Ch.172Short Break (2)

*

After wandering through a remote forest that could hardly be called a path traveled by humans for nearly two weeks now.

I could sense that the end of our journey was approaching.

Though the dense trees still blocked my view of the Demon Lord’s castle, I could tell by my increasingly labored breathing due to the air contaminated with demonic energy, and by the trees lying in an L-shape, true to the name of the Reclining Forest.

The uneven ground created by these fallen trees slowed my pace considerably, forcing me to grit my teeth with each step just to barely keep up with Alice, who was already accommodating her pace for me.

By now, I could see Silvia’s face for less than an hour each day.

I even found myself missing Silvia’s seductions that had once seemed so troublesome.

My entire body felt heavy.

The weight of the armor on my body, the weight of destiny on my shoulders, and the weight of the fear of soon facing the Demon Lord—all of it pressed down on me.

Though Alice’s holy power was constantly healing me, the air thick with demonic energy caused relentless pain that squeezed my lungs, making even breathing difficult and overwhelming.

“Ha… haaah, sis… sister.”

“…”

I called out to Alice who was walking ahead as I struggled to drag my swollen feet, slowly coming to a stop.

Alice silently halted and turned around to look at me.

“…Sister, let’s rest for a bit.”

“This would be our second break today. We still have a long way to go.”

“I know, but…”

Two weeks.

We had been walking non-stop for two weeks already.

I was amazed by this fact every day.

Silvia had said she reached Millwood Village injured from the Demon Lord’s castle, but how far had she walked with her wounded body?

Now that I was walking the distance myself, I was dumbfounded.

It was absolutely not a distance someone with injuries could walk unassisted.

“Ha… um, over there.”

I slowly caught my breath and raised my hand to point to the side.

At the end of my trembling finger was a small, trickling stream.

“Let’s take a ten-minute break… to refill our water flasks… my feet hurt too much.”

“…Your feet hurt?”

Alice approached me in one stride, kneeling down and bowing her head.

“Sit down.”

“…O-okay.”

As I plopped down on the ground, Alice gently removed my family boots.

“Ugh…”

As the stiff boots came off, the cool air hit my swollen, chafed, unsightly feet.

A slight feeling of liberation and relief.

But soon my expression was covered with shock.

Like a child’s scribbles on a wall, my feet were covered in wounds oozing with pus, and those wounds were crawling with tiny, unknown, squirming insects.

“That explains it. I thought it was strange that you were in pain despite constantly receiving holy power, but this would certainly cause pain even with healing.”

“Ugh, what is this? I thought it just hurt from walking so much.”

“When did it start hurting?”

“A-about two days ago.”

“You should have told me earlier. It must have been very painful.”

Alice brushed my feet with her hands, removing the rice-grain shaped maggots that had swollen with flesh.

I felt somehow embarrassed by her hot, slender fingers, rough with calluses, firmly stroking my feet.

No, it wasn’t just embarrassment—it was humiliation.

The fact that I was wasting time like this, showing such unsightly feet to her, and even having her clean them with her bare hands—it all felt shameful and somehow guilty, making me furrow my brow.

Wherever her fingers passed, the insects fell away and the wounds healed.

Alice looked at the squirming insects stuck to her snow-white fingers and spoke softly.

“These are yellow-white tick larvae. They lay eggs on old trees and attach to passing animals to suck their flesh and blood—parasitic insects.”

“Ugh, disgusting.”

“I can heal the wounds, but holy power doesn’t specifically kill insects, which is why it kept hurting. They would eagerly devour any new flesh as soon as it formed.”

“Ah, I get it… you can stop explaining now, it’s gross.”

“Haha…”

Alice gave a weak laugh and pressed her thumb and index finger together, crushing the larvae stuck to her fingers before flicking them away.

Then she continued to slowly brush my feet, removing all the remaining insects, and said:

“Don’t worry, all adventurers experience these bugs at least once.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, it means Ash is becoming a real adventurer now.”

“Have you been attacked by these things too, Sister?”

“I have, of course.”

“You must have been surprised.”

“Shall I be honest? I screamed. Quite out of character.”

“Hehe, why out of character?”

“…Hmm?”

“You’ve always been good at screaming. Like that time I put a lizard on your back and ran away…”

Pinch!

Alice, apparently still upset about that prank, lightly pinched my foot.

“Ow ow ow!”

“I thought my heart was going to drop out back then.”

“Really?”

“What do you mean ‘really’? Ash, you were laughing hysterically when I screamed. I even got scolded by Mother for being frivolous. I’m still angry about it.”

“Hehehe.”

Alice stared at my face as I laughed awkwardly with a slightly sulky expression, then soon smiled slightly and said:

“Maybe my heart did drop out then, and that’s why the procedure to replace it with this piece of metal worked so well.”

“…Ugh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“When you say it like that, I can’t laugh at all.”

“…Haha.”

“…”

She took out a handkerchief and wiped away the fluid from the crushed insects as she spoke.

“You should laugh. What else can we do? I’m going to die soon anyway.”

“…Sister.”

