269

Chapter 269 — If It Exists (7)

Cough.

It was barely on the verge of dawn.

A cough forced me awake.

Cough, cough.

My palm, which had instinctively covered my mouth, felt hot.

Drip.

That warmth flowed between my fingers.

Tap.

Blood stained the old blanket.

Ah.

It had been nice having so many people around again.

I gave a bitter smile as I looked at the damage per second, which had risen beyond what my regeneration could handle.

It was time to leave.

“Sorry. I thought I could stay for at least a few days.”

I gave a faint smile while slinging the luggage I used to disguise my Inventory over one shoulder and wrapping my cloak around myself.

In my other hand was a handkerchief soaked through with blood.

It had been covering my mouth and nose until moments ago.

The moment I announced that I was leaving, Sir Walter and all the knight candidates came rushing over in a commotion.

Their faces turned visibly dark.

“It seems the time I’ve been allowed isn’t that long.”

“…If you went to the Temple.”

Ah.

Absolutely not.

That would be a direct trip to death.

I swallowed the thought and merely smiled.

Apparently misunderstanding on their own, Sir Walter let the sentence trail off.

The knight candidates, who had heard the whole story of my supposed circumstances while we talked last night, reacted the same way.

The expressions on their faces—unable to bring themselves to stop me, yet equally reluctant to let me leave—were remarkably kind.

“Take a lunchbox with you.”

“Ah, thank you.”

In the meantime, Sir Walter’s wife handed me a packed meal with worry in her eyes.

The bag grew warm.

A warmth that would not last for long.

And yet one I would remember forever.

“Where will you go now?”

“I don’t know how much time I have left… but I thought I might see as much of the world as I can. I’ve already seen what I originally came here to see.”

Still, the performance had to remain perfect to the very end.

I stared through the window toward Chechebator, filling my gaze with lingering regret.

Thinking of Mom and Dad made it easier to put moisture into my eyes.

Ah, please.

I want to see you.

“…Or perhaps I’ll visit Münmunt. It probably won’t compare to this place… but it is still a city with a knight academy.”

I might have put a little too much emotion into it, but what could I do?

I tensed my eyes to keep myself from crying.

Liquid had already pooled over the whites of my eyes and blurred my vision, but somehow I managed to stop it from falling.

The world wavered.

“…I wish I had more time.”

The more this went on, the more I needed to change what I was thinking about.

To shake off the sadness, I remembered the day I had spent in Sir Walter’s home.

The warm, noisy dinner.

The night filled with the sound of snoring.

And my situation now, forcing me to leave almost as though I were being chased away before I had even had the chance to enjoy it properly.

Ah, damn.

That made me even sadder.

“It’s a shame.”

I wrinkled my aching nose and forced myself to smile.

But when I looked back at Sir Walter and the knight candidates, their faces were in even worse shape than mine.

“Young maaaan…….”

“Dear…….”

“Huuuuugh, this is too saaad…….”

No, I’m the one managing not to cry.

Why are you people crying?

Why are you the ones with tears and snot running everywhere?

The sheer absurdity made my tears retreat instantly—

Was that good?

Was it really a good thing?

I raised my handkerchief.

Ah.

Right.

It was soaked in blood.

I remembered what a mess my handkerchief was a moment later.

The hand that had risen went back down.

“May God’s blessing be with you…….”

“God would never turn away from someone like you. There will surely be a miracle.”

“Huuugh. Please stay healthy…….”

Uh.

God’s blessing would actually be a problem for me.

The moment a priest cast a blessing on me, it would be -1,000! Critical! and I’d be coughing up blood all over the place.

I tried to turn their well-wishes into a joke in my head and pressed my lips together.

Despite my carefully constructed mental retort, their sincerity still reached me in the end.

The rims of my eyes reddened once more.

“If I……”

Going to Münmunt would not magically create a path home.

So.

If.

If I found myself unable to return anytime soon.

