"Good morning."
I awoke to a voice. My eyelids were heavy, and it felt like my body
remained asleep.
"Big Brother."
Ruti's red eyes hovered over my face.
"Good morning, Ruti."
"Good morning…" Ruti looked at me and nodded. "Tisse will make
breakfast today, so you can take it easy."
"Hngh. No, I can make breakfast like I always do…"
"You're really exhausted. You have to rest today," Ruti declared. She
wasn't going to budge on this.
"Okay, I understand… Can I at least help a little?"
"No."
With nothing else to do, I looked at the ceiling while lying in bed.
There was nothing of particular interest up there.
"Phew…"
The drowsiness hit me instantly.
Normally, this would have been unacceptable. I'd trained myself to
wake instantly at the first sound of an enemy's footsteps, no matter the
environment.
Yet here I was…bedridden and about to pass out again from
overexertion.
"So this is what it's like without any kind of endurance-modifying skill."
I was the Guide. I was born with a blessing level of 31, and I started
taking skills the moment I was aware of that. A life without skills was
completely new to me.
"Ruti told me to rest, so maybe I should just sleep a little more."
I gave in to the drowsiness and closed my eyes.
As I dozed off, I thought about the recent adventure.
After the battle with Demis was over, we returned to camp, and I told
everyone what I'd learned. Then we went through the spoils we'd taken
from the facility.
Speaking with the first hero had been a shock, but it hadn't changed all
that much. He'd validated our chosen way of life, so there was no reason to
question ourselves.
Before we left the ruins the next day, I returned the Sacred Avenger to
its original resting place. Despite being the Hero's sword, it was quite
dangerous for the Hero to wield. Van would carry one of the holy blades
made by ancient humans instead. It was a mighty sword that would
undoubtedly delight Cardinal Ljubo.
With Ruti's Holy Demon Slayer broken, Van's weapon was now the
strongest in the world. It would lead him to victory against the demon lord's
army.
We decided not to tell Ljubo what happened in the ruins. What we
learned there was enough to turn the world on its head. We told him that it'd
been an adventure to find equipment the ancient elves left for the Hero. Esta
and Van did an excellent job of convincing him.
That brought the whole incident to a nice, neat conclusion.
A lot happened, but it was a good adventure.
Firewood crackled from some other room.
There was a mouthwatering scent.
A chikuwa stew for breakfast?
"Redddd!"
"Gyah?!"
I'd been comfortably enjoying sleeping in when something small
forcefully kicked my nose. I held it and rolled out of bed from the sudden
shock.
"Oh? I didn't think you would take that much damage."
"Lavender…my skills aren't working, so I'm weaker."
"Hmph. It was pretty funny. Can I do it again?"
"Absolutely not!"
Lavender had come flying in and kicked me. What was this all about?
"Well, it's a short errand, so I'll leave soon."
"A short errand?"
Apparently, she had some business with me. Here I was thinking she'd
kicked me for no reason.
"You saved Van from Demis… Thank you," the fairy mumbled.
"Oh? Never thought I'd hear that from you."
Were pigs going to fly next?
"Here, this is for you. As thanks for saving Van."
Lavender threw a stone the size of a fingernail at me.
"Oh!" I frantically moved to catch it. My reflexes were dull, and I
almost missed. Opening my fingers, I saw a jewel resting on my palm.
"Is this…a blue sapphire?!"
"Shh! Not so loud!"
Lavender raced to cover my mouth.
I nodded.
"You understand? Good. If Rit heard you, it would ruin the proposal
she's been waiting for."
"How did you—?"
"I've said it before. With a word, I can get gold or jewels or whatever
else I want."
She had no qualms about leaning on her archfay privilege.
People who had to serve high-ranking types like her usually had it
rough. As a former knight, my stomach ached a bit.
However, the best thing to do was be glad for the gift.
A blue sapphire really did suit Rit's sky-colored eyes.
