Ch.150Alice (1)

*

Alice drew in a small breath through her nose.

The news that Ash had defeated Sylvia, who had been determined not to lose, was quite surprising even to Alice, who didn’t particularly think well of Sylvia.

However, Alice suppressed her emotions as much as possible and asked slowly.

“You gave it your all and still lost?”

“Of course, there were some constraints. I didn’t use my sword and only attacked with magic I’m not familiar with… But still,”

Sylvia slowly inhaled.

“But, I lost. I genuinely tried to defeat him…”

“…How come?”

“Well… I probably failed to fully grasp what the spirit could do… According to what Ash just said, he even used teleportation magic right after breaking the earth sphere.”

Like a five-year-old child excited to boast about their heroic deed, Ash had proudly explained the clever strategy he had devised in the final moment.

Dropping a large mass of earth in the air to divert attention, with the earth mass itself being a trap for sharp fragment attacks, and teleporting out of sight in the meantime.

Even to Alice, who hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, it sounded like an impressively coordinated sequence.

Of course, if a sphere the size of a house was falling from the sky, it would naturally capture one’s attention and focus.

As Sylvia said, the spirit power that Ash wielded would clearly be an important hidden card in this adventure.

Although its power might not match that of Alice or Sylvia, Ash’s spirit arts, which could create various variables, were an extremely valuable asset, especially in the current absence of a mage.

However, what Alice actually asked Sylvia about wasn’t regarding the spirit.

“That’s not what I meant. Why, why did you try to defeat Ash?”

“…”

“Soon, probably within a few days, we’ll begin our journey toward the Demon Lord, and Ash, who lacks overwhelming experience, needed to feel the thrill of victory. Without the confidence that he can definitely succeed, the journey will most likely fail. You must know this, so why did you specifically try to defeat Ash?”

“…”

Sylvia once again closed her mouth.

Alice snorted at Sylvia and sneered.

“Don’t tell me… No way?”

“…”

“Hahaha… Hahahaha, you’re insane! Seriously.”

Alice said, trying to hold back the laughter bursting out.

“Have you just realized? How foolish your actions were?”

“Shut up.”

“Did you just now realize that Ash could die? Did you finally come to your senses after being blinded by his marriage proposal?”

“I said shut up.”

Despite the warning delivered in a menacing voice, Alice continued to display a sneering smile toward Sylvia.

Her attitude showed no intention of hiding her mockery.

Sylvia, who had snapped back with a command to shut up, didn’t actually release the sharp killing intent her words suggested.

Remembering exactly what she had said and what mistakes she had made, she couldn’t dare to display a confident attitude.

More accurately, it might be right to say she had no time to care about Alice.

Sylvia was gradually being consumed by the anxiety that she might lose Ash.

And Alice threw sharp words like thin needles piercing through that heavy, musty anxiety, jabbing at Sylvia.

“You said it yourself, that you didn’t care what happened to the world. Because you wouldn’t die anyway. That you just needed to live happily with Ash.”

“…”

“But what if Ash dies, and you can’t kill the Demon Lord to break the curse… What will happen to you then? Have you ever thought about it?”

Sylvia could feel her mind growing distant just from briefly imagining it.

The hell of those years spent alone in the forest before meeting Ash.

The memories of that hell, which had been gradually fading thanks to the sweet time gifted by Ash’s existence—something she had never dared to hope for or expect—began to crawl beneath Sylvia’s skin once again.

No, it was clear that the days that would come to Sylvia anew would be even more terrible than before, proportional to how sweet her days with Ash had been.

Because the guilt of not protecting her comrades would be compounded by the guilt of letting her loved one die.

Sylvia bit her lip, trembling with fear.

“…”

“You’ve never thought about it, have you? Because you never thought about it, you irresponsibly accepted Ash’s proposal.”

Sylvia couldn’t respond to Alice’s cruel criticism.

Although Alice’s mockery was delivered with a bad attitude, it was the truth without even a hint of slander.

Sylvia could only bow her head like a criminal.

It was a look of regret and reflection that she had never shown even when she had cruelly crushed Alice who stood before her.

Alice continued speaking to Sylvia in a low voice.

However, the mocking laughter had completely disappeared from her voice.

“It’s because of you.”

“…”

“If Ash dies, you killed him. Just like Maria.”

“…I know.”

In response to Sylvia’s heavy answer, Alice sighed briefly.

With a heavy silence settling in the cabin, contrasting with their noisy minds, the two women sat silently, staring at the burning campfire.

The campfire, too, as if reflecting their hearts, flickered more anxiously and chaotically.

Alice slowly cleared her throat and reopened the conversation in a slightly brighter voice than before.

“Then why do you look so grim? If you were worried about Ash dying, shouldn’t you be happy? You’ve learned that Ash is much stronger than you expected. Though I’ve only heard about it, it was quite an impressive strategy. Not bad instincts either.”

“…It was surprising. It was a rather bold magic… no, spirit art… and he showed good application skills.”

“Yes, I haven’t seen many spells of that scale like what Ash described today. That spirit or whatever will definitely be a tremendous asset.”

“…That’s true, but…”

Sylvia slowly raised both her hands.

“No matter… how much that’s the case…”

Sylvia’s voice was trembling.

As much as her shaking hands.

“I didn’t think I would lose.”

