowly. Until then, she was nervous, and was looking down at the floor the whole time.

“When someone changes suddenly, you can tell something has changed just by watching them for a while. Especially if the change is dramatic.”

You know what I’m talking about without me having to say anything.

“I’d like to pretend not to know, but if the difference is this big, I can’t help but be curious.”

I ask her carefully.

“If you don’t mind, may I ask why your attitude changed so much?”

“······.”

What is the relationship with the puppet master? Why did she, who used to show how much she hated him, become so gentle?

I list the things I’m curious about to her one by one. Until then, she’s been listening to my questions without saying anything.

Judging by the deep sunken pupils, it seems like he is thinking deeply about something.

After a long silence, she carefully opened her mouth.

“······Does Luke believe in regression?”

The stories that followed were all just stories that I couldn’t believe.

*

One mistake. One rescue.

And one more defeat. The first death of a comrade.

The price given to her after her defeat was not the final end, death.

Rather, there is only endless suffering that is more miserable and terrifying than death.

The reason why puppet masters are scary is not because of their strength, but because of their cruelty. Their vicious and perverted nature is perfect for ruining people.

Lily had to accept the cruelty without any filtering with her fragile body. Painful and hopeless days continued.

At first, Lily thought the pain would last forever. She was so helpless in the face of the disaster known as the puppet master, and the puppet master had a lot of elixirs.

I was half-mad from the immense fear of eternity. Towards the end, I almost lost my mind.

But such despair and fear ended with a completely unexpected phenomenon: in a city square, time suddenly stopped while everyone committed suicide.

It seemed like it was neither his own power nor a natural phenomenon, but someone else’s power.

“I saw you there.”

As time broke, it was reassembled.

The sight of time turning back was a magical sight even to her, a magician.

As she stared blankly at the scenery, she suddenly realized that those times revolved around someone’s journey.

No, it would be more accurate to call it an asceticism rather than a journey.

“It was rolling a lot.”

There was a lot of emotion in her voice as she calmly conveyed the information.

“Every day, we get hurt, we break, and there are times when we fight so desperately that it’s hard to watch. But we just keep looking at each other with cold eyes···.”

What she saw among the broken pieces was a warrior who was very different from what she had imagined.

“But you kept getting up. Honestly, I didn’t believe it, but catching the food demon was real… And catching Oleg under the sewer was real. That really looked amazing. It was so different from what I thought. No, you were always like that… I just didn’t know. ”

“······.”

“I now know that you have many curses attached to your body. I also know that those curses are the price you paid to become a warrior.”

There was a long silence. After catching her breath for a while, she opened her mouth again, as if to finish her story.

“From the perspective of someone who has seen it all, I will tell you again.”

The last words he uttered were filled with so much emotion.

“I’m really, really sorry···.”

“······.”

“I’m so sorry that you made that choice because of us··· Really······.”

Her voice was starting to become moist.

Droplets of water gather in her bright red eyes. Are they soaked in emotion or burdened by guilt?

She couldn’t control her emotions as she told the story.

“······.”

And until then, Luke had said nothing.

“Uh······.”

To be honest, it was quite confusing.

There was so much information pouring in that my head felt numb. The stories were so unbelievable that I was skeptical at the same time.

Damn, is all that real?

If that’s true, have I already been defeated and died once?

Is it possible that she’s just making it up?

No, I know too much about myself to be real.

I also realized all the curses I had.

A multitude of thoughts race through Luke’s mind.

In the midst of all this, because the silence is uncomfortable, I end up saying meaningless things.

“Wow··· It’s so amazing information······ Ah!”

It was during this time that something suddenly crossed Luke’s mind.

After discovering the clue, he opened the status window without hesitation.

‘Status window.’

There was a lot of information coming to mind, but I ignored it all and clicked on the [Noble Sacrifice] skill.

Then, skill information comes to mind.

+

[Noble Sacrifice]

Since ancient times, devotion at the risk of one’s life has been the greatest and most noble law.

Especially your life as a warrior is even more so.

The day you take your last breath, a miracle will happen in the world.

※ This skill is automatically activated when the person concerned dies.

※ The value of your life increases significantly.

※ Your life has absolute value regardless of whether you survive or not.

+

The only skill I have that I don’t know how to use.

A skill with a special effect on that topic, but with a slightly faded golden aura compared to before.

I used to think the dim light was just my imagination, but now I know for sure.

‘Has it already been used…?’

Now I feel like the puzzle is starting to fit together. Her sudden change in attitude, and the look in her eyes that seemed to be looking at me with pity.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but there was an answer that had to be given first.

It’s been a long time. It was a party where the emotional rift deepened a lot during that time.

We’ve fought a lot and been hurt a lot, but…

“···Thank you for apologizing first. Really.”

Only now did I feel like the emotional rift was being filled a little.

It’s been over a year since the warrior party was formed.

I felt like I heard the sincerity of a party member for the first time today.