I'd journeyed to the Wall at the End of the World and fought a gem beast
to get a blue sapphire for Rit's ring. Ultimately, the monster ate all the
jewels, though, so I was never able to get one.
"I finally got my hands on a blue sapphire."
The time had finally come.
Wide-awake now, I slipped the jewel into an interior pocket of my shirt.
Clothes for adventurers were always made with such pockets, which
thieves couldn't reach. Removing objects from them was difficult, but they
were perfect for storing something precious you received from a client or an
item you wanted to keep on you at all times.
"Good morning, Red!" Rit greeted me cheerfully.
"Good morning, Rit."
"Hmm? You must still be tired. You seem a little different from usual."
"Ha-ha, it's probably just because my blessing is weakened. Though, I
am pretty tired, too."
The biggest reason was the thing in my pocket…
I had to make sure she didn't find out.
Her knowing wouldn't really be a problem. I'd already told her my plan
when we went out hunting for gems before…but I still wanted this to be a
surprise.
"Ah, good morning, Red."
"Good morning, Tisse, Mister Crawly Wawly."
The spider on Tisse's head raised his right foreleg in greeting.
"We were just setting out breakfast," Tisse said.
"I'm here, too." Ruti waved to me while holding plates from behind
Tisse.
So cute.
"Today, I made an oden-style stew using Oparara's chikuwa, along with
some chikuwa bread," Tisse declared.
I regarded the statement dubiously. "Chikuwa bread?"
"It's delicious," Tisse replied, brimming with confidence.
She and Mister Crawly Wawly had both taken the Cooking skill. And
they had talked with Oparara a lot. The food they made was sure to be tasty.
I couldn't help chuckling a bit at how the bread looked with the chikuwa
sticking out of it.
Tisse didn't show it much, but she had a sense of humor. This kind of
food suited her well.
""Thank you for the meal.""
After eating, everyone helped clean up the dishes.
I wanted to pitch in, but I was told to rest again. Thus, I remained sitting
in my chair and leisurely sipped tea.
It had been a delicious breakfast.
"This is relaxing…"
I never would have expected Demis himself to show up. Thinking back,
it was incredible that we managed to make it out alive. Paired with the fight
against Van, that was two battles that were bad for my heart paired back-toback.
But that was over now!
With Veronia aiding humanity and Van the Hero joining the fight with
the Vendidad, the idea of driving the demon lord's army from the continent
seemed very plausible.
Van was sure to leave his mark in history as a grand hero. My job as the
Guide was done.
"Now then, I need to refill the medicine stocks that were depleted while
we were away," I said.
"You can do that tomorrow!" Rit shouted as she returned from putting
away the dishes. "There are other apothecaries in Zoltan, so you don't have
to push yourself!"
"Well, there's no sickness going around, and no monster swarms have
popped up recently, so I guess you're right."
Preparing medicine would be difficult without skills.
I'd compensated for a lack of dexterity with a wealth of practical skills,
and now that they were weakened, I wasn't much good at work.
"Yeah, it's probably better if I just rest," I said with resignation.
"Right." Rit beamed.
"That's enough," Ruti agreed. "You worked really, really hard, Big
Brother. You should take a day to recover."
"Ruti, Tisse, the breakfast was great," I praised.
"I'm glad you liked it. Chikuwa truly is magnificent." Tisse's relatively
expressionless face looked proud.
How was it that she ended up loving chikuwa so much? Oden was
eastern cuisine and not popular enough to have spread across the continent.
Perhaps a grand adventure had led her to discover oden.
"I'll watch the shop. These past few days, I've gotten good enough to be
dubbed the shop's poster girl," Ruti said.
I cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Leave it to me."
Ruti was on fire. What happened while we were at the ruins?
I was a little sad that I hadn't been here to see her growth.
"Wait a second, Ruti! It's Red & Rit's Apothecary, so I'm the poster
girl!" Rit protested.
Ruti just shook her head at the complaint.
"You're more like the lady of the house than a poster girl."
