Ch.84Mask (3)

*

“I can’t help but be suspicious.”

In that tense moment, my heightened senses caught the sound of a sharp blade slowly swaying through the air.

The woman’s voice, as hard and sharp as the blade itself, carried unmistakable hostility.

Even though I kept my gaze fixed on the ground, my body lowered almost to a kneeling position, I could vividly feel her piercing stare drilling into the back of my head.

I knew instinctively.

I could not defeat her.

Unlike me, who was breaking out in cold sweat, her breathing remained steady, suggesting she was accustomed to such tension.

Of course—the Inquisitors of the Goddess Church, known for executing fanatical heretics, were famous for their overwhelming combat prowess.

Surely, if things went even slightly wrong, she would mercilessly behead me with a single stroke.

Even if I were to activate my curse and we fought in a frenzy, she clearly had the skill to kill me with ease.

I was carefully considering my next words, trying not to displease her.

However, she spoke first.

“Balder.”

“…?”

I couldn’t respond to the unfamiliar name that suddenly came out.

Well, it wasn’t actually that unfamiliar. The name was quite common in this continent.

In fact, that was the name of my cursed uncle who killed our parents.

But when that name unexpectedly came from her lips, I froze, not knowing how to react.

She slowly continued.

“…Hmm, I suppose not. Too young.”

“What do you—”

“Never mind if you don’t know.”

She slowly sheathed her sword.

I heard the blade sliding back into its scabbard.

Just as I had instinctively realized, she too must have noticed that I was too weak to be any match for her.

Putting away her sword meant she intended to resolve the situation through dialogue.

It also meant that if I let my guard down even slightly, our eyes might meet.

I swallowed hard and lowered my head further.

Sure enough, she questioned me.

“How long have you lived in this forest?”

“…”

I hesitated momentarily.

I couldn’t answer immediately because I still didn’t know how much time had passed while I was in the spirit realm.

“Answer me, suspicious one.”

But she, unaware of my circumstances, pressed me for an answer.

I gave a vague response.

“…Less than a year.”

“Alone, in this forest? Without any combat ability?”

Her surprise was understandable.

Since the spread of magical miasma, the magical beasts in this forest had become more active and numerous.

The lakeside only kept the miasma at bay, not the beasts—I’d already fought several that approached the shore.

During my absence in the spirit realm, this Fallen Tree Forest, already nearly a magical boundary, had transformed into a hell where survival without combat ability was impossible.

Even though she was from the Goddess Church, I didn’t want to reveal that I could manipulate spirits.

“I know some magic… and until recently, I had a companion.”

“Where is this person now?”

“…We parted ways.”

“Oh my, did they die?”

I immediately objected.

“No.”

“Hmm?”

She seemed slightly surprised by my firm tone.

There’s no way Ms. Silvia could be dead.

How could she possibly die?

I couldn’t—didn’t want to—imagine it.

Despite the miasma and magical beasts making this forest an extremely dangerous and hostile environment for humans, to Ms. Silvia, they were merely annoying background elements.

To her, the miasma and magical beasts would be trivial matters.

I answered while concealing information about the spirits and Ms. Silvia.

I didn’t want to mention spirits since she wouldn’t believe me anyway, and I didn’t want to reveal that the hero was still alive.

“When the magical miasma suddenly began to spread, I was dying. I tried to quietly disappear and face death alone so I wouldn’t burden my companion. Then… I happened to find this place.”

“Your companion didn’t come here?”

“No.”

“…Then, your companion must be dead by now.”

“What?”

“Why are you surprised? You must already know. It’s been three months since the miasma started spreading in this forest.”

Three months.

The answer to my question about how much time had passed while I was in the spirit realm came unexpectedly from the Inquisitor before me.

“How ironic. You tried to sacrifice yourself to avoid being a burden to your companion, yet you’re the only one who survived.”

I barely heard what she was saying.

Of course, I wasn’t worried that Ms. Silvia might be dead.

I was shocked by the fact that three months had passed.

I never imagined so much time could have elapsed.

The small anxiety that had been growing in a corner of my mind during the past few days alone by the lakeside suddenly multiplied.

“Three months… three months…”

Three months might seem short, but it was also an incredibly long time.

After all, the time I had spent with her was only about three months and a week.

This meant Ms. Silvia had spent as much time alone as we had spent together.

“So long…”

“You didn’t know? Well, living alone in a forest like this could distort your sense of time.”

Surely, she must have searched this forest thoroughly.

Despite my meager consideration of not wanting her to find me dead beside her when she woke up, she would certainly have gone looking for me.

But she wouldn’t have found even my corpse anywhere in this forest.

Three months… or rather, for Ms. Silvia with her collapsed sense of time, as the woman before me suggested—how long must it have felt to her?

How must she be feeling now?

Is she still looking for me?

Is she gradually forgetting me in bitterness and sorrow?

Perhaps… maybe,

Has she already left this forest?

Despite the unusual phenomenon of a tree growing in the middle of the lake, was that why she hadn’t shown herself at the lakeside at all?

My mind became complicated.

Cold sweat began to pour down for a different reason than before.

The clammy liquid pooled inside my mask trickled down my chin.

The Inquisitor, seeing my state, clicked her tongue slightly and said:

“…It seems you have some circumstances.”

“Ah…”

“You don’t seem likely to run away or cause trouble, so I’ll stop the interrogation. The difference in our abilities is clear anyway…”

“…”

She approached me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

I felt the cold, hard touch of metal.

I hadn’t noticed since I was averting my gaze, but she appeared to be fully armored in plate mail.

She spoke slowly:

“If you can’t get up, I’ll help you.”

“Ah, no! Don’t!”

As I felt her hand sliding under my arm, I snapped back to my senses and pushed her hand away.

She immediately backed away and reflexively placed her hand on her waist.

It was a quick attack stance honed through countless practice sessions and training.

Without time to admire her skill, I immediately buried my face in the ground.

“No… don’t come near me.”

“W-what?”

“I… mmph,”

I abruptly closed my mouth, having almost explained about the curse.

No matter how flustered I was, I couldn’t stop thinking.

My body might be slow, but my mind couldn’t afford to be.

Let me think.

She’s from the Goddess Church, and not just any member—an Inquisitor directly under the Pope.

Should I tell someone like her about the Demon King’s curse?

While the Demon King was an enemy and calamity to all humanity, the Goddess Church stood as the most diametrically opposed organization to the Demon King.

And within the Goddess Church, the Inquisitors boasted the most formidable military might.

The holy hammer that kills and burns all that is blasphemous.

I had heard about their bravery and extremism several times.

If she learned that I bore the Demon King’s curse, she might try to kill me without question, regardless of whether it had been activated.

After deliberation, I slowly opened my mouth.

“…I have a condition that prevents me from looking into people’s eyes.”

“What?”

“You could say I’m allergic to others’ gazes… The condition has also disfigured my face, which is why I wear this mask…”

“…Huh?”

I heard her inhale in disbelief.

Even I thought it was a pathetic excuse, but I couldn’t come up with anything better on the spot.

After standing silently for a while, she slowly spoke:

“Oh… I’m so sorry, I really didn’t know.”

“…Hmm?”

“I’ve heard that prolonged exposure to magical miasma can cause strange illnesses, but this is my first time seeing it in person, so I didn’t consider it. I truly apologize.”

“…Oh, it’s fine. I… didn’t know about it either until I got it.”

What is this?

Is she an idiot?

.