If I grew tired of being alone…

Then……

Ring-ring-ring.

And bells rang.

“…Everyone, put on your armor and take up your swords.”

I had never heard this particular pattern of bells before.

And yet I knew what it meant.

My hands, which no longer held either a longsword or a Zweihander, slowly curled into fists.

* * *

Before departing Bemurchen, Deathbringer quietly looked over the party.

The Archmage.

Deathbringer himself.

That irritating Inquisitor.

Meister.

And the Inquisitor, who had stepped away for a moment.

How had exactly two more people joined to replace the two they had lost?

The people inside the party had changed, yet the total headcount had returned to exactly where it started.

He could not decide whether that was good or bad.

“Can this group even function?”

Still, compared to the preserved headcount, the party’s actual combat power had unquestionably plummeted.

Worry crept into Deathbringer’s eyes.

“Who knows…? I suppose that is something we will have to discover along the way.”

The Archmage answered quietly.

The vague phrasing, neither positive nor negative, only made it clearer that she too found the situation daunting.

“We don’t have anyone who can actually kill the demons.”

“Hmmm.”

Until now, most battles had proceeded with the Inquisitor protecting people while the Demon Knight and Berserk defeated the powerful enemies.

No single person could handle everything, so they had divided roles in a way that emphasized each person’s strengths.

But now that the Demon Knight and Berserk had both left at the same time, nobody remained to deal with the strongest enemies.

It might not matter immediately, but sooner or later it would have them screaming.

“Isn’t that what the Hero does?”

“…The scholar can’t handle both defense and offense at the same time, you know?”

Of course, if they truly had nobody else capable of attacking, they could make the Inquisitor do it.

Her abilities were simply better suited to defense; it was not as though she was incapable of attacking.

But then the problem would become the rear.

Deathbringer had no idea how long the back line could endure once the Hero’s protection disappeared.

“If only one powerful enemy shows up, that would actually be a blessing…….”

If something like the Bemurchen incident happened again and enemies flooded in from several directions at once, how were they supposed to handle it?

Could they survive while the Hero hunted the enemies one by one?

And what about all the other people who might be caught up in it?

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…It would be one thing if they could accept the damage and still win.

But if they suffered casualties and still failed, then what?

“…I will do my best as well.”

“It’d be wonderful if your best was enough.”

“…….”

Daniel had joined them, but Daniel was an ordinary Inquisitor.

A fighter on the level of an ordinary person, unable to kill even a lower demon in a single blow and incapable of standing against a giant monster.

Daniel could not possibly fill the gap left by those two.

Meister, whose only physical advantage was some extra strength from working as a craftsman and who had no talent for combat whatsoever, went without saying.

“We can just recruit somebody new. Isn’t that why we’re heading where we’re heading in the first place?”

“That’s true, but… you think it’ll be easy to find someone that strong……?”

In the end, they needed an expert.

Someone capable of at least half what the Hero could do.

“If people like that were lying around everywhere, we would’ve driven out all the demons ages ago…….”

But how common could people like that possibly be?

As far as Deathbringer was concerned, the scholar and Archmage meeting the Demon Knight, and then managing to recruit Berserk, had been almost once-in-a-lifetime strokes of luck.

Experts at that level were simply that rare.

“We really should bury the Temple after all…….”

By that point, he was once again cursing the Temple’s short-sightedness.

Did they have any idea how much damage could have been prevented simply by keeping the Demon Knight in the party?

Did those people actually have any intention of killing demons at all?

That was the sort of complaint going through his head.

“They’ve always been idiots.”

“Damn it…….”

“…I am still standing right here.”

“So?”

“…….”

Daniel, who had suddenly found the Temple being insulted in front of his face, wore an awkward expression.

Deathbringer could almost read the thought behind it.

Is protecting these people’s secrets really the right thing to do?

“…It is fortunate the Representative is not here.”

“I’d still say it if they were.”

“…….”

