episode_0091

“…..Ugh… What time is it right now…?”

The day after the Last Point Tournament ended, I, who had fallen asleep in the inn, rubbed my eyes with my hand and got out of bed. Ugh… Why is the light so strong? It’s too dazzling to be just sunlight… Huh?

“….?! Wh-Where am I?! Ugh… Huh?! Why are my legs….?!”

I definitely fell asleep at the inn… So why did I wake up in such a luxurious room?! The beautiful sculptures in the room were catching the sunlight and emitting a dazzling glow… No, that’s not the problem… Why am I sleeping in such a spacious room?! And why is the bed so big?! Furthermore, why are my legs tied up?!

“Wh-What is this?! Why in the world….?!”

The moment I was bewildered by the inexplicable situation, the door suddenly began to open slowly, and I was startled by the sound. I looked towards the door… Huh?

“Ah… Aria?”

Aria was grinning as she slowly opened the door and entered, carrying a tray of food. She then looked at me, now awake, and smiled sweetly, saying,

“You’re awake, darling?”

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

At Aria’s words, I screamed, and at the same time, I woke up. *Gasp… Gasp…* Ah… It was a nightmare. Th-Thank goodness… As I gasped for breath after screaming, feeling relieved, Aria, who had been sleeping next to me, startled awake and began to worry about me.

“Z-Zeke-nim?! Are you hurt?! Or perhaps you had a nightmare?! Are you alright?!”

“…..Uh… It was a nightmare I never want to have again….”

Leaving Ruam

After suffering from the terrible nightmare, I was almost dazed as I ate with Aria on the first floor. However, Aria couldn’t help but fret as she watched me eat, barely conscious.

“Z-Zeke-nim… Are you alright…? Is the food not to your liking…? I should have cooked it myself….”

“No… It was just a terrible nightmare, so don’t worry. I’m sorry for making you worry….”

“Ugh… Still, I want to be helpful… If there’s anything you need, you must tell me right away, alright?”

“Okay…”

Aria, who had no way of knowing what dream I had, worried severely about me, but perhaps because of the dream’s content, I felt a little burdened by her. Still, she was worried about me, so… With that thought, I dismissed the nightmare as just a dream. After finishing the somewhat uncomfortable meal, Aria and I headed towards the village exit. As we walked, Aria saw me fiddling with the brooch she had made and asked with a grin,

“Do you like it, Zeke-nim?”

“….You asked that at least twenty times last night, you know?”

“Hehehe… Still, hearing your feelings makes me so happy… I think I’m addicted…”

“Sigh… I’ll say it again, of course I like it. It’s a brooch you worked hard to make, how could I not like it?”

*Giggles…*

When I told her again that I liked it, Aria began to laugh with overwhelming joy. After all… she went through so much trouble to get that. For Aria, there could be no moment more satisfying and joyful than me liking the brooch she made. Hmm… But seeing this brooch makes me curious…

“Aria, by the way, where did you put the leftover gems after making this brooch?”

“Ah~ You mean that~”

As I wondered about the whereabouts of the leftover fragments of Magnus’s Tear after making the brooch, Aria explained it to me with a grin. It was five minutes after Aria had completed the brooch. Inside the waiting room, Aria looked at the finished brooch and thought with a very happy expression.

‘*Haaaaaaah…!! I finally finished it…!! It’s a relief that I can return the favor for this brooch Zeke-nim gave me…!! Hehehe… What will Zeke-nim say…? “Aria, this is a truly wonderful gift.” Or… “Aria… Thank you so much… I think I can love you now…” Will he?! Teeheeheeheehee…*’

At the time, Aria apparently imagined all sorts of things, what I would say, and what would happen, while looking at the completed brooch… But to connect it to love or something like that… Anyway, Aria was smiling brightly while looking at the brooch made from the completed Magnus’s Tear. At that moment, someone sighing and trudging by caught Aria’s eye.

“Haaaaah… Magnus’s Tear… I really wanted to research that….”

“Oh? You are….”

“Huh…? Oh, Holy Maiden-nim?”

When someone called out to him, the orange-haired man turned his head. Andres, realizing that the person who called him was Aria, was surprised, and then greatly astonished when he saw the brooch made from Magnus’s Tear in Aria’s hand.

“Ugh… Huh?! Th-That shape… Isn’t that Magnus’s Tear?! Why has it become so small?!”

“Ah… It became this small as I carved it.”

“You carved it…? How did you carve it…?”

“With my hands.”

“Huh?! H-Hands?!”

Andres was greatly bewildered by Aria’s statement that she carved Magnus’s Tear with her hands. And for good reason; Magnus’s Tear is a gem harder than ordinary stone, but more importantly, the idea of a person carving stone with their bare hands was absurd, causing Andres great consternation.

