episode_0195

I opened my eyes to a slowly growing consciousness.

Then, what came into view was not the inn I had been in before, but my new, cozy home where I had settled down after parting ways with Athena.

It was a place filled with memories of being with Marie and Sephir.

“Ugh..”

As I rubbed my itchy eyelids, I saw Marie sitting on the chair, face down on the bed, trying to sleep.

I wonder if she continued to nurse me.

For some reason, I felt sorry and stroked Marie’s head, and her closed eyes slowly began to open.

“Mom…?”

Marie’s blue eyes opened wide as she noticed me. She immediately ran over to me and hugged me tightly.

“Are you okay, Mom? Does anything hurt..?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Wasn’t my body completely strengthened thanks to Mari?”

I raised my arms and smiled proudly. I could see Marie’s face slowly relaxing.

After exchanging a quick greeting with Marie and looking around, I saw that my room was completely empty.

“Maria..what about the others?”

Let’s ask carefully. Marie answered with a slightly subdued expression.

“Everyone is outside. Except one.”

“I see…”

One person probably refers to the Demon King.

I haven’t even talked to her yet… I guess I’ll have to wait for another opportunity.

“Just wait a minute. I’ll call you.”

Marie, who had left a short kiss on my cheek with her lovely lips, slowly went out. Not long after, Athena entered the room with urgent steps.

“Hera. How’s your body?”

Athena asked, touching my face with a worried expression.

“Yeah. I’m completely fine.”

He said with a relaxed smile, wanting to reassure her.

Then Athena let out a short sigh.

“Eek?!”

With my face crumpled, I began to stretch my cheeks out to both sides.

“Why on earth did you crawl in there?! Did you want to die?”

“Eubub…!”

“Don’t you know how worried I was? Why did you do that?”

“Mi..Miyan..”

Although my pronunciation wasn’t very good due to my swollen face, I somehow managed to speak.

Athena looked at me with a sullen face.

He took his hands off my cheeks and pulled me into a hug.

“….Next time, don’t ever do that again.”

“….Yeah. Thanks Athena.”

Athena, who was looking at me with a puzzled look, stroked my head and spoke to me.

“If you’re feeling better, would you like to come out for a moment? The Demon King has something to say to you.”

“Ma…Devil King?”

I felt embarrassed by the unexpected words.

When Mari said that one person was missing, I naturally thought that the Demon King had returned…

Then who is not there?

I looked up at Athena with a worried heart and asked.

“Athena..I heard there’s no one..”

“Yeah.”

Athena continued speaking, sweeping her hair back.

“Lily is gone.”

……uh?

*

I stared blankly at the bright moon.

This is where I first met my sister.

I came here whenever I had something to worry about or was upset about. This time too, I naturally ended up coming here.

“…….Sister.”

I brought my knees forward and rested my head on them.

This pain that stabbed his heart. He had no intention of going away.

The eerie sensation of cutting down my sister with the holy sword was still vivid in my hand.

At first, I couldn’t overcome that sense of guilt and kept vomiting. But now, I had nothing more to throw up, and I just felt empty.

It was disgusting.

I am the one who hurt my sister.

Still, my selfish heart wants to be by my sister’s side.

– Are you young or stupid? Do you even care about that woman?

The Demon King’s previous remarks came to mind.

I really hated the Demon King who talked without knowing anything. But I was even more resentful of myself for not being able to refute him.

“Sister…Sister…”

I kept calling out to my sister with tears streaming down my cheeks.

She had no right to return to her sister’s side.

I know it deep down.

That the heart I have is not love.

That it’s just ugly, dirty obsession and twisted possessiveness.

I guess you can’t call this kind of feeling love.

“Ugh..Sister…”

It seemed like my consciousness was slowly sinking down.

I felt like my mind was slowly being eaten away by the monster called self-loathing.

Woof-woof-

That was when.

Something in his arms was radiating warm light and vibrating as if gently comforting me.

When I slowly turned my head, what I saw was a holy sword made of a pure white blade.

In a moment of overwhelming emotion, I grabbed the holy sword and threw it far away.

Then the holy sword is stuck in the ground again.

He muttered while looking at the Holy Sword with sad eyes.