This time, both Daniel and Deathbringer ended up making sour faces.

How is that supposed to be a great master craftsman? That’s just a damn thug.

Despite their dreadful relationship, Daniel and Deathbringer became united in heart and mind for one brief moment.

“Has everyone finished preparing?”

In the meantime, the Inquisitor returned wearing a desolate expression.

Her eyes, changed into something like rotted, crumbling leaves, no longer held any light.

“Yes. Everything is ready.”

“And the others?”

“…I’m ready as well.”

Deathbringer had never imagined that their scholar, of all people, would ever have eyes like that.

His mouth felt dry enough that he wanted to pour water into it immediately.

If possible, he wanted to pour water over those eyes too.

If only he could wash away the despair inside them and bring back the stupid, stubborn scholar from before.

Deathbringer would gladly spend an entire night gathering droplets of dawn dew as a gift if that could accomplish it.

“…Me too. Yeah.”

But he knew this was not an emotion something so trivial could wash away.

So Deathbringer quietly gave his answer.

The Inquisitor glanced at him before turning away again.

“Then we will depart.”

Their destination was north.

* * *

“You should leave.”

“…What?”

“The bell ringing three times means the demons are gathering rather than attacking immediately.”

Since they were not charging in at once, there was still a chance to escape.

Especially considering the long walls stretched around the demonic territory and the terrain that made flanking attacks difficult.

“In situations like this, merchants who do not want to get caught in the fighting sometimes gather together and try to flee. It is dangerous enough that I would not normally recommend it… but you do not have time, so there is little choice.”

And with a group formed from several merchants…

They would probably be able to escape without much trouble.

Past cases proved as much.

Walter’s expression grew serious.

“So if you want to leave, move quickly. The moment there are signs that the demons are beginning their advance, the gates will close completely. There is no time.”

“But…….”

Clank.

Even while advising the young man, Walter put on his armor with his wife’s help and equipped his sword.

The knight candidates were nearly finished preparing as well.

The only people here who remained unarmed were Walter’s wife and the sickly young man.

“What are you hesitating for? Were you hoping to bury your bones here?”

“That’s not it, but…….”

“Then hurry. If you miss this chance, nobody knows how long the lockdown will continue.”

If Walter had his way, he would seize the young man, drag every hidden secret out of him, and shove him into the academy.

If the boy simply could not use Mana without coughing blood, Walter certainly would have done exactly that.

But he could not hold back someone whose lifespan seemed to shrink from moment to moment merely by staying alive.

All the more because whatever illness—or perhaps constitution—afflicted him could not be cured even though he possessed enough wealth to purchase magical items.

The kindest thing for that young man was to let him spend whatever life remained doing only what he wished.

With that thought, Walter took hold of his helmet.

“And realistically, even if you remain here, there is nothing you can do. Our primary enemies are ghouls and skeletons that burrow through the sand, and you are a swordsman poorly suited to fighting humanoid opponents.”

Click.

Once the helmet was secured over his head, Walter’s preparations for battle were complete.

Now it was time to run for the walls.

“I would like to tell you more, but… there is no time. You are an adult, so you can make the rest of the decision yourself.”

“…….”

“Farewell. I hope we can meet again.”

Walter gave the young man’s shoulder a couple of light pats, then looked toward the knight candidates who had finished preparing.

“We’re going!”

The young people who had endured grueling training with all their strength precisely for days like this looked back with firm eyes.

Eyes that might be dead and gone today.

Or tomorrow.

Or within the next few days.

“I’m off, dear.”

“Come back safely.”

But if possible, Walter hoped none of them would fall.

Every young life still breathing in this city.

Including that young man who vomited blood at the slightest thing yet still looked as though he wanted to throw himself into the battle.

“…If such a thing as luck without reason ever comes.”

And the wind blew.

“Then I’m sure it was drawn here by your kindness, Sir.”

Wheat-colored hair swayed gently.

Like a season of abundance just before the harvest.