Ch.80# 80. Each One’s Battlefield

I, Shiro, Deneb, and the Guild Master.

I thought we were going to do a speed run with a four-person party.

“Then let’s enter the Labyrinth once the preparations are complete. If this place can’t hold out while we’re gone, that would be a problem too.”

The Guild Master spoke to us.

It seemed like we would be entering the Labyrinth right away, but things don’t always go as planned.

We needed to procure consumables for the Labyrinth, but obtaining such things in the current situation was difficult.

The timing was completely off.

‘Actually, this works out well.’

I hadn’t thought about it because everything was chaotic since I woke up, but there was somewhere I needed to go immediately.

“Is Sherry here?”

“…Yes.”

I arrived at a small inn with Shiro.

It seemed they were using one of the few intact buildings as an infirmary.

This was also where she was being treated after being exposed to Demonic Blood for hours.

“Well then, let’s go see her.”

“…”

Shiro nodded with a darkened expression.

Passing through the half-collapsed door, I saw the chaotic interior.

An eerie atmosphere permeated the entire building. The corridor was soaked with blood that hadn’t yet dried, and people hurriedly walked through it as if it were normal.

It felt strange, but we also quickly made our way through.

Right now, checking on Sherry’s condition was the most important thing.

And so, we stood in front of her room.

“…”

Shiro’s shoulders trembled slightly as she placed her hand on the doorknob.

“Shiro? Are you alright?”

“…I’m sorry, Adel.”

The emotion I felt in her voice was guilt.

“It’s because I couldn’t find her. I didn’t notice she was buried among the Demonic Blood. That’s why Sherry ended up like this, right?”

“No, it’s not your fault. Even Rei, who was with her, couldn’t find her.”

“…No.”

She answered with a resolute tone.

“I should have found her at least. With my knowledge of mana wavelengths, I should have been able to…”

Her purple eyes stared at me.

“I… don’t have the courage to face Sherry.”

“…I understand.”

I know what kind of person Shiro is by now.

She’s not someone who can be comforted with brief words of consolation.

All I can do now is check on Sherry’s condition and report back that she’s okay.

‘I hope that’s the case.’

With some tension, I knocked on the door.

-Please… come in…

It was a woman’s voice, but not Sherry’s.

Probably a priestess treating her.

The voice sounded weak, suggesting she was quite exhausted.

‘That voice sounds familiar.’

Since this wasn’t the time to dwell on such details, I opened the door and entered.

Sherry was lying on the bed, looking better than I expected.

Just from her appearance, she almost looked like she was simply sleeping.

‘Though her internal injuries must be serious from the Demonic Blood contamination.’

Is her life not in danger?

I’d need to ask the priestess for details, but just looking at Sherry’s condition, I could imagine how much effort the priestess had put into healing her.

“Excuse me…”

As I shifted my gaze to the side.

“Ah…”

I saw a blonde zombie groaning.

No, looking closer, it was a person.

Her body was drenched in sweat, she looked completely drained, and her expression was like that of a dead person, which caused my confusion.

Medium-length blonde hair and black eyes, which were quite rare in this world.

She even gave off a familiar aura.

“…Lady?”

“?”

Our eyes met as she raised her head.

“…?”

This time she tilted her head to the side.

“…”

Slowly, she examined her own condition.

Her arms, which were already thin, had become worryingly slender. Her clothes were stained with blackened blood, and dark circles were deeply spread under her eyes.

She looked no different from a complete wreck.

“Ah… I need to hide…”

Muttering quietly, she slowly looked around.

Then the lady rolled under the chair.

“Are you alright?!”

I rushed to her and checked her condition.

Her body was burning hot like a fireball. Her breathing was rapid.

Even though she was lying still, her body was trembling.

Had she already reached her limit earlier?

“I’m fine… my body just won’t move for a moment. I can still do more. I need to do more…”

Even lifting her arms seemed difficult for her. Yet she stubbornly tried to stand up.

But her body wouldn’t listen.

“…Adel. Could you help me? My legs don’t seem to work well.”

She spoke with a light smile.

She was definitely smiling, but…

“Ah… maybe you’re not Adel…? Actually, I can’t really distinguish faces well right now, so I shouldn’t make a fuss…”

Her eyes naturally began to close.

I caught her body as she was about to collapse.

***

I immediately called for another priestess and asked if she was okay.

It seemed everyone had been too busy to pay attention to her condition.

“…Her condition is quite serious. We should have checked on her when she hadn’t come out of the room…”

She was in a critical state.

Physically, she had reached her limit long ago, and she was suffering from divine power depletion and dehydration.

Though her life wasn’t in immediate danger, she wouldn’t be able to move for at least a day.

“Phew.”

Only after laying her on the caretaker’s bed in the room could I catch my breath.

