— XI —
After defeating the White Order, we returned to Arthur's home. Inside the examination room, I gently Arthur on the bet.
He looked so weak, with wounds covering his pale complexion. Yet, the foreign cells inside his body quickly spread and heal the wound. I couldn't help but notice the numerous scars that had already been taken over by foreign cells, their crystal-like appearance a telltale sign. My heart ached when I imagined how hard life he endured to be wounded like this all the time. But my eyes couldn't help to gaze upon the roses that bloomed in his chest. His Magicore or to be precise, The Seed of Hero.
Curiosity got the best of me as I touched his Magicore. As I thought, it resonated with me. Normally, only the Magicore was a god heart, the source of their magic. But on a special occasion, a human could host a Magicore too. That special condition was when The Loom of Fate choose a human to host the weed of Hero. But it only chooses one once in millennia, thus making all of this strange. In this world, I had seen not once but possibly more humans embedded with Magicore. Did someone manage to artificially create The Seed of Hero?
Suddenly, he jolted out and gasped in panic, "Kiara!!"
"Whoa-whoa, calmed down, young Mister. You're in your house now. You're safe," I tried to calm him.
"No, Kiara! I must save her," he struggled against me.
Annoyed, I touched his wound and he screamed in pain. "Arthur, listen to me," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder, "I know you want to save Kiara, but you have to take care of yourself first. You won't be able to help her if you're not in top shape."
Hssing from pain, Arthur grunted, "N-No, if the more time wasted, the more she's in danger. I have to save her!"
Hmm, it seemed my words wouldn't get through his head. Right now, all inside his mind is just saving Kiara. Perhaps, it may sound cruel but I have to say it.
"You can't save her, Arthur. You're too weak. You can't defeat that monster in your state now," I broke the bad news to him, "Even if you go now, where will you search for her? You don't know, right? You'll only waste your time finding a needle in a haystack. Think."
As I watched Arthur struggle on the bed, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Was I being too harsh? But I knew that he needed to hear the truth, no matter how painful it was.
Suddenly, Arthur's expression changed. His eyes glowed with a fierce determination, and he sat up straight, "Y-You're right... I... I don't have enough power to save myself let alone save Kiara. The best thing I must do now is to recover," he said while grasping his head and letting out a long sigh.
I didn't know what was in his mind, but he went silent for a while, leaving me rummaging through the desk, searching for drugs and tools to treat Arthur's wound. As expected, I found a good salve that could be used to heal the open wound and a few bandages. Now, scissors... scissors...
"Hey, Princess... how did you get out of that situation alive? You were facing Ellen, the strongest Lector of The Order," suddenly Arthur asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, "Nature calls, maybe, she was in such a hurry. Hehe, now that I remember it, it must be pretty far from the toilet, huh," I replied while preparing the medicine and washing my hands.
"... You serious?"
I smiled while dragging the trolley to Arthur's bed, "Of course. Even with the power she had, Ellen is only human. You too, even if your body is modified, deep down, you're still human," I replied while putting latex gloves in my hand, "Anyway, don't go anywhere by yourself again, okay? You made me worried. Without you, who will pay for the food? Whether you like it or not, you are my Master and my survival depends on you," I flicked his forehead.
Arthur squinted his eyes, "You... only help me because of the food, huh."
"Of course! I'm not a saint that helped someone for free. Now, be a good boy when I fix you," I said.
Suddenly, Arthur ea surprised to see he was naked. Arthur looked at me with a cold, unyielding gaze, but eventually did as I instructed. He averted his eyes when I gently applied the salve to his wounds and wrapped them with bandages.
As I was treating Arthur's wounds, he suddenly let out a small groan of pain. Concerned, I asked, "Does it hurt? I can apply more salve if needed."
"No, it's okay," he replied, his voice strained.
I shrugged, trying to act tough, eh? As I cut the final bandages, I took off the gloves, "Finished, now take a good rest, okay?" I told him.
"Did you see it?" Arthur asked, his eyes were full of doubt.
"What? The Magicore? Of course," I replied while washing my hands.
"You're not surprised? As I thought, you must have some kind of connection with The Order. Are you a successor of a Lector?" Arthur asked me, raising his guard against me.
As I wrung my hands with a cloth, I sat next to the bed looking at his fierce eyes. Hmm, lies wouldn't get me anywhere with this guy, huh? But, It was kind of embarrassing to show him. Ugh, whatever!
Flustered, I opened one of the 2 buttons of my shirt, "P-Please, don't look at it too much, okay? I-it's embarrassing," I said, showing her the black roses that grew on my heart.
