Ch.167Heart (9)

As I slowly lifted my eyelids, which had been firmly shut with sleep crust and dust, I could see the clear sky through the tall trees above.

Thanks to the dense trees, my surroundings were dim, but the sky was bright enough to hurt my eyes even without the sun visible—it seemed that morning had long since arrived.

This was true despite the absence of insects crawling through the grass or birds chirping with their beautiful voices to announce the morning.

After blankly blinking a couple of times, I suddenly startled awake and sat up.

I couldn’t remember when I had fallen asleep.

I clearly remembered making love with Silvia yesterday, but I couldn’t recall when it ended or when I fell asleep.

I must have passed out from exhaustion during our intimacy.

Well, I had already been exhausted just from walking on the first day of our journey, so yesterday, with combat added to the mix, must have been even more draining.

I frantically patted my upper body with my hands.

I couldn’t possibly appear naked and exposed in front of Alice.

Though if I really had fallen asleep right after sex with Silvia, it was already far too late for that concern.

“Huh?”

My torso was covered with a hard, smooth breastplate.

The leather straps were fastened much more securely than when I put it on myself, showing a skillfulness I didn’t possess.

It seemed Silvia had dressed me while I was asleep.

I let out a deep sigh and looked around.

But there was no one in sight.

“Silvia? Sis?”

There was no response to my call.

I couldn’t sense Silvia’s presence, nor Alice’s.

Only an eerie silence seeped through the dense trees, chilling my body as it passed.

“…Where is everyone?”

I slowly got to my feet and looked around more carefully.

The clothes I had taken off were now perfectly put on, so nothing remained on the ground.

Neither Silvia’s nor Alice’s armor was visible either.

The campfire had completely died out with no heat remaining, suggesting it had been extinguished quite some time ago.

“Surely… they wouldn’t have left without me.”

As I uttered those words, an indescribable fear washed over me.

Being left alone in the middle of the forest felt like I had walked into the wide-open jaws of some enormous monster.

Actually, that wasn’t a bad metaphor for my situation if I were to wander this forest alone.

Alice and Silvia.

Without those two, forget about monsters—the magical energy filling this forest would gradually suffocate me.

With a trembling voice, I spoke:

“P-Pia,”

“Yes?”

Pia entered my field of vision by hanging upside down from a tree branch, her knees hooked over the limb as she dangled her body downward.

Her sudden inverted appearance made me scream in surprise.

“Why are you so startled?”

Pia looked at me with a contemptuous expression, then spun her body in midair before landing gracefully.

I asked her:

“Pia, um…”

“Before that,”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t you have something to say first?”

“Uh…”

Pia placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward, speaking like an adult scolding a child.

“Good morning?”

“…No, not that. Ah, never mind.”

“What? What is it?”

“I’m not going to say it. There’s no point getting upset with Ash anyway, since there’s nothing he can do about that woman.”

As Pia grumbled with her cheeks puffed out, I could vaguely understand what was bothering her.

She had previously warned me about my romantic activities with Silvia.

I guess she hadn’t expected to witness our lovemaking even in this outdoor setting.

I swear to the heavens, I hadn’t thought about it either.

At least not until last night.

“You know I can’t refuse her.”

“You mean you don’t want to refuse.”

“No, you know very well I have no way to refuse.”

“You could try speaking more firmly.”

“…It would upset Silvia.”

“What about me?!”

“Okay, I’ll be more careful. But Pia,”

I humored her complaints before getting to the main point.

“Did you see where Alice and Silvia went?”

“Tch, you only call me when you need something.”

“I’m sorry. Tonight I’ll sleep holding you.”

“Do I look like Ann to you?”

Pia turned her head away with a huff.

I might have mistaken her for being genuinely upset if not for her twitching ears and swishing tail that she failed to hide.

Sure enough, Pia glanced at me from the corner of her eye and said:

“…You promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

I held out my pinky finger.

Pia approached me, swinging her arms like a child, and hooked her finger with mine.

I asked again:

“Did you see where those two went?”

“Yes, I saw them. They left together somewhere.”

“They left without me?”

“Oh, I don’t think so. They went back in the direction we came from yesterday.”

“…Huh? When?”

“Don’t you know? About six hours ago?”

I couldn’t help but ask again in shock:

“…Six hours?”

“Yes.”

Six hours.

I didn’t know exactly what time it was now, but judging by the invisible sun, it wasn’t yet noon.