"…Who said that?"
"Gonz."
"Gonz, huh?" Rit was smiling, but she looked furious.
Farewell, Gonz. It was nice knowing you.
"I feel bad that you're both working while I do nothing." This was
possibly the first day I'd taken a day off alone since Rit moved in.
What should I do?
As I pondered absentmindedly, Mister Crawly Wawly hopped on my
shoulder.
"Hmm? What is it?"
He spun his front legs with a rousing look on his face.
"Mister Crawly Wawly says he'll guard you if you're going out," Tisse
translated.
He's worried about me because I'm weakened?
Taking a day off with Mister Crawly Wawly didn't sound too bad.
"All right, Mister Crawly Wawly, I'm counting on you."
His body swayed as though to reply, "Leave it to me."
The store opened, and Mister Crawly Wawly and I headed out together.
I'd been down underground for a few days, and it felt like summer had
arrived while I was away.
I could already hear the bees buzzing as I strolled through the
neighborhood.
"It sure is hot," I muttered.
Mister Crawly Wawly peeked his head out from my clothes and nodded.
At first, he rode on my head, but apparently, it was too hot up on my black
hair with the summer sun beating down.
Were I in his position, I probably would've hidden, too.
"Big Bro Red!" called a child.
"Hey, Tanta."
It was Gonz's nephew, the half-elf Tanta. He beamed brightly.
"It feels like it's been forever."
"I was out for a few days."
"I went by your store a bunch of times, but you were never there."
"Sorry, sorry. There's been a lot to do lately. But that's all taken care of
now."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll keep my promise to get a boat so we can
have fun."
"It's not just that! There are more things I want to do with you, too!"
Tanta grumbled angrily.
Over the course of the Van incident, I'd gone to Sant Durant, a fairy
village, and the underground ruins. I'd been away from Zoltan a lot. And
this time, I'd left without saying anything, since it was too hard to explain
why Red the apothecary was going on an adventure with Van the Hero to
explore ancient ruins. That's probably why Tanta was so upset.
"In that case, do you want to play some now?" I suggested.
"Can we? You don't have an errand to run?"
"I'd planned to visit Mogrim, but that can wait until the afternoon. I left
Rit to run the shop while I take the day off."
"Ohhh! I thought you never did anything without Ms. Rit." He looked
genuinely surprised.
"Do we really spend that much time together?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
There wasn't much I could say when the kid nodded that seriously.
"So what should we do?" Tanta asked.
"What do you want to do?"
"Let's talk about how to renovate your store."
"Oh? Renovations, huh?"
"There are lots of things you should probably change once Ms. Rit has a
baby, right?"
"A baby?!"
"What are you getting embarrassed about?" Tanta asked.
"You're talking about having kids."
"Aren't you an adult? You need to stop getting embarrassed and think
about what you'll do when you have a kid. A home isn't done once it's
built. A home grows along with a family!"
"Right…"
I couldn't argue with that.
Tanta had the look of a proper craftsman. I was ashamed of getting so
awkward over this.
"Interior design will be key. You need to put some serious thought into
how things will change after you two have a kid!"
"G-got it."
Tanta pulled some paper and wax pens out of his bag and started
sketching out the interior of a room.
I was going to have to take this seriously.
I imagined Rit and me there, a small baby in her arms. I'd reach out, and
the infant would squeeze my finger.
What a happy future.
Tanta and I talked about renovations for a while.
Come noon, I was walking down the street looking at the sketch of a
children's room that Tanta had given me.
"You think it's pretty good, too, right, Mister Crawly Wawly?"
He poked his head out and looked at the picture, then clapped his
forelegs together. Apparently, he liked it.
"You'll babysit once we have a child? Ha-ha, that's reassuring."
I laughed a bit, imagining him waving a rattle to soothe a crying infant.
He was swaying some, too, perhaps enjoying himself.
"It really is hot, though…"
The heat was getting worse as the sun rose in the sky.