“Was the defeat that shocking? Your pride as a hero… something like that?”

“…No,”

Sylvia stared at her hands for a long time.

The large, long palms, bigger than her thick, rough fingers, with hard calluses embedded in every fleshy mound.

The habitually short-cut nails and the distinct scars at the fingertips made more visible because of them.

They were the rough hands of a warrior, with no trace of femininity.

These hands, which had held weapons all her life, were Sylvia’s weapons and most trusted partners.

However, Sylvia tightly clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes shut as if turning away from those hands.

“What if…”

“…”

“…What if it’s not that Ash is strong… but that I’ve become weak… What should I do?”

“What?”

Alice asked back in surprise.

Goodness, Sylvia doubting her own strength?

That strong Sylvia, who had no equal inside or outside the academy, who always treated others with a bland attitude as if bored with everything!

Alice looked at Sylvia with an astonished expression.

However, as if Sylvia hadn’t even noticed Alice, she began to mumble her weak anxieties again.

“Alice, you’re right… If I’ve… become weak… and because of that, I can’t protect Ash… and if by chance… he dies…”

A moisture began to form in Sylvia’s voice, which had been trembling like the thin string of a harp.

Alice began to lose words at the sight.

Alice could detect clear fear in Sylvia’s voice and expression.

Sylvia finally shed tears and whispered softly.

“It would be as good as me killing Ash…”

*

Sylvia slowly unfolded her clenched fists and buried her face in her hands.

For Alice, Sylvia’s anxiety was severe to the point of absurdity.

She wondered if losing to Ash had been such a great shock, but Alice judged that wasn’t the case.

Probably, all sorts of negative emotions—anxiety, fear, and various other negative feelings—had been piling up layer by layer while she stayed alone in this forest, filling Sylvia like a massive bomb.

Perhaps, the reason Sylvia had attacked Alice so mercilessly was also due to the anxiety that she might lose Ash.

Ash was like a lid covering Sylvia’s enormous emotional bomb.

Without Ash, or if even a small crack appeared in that lid, Sylvia might explode.

The very fact that she was showing tears in front of Alice herself was proof of that, Alice thought.

“…”

Alice quietly turned her gaze toward Ash.

Honestly, in her eyes, Ash didn’t seem normal either.

Having been separated for a long time, she couldn’t know what kind of personality Ash had grown up with, but at least the current Ash, while maintaining his characteristic kindness and warmth, had a strangely self-destructive tendency.

Perhaps, losing his parents and Layla one after another and surviving alone had left a large, indelible curse on his soul.

Sometimes Ash seemed to welcome rushing into a fate of destruction, accepting his own misfortune.

This was especially evident in how he willingly offered himself to Sylvia, who anyone could see was not normal,

And in his determination to go and finish off the Demon Lord, a being that would instinctively evoke fear and terror in any human just by mentioning it.

Sylvia needed Ash to hold back her negative emotions, and Ash was willingly allowing himself to be used by Sylvia in that way.

“Kraaah…”

Whether Ash knew these feelings of Sylvia and Alice or not, he was sleeping comfortably, even drooling.

Alice sighed.

“Oh my…”

This silly kid.

In the past and now, it seems this big sister has to clean up after you.

We always got into trouble together, but I was the one who got scolded.

Still, that side of you was cute…

This time, it looks like you’ve gotten into trouble alone, and I’ll have to take care of the aftermath.

Alice nodded as if she had made some decision.

“Hey, Sylvia.”

Sylvia gave no answer.

Alice spoke softly toward the top of Sylvia’s head.

“You crazy woman.”

“…”

“You should limit your nonsense. Who told you to protect Ash?”

“…What?”

Sylvia looked up at Alice with reddened eyes.

Alice cursed at Sylvia with a stern face, her brows deeply furrowed.

“Protect Ash? Eat shit, you idiot. No one ever asked you to do that, I’d rather you didn’t. I hate you hovering around Ash, and it makes my skin crawl to see you suddenly acting coy with a man after looking down on everyone else your whole life.”

“…You bastard, still.”

“Since when were you ever good at protecting? Is that why you let all those companions and Maria die?”

“Hey, you son of a—”

Alice instantly held a knife to Sylvia’s throat.

Sylvia closed her mouth in bewilderment.

Alice clearly hadn’t drawn her sword.

She wasn’t even holding it.

Yet the sword was naturally in her hand as if it had been there from the beginning.

The holy power felt from the tip of the blade, lightly touching her neck, reacted with Sylvia’s holy power, emitting a warm heat as they mingled.

Alice applied slight pressure to her wrist, threatening Sylvia as she continued.

“You just focus on what you’re good at.”

“What I’m good at…”

“You’re good at killing, aren’t you? Do you know how many times I’ve died by your hand?”

“…”

Alice slowly withdrew her sword.

Although she clearly felt the sharp metal digging slightly into her throat, there wasn’t even a small wound left on Sylvia’s neck.

“You kill the Demon Lord. I’ll protect Ash.”

“…”

Sylvia glared at Alice while touching her nape.

Alice looked at Sylvia and sighed deeply, as if disgusted, and said.

“Ah… drop that fucking expression. I have no intention of doing anything to Ash.”

“You better be serious.”

“I am.”

Alice nodded and gave a bitter smile.

“After all, I don’t have much time left…”

.