Six hours ago meant the two of them had moved somewhere in the middle of the night.

With an ominous feeling, I carefully asked Pia:

“Pia.”

“What?”

“Did you also see… who put my armor on me?”

“Yes, I saw.”

“…”

Damn it.

Why do bad premonitions never miss?

“Alice put it on you.”

*

Last night.

Silvia was catching her breath after intense lovemaking, feeling the hot energy entering her body.

At first, Ash had adamantly refused to finish inside her, but now he did so without any hesitation, which she found incredibly endearing.

It felt like the person she loved most was directly expressing his most honest and primal desire for her.

Silvia slowly raised her sweat-drenched body and turned toward Ash.

At that moment, Ash collapsed to the side.

“Ash?!”

Silvia hurriedly moved to Ash, cradling his head on her lap.

Her gaze darted around anxiously.

Was he injured during the fight?

Had Alice failed to heal him completely?

Had Pia drunk too much of his blood?

Or could he have suffered some kind of shock?

Worried that something might be wrong with his body, Silvia put her ear close to his nose and mouth.

“Snore…”

Fortunately, Ash had simply fallen asleep.

Silvia let out a sigh of relief and slowly raised her head.

Well, even though Ash had fought cleverly against her, a Hero, without any intent to kill, his battle against a monster that could have easily killed him must have been both mentally and physically taxing.

“You have every right to be tired… but did you have to scare me like that?”

Silvia looked down at Ash’s foolishly sleeping face and smiled.

That’s when she heard it.

The sound of footsteps crushing soil and leaves approached Silvia’s ears.

Silvia silently smiled and looked in the direction of the sound.

The footsteps came closer, making a ferocious sound more like stomping the ground than walking.

Even without seeing the face, it was easy to guess the state of the owner of those angry footsteps.

Silvia looked at the owner of those footsteps who had entered the orange firelight and said:

“Peeping on a sweet moment between lovers is such a base act. The Goddess Church’s morality might be called into question.”

“…”

“Oh, didn’t you say the Goddess Church is all gone except for you, Alice?”

“…Shut up.”

“My, why so angry? I’m the one who was interrupted.”

Alice glared at Silvia, grinding her teeth.

Her eyes were naturally overflowing with boiling anger.

But Silvia could also easily read the whirlpool of jealousy and shame lurking behind those blazing eyes.

Silvia covered Ash’s body with clothing and said with a triumphant expression:

“Why are you so angry about me spending time with Ash?”

“…”

“You’re going to die soon anyway. Have you developed feelings for Ash now? After pretending to be just a good big sister.”

Alice spoke in a low, quiet voice.

Whether she was being considerate not to wake the sleeping Ash, or trying to suppress her anger that threatened to burn her entire body, was unclear—but that quiet, low sentence flowed out hotter than any fire and heavier than any lava.

“You have insulted me.”

“Ha, insult?”

Despite the chilling threat, Silvia snorted and said:

“That’s rich coming from you. You enjoyed it too.”

“…What?”

“Don’t pretend. I can smell the unmistakable lewd scent from your body. The smell is even stronger because your body is hot. And your armor straps are torn and barely tied together with short strings—you must have undressed in quite a hurry.”

“…!”

Alice hastily grabbed the loose straps of her armor.

Silvia pressed on:

“Above all, did you think I couldn’t hear? Your disgusting moans as you kept saying, ‘Ash, Ash.'”

“Kh-!”

“I can tell just from the sound. You were biting your lips to hold back your moans, weren’t you? I know because I’ve done it too. Though I don’t need to anymore.”

“Shut up! I said shut that mouth!”

Alice shouted, shaking her head.

Silvia briefly looked at Ash, worried he might wake from the loud noise echoing through the quiet midnight forest, but she also caught Alice’s gaze directed at the sleeping Ash.

For all her pretense of propriety, this woman was just the same.

She still couldn’t let go of her obsession with Ash.

Well, that wasn’t entirely Alice’s fault.

Who could refuse Ash?

What woman who had tasted his kindness and affection could—especially one who had lost everything and was only waiting for death?

“Hah…”

Silvia thought she might vaguely understand why she disliked Alice so much.

“I’m furious that you saw Ash’s body, but honestly, it made me more excited.”

