The Way Back (1)

Mel, who had harbored hatred toward me, made her final attack attempt only to be struck down by Agnes’s Flame Storm.

As she was essentially one of the final bosses of the Humanities Exploration course, I would have liked to examine her corpse, but unfortunately, my body was no longer in any condition to do so.

Both physically and mentally, I couldn’t even take a step. Especially with my left leg, which had been pierced-it hurt so badly it felt like it might snap off.

I was truly experiencing what it meant to feel “pain so severe it feels like it might break,” so I deliberately averted my gaze from my left calf to avoid seeing it.

Looking at the wound would only make the pain worse, and unlike Ethan, I didn’t have the courage to cut off my own injured limb.

『Lilith has reached Level 33!』

…Guess I don’t need to check the corpse after all.

Given the level-up message that popped up in my head, it probably means Mel died from Agnes’s attack just now.

Even though I had leveled up not too long ago, gaining another level so quickly confirmed that I had indeed earned the experience for finishing off Mel.

‘So the boss fight is finally over…’

All that’s left now is dealing with the “trash mobs” surrounding us.

Fortunately, while my leg was broken, I still had some mana left, so I provided magical support fire from behind Ethan, who was busy fending off the bandits.

“Haa, n-no one’s getting past… past this point…!”

-Thud! Thud! Thump!

“Guh…!!”

“Cough, keugh…!!”

Bandits who had been clashing with Ethan collapsed after being struck by three Arcane Arrows fired from behind.

By now, Ethan must have realized our side of the battle was over. Of course, the same went for the bandits who had been facing off against Ethan and Sally.

“W-what the hell?! Why are spells flying all of a sudden?!”

“Damn it! M-Mel’s down! We’re screwed, damn it…!!”

“Fuck this, let’s get outta here! That crazy bitch is dead-how the hell are we supposed to take them on alone?!”

Terror spread among them as they dropped their weapons and fled in panic.

However, not all the bandits were complete idiots-some calmly assessed the situation and pointed out that my condition wasn’t great either.

“N-no, you morons! Look at that girl collapsed on the ground-her leg’s fucked up! She’s already half-crippled!!”

“That guy’s barely standing too! All we gotta do is take care of that little runt who could be either a boy or a girl-“

-Boom!

“Guhk, ugh…!!!”

“……What?”

“Damn it, she’s still kicking! Who the hell said she was done for?!”

“She’s dead now, so who cares who said it!”

But even those guys were stunned by Agnes’s crotch explosion, and in the end, the remaining bandits fled in disarray.

I would’ve loved to slaughter them all, but our condition wasn’t good enough for that-including Agnes, who had acted all composed while casting spells earlier.

“…Phew.”

-Plop.

Agnes, too, seemed to have used up the last of her mana with that flame explosion, as she finally slumped down only after confirming the enemies were gone.

If they had realized how weakened we all were, things could’ve gotten dangerous, so I mentally praised Agnes for handling it well.

“Good job, Ness-ssi. If it weren’t for your magic just now, I would’ve had to fight all those bandits alone in this state.”

“……Yeah.”

“You did great too, Dan-ssi. Since Ness-ssi and I were both tied up with that woman, you had to swing your sword alone the whole time.”

“…You’re the one who worked hard, Lis. I’m just glad we somehow pulled through. We should rest a bit and check on the Hero and the others-“

Ethan, who had sheathed his swords and was walking toward me where I sat on the ground, suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

…Probably because he saw the injury on my leg. Just like how I had been horrified seeing Ethan’s wounds before.

“L-Lilith?! Wh-what the hell happened to your leg…!!”

“It’s Lis here, not Lilith. Thankfully, there’s no one around to hear…”

“That’s not important right now! What happened to your leg?! What the hell hit you to make your calf pierce through and bend the other way-“

“P-please don’t describe it in detail. I’m already too scared to look at how bad it is, so I’m deliberately avoiding it.”

“…………Haa.”

Ethan’s face twisted at my request not to describe the wound, but he eventually let out a long sigh.

