Ch.9Red Eyes (3)

Sylvia recalled the day when Ash first appeared at her small cabin.

A ruin deep in the forest, untouched by human footsteps.

On that night, in the middle of darkness, he suddenly appeared, roughly knocking on the wooden door of her cabin.

At first, she tried to ignore it.

She didn’t know what desperate situation had brought someone to seek help so urgently, but she thought that whatever it was, it must be better than becoming another sacrifice to her curse.

However, as the knocking grew weaker and his desperate voice gradually faded, Sylvia caught the pungent smell of blood.

Since he was begging for help, he must have been seriously injured.

If she didn’t open the door, the man would die cold and alone right in front of this small cabin—her last sanctuary.

Slowly approaching the door, Sylvia hesitated until the very last moment.

She didn’t want to experience that terrible moment again—killing someone entangled in her curse by her own hands, like the day she first arrived in this village.

There was no need to add another soul to those who pointed fingers and blamed her in her nightmares.

“Please… save me…”

She heard something sliding down the door.

His body was clearly collapsing in front of her door.

Would it be alright to just let him die like this?

What kind of person was she becoming, waiting behind the door for him to die?

Would she be blameless just because she hadn’t passed on her curse?

Could she be certain that this moment wouldn’t become her new nightmare?

The man’s voice had diminished to barely audible levels.

Even without seeing him directly, she could clearly sense his life fading away.

Just as she tried to look away, something under her bed caught her eye.

A sword wrapped in cloth.

It was the sword that had been her reliable arm during her days as a hero, adventuring across the land.

After some deliberation, Sylvia grabbed the blanket from her bed.

Then, wrapping it around her face like her sword, she opened the door.

Though reduced to this state, and though no one would acknowledge it anymore,

She had been a hero.

She still wanted to be a hero.

If she ignored even this desperate plea for help, she felt that truly nothing would remain for her except the curse.

Thud,

As soon as she pulled the door open, the man’s body fell into the house with a thud.

His condition was clearly critical at a glance.

Every second counted.

She manifested her faint holy power for the first time in a very long time.

It was done now.

There was no turning back.

“Ha… I should have just kept the door closed.”

She swallowed her brief regret and lifted his body.

*

The man who introduced himself as Ash had an unexpectedly cute side to him.

It wasn’t just because of his appearance, which made him look slightly younger than her.

She found it endearing how he steadfastly endured through tragic events, and how he remained considerate toward her despite his circumstances.

When she teased him, he would stammer in confusion but still try his best to counter—it made her want to pinch his cheeks.

When she saw him dragging his still-healing leg to his sister’s grave and lying prostrate there, disregarding his own broken body, she felt such sympathy that she wanted to embrace him tightly.

Though he tried hard not to show sadness or depression normally,

She deeply empathized with how he cried in his sleep every night, desperately calling out for his sister and parents.

Sylvia would secretly watch Ash mumbling in his sleep and brush away the sweat-soaked hair from his forehead.

Though the gesture was meant to comfort Ash, she found herself receiving even greater comfort from it.

How long had she been living alone in these ruins?

Living alone in the forest, she couldn’t keep track of exact dates.

It felt like at least 10 or even 20 years had passed, though that couldn’t be right.

The point was, she had been alone for a very long time.

Ash was the first person with whom she had proper conversations and shared time since she had confined herself here.

During the first ten days when he was unconscious, she had to practice speaking to people while watching him lie there.

Perhaps that was why.

Despite trying not to, despite being extremely careful,

Sylvia gradually found herself enjoying and feeling happy during the time spent with him.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop those feelings.

Though she knew it was wrong, she hoped he wouldn’t leave.

By the time Ash had recovered enough to walk properly and started making grave markers, she was hoping he would stay just a little longer.

She couldn’t ask him to stay longer, having already pushed a three-day time limit on him with threats just days before,

And it was safer to send him away quickly while the curse hadn’t spread, so asking him to stay would have been strange anyway.

On the final promised day,

After completing the grave marker, as Ash took the cup of alcohol she offered, Sylvia had a slightly wicked thought.

Why did he lose his sister here? Why this place of all places?

Burying his sister here and visiting occasionally? In this forest where even finding the path is difficult?

Perhaps it was meant for him to live here?

I am a hero.

Though I never sought compensation, I sacrificed everything for humanity, enduring and persevering.

I even defeated the Demon Lord.

I gave up all my human relationships and happiness.

Don’t I deserve some reward?

I could accept the mission to die alone here bearing this curse,

But I never grew accustomed to this painfully intense loneliness that sometimes bores into my bones and tears at my insides.

On nights when I have nightmares, honestly, it’s too much to bear.

Perhaps Ash is a small comfort and reward given to me by the Goddess for all my efforts.

Sylvia thought this as she watched Ash’s face grow increasingly flushed with each drink.

Ash suddenly looked at my face hidden behind cloth and mask, and grinned broadly.

The cloth and wooden piece covering my face felt stifling.

I wanted to throw them off right away and look into his eyes…

“Ugh,”

Sylvia bit her tongue hard without Ash noticing.

Her mouth filled with blood immediately.

Get a grip.

