Our first night together, though filled with a burning desire that seemed bottomless, had come to an end after neither of us could keep going, and even the noises that echoed throughout the room soon gave way to the sound of silence.
However, that silence could not last forever.
Miwen: "That felt amazing."
Throughout the entire thing, I barely let Licia rest, almost as if desperate for her, I kept on moving with disregard for anything else like a beast that moved entirely by instinct.
Licia: "Yeah... sorry that I can't keep going though, We can always do more next time so... I mean, after you do it with Claire too..."
Miwen: "I thought it was something like that but... I swear you guys can be unreasonable sometimes."
Licia: "Is it? I've wanted to be with you for longer than her, so at least I should go first right? Also, she's more interested due to curiosity than her feelings for you so... it's only fair..."
Miwen: "Spotless reasoning right there. But well, as a man, you won't hear me complaining about this outcome... Still, I need to ask you, why did you want to be with me so much in the first place? I know you think I did a lot for you, but trust me, I would've done that regardless."
Licia: "I know... it's just that... I lived a life constrained by others. Being able to make my own decisions in life... you were the one who brought me such freedom. Add to that the care you had for me, even if it's something you'd show to anyone... it is my first time feeling like I'm truly following my own path and that I can rely on someone else."
Somehow, it feels like I inadvertently did something really special for her. I offered Licia the same things I did for Claire and going forward, it's what I plan to offer anyone that comes out of the [Companions Banner] I don't really feel like it's such a big deal, after all, I'm bringing them to serve my own needs, so, ensuring their living conditions is the bare minimum I could do.
As for giving them the freedom to choose... while I obviously want them to choose to be by my side, if they ever decide to go, I can just try again with another summon. In the end, it's better for me to let them go without any hostilities. Hell, forcefully keeping someone that doesn't want to stay might as well be a death sentence, there's no way I'd run such risks.
There's also the whole unknown world factor. This world is unlike anything they have ever experienced, leaving them alone in it without offering an alternative would be just cruel. It would be the same as telling them to live a miserable life outside of my view. As the initiator who calls these people forth, I couldn't bear the shame of leaving them to fend for themselves like that.
But I guess the way I do things had more of an effect on her than I could've imagined.
It seems like whatever happened in her life before meeting me left her unable to make her own decisions, and that just doesn't sit well with me, it's been a long time coming, but I just need to know what her life was like.
Miwen: "...What do you mean by being constrained? What... was your life like?"
Licia: "Back then I lived for my younger sister. She was bedridden, and it didn't matter how much time went by, her disease only grew stronger. To keep her alive, from time to time, my family had to buy stronger potions, which eventually started being too expensive for my father to handle alone..."
I remember Licia saying that in her old world, she used to be quite a high leveled adventurer, earning herself a title and a high tier. Since raiding dungeons is a job here on Earth too, I thought it was just her way of making a living and didn't think much of it, but...
Miwen: "So you had to step in, and ended up becoming an adventurer to earn money for your family?"
Licia: "Basically... No matter what, there was simply no way I could let things go on like that. And though I did everything I could, it was simply for naught."
Miwen: "What do you mean? I thought you became quite a good adventurer."
Licia: "Yes but... eventually it wasn't enough anymore. I needed potions that could only be made by an alchemist from the capital. Not only were they expensive, but that alchemist always gave priority to nobles, so even if I had the money, it was doubtful that I could get any."
Miwen: "I see... so what did you do?"
I don't see someone who spent their entire life working to keep her sister alive giving up. But since I know that whatever happens, it ends up with her death... something must have gone wrong at some point.
Licia: "...I met a kind noble, the son of a count. He had heard of me and wanted to greet me. After we talked a bit, he told me that by chance he had some of the potions that I was looking for. At first I thought it was too much of a coincidence, but he had them sent to my house the next day."
Miwen: "Oh... so you got a contact that could buy the potions for you, that must have been like a heaven-sent for you."
Licia: "If I say it like that, it really makes it seem so, right? Wel.. it's what I believed things to be like. But I was wrong."
...?
Licia: "I paid him every time, but a time came when I couldn't pay anymore, my sister needed too much, and... he said it would be okay, that I could pay him later... But it was all a bunch of lies. After I got the next batch of potions from him, he accused me of stealing them. He said I was out of money and resorted to stealing. The maniac had me imprisoned in his house's dungeon."
Miwen: "I don't get it. Why would he plot against you? What did he stand to gain?"
Hearing this, there's one possibility in my mind, but I really hope I'm wrong about this.
Licia: "He planned it all from the beginning, all he wanted was to have me as a pet or a toy. The little fame I had enticed him, the disgusting bastard thought I was made for him. Through months there wasn't a single day where I hadn't experienced hell by his hands. Be it from the drugs or the aphrodisiacs, somewhere along the way I couldn't even feel my surroundings or regain a proper consciousness. Thankfully, all I remember from that time was a strong desire to die. I just wanted it all to end."
The thought alone makes my blood boil. To see the girl I always admire for her strength, looking so feeble and tiny in my arms while she recounts her memory...
I can't imagine how shit it must've been, don't even want to. It's just truly disgusting and malicious and hideous and... it feels utterly infuriating.
Miwen: "...how old were you you started working as an adventurer?"
Licia: "I used to help mom at home until I was twelve, then I started working for about eight years... and then... about a year after that, I met my end. I don't really recall when it happened, or how it went. And I... I don't want to remember..."
Miwen: "I think it's better if you leave it behind. I'll be sure to help you..."
So she was only a kid then... much too young to know any better. She lived like a machine without ever knowing what desires she held for her life. And in the end, someone broke and discarded her as if she wasn't even human to begin with.
... it's just... such a cruel fate.
Miwen: "I promise you... I won't let something like this happen to you again. So you can live without a care in the world."
Licia: "When you say it like that, it makes me want to believe so much."
Miwen: "I've kept true to my other promises, right?"
Licia: "That you did..."
She must've been really rired as soon after that she would start sleeping. It's not like I was much better though.
I felt better about myself, knowing that I had provided way more for her than I could ever have imagined. Seeing how much the actions that were small for me meant for her... it reinvigorated my belief in them.
After that night, I started seeing my actions in a better light. Bringing people back, working to make them happy and giving them what they need and want.... I think this is really good. I'll be on quite a good and fulfilling path if I keep doing things like this.
And if through the bonds I make with them along the way we grow into a community capable of supporting each other... then... that would be the kind of kingdom that would make me the happiest.
Though my gift might make me see and experience things I wouldn't like, I just need to become strong enough to crush any source of despair or tragedy that comes into contact with me or my citizens.
If my kingdom becomes the strongest then I'll be capable of avenging all the wrong that was done to Mia and Licia, as well as prevent further ones. So that's what I'll aim for.