“H-How could you… with your hands….”

“Hmm… I infused divine power into my hands and carved it. It can be applied this way too. But why do you look so down? Is it because of this gem?”

When Aria showed Andres the Magnus’s Tear brooch and asked if that was why he was disheartened, Andres sighed deeply, nodded, and said,

“Sigh… Yes, that’s right. It’s a bit disappointing that I couldn’t obtain that highly valuable gem for research… But there’s nothing to be done. You, Holy Maiden-nim, struggled to obtain that gem. You said you obtained it for your beloved, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Hehehe… Imagining the joy on his face… I’m truly looking forward to it…”

“Hmm… Well then, that’s good. You fought so hard, after all. Perhaps he will understand your feelings, Holy Maiden-nim. Then, I wish you good luck with your love…”

“Ah, just a moment.”

“Hmm?”

The moment Andres was about to casually leave, blessing Aria’s love, Aria suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him. Andres then turned his head towards Aria, who had suddenly halted him, and was greatly flustered when Aria showed him the fragments remaining after carving Magnus’s Tear.

“Huh…? These are… fragments of Magnus’s Tear, aren’t they?”

“Take these if you need them.”

“Ahaha… There were leftovers… Huh? W-Wait… What did you say?! You’re telling me to take these?!”

Andres, who had thought Aria was going to show off the remaining fragments to him, was greatly flustered when Aria offered to give him the fragments. Then, with a trembling voice, he asked Aria,

“Isn’t Magnus’s Tear a highly valuable gem even in fragments!? Y-You’re just going to give these away?!”

“Yes. They are just fragments, but I wonder if even these can be helpful for your research?”

“Ah… no… Even a single fragment would be satisfactory… But aren’t there more than twenty fragments?! This is more than enough!! B-But are you really giving them to me!?”

“Yes. Take them.”

When Aria simply told him to take them, Andres bowed multiple times in gratitude and received the fragments of Magnus’s Tear. And upon hearing that story, I was greatly shocked. Ah… Aria… showed kindness… to someone else besides me?!

“You gave them as a gift?!”

“Yes~ Originally, I was going to sell the fragments and buy useful tools for Zeke-nim… but I just gave them as a gift.”

“You?! What got into you?!”

“Hmm… That person blessed my love~ Teeheehee… And he assured me that Zeke-nim would definitely like it. So I gave them as a reward.”

Th-There’s a reason, but… Aria showing kindness to someone else… And expressing gratitude for something not even related to my life… It seems the journeys we’ve shared continuously have had a good effect on Aria… Wait. But…

“This brooch… with your hands… No, you really made it with your bare hands…?”

“Yes~ Hoping Zeke-nim would like it….?!”

“Are your… are your hands okay?!”

Realizing that Aria had truly carved Magnus’s Tear with her bare hands to make the brooch, I grabbed Aria’s hand and worried about her. When I suddenly touched her hand, Aria became greatly flustered, and her face began to turn red like an apple.

“Ugh… Uwaaaah… Z-Z-Zeke-nim….?!”

“You didn’t hurt your hands while carving, did you?! Why did you carve it so dangerously?! I thought a tournament official lent you tools… Bare hands?! Hold still!”

“Ugh… Uwaaah… Th-Th-That’s… Uh-heheheh….”

As I continued to touch and examine her hands, Aria was overcome with shyness and embarrassment, nearly losing her composure. Only when Aria was on the verge of losing her mind, barely able to stand, did I observe her state and quickly let go of her hand.

“Ah, sorry. Anyway, there are no injuries. That’s a relief.”

“Z-Zeke-nim… worried about me… Uh-heeheeheeek….”

“Huh?! Hey!!!”

As I felt relieved, Aria collapsed, losing consciousness on the spot as if struck by a decisive blow. Seeing Aria fall, I quickly caught her and sat her down on a nearby chair. Then, I took out a book, fanned her head, and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“Hehehe… I feel… very good… Teeheehee…”

“….You seem fine… Anyway, it’s a relief there are no injuries on your hands. If you get hurt doing that kind of work, it leaves scars.”

“Th-That’s… with divine power, hehehe… I protected my hands… So they’re perfectly fine… Hehehehe…”

“….Alright, just rest until you regain your senses.”

Seeing Aria answer with a weakened, grinning smile, I put on a serious face. About ten minutes later, Aria was able to return to normal, and we began to leave Ruam again.

“Anyway… all sorts of things happened. I never imagined I’d meet my uncle here either….”

“Indeed… But what kind of person was Gid-nim? Since he’s a relative of Zeke-nim’s, I’ve become curious.”

