episode_0029

Dark and the two women were revived in perfect condition.

Though weakened due to level reset,

and with their physical abilities diminished as they grew younger in age,

this much was still within recoverable limits.

Levels could be raised again,

and age would naturally progress over time.

‘Had they dropped below 10 years old, it might have been a slight problem.’

‘But around 15 is fine.’

It’s an age where they could still wield swordsmanship and magic to some degree.

They wouldn’t be in danger of dying anywhere.

‘Dark is B-rank.’

‘And the two women are C-rank.’

They’re individuals who could surpass me in strength with just a bit of growth.

No real need to worry, then.

…Thinking that, I finished assessing the physical states of the three.

“Examination complete.”

“All three of you were revived in perfect condition.”

“We sincerely thank you!”

“Brother Cain!”

“We’ll never forget this kindness for the rest of our lives.”

“Thank you so much.”

All three expressed their gratitude to me.

Originally, I had planned to raise their levels moderately and use them as escort forces.

But.

Since I’d been caught by Ria and Ellis,

there was no need anymore to employ them as escorts.

So.

After a brief exchange of farewells here, we parted ways.

“We’ll contact you again later!”

“Sure.”

“If you ever need our help, please let us know anytime.”

“We’ll definitely help!”

“Sure.”

“Really, thank you.”

“Thanks to you, Dark and… Hehehe…”

“……”

The two women stared at Dark, swallowing hard.

Hmm…

Kinda jealous.

‘I wanna enjoy some adult-rated content too!…’

The only adult-rated content I could enjoy was grinding the Holy Grail.

‘Sigh…’

‘Just hang in there a little longer…’

Patience is bitter,

but its fruit is sweet.

‘If I can romance my favorite character and reach adult-rated content with her!…’

‘Nggh!…’

‘Now that’s life!’

Just imagining it made my mouth water.

But first—

I had to deal with the current situation.

“Ria, Ellis.”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“Could you untie the ropes already?…”

Because of the Holy Grail incident, I’d momentarily forgotten,

but in the end, I had run away,

and gotten caught.

That’s right.

I was a criminal being dragged off by the cops.

But.

Even so, wasn’t tying up my hands and feet with rope and hauling me like this a bit excessive? So I protested—

“You might run away again.”

“I said I won’t.”

“You lied last time too, then ran.”

“……”

I had no rebuttal since I had lied about not running and then fled.

‘Sigh…’

‘How do I fix this…’

Though Ria and Ellis were smiling,

it obviously wasn’t a joyful expression.

It was the kind of forced, icy smirk that screamed pissed off.

‘An inn, huh.’

Ria and Ellis had rented a room in an inn,

and after tying me to a chair, they spoke.

“Master?”

“Shall we… talk?”

Just a short while ago, she was the tearful Hero,

but now, she had sharpened into a warrior radiating a glacial aura.

Hoho…

How proud I am, Master.

To see my disciple grow so greatly.

So overjoyed that tears well up—both above and below.

Yeah.

Meaning I’m so scared I might piss myself.

‘I’m screwed.’

This wasn’t an atmosphere where I could laugh it off.

‘Sigh…’

‘Still, it’s not a hopeless situation, right?’

It should be resolvable through dialogue.

…Or so I thought.

“First question.”

Ria held up the letter from the back of the guidebook and spoke.

“What exactly is this?”

“……”

She pointed to the very last part of the letter—

—

“Lastly, don’t bother looking for me.

We won’t meet again.

But don’t be sad.

It was only a brief connection—just a few days spent together.

As you travel the world, you’ll find better companions,

and a better man than me.

Not some worthless guy like me—

meet someone decent and live a happy life.

Stay strong till the end.

-Cain-”

—

Damn…

I had written all that cool-sounding stuff about never meeting again,

and now I’d been caught red-handed.

…Putting on a hollow smile at the thought,

“Master.”

“Explain. Every. Reason. You. Ran. Away.”

I had nothing to say from the start.

“I see…”

Ria nodded with an expression of sudden realization.

What?

Did she figure out my plan to meet my favorite character and live happily?!

“Right.”

“Of course you wouldn’t just tell me honestly.”

“My Master, who’d even risk his life to save someone precious—why would he obediently explain?”

“?”

Wait.

Something felt misunderstood here.

‘It’s true I ran away to save someone important…’

‘But I never planned to risk my life?…’

Well.

If absolutely necessary, I would stake my life.

Since it’s already a life I’ve lost once.

