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Chapter 324: If Only I Could (10)

At first, I had thought there was far too much, but as I ate, I ended up emptying most of the dishes.

Once again marveling at the size of this body’s stomach, I sipped the tea served for dessert. Perhaps they had considered how difficult digestion would be after overeating, because the tea felt light and refreshing rather than rich.

“I should be going now.”

“…You’re leaving?”

But before I had even finished my tea, the Archmage checked the time, started in surprise, and rose from her seat. She looked both as though she had urgent business and as though she had not expected it to grow so late.

“There is still work left to be done.”

Her next words made it immediately understandable. After all, the city still needed to be restored.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

I drained the tea I was drinking in one swallow and asked. I had been treated to such a delicious meal, and there was nothing to gain from sitting still. I thought I might as well do something.

“No. You should simply rest here.”

But the Archmage struck down my willingness at once. Her voice was firm enough to feel stern.

“But….”

“It is all right. You have more than earned the right to rest.”

“…Even so, simply doing nothing feels….”

I may have played the largest role in defeating the Great Demon, but the same was true of the Inquisitor. And she would still be working even now.

Then shouldn’t I work as well? Or did my unusual nature make them reluctant to accept my help?

“…No. I suppose it would be difficult for me to help.”

Come to think of it… the Inquisitor and I were in very different positions. She possessed many versatile skills such as healing and purification, while every last one of mine was devoted to combat.

So at most, I could serve as a substitute guard or patrolman… and that might provoke the Temple. My very existence tended to offend them, after all.

“It would be best for me to remain on standby rather than stir up needless trouble.”

Put simply, it was high risk and low reward. With that, I convinced myself there was a reason I had to remain here. “No….” The Archmage looked dumbfounded.

“Did you interpret my telling you to rest as concern over possible friction with the Temple?”

“…Was that not the reason?”

Huh? It wasn’t?

At my answer, the Archmage became solemn.

“That is not why I told you to rest. I told you to rest because you are in a condition where you must rest, and because you are someone permitted to do so.”

“But….”

Was it truly all right to rest when things were like this? At my hesitation, she pressed a hand to her head as though dealing with a troublesome person. Then she approached and seated me in the chair again.

Pourrr. My emptied cup was refilled with chilled tea.

“Now. Until a short while ago, you were a person driven to the edge of a cliff, and you have only barely escaped it. If we compared it to physical trauma, you suffered fractures throughout your entire body and ruptured internal organs, and have done no more than apply some bandages and medicine.”

“It-it is not that severe….”

“Be quiet and listen.”

The Archmage kindly lifted the newly refilled cup and placed it in my hands. She even made me hold it firmly in both hands, leaving me feeling like a child.

“I like your gentleness. I believe your warmth is wonderful to behold as well. And I find your nature—reaching out to others even when you yourself are suffering—more beautiful still. There are not many people like that in the world.”

Scrape. She also moved the table. It now trapped me between itself and the chair, so I would have to push it away if I wished to rise.

“But I do not believe what you are doing is right. Especially now, when you are helping others by wearing yourself away.”

She even drew the bowls of fruit and cookies prepared for dessert in front of me. Anyone watching might think I was greedily trying to eat everything alone.

“Did I not tell you once? The world exists because I exist, and only after I establish myself can I support others.”

Yet the eyes meeting mine were far too warm for me to refuse any of it.

“But as I see you now, you are caring for others without even establishing yourself. That is truly unhealthy.”

“…….”

“And so, I want you to rest. You have sacrificed and endured far too much until now. Just this once, I want you to spend your time wholly for yourself.”

I began to say something, then closed my mouth. Instead, I checked what the Archmage was rummaging through her clothes to retrieve. It was a sheaf of paper.

“I hear you enjoy drawing.”

“…You knew?”

“I have never personally seen it.”

Saying that she had only heard Deathbringer talk about it, the Archmage placed a pen she carried atop the sheaf. I had nothing to say.

