253

Chapter 253 — What If (1)

Unable to overcome the Grand Chieftain’s persuasion, I decided to stay until I could find some secret measure to break through the situation.

Following the plan the Grand Chieftain had devised, I pretended to leave and settled in an uninhabited region.

“I have prepared some things you may find useful while staying here. If you are lacking anything or find anything inconvenient, please tell us without hesitation.”

But….

Are you kidding me?

Hey, you said we weren’t leaving evidence behind!

“This is not what we agreed upon.”

“Do not worry. These were removed without anyone noticing, and there is absolutely no chance of us being discovered. Please use them freely.”

What are you even talking about?

Something that’s supposed to be there is now gone. How is that supposed to go unnoticed?

No matter how carefully they tried to cover it up, the very fact that something had been taken meant there was always a chance someone would notice.

“I will not accept them. Take them back.”

The only people who knew I was still here were the Grand Chieftain’s most trusted confidants, but even so.

Weren’t these people being way too bold?

Didn’t it occur to them that even letting me remain here in the first place was already a gamble?

Wondering whether I was the only person worrying this much, I exercised my veto while feeling as though my insides were turning over.

“But….”

“If you do this again, I will leave this place.”

“…Understood.”

Fortunately—or perhaps not—the other party yielded meekly at my growl.

Eight pupil-less eyes narrowed.

“Even if you cannot accept everything, might you accept at least a little? If the Mountain Lord and the Grand Chieftain learn that you refused absolutely everything, they will both be deeply disappointed.”

No.

Had they really yielded at all?

What if this was what they’d been aiming for from the start?

I wondered whether I should reject this too, or whether I should accept at least that much, since I could already picture the Mountain Lord coming over and whining at me.

There was only one answer.

“…I’ll take food and medicine.”

I should accept those.

Having the Mountain Lord come complain about why I hadn’t taken anything would be way too annoying.

“I do not need healing medicine.”

“…Then.”

“…This will suffice.”

Besides, there was also the shrewd calculation that consumables like food and medicine would probably be easier to conceal once they were gone.

And though I didn’t say it aloud, those were also the two things I needed most desperately right now.

Damn it, never mind my abysmal fire-making skills. There were way too many bugs in this forest.

“Yes.”

I couldn’t hide my suspicion as the other party suddenly began beaming.

I feel like I just got played….

Still, I couldn’t exactly take back what I’d already agreed to accept, so I simply took each item as it was handed over.

My empty inventory began filling again.

“If any problem arises, please call for us at any time.”

“Do not come back again.”

I won’t call.

I absolutely will not call.

Why the hell would I?

Grumbling like that, I turned away.

Just in case, we had arranged our meeting place some distance away from the campsite.

For reference, the way we arranged meetings was also indirect: one side would leave a note with a proposed date, then the other side would read it and come stand here on that day.

Meaning that if someone happened to miss the note, the meeting simply wouldn’t happen.

Which was exactly what future me intended to do.

Crack.

Anyway.

The bark beneath my foot crumbled slightly where I stepped instead of soil.

Not because I had stepped particularly hard. The trees around here were simply ancient.

When even the roots alone of these giants exceeded two meters in diameter, that said enough.

The problem was that as those trees grew however they pleased, their roots tangled together and formed winding rises and hollows as tall as I was.

Add the springs and waterfalls flowing between the trees, plus the slippery moss, and it became very obvious why so few people came through here.

Seriously, the terrain was fucking brutal.

This was not somewhere anyone would enter just to collect medicinal herbs or mushrooms.

“Haa.”

Of course, that was precisely why I could rely on it as a refuge.

Grateful for the vicious terrain, I stopped in front of a rotten tree.

This enormous tree was so large that even twenty grown adults around 180 centimeters tall might barely manage to encircle it, yet for some unknown reason, its trunk had snapped and was rotting away.

But the true value of this rotten tree wasn’t its majestic appearance.

If you slipped through a strangely placed gap in its interior, it connected to a wide-open cave.

“…I wonder how the Mountain Lord even found this place.”

Praising the Mountain Lord for arranging such a location, I slipped inside the tree.

Every time I braced a hand against the wall, I felt soft moss beneath my palm and tiny rivulets of water flowing through it.

“Finally. Home….”

And before long, the dark passage became stained with blue light.

I relaxed.

The range covered by luminous moss and glowing mushrooms matched the cave’s boundaries almost exactly.

In other words, I had finally reached my hideout.

“Ah, I’m tired even though I haven’t done anything.”

And so I muttered a phrase I used to live by whenever deadlines were crushing me.

