Episode 159 – Time of Healing
by Afuhfuihgs
*
Is it the warmth of another that makes a person happy, or am I stable enough to be happy even with another person by my side?
I can’t say for sure what the answer is, but I sincerely hoped it was the latter.
Because that would mean there was some meaning to my past seven years.
However, the joy that Ellie gave me was so powerful and warm that it lightly shattered even that wish.
Frankly, it wasn’t as crazy and clingy a relationship as when I first started dating Mella.
But Ellie was a woman who gave me stability and comfort, unlike her calculating and somewhat scheming first impression.
Despite being a queen, Ellie enjoyed soft and simple times, like an old couple in the countryside, sitting by the window, drinking tea, enjoying the sunlight, and leaning their heads on each other’s shoulders.
I was so happy during that time with her.
I even regretted not finding her sooner.
Already, two months had passed since I accepted her confession.
I was receiving treatment from the doctor as usual.
It was to treat the body that had decayed while I was in the body of an undead.
I couldn’t possibly hold her with rotten skin and a body oozing with pus.
No matter how much Ellie loves me and doesn’t care about all those terrible appearances, she wouldn’t be able to stand the stench of human flesh rotting.
Since resolving to be with Ellie, I have never returned to the body of an undead.
If I could grow old and die with her like this, I wouldn’t ask for anything more.
This time, with the person I love.
Watching each other’s hair turn white.
“Your condition is improving rapidly.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief.”
“The recovery is so fast that it’s a bit surprising. It’s as if you’ve been healed with divine power.”
“If it were divine power, I would have been cured in an instant.”
“That’s true, but…”
The doctor examined my body and tilted his head as if puzzled.
I was also a little surprised by the doctor’s diagnosis.
Of course, I didn’t have the Saintess’s divine power left.
I wondered if my recovery ability was due to being an undead, but since I am currently living as a human, that didn’t make sense either.
Then, is it the power of the Holy Sword I have inside me?
But I’ve never heard of the Holy Sword having such power.
I pondered for a moment, then shook my head and laughed.
Who cares?
Shouldn’t I just enjoy the good news that my festering skin will recover quickly?
Maybe it’s because the medicine is working well on a body that has been neglected for seven years.
Seven years… No, from childhood to my days as a thief, and even as a rogue in the Hero Party, I’ve never received proper treatment, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the medicine to work well on my body without resistance.
I paid the doctor and left the clinic.
Even though it was late afternoon, nearing evening, the sunlight was still clear enough to be scorching.
I closed my eyes and inhaled through my nose.
Behind the scent of grass and dry sunlight, I could feel a faint hint of dust.
And the smell of polishing compound used to clean metal, and a slight smell of alcohol.
I slowly opened my eyes.
A woman with a cool impression, wearing shining armor and letting her blue hair down, was approaching me.
I smiled as I looked at her.
She grinned and opened her mouth.
It was a refreshing voice, as impressive as her appearance, even after a long time.
“Living the good life, huh, you damn disciple.”
“It’s been a while. How have you been?”
Deborah strode towards me.
I sat on a bench next to the clinic, and Deborah sat down next to me and continued.
“I was doing well. Until I heard you were going to marry Ellie.”
Deborah said that, frowning as if dissatisfied.
I put on a mischievous expression and said.
“Why? Does seeing the disciple you taught and the kid you looked after getting married make you realize your own situation as an old maid?”
“Oh, you? You’re quite cheeky even as you get older.”
Deborah clenched her fist and playfully shook it in front of me.
I chuckled and said.
“I’ve only gotten three or four years older. While others are getting close to thirty.”
“Good for you, you brat. How long are you going to act like a kid?”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to be a kid forever?”
That’s a lie.
I would only show this side of myself in front of Deborah.
To be precise, she is the only one who knows my childish side.
Parents, friends, colleagues, and old lovers have all disappeared now.
Perhaps she is the only one who knows, remembers, and revives my old self that I might have lost forever.
Ah, how fortunate that she is an elf.
Even when I die, I can always be a kid in front of her.
“Why did you come so late? Ellie contacted you months ago.”
“I was busy, catching dragons in the western mountains.”
“…Dragons?”
“Didn’t you know? Dragons are appearing in large numbers these days.”
Come to think of it, Ulgaros said recently that he was going to make some kind of agreement with the dragons, could there be some connection?
I was worried for no reason, but I shook my head and pretended not to know in front of Deborah.
Deborah sighed, leaned back on the bench, tilted her head back, and stretched.
A sound like the groaning of old people stretching came from her mouth.
“Ugh- I’m going to die. I don’t know how long I have to live like this.”