“Hmm… He was someone who enjoyed traveling even when I was little. Sometimes he’d come back home and tell me about his experiences. And my uncle was also the one who taught me how dangerous the outside world was. After that, I trained my body.”

“Hmm~ Then he’s also someone who helped Zeke-nim’s dream come true. And… thanks to that, Zeke-nim and I could meet, so he’s a benefactor to me as well, isn’t he…? Hehehe…”

“I guess you could say that… Anyway, let’s go….”

“Oh? Isn’t that the Holy Maiden-nim?”

Just as we were about to leave the village, a soldier guarding the village stopped Aria and me. When we turned our heads, the soldier recognized the woman in the black Holy Maiden’s robes as Aria and said with a smile,

“W-Wow! It really is the Holy Maiden-nim! The powerful presence you showed during the tournament… It was truly magnificent! Even the spectators were captivated by your splendid appearance…”

“Is that so~ But what can I do for you?”

“Ah, well, this is the last village, isn’t it? So I was wondering where you’re heading next. Are you perhaps planning to go to another ‘end of the world’ village?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

When Aria said yes, the soldier made a troubled expression, took off his helmet, and scratched his head. As he started to ponder, I, bewildered by the soldier’s inexplicable reaction, asked,

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah, well… It’s not something generally known outside, but… recently, there have been villages that have stopped sending communications. *Gasp…* The terrain on the way to that area is too treacherous for our abilities to even enter. So I thought it would be good to inform you about this.”

“Hmm… I see. Then we will investigate. If there’s a safe village, we’ll ask them to contact Ruam… Is that alright, Holy Maiden-nim?”

“Of course~”

When I looked at Aria, saying we would investigate, she smiled sweetly and agreed. The soldier then let out a sigh of relief and said to Aria,

“Ah, thank you… Then please be careful, Holy Maiden-nim. And your companion too. As you know from coming here, in the Herlos region, the terrain is more dangerous than the monsters.”

“Thank you for your concern. Then… we’ve been a great bother.”

“Yes! Please come again, Holy Maiden-nim!”

When Aria said they had been a bother, the soldier waved his hand, seeing Aria and me off. As we got a little distance from Ruam… Uh… The terrain is dangerous, old man soldier…?

“…..Is *only* the terrain dangerous, old man soldier?!”

Less than 30 minutes after leaving Ruam, countless monsters welcomed Aria and me as we passed through the forest… No. They must have come to eat us… Basilisks, Garudas… and various other monsters… Why are there so many?!

“Oh my~ It seems meat will be plentiful today! I’ll go make dinner…”

“….”

Actually, what I was worried about wasn’t the number of monsters. No… or perhaps it was. To be precise, I wasn’t worried about the monsters attacking. What I was worried about was having to watch Aria dismantle all those monsters right in front of me. As I worried about what was to come, Aria hunted down all the monsters that blocked our path. Then, she turned around and said to me,

“Hehehe… I’ll prepare a delicious healthy meal again today~ Hehehehe…”

….If you’re laughing out of joy… please don’t turn around with such a blood-soaked, terrifying smile… And don’t laugh like that… It’s truly scary… And afterward, I watched with my own eyes as Aria butchered the meat.

‘*Sob… I guess I won’t be sleeping well tonight either….*’

“Hehehe… This part is for….”

When will Aria be able to cook normally? Well… it tastes good, but… I have to keep watching that scene for Aria to gain power, so there’s nothing I can do. I just… have to endure it, I guess….

“Ugh… Why is she so strong… Haha… Holy Maidens these days are all terrifying…”

“How did you know I’m a Holy Maiden? No… more importantly, how are you still alive? With those injuries.”

The Holy Maiden wondered how Gid, slumped against a tree in front of her, was still alive despite being covered in blood and having his left eye gashed. Gid then let out a hollow laugh and sighed, saying,

“Well… I suppose I’m not that weak… Anyway… what’s with that divine power… It’s too aggressive. Isn’t divine power originally meant for healing life?”

“That’s your prejudice. Anyway… how much do you know, Swordsman? Seeing as you know I’m a Holy Maiden, it seems you know something about us.”

“Haah… You really want an answer that badly? No… you won’t even try to listen, will you? Am I wrong?”

As Gid surmised that she didn’t want an answer, the Holy Maiden chuckled and grabbed Gid’s head. Then, with a chilling smile, she said to Gid,

“You… We truly dislike quick-witted people like you. For some reason, such people always notice our existence, no matter how careful we are.”

“Hah. As if… after acting so openly….”

At the Holy Maiden’s words, Gid let out a scoff and mocked her. The Holy Maiden then raised her hand high towards Gid. Afterward, the forest was filled only with the caw of crows.