Ch.120Persuasion (4)

*

I explained to Alice the process of persuading Sylvia as if I were recounting a heroic tale.

Sylvia was blushing and fidgeting, while Alice briefly glared at her with snake-like eyes before letting out a deep sigh.

After briefly paying attention to the unexpected mention of marriage, Alice soon grew tired of my story and interrupted me with an annoyed wave of her arm.

“Okay, I get it. I said I get it.”

“So! That means you’re coming with us now, right?”

“…”

Alice looked at me with disbelief.

I continued, unable to hide my elation.

“You said you’d follow without argument. Remember?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then now…”

“Ash.”

Alice rubbed her face with her hand and shot back at me with a pained sigh.

“Have you forgotten? What the Demon Lord is. Where Maria died.”

“… No, I haven’t forgotten.”

Her few words instantly deflated my excitement.

The uplifting atmosphere filled with expectations of a rosy future with Sylvia immediately sank heavily, as if cold water had been poured over it.

It seems my assumption that Alice would follow without question once I convinced Sylvia was nothing but a delusion.

She glared at Sylvia once more and said,

“She seems to have forgotten,”

Alice’s gaze shot sharply toward Sylvia.

It was a look filled with obvious mockery, anger, irritation, and disappointment.

Judging by the emotions saturating her voice, it seemed Alice had no intention of hiding how absurd she found the situation.

Sylvia slightly furrowed her brows but was still firmly holding onto my arm.

Alice let out a short, derisive laugh and continued.

“Ash… I understand your determination. Whether you want to save the world or have some other reason, I get that you’re desperate to catch the Demon Lord.”

“… Sis.”

“I’ll even believe that spirit nonsense or whatever it is. I suppose you must have some basis for confidence to spout such bold claims about defeating the Demon Lord.”

“…”

I closed my mouth at Alice’s scathing words.

It seemed she hadn’t expected Sylvia to fall for my persuasion at all.

She raised her arm and pointed at me with her fingertip.

It was a gesture that made no attempt to hide how little she thought of me.

“But do you just ‘catch’ the Demon Lord? Do you think you can just walk up and slice the recovering Demon Lord’s neck and it’s over? Does it seem that simple?”

“… That’s… probably not the case…”

“Right, it’s obviously dangerous. Even if you can handle spirits, your delicate body would die from just a glancing blow from an ogre’s club, let alone facing the Demon Lord.”

“…”

Alice wasn’t trying to nitpick or pick a fight with me.

The criticisms from her mouth were all reasonable concerns and obvious facts.

I am weak.

So weak that I could die from the magical energy in the air before even reaching the Demon Lord.

I knew that fact very well.

And I also knew that her words and expressions stemmed from her concern for me.

But was it because of her attitude?

Or was I upset because she had agreed to follow me but was now resisting?

I retorted somewhat irritably, unlike my usual self.

“I know it’s dangerous… But that’s true for everyone, isn’t it? You told me what the world outside this forest has become, and… weren’t you planning to go alone originally? Isn’t that reckless too?”

“It was reckless.”

“Then obviously three people would be better than going alone…”

“Not three people, but two people and one burden.”

“Sis!”

At that moment, Sylvia, who had been holding my arm behind me, stepped forward and spoke.

“Wait.”

“…”

“Watch your words, will you?”

“You should think. I don’t know how Ash convinced you, but that’s as good as saying you’ll get him killed.”

“Don’t you understand when I say watch your words? Don’t you know how to speak properly? Be careful with that mouth of yours.”

“…Ha, you’re not going to spout nonsense about protecting him somehow, are you?”

Sylvia couldn’t answer.

Alice’s provocative statement was a trap so transparent that even I could see through it.

If Sylvia answered that she would protect me somehow, Alice would certainly point out that she had failed to protect Maria.

Knowing this, Sylvia remained silent and just glared at Alice.

It was at this point that I realized.

Before persuasion, I needed to reconcile these two for our journey toward the Demon Lord.

There was no way these two growling at each other could fight while entrusting their backs to one another.

“Both of you, please stop…”

“Ash.”

Alice called my name and stared at my face silently for a long time.