“What can you do when you retire and still have to work?”
“Well, my retirement plan was ruined because you ran away and went into hiding for seven years.”
Deborah said that, slowly turning to look at me with a seductive expression.
Seeing that playful yet seductive expression, I blushed as I remembered her ambushing me in the hospital room in Hwangseong seven years ago.
Come to think of it, Lara and Deborah both tried to get on top of me while taking off their clothes.
Is it common for female elves to attack men?
I had such silly thoughts and turned my head away to avoid Deborah’s gaze.
Deborah tapped my elbow with her index finger and said.
“…Why? What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Hehe,”
Deborah, who had been laughing seductively, took her eyes off me and looked straight ahead.
I was also looking ahead, and the two of us were blankly staring at the people passing by on the street.
She seemed to feel that this moment, sitting next to me and talking on such a sunny day, was somehow surreal.
Actually, so did I.
Deborah looked ahead and said to me.
“You’re not wearing a mask anymore.”
I answered naturally.
“Because there’s no one left who remembers the bare face of a man who died 27 years ago.”
“…That’s right. Now, the story of the Hero Party that defeated the Demon King is taboo.”
It was an answer I gave lightly, but both Deborah and I had to shut our mouths for a moment.
All my companions were gone, and our adventures and achievements were being erased from history.
Of course, I didn’t regret it at all.
The fame that achievement brought slipped through my fingers as if it had never been mine from the beginning, so I didn’t feel at all that I was a member of the Hero Party, or that the name of that Hero Party was being tarnished and sinking.
However, why is there a strange loneliness felt in one corner of my heart?
Perhaps because I am in a human body, the feeling of that cold and lonely emotion sweeping through my heart was felt so clearly.
Despite the warm sunny weather, I slightly grabbed the clothes near my chest because of the persistent chill.
Deborah looked at me as if trying to change the atmosphere and said with a smile.
“Well, that’s good. That mask really didn’t suit you.”
“Ha, is that so?”
“Yeah, you look much better without it.”
“What’s so much better about this horribly changed face?”
I pointed to the hideous skin that stretched from my cheek to the bridge of my nose and up to my forehead.
It was healing and new flesh was growing, but there were still large traces of flesh rotting and festering.
Even if the treatment is finished, it was a trace that would remain as a scar.
Deborah laid her index finger down on my face and stroked the scar once.
“It’s manly and good, what’s wrong with it,”
“Haha,”
Her finger, which had been stroking my face, slowly floated over my cheek.
It was a touch so soft that it was hard to imagine it coming from rough fingers full of calluses and scars.
Deborah’s finger gradually moved down my cheek, past my lips, and down my chin to my neck.
The movement of her fingers slowed down, and the fingers themselves increased from just the index finger to the middle, ring, and pinky fingers.
Deborah gently turned her hand over and gently grabbed my neck.
“Master-nim?”
Then she pulled my head towards her.
“Ed.”
“…Yes?”
“How are you really going to take responsibility for me?”
“What, what is it?”
I tried to take Deborah’s hand off, but the strength in her sturdy arm was far beyond what I could handle.
Deborah hardened her expression and looked into my eyes seriously.
Her dawn sky-like eyes were staring at me.
“The day you gave me this arm.”
“Ah, no, I mean, that was to heal Master-nim’s arm…”
“Giving me such humiliation,”
“Ah, no, I mean, that was,”
“You were the only one who fondled my skin like that for so long,”
“Anyone who hears that will misunderstand!”
“And then you marry Ellie? And even tease me for being an old maid?”
“The wedding hasn’t happened yet. And, you are still beautiful.”
“Then what if I kidnap you and take you away?”
“…Yes? No, no, that won’t do.”
Deborah had a serious expression.
I was sweating coldly.
“I don’t want to, no, don’t do it.”
“What about my retirement plan?”
“Why did I become part of Master-nim’s retirement plan?”
“Because you saw my boobs?”
“…Uh, uh?”
The thought that obsession and boldness might be a characteristic of the elven race came to my mind again, and I tried my best to persuade Deborah.
In the end, I was able to get released on the condition that I would persuade Ellie to hire Deborah as her personal bodyguard and nanny to live with her.
Ellie, who contacted me hesitantly with the music box, surprisingly agreed easily.
It turned out that Deborah had already received permission from Ellie from the beginning.
I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
Deborah was holding her stomach and rolling off the bench, laughing.
*
Despite being in a relationship close to common-law marriage, the wedding with Ellie was being postponed indefinitely.
Of course, it was unavoidable because I had to heal my body, and I also needed a fake identity of a high enough position to not be inferior to the queen’s status.