The sunshine was intense, and there was a swell of warm air rising from
the ground.
"Want to grab a drink at the place over there?"
Mister Crawly Wawly nodded.
"Welcome." The waitress greeted us cheerfully when we stepped inside.
A few people from the neighborhood were exhausted and hiding from
the heat.
It was a typical Zoltan scene. Somehow, it made me feel hotter.
We took a seat at an empty table.
"What can we do for you?"
"We'll have a beer and a water."
"Would you like any food to go with that?"
"Hmmm…what would you recommend to go with a beer?"
"How do Cataphract-style meatballs sound?"
"Oh? The chef is from the north? Then an order of the meatballs,
please."
"Sure thing."
The waitress headed into the kitchen.
The drinks and food were on the table in no time.
I took a bite of the meatballs first.
Hmm, there's a nice kick of garlic to it. It's definitely different from the
standard Zoltan recipe.
It was tasty. But more importantly…
"Why is a cold beer so good on a hot day?"
I drained the mug with gusto.
A cold beer at noon on a hot day was just perfection.
Mister Crawly Wawly drank his water with similar enthusiasm.
Despite the heat, it was a peaceful day.
"Whoa! What the—?!"
"Where'd you come from?!"
The outbursts prompted me to look around. I saw that a horse had come
through the door. Its hooves clicked against the floor as it approached.
"Are you a friend of Mister Crawly Wawly?" I asked.
Mister Crawly Wawly hopped up and down. The horse whinnied as if in
answer.
"It doesn't look like you were just passing by and stopped into say hi."
The horse whinnied again and snorted. It sounded serious, but
unfortunately, I couldn't really understand it.
"Mister Crawly Wawly, what's your friend saying?"
He used the water on his plate to draw a map on the table and started
explaining. This was one clever spider.
"Hmm, so his mate disappeared, and the owner is unreliable, so he went
looking for help to find her."
Mister Crawly Wawly waved his forelegs happily. Perhaps he was glad
to have conveyed the message to me successfully.
A missing partner, huh…
"What will you do?"
Mister Crawly Wawly looked troubled. He'd agreed to guard me, so he
couldn't run off to help his friend. Still, a missing mate was a big deal and a
race against time.
Horse or not, that wasn't something to ignore.
"Can I go with you?"
Mister Crawly Wawly hopped joyfully.
I gulped down the last of the beer and stood to find this horse's missing
mate.
This world was filled with battle, but it was just as full of adventure, too.
Three hours later.
"That's things settled!"
Mister Crawly Wawly and I toasted with some well water to celebrate a
safe resolution.
The story went like this:
First, we investigated the pasture the mare disappeared from. We were
able to pin down that the perpetrator was a griffon.
After that, we tracked down the griffon and retrieved the horse.
However, the griffon had apparently been searching for a mare to be his
mate. Griffons preyed on horses, but occasionally, they fell in love with
one.
Then we ended up looking for a mate for the griffon. Also, we defeated
the beast hag that caught the griffon and tried to dominate it.
Finally, we found a horse willing to accept the griffon, and everything
ended happily ever after.
I was sure a splendid hippogriff child would arrive this time next year.
"Whew, that was a pretty wild day."
Although my blessing was weakened, my fighting style didn't rely on
magic or Martial Arts. And Mister Crawly Wawly was there, too, so a small
problem like today's wasn't much trouble.
However, this was supposed to be my day off.
In a world filled with adventure, you could stumble onto a quest just by
walking down the road. And Zoltan had fewer adventures than most towns.
Also, the client was none other than Mister Crawly Wawly's friend, and
the adventure concluded happily, so all's well that ends well.
I'd even walk away with some profit once I sold the feather we got from
the griffon. Plus, it would make a fun story to tell.
"Not much tastes better than water after a nice adventure."
It was just simple well water, but it was refreshing and cool, which made
it all the better. Beer on a hot day was great, but cold water was probably
still the best.