Crushed under the firm anger in her expression, I closed my mouth without saying anything, but at least I tried to look straight at her face without backing down.

Sylvia silently held my hand tightly.

After a few minutes passed, Alice closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.

“Let me ask you just one thing.”

“… Yes, go ahead.”

“I’ll believe your claim about handling spirits. I don’t know if you want to kill the Demon Lord for the sake of the world or to fix those cursed eyes of yours, but at least you don’t want to commit suicide with us.”

“…”

“From your expression, I can see you have some kind of conviction. But I don’t know where that conviction comes from.”

I nodded at Alice’s words.

I knew better than anyone how weak I was.

It was also true that the possibility of me defeating—no, even reaching alive—the Demon Lord who even Maria couldn’t overcome seemed extremely low.

It seemed that Alice wanted to know the reason for this conviction, or determination, that I had.

Sylvia, who had been snapping back at Alice in irritation, also turned her head to look at me quietly.

It seemed she too was curious about why I suddenly had the courage to go after the Demon Lord.

“That’s…”

I was about to say something but immediately closed my lips.

Where did this strange courage to go finish off the Demon Lord come from?

In truth, this determination didn’t stem from courage or any passionate emotion.

Of course, I had motives.

I wanted to find Maria’s body, and as I told Sylvia, I wanted to break the curse and have a happy future with her, and as I told Alice, I couldn’t stand by and watch the world be destroyed.

But those were just my motives for acting, not explanations for my current attitude that suggested confidence in being able to kill the Demon Lord.

In fact, this attitude was closer to cold logic than emotion.

The destiny the green lady had told me about.

And the moment I saw Sylvia and Alice appear before me, as if to guide me to that destiny, I naturally became convinced that following this fate would allow us to defeat the Demon Lord.

Was it because I was a spirit sorcerer?

I could feel in my skin that this would certainly come to pass.

The words passed on by the green lady, who was almost prophetic.

Witnessing those words come true one by one, a faint but clear conviction was forming in my mind.

I—

No, we can catch the Demon Lord.

A new destiny created by the twisted fate of this world that had been broken for unknown reasons.

The three of us are the ones who will play a role in this flow.

However, if I explained this straightforwardly to Alice, she would surely dismiss it as the ravings of a madman.

Even if I said the green lady told me, there was no way they could accept it.

So I couldn’t say anything.

But neither Sylvia nor Alice pressed me for an answer.

Alice slowly exhaled.

“… Damn it,”

“…”

“Hey, Sylvia.”

Alice suddenly called out to Sylvia.

Sylvia silently nodded her head and looked at Alice.

Alice spoke briefly to her.

“One month.”

I couldn’t understand what Alice was suddenly talking about.

But Sylvia seemed to understand.

She slowly nodded and answered.

“… Alright.”

“Ha, I must be crazy too. Can you do it?”

“I’ll have to find a way.”

“Are you confident?”

“No, but I believe in Ash.”

“…You’re both insane.”

Unable to follow their conversation, I looked back and forth between them before speaking up.

“Um, what are you talking about?”

The answer came from Alice.

“Ash.”

“Huh?”

“I’m leaving this forest tomorrow to return to the capital.”

Surprised by her sudden statement, I asked in confusion.

“Return… you’re going back?”

“Yes.”

“You’re just going to leave the Demon Lord? I can understand if you don’t trust me, but still…”

“That’s not it.”

Alice spread her arms wide, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment.

After maintaining that posture for a few seconds, she slowly lowered her arms and began to speak again.

“Judging by the amount of demonic energy spread throughout the forest, the Demon Lord probably has about a year left to fully recover.”

“… Can you tell that with holy power?”

“It’s not holy power, it’s just something I can feel on my skin. Anyone can tell with training. Sylvia probably knows too.”

Is it about sharpening one’s senses?

I turned to look at Sylvia.

Sylvia closed her eyes for a moment like Alice, then tilted her head and muttered.

“I thought it would be about two years.”

“No, one year, at most a year and a half. The concentration of demonic energy is increasing faster and faster.”

“Ah, that’s true… Those with more holy power are more sensitive to demonic energy.”

