Ch.161Heart (3)

*

“Sis…?”

I opened my eyes to some loud noise, but couldn’t see anything clearly in the darkness. I could barely make out the silhouette of Alice hesitating with seemingly flustered movements.

Still half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand to remove the sleep crust that had accumulated overnight. Suddenly realizing something, I jerked my head up.

“Did I… did I oversleep?”

“…Huh?”

“W-wait a second… Whoa!”

Thinking I shouldn’t show signs of being consumed by fatigue when it was only the second morning of our journey, I hurriedly tried to get up.

However, not yet accustomed to the weight of my armor, which was heavier than expected, I slowly lost my balance and stumbled forward awkwardly.

“Ah,”

Alice approached like the wind, catching my shoulders before I could fall to the ground, then slowly supported the lower part of my shoulders to help me stand.

Having leaned too far forward and completely lost my balance, I managed to stand up by steadying myself against Alice’s body.

The weight of this armor was still a bit too much for me to support my upper body with just my core strength.

Embarrassed at showing such an unseemly display at the start of the day, I raised my head with an awkward smile.

“Ha, haha. Thanks, sis.”

“…You should be careful.”

Huh?

For some reason, Alice’s cheeks seemed a bit flushed.

Of course, it was hard to be certain in the thick darkness cast by the dense tree shade, but between her reddened face and something about her demeanor, she seemed somewhat unnatural.

“…Sis?”

“What?”

“Are you feeling si—”

That’s when it happened.

Something large fell behind me with a thud, and I turned around with a start at the loud noise.

“Good morning, Ash.”

“Oh, it’s Silvia. You scared me.”

It seemed Silvia had been up in the tree branches.

I said to her:

“Come down gently. You’ll ruin your knees.”

Of course, I knew she had a body that wouldn’t die or get injured easily, but still, seeing her jump down from a tree while wearing armor made me worry about her knees.

Looking at Silvia’s relaxed face as she slowly brushed her disheveled hair behind her ear, it was probably needless worry.

I let out a short yawn while trying to calm my startled heart.

Silvia spoke softly toward me.

“…Ash.”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you let go?”

“Huh?”

Before I could grasp the meaning of Silvia’s words, she wedged herself between me and Alice, separating us with both arms.

“Oh, I see. Sorry, sis, I was leaning on you the whole time. Must have been heavy.”

“…”

“Sis?”

“Oh, yes? Aah…”

Something was definitely off.

I asked Alice again.

“Are you feeling sick, sis?”

“Hmm?”

“No, you just seem a bit strange.”

Alice stared at my face for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

“No, I’m fine. Just have some things on my mind.”

“…Really?”

I didn’t press further.

Of course she would have things on her mind.

Living with a terminal condition where she could die at any moment, she must fear death’s silent approach.

Perhaps even waking up intact this morning felt strangely unfamiliar to her.

From the soft earth felt through her sturdy boot soles, to the sound of leaves rustling against each other tickling her ears, to the sharp scent of the cold morning breeze brushing against the bridge of her nose.

Maybe she was savoring every sensation felt throughout her body, knowing they could disappear at any moment.

I nodded slightly and looked at Silvia.

“Did you get any sleep, Silvia?”

“No,”

“Are you really okay?”

“Of course. Even before meeting you, Ash, I only slept once every three or four days. I’m used to not sleeping. Even back in the hero’s party, we all took turns sleeping only once every two days because of night watch duties…”

Once every two days?

Were the hero’s party all monsters?

Come to think of it, Maria was also in the hero’s party.

“What about sis…?”

“Sis? Oh, Maria?”

I nodded.

Silvia chuckled and spoke.

“Of course. She reverse-engineered sleep magic to remove drowsiness,”

Reverse-engineered?

What’s that?

“…What? I thought I was pretty sharp on magical theory, but I can’t even begin to guess how she did that.”

“There were other mages among the mercenaries and adventurers with us, and they all reacted exactly like you are now, Ash.”

“Heh,”

Silvia lightly embraced me and spoke to Alice who was behind me.