My legs, hilariously enough, were already carrying me faithfully toward the bed I had prepared in one corner of the cave.

Well, I called it a bed, but in reality it was nothing more than moss and leaves spread over the ground with a hide placed on top….

Still, in an environment like this, even that was probably a luxury.

When I left—or rather, pretended to leave—it had been worth shamelessly accepting all the bundles the priests packed for me.

Rustle, rustle.

“…Ah.”

And it had also been a good decision to bring insect repellent back today.

I hauled my exhausted body upright and reached into my inventory.

Stink bugs, weevils, earwigs, and cockroaches were one thing, but horseflies, ticks, ants, and fleas were driving me insane.

Apparently the fact that mosquitoes didn’t exist in this world wasn’t something I should have celebrated.

“Die, you spawn of Satan.”

I shoved handfuls of insect-repellent herbs into the small fire I had made—which had taken me… a while to light.

Bugs, please give up on living with me.

As though to refute my wish, smoke began curling upward.

“Khk, pfft.”

Ugh.

I’d been prepared for it, but it was pretty harsh.

Instead of forcing myself to endure it for the sake of staying in character, I coughed freely and waved my hands around.

Even though the cave had plenty of ventilation holes—which was only natural, since this wasn’t a cave made of stone but one formed by tree roots—the acrid smoke did not disperse easily.

I’m not going to suffocate like this, am I?

With tears from the irritation hanging roundly in my eyes, I forcibly curled the fingers that wanted to scratch at my legs.

Experience had taught me that if I simply left the bites alone, the swelling and itching would vanish within an hour.

And for the record, that was only possible because of my high regenerative ability.

It wasn’t because the insects here were weak.

The Inquisitor and Deathbringer had suffered plenty while we traveled along the main road.

Right.

One of them had no way to prevent insects from approaching, and the other had no power capable of instantly healing a bite, so every day had been a war.

They had eventually gotten so sick of it that they compromised by lending each other their abilities….

Read only on MUGEX

“Hmm.”

I swallowed a low groan at the memories surfacing for the first time in a while.

Considering I’d been so preoccupied with my own circumstances that I’d completely forgotten about them, the weight they carried now felt far too heavy.

“…I wonder if they’re doing all right.”

I lay back down on the bed and sank into thought.

Things like what the four of them might be doing by now.

Whether finding out that I had left had shocked them badly.

Whether they had decided to chase after me.

And if they had, what feelings had formed the basis for that decision….

Thoughts like those.

“Now that I’m gone, they’d better be eating some meat too.”

There was a little worry mixed in.

If the Inquisitor and Deathbringer fought again, who would stop them this time?

And who was going to deal damage in the raids that would come later?

Would Berserk and Weapon Master’s damage output really be enough to cover the gap?

Or would they recruit Meister or someone and somehow make up for what was missing?

That was roughly the kind of thing I worried about.

“Ah, right. The Great Sage and Meister.”

In the process, I occasionally remembered things I had completely forgotten.

The most obvious examples were Blue Coral and Meister.

“I hope neither of them got hurt too badly because of this….”

It was true that both had helped me, directly or indirectly, but I still hoped they hadn’t suffered for it.

Especially Meister.

Meister had certainly helped me, but saying that assistance had materially affected my escape felt far too ambiguous.

“…What the hell? I was already acting plenty selfishly.”

But even if they had ended up suffering for it, there was nothing I could do.

More than that, the version of me from back then would have made the same choice even if I had known they would take a hit.

Just like them, who, no matter what they thought of me, would ultimately place the greater cause above me.

Yeah.

Just like someone who had no choice but to put the greater cause first.

At the very end of everything, I was also someone who could do nothing but put myself first.

“…….”

That realization didn’t suddenly make me hate myself.

Nor did the opposite choice make me feel bitter or hurt.

Of course not.

Even spouses, even parents and children, sometimes found themselves agonizing over a lifelong goal and the person they loved.

Who was I, and who were they, that we should place another person above ourselves?

There wasn’t even anything between us in the first place.

“Ah.”

But.

But….

“Maybe I should’ve at least left a note saying I was sorry.”

I did feel that much regret.

Not regret that I had placed them low on my list of priorities, nor regret that I had left without a moment’s hesitation.

Just the simple regret of, I should’ve at least left them a few words.

Leaving one sentence behind wouldn’t have explained my actions.

It wouldn’t have reduced my guilt either.

“…….”

Damn it.

I didn’t know anymore.

Thinking about it now wasn’t going to rewind time.

I spent a long while chewing at my lips before abruptly letting all the strength drain from my body.

