Chapter 104: Variable – 3

Chapter 104: Variable – 3

“……She’s lost her mind, that bitch.”

The flames approached.

Flames that truly consumed everything.

The surroundings, the blood, me, my magic, and…… herself.

It was, quite literally, a ‘blazing inferno.’

“Tsk. I originally planned to kill her cleanly and then revive her as a minion, but I didn’t expect that crazy bitch to throw herself in the way.”

I certainly didn’t expect her to stop fighting me and rush over as fast as a flying spell to die in place of my potential minion.

Well, from my perspective, it’s good that the threatening greatsword and the mysterious magic popping out of glass bottles disappeared…

But in exchange, this bitch I had marked as a potential minion seems to be completely ruined.

Well, even if her anger subsides, her body will already be completely burned.

“Of all things, incineration. Burns are hard to regenerate.”

Worry about those flames burning me? No such thing.

If that were possible, I would have been killed long ago. I wouldn’t be calmly contemplating this.

No matter how much that human rages, she can’t break past personal limits……

“It’s going to be… quite hot.”

The flames blazed. Pain arrived.

My arm, which I had assumed would be fine, was burning and turning to ash.

……But, how?

“…She forcibly tore through her limits due to emotion…? What kind of nonsense is that……?”

“Who gets to arbitrarily define my limits? Who?”

“Huh…. This one, she really was going to be something great. What a pity.”

It was truly a pity.

A burned arm? Annoying, but it could be restored again.

What was more regrettable was not being able to make that excellent individual a minion.

Humans, unlike monsters, are intentionally designed not to exert their maximum strength.

They instinctively control their power to prevent severe damage to their own bodies.

Whether it’s mana or physical strength, humans instinctively and unconsciously reject the shock that pain and death bring.

But she overcame that realm of instinct and unconsciousness with something like anger? What the hell is that girl?

“…What the hell is that girl, to be able to do this much?”

“Beats me? I don’t really know either? Honestly, she hasn’t been particularly affectionate towards me, or given me a favor I’d have to repay for a lifetime, you know?”

“If it’s not even that, then what the hell is it?! What is it that makes you challenge me, even burning away your own life force?!”

“I told you, I don’t know. Well, she reminds me a bit of my younger sister who died because of me a long time ago, and I remember her grumbling and helping me when I needed it… and most of all, I remember her coming to save me right now.”

“……You’re completely insane.”

“That’s why I’m doing this, isn’t it?”

With those words, the conversation ended.

Now, it was the beginning of a battle where I, too, had to put my life on the line.

***

‘Lucia is what to me… huh.’

Honestly, I don’t really know. Truly.

As I told that vampire bastard earlier, she does remind me a bit of my younger sister whom I couldn’t protect a long time ago, but it wasn’t enough to make me this angry.

Our first meeting… wasn’t exactly smooth either.

Therefore, she was just an interesting girl to me.

……That was still the case, even when Lucia opened her potion shop and regularly supplied potions to the Guild at the Guild Leader’s request.

Was it a coincidence?

I was just walking along, without any particular thought, when I saw Lucia’s shop and peeked inside.

…For the first time, I saw Lucia looking deeply worried.

I couldn’t hear the words clearly, but it seemed to be related to the Holy Kingdom.

And, the next night. I saw chains spread throughout the capital by an inquisitor afflicted with some madness, claiming to catch heretics.

Also… who was being chased by those chains.

Another day passed, and I saw it again.

Her being attacked by the Saintess and other inquisitors, and the other inquisitors who came with them rummaging around to silence people.

Of course, I managed to slip away and report it to the defense force, but anyway.

Things too much for a delicate young girl to handle… were happening to her.

That’s why I became curious and did a little digging.

What kind of child was she, to have the Ducal family as a patron, and get caught up in so many incidents?

……The results were beyond imagination.

…Parents? None.

Origin? She didn’t even know herself.

Status? Until recently, she wasn’t even a citizen.

Wealth? Before receiving the Ducal family’s sponsorship, she lived in a crumbling house.

If it had just been this far, I would have simply thought of her as a poor child from the slums and left it at that.

However, it was absolutely not like that.

After digging into underground information, rumors circulated that she was a victim of an unidentified attack that happened in the capital quite a long time ago,

There were also rumors that she was at the Ducal family on the very day the Ducal family was attacked and was harmed in that attack,

And most importantly, I saw with my own two eyes her being attacked by the Holy Kingdom.

……Truly, these were things too much for one person to endure and live through.

Humans value their lives.

It’s a natural instinct, and an instinct that cannot be unconditionally defined as bad.

Adventurers will drop their missions like a hot potato if their lives seem to be at stake, and even if they have the upper hand, they feel fear when fighting monsters.

…But this girl has experienced such life-threatening situations far too many times in the past few months.

If this kind of thing keeps happening repeatedly, even skilled adventurers lose their minds and become wrecks.

In particular, accidentally witnessing the Holy Kingdom’s attack on Lucia was the biggest shock.

……My younger sister, who had also fallen victim to the Holy Kingdom’s schemes and died, overlapped with her, and I saw myself and my sister, driven mad by the fear of death.

Therefore… even if it was small, I felt a desire to protect Lucia a little.

This poor child, who had faced so many threats since being in the capital.

……Did I ‘slightly’ see Lucia as my younger sister? No, that’s a lie.

From the moment Lucia was attacked by the Holy Kingdom, and from the moment I compulsively dug up information about Lucia and saw it… I was already perfectly overlapping Lucia with my younger sister.

That child, who also lived through so many threats, who looked fine on the outside but was rotting inside with fear and death.

That child who ultimately died.

Therefore, I seemed to have developed an affection for Lucia that even I found strange.

Was it a feeling of replacement for my already deceased sister? Anyway, I felt like I had to protect her.

……But in fact, I was the one who was protected.

Perhaps because she was always close to death, Lucia faced death directly for me without hesitation.

As if it were the most natural thing, lightly.

How she knew to come, and how she used such spatial magic, were questions, but… why she sacrificed her life for me was the biggest question.

Was that why I felt an anger I had never experienced before?

I felt anger at not being able to protect anything I had decided to protect, and only living on alone.

I felt anger that Lucia…… just like my younger sister who became a sacrifice for the Holy Kingdom to save me, died for me.

It was clearly self-reproach and anger directed at myself, and also anger towards that vampire who caused it.

Therefore, I could fight without any hesitation, burning myself.

“Come, let’s become… ash together, and disappear.”

“Huh, if you’re going to die, die alone.”

And so, the flames and the spear of blood clashed again, and died down.

…That was all.

I…… ultimately failed to burn that vampire.

All strength drained from my body.

Injured and scorched in places, the surviving vampire aimed countless crimson spears at me.

My sword and armor had already melted, my mana was depleted, and I myself was severely wounded.

…In a state where I absolutely wouldn’t last a few hours without a priest’s healing.

I looked around.

…Nothing remained. Everything had turned to ash and disappeared.

……Just like me now.

“Well, farewell. It’s a bit regrettable that I couldn’t make you a minion… but you were excellent as you were.”

With those words, countless spears fell towards me.

I closed my eyes, preparing to accept the pain that would soon follow.

……There was no pain.

……Huh? Why is there really no pain? And why am I still alive…?

“Is it a characteristic of monsters to still try to look cool even in that state?”

“…!”

A very familiar, beautiful voice was speaking in front of me.

I opened my closed eyes and looked ahead.

……Familiar mint-colored eyes and hair were visible.

Her subtle smile and gaze showed that she was already confident she would survive.

…Well, she was still cute.

“What, have you never seen a potion that saves lives before?”

……With words that were truly typical of her.