“Whether you draw, ask someone to bring you a book and read… spend today in comfort. You enjoy bathing as well, so you could ask for a bath to be prepared.”

“…That seems like far too much luxury.”

“It is not excessive luxury. It is treatment that has come far too late.”

Lastly, she pushed the bell used to summon someone within my reach.

I glanced at it, then fidgeted with the teacup already in my hands. The cup filled with chilled tea was cool.

“Ah, or you could record on this blank paper all the hurts you could not bring yourself to voice. No, please do.”

“…I’m not sure.”

“If you do not want to, then it cannot be helped. In any case, the important thing is that you do what you want to do. Stop helping other people.”

Do not help others, but spend time for myself…? I blinked at the unexpected instruction. Rustle. My left hand left the teacup and swept across the sheaf of paper on the table.

“…Very well. I will try… doing that.”

“Good. That is a wise decision.”

The Archmage smiled as though relieved by my answer.

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“Did I somehow manage it…?”

After leaving the room where the Demon Knight—no, the Adventurer—was staying, the Archmage allowed herself a measure of relief. Contrary to the worst ending for which she had prepared herself, the situation had taken a better course than expected.

Of course, that outcome was only possible because the Adventurer had ultimately endured so much and shown them unparalleled generosity….

“Hmm.”

The Archmage sank into contemplation over the man who had only just managed to admit that he had been hurt. She had noticed it while speaking with Meister and Daniel, but he truly was in a dangerous state. The realization struck anew, and it stung.

“What should I do from now on?”

What pained her more was that there was so little she could do for him.

After all, what in this world could hold any meaning to a man dragged here against his will? Gold and jewels, honor, power—all would become useless the instant he returned to the place where he belonged.

Moreover, according to Meister’s speculation, finding him and repaying him after he returned home would be no easy task. 『That bastard doesn’t seem to be from this world, does he? Not when he casually talks about knowledge that doesn’t exist here.』 Traveling to another world to repay him presented technical difficulties far greater than any question of necessity.

Then should they fulfill something that might be called the Adventurer’s wish? Who knew whether he had anything that could be called a wish? Would returning his soul to its rightful place not be the best they could do?

But returning his soul to its rightful place was effectively less an act of repayment than something they were naturally obligated to do. The same applied to helping him spend the next nine years in peace.

All of those things belonged to what they should have done for him in the first place.

“Nine years….”

The problem was that very few people would be willing to do what they were plainly obligated to do.

“I do not know how the others will respond.”

Now that she had heard how painful fighting had been for him, she no longer had any intention of pulling him back into the party. But would the Temple accept that? Even if the Temple did, would the northern lords or certain Magic Towers leave him be? Would they not demand that he contribute to protecting humanity as the price of tolerating a Great Demon’s vessel?

“…No, perhaps that would be preferable.”

Of course, if such a thing occurred, she could answer them with the same reasoning she had used to persuade the dissenters on their own side. Viewed that way, perhaps hardship of that degree would be quite manageable. In fact, it would be the best possible outcome.

“Because if he decides to step forward himself, there will be no way to persuade him….”

Compared to the possibility that a man who could not sit still before another’s misfortune would ultimately endure his pain and volunteer, demands from others would be far better. At least those people could be persuaded.

So this was why they said it could be a problem for someone to be too kind. She recalled how the Adventurer had begun worrying about others the instant he released even a little of his grief.

The mere thought left her stomach burning and her chest tight. It did so even though it was not the Adventurer’s fault.

“Is this really the best I can do for now…?”

Given the circumstances, if he volunteered, no one would stop him. Even the Archmage herself wished he would not step forward, yet lacked the confidence to oppose him passionately if he tried.

She knew people would point fingers and call her shameless, but it could not be helped. With a high probability that something had happened at the Grand Temple, the Adventurer’s immense combat power was too valuable to relinquish.

And so, this much was the very best the Archmage could do.

Ensure the Adventurer properly enjoyed the rest he should have received long ago. Gather all the apologies owed to him and see that they were delivered. No longer doubt him, and accept every part of him.