"Do you always have adventures like this?" I asked.
Mister Crawly Wawly raised his right foreleg in response.
I'd imagined him always being with Tisse, but it looked like he acted on
his own quite a bit, too.
Thinking back, the animals at the pasture had a lot to say to him.
"One day, I want to hear the stories of some of your adventures."
Mister Crawly Wawly waved both of his forelegs happily.
As I approached Mogrim's shop…
"Mr. Red!"
…I heard a familiar voice.
"Al! I didn't know you were back in Zoltan!" I exclaimed.
Al's and Albert's old comrades came running over.
"Oh, wow, Mistorm and Godwin, too," I added.
"It's been a while."
"Hey there, apothecary."
Behind Al were Mistorm the retired adventurer and Godwin the thiefturned-merchant who managed a trade route to the Wall at the End of the
World.
"You look like you're doin' well, too, Mister Crawly Wawly." Godwin
smiled when the spider poked his head from my clothes.
"Why are you in Zoltan, Al?" I asked.
"We had a delivery to make at the Zoltan Adventurers Guild. We can
only stay for a little while, but we talked it over and decided to go visit our
family and friends. We just finished our business at the guild!"
"Ah, I see."
"I was planning to visit your shop, too. I never thought we'd run into
you out here!"
Seeing how glad he looked, I couldn't help but smile as well.
"You should still come by. I'm sure Rit would love to see you," I said.
"Of course!"
Al had grown bigger and stronger. The time he'd spent staying at our
house felt so long ago.
"I was just telling old stories to some youngsters at the Adventurers
Guild," Mistorm said.
"I was there putting in a request to fix up the road when Al and the
others found me. They had me surrounded. Things looked pretty rough for
me until Master Mistorm stepped in," Godwin explained, embarrassed.
"Right," I replied. "I forgot you were the one who broke in to kidnap
Al."
Al and his party had likely planned to interrogate him and find out why
he wasn't in prison.
Mistorm started chuckling. "The look on his face was priceless. In the
end, we settled things by having Godwin treat everyone to a nice meal."
"Ah, so that explains this odd procession," I remarked.
This world was truly full of surprises.
"Were you busy with something?" Godwin inquired.
"Yeah. As a matter of fact…" I pulled out the blue sapphire from my
pocket. "I was going to get a ring made and propose to Rit."
"What?!" Al shouted in surprise.
"You actually found one. Not bad, Red," Mistorm praised.
"So Rit the hero and the apothecary are finally gettin' married," Godwin
muttered.
The pair nodded to themselves.
And then everyone smiled.
""Congratulations.""
It really was nice having people celebrate our happiness.
Finally, I arrived at Mogrim's shop.
On any other day, I would have been there in no time, but it had taken
quite a while today.
"Sorry for dragging you all over, Mister Crawly Wawly."
His body shook, and then he swayed, assuring me that he had fun.
Yeah, it was a pleasant trip.
"Red, eh? Break your sword again?"
"Hey, Mogrim. No, this is about something else." The dwarf blacksmith
appeared from the back of the store. "Mink isn't watching the counter," I
remarked.
"Her stomach's gotten bigger, so she only watches the shop for half the
day now."
"Wow. Time flies."
Mogrim's wife, Mink, was pregnant. It became clear she was with child
last winter, and now spring was almost over. Of course she was showing by
now.
"If I'm bein' honest," Mogrim began, "I wish she would just rest all day,
but apparently, that's not great for a mother. It's my first kid, so I don't
really know about any of that stuff."
"Your first kid, huh? I'm sure there will be a lot of new experiences."
"When I put my ear to her stomach, I can tell the baby's moving…"
Mogrim's gruff, bearded face was a mess. I'm sure he was struggling to
contain all his excitement and joy at the idea of his child being born.
I remembered Tanta's sketch that I had tucked into my pocket and
imagined a future with a child.
Yeah, it'll be great. And the first step…
"Mogrim, I'm here with an important request."