“No, you’ve just become dull from living in this cursed forest. Don’t make excuses.”

“…”

The two opened their eyes slowly while grumbling at each other.

Do they teach this kind of thing at the academy?

Feeling like I had witnessed a conversation between legendary masters from a story, I stared blankly at the two of them in amazement.

Alice slowly began to speak again.

“Anyway, we have about a year left, but I don’t intend to wait until the Demon Lord resurrects. We must end this before then.”

“So many comrades… failed on this journey even when perfectly prepared…”

The two nodded and exchanged words, but I still couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

“I know that… But what does ‘one month’ mean? Why are you leaving?”

“I’ll be back in a month. And…”

Sylvia took over Alice’s words.

“I’ll train you as much as possible during that month.”

“Huh? Training? Like we used to do?”

“No, that was magic training, but this is different.”

Sylvia grabbed my shoulders and said,

“Journey, adventure, combat… all of these are ultimately physical. You have to walk and keep walking, and sometimes climb cliffs when there’s no path. Whether you use magic or command spirits, you need to throw your body to dodge enemy attacks.”

“Ah… I see… yes.”

Sylvia’s hands, which had been massaging my shoulders, gradually slid down my chest before falling away.

Alice frowned and continued.

“So during that month, build up your physical strength as much as possible. You absolutely cannot go in your current state.”

I smiled slightly.

That statement essentially meant she was accepting my opinion.

“Thank you, sis.”

“…Whatever.”

“But… what will you be doing for that month?”

Alice shrugged her shoulders as if I was asking something obvious.

“I need to prepare equipment for you and Sylvia, and I need to bring a weapon to replace my lost sword,”

“Ah.”

“Remember, Ash. If you don’t prepare thoroughly before departure, people die easily.”

Don’t both of you not die?

Though I thought this, I didn’t say it out loud.

I wasn’t childish enough not to understand that they were worried about my life, not their own.

“Or were you planning to dress Sylvia in that poor-quality, patchwork leather rag?”

“…Ah,”

Alice scathingly criticized the leather armor I had been struggling to make, which was now almost complete.

Well, I didn’t think it was high-quality armor either.

I’m not a professional blacksmith, and I have no knowledge about armor-making, so it would be more strange if it turned out well.

But I couldn’t help feeling a little hurt.

“…Well, you know…”

“The tanning is a mess, and the worn-out leather pieces are haphazardly stitched together. It would tear apart just from falling down.”

“… I know.”

It wasn’t just a feeling of being hurt—I was hurt.

Alice seemed to notice my feelings and quickly changed the subject.

“In that month, I’ll need to move quickly to gather armor and necessary supplies for both of you, and also research about your spirits or whatever they are.”

“Spirits… honestly, until I saw them myself, I only knew them as beings from fairy tales. Will research even turn up anything?”

“Who knows, but maybe? There might be items that only spirit sorcerers can use.”

I nodded, soothing my slightly hurt feelings.

Alice said,

“Tomorrow morning… no, as soon as the sun rises, I’ll leave.”

There were probably less than three hours left until sunrise.

Surprised by her decisiveness, I asked,

“Right away? But… just a few hours ago… you were in that state. Will you be alright?”

She had been a pulverized mass of flesh crushed by Sylvia just hours ago.

Yet Alice nodded and said,

“I said we have a year, but that’s not preparation time—it’s a deadline. And the Demon Lord will get stronger as time passes… We have time, but no leisure.”

“… That’s true, but…”

“And since I’ve decided to believe your unbelievable words and follow your uncharacteristic stubbornness, we need to prepare everything we possibly can.”

“Thank you again, sis.”

Alice shook her head.

“If your body isn’t ready in a month, I’ll leave you behind no matter what you say. Even if I have to cut off your legs.”

“… Ah, understood.”

I swallowed hard and nodded at the brutal threat that came from her mouth.

At that moment, Sylvia suddenly hugged me from behind and said in a low voice to Alice,

“Ash’s legs are mine.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll cut—no. I won’t let you cut them.”

Both Alice and I fell silent at the strange statement that abruptly came out of Sylvia’s mouth and then retreated.

.