Even knowing that, compared to what he had done, such things could not even be counted as repayment.

“O God, please look with mercy upon that poor man… Please, do not merely stand by this time. Do some work on your end.”

Therefore, she offered an irreverent prayer she would never have dared before. She did not fear in the slightest that God would inflict divine punishment upon her.

After all, the world was full of people who committed far worse blasphemies. Surely she would not be first in line for divine punishment.

By the time punishment reached her, the world would likely have become a clean place without demons or criminals.

If that could happen, the Archmage would gladly be punished for her irreverent remark. No—she desperately wished God would do even that much. Stop leaving all the work to humans.

“Hah….”

But God would never do so. The Archmage lamented that the Adventurer could hardly be blamed for his anger. In the meantime, her steps had nearly carried her to her destination.

“You’re here.”

“How is the situation?”

For now, she would consider the things that could not be solved immediately in due course. To help restore the city, she joined the people working with all their might. Her absence until late afternoon had been necessary, but she intended to work all the more diligently for it.

“Now that the purification zones have been finalized and the quarantines fully established, we need only treat the people in sequence and continue expanding the purified areas.”

“That is a relief.”

The administrators and mages had worked themselves ragged to account for the population, the soldiers had lost sleep carrying out the quarantines, and the priests had labored to the bone over purification and treatment. Their efforts had paid off.

The Archmage smiled faintly at the news that they now needed only to proceed with the work in order of priority.

“In addition, we have finally succeeded in establishing contact with the outside. We will likely receive news from beyond the city by tomorrow.”

“Is that so…?”

But that news was different. Worry immediately colored the Archmage’s face.

“I fear what news may be waiting for us.”

There were support forces that, because of the demon’s scheme, had been dispatched before the city even requested them. Muenmunt’s immediate future should therefore be safe. Even if its people did not hurry to spread word, reinforcements were surely already on their way.

“I only hope nothing terrible has happened….”

But when the situation was viewed from the opposite direction, the story changed.

The Archmage worried where outside the city the catastrophic news would come from and how vast its scale would be. She did not even consider the possibility that there was no such news. There were things in the world one could know with certainty on circumstantial evidence alone.

“Ah, yes. One of your companions said there was something they wished to consult you about….”

“One of my companions…? Do you mean Meister?”

“No, the Representative… Ah, it is not urgent. I was asked to say that you need only make time later.”

“Hmm. I understand for now.”

The Inquisitor? The Archmage wondered what reason the Inquisitor might have to seek her. Nothing came to mind. At most… there was the fact that despite her own contribution, the Inquisitor was still working without rest.

They were tolerating it because she possessed power they absolutely could not spare, but once the situation improved, they would have to make her rest properly as well. Still, it seemed unlikely that the steadfast Inquisitor would summon her over that.

“How am I supposed to beg that man for forgiveness…? I, I….”

“I-I don’t know h-how I’m supposed to….”

But when she encountered the Inquisitor and Deathbringer after finishing all her work for the day, the Archmage realized what she had failed to consider.

Their wrongs toward the Adventurer included not only judging him after seeing a single side of him, but directly threatening him. The Archmage slapped a palm over her face.

“…For the time being, it would be best if neither of you met him.”

Strictly speaking, she too numbered among those who had harmed him. But unlike the Inquisitor, she had never directly attempted to kill him. Moreover, if the Archmage withdrew, the only people left to tell the Adventurer to rest would be Meister or Inquisitor Daniel.

But how could she entrust this to either of them? Inquisitor Daniel had the right disposition, but his circumstances made it difficult to burden him with the task. And Meister’s temperament… made her wonder whether it would be possible at all.

Staring helplessly at a situation where every option concealed a trap, the Archmage offered what she believed was the best judgment available.

“You will have to meet him and apologize someday… but neither he nor the two of you seem prepared for it yet.”

Though uncertain whether her judgment was right, she postponed their meeting for the time being. May this bring about a better future. The Archmage prayed desperately to a god who did no work.