Grrrrr.

My stomach, which had been fed far too well over the past few weeks, growled right on schedule.

My depressed mood instantly turned into sheer disbelief.

“I’m hungry even at a time like this… Then again, I was hungry when my leg got shattered too….”

But I didn’t particularly want to eat.

Even though I knew that the times when I least wanted to eat were precisely when I needed to take the best care of myself.

I really didn’t want to eat.

I simply closed my eyes.

Maybe it was because there was no stove.

It was a little cold.

* * *

“Inquisitor.”

In the Archmage’s opinion, hierarchy was fairly important in group life.

It made no difference whether the group itself had a vertical atmosphere or a horizontal one.

At the very least, the person with final decision-making authority needed to possess authority befitting the top of that hierarchy.

Otherwise, the group could not endure for long.

It was a lesson her long life had taught her.

“He did make the request under those conditions, but… what do you think, Inquisitor?”

For that reason, the Archmage carefully addressed the one who had finally been granted some time to rest.

She knew the question would interfere with the young Inquisitor’s rest, but there was no other choice.

Certainly, she was respected because she was the elder, and she had been granted the right to advise because she was a Sage.

But how could that possibly grant her the right to overstep her authority as well?

Selecting personnel belonged solely to the leader.

And the center of this party was none other than the Hero.

The Archmage could remonstrate and offer counsel, but she could not become the captain of this journey. How could she make such a decision on her own?

“Will you accept his request?”

Thus, despite the Inquisitor’s gaunt cheeks, she forced herself to ask for an answer.

“Please give me a moment to think.”

The sunken green eyes asked for a little time.

Even though the Archmage had summarized everything as much as possible, the story had still grown rather long.

Perhaps it was continuing to complicate the Inquisitor’s thoughts.

Of course it would.

“…God delivered an oracle to me recently.”

“…Pardon?”

That, however, was completely unexpected.

The Archmage froze in surprise, while the Inquisitor lowered her gaze.

At that oddly dazed movement, the Archmage’s voice, which had been about to rise, sank again.

“May I ask… what kind of oracle it was?”

“He told me to go north and seek the answer.”

“North….”

“And lastly, He told me to… hmm. Send back the one who has lost their way. I’m not certain whether interpreting it that way is correct, though.”

If an oracle had been received, it was right to inform the Temple.

Yet the Inquisitor’s next words instinctively brought someone to the Archmage’s mind.

“It carried a meaning that, depending on how you interpret it, might also be translated as either… ‘kill’ or ‘save.’”

Could this… perhaps be an oracle directed at someone they knew?

Of course, there wasn’t a single word in it specifically connected to that person, and the possibility that it wasn’t was probably higher.

Even so.

“…It has been a long time since God gave such ambiguous words.”

Separately, this was also the first time she had encountered an oracle that demanded multiple different words to convey its meaning.

The Archmage paid considerable attention to that fact as well.

“Normally, regardless of the words used to phrase an oracle, once summarized, it would always converge on a single meaning….”

After all, while divine oracles themselves were exceedingly rare, the oracles that did arrive usually left little room for interpretation.

That had been true when God announced the demons’ invasion.

It had been true when the nine commandments became the Ten Commandments.

It had even been true when the Hero was chosen.

The God of this world did not enjoy having His will interpreted in multiple ways.

“And the ‘one who has lost their way’ mentioned earlier is vague as well. Even the description of being ‘lost’ leaves far too much room for interpretation….”

The fact that the message could split into three completely different meanings was strange enough.

So was the fact that no one could immediately tell who the subject was simply from hearing it.

This oracle was remarkably unusual.

The Archmage grasped her chin as she pondered that fact.

A claw she had forgotten to trim, sticking out sharply, pressed into her cheek.

“Do you truly think so? The moment I heard what you just told me, Archmage, I instinctively knew who it referred to.”

The skin hidden beneath her fur was scratched by the claw, and a bead of blood slowly welled out.

“…Inquisitor.”

“Once our business here is finished, I will go north. And I… do not mind Inquisitor Daniel joining us. However, tell Daniel that ensuring there are no problems with the Temple he belongs to is his own responsibility.”

“…….”

Hearing the Inquisitor’s dry voice, the Archmage touched the cheek that had begun to sting.

Could this be undone?

“I will be the one to report the oracle to the Temple. Until then, please pretend you know nothing. If they hear of it first, they will certainly press us to depart as soon as possible.”

Could this get better?

“…Understood.”

…Was she going to fail again?

In the end, the Archmage left without saying another word.