“I’m not a warrior.”

What makes a righteous warrior?

I am an ugly person. In fact, I don’t care about the safety of the world at all.

I’m just acting for my sister’s sake.

Why did the goddess choose me as a warrior?

When I first pulled out the holy sword, I was simply happy that I had gained the power to bring my sister back. But now that I think about it, it just doesn’t make sense.

It would be much more helpful to the world if someone else did it.

As I closed my eyes with such a deep sense of guilt, I felt as if my consciousness was slowly sinking into the abyss.

I wish I could just close my eyes forever right now.

Woof- Woof-

Then the vibration sound is heard again.

As I slowly raised my head, the Holy Sword, embedded in the ground and emitting bright light, came into view.

It felt like the continuous white light was calling me.

“..I’m not a warrior.”

He muttered in despair as he looked at the holy sword. But even so, the pure white sword still called to him.

After hesitating for a while, he finally started walking towards the Holy Sword.

I held the familiar pure white holy sword in my hand again.

Then, for a moment, I felt like my consciousness was being sucked into a space of no-self.

At the same time, a pure white light appeared before his eyes, enveloping him.

The vision just started to blink.

“Ugh…”

I covered the dazzling light with my hand.

As I gradually became accustomed to the light, I was able to remove my hand and open my tightly shut eyes.

Then, what came into view was a completely different scenery than before.

It was a temple with a noble atmosphere, as if it were something you would see in heaven.

“Here..?”

While I was looking around in confusion.

Someone was seen slowly descending from the sky.

Pure white wings that have grown beautifully.

An equally clean, pure white dress.

And although not as much as her sister, she has a beautiful appearance that everyone can’t help but stare at at least once.

“Welcome, warrior.”

The party that chose themselves as the warrior.

A noble being who spread her blessings across this continent. She was the goddess of life.

.

.

.

“Goddess… ”

“Yes. My name is Lunalia, the goddess of life.”

When I looked at the face of the goddess, many questions came to my mind.

Why did you choose me as a warrior?

Why did you give yourself the holy sword?

….Why did you only show up now?

For a while, I lost my sister and fell into a state of terrible helplessness.

Being weak, I had no choice but to rely on God.

I used to pray every day.

Please give me my sister back. Please don’t take away my only happiness.

So when he was later chosen as the Hero of the Holy Sword, he thought that his prayers had been answered.

But that’s not likely to be the case.

How can there be any reward for someone with such an ugly heart?

“It seems like you have a lot to ask, warrior.”

When the goddess spoke to me with a kind smile, I found myself asking her a question without realizing it.

“Why..me?”

Why did they give the position of the warrior destined to protect the world to someone like me?

As if she knew my complicated feelings, the goddess slowly approached me and stroked my head.

“I guess you’re wondering why I chose you as my warrior.”

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand it. I’m not the kind of person who deserves to be a warrior.”

“No, you were my decision after much careful consideration.

“Yes…?”

“Let me tell you.”

The goddess continued speaking with a short smile.

“The reason I chose you as my warrior is because you are my daughter… no, you are the representative of God. Because I love her more than anyone else in this world.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying though.

There was only one thing I knew instinctively.

The person the goddess is talking about is none other than Hera.

With the exception of Sister Dania, the person he loved to the point of death was, without a doubt, her.

“That’s why I chose you. Because I’m sure you’re the one who can keep her safe better than anyone else.”

But I think the goddess’s vision was wrong on this one point.

Far from being safe, it was my fault that my sister got seriously hurt.

How can someone like me protect my sister?

“I. Absolutely not that kind of person-”

“Don’t blame yourself. You’re just being clumsy. My eyes were never wrong.”

For some reason, I felt relieved when I saw the goddess looking down at me with a laugh.

“I’ll explain everything to you, warrior.”

The goddess who secretly reaches out her hand to me.

I grabbed her hand without hesitation.

“….But Goddess.”

“Please speak, warrior.”

She looks at me with a kind smile.

I looked straight into the goddess’ eyes and spoke in a calm voice.

“Why is Hera the daughter of the goddess?”

Throb-

It was only for a brief moment, but the goddess’s body began to tremble greatly.