In order to live as a human for the rest of my life, I couldn’t draw the Holy Sword from my body, so a new identity other than Baron Edna Salbier was necessary for me to live as Ellie’s husband.
In fact, Ellie was more in a hurry for the wedding than I was, but Ellie was even thinking of waiting for more than a year.
Rather, she seemed to want more time.
It seemed that state affairs were busy as the empire was breaking up and a crisis of civil war was breaking out.
Fortunately, waiting for that year would definitely not be painful.
Ellie and I were able to spend time together more than four times a week, even if not every day, and the banter with Deborah, who had virtually settled in my accommodation after expressing her intention to retire from the Adventurer’s Guild, was also enjoyable.
Besides, these unexpected guests sometimes appear, so there was no time to be bored.
“I’m a little worried because it’s been a while since I’ve ridden it… How is it, does it suit your taste?”
“Yeah, it’s so delicious. Like always.”
I smiled as I looked at Mena, who was holding a teapot and filling my teacup.
Mena and Banata, who inherited the Salbier Baron’s mansion and estate, sold the mansion and bought an airship to travel the world.
It was to protect Banata, whose body as a demon had been revealed to the world.
Of course, fortunately, Banata returned to her beastkin body thanks to me separating Rose from her body during our last date.
Perhaps because she became a succubus, or because Rose, who boasted a great figure, was possessed, the size of her breasts and hips, which had been particularly prominent with feminine charm, did not shrink back to their original size, was it a small reward for the hardships she had gone through?
Banata, who seemed to be slightly regretting her farewell to Rose, seemed to be subtly satisfied with the change.
The reason I judged so was because of Banata’s appearance sitting across from me now.
She was sitting with her legs crossed in a precarious outfit, as if she had no intention of hiding her breasts and hips, resting her chin on her hand.
Her hair, with a somewhat sullen expression, had turned red like Rose, not its original green.
The hair color was definitely to hide her identity, but that eye-catching outfit was probably her own choice.
I spoke to Banata.
“Did you dye it with magic? It suits you well.”
“…”
Since earlier, Banata had been only glancing at me with a sullen look, but she didn’t answer my words.
I scratched my head awkwardly and sipped my tea.
Is this what a father feels like when he sees his daughter going through puberty?
I, who was used to her affectionate attitude that was almost annoying, looked at Mena with a puzzled smile.
Mena smacked Banata’s head once.
“Ouch!”
“What kind of attitude is that?”
“…Hmph,”
“Just ignore her, Ed. She cried all day after hearing that Ed-nim got married.”
“Mom!”
“Why? And hurry up and put your legs down, it’s rude to be on the table like that,”
“This, shit…”
Banata stroked her head, which had been hit by Mena, and sat down with her legs down, looking at me resentfully.
I drank my tea and avoided her gaze.
Banata also picked up the teacup that Mena had poured.
Before putting the teacup to her lips, she paused for a moment and asked briefly.
“Ed, are you happy now?”
“Pfft,”
I coughed while drinking tea at her sudden question.
Happiness,
Banata’s clothes and actions looked like a child trying to imitate an adult, so she looked very cute and awkward.
Of course, she was now in her twenties, but for some reason, she still looked like a childish child in my eyes.
I wiped my mouth and the tea-splattered sleeves with the handkerchief Mena handed me and said.
“Why? Do I not look happy?”
“…I don’t know.”
Banata tilted her head back and drank her tea.
No, it might be more accurate to say she gulped it down.
Banata emptied her teacup in one gulp and put it down with a sigh.
“I could have made you happier.”
“…Ahahaha,”
“It’s too late now. Well, if it’s the Queen, well… Sigh,”
Even while saying that, Banata touched the edge of the teacup with her finger as if she was still regretful.
“I’m going to meet a better man than Ed.”
I smiled as I watched Banata, who turned her head and sullenly puffed out her cheeks while saying that.
Then, I stopped Mena, who was picking up the teapot to fill my teacup again, and said.
“Don’t worry, that will be very easy.”
“…?”
“Well, there aren’t many men who would reject you in your current state.”
“…Idiot.”
I spent time listening to the amazing stories that Mena and Banata had experienced while traveling.
The things I had experienced were also quite bizarre adventures, but it seemed that there were many things in the world that easily exceeded my common sense.
Listening to those various stories, I thought that if I had the chance, I would repair the Anemone airship and go on a trip with Ellie someday.
Our conversation ended as we greeted Ellie, who returned long after dinner.
Banata watched me quietly hugging Ellie, who was smiling weakly with a tired expression, with a slightly flushed face.
.
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