If I could see my favorite character’s smiling face even once, I’d die satisfied.

But.

Ideally, I’d prefer not to.

‘My favorite’s happy ending condition is finding a man who’ll love her even knowing her true identity.’

If I died, I couldn’t become her lover,

so the happy ending condition wouldn’t be fulfilled.

Thus.

Ideally, I wouldn’t plan to die.

But.

Ria misunderstood that I intended to die.

‘Huh?’

‘Why would she think that?’

…Rereading the letter’s contents,

‘Hmm…’

‘It’s understandable.’

I’d written that we wouldn’t meet again.

‘Because if my favorite and the Hero’s party meet, it’d be bad.’

‘I meant it as “never see each other again.”

But rereading it now, it does sound like a suicide note.

Yeah.

This much misunderstanding is fair.

‘So that’s why they desperately chased me.’

Understood.

And.

A way to resolve this occurred to me.

‘Just clear up the misunderstanding.’

I don’t intend to die.

I never planned to sacrifice my life to save someone important.

If I could just prove that, it’d be settled.

What—

Simple enough.

…So I thought, then spoke.

“You seem to have misunderstood, so let me make one thing clear.”

“What?”

“I have no intention of dying.”

“You don’t?”

“There’s nothing I’d stake my life for.”

“So don’t worry about that.”

“And why should I believe that?”

“Huh?”

“Master, you’ve lied how many times now?!”

“How am I supposed to trust that?!”

Uh…

Well, she has a point.

‘Wow…’

‘Is this the boy who cried wolf or something…?’

Since I’ve lied so much,

even telling the truth won’t be believed.

…I get it, but—

‘This is unfair.’

‘The only lie was saying I wouldn’t run.’

Not like the boy who cried wolf—lying multiple times—

but just once.

…I wanted to argue back, but—

‘Sigh…’

Protesting in this atmosphere felt pointless, so I kept quiet.

Instead.

I explained sincerely.

“I’m serious.”

“I’m the kind of guy who values his own life.”

“There’s no way I’d risk my life just to save some—”

“No?”

“Uh…”

“Well, if necessary, I might…”

“Anyway!”

“I don’t plan to die for it!”

Ria and Ellis’s gazes grew even icier.

‘Screwed.’

Trying to be sincere backfired.

‘Well…’

‘For someone I love, I would risk my life.’

I’m the kind of guy who’d work himself to death searching for my favorite’s happy ending route.

Already a man who’d staked his life once,

so doing it again isn’t hard.

…And my sincerity only proved that.

“Cain.”

“Ellis.”

“I’ll ask one thing.”

“Yeah.”

“Who precisely is this ‘precious person’ you’d risk your life for—tell me.”

“……”

“Answer.”

“I invoke my right to remain silent.”

“Hey!”

“At least tell me this!”

“Can’t say.”

“Why?!”

“Is there some kind of geas on you?!”

A geas.

A magical, curse, or contractual restriction preventing certain actions.

Not just speaking—

even indirect methods like writing or gestures couldn’t leak the information.

“No, not that.”

“Then why can’t you say it?!”

“It’s…”

“It’s?”

“Ugh…”

“I’d rather not talk about this.”

“And you expect me to believe you when you say you won’t run or risk your life?!”

“Yes!”

“Exactly that!”

“Would you believe it?!”

Well…

Normally, no.

But isn’t trusting each other what allies do?

…That’s what I thought,

but our so-called friendship was less than a week old—fast-food-tier camaraderie.

‘Tch.’

‘Should’ve raised affinity a bit more.’

Not like I went out of my way to make them dislike me,

but I never particularly tried to make them like me either.

‘Did the bare minimum.’

Fulfilling the happy ending conditions naturally raised affinity,

so it must’ve gone up somewhat then.

Outside that?

Did nothing.

‘I have tried to lower affinity before…’

‘But never to raise it…’

Back then, I wanted to part ways.

That logic made sense,

but after being caught, it became the worst-case scenario.

‘Had I raised affinity just a bit more…’

‘Maybe I wouldn’t be treated like a criminal now…’

A sigh escaped.

But.

If affinity was the problem, raising it now should fix things, right?

‘Until now, I acted to lower affinity, thinking we’d part ways.’

‘But now we’re traveling together.’

Higher affinity is better.

‘Good.’

‘Raise it a bit.’

Not to marriage levels—

just enough for them to believe me when I talk.

…With that thought, I began my strategy.

‘Heheh.’

‘If I put effort into it, friend-level affinity will be a breeze!’