I am a hero bearing a mission and a curse, and he is a boy bearing misfortune.

To think of casually transferring the curse to him, adding to his burden of misfortune, just because I need amusement for my mission,

Have I gone mad from living alone for so long?

Sylvia reproached herself for these thoughts and ended the drinking session that night.

She helped his stumbling body to bed, then returned to her room and removed her clothes and mask.

After spitting out the blood pooled in her mouth and changing into nightclothes, she forced herself to lie down.

Tomorrow he would leave.

“…Ash.”

It was four hours before Ash would see Sylvia’s face.

*

“…”

“…”

Sylvia slowly released her hands from my face and turned away from me.

My cheeks stung from how firmly she had held them.

Her sturdy body and this strong grip that I felt when she carried me.

I knew she wasn’t an ordinary person, but to think that the woman who saved me was actually the hero,

I was as dazed as my stinging cheeks.

I rubbed my cheeks with both hands while looking at Sylvia.

“Um…”

“No, don’t say anything. Nothing.”

“…”

Unlike the somewhat forceful demeanor she had shown just moments ago, Sylvia began to stammer like a child making excuses.

“Don’t think that I’m forcibly keeping you here because of some base desire or a terrible boredom I want to escape from. This is all for humanity.”

“…Yes.”

“You know it too, right? You’re now nothing but a cursed being who turns others into mad monsters. Like me… So I can’t let you go. But, I won’t apologize. I did what I could, really, I was as careful as possible. You can’t blame me. It’s your fault.”

“…Sylvia?”

Her state was clearly abnormal.

It might seem a bit funny to say this to someone whose face I’ve only just seen today, but I had never seen her like this during the past few days.

She was even trembling slightly.

I slowly pushed back my chair and stood up, walking around to face her as she had turned her back to me.

The curse must have already been transferred anyway.

Since nothing would happen from seeing her face now, I boldly examined her expression.

Her face was contorted as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“I’m really… sorry about this. I regret it… I didn’t want this to happen, no…”

“…Syl—”

“No. Actually, I did want it a little. I was so lonely, so sick of talking to myself every day with no response!”

“That’s—”

“But I tried, I really did. I tried to send you back, Ash…!”

Did she think I would condemn her?

She desperately blocked my words, pouring out apologies, explanations, and confessions.

“Yes! I enjoyed being with you. Truly. I empathized with all those misfortunes you experienced… So I briefly wished how nice it would be if you could stay with me. But I never…”

“Sylvia!”

I grabbed her shoulders.

She flinched and awkwardly froze.

Perhaps it had been a very long time since someone had held her so firmly.

She seemed to have frozen, not knowing how to react.

I looked into her expression.

Guilt, fear.

And a faint joy.

Ah, I see…

How long had she been alone?

When I asked before, she said she didn’t know the exact date either.

She only gave a vague answer that it seemed a little over three years if she counted the passing seasons.

If I calculate from the year my sister died, it must have been at least four years.

Four years.

From my perspective living in the outside world, it seemed long but not extraordinarily so.

But what if you lived alone in this forest where no one comes?

Four years spent cursed, knowing you can never meet anyone again,

Four years spent muttering to yourself with no one to answer, beside the graves of villagers you killed… how long and desperate would that time be?

Could I have endured it without going mad?

Looking at her expression, I understood everything.

She was sorry for me.

She was blaming herself for spreading the curse.

At the same time, she was slightly happy that I would stay.

And… she was disgusted with herself for feeling that happiness.

“I don’t blame you.”

“…”

“Like you said, it’s my fault.”

Sylvia slowly raised her head to look at me.

Her red eyes were brimming with moisture, reflecting the moonlight streaming through the window like trembling rubies.

She asked me as if she had heard something unbelievable.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you can never meet anyone else again?”

“Well… My family is all dead anyway… and Laila is here too.”

“Really, you’ll stay here…”

“Well, if the curse can’t be lifted, I guess so…?”

Honestly, I was surprised by her story.

I was a little—no, very—shocked to hear that the curse had been transferred.

But the situation wasn’t unsalvageable.

To be frank, I just needed to avoid meeting people.

I had no one left in this world to meet anyway.

Having lost my entire family and having nowhere to go, the current problem might not be so desperate for me.

I have nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Being unable to save even my only sister, I don’t have the luxury to think about revenge.

So, living here and tending to Laila’s grave isn’t such a bad option.

Besides, I have someone to talk to, which is a much better condition than what Sylvia experienced.

“So, I’m fine with it, Sylvia.”

“…”

The tear drops that had been gathering in Sylvia’s wide, rabbit-like eyes grew larger and finally rolled down.

Her hair, which had been wet from the river, was gradually drying and looked brighter than when I first saw it.

That platinum hair, as fair as her skin, seemed to shine, making her look like an angel with a halo.

Her face, which I now examined closely, was too beautiful to believe she was the hero of reversal who had vanquished even the Demon Lord.

Her lips, which had been curled inward as if trying to hold back tears, slowly opened.

A thin thread of saliva formed and disappeared between her upper and lower lips.

“…Thank you, Ash.”

Outside the window, the sun was gradually rising.

On this day, I became the hero’s housemate.

.