Chapter 58 – Karahan (4)

“S-Sis…?” Hephaestus called out to me, looking confused.

“Hm?”

“What did you just say?”

“Noah, Hephaestus. How about we finish our meal first? It would be best if we could wash up right after,” Rubia interrupted, redirecting the conversation.

“Huh? Wait, what did Noah just—”

“Hephaestus, please,” Rubia cut her off, placing a hand on Hephaestus’s shoulder and urging her toward the campsite.

As Rubia led the woman away, Hephaestus glanced back at me briefly before hurrying after them.

Did I go too far? Was it too brutal? Maybe I should be more careful next time.

As I trudged over to the campsite and passed through the tent Rubia had set up, an amazing smell hit me. The menu was barbecue and mushroom soup, just as Rubia had mentioned earlier!

“Noah, come sit here,” Rubia said, patting the spot next to her.

The tense expressions on their faces from earlier had relaxed a bit, as if the good food had brightened their mood.

“Once again, I’m really sorry. You said your name was Noah…?” the woman, who had been so frightened before, now smiled gently and bowed her head.

“Ah, um… y-yes,” I stammered.

“I’m… Mariel. I’m truly sorry… and thank you. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve… I would’ve died twice… Thank you so much,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Uh, um… y-you went through a lot…” I awkwardly patted her shoulder as tears dripped onto the ground.

After some time passed, Rubia handed Mariel a bowl filled with soup, cutting through the gloomy atmosphere.

“Mariel, how about we talk after you’ve eaten?”

“Ah, yes, thank you…”

“This one’s for you, Noah.”

“Wow!” Unlike Mariel, I received a plate piled high with meat!

“And here’s yours, Hephaestus.”

“Thanks…” Hephaestus’s plate had a moderate amount of meat, which might explain the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

“Hmm… Hephaestus, have some more meat,” I said, moving some of the meat from my plate to hers.

“Huh? Sis, you’re not going to eat that much?”

“Ah, no… I, uh… it’s fine,” I replied, though it really wasn’t. I had one hand on my greatsword, so when I tried to tilt my plate to pass the meat over, way too much ended up on Hephaestus’s plate. I should’ve just used a fork, but I was too lazy…

“You don’t look fine,” Rubia chuckled softly, adding a few more pieces of meat to my plate.

“B-but then you won’t have enough food, Rubia…”

“There’s more, so don’t worry. Eat up.”

“Okay… thank you.”

I nodded and picked up my fork.

“And Mariel, after you finish the soup, you should have some barbecue too.”

“Oh, no, the soup is enough for me—”

“It’s fine, have plenty.”

Rubia smiled and handed her a plate of meat and vegetables.

With that, our cheerful dinner began. We talked about everything from Hephaestus’s sleeping habits to Rubia’s cooking experiences and even my drunk antics.

I mostly stayed quiet, chewing on my meat, while Mariel drank soup like it was water. She must’ve been starving.

I quietly poured some water and set it in front of her. “Take your time eating…”

“Mm-hmm, thank you,” she mumbled, barely lifting her head from the plate. She ended up finishing four more bowls after that.

“Well, did everyone enjoy their meal?” Rubia asked.

“Yeah. You’re a great cook, Rubia,” Hephaestus said, clapping softly.

“I feel like my stomach’s going to burst…”

“Sluuurrp… Thank you so much, priestess. It was an honor…”

“Now, let’s wash up! Whether it’s cold or hot water, I just want to get clean!” Hephaestus declared.

“Alright, let’s clean up first and then head out.”

“I’ll handle the cleaning. You all can go ahead,” Mariel offered, standing up and beginning to gather the dishes.

“What? No, we’ll clean together, and then we’ll go wash up together.”

“No, no, I couldn’t possibly… how could I, in the presence of a priestess…”

“Mariel,” Rubia said firmly, her tone suddenly much more serious.

“Y-yes?”

“I’ve told you before, I’m not a priestess right now. If you keep addressing me like that, I’ll have to do something about it,” Rubia said, gently taking the dishes from Mariel.

“In fact, let me speak to you as a priestess for a moment: you should rest, and when we go to wash, we’ll all go together. You’re a patient right now, Mariel. You need to be careful with every little movement.”