Alice cut off my words by abruptly standing up and saying:

“Your feet should be fine now, so put your boots back on and go get some water. Oh, and don’t drink it directly, okay? The water is contaminated with demonic energy, so I need to purify it first. You already know that, right?”

“…Yes, I know.”

“Good. Now hurry and put them on.”

Alice waited until I had put my boots back on, then took my hand and helped me up.

I nodded and took her water flask along with mine as I headed down to the stream.

As I walked away, she silently sat down where she stood.

I deliberately pretended not to see her expression at that moment.

*

Lately, Alice had been acting strange.

Of course, she had already been a completely different person from the sister I knew when we first met at the forest cabin with her wearing that mask, but recently she seemed even stranger than that.

About a week ago, she hadn’t shown any unusual behavior, but a few days ago, she had been urging and pushing me as if extremely impatient. Until recently, she had maintained a sharp expression without saying a word, but since yesterday, she had completely relaxed, even showing casual smiles.

I don’t have the ability to read people’s minds.

But I could easily guess why Alice was experiencing such sudden changes in her mood.

It seems the end is approaching.

Both our journey and my sister’s life.

“…Hah.”

Glug, glug, glug.

Listening to the sound of the stream water being sucked into the flask, I sighed.

Her words kept echoing in my head.

‘You should laugh. What else can we do? I’m going to die soon anyway.’

Unlike Silvia, who exuded a sly yet sharp energy, Alice had always radiated a thick and fierce energy, but when she uttered those words just now, there was absolutely no energy in her face.

As if she had let go of everything, her face was filled with a detached smile and hollow laughter.

It was a sad face containing only the fatigue-mixed resignation that might be seen on the face of an old person who had abandoned all attachments.

I fumbled with the leather pouch containing the necklace attached to my waist.

“…Please, show some reaction. You piece of junk.”

Despite my desperate plea, the necklace remained silent, just as it had been when I first received it.

Does this necklace really have the power to save someone?

If not, am I just carrying a useless burden all the way here for nothing?

Hah, a useless burden.

That describes me perfectly.

If it had been just Silvia and Alice, they would have reached the Demon Lord’s castle long ago.

Or perhaps, without me, Silvia might not have started this journey at all, though Alice probably would have.

“I don’t know…”

I don’t know.

Why did I come all this way?

Why did fate burden me with this load?

My feeble strength has no chance of reaching the Demon Lord.

I was merely a rattle to soothe and placate Silvia.

In fact, even though Silvia and I spend most of the day apart, the fact that she doesn’t show any particular complaints suggests that I’m fulfilling my assigned role well.

But is that really my only role?

Did I have to lose Laila so cruelly just for that role?

I don’t know.

I really don’t know.

Whether I have some hidden role,

Whether prosperity will return to this already ruined world if we defeat the Demon Lord,

Whether I can prevent Alice’s death,

And if I can’t prevent it, what would at least give her a beautiful ending…

After pondering for a moment, I washed my face in the flowing stream.

It was still winter, so the water was ice-cold.

It felt like my mind was suddenly cleared.

“Pull yourself together… at least I can’t let her meet her end in a forest like this without even seeing the Demon Lord’s face.”

I muttered to myself as if to push myself forward.

I can’t let myself be consumed by depression.

At least not now.

We’re facing the Demon Lord.

Though they say he’s badly injured and recovering, it’s impossible to gauge how weakened he is, making it difficult to guarantee victory even if we attack with full force.

Silvia, Alice, and I might all meet our deaths at the hands of the Demon Lord, or we might die together with him.

Or perhaps we might easily defeat the Demon Lord, and then bid farewell to Alice as she peacefully meets her death.

Whatever happens, grieving comes later.

“…Let’s go.”

I slowly rose from my spot, pulling the now-filled water flask from the water.

That’s when it happened.

“Who are you, mister?”

Startled by an unfamiliar voice from across the stream, I reflexively raised both arms to cover my face.

“What are you doing right now?”

The young boy’s voice muttered in bewilderment.

I shouted while keeping my face covered.

“Don’t look! Go away quickly!”

“What?”

“I said you shouldn’t see my face! Go away!”

“…Huh?”

The owner of the voice remained in place, making a confused sound.

Then he slowly spoke as if finding me pathetic.

“Look, I’ve been seeing your face this whole time.”

“…What?”

“Anyone would think you’re some fallen prince or something.”

“Ah, no…”

I carefully spread my fingers apart to peek at where the voice was coming from.

A boy with a youthful face, older than Laila but still young, was standing there staring at me.

The boy’s eyes…

“No!”

They were bright red.

“…Seriously, what are you doing, human mister?”

“…Human?”

“Ah, I see now. You’re cursed by that lizard bastard.”

“What?”

Lizard.

It was a derogatory term for the Demon Lord that I had heard several times from Silvia’s lips.

I unconsciously lowered my arms and looked at the boy who fearlessly used such a disrespectful term for the Demon Lord despite not being a hero.

“Don’t worry, mister. That curse isn’t active right now.”

“How…”

“Well…”

The boy pointed to his forehead with his finger.

There, a pair of large, curled horns like those of a sheep were embedded.

“Because I’m not human.”