"Mm… I'm…?"
Opening her aching eyes, Ninya stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling—though in truth, it was the open sky.
She felt awful. Truly awful.
Fragments from before she fainted resurfaced in her mind. She remembered desperately squeezing out the last of her magic as she ran, pushing herself past her limits until she finally collapsed from complete depletion.
In her fading consciousness, she thought she saw three figures. One of them, a dark golden silhouette, reached out just as she fell and caught her in its arms.
After that, everything went black.
"Was I… saved?"
Ninya murmured under her breath, and a wave of relief washed over her.
She hadn't failed her companions. She had done it. She had survived.
Looking around, she realized she was lying on the ground, a thin blanket draped over her. Her blood-soaked clothes were gone, replaced with a pure black mage's robe.
Her wounds had completely healed. Aside from a lingering dizziness and the slight embarrassment of having had her clothes changed, she felt fine.
[Tap tap tap~]
The sound of approaching footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned toward the forest beside her. She knew her saviors had arrived.
"You're awake?"
"How do you feel? Here, have some meat broth."
Naohara, Herohero, and Momonga stepped out from the forest. Seeing that she was conscious, they spoke while handing her the food they carried.
"Thank you. Thank you for saving me."
Ninya accepted the broth and sipped it carefully. Her instincts told her these three were good people.
After all, what kind of villain would carefully clean her up, treat her injuries, and then speak so gently while offering her food? In Ninya's eyes, Naohara and the others were undoubtedly kind souls.
Yes—three great benefactors, like Angels.
"It's nothing. Helping someone in need is only natural."
The three exchanged subtle glances as they spoke, their expressions a little stiff. But Ninya, focused on her soup, didn't notice.
"Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
Momonga looked at her, seemingly restored to perfect condition, and asked with a hint of uncertainty.
"I'm fine. My head just aches a little. It feels kind of foggy."
"I see. That's good, then."
"The dizziness is probably just from overexerting yourself mentally. A good rest should take care of it."
"Mm."
Ninya nodded obediently. She also believed it was simply the result of prolonged mental strain and didn't give it further thought.
Behind them, Herohero nodded slightly as well. It seemed the resurrection had caused no issues.
[Message]
"Looks like there's no problem. No memory loss either."
Naohara spoke to the other two while casually sending Herohero a silly face emoji.
"It seems repeated resurrection on the same individual doesn't produce any adverse effects. I was worried something might go wrong."
Momonga chuckled softly. Their experiment appeared to be a success.
"That's a relief. After all, she's our great benefactor. And Blackie, be gentler with her."
Naohara grinned at Herohero, repeatedly spamming goofy faces into his mind to provoke him.
"Tch. I know. And Naohara, you're really annoying."
Overwhelmed by Naohara's relentless barrage of expressions, Herohero snapped irritably. The constant stream of images was giving him a headache.
…
Half an hour earlier, Naohara and the others had just finished a mission and were on their way to meet up with Aura and Mare to subjugate the legendary Wise King of the Forest. However, midway through their journey, they encountered the fleeing Ninya, forcing the trio to stop in their tracks.
"A human? And a kid?"
Seeing the child Naohara had lifted up, Herohero and Momonga both looked surprised. Since when had a human child been able to wander into a forest this vast?
"Looks like something happened. So, what do you think? Want to take a look?"
Naohara studied the figure dangling from his hand. There was something oddly familiar about her, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't recall where he'd seen her before. In the end, he gave up and turned to the other two.
He personally wasn't that invested. Whether they went or not depended entirely on Momonga and Herohero.
"Well, if we're talking in game terms, this should count as a side quest, right? I don't really mind. If you want to go, then let's go."
Momonga stroked his chin thoughtfully before replying. He wasn't interested in the human herself—only in the story she might bring. As for getting involved, he was indifferent.
"What does a human's life or death have to do with us? Why should we delay our adventure for a human?"
Herohero stared coldly at the child in Naohara's grip and spoke in a flat tone. He had no interest in the matter at all.
"That's a shame. I was actually pretty curious."
Naohara sounded a little regretful. He was still bothered by that strange sense of familiarity, but since both Momonga and Herohero had made their positions clear, there was no point insisting.
"Naohara, you're interested? I've got an idea."