“Hey, Alice.”

“…What.”

“When are we heading out?”

Alice let out a long sigh at Silvia’s question.

She looked like someone trying to calm herself with deep breaths before a big task.

After regulating her breathing for a moment, Alice finally regained her composure.

That sharp tension I felt yesterday began to creep back.

Alice spoke in a firm voice.

“Now.”

*

Despite the dense trees everywhere, the ground was tinged yellow in places, indicating it was already noon.

We had been moving forward for hours without rest, and it was only midday—I wondered what time I had actually woken up.

If this was the case, why did they wake me up with such a commotion in the morning?

A small complaint was beginning to form in my mind.

‘No, no, Ash Staff, you bastard.’

I shook my head and scolded myself.

With things to do and reasons to hurry, I found myself quite disgusting for starting to complain just because my body was tired.

In fact, my steps were lighter compared to Alice and Silvia thanks to Pia’s wind magic assistance.

This was my idea, I had insisted on coming along, and I was receiving all kinds of help—how could I waver already?

I gritted my teeth and pushed off the ground more forcefully to close the slight gap that had formed between Silvia and me.

That’s when it happened.

“Wait, stop.”

Silvia, who had been leading at the front, suddenly stopped and held out her palm toward me while keeping her gaze fixed ahead.

Alice and I stopped in sequence, waiting for Silvia’s signal.

After staring at something for a long time, Silvia slowly lowered her palm, made a fist, and shook it lightly.

It was one of the gestures the two had taught me before departure—this motion meant to approach slowly.

Alice and I moved toward Silvia, carefully muffling our footsteps.

Silvia looked at us and placed her index finger against her lips.

Though we hadn’t agreed on it beforehand, it was obvious that meant to be quiet.

After forcibly suppressing my panting breath from hours of running, I approached Silvia’s side, and she whispered very softly:

“One hundred and twenty meters ahead, monsters.”

“Number and type?”

“Probably giant hybrids, two of them, likely scouts.”

“Meaning more could come if we don’t handle them quietly.”

“Right.”

Silvia and Alice skillfully exchanged information about the situation, while I stared blankly.

The two of them looked somewhat cool as they crouched low and conversed efficiently.

I had thought they didn’t get along, but seeing how well they worked together in situations like this, it showed they had trained at the same academy.

I wondered if this was what the hero’s party looked like when Maria was with them too.

With these thoughts, I closed my eyes for a moment.

Yesterday and today, I felt somewhat intimidated by the professional aura I could only sense through their energy.

I just swallowed hard and listened to their conversation with bated breath, then slowly opened my eyes again.

At that moment, both of them turned their heads toward me simultaneously.

“…?”

“Hmm…”

“Want to try?”

“Sure, I’ll go ahead.”

The two of them started muttering something while staring at me as I blinked in confusion.

An inexplicable sense of unease crept over my entire body.

“…What’s going on?”

I quietly asked Silvia.

Silvia looked at my face, smiled broadly, and said:

“Ash.”

“…Yes?”

“Fight.”

I nodded.

“Alright. Silvia will attack from the front, right? And Alice will be in the back…”

“No, just you.”

“…Huh?”

I must have misheard.

I must have misheard.

I should have misheard.

I looked at Alice with trembling eyes.

She looked straight back at me with her steady golden eyes, contrasting with mine.

“…Come on,”

“Get ready, Ash.”

“This can’t be right… right?”

“If you can’t beat those, you won’t make it to the Demon Lord.”

“This isn’t… right?”

Neither of them answered.

I squeezed my eyes shut and whispered.

“Pia…”

Pop.

Pia appeared, perched on my back as I crouched low.

Silently stretching her neck forward and placing her palm above her eyebrows to peer into the distance, Pia patted my back and said:

“This is bad, isn’t it?”

“They must be asking because they know I can do it.”

“They’re huge!”

“…How huge?”

“Like, you’d need two more Ashes standing on your shoulders to match their height?”

“Oh boy,”

I don’t know.

If I die, at least they’ll collect my bones.

.