The next day.
"Why are you here?"
"What? Does it bother you?"
"No, I can't exactly help but be bothered..."
"Hiss!"
"...No, it's fine. Please, stay as long as you like."
When I came to and opened my eyes, Lady Hestia was right beside me.
And she was glaring at me like she might devour me at any moment.
What kind of pressure and terror was this?
I was the patient, so why did I have to suffer something this unreasonable?
Was it all my fault?
No, it definitely was my fault, but... even so, I couldn't help making a flimsy excuse to myself that there really hadn't been much I could do about the situation at the time.
"Sigh."
Flinch!
At her deep sigh, last night's brutal smack to the back of my head flashed through my mind, and tension rose on its own.
Was she going to beat me again here, just like yesterday?
But unlike my worries, she only...
"Yesterday really did surprise me. Honestly."
After letting out that sigh, she merely wore a bitter smile.
Then she looked at me with concern and continued.
"I've been far too careless with you, mage... no, An. I thought that unlike little Bell-kun, you'd be fine by now, so I trusted you and left you to your own devices to some degree. I never imagined you'd be hurt this badly. I'm truly sorry."
"No, if you put it like that, it sounds like it's all my fault..."
"Then are you saying it isn't?"
"...No. It is my fault. Yes, yes. I've committed a crime worthy of death."
"I'm relieved that you at least understand that much. Only a little, but still. And in any case..."
I could feel her gaze carefully examining my injured body from head to toe.
Within that cautious look were deep sorrow, worry, and pity.
And I, too, felt newly... deeply sorry toward her.
After all, she was the benefactor who had cared for me in my childhood in this world, my foster mother in all but blood.
She was also the first person I had opened the walls of my heart to anew.
"I already saw you once last night, but you really are a mess. Worse than when you used yourself as a test subject because you said you needed it for some bizarre experiment back then."
"Back then I was still a hot-blooded kid. Since then, I've really reflected on myself and tried to keep things under control."
"That's what you call keeping things under control? Honestly, if you can't even talk properly..."
"Ahahaha."
"Hmph!"
At my careless laugh, Lady Hestia's flick to my forehead came down irritably.
But this time, unlike last night, it didn't hurt much at all.
It seemed she had held back somewhat, thinking of me as a patient.
Then she asked me about what would happen next, concern still in her voice.
"I've heard a rough version of the story from the others. It was that desperate and dangerous a situation, then?"
"Yes, well. You could say that."
"And the healing... can you fully recover?"
At her question, I fell into thought for a moment and finished my calculations.
Since it was reckless behavior I had already planned out in advance, it didn't take long.
"Hmm, I'm going to be in excruciating pain for a while, enough to make me want to die... but I think I can manage somehow. As you already know, Goddess, it's something only I can do, but in exchange it can restore almost anything as long as it's not too far gone."
"Honestly. What a reckless, foolish boy you are."
After saying that, she told me to rest, then stood up and left the tent.
But as she went, she left me with one more reminder.
"I've said this to you more times than I can count, but please don't overdo it. You're not alone anymore, not like back then. Keep in mind every day that there are more than a few people who would truly grieve if something happened to you."
At that, I nodded once with a serious expression and said I understood.
"I believe you."
With that short reply, she was gone from the tent entirely.
Watching her back, I made a firm vow once again.
From now on, absolutely...
"I won't get caught a second time."
...Well, it's not like I was lying.
Besides, lies don't work on gods to begin with.
In this world, there are things you simply can't help, no matter how you live.
And above all, didn't the pioneers of old always say it?
As long as you don't get caught, it's all good.
Hmm, that really is a famous saying no matter when you hear it.
So, for now, rest it is.
From what I'd heard, a number of people had been poisoned by monster attacks on the way back, so they were forced to stay here.
Once that was safely dealt with, they'd head back to the surface immediately.
I'd have liked Lady Hestia to tag along and go up with them too, but she stubbornly refused, saying she couldn't accept help from the Loki Familia, whom she personally disliked.
That part would have to be left to Bell-boy and Lili.
As for me?
Well, I'd come with them from the very start of the expedition.