“Wow…” I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation at how cool Rubia sounded.

Hephaestus seemed just as impressed as I was. Mariel, however… “Sniff… sniff…” began crying again.

Rubia sighed, as if she expected this, and quickly finished cleaning up.

I figured I should help, so I jumped up and gathered all the plates together. Seeing this, Hephaestus hurried over and started collecting the forks and cups.

“Noah, you should rest too.”

“Huh…?” My hands froze mid-motion. Why me? I’m not a patient!

Rubia walked over to me and whispered quietly in my ear. “Mariel’s going to feel awkward if she’s left alone, so it’s better if you sit with her.”

“Ah… is that it?” Now that I thought about it, I had felt uncomfortable earlier when I was the only one doing nothing. So Mariel must feel even more awkward.

“Yes. Go on.” Rubia nudged my back gently.

“Okay, okay…” With no other choice, I shook my hands clean and slowly walked over to where Mariel was sitting. It felt like I was approaching a sleeping cat…

When Mariel saw me, she flinched and stood up abruptly.

“Ah, um… please, sit down…” I said awkwardly.

“No, I’ll only sit if you sit, Noah.”

“Ugh… no, it’s really fine…”

“I insist.”

This is so uncomfortable… so, so uncomfortable. I’d rather be fighting a beast! I wasn’t this nervous when I was killing the Minotaurs!

Sweating profusely, I plopped down beside Mariel. Only then did she cautiously sit back down.

“Once again… thank you for everything,” she said.

“Yeah…”

I can’t breathe… I glanced over at Hephaestus, who was happily clearing the table, and envied her so much…

***

“So then… it might be hard, but could you tell us what happened?” Rubia asked.

After we washed up in the valley Rubia had mentioned earlier, we made a fire and settled down to prepare for the night. It wasn’t exactly a campfire. It was a peculiar, drawer-like stone that Hephaestus had brought along.

Curious, I’d played around with it and ended up burning myself, earning a scolding from Rubia…

“A-alright. Well, I arrived in Ursphere without any issues. But that night…” Mariel began telling her story.

She explained how she ran a small flower shop in Roholon, and had traveled to Ursphere to discuss matters related to the new trade route that had opened up. After successful negotiations, she was on her way back to her lodging when she was kidnapped.

The kidnappers, as Rubia had said, were from the Red Scorpion organization. She had seen the distinctive red scorpion tattoo on one of their necks, so there was no doubt.

When she tried to recount what happened after she was taken, Mariel broke into tears again, and Rubia had to comfort her.

“Haa… I’m so sorry,” Mariel sniffled.

“It’s alright. Cry as much as you need to. It’s okay.”

Mariel, clutching a warm cup of coffee, curled up and shivered. “I endured all sorts of horrible things… but then, an opportunity came.”

“An opportunity?”

“Yes… they had this plant they cherished. But… one of the others who was captured with me broke it…”

Her tears started to flow once again as she remembered. “T-that person… was being beaten… and I… I ran away… I’m so sorry…”

A cherished plant?

Rubia gently patted Mariel’s back before carefully asking, “Could you tell us more about the plant? What did it look like? Any distinguishing features?”

“Sniff… well, it wasn’t a small plant. It was about the size of my torso… It was purple, with tangled vines all over it… Oh! And the leaves were shaped like teardrops—”

“Wait, teardrop-shaped leaves and purple vines?” Hephaestus suddenly looked up, interrupting Mariel.

“Yes. They would pluck a leaf from it every day. Then they’d take it to their boss…”

“Did they call that plant… ‘Eliximona’ by any chance?”

“Yes! That’s right! I think I heard them call it Eliximona. How do you know? I’d never heard of it before…”

“N-no… that can’t be right…” Hephaestus’s expression grew grim.

“Hephaestus? Are you alright?”

“Ah, well… this might sound strange, but… there’s no way my master would ever… I mean—”

“Calm down. We believe you. Now, take a deep breath and explain,” Rubia said softly, gripping Hephaestus’s shoulders and speaking in a soothing tone.

After a few moments of steady breathing, Hephaestus finally spoke again. What she said left us all in shock.

“Eliximona… is the only plant ever created by Master Yuria. And… there’s only one of them left in the world…”