Chereads / The Greatsword Is Not My Main Body! / Chapter 17 - Eastern Ruins (8)

Chapter 17 - Eastern Ruins (8)

"No, Noah!"

I held Noah in my arms as she lay collapsed on the ground.

Thankfully, she was still breathing, but blood was streaming from her nose and mouth.

I quickly infused her with divine power to heal her.

However, Noah's body continued to bleed, refusing to stop.

Again. Again. And again.

I kept pouring in divine power, but Noah's condition showed no sign of improvement.

"Noah… Noah! Shin Noah!"

"Miss, calm down for a moment. More gnolls could be on their way."

"How can I possibly calm down right now?!"

"She's not dead. And she's not in danger, either. She's just asleep, so calm yourself."

"She's bleeding this much… and you're saying she's fine?"

"I guarantee it."

"Then… why is Noah like this?"

The man with the eyepatch, who had always been laughing carelessly, was now looking at both Noah and me with a serious expression.

"Hmm… first of all, it's better if fewer people are watching, right?"

He turned around and drew his sword.

"Gentlemen. I need to discuss something in private. Could you kindly leave the area?"

The knights began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Or I can send you away myself if you'd prefer. What do you say… Should I escort you out?"

He slowly approached the knights.

"I'll count to five. Now, you see, as an uneducated adventurer, I'm not great with numbers. So, I might mess this up. But I'll give it a try. One."

Step. Step.

"Two."

He raised his sword.

"...We will withdraw."

The knight who seemed to be in charge ground his teeth as he responded.

"Ha! Glad we could come to an understanding! You must be well-educated, unlike me. Now hurry along, will you? I don't have much patience."

As soon as he finished speaking, the knights quickly started to move away.

"Phew, that's better. Now, where were we? Oh yes, let's continue our chat, shall we? Since Noah's asleep, I'll refer to you as 'Priestess' for now. Priestess, do you know how Noah is able to see?"

"...Yes."

"Then this will be quick. This is all because of Noah's sensing ability."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I or the bald guy even noticed, Noah was already aware of the gnoll horde approaching. You knew that, right?"

"Yes… she did say that."

"And that was despite the considerable distance."

"What…?"

I distinctly remembered Noah saying she could only detect things within a range of about 30 meters.

But the gnolls were definitely further than 30 meters away.

So…

"Hmm… how do I put this so you'll understand? Simply put, Noah forcibly expanded her sensing range. This is the side effect of that."

He gestured toward the blood coming from Noah.

"I know a guy who isn't blind but uses sensing abilities to perceive the world around him."

"I see…"

"When he traveled with us, he acted as our scout. But every time he did it, he'd whine about how tired he was."

"And how does that—"

"Then one day, we couldn't find the monster we were hunting. So, we told him to find it with his sensing ability. We kept pushing him, teasing him, until he snapped and forced his sensing range wider, saying he'd find it no matter what."

The man with the eyepatch smiled slightly as he looked at Noah.

"It took him five seconds. He found the monster 200 meters away in just five seconds. And then, just like Noah, he collapsed, bleeding all over the place. But back then, we were in an open field. No living creatures, no buildings—nothing. You get what I mean?"

I looked around.

The ruins around us were packed with structures and debris.

Completely different from an open field.

"The amount of information taken in through sensing… is different?"

"Exactly. Glad you caught on. The amount of data flooding into the brain was on a whole different level. Sure, you could think it was because he was weak, but that guy was a platinum-ranked adventurer like me."

"What…?"

I looked up at the man in front of me.

He looked so unremarkable, like some random guy you'd see in a village. But platinum…?

"Haha… I know I don't look the part, so it's hard to believe. But that guy I'm talking about was no pushover. And even he swore he'd never expand his sensing range like that again. He was terrified. And I can sense things to a small degree too, you know."

The man closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Blood started to trickle from his nose.

"Gah! Did you see that? Even with just a tiny bit of sensing, I start bleeding like this. My skull feels like it's about to crack open. But Noah? She uses it constantly, like it's no big deal. Ugh, it hurts…"

He spat out the blood from his nose and mouth before continuing.

"And on top of that, even after that crazy stunt, she kept fighting. That was partly because of me, Heinzel, and the bald guy screwing up, but, well, it couldn't be helped. I hope you can understand."

The knights of Erden were likely the reason for that.

And the reason they had to fight… was probably because of a job.

A job they accepted in Alrba.

Their client was likely Hermilla.

And the task… was probably to protect Noah.