Not a single bed was available elsewhere. I couldn’t even imagine how dire the situation was at the frontlines defending the shelter.

‘…She’ll be okay.’

The priestess had healed her, and she said a few hours of rest would help, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

“Ah…”

She groaned with her eyes half-closed.

Shiro, who had entered the room when I called for the priestess:

“…It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

Her expression wasn’t good.

Sherry’s condition had improved significantly thanks to the lady who had healed her to the point of exhaustion.

The lady wasn’t in too terrible a state either.

“Shiro.”

I spoke in a firm tone.

“I know these people well. None of them would blame you. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t feel responsible.”

“…”

“You don’t need to try to forget your sense of guilt.”

The more she tries to forget, the more painful it will be for her.

“If you had been more capable, Sherry and the lady wouldn’t have ended up like this. Still, face what has happened with dignity. That was your best. You couldn’t find her. That’s the reality.”

That was Shiro’s best effort.

It was also our collective best effort.

“This situation didn’t happen because of you, but because of the Demon King who’s absorbing the Constellation in the Labyrinth. So as long as you did your best, that’s enough.”

These weren’t particularly meaningful words.

They weren’t especially touching or deeply thought out.

Because it’s so difficult to take back feelings of regret.

“…I understand, Adel.”

Shiro simply nodded.

***

The lady regained consciousness not long after.

She was startled to see my face, but she couldn’t move her body.

She kept saying things like “…Can’t you look away?” or “Stop looking” or “I didn’t want to be seen like this…”

But she eventually had to endure a long period of resignation.

“I’m curious about something.”

After going through the process of ‘shame-anger-acceptance,’ she asked.

She still looked like she was dying.

“What has happened until now?”

Her words carried deep emotion.

It wasn’t just asking about the well-being of a long-lost acquaintance.

‘…A lot has happened.’

I thought about what she must have gone through.

Three of her party members had disappeared.

And they had become wanted criminals for treason.

Everyone I knew would have been shocked, but especially her.

“…I’m sorry.”

It seemed we would have a lot to talk about.

And so, for dozens of minutes.

We shared what had happened during that time.

‘You must have had a hard time.’

Many things had happened while I was gone.

She was arrested because of her association with us. Though she was released not long after, it must have been shocking.

Moreover, monsters attacked, and her old friend Reneva, as well as Arya who had coincidentally joined them, almost died.

I thought she would be the most okay since she was a noble, but to think she went through all this.

‘There must have been a reason.’

It didn’t seem right to ask about it in detail, so I tried to move on to the next topic.

“Lady. Then what we should do next-“

“Wait, Adel. I have something to say about that.”

She showed signs of contemplation and paused for a moment.

“…You don’t have to call me ‘Lady’ anymore.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

Is she asking me to speak more casually?

“I’m no longer the lady of the Manis family. Adel, I had to leave my family to join your explorer party.”

She left her noble family to become an explorer.

“…Why?”

Setting aside the validity of being expelled from the family for becoming an explorer. For a lady who had lived as a noble her entire life to end up on the streets.

It was something that made no sense.

“I wanted to be with you no matter what.”

“…I see.”

“Yes.”

She showed a faint smile.

But it seemed even smiling was difficult for her, making her expression somewhat awkward.

“By the way, going to defeat the Demon King. You guys are amazing. There’s too much information for me to fully grasp, but I hope you succeed. I don’t want to die yet.”

“…Yes. We’ll definitely succeed.”

After a few more exchanges, we left the room.

***

“…This won’t do.”

Ainer sighed as if lamenting.

‘I’m so incompetent.’

She was disgusted with herself.

She hadn’t accomplished anything.

She couldn’t even properly heal Sherry.

Arya not dying at the cathedral?

She actually couldn’t remember anything.

She probably collapsed from divine power depletion.

‘And even then, it was thanks to the explorers who came and saved us.’

She hadn’t achieved anything.

She had accomplished nothing, yet here she was lying in bed.

‘People are still fighting outside.’

People are dying, dying, dying.

She couldn’t bear that fact.

“…”

After sensing that there was no one outside the room, Ainer tried to get up.

Continuously, she struggled bit by bit.

After several hours, she was finally able to stand at the door.

When she was collapsed on the bed, turning the doorknob had seemed nearly impossible.

-Creak.

After struggling, she opened the door.

Ainer walked forward.

Toward the battlefield, toward people.

And.

‘I may not be able to become like Adel.’

Even if it’s impossible for her to become the special protagonist of a grand story.

Ainer tried to follow the path he walked.

But she realized that was impossible.

So.

“3rd platoon has casualties! Evacuate the priests first and the rest somehow hold the line!”

“Damn it! Anyone without a shield, fall back! If you try to block with a sword, your face will melt from the Demonic Blood!”

“Priests, come quickly! This guy will die without emergency treatment!”

She took her stand on her own battlefield.