Differing from Arthur's, my Magicore was black as coal because of a congenital malformation I had since birth called The Pale Moon. It was a defect in my gene sequence that caused the absence of enzymes necessary (which are produced by the heart/Magicore) for creating Mana. As a result, my other was no Mana inside my body to fuel my Magicore.
I quickly buttoned up my shirt again and said, "D-do you understand now?"
Arthur shook his head, "No in the slightest. I got more questions than answers. But, I know you're different from us. The lack of surgery scars in your chest means since birth you already had the Animata, right? But that's impossible, unless you are...," he paused, gasping in disbelief, "Kiara didn't lie, you truly are an unknown goddess."
I scratched my head awkwardly, "W-Well, I'm sorry for being such a letdown for a goddess."
Arthur quickly waved his hand, "No, please don't look down on yourself. Not only you saved Kiara, but you also saved my life too. The two of us owed you our life. But, it's just weird, all this time, we put gods on a pedestal, but now a god walked among us. That's hard to swallow."
I smiled, "It's okay. But, please keep this a secret. I wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible."
"But you keep getting yourself in trouble."
I face-palmed myself, "I know right? It's just that I don't have the heart to see people in pain. Geez, why am I such a busybody, huh?"
Arthur laughed, the tension in his face lessened a bit, sending relief to my heart. He should still have some questions, but he was considerate enough not to ask me. For that, I was grateful, because I couldn't explain my purpose of descending in this world. And how I could be the reason why this world is in chaos.
I closed my hand, "That's enough of me. Now, tell me about yourself. Why are you so desperate to save Kiara? Could it be she's someone special to you?" I teased the boy.
Arthur shook his head and chuckled, "Special? That troublesome Princess is always causing me much headache. No, that Megistus sisters got on my nerve sometimes," he answered with a slight smile before looking at a picture on the doctor's desk. Now that I looked at it, it was the picture of Kiara and Quina, bullying Arthur when he finished his training at A Black Company.
Arthur hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "Kiara's true identity is... complicated," he began. "She's not just a normal human. She's what The Order had been researching for years."
My heart skipped a beat as I listened to him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "What do you mean...?" I asked, my voice trembling.
Arthur looked up at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and sadness. "Kiara is a hybrid," he said quietly. "A being that is neither alive nor dead. A mixture of a human and Anima... A Malice. She was a guinea pig of The Order that Lady Megistus saved a decade ago."
What the hell...!? That happy-go-lucky girl had that background with her? Though I only met Kiara a day, I knew that she was just a sweet and honest girl... well, not exactly honest. But a guinea pig? That was so cruel of them.
"Is that why The White Order was after her?" I asked.
Arthur nodded grimly. "They wanted to study Kiara's body to replicate their success. This is not the first time she was kidnapped by The Order."
"So, why you would go so far for her? Is that" I asked.
"No one wants to be associated with Kiara. She was labeled as a monster in this city," Arthur explained and looked reluctant to continue before finally giving in, "I lived in the shadows for most of my life. Living day to day to betray and rob others' life. Yet despite that, Kiara gave me the light in my life. She saved my life and turned me into the light. So, I wanted to give my life to her, to protect her... even if the world becomes her enemy. That's my promise to her."
"Oh damn…" I gasped. T-That's super sweet.
Arthur raised his eyebrow, "I-Is something wrong?" he replied.
I twirled my hair avoiding Arthur's gaze, "E-Eh? N-No, that's not it…I-I just… Uhm, It's not every day I heard a sincere confession like that. I-I can't find the right words… but I think it is a wonderful thing to give your life to protect someone," I answered while staggeringly stammered,
"But… it also means that your life now isn't only yours anymore. When you're hurt, Kiara must be feeling the same way too. That's why… it's also important to keep yourself safe first. Value your life more Artie."
Arthur raised his eyebrow confused, "Who are you, my granny?"
U-Uwaahh, s-so embarrassing. W-Why did I say that? Now that I think about it, it sounded like an old hag preaching to her grandchildren! W-Who am I to say something like that to Arthur? I've only met him.
Arthur chuckled a bit before saying, "Thanks. I'll… keep that in mind."
I could only smile sourly, looking at the man who could walk the same path as the Heroes of the past. As I saw how pure his intention was, I could only hope that The Seed of a Hero inside him didn't mature. If it came to that, then, how I faced him with memories of his smile?
I clenched my fist and nodded, "Alright, I decided. I will help you, Arthur," I said with fierce determination in my heart, "Let's save Kiara together!"