"Hmm? If not your sword, then what? Come to buy a kitchen knife or
something?"
"Actually…" I set the blue sapphire on the counter.
"This is—!"
"Yeah. I want you to make an engagement ring!" Mogrim wrapped me
in a massive hug. "Wh-whoa."
"Well done, lad! I always regretted not bein' able to make a ring for the
two of you!"
I gently tried to extract myself, but his thick arms would not yield.
Ultimately, I surrendered to the embrace.
Mister Crawly Wawly moved to the top of Mogrim's head and danced
with joy.
"Three days?!"
Mister Crawly Wawly jumped a little in shock. My outburst had startled
him.
"You can make a ring in three days?!"
"Aye. Matter o' fact, I already made the ring's base."
"I never put in an order, though…"
"You're the sort of man who follows through when you say you'll do
something. Whether it was a blue sapphire or a diamond, I knew you'd get
the stone you were after eventually. I figured it would be good to prepare in
my free time."
Mogrim examined the gem through a small loupe. "Hmm."
"How is it?"
"This here's a great gem. Easily the best of all the blue sapphires I've
ever seen." Mogrim nodded with evident admiration. "I can make the
ultimate engagement ring with this!"
"Ohhhh."
Mogrim was fired up.
Lavender had apparently acquired a spectacular gemstone.
I needed to thank her the next time I saw her.
"All right, with that settled, we need to pick out the design! You had
dinner yet, Red?"
"No, not yet."
"Then you're eating here tonight! The store's closed for the day!"
Mogrim hurried outside with heavy footsteps and hung the CLOSED sign
out on the door.
"Oy, Mogrim! I wanted to check out a secondhand spear!"
"No one asked you! Come back tomorrow—we're closed today!"
"But—"
Mister Crawly Wawly swayed as though shaking his head at the scene.
It was night by the time I headed back to the shop.
A shady man approached me as I walked toward home.
"Hey, you look pretty skilled. Interested in making some money?"
"No, I've got enough adventure in my life."
"Wait, you can get rich gathering the horns of fire almiraj—"
Ignored.
The light from my house came into view.
"Phew, we finally made it back. Thanks for all your work, Mister
Crawly Wawly."
He raised his right foreleg snappily. Then he tapped his head and looked
at me.
"Hmm? Did I have a fun day off? Yeah, it was a great time."
It truly was.
Home got closer with every step.
"Red!"
"Big Brother."
Rit and Ruti were sitting on the bench out in front of the store.
"Were you waiting for me?" I asked.
Rit nodded. "The moon is lovely tonight, so we thought it might be nice
to wait outside."
"We have snacks, too." Ruti showed me a plate filled with nice, round
cookies.
"Those look tasty."
"Did you eat already?" Rit inquired.
"Yeah, I had dinner over at Mogrim's place."
"Oh? How is Mink doing?"
"Her stomach has gotten quite a bit bigger. Mogrim is trying to keep her
from working in the shop too much."
"Heh-heh. I bet he'll be a good father," Rit said.
I brushed off the dirt on my clothes and joined her and Ruti.
"Isn't this bench a little tight for three people?" I asked.
Rit shook her head. "No, this is good. The big, luxurious chairs in the
palace were okay, but it's nice being close enough to touch shoulders, too."
"Really?"
I had sat down in the middle, in the space Rit and Ruti had left between
them. Rit was to my right, and Ruti to my left. We snacked on sweets while
our shoulders touched. The ample amount of egg used in the cookies made
them rich and tasty.
Mister Crawly Wawly leaped down to the ground and raised his right
foreleg. He was surely off to see Tisse inside.
"Thanks for today. You should tell her what happened," I said.
He nodded as though to reply, "Of course," then hurried into the house.
"How is your blessing, Big Brother?"
"My skill level has come back a bit. At this rate, I should be back to
normal in around a week."
"Good."