I had felt something similar just a few days ago, so I completely understood how he felt.

“Now you know how I felt when I saw your missing right arm, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then don’t get hurt next time. It hurts me too when you’re injured.”

“…You’re the one who’s hurt right now.”

“Of course it hurts when I get hurt. It’s not like I wanted to get injured either.”

“……Sorry.”

“Ah.”

Agnes bowed her head guiltily at my last remark, though I hadn’t meant to make her feel bad.

In any case, all three of us in the Mel boss fight were effectively out of commission: Agnes was mana-depleted, Ethan was exhausted, and I had a fractured left leg.

Even if two or three of us combined, we wouldn’t amount to one person’s fighting strength, so it was better to rest quietly here until Gyeotmwa Josyegigot’s battle ended rather than risk moving around in this state.

“Let’s wait here quietly until Volt-ssi’s fight is over. The bandits have already retreated once, so they won’t come back. None of us are in any condition to move around and risk running into more enemies.”

“…Yeah.”

“Right, Lis.”

“Ness-ssi, Dan-ssi. Could you both come a little closer to me?”

“…Huh?”

“……”

Though puzzled, Agnes crawled over while Ethan walked around and sat down beside me.

I wrapped my arms around both their waists and pulled them down to lie on the ground with me.

-Plop.

“Eek?!”

“…Lis?”

“Let’s stay like this until the others finish their fight. I was once a Saintess, so this should help both of you recover.”

“…Worry about yourself first.”

“Lis, you should really take care of yourself first.”

Listening to their concerns from both sides, I relaxed and gazed up at the night sky.

It took nearly an hour for the Hero’s party to finish their battle with Hankerton and reach us.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Guhk…!! Ugh…!! Gah, aaaaah…!!”

“W-wait, Lis-ssi…! Y-you shouldn’t move your leg…!!”

“Guhk, aah! Aaah! AAAAAH!! GYAAAAAAH…!!”

My screams echoed through Bridget Village in the dead of night.

I knew full well that my voice was loud enough to wake anyone sleeping, but I couldn’t suppress the unladylike shrieks escaping my mouth.

It wasn’t like I was being tortured by leftover bandits-this was entirely the pink-haired Saintess’s fault.

“Guhk, ugh, haaah…!!! GYAAAAAAH…!!”

A leg pierced by sharp tentacles, broken the other way by Sei’s whirlwind, and left untreated for an hour.

The more complicated the injury, the longer Celista’s divine power took to heal it-so naturally, my suffering lasted just as long.

“GYAAAAAAAH!! Aaah!! GYAAAAAAH!!!”

“L-Lis-ssi…! P-please calm down…! I-it’s almost over…! Just a little more, I promise…!!”

‘You said that five minutes ago, you quack Saintess!!’

Barely holding back blasphemous words, I was at my mental limit, so instead, unladylike screams kept bursting from my mouth.

If this had been a church, there would’ve been priests specializing in anesthesia to dull the pain, but here, there was nothing.

Receiving Celista’s divine power raw in the open felt like being burned alive by divine punishment, so of course, my screams were as intense as Guan Yu’s during his bone-scraping treatment.

‘At least Ethan isn’t here…’

Speaking of which, Ethan had disappeared with Gyeotmwa and Thomas long ago, right after my treatment began.

Since the injury was on my leg, I had to lift my skirt and remove my knee-highs and garter belt-not exactly something to show other men.

What was actually on display wasn’t anything lewd but rather me being restrained by Seraphine, Natalie, and Luke while being tortured.

Still, it was a good thing Ethan wasn’t here. Even he might’ve lost some affection for me if he saw my face right now.

“Just endure a little longer, Lis-ssi! Push through with your willpower!”

“GYAAAAAAH!! Guh! Gah!! GYAAAAAAAH!!”

“……Ugh. I-I can’t watch this anymore.”

And so, my screams alone echoed through Bridget Village’s makeshift infirmary for a while.

It took another five minutes before I could escape the pink-haired devil with the face of an innocent lamb.