Hearing that, Herohero's eyes shifted slightly as a thought occurred to him. He spoke with confidence.
"Oh? What kind of idea? Let's hear it."
"Herohero, sounds like you've come up with something good."
Naohara and Momonga both looked at him expectantly, curious to see what he had in mind.
Herohero took Ninya from Naohara's arms. With surprising gentleness, he raised a hand and placed it on her head.
Under their gaze, his palm reverted to its original form. Pitch-black slime oozed out, instantly engulfing Ninya's head. Accompanied by a faint sizzling corrosion sound, her head disappeared from their sight.
In her unconscious state, Ninya only felt her mind go blank before her consciousness was extinguished completely.
"Seriously? That's it?"
Naohara stared at Herohero, speechless. He had been expecting something clever—this was it?
"Herohero, you really know how to waste our expectations."
Momonga shook his head with a teasing tone. After Aura and Mare had left, he had used [Eternal Seal] again to reseal his forced composure, and his personality had become lively once more.
Neither of them commented on Ninya's head disappearing. After all, it was just the death of a single human. Not a big issue.
Naohara's principle was not to toy with life without reason. But this had a purpose—they wanted to know about her experiences. So he didn't object to Herohero's actions. At worst, they could compensate her afterward with a resurrection spell.
"You're the ones who had weird expectations. How is that my fault?"
Herohero looked at the two of them shaking their heads in disappointment and complained irritably.
"So tell me—don't you want to know?"
He gently placed Ninya's headless corpse on the ground, then crossed his arms and looked at them with a smug, disdainful expression.
Herohero knew the two of them inside out. He was certain they wouldn't be able to resist the temptation and would come running over to beg him soon enough.
"Ahem. Blackie, why are you acting so distant all of a sudden?"
"Herohero, you know me. I'm just a simple skeleton. I don't have any bad intentions."
Just as he expected, the moment they heard that, Momonga and Naohara immediately put on ingratiating smiles. They walked up to Herohero's sides with cheerful expressions and, in perfect sync, raised their hands.
One started pounding his back.
The other began kneading his shoulders.
"Not bad, not bad. Naohara, put some strength into it. What's with that weak effort? Didn't you eat?"
"And Momonga, what kind of shoulder massage is that? Do you even know how to knead properly?"
Herohero accepted their "service" with a blissful expression, throwing out the occasional critique. He looked completely at ease.
What he didn't notice was the gradual change in their eyes behind him. A killing intent slowly surfaced. The two exchanged a glance and gave each other a subtle nod.
[Dragon Power]
[Physical Attack Boost]
[Pain Amplification]
[Toughness]
While steadily pounding his back, Naohara quietly layered buffs onto himself. One after another, different-colored enhancements flickered into place. Unfortunately, the thoroughly relaxed Herohero remained oblivious, still running his mouth.
[Perfect Warrior]
[Physical Attack Boost]
[Pain Amplification]
[Chaos Blessing]
Momonga, still kneading his shoulders without a hint of change in expression, also began stacking buffs in silence.
He was preparing a little surprise for his friend.
Once both had finished applying their enhancements, they glanced at each other to confirm everything was in place—then simultaneously withdrew their hands.
"Why'd you stop? Keep going. I was even thinking of taking a picture."
Sensing them pull away, Herohero turned around, clearly unsatisfied. He hadn't enjoyed himself enough yet.
"Die."
"Sorry, Herohero. I didn't do it by accident. I did it on purpose."
[Heavy Strike]
[Knockback]
Herohero had barely turned his head when two fists smashed straight into his face.
A sharp burst of air exploded outward. The Rogue's outer skin was instantly blown apart by the combined force, revealing his original slime body beneath. The pitch-black mass rippled violently as it absorbed the impact.
"Damn it! You two have no shame—sneak attacking me?! You—!"
Before he could finish, Herohero was sent flying. His slime body shot into the sky like a lump of mud flung upward, disappearing from their sight, leaving only a furious, unwilling roar behind.
"Feels great!" ×2
Watching Herohero vanish into the horizon, Momonga and Naohara both felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. They looked at each other, grinned, and high-fived in perfect sync.
Nearby, Ninya's headless corpse had one arm lifted by the shockwave. Her fingers happened to curl into a thumbs-up, as if silently saying—well done.