"Once I recover, what should I spend my new skill point on? It's my
first level up since coming to Zoltan. Maybe I should invest it in a common
skill I've never considered before."
"Like what?" Rit asked.
"Hmm, what indeed…?"
There were a lot of common skills, but…
"Steering might be a good one. I kind of want to try flying the airship."
"Ohh! I've gone to check where it's kept, but I haven't seen it in action."
"It'd be nice to ride it sometime," I agreed. Rit nodded, and I did the
same.
"I entrusted the airship to Tisse, so you can ask her about it later. If you
do go flying, I want to come," Ruti said.
"Sounds like fun." I'd suggested Steering as a bit of a joke, but it was
beginning to sound like a good choice. "Or maybe Drawing?"
"Drawing?" Rit smiled. "That'd be lovely!"
The Drawing skill allowed you to sketch out anything you saw or
imagined.
It wasn't particularly useful for combat or on trips. It could be handy for
creating a map, but you needed precise scale measurements for maps. The
Survival skill or something similar was better for that.
Thus, I'd never considered the Drawing skill while I was a knight.
"What prompted you to think of Drawing?" Rit asked.
"Some stuff happened today that involved pictures is all."
I showed her and Ruti the picture that Tanta had made for me. He hadn't
connected with his blessing yet; he'd done it without the help of a skill. It
was the work of a child, but it was still good enough to convey an idea for
our house.
I also had the plans Mogrim made while we talked about the ring's
design, but that could wait for another three days.
"Tanta drew this for me. It's a design sketch for future renovations."
"This is…a child's room," Rit whispered.
"Yeah, it looks nice, right?"
Rit smiled. "Ehehe. It's lovely."
"I'm curious what sort of things you did on your day off, Big Brother,"
Ruti commented while looking at the drawing.
"I ran into Tanta in the morning. He drew this while we played around
until about noon… Actually, you haven't heard about everything that
happened in the ancient elf ruins yet, right? I should go over everything."
"Mm. I would like that."
"It might be a little long…but it's not too warm to sit outside and chat
for a while."
I told Ruti the story of our adventure.
A lot of things happened.
We learned the truth about the Hero Administration Bureau and that the
ancient elves were actually humans. We saw Van's growth and Demis's
miracle that overwrote it all.
"Demis?!" Ruti froze up in shock at that part. I understood why. God
had literally intervened during our adventure. "I really should have gone
with you. That sounds dangerous."
"It was. I seriously thought it was over this time," I replied.
"I lost hope, too, but seeing you lose your cool made me feel like I had
to keep my head about me…," Rit said.
"And that's what saved me."
Without Rit, I would've charged at Demis in rage and despair. He was so
overwhelmingly powerful that I'd completely given up hope.
"I want to give Demis a good punch," Ruti growled, shaking her fist. To
her, Demis was the mastermind who'd forced the Hero blessing on her and
made a giant mess of her life. It was only natural that she wanted to give
God a beating. "But as long as you're safe, Big Brother, then it's all right."
"Are you okay, Ruti?" I asked. "With everything we learned about the
Hero, I mean."
Van had been badly shaken by how previous bearers of the Divine
Blessing of the Hero lived. However, Ruti just shook her head.
"I'm not the Hero anymore."
"Right."
She'd already turned the page on that story. I'd been a little worried
about telling her, but she'd truly overcome the bonds of her blessing.
After that, I recounted what transpired after the battle and what
happened today. That included the run-in with Tanta, the adventure with
Mister Crawly Wawly, reuniting with Al and Mistorm, having dinner at
Mogrim's place, and Mink talking about her future child.
And I also talked about how happy I was to spend time with everyone.
"A lot happened even though you took the day off," Rit commented.
"Yeah, but it was a fun day. This is my slow life."
This world was full of adventure and fighting. That was as true here in
the small backwater of Zoltan as anywhere else. Even heroes couldn't
change this world. But I was free in my heart. No matter what the world
was like, I was determined to be happy.
And we were.