And as you can see, I was a very serious patient, so the conclusion was that I'd return to the surface early and recover there.
In other words, I was completely free now.
I'm free!
"Let it go~ let it go~"
Hmm, thankfully I still seem to remember this part.
Not that I had the whole lyric memorized perfectly; I was just humming the bits I remembered.
Still, singing it after so long made me feel a little better.
What I'd forgotten, I'd simply forgotten.
I shouldn't cling to anything more complicated than that.
Yes, that was probably right.
As I was spending time alone in that lonely way, someone spoke up.
"May I intrude for a moment?"
"Hm?"
Another uninvited guest had arrived.
I turned my gaze toward them, and sure enough, a familiar face came into view.
"Firvis?"
"How is your body?"
"Well, more or less."
An unexpected visitor.
But I greeted her with an expression that said I didn't mind much at all.
That was less because I trusted the Loki Familia members guarding the area and more because her face looked considerably calmer than it had when we last met.
Of course, I couldn't be 100 percent certain.
Still, I felt that whatever she did now, it would be fine.
In short, it was just intuition.
"So, what brings you here?"
"I came... to thank you."
"Hmm, thanks, huh."
"Is that strange?"
"Of course. More importantly, how about it? Right now, you could probably kill me as easily as smashing a sugar candy. Why not give it a try?"
"There's no need to test me with pointless provocation. I'm being sincere now."
"Oh?"
I looked at her with great interest.
For some reason, Firvis averted her eyes slightly.
Was there something else bothering her?
Well, it wasn't something I needed to worry about right away.
"Come to think of it, I don't see the other one. Where did she go?"
"To Lord Dionysus. She probably has... plenty on her mind as well."
"You say that like she's someone else entirely. In the end, she's still just one person."
"That's... No, I can't keep avoiding it anymore, can I? Yes, that's right. I'm still thinking it over."
At my words, she nodded obediently without any sign of denial, and gave me her agreement.
It seemed the dark cloud that had been tormenting her for so long had faded quite a bit.
For me, it was a somewhat unexciting development... but I still had to admire how quickly she had grown mentally.
Or perhaps that was the true nature of the elf called Firvis.
Maybe she was a woman far stronger than I had imagined.
Well, there were still plenty of gaps in her armor, so I'd have to keep watching and see how things went from here.
"But it's fine. I think it's fine. I just need a little more time to sort out the lingering regrets I have left. It may not seem like much... but I was only able to seize even that small chance thanks to you. Thank you, truly."
"Well, I wonder what you're talking about?"
"...What a strange person."
With that, a faint smile appeared on her face.
At that fleeting brilliance, I found her expression quite lovely.
As expected, a beautiful woman's smile is excellent nourishment for the eyes.
And tears are, of course, the finest nectar.
Also, the source of that knowledge was a singer, Onore.
"Can your body recover?"
"Yeah."
"I see. Then I'm relieved."
After saying that much, Firvis stood up, saying she would head back now.
She had shaken off some of her lingering regrets.
But she was still wandering through the regrets that remained.
I wondered what path her future would take from here.
"Then rest. I'll be going now."
"Firvis."
As she was leaving, I offered her my own thoughts, which had come to mind, as a kind of advice.
Such meddling shouldn't be a problem at this point.
"You're going to keep agonizing over this from now on. No matter which choice you make, you'll probably keep regretting it even after you die."
But don't ever give up halfway through.
At my words, Firvis stopped just as she was about to step out of the tent.
For some reason,
I had the feeling she was crying right now.
"Still, since things have come to this, keep living. Make it so that when the moment comes and you face death at the very end, you can close your eyes satisfied, thinking, 'Well, I did what I could.'"
"...Yes. Thank you. I'll keep it deep in my heart."
And with that, the story between the two of us truly came to an end.
After this, it would probably continue on the surface.
I wondered which path she would choose then.
"Haa, I'm tired."
We had only talked for a little while.
But my body was in such terrible shape that even that much left me exhausted.
So now I really needed to sleep and rest.
After dozing off again, when I opened my eyes once more...
Zzzzz...!
"Huh?"
For some reason, Lefiya was glaring at me with a murderous level of caution.
What the heck!?
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