In the end… if I traced it all back, I was the root cause.

The reason Noah ended up like this was all because of me…

"And the most important thing is, look over there."

The man pointed to the collapsed wall.

"So, you're saying that Noah brought that wall down?"

The man nodded.

"You know there are only ten Masters in the world, right?"

"Suddenly, with the Master talk…"

"Do you know?"

"...Yes, I've heard of them."

The Masters.

The pinnacle every knight and adventurer dreams of reaching.

I've never seen one, but I've heard the stories.

They say that when Masters fight, mountains are sliced in one blow, and seas overturn in two.

Of course… I don't believe a word of it.

If people like that really existed, the monsters would have been wiped out long ago.

"I've lived for over 40 years, and I've only met one Master. But guess what? When he swung his sword, the wall of a fortress collapsed. It was the fortress of a fallen kingdom, though."

I looked back at the crumbled wall.

"So… are you saying Noah destroyed that wall?"

"I don't know for sure. But she swung her sword once, and the wall came down. Exactly like that Master I saw."

"That's impossible… Are you saying Noah is a Master?"

"Hmm, I don't think she's quite there yet… but she's probably on her way to becoming one."

I looked down at Noah, lying peacefully in my arms.

Her body was so small, so light.

Her arms, far too delicate to wield a greatsword.

And yet, she endured unimaginable pain, the kind that even platinum-ranked adventurers struggled with, and kept fighting.

To protect me.

No, that's not right.

I didn't want to arrogantly believe that she did all this just to protect me.

After all, why would she?

Noah didn't even know I was a priestess.

We hadn't known each other for that long.

That's why I didn't understand.

Why would she push herself so hard? Why would she keep fighting with such determination?

I didn't know.

I couldn't understand, and that frustrated me.

"She expanded her sensing range, took in an overwhelming amount of information, and then destroyed a wall. After that, she fought off at least a hundred gnolls with a weapon that can barely be called a greatsword. All of this, done by that small child."

I hugged Noah's unconscious body even tighter.

"Why… Why would she push herself this far…?"

"She's probably got some kind of compulsion. A painful memory from her past has created this obsession. It's something that all of us have. Even the bald guy and I. But it seems stronger in Noah's case."

I had suspected it, seeing the way Noah acted when she fought monsters.

Her entire demeanor, her expression, her voice—they all changed so completely, it was like she became someone else.

Maybe… that's the real Noah.

My thoughts were all jumbled.

My stomach felt sick, and it seemed like I might cry at any moment.

The more I learned about Noah's hidden side, the more I realized how wrong my choices had been.

I had thrown away my responsibilities and run away, and now I felt so ashamed.

Seeing Noah's sleeping face in my arms only made the guilt heavier.

"For now… I understand. The situation is over, so we should find a place to let Noah rest."

"I can carry her—"

"No. I'll do it. Just… protect us as per your contract."

"...Haha, you're sharp. Understood. But it's quite ironic, isn't it? Protecting the priestess from the very knights sent to escort her."

"I'll explain it all later. Right now, Noah is the priority."

The man nodded and started walking ahead.

"I'll lead you to a good place. It'll be perfect for resting."

The spot we were in wasn't bad, but I decided to follow him anyway.

If it was a place where Noah could rest more comfortably, that's all that mattered.

"Oh, by the way, Priestess, you don't know my name, do you? Noah knew it, though."

I blinked in surprise as we walked.

Noah knew his name?

"No… I don't."

"Ahem. Then let me formally introduce myself. It's only proper to show respect, right?"

He sheathed his sword, placed his right hand over his chest, and gave a small bow.

Then, with a much more serious tone, he spoke.

"I am Luchi, a platinum-ranked adventurer. Among adventurers, they call me 'One-Eyed Luchi.' But feel free to call me Luchi or just 'old man.' It's a pleasure to be working with you."

"One-Eyed… Luchi?"

"I'm not too fond of the nickname, so why don't you just call me 'old man,' Priestess?"

"Ah… Alright. I'll do that."

"Good. Now, shall we continue?"

Luchi resumed walking.

The last survivor of Havlon, as Noah had called him, was walking right in front of me.

And Noah… she knew him.

I glanced down at Noah, still nestled in my arms.

I had hidden the fact that I was a priestess from her…

But maybe Noah had something she was hiding from me too.

We're not that close yet, but…

Still.

I want to get closer to her, even just a little…

Once she wakes up, I think we need to have a real conversation.

About everything.

Her story.

And mine.

All of it.