“You disgusting pervert.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“I would never do such a crazy thing as engaging in indecency with a lover outdoors…”

“You’re just a pervert who spread your bare legs and rubbed yourself under the moonlight. Seeing a defeated bitch whimpering was both amusing and strangely satisfying. It gave me quite a sense of superiority.”

“You…!”

“So I’ll forgive you. Consider it a gift for your journey to the afterlife.”

Alice’s face flushed red with shame.

She was so upset that tears even welled up in her eyes.

In an instant, Alice drew her holy sword.

Or rather, as if it had been there all along, the holy sword appeared in Alice’s hand with a flash.

Silvia picked up her breastplate from the ground, deflected the sword, and leaned back dramatically.

After spinning in the air and landing, Silvia glared at Alice and said:

“What are you doing? You almost hurt Ash.”

“Do you think I can’t control myself that much?”

“Given your skills couldn’t even get you into the Hero party candidate pool, I’m not convinced.”

“…”

Alice took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Instinctively sensing that today’s conflict wouldn’t end here, Silvia slowly began to pick up her leather-wrapped sword.

Alice, despite seeing Silvia’s actions, silently undid the already shortened leather straps with one hand and let her armor fall to the ground.

Silvia tilted her head at Alice’s behavior and asked:

“What are you doing?”

“You’re right.”

“…What?”

“I like Ash.”

“…”

“I don’t know why you showed me that scene. Whether it was simple boasting, or trying to shock me into losing my affection for Ash, or both. I don’t know.”

“…”

“But even after seeing that, I still like Ash.”

“Why? Because he’s your childhood friend? Because he’s Maria’s brother? Because he’s like the only family you have left?”

Alice snorted and said:

“It’s because Ash is cute.”

“Ha, I can’t deny that.”

Silvia closed her eyes and smiled wryly.

Then, after a moment, she opened her eyes and quietly glared at Alice.

Without a stitch of clothing, her skin as white as jade and her hair shimmering like platinum were all swallowed by the darkness, leaving only those ominous red eyes gleaming menacingly in the dark.

Unlike Alice’s violent fire, it was a cold red that sent chills down the spine.

Literally a cursed color of hatred that met Alice’s color of rage.

“So what, you’re not going to hide it anymore?”

“…”

“Are you planning to confess to Ash? You, who will soon die, want to commit such a selfish act that will only add to Ash’s sorrow?”

“I don’t want to be criticized about my morality by you,”

“Bullshit, who cares about morality? I’m disgusted by your hypocrisy—pretending to think about Ash while only considering your own desires.”

“…”

Alice maintained silence for a moment.

Some complicated thoughts seemed to be filling her mind.

How much time had passed?

In the heavy tension where one minute felt like a year, Alice slowly parted her lips.

“I’m going to die soon. That’s why I thought I shouldn’t leave anything behind.”

“…”

“Since I won’t be in Ash’s happy future anyway, I should minimize anything that would make Ash sad.”

“Yes, that’s what you said. But now…”

“However,”

Alice suddenly felt as if molten metal was welling up from her eyes.

That hot liquid running down her face slowly made its way to her chin before dropping to the ground.

“If I’m going to die anyway… isn’t it okay to at least convey my feelings?”

Silvia couldn’t say anything in response to this unexpectedly mournful voice.

Once, she had said that the heart amplifies emotions.

Until now, Silvia had thought it only amplified anger.

In fact, aside from those fits of rage, Alice was quite a rational and cool-headed person.

From the beginning, the idea of entrusting Ash to Silvia and quietly accepting death was an extremely dry and rational way of thinking.

Someone truly consumed by passionate love couldn’t make such a choice.

Perhaps that cold, rational love focused solely on what was best for Ash had been transformed into a feverish love by that wretched heart.

“Alice…”

Had that burning metal heart ultimately corrupted Alice?

Or had it simply made her honest?

Silvia thought about this and smiled bitterly.

As Silvia slowly rose to her feet, Alice instantly pointed her sword at Silvia and said:

“Take off your armor and follow me. It would be hard to explain to Ash if the armor gets damaged.”

“What, you want to fight over Ash? Eat shit. Ash is already mine, why would I put him up as a stake?”

“No, I just feel like I won’t be satisfied unless I beat you up.”

“Ha, that’s unfortunate.”

Silvia roughly put down the breastplate she was holding and said:

“I feel the same way.”

Silvia had never been a cool-headed person since meeting Ash.

Whether because of her heart or not, whether by her own will or not, she